Chapter 142 Fighting is the Only Option, Surrender is Not an Option

Old Ma and the others on the city wall looked silently at Qi Rong and Lin Changning, who were almost covered in blood from the battle below.

With red eyes, Old Ma ripped off his waist tag and threw it into Old Zhou's arms: "I'll go down and bring them back!"

Old Zhang rubbed his reddened eyes: "I'll go with you!"

Looking down at the two men surrounded by a dense horde of Tartars, Old Zhou felt a mixture of sorrow and admiration.

Old Zhou stared quietly at the two stubborn and resolute figures standing tall amidst the encirclement below the city walls, then suddenly asked, "People, have you finished evacuating?"

Behind him, Liu Baihu, who had a limp, nodded: "They've almost all withdrawn."

Old Zhou nodded, watching Old Ma lead his men down. A surge of camaraderie welled up within him, and he laughed loudly, shouting, "Old buddies! Wait for me!"

With that, he grabbed his sword and chased after them down from the city wall. He knew he was doomed to lose this battle and that he might not be able to save the two men, but those two resolute figures, who knew they were going to die but still went without hesitation, were deeply engraved in his heart.

He felt he should go.

The three commanders, each leading a hundred infantrymen, opened the city gates and rushed out.

Perhaps it was the sight of the two men fighting to the death that moved these men from Daxing, or perhaps it was their unwavering resolve despite knowing they were doomed to die.

The three hundred-plus men displayed the momentum of a thousand or ten thousand men. Old Ma, with a ferocious expression, led the charge toward the center of the encirclement.

Old Zhang glared fiercely at every approaching Tartar, following closely behind Old Ma as they charged toward the two men in the center, whose fates were unknown.

The fearless Daxing border troops shocked the Tatar cavalry, and many of them, even when stabbed, would take one or two Tatar cavalrymen with them.

The border troops, blinded by rage, and the Tartars, panicked and disorganized.

Boundless rage erupted from the chests of every border soldier, echoing between heaven and earth.

Their eyes were as sharp as eagles, fixed on the location of their commander who was surrounded. They had only one belief in their hearts—to rescue the commander and the chiliarch, and fight to the death!

Where the old horse pointed its long sword, blood splattered, and the Tatar cavalry's formation was instantly torn open.

The infantrymen following closely behind, wielding long swords, charged into the enemy ranks with shouts, engaging in fierce close combat with the Tatars.

The clash of swords and the shouts of battle shook the heavens.

The border soldiers were fearless and each of them exerted all their strength to clear a path for Qi Rong and Lin Changning with their own flesh and blood.

Their armor was already stained with blood, yet they still brandished their weapons and charged forward bravely.

The Tatar cavalry were stunned by this frenzied and demonic momentum; they had never seen such a reckless army.

"The Third Prince? What are we going to do? The people of Da Xuan have gone mad!"

The tribal chief standing nearby exclaimed in shock, no one had expected that these few hundred people would actually break through their army's formation.

The Third Prince squinted at the two figures standing firm in the center of the encirclement and sighed: "The great Tatar warriors respect every soldier. The other side is already in a dead end. Let them withdraw. There is no need to lose our men because of these few hundred. These border troops came down with the determination to die. Even if we can wipe them out, many of them will be injured."

The junior chieftain waved his hand, and his men waved command flags to signal a retreat. Looking at the two men in the center from afar, the chieftain said admiringly, "The Emperor of Da Xuan doesn't provide provisions, and the Prince of Da Xuan is spreading rumors among the tribes. How can such people still gain the loyalty of our warriors? If these two were my Tatar warriors, alas…"

The third prince glanced at the leader, seemingly reminded, and rode his horse at full speed toward the two of them.

Old Ma had already rushed in front of the two men, and the Tartars retreated several hundred meters in unison, revealing the two men in the center.

Old Ma and Old Zhang arrived at the center first. Old Ma dismounted and looked at Lin Changning, who was carrying Qi Rong with his head down in the middle. He staggered, tripped over the corpse under his feet, and continued to crawl forward by supporting himself on his arms.

The 1.8-meter-tall man's eyes instantly turned red, and he collapsed at their feet, almost bursting into tears as he looked at their blood-stained faces.

"Commander! Changping! Ah~"

Old Zhang followed them up the mountain of corpses. Old Ma let out a howl, which startled Old Zhang. Trembling, he reached out and touched the noses of Lin Changning and Qi Rong. Finding that they were still breathing faintly, he slapped Old Ma's shoulder and cried and laughed at the same time: "They're still alive! They're still alive! Stop wailing! Quickly take them away!"

Old Ma paused in his wailing, reached out to check, and, confirming that the person was not dead, slapped his thigh with joy and reached out to carry Lin Changning on his back.

The moment the two made contact, Lin Changning instinctively swung his knife. A flash of cold light grazed Old Ma's neck. Fortunately, Old Zhou, who had just arrived, reacted quickly and pulled the two of them back, narrowly avoiding Lin Changning's unexpected knife.

Old Ma was sweating profusely. He hadn't died at the hands of the Tartars, but he was lucky to have fallen into the hands of that kid Changping.

Looking at Lin Changning, who was delirious from blood loss but still instinctively fighting, Old Zhou tentatively called out, "Changping! It's us, we've come to your aid!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Lin Changning slowly opened his eyes. His somewhat unfocused pupils focused on the three people in front of him. He turned his head to look at Qi Rong, whose chest was still rising and falling slightly. The breath he had been holding in his heart finally eased.

Seemingly seeing his comrades, or perhaps truly exhausted, Lin Changning collapsed straight forward.

Old Ma reached out and caught the two who had fallen. Old Zhang immediately helped carry Qi Rong on his back: "Let's go!"

Old Ma lifted the limp Lin Changning up on his back and suddenly realized how thin and weak the boy was.

"Kid, hang in there, I'll take you home!"

As they spoke, Lao Zhang carried the two men onto their warhorses, while Lao Zhou led the way. They hadn't gone far when the Third Prince led his men to surround them again, but they only gathered them in the center and no one made the first move.

He rode his horse slowly forward from behind, and when he reached the front, he stared intently at the three commanders of Da Xuan.

These three men are all tough guys; in previous years, the Tatars suffered a lot at their hands.

The third prince stared at the three men on horseback and shouted, "Your emperor has abandoned you, and your prince betrayed us. Are you still willing to risk your lives for people like them?"

Old Zhang and Old Ma remained silent with their backs to the person, while Old Zhou pursed his lips and stared intently at the person opposite him. They knew in their hearts that this person was right.

Daxing was abandoned, and they were discarded.

Seeing that the men looked unwell, the third prince said again, "Surrender! Submit to the Tatars, submit to me! The Tatars will not mistreat any loyal warrior. Those two won't last much longer, will they? You only have a few hundred men, but I still have several thousand Tatar warriors. If you want them to live, surrender and submit to me."

The three men, Lao Zhou and Lao Zhang, didn't say anything, but silently drew their long knives.

Old Ma tightly bound Lin Changning to his back, pointed his knife at the Third Prince, and declared emphatically, "Men of Daxing have no cowards! We would rather die fighting than surrender!! My comrades! Follow me, and fight our way out!"