Song Xuan's eyes were icy cold, and the generals in the tent were all shocked by his words.

The generals' shock was not due to fear, but rather to incomprehension.

Everyone knew that sending 10,000 men up there would be suicide, and Song Xuan was opposing their support. Wasn't this just tantamount to taking General Wang's life?

“General, if the Emperor finds out about this, you will probably be punished. I think we should send troops to attack Shuangfeng Mountain. It might be possible to take over Lingnan in one fell swoop.”

Upon hearing this, Song Xuan suddenly stood up and slammed the wine glass to the ground.

"Come here! Drag him out and behead him!"

At his command, four people rushed in from outside.

"Marshal, please calm down!"

All the arrivals knelt on the ground, but they still could not change Song Xuan's orders.

"Drag him out!"

Song Xuan finally revealed his true colors, killing even those who offered reasonable opinions. In an instant, the generals in the tent were all filled with fear.

...

On Shuangfeng Mountain, Hou Jing and Li Can were preparing to reduce their forces. Zhou Xiang ordered that they should only launch a light attack, as a large number of troops would make retreat difficult.

"Brother Hou, what do you think the commander is thinking? Now the people of Dawu are filled with resentment, and our 280,000 righteous troops are only defending and not attacking."

Li Can's tone carried a hint of resentment. They had all followed Chen Zhennan, fighting their way through countless battles and emerging from piles of corpses, yet now they were being treated so pathetically.

Hou Jing couldn't help but laugh: "Brother Li, when has the Commander-in-Chief's order ever gone wrong? The Prince is also acting under orders, as for us..."

Before Hou Jing could finish speaking, a cavalryman galloped up to the two of them and dismounted.

"Generals, Song Xuan has mobilized his troops. Wang Xiao is leading 10,000 soldiers and is attacking the mountain."

Hou Jing was taken aback upon hearing this, and asked hesitantly, "How many people?"

"Wang Xiao's 10,000 troops are the only ones; Song Xuan's army at Black Stone River has not made any move."

Hou Jing pursed his lips and turned to look at Li Can.

"Ten thousand people? Brother Li, something seems a bit off to me."

Li Can also fell into thought, but soon came up with an idea.

"Brother Hou, deploy troops to defend both flanks, prepare supplies to deal with them, I need to go to the other side to defend, if they have reinforcements, retreat according to orders."

Hou Jing nodded upon hearing this and immediately ordered troops to guard both sides of the mountain. Li Can hurriedly mounted his horse and went to the other mountain on the opposite side.

On the mountain road ahead, Wang Xiao's face was heavy. Apart from the sound of marching footsteps, there wasn't even a bird's chirp in the mountains.

Wang Xiao, among the generals of Dawu Capital, although not a veteran of countless battles, was still very experienced.

Leading 10,000 people is quite a commotion, and the absence of birdsong on the mountain can only mean one thing: the birds have been scared away.

Just then, Wang Xiao suddenly heard a muffled rumbling sound, and the entire mountain shook as if an earthquake had struck.

A sense of foreboding welled up in Wang Xiao's heart, and he thought to himself, "This is bad."

Suddenly, countless boulders rolled down the mountain road with tremendous force, as if the mountain had collapsed and the earth had split open.

"Quick! Everyone hide in the woods!" Wang Xiao hurriedly ordered, his voice tinged with urgency.

The soldiers scattered in panic, searching for trees to take cover. However, the boulders were rolling down too fast, and many soldiers were unable to dodge in time, being struck and killed, their flesh and blood flying everywhere.

"No!"

Wang Xiao cried out in anguish, her heart filled with self-blame.

The chaos caused by the rolling stones plunged the soldiers along the mountain road into panic. Wang Xiao's orders were almost ignored, and his voice sounded insignificant in the chaos.

The boulders rolled down as if the earth were collapsing, and the soldiers scattered and fled, but could not escape their doom.

"Quickly, get into the woods and find cover!" Wang Xiao shouted, trying his best to direct the soldiers.

The rolling stones finally stopped after causing hundreds of deaths and injuries, but morale had collapsed, and the soldiers' eyes were filled with fear and unease.

Wang Xiao wasn't stupid; the garrison on the mountain had clearly made preparations long ago, and this series of rolling stones was just an appetizer.

"General Wang, what do we do now?" a deputy general asked anxiously.

Wang Xiao took a deep breath and looked down the mountain. Although the casualties were less than 10%, the morale of the army had collapsed, and continuing the attack would be tantamount to suicide.

"Pass on my order: the entire army retreats and reorganizes!"

Just as Wang Xiao gave the order to retreat, countless points of light suddenly appeared in the sky. It wasn't until those points of light got closer that Wang Xiao realized they were flaming arrows.

"Scatter! Scatter quickly!" Wang Xiao's voice was filled with despair as he desperately dodged the falling rockets.

The soldiers fled in panic, but flaming arrows rained down, setting many soldiers' clothes ablaze and causing them to wail in agony.

"General, we've been ambushed!" the lieutenant shouted.

Wang Xiao knew he had been ambushed, but he was more curious about whether Zhou Xiang had gone mad.

Countless rockets were stuck in the trees. It was late autumn, and although Lingnan was located in the south, the autumn wind was strong. Wasn't Zhou Xiang worried that the fire would burn up there?

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

Wang Xiao gave the order again, and with his shout, arrows rained down, instantly turning the surrounding forest into a sea of ​​fire.

Wang Xiao led his remaining troops in a panic to the foot of the mountain. Looking back, he saw that of the original 10,000 troops, only half remained.

Wang Xiao clenched his fists, his resentment beyond words. These thousands of brothers had all died at Song Xuan's hands.

Turning to look at the Black Stone River camp, they found that Song Xuan's army had not moved at all, and there was no sign of the reinforcements that Song Xuan had promised.

A surge of anger at being betrayed welled up in Song Xuan's heart. His eyes were fixed on Song Xuan's military camp, as if he wanted to breathe fire.

"Song Xuan, you treacherous and despicable man!"

Wang Xiao cursed through gritted teeth, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword, trembling slightly with rage.

Seeing this, the lieutenant quickly stepped forward to advise, "General, now is not the time to act impulsively. You must remain calm. Song Xuan is a villain; we cannot afford to offend him further."

Wang Xiao pondered for a moment, then nodded with a sigh. He was just about to order his deputy to lead the remaining troops to rest when Song Xuan walked out of the command tent.

Wang Xiao's anger burned in his chest. He clenched his fists and tried hard to suppress his emotions.

"General, what do you mean by this? Where is your aid?" Wang Xiao's voice was low and deep, like a suppressed volcano.

Upon hearing this, Song Xuan seemed unconcerned, letting out a cold laugh with a hint of sarcasm in his voice: "Wang Xiao, you're reaping what you sowed. This is the result of being arrogant."

Wang Xiao's deputies were also angered and stepped forward one after another.

"Song Xuan, you're crying wolf! You're the one who sent us to our deaths, yet you dare to speak so arrogantly here!"

Song Xuan's face darkened, his gaze sweeping over Wang Xiao and the others like a knife. He said coldly, "I am acting on the Emperor's orders. What right do you defeated generals have to criticize me here?"

"you!"

"Guards, drag Wang Xiao and his deputy general away and execute them!"

At his command, the royal guards brought by Song Xuan stepped forward.

"Imperial edict has arrived!"