"Lu Jiaxuan, you fool."
"You actually dared to lead men out of the city and face thirty thousand Iron Pagoda Cavalry head-on. This is simply seeking your own death."
Wang Yang stood atop the high platform, looking down at the eight thousand Lu Family Army soldiers assembled and ready at the Western Gate. His heart churned with indescribable rage and helplessness.
"How could Lu Jiaxuan commit such a madman's folly?"
The South Gate stood wide open, and countless rebel troops scattered like a receding tide.
Yet Wang Yang's expression remained calm.
He had long since seen through the hearts of the various rebel forces. Their fear of North Wind had all been within his expectations.
Wang Yang had already resolved to die. As long as the city remained, so would he.
However!
The Lu Family Army, once renowned for its courage in battle and steady command, had suffered another upheaval today.
How could Lu Jiaxuan, a veteran general so prudent and seasoned in warfare, have become so impulsive and rash today?
Wang Yang's heart was filled with confusion and grief.
He did not wish to see the Lu Family Army, a true iron force standing against the north, perish so easily.
This was not worth it!
He turned around, his gaze falling upon a burly man behind him carrying a broadsword on his back.
This man was the renowned martial grandmaster of the jianghu—the "General Sword," Ouyang Jingyu.
Ouyang Jingyu was his personal guard, loyal to the core. This time, he too was willing to remain until the city fell.
Wang Yang also regarded him as true family and friend.
"Jingyu, do they have any chance of winning if they leave the city this time?"
Ouyang Jingyu shook his head.
"The Iron Pagoda Cavalry are all clad in heavy armor, like moving fortresses. They are beyond the strength of men to overcome!"
"Even I, if faced with the charge of a hundred Iron Pagoda Cavalry, could only retreat three paces. My life itself might be in danger."
Wang Yang nodded silently. In his heart, he already had the answer.
At that moment, the deputy general hurried over and reported in a low voice, "General, it is said that this strategy of leaving the city was devised by General Lu's eldest son, Lu Chen."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yang suddenly clenched the railing, a flash of anger crossing his eyes.
He snorted coldly and said,
"That yellow-mouthed child is nothing but an armchair strategist. How could he possibly know the terror of the Iron Pagoda Cavalry?"
"Alas, the mighty Lu Family Army is going to perish because of a brat's words."
Wang Yang looked beneath the city walls.
Thirty thousand Iron Pagoda Cavalry advanced in perfect order.
They spread out along both flanks, galloping like thunder.
The clanging of countless armor plates striking one another rang without end.
Tens of thousands of armored soldiers moved as one, their momentum like a towering mountain. From afar, all that could be seen was a vast, black mass of heads.
Upon the city walls, the only sound from the defending soldiers was sharp intakes of breath.
Even Ouyang Jingyu's eyes narrowed.
Tuoba Shuyi had drawn all his troops to strike the Western Gate.
Wang Yang sighed inwardly.
From the moment the Western Gate had opened and the rebel troops at the South Gate had fled,
Hulao Pass had already been declared lost.
"Heaven is destroying my Great Qing!"
Yu Ke stared intensely at the simulation light screen.
[In the twentieth year, at the Beginning of Autumn, North Wind's army reached Hulao Pass. After four days of siege, the rebel troops fled at the mere sight of them. Only the Lu Family Army left the city to meet the enemy.] [Tuoba Shuyi's Iron Pagoda Cavalry all wore heavy armor and were bound together with leather ropes, three horses in a link, known as the "Linked Horse Cavalry." They swept across the Northern Region, and none dared stand against them.] [The Lu Family Army arrived with eight thousand cavalry. They ordered the infantry to enter the formation with Mazha Sabers. Do not look upward; first chop the horses' legs. The Linked Horse Cavalry were connected together—if one horse fell, the other two could not move. The Lu Family Army struck fiercely and utterly routed them, battling tens of thousands of enemies.]
That day, even after the last rays of the setting sun had vanished,
Wang Yang's hands were still trembling.
He stared beyond the Western Gate. There, corpses lay piled like mountains, blood flowed into rivers, and devastation filled the eye.
The corpses had been stacked into a gruesome victory mound.
As the battle began, his feelings had shifted from initial reluctance, to later shock and awe,
and now to a sense of grandeur and utter disbelief.
Wang Yang's dry lips trembled slightly as he tried to force out several weighty words. At last, he murmured softly, "We... won."
As though in a dream, he repeated, "We... won."
Those simple two words struck his heart like a heavy hammer, leaving even Wang Yang unable to believe them.
Eight thousand against thirty thousand—despite such a vast disparity in numbers, they had actually won.
And they had faced the invincible Iron Pagoda Cavalry!
They had crushed them in an open and honorable battle!
Wang Yang felt as though a fishbone were lodged in his throat. He clenched his fists.
His gaze fell upon the fluttering banner outside the Western Gate. The once-pristine flag was now dyed red with blood, and the great character "Lu" upon it burned like blazing fire.
Ouyang Jingyu's chest too surged with emotion. His blood boiled, and his fighting spirit blazed wildly.
He had already descended from the city wall and thrown himself into the ranks of the Lu Family Army.
At this moment, only two thousand men remained in the Lu Family Army.
Though only a little over two thousand remained, every one of them was drenched in blood, as though they had emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Their armor was soaked through with blood, while thick mud and bloody stains lay beneath their feet.
Blood covered their bodies, mud clung to both feet.
The killing intent soaring from them, along with their wolf-and-tiger eyes, chilled all who saw them.
Suddenly, a resounding cry tore through the sky:
"Lu Family Army, invincible!" The cry thundered through every heart.
Following that shout, more and more defenders joined the ranks of the Lu Family Army.
"Lu Family Army, invincible!"
"Lu Family Army, invincible!"
Amid those earthshaking cries, Lu Yu shouted loudly.
"Brothers, today, follow me as we trample a thousand armies beneath our horses' hooves!"
A wild roar shook the land for ten miles.
Inside North Wind's main tent, deathly silence reigned. The oppressive atmosphere was suffocating. Some generals were so terrified that they lost their voices, able only to mutter to themselves,
"How is this possible?!"
Tuoba Shuyi's face had already turned livid. He clenched his teeth so tightly that they ground together.
"Eight thousand against our thirty thousand Iron Pagoda Cavalry, along with ten thousand infantry, and they actually... all perished."
When two armies faced each other, once a formation fell into disorder, it became like lambs awaiting slaughter.
Facing the tide-like cavalry charge, the Lu Family Army had actually dismounted to hack at the horses' legs. With the resolve to die, they displayed such fearless courage that it had already struck terror into the army.
Tuoba Shuyi suddenly felt an unbearable oppression in his chest. A mouthful of stagnant blood seemed ready to burst from his throat, and he nearly fainted.
The thirty thousand Iron Pagoda Cavalry were not merely the most elite heavy cavalry beneath his command—they were also the foundation of his power to intimidate the world.
Now, the entire army had been annihilated.
He took several deep breaths before finally recovering.
The large table before him had already been overturned. The generals in the tent wore grave expressions, while the guards did not even dare breathe loudly.
"Our military formation is already in chaos. Continuing the battle will only lead to greater losses," Tuoba Shuyi said angrily.
"If they crowd together, they will only become the enemy's targets. Send the order: forbid the sounding of the gong to withdraw, lest the army's morale collapse into total chaos. Immediately dispatch six thousand light cavalry to cover the retreat. Fall back one li and reorganize the formation."
The generals in the tent all nodded, admiring Tuoba Shuyi's decisiveness.
Even in such a critical situation, he was still able to remain calm.
Someone swiftly accepted the order and went to receive the retreating troops.
However, at that very moment, a scout rushed anxiously into the main tent.
"Report!" The scout's voice was filled with panic. "The Lu Family Army has brought four thousand cavalry and is already charging toward us!"
The moment those words were spoken, the tent erupted into an uproar.
The generals all rose to their feet, their faces full of shock and disbelief.
Tuoba Shuyi narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze filled with coldness.
"Pressing the enemy at the very front—what boldness."
"Report!" the scout cried again.
"The Lu Family Army has joined forces with Wang Yang's defenders, for a total of twenty thousand men, and they are attacking fiercely!"
"They have already broken through our Fish Scale Formation, Eight Gates Formation, and Crane Wing Formation in succession!"
Upon hearing this news, Tuoba Shuyi let out a breath, his expression dark.
He knew that the Lu Family Army's morale now surged like a rainbow and could not be stopped, while his own soldiers had had their courage stolen away.
They could fight no longer!
Therefore!
He decisively ordered, "Pass the order for the entire army to retreat. Use our main camp as a banner to confuse the enemy. At the same time, deploy another force to feign an attack on Hulao Pass and draw the Lu Family Army back to reinforce it. If they return to reinforce the pass, we can withdraw. If they do not, we will seize the chance to take Hulao Pass."
"And one more thing!"
A vicious glint flashed through Tuoba Shuyi's eyes.
"Go invite Chan Master Longshu. When the two armies clash, make sure he brings back Lu Jiaxuan's head."
"Yes, Sixth Prince."
Dear readers, snuggles.
Before you continue