Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi-nam Line.

Hua Yunhong personally supervised the battle, and launched a nearly suicidal and fierce feint attack on the direction of Qin Ming's main camp with all the rebels and remaining forces that could be assembled, about 2,000 people! He tried to contain Qin Ming and prevent him from sending more troops to support Feiniao Gorge.

The battlefield was completely divided into two.

In Feiniao Gorge, Li Gan led 5,000 elite soldiers in black armor to defend the gorge entrance, fighting a bloody battle with 8,000 crazy Shenmu reinforcements, and never retreated a single moment.

On the southern front of the capital, Hua Yunhong personally led a motley crowd to attack Qin Ming's main camp, using his weak army to tie down the main force of the empire.

Time passed little by little in the brutal battle.

At the foot of Feiniao Gorge, blood flowed like a river, and the corpses of Shenmu reinforcements were scattered all over the ground, but they were still unable to break through the iron-like defense line of the Xuanjia Army.

On the southern front of Gyeonggi Province, Hua Yunhong's feint attack troops suffered heavy losses under the counterattack of the Black Armored Cavalry and were defeated step by step.

Qin Ming sat in the central army tent, constantly receiving military reports from the two battlefields. His face was expressionless, only his deep eyes reflected every subtle change in the enemy and our situation on the map.

He knew that Hua Yunhong was at the end of his strength.

Asuka Gorge is the end of this war.

He believed in Li Gan as much as he believed in his own arm.

"Send a message to Li Gan," Qin Ming's voice was cold and steady. "Don't be stingy with your arrows, don't conserve your energy.... Destroy the enemy forces at the gorge. Don't spare a single soldier."

"Here!"

The order was issued.

The battle situation in Asuka Gorge is becoming increasingly brutal.

After all, the iron wall of the empire cannot be easily shaken by desperate madness.

Hua Yunhong's last hope was shattered bit by bit in that narrow canyon with the fall of each Shenmu soldier.

The war has evolved from a brutal attack and defense to a one-sided and brutal harvest.

The initial frenzy of the Shenmu reinforcements was gradually shattered by the Black Armor Army's ironclad defenses and the precise, deadly long-range strikes. The corpses of eight thousand elite soldiers covered the narrow area before the gorge. Sticky blood soaked the soil, making it slushy and slippery with every step. The following soldiers practically stepped on the swollen and deformed corpses of their comrades as they stumbled forward, the fanaticism in their eyes long since replaced by fear and despair.

Their charge lost its rhyme or reason, their formation scattered. They numbly surged forward, relying solely on a lingering inertia and the scimitars of the overseers behind them. Arrows continued to rain down like icy raindrops, each volley bringing a shower of blood and screams. The Black Armor Army's line was like a reef, unmoved by the waves' impact. Spears thrust steadily through the gaps in their shields, then retracted, each strike taking a life with precision.

Li Gan stood atop the fortress wall, his armor splattered with enemy blood. His expression was cold and hard, his eyes devoid of any mercy, only the absolute composure of executing military orders. "Your Majesty, if you want total annihilation, then leave no one behind."

"Crossbows! Aim at the supervisory team and those officers in the rear!" Li Gan ordered.

The crossbows stationed on the heights on either side emitted a teeth-grinding twang. With a shrieking sound that ripped through the air, the massive crossbows pierced the rear of the Shenmu Army! The officers and supervisors who attempted to maintain order and drive the soldiers to their deaths were instantly pierced and torn apart by the massive crossbows! The screams even drowned out the fighting in front!

The Shenmu Army's command system completely collapsed! The surviving soldiers finally lost their fighting spirit, uttered a cry, turned and retreated, even colliding with their own people rushing up from behind, trampling on each other!

"Cavalry! Attack!" Li Gan saw the opportunity and gave the order without hesitation!

The gates of the village burst open! The long-rested, armored cavalry surged out like a black torrent! They didn't even need to charge; they simply trotted, their lances like the scythes of the god of death, easily reaping the lives of the fleeing Shenmu soldiers who had their backs turned to them!

Massacre! Absolute massacre!

At the northern end of the canyon, those Shenmu rear troops who had not yet joined the battle were completely frightened when they saw the hellish scene in front of them and the surging black-armored cavalry. They shouted, threw away their flags and weapons, and fled for their lives in the direction they came from!

Li Gan did not pursue the enemy too far; his mission was to defend Feiniao Gorge. After the cavalry had chased the enemy for several miles and captured countless enemies, they reined in their horses and returned to seal off the gorge again.

On the battlefield, only deathly silence and the thick, inextricable smell of blood remained. Crows began circling in the sky, cawing ominously.

Feiniao Gorge became the burial place of the last of the Shenmu Kingdom's elite forces. The northern reinforcements, upon which Hua Yunhong had placed high hopes, were completely annihilated before they could even see him.

……

The news spread quickly to the southern line of Gyeonggi Province as if it had wings.

Hua Yunhong, the commander, led his now exhausted ragtag army in a futile harassment attack on Qin Ming's main camp. When he saw the black smoke rising in the northern sky, representing the Black Armor Army's victory, he felt as if all the blood had been drained from him, and his face turned frighteningly pale.

He didn't even hear the messenger's tearful report.

It’s over.

It's all over.

The last hope, the last trump card, the last struggle...all turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood under Feiniao Gorge.

A fishy-sweet taste surged up his throat, but he swallowed it down with all his might. His withered body swayed, and he almost fell off his horse, but was held tightly by the guards beside him.

"His Majesty……"

Hua Yunhong suddenly pushed his personal guards away. All the madness, calculations, and resentment in his narrow eyes disappeared like burnt ashes, leaving only a deadly void and... a heart-pounding calmness.

He lost.

A crushing defeat.

They were not defeated by Qin Ming's military strength, but by the opponent's terrifying mobility, precise judgment, and the indestructible imperial war machine.

He didn't even... have the chance to have a head-on battle with Qin Ming.

"Order..." His voice was hoarse like an old bellows, "Retreat."

"Your Majesty? Where to retreat?" The guards were at a loss.

Hua Yunhong didn't answer. Where else could he retreat to? Though the world was vast, there was no place for him to stay. To the north lay Qin Ming's Beiting, to the south his heartland, to the west lay the Qiang people, and to the east... the sea.

He turned his horse's head, no longer looking at the battlefield where the sounds of fighting were fading, nor at the towering outline of the capital in the distance. He and his remaining personal guards, less than a hundred strong, left the battlefield like wandering ghosts, heading southeast - towards the desolate, sparsely populated hilly area.

He had no goal, just wandering aimlessly. Failure was like an icy tide, completely drowning him. His past ambitions, hatred, and calculations now seemed so ridiculous and pale.

……

Qin Ming soon received news of the great victory at Feiniao Gorge and that the remnants of Hua Yunhong had left the battlefield and their whereabouts were unknown.

He wasn't surprised. The victory at Feiniao Gorge was within his expectations. Hua Yunhong's escape was also inevitable, a desperate situation.