Looking at the approaching Qiang army, Duan Jiong smiled slightly, he greatly admired the courage of the Qiang leader.

Therefore, Duan Jiong decided to personally cut off his head to show his respect to Dianmu.

With the Qiang army less than five li away, a distance most advantageous for the Han army, which was positioned on higher ground, the situation became clear.

Duan Jiong slowly lowered his right hand, which had been holding the long sword high, the tip of the sword pointing directly at the Qiang army.

"kill!"

Duan Jiong immediately shouted and spurred his horse to charge towards the Qiang cavalry, with Dong Zhuo, Tian Yan, and Guo Si following closely behind.

"kill!"

All the Han soldiers shouted and spurred their warhorses, following their commander as they charged down towards the Qiang army below.

Because the Han army was positioned on higher ground, their charge quickly reached its maximum speed.

Seeing the Han army charging towards them at such a high speed, many Qiang soldiers at the forefront felt a sense of fear when they saw the excited and bloodthirsty expressions on the faces of the Han soldiers.

Soon the Han and Qiang armies were locked in fierce combat. From the air, the two armies looked like two rushing rivers colliding violently.

In an instant, shouts of battle and the neighing of warhorses filled the air. Dong Zhuo shouted and slashed at a Qiang cavalryman with his long sword. In just a moment, the Qiang cavalryman's head flew high into the air.

Seeing the Han general's ferocity, the surrounding Qiang people were immediately terrified. Dong Zhuo laughed loudly and quickly charged into the Qiang ranks, heading straight for a Qiang leader. The Han soldiers following Dong Zhuo were greatly encouraged by his ferocity.

For a time, the two sides were locked in a fierce hand-to-hand battle. The headless corpses hanging on the horses, the heads and severed limbs lying on the ground, and the pungent smell of blood wafting around all indicated the brutality of the battle.

On the battlefield, a Han soldier faced an attack from two Qiang people. He showed no fear, but stared intently at the neck of one of the Qiang people. He swung his long sword fiercely, and in an instant, the Qiang man was decapitated.

Meanwhile, another Qiang soldier's longsword struck his collarbone. The Han soldier cried out in pain, grabbed the Qiang soldier's sword with his left hand as the Qiang soldier tried to pull it back, and then glared at the Qiang soldier with a ferocious expression. He then swung his sword at the Qiang soldier's neck again with his right hand. The Qiang soldier was startled by the ferocious look of the Han soldier, then felt a sharp pain in his neck, and then everything went black. He fell off his horse.

Another Han soldier, seeing his arm severed by the enemy and knowing he could not survive, lunged at a Qiang soldier, pulling him down from his horse.

Such situations were common on the battlefield. They were already exhausted from their long march of hundreds of miles, and when faced with such a fearless Han army, the fear in the hearts of many Qiang people was magnified infinitely, and their morale was also dampened.

Seeing the ferocity of the Han army, many Qiang leaders worried about the heavy losses their troops would suffer and began to retreat. They led their men and slowly moved towards the edge of the battlefield, while only the Dianmu tribe remained in the center of the battlefield, still fighting the Han army. Soon after the battle began, the Qiang showed signs of weakness and gradually began to lose.

At this moment, Duan Jiong's gaze was fixed on Dian Mu among the Qiang people. He was nearly fifty years old at this time, and although his physical strength was not as good as before, years of fighting had made him full of awe-inspiring aura.

"Target: the Qiang banner! Follow me and kill!"

With Duan Jiong's command, he took the lead and charged ahead, followed by only a few dozen personal guards. Not far away, Dong Zhuo, Guo Si, and others also abandoned their opponents and surrounded Dianmu.

Dianmu also noticed Duan Jiong charging towards him. In his view, only by capturing or killing this Han general could he boost his morale and turn defeat into victory. So he led his personal guards to charge towards Duan Jiong.

"Good timing!"

Seeing that the enemy was advancing instead of retreating, Duan Jiong couldn't help but think more highly of this Dian Mu, and soon the two were engaged in close combat.

The two men, who shared the same goal, clashed their long swords together fiercely. The moment they clashed, Dianmu felt a numbness in his hand, and his sword almost slipped from his grasp. He hadn't expected this Han general to possess such strength.

Duan Jiong was also feeling rather uncomfortable at this moment. As expected of someone who could sit on the throne of a powerful figure in the Qiang tribe, he was indeed quite capable.

And so, the two turned and fought again.

Meanwhile, Shehetai, who was operating behind the battlefield, also noticed that the Qiang people were in a losing position. Without hesitation, he led his more than 2,000 men to charge towards the rear of Dianmu's army. He knew that regardless of victory or defeat, if Dianmu and his son were allowed to return, he, his tribe, and his wife, children, and elderly parents would be doomed. At present, surrendering to the Han army was the only way to survive.

The rear of the Qiang army was thrown into chaos. The Han soldiers seized the opportunity to fight even harder. With the front lines overwhelmed and the rear in disarray, many Qiang soldiers turned their horses around and retreated from the battlefield.

The commotion behind him threw Dianmu into a state of panic. He knew he had lost this time, but he didn't think it was his fault. It was all because of that damned Shehetai. Dianmu's eyes turned bloodshot, and he roared as he charged toward Duan Jiong.

"Hmph~ I admire your courage, but the more courageous you are, the more you must die!"

Duan Jiong sneered and charged towards Dian Mu. Facing the blade that Dian Mu was about to strike, Duan Jiong ducked down on his horse to dodge it, and then thrust his long sword at Dian Mu's warhorse.

The horse reared up in pain, and Dianmu was thrown off. Duan Jiong turned the horse around and charged at Dianmu again. The horse's huge hoof stomped hard on Dianmu, who was lying on the ground. Dianmu could not dodge in time and was trampled in the chest, instantly dying.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!