South of the Kunyang Mountain Range, an army of nearly a hundred thousand wound its way forward.
The general at its head was tall and powerfully built, with long, ape-like arms and a lean waist. He moved with ease despite his heavy armor. He was none other than Xiang Tuo, known by the title Tiger of the Xiang Clan.
The Chu Army under Xiang Tuo marched even faster, already leaving the Han Army from Wan City some distance behind.
"Report! Our scouts have encountered the enemy scouts ahead. One unit has stopped responding."
"Report! The Qin Army is attacking Ye County."
"Report..."
One scout after another raced back, delivering military intelligence.
As Xiang Tuo listened, he quickly grasped the situation.
"It seems Meng Wu already knows reinforcements are coming. That's why he's attacking Ye County so desperately."
"According to his plan, it should take another three days to completely surround Ye County. We've marched here at speed and caught him by surprise. He's already lost his composure."
"It's too late for him to force his way into the city."
"Entire army, pick up the pace! Join forces with the defenders of Ye City and wipe out the Qin Army!"
The Chu Army quickened its pace even further.
Xiang Tuo rode at the head of the army, galloping toward the east of Ye City.
On the other side of a mountain, Zhao Cheng's force of more than ten thousand cavalry sat in silent formation.
Feeling the faint tremors in the ground, Zhao Cheng and Meng Tian exchanged a glance. They saw smiles in each other's eyes.
"The enemy has walked right into the trap!"
From the sky, one could see the vast Chu Army leading the Han Army deeper into the pocket the Qin Army had laid for them.
Some time later, Chu Yun reached the eastern side of Ye County. From afar, he saw the Qin Army fiercely assaulting the city, the two sides locked in battle, their war cries shaking the heavens.
Clearly, Meng Wu had been driven to desperation and was trying to take Ye County by force before the reinforcements arrived.
"Hahahaha! He's this rattled and still dares call himself a famed general?"
Xiang Tuo naturally couldn't let such an opportunity pass.
He immediately ordered the Vanguard Battalion to press forward, hoping to smash through the Qin Army's formation in the chaos and then divide and destroy them.
With the city still unconquered ahead and reinforcements attacking from behind, even an army of tigers and wolves like the Qin Army ought to break after being struck from both sides.
"Charge with me!"
Xiang Tuo personally led more than a thousand Elite Soldiers into the charge. Like an awl, they plunged swiftly into the Qin Army.
He was exceptionally strong. Wielding a Great Halberd, he smashed through formations and slew enemies with every swing, advancing like a knife through bamboo.
The thousand Elite Soldiers behind him had been trained by him personally. Each was a fighter who could take on ten men.
This powerful force of a thousand cut into the Qin Army in an instant, and actually punched a huge hole in its ranks. Leading tens of thousands of troops, they began driving deep into the Qin Army.
The two sides met at close quarters, and the battle turned white-hot in an instant.
The farther Xiang Tuo charged, the more something felt wrong. The Qin formation was dense on the outside, but hollow in the middle.
At first, breaking through had been difficult. Yet the deeper he drove into the enemy formation, the easier it became.
"So they're all bark and no bite!" Xiang Tuo sneered, assuming the Qin Army had suffered too many losses in the earlier siege.
They had arranged their formation this way to frighten him, pretending to have more men than they did so they could slow his advance and buy more time to attack the city.
"Simple-minded fools."
Like a dragon or tiger, Xiang Tuo was drenched in blood as he led the army in an unrelenting slaughter, still finding no worthy opponent.
In terms of strength, he was indeed formidable.
But soon, he met fierce resistance.
The Chu Army had only just crossed through the center when the Qin Army's resistance suddenly surged. Under Meng Wu's command, ranks of Qin soldiers began turning like millstones, grinding toward Xiang Tuo's force.
If Xiang Tuo's troops had earlier been like a river rushing downhill, like a fierce tiger descending the mountain and plunging into the enemy formation,
then now it was like fighting upstream against a raging torrent, with layer upon layer of waves surging through it.
One layer after another, endlessly grinding them down.
Even Xiang Tuo felt his strength rapidly ebbing. The longer he fought, the more alarmed he became.
He looked up and saw that the Han Army on the city wall had stopped fighting. The Qin troops who had been attacking the city had stopped too. At this critical moment, both sides had ceased their fighting at once.
Some Han soldiers had even opened the city gates and led a large force out to join the Qin Army, adding fresh strength to the Qin formation's Wave-Layering Formation and making Xiang Tuo's charge all the more difficult.
"Damn it, the Han Army has turned traitor! Are they conspiring with the Qin Army to trap my force here and slaughter us!?"
Xiang Tuo's heart lurched. He looked back, afraid that the Han Army coming from Wan City might also be working for the Qin Army.
Fortunately, the force from Wan City had not betrayed them. They were fighting too, locked in battle with the Qin Army. When they saw the Han soldiers from Ye County join the Qin Army, even the Han general was dumbfounded.
Xiang Tuo's thoughts raced as he constantly surveyed the battlefield.
Though he couldn't understand why the defenders of Ye County had suddenly switched sides, the force that had poured out of the city wasn't all that large. He had already fought deep into the Qin formation. As long as he broke through its ranks and enveloped the enemy from both wings, he could still divide and destroy them!
With that in mind, he continued fighting his way forward.
The Qin formation was already dense outside and hollow within. Even with Meng Wu's Wave-Layering Formation grinding them down, the Chu Army continued to slowly push deeper, while the Qin Army showed faint signs of running out of strength.
Meng Wu remained calm. He waited until Xiang Tuo's rear guard had also pushed deeper, and even the reinforcements from Wan City had fully entered the encirclement, before he waved his command flag!
To the enemy's astonishment, twenty thousand light infantry charged out at once, sweeping in from both wings.
The Qin Army had formed a complete encirclement.
Only then did Xiang Tuo realize the danger. His face changed dramatically.
Wasn't this damn formation his cousin's famous Triple-Layer Formation!?
The vanguard lured the enemy deep, the center held firm with Wave-Layering, and the wings closed in to encircle and destroy them!
He knew this formation all too well. The moment he recognized it, he decisively ordered the entire army to retreat and break through!
He himself reacted just as swiftly, wheeling the vanguard around and leading them toward the side and rear, where they could break out.
As he fought, he issued one order after another.
His adjutants waved their banners in response, and the formation shifted rapidly with each command. In the ever-changing battle, they smoothly changed formation and broke through, responding with remarkable precision.
Moreover, because he had reacted quickly, the encircling wings had yet to close. He had already begun to break through the trap.
So the Chu Army really did fight its way through the gap before the encirclement could close, clinging desperately to that single path of escape.
The battle fell into a stalemate.
The Qin Army kept pressing forward, hoping to cut off the Chu Army's escape route.
Knowing that the loss of that route meant certain death, the Chu Army fought with its backs to the river, clinging to the path and steadily widening it.
Xiang Tuo's force also charged in every direction, concentrating its strength at key points to break through. The escape route grew wider and wider as more of the Chu Army fought its way out of the encirclement, retreating as they fought.
As he fought, Xiang Tuo bellowed, "The gorge ahead is flanked by mountains on both sides. It's easy to defend and hard to attack. Once we retreat there, the Qin Army won't be able to do a thing to us!"
The soldiers' spirits surged at his words, their morale rising once more. They were ready to burn their boats and fight with their backs to the river!
They gnawed away at the escape route, piece by piece.
The fierceness of their battle spirit was plain to see.
But at that very moment,
Dense rumbling suddenly echoed from the mountain gorge behind the Chu Army.
The rumbling grew louder and faster. As it drew closer, it grew more thunderous, and the sound of pounding hooves began to roll like a flood of thunder.
Xiang Tuo's heart jumped. He narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance.
First, he saw a black Qin banner waving in the wind. Beneath it, a general led the charge on horseback.
The pale-faced young general wore Gilded Scale Armor and wielded a Great Halberd twelve feet long. Bent low over his horse, he kicked up clouds of dust as he charged like an arrow, Killing Intent soaring toward them!
More than ten thousand light cavalry followed close behind, galloping out at incredible speed like a volley of arrows striking at the enemy!
Their battle spirit seemed to merge into a single mass, soaring skyward, splitting the clouds and shattering the heavens, with the force of a tiger swallowing ten thousand miles!
At the sight, Xiang Tuo's expression finally changed dramatically!
The cavalry appeared like Divine Weapons descending from the heavens, instantly cutting off the Chu Army's only rear route of retreat and sealing the sole gap in the Qin Army's vast encirclement!
By now, the Chu Army was completely trapped with no way out!
Xiang Tuo hardened his resolve and made a snap decision. "Break through at once! Bring the whole army forward and smash through the gorge!"
It was like a warrior cutting off his own arm to save himself. They had barely opened the escape route, and it was still narrow. Many of the Chu soldiers remained trapped among the enemy, fighting desperately to break out.
If they gathered their strength and charged through the gorge, many men at the rear would certainly be encircled and slaughtered.
But if they didn't charge, the entire army would be wiped out.
Xiang Tuo led eight hundred Death Warriors in a headlong charge, meeting the cavalry in the gorge head-on.
After the initial charge and then the attempted breakthrough, the thousand or so elite Death Warriors under his command had already suffered hundreds of casualties.
But it didn't matter. Xiang Tuo was still confident he could break through.
"The enemy general is a greenhorn, yet he dares imitate me and lead the charge! I'll cut him down from his horse, break the enemy's spirit, and wipe them out while their army is left without a leader!"
Grinning viciously, he galloped toward Zhao Cheng.
When the enemy general hid in the formation, Xiang Tuo could still charge through it and cut him down.
But this boy dared to be so arrogant, charging at the very front all by himself. Did he not know the name Tiger of the Xiang Clan?
The two sides charged at each other, both moving at their utmost speed.
Zhao Cheng was already galloping at full speed, and Xiang Tuo was a skilled rider too. In just a short time, he had driven his horse to a fierce pace, swift as an arrow loosed from its string.
In the span of a few blinks, the distance between them rapidly shrank to thirty zhang.
Then twenty zhang.
Ten zhang...
Xiang Tuo could already make out Zhao Cheng's valiant brows and eyes. He could also see his jade-like, youthful face.
He's so young and soft-faced. What could he possibly be capable of?
That Great Halberd looks fearsome, but it's probably just for show.
The thought flashed through his mind, and their weapons met.
The two horses collided. Xiang Tuo roared like a tiger, his arm muscles bulging as his Great Halberd crashed down like a mountain, the wind roaring around it.
Zhao Cheng made no sound. He quietly raised his arm and swung his Great Halberd. It cut through the air like a blade through the wind, striking first despite moving second!
Clang!
Metal scraped against metal as the Great Halberd cut nearly halfway through the Great Halberd.
At the same time, an unimaginable force struck. As the Great Halberd bent, Xiang Tuo's arms were wracked with pain. His whole body arched backward to its limit before he was finally hurled sideways through the air.
The blow sent him flying like a broken sack.
What monstrous strength was this!?
Dumbfounded, Xiang Tuo crashed through several Death Warriors before managing to seize his horse's head and swing himself back into the saddle. Blood poured from his palms.
When he looked up, Zhao Cheng had already swept his Great Halberd through seven or eight Death Warriors. He charged straight into the formation, unstoppable and moving as if no one stood in his way, headed straight for Xiang Tuo!
A chill ran through Xiang Tuo. His scalp prickled.
Am I doomed!?
Such divine might was truly beyond anything he had ever heard of!
His weapon was inferior, and so was his strength.
If I don't run now, when will I!?
He wheeled his horse around and desperately retreated into the formation, no longer caring about morale or anything else...
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