Chapter 377 Torrent
The red sun rose slowly from the east, overlooking the desolate wilderness. The sunlight pierced through the thick smoke and shone on the thousands of soldiers fighting, illuminating their blood-stained armor, the military flags on the battlefield, the smoke-stained walls of Leshan City, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Whether attacking or defending, they all knew that the battle had reached its final stage. Both sides put all their strength into the battle. The side that could not hold on would be completely defeated and would never be able to turn the situation around.
To the east of Leshan, Wei Liang led 35,000 border troops against Yan Yilong's 40,000 soldiers. Yan Yilong ordered 30,000 infantry to block the front and 10,000 archers to fire arrows at the enemy. Rows of arrows flew through the air and poured down on Wei Liang's troops, hoping to kill as many of the enemy soldiers as possible before the two armies' infantry engaged.
To his surprise, Wei Liang's soldiers, upon seeing the incoming arrows, halted in their tracks, crouching with their shields raised in defense, making no attempt to attack. Their crouching shields nearly covered their entire bodies, and the rain of arrows had little effect on them. When the rain of arrows ceased, the border guards rose and continued their advance toward Leshan City.
This made Yan Yilong feel strange. The other party came to rescue Leshan, so shouldn't they charge forward in a hurry? Why were they attacking so slowly, as if they were waiting for something?
Although it was strange, he didn't know what the other party was waiting for. Anyway, the mission was to annihilate this border army, so he ordered the infantry to advance.
The two armies gradually approached each other, and then a deafening cry of killing was heard. The soldiers raised their spears and charged towards the opposite side. The two sides collided with each other, like two rows of huge waves colliding and intertwining, and blood-red waves splashed everywhere.
"Your Majesty, General Yan has already engaged in battle with the border troops," Lin Kui reminded Xiao Beiheng while standing beside him.
He and Xiao Beiheng stood on a high hill outside Leshan City, where they could take in the entire battlefield situation. However, Xiao Beiheng ignored what he said and looked at the foot of Leshan City, where Xiao Beiheng's 40,000 troops were fighting with the defenders who rushed out of the city.
Seeing that Xiao Beiheng ignored him, Lin Kui thought his voice was too soft, so he raised his voice and said, "Your Majesty, General Yan..."
Xiao Beiheng raised his hand to stop him from speaking, then pointed to the foot of Leshan City and said:
"See? Xiao Zhuo personally led his troops out. He wants to cooperate with the border troops to attack from both sides, but he only has 10,000 soldiers. I have 40,000 troops on my side and will soon overwhelm him. I don't care about General Yan, as long as he can hold off the border troops."
Lin Kui looked in the direction he pointed, and across the sea of people, he saw a man fighting. The long sword in his hand almost danced into a ball of white light, and wherever he went, soldiers fell down like wheat being cut. After just staring for a while, the man killed a general and dozens of soldiers. The generals in front of him were like paper dummies, and could not survive a single round.
He couldn't see the man's face clearly because of the tens of thousands of soldiers between them. He could only see that the man's silver-white armor had turned blood red.
"Your Majesty, is that Xiao Zhuo?" he asked. "How could you recognize him from such a distance?"
"It's Xiao Zhuo," Xiao Beiheng touched the hilt of the Yanque Sword, "The only man who can use such swordsmanship is him."
Lin Kui said, "Your Majesty, since Xiao Zhuo has already come out, how about capturing the leader first? How about letting the soldiers deal with him with bows and arrows? As long as Xiao Zhuo is killed or captured, these enemy troops will naturally surrender."
"No, how can I let a soldier do this at a moment like this?" Xiao Beiheng said with a smile. "I lost to him before, and then I missed the opportunity. I don't want to miss it again this time. This is an opportunity that will never come again."
After saying this, Xiao Beiheng left his canopy and ordered the soldiers, "Bring my black horse here."
Lin Kui knew what Xiao Beiheng was referring to. Back then, Xiao Beiheng had dueled with Xiao Zhuo, and Xiao Zhuo had defeated him with a single blow. Later, at the foot of Yongwei City, Xiao Beiheng, for some reason, had not pursued Xiao Zhuo, instead handing the task over to Xiao Zhuo's teacher, Ji Zhong.
This time, Xiao Beiheng is going to fight Xiao Zhuo in person, not only to prove to his parents that he is stronger than Xiao Zhuo, but also to avenge his previous failure.
Xiao Zhuo had defended Leshan City for a long time, and at daybreak he rushed out to lead his troops into battle. He must have been exhausted. Xiao Beiheng had been resting, not even swinging his sword, conserving his energy. This duel was fundamentally unfair. Even if Xiao Beiheng won, it probably wouldn't prove that he was more powerful than Xiao Zhuo.
Then he thought again, what fairness is there in war? No matter what means are used, no matter how despicable, a single victory will cost the lives of thousands of people. As long as they win in the end, it's all over. This is why Lin Kui has always followed Xiao Beiheng loyally.
Thinking of this, Lin Kui couldn't help but get excited.
Ordinary generals and soldiers could not get close to Xiao Zhuo at all, but Xiao Beiheng was full of energy and had the unmatched Yanque sword in his hand. As long as Xiao Beiheng went there, he would definitely be able to kill Xiao Zhuo, and the battle would be completely over.
Xiao Beiheng mounted his black horse and said to the deputy generals under the imperial banner, "Beat the drums! I will personally go into battle and kill the rebels."
The deputy general did not dare to neglect his duty and immediately ordered the soldiers to start beating the emperor's war drums. There were eighty-eight emperor's war drums in total, and strong soldiers took turns beating them with two drumsticks.
The thumping sound of war drums echoed across the battlefield, shrouded in the deafening cries of slaughter. This rhythmic beat, known only as the Emperor of Great Yan himself, was produced. It was called the Emperor's Formation-Breaking Drum. Soldiers on both sides, upon hearing the drumbeat, subconsciously stopped fighting and turned to gaze at the imperial flag.
The sounds of shouting, the clashing of swords and spears, and even the cries of pain gradually faded away, leaving only the rapid sound of the emperor's drum.
On the high hill, Xiao Beiheng, wearing golden armor and dragon robe, rode down on his black horse. A team of imperial guards followed closely behind him, holding several imperial flags of the emperor, and galloped towards the foot of Leshan City.
The emperor personally went into battle, which was a great encouragement to the soldiers. Xiao Beiheng's army raised their swords and guns and cheered deafeningly, as if a huge rock was thrown into the pond, and the sound waves spread in all directions.
Xiao Zhuo shook off the blood on his sword and panted as he looked towards the galloping black horse. Xiao Beiheng's soldiers retreated to the sides, like a dense forest of armor and weapons retreating to the sides, making way for a wide road. Xiao Beiheng rushed towards them on horseback right in the middle of the road.
"My lord," Qiu Liming, bloodstained, stumbled forward, stabbing the tip of his sword into the ground to support himself. "Xiao Beiheng is here to kill you. He has the Yanque Sword... My lord, please retreat back to the city. I will hold the line for you for a while."
As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers around Xiao Zhuo raised their swords and guns to block Xiao Zhuo.
"Prince An, hurry back to the city. We'll stop Xiao Beiheng."
"Xiao Beiheng is here, Prince An."
"Prince An."
Just like the time at Yongwei City, Prince An's army was trapped in a desperate situation, attacked from both sides. Everyone urged Xiao Zhuo to flee quickly. But this time, Xiao Zhuo stood still, his handsome face covered in blood, his chest heaving violently, staring motionlessly at Xiao Beiheng who was gradually approaching from a distance.
"Prince An, as long as you have the green mountains, you will never have to worry about having no firewood to burn," Qiu Liming shouted anxiously, "Don't you want to see Princess An again? Don't you want to see Princess An's child again? Run away quickly, there's nothing to be ashamed of."
Xiao Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then he raised his sword and wiped it across his sleeve, letting the sword shine coldly again. He then raised the sword to his chest and said in an unquestionable tone:
"I once abandoned my army and fled from Yongwei City. I won't run away again this time."
Xiao Beiheng was getting closer and closer. Xiao Zhuo could already see his face clearly, and the cruel smile on his lips. It seemed that this hard battle was about to come to an end.
A long horn sounded suddenly in the distance, breaking up the dense sound of war drums.
The sound of the horn came suddenly. Everyone on the battlefield, Xiao Zhuo, Xiao Beiheng, the generals of both sides, and thousands of soldiers, all turned to look in the direction of the horn.
A snow-white warhorse appeared on the high slope, raising its hooves and neighing loudly. On the horse was a heroic young woman. The rising sun shone on her flying black hair, and the fierce cold wind pulled at her bright red cloak, making her look like a black plum blossom standing proudly in the cold winter.
"Yuexi." Xiao Zhuo's eyes welled up with tears as he called out these two words softly.
Just as people don't cry when they are extremely sad, Xiao Zhuo didn't cry out when he was extremely excited. But everyone around him could hear the fiery emotions in his heart that were boiling like magma, ready to explode.
Xiao Beiheng also looked at Shen Yuexi's figure and shouted with gritted teeth: "Shen, Yue, Xi, it's you again."
On the Leshan city wall, Mei Dai and Shen Lan put down the stones in their hands. When they saw Shen Yuexi on the slope and the soldiers behind her, they hugged each other excitedly: "My sister is here, she's bringing reinforcements."
"Phew, luckily we made it in time," Shen Yuexi raised her hand high, then suddenly dropped it, pointing to Leshan City, "Charge, charge."
As the clear sound swept across the battlefield, five thousand cavalrymen wearing black armor emerged from the slope, like a black flood slowly overflowing the embankment, and then turned into a rolling torrent, pouring down the hillside.
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