Chapter 123: Mountain-Toppling and Sea-Overturning

A flying arrow nearly struck the Crown Prince, Xie Fang.

This time, he was truly so scared that he wet his pants, clutching Zheng Yuxing's arm from behind, absolutely not daring to let go.

"Protect me!"

"What are you all doing? Protect me first!"

With snot and tears streaming down his face, he looked utterly wretched.

Zheng Yuxing's face was grim: "Your Highness, I cannot kill the enemy while you are like this!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than another Xiongnu soldier charged over, only to be hacked back by Zheng Yuxing, along with his blade. A jet of blood sprayed out, splashing directly onto Xie Fang's face.

"Ah!"

"Useless trash!"

"You bunch of useless trash, can't you even protect the Crown Prince!"

At this moment, there was no trace left of that arrogant Lieutenant from before; he had long since been hacked into several pieces amidst the surging Xiongnu soldiers.

The entire fortress was in complete chaos.

It was nothing but people!

There was no formation to speak of. Every second, someone died in this melee. In the end, it became so crowded that when Longyan soldiers swung their blades and swords, they were likely to injure their own men...

"Watch out for arrows!"

However, things were not over yet.

While the close-quarters combat was underway, large numbers of Xiongnu Archers finally appeared on the fortress walls.

Zheng Yuxing's expression changed drastically; he knew that the losses suffered by the Longyan soldiers today would definitely be the most severe since this Bitter Remonstrance began.

"Haha, the Military Advisor is truly brilliant!"

At this moment, at the highest point of the fortress, inside an Observation Tower, Cheng Mu watched all of this with a calm expression.

Luoge'er could not help himself, stretching his limbs: "Military Advisor, let me go and kill Zheng Yuxing!"

Over these years, Zheng Yuxing had defended Beijing against the Xiongnu, achieving a fearsome reputation that would last a lifetime. If not for Zheng Yuxing, the Longyan Dynasty would have long since been breached by the Xiongnu. Therefore, despite losing more than winning, the Xiongnu soldiers were still very afraid of Zheng Yuxing, and the hatred between them was very deep.

Over these years, the number of Xiongnu soldiers who had died under Zheng Yuxing's army was countless.

Cheng Mu, however, shook his head slightly: "Wait a moment."

Luoge'er was stunned: "Ah? What are we waiting for? If we wait any longer, there won't be anything left for me to do. Look at that coward Gedan; he must have killed over a hundred people by now! I'm afraid when he's done, he won't be able to stop himself from coming over to brag to me!"

Cheng Mu said indifferently: "Don't be impatient, there is still someone who hasn't arrived."

"Military Advisor, are you talking about Chen Ping?"

Luoge'er took a deep breath: "But Military Advisor, we have an agreement with Chen Ping..."

Cheng Mu laughed heartily: "The Longyan people are cunning; where is there any talk of credibility? A so-called agreement is only because the bargaining chips are equal... Now, the bargaining chips are no longer equal, understand? The agreement needs to be renegotiated!"

"Pass down the order: the army at the fortress is not to pursue the fleeing Longyan soldiers and reveal our tracks; wait quietly for Chen Ping to arrive, and try to annihilate them all at once!"

"Good, I, Luoge'er, will lead the team myself!"

At this time.

The entire Longyan Army had actually entered a dilemma where they could neither advance nor retreat.

At this moment, the Third Prince, Xie Ling, was leading his fifty thousand troops to conduct a feint attack outside the fortress. It looked like he was rescuing the Longyan Army, but in reality, he was keeping a backup plan for himself.

"A fool, how could he inherit the throne?"

Sitting on horseback, he looked at Xie Fang, who had already wet his pants in the city, and gave a cold laugh.

At a time like this, only preserving one's own strength was the most important thing. He actually wished Xie Fang would die in this fortress; if that happened, who else would have the qualifications to compete with him for the throne? It was just that he knew Zheng Yuxing, the Prince of Lu, and others could not let him die.

After all, he was the current Crown Prince, the face of the Longyan Dynasty.

If he were to die, the Emperor would surely be furious. Although he would not make things difficult for Xie Ling, Zheng Yuxing, the Prince of Lu, and all the other generals would certainly not be able to escape punishment. Even according to the current Emperor's temper and consistent methods, it was possible that their entire families would be executed.

Although it was normal for blood to be shed and sacrifices to be made in the struggle for the throne, Xie Ling did not want to offend too many people because of this, especially his uncle.

"Your Highness, the army's losses are too heavy!"

"Are we sure we aren't going to fight our way in?"

"Your Highness!"

The generals were all taking orders, their eyes bloodshot; those before them were, after all, the soldiers of the Longyan Dynasty.

Xie Ling said angrily: "Can you not see the situation clearly? The crowding in the fortress is the biggest reason for the combat losses!"

"In such a situation, if we squeeze in, wouldn't we just be letting others slaughter us?"

The generals were instantly silenced.

In fact, everyone knew that this Rongshan Pass needed to be broken open from the outside, but Xie Ling refused to let the army go in to die no matter what. They naturally understood the schemes and deceit within this.

They also knew that in the struggle between princes, such things were too normal.

At this time, Xie Ling not kicking Xie Fang while he was down was already considered not bad.

How could he sincerely rush to aid Xie Fang?

"Continue to maneuver and fight, remember not to act recklessly!"

"Yes!"

"This should all be coming to an end..."

No one knew.

Outside this great battle, Chen Ping was on a Horse Carriage, leisurely drinking wine.

Listening to Liu Chang reading those military reports nearby, Chen Ping could not help but laugh heartily: "Zheng Yuxing and the Baiya Army have suffered heavy losses this time; the seventy-thousand-strong Baiya Army has already lost more than half. It's about time!"

The two looked at each other and laughed heartily.

Liu Chang also said insidiously, "My lord, it is time to let the Xiongnu retreat. With a ceasefire agreement, we can give them some benefits; those barbarians will certainly leave feeling satisfied!"

"Great Good!"

"March with haste, rush to aid the Crown Prince!"

"Yes!"

"Why are there still no reinforcements?"

"Where are the men?"

"Where is the Third Prince?"

"Where is the Liangzhou Army?"

Over here, the slaughter had already lasted for a full half-day.

Zheng Yuxing was already covered in blood; in order to protect the Crown Prince, he had been wounded once again.

At this moment, he realized that the entire ground of the fortress was already covered in corpses!

There was not a single empty spot!

There were those of the Longyan Army, and also those of the Xiongnu soldiers, but the majority were still from the Longyan side.

Zheng Yuxing watched with a heart full of pain, roaring with a heart-rending cry.

"General, our losses are too tragic..."

A deputy general of Zheng Yuxing, with tears streaming down his face, now had only one arm left.

"The losses will be over eighty thousand!"

Zheng Yuxing felt his heart sink upon hearing this and shouted loudly, "Break out! No matter what, we must break out!"

This defeat was enough to ruin his reputation. His lifelong fame was destroyed just like that, but since it had already come to this, he could not dwell on it too much. He only hoped that because the number of people had decreased significantly, the hope of escaping this fortress would be a little greater.

However, just at this moment.

Suddenly, outside the fortress, the sound of war drums shook the sky.

The remaining Longyan Army soldiers were instantly invigorated.

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Listen to the war drums, it is the Liangzhou Army!"

"Lord Chen has finally come!"

Zheng Yuxing felt a sense of relief in his heart; had this Chen Ping finally deigned to come? Regardless, it was good that he had arrived.

"Brothers, keep holding on for me; reinforcements will arrive immediately, and we will be able to break out!"

"Kill!"

The Longyan Army, hearing this, had their morale greatly boosted, and their combat effectiveness instantly doubled.

Vast and mighty, the force Chen Ping brought this time was also an army of one hundred thousand.

This was already the last of the military strength Liangzhou could muster, and it was still what Chen Ping had scraped together from the thirty prefectures and counties of Liangzhou over such a long time.

Today, Rongshan Pass seemed to have become a true battlefield for a decisive battle.

Armies from all directions gathered here.

Looking at the blood-drenched Rongshan Pass, Chen Ping smiled faintly: "Let us rush to aid the Crown Prince!"

He was very confident that once his army arrived, the Xiongnu army, with whom he had already reached an agreement, would absolutely retreat and avoid conflict; by then, he would have completed his mission and achieved the effect he had wanted all along.

Liu Chang waved his hand, and military orders were issued frequently.

The one-hundred-thousand-strong army split into dozens of formations and surged forward.

Xie Ling, who had been "maneuvering" outside the fortress all along, saw this situation and his face instantly lit up with joy, knowing his opportunity had come. He raised his arm and shouted, "Reinforcements have arrived! Join up with them and launch a general offensive on Rongshan Pass!"

"Yes!"

Fifty thousand troops!

A full one hundred and fifty thousand were crazily rushing toward Rongshan Pass.

Xie Ling would naturally not let go of such an opportunity to snatch military merit. This Third Prince's hidden depths were already profound to the extreme.

"Kill!"

"Charge!"

The mountains and plains were filled with the shadows of Longyan soldiers.

The general offensive seemed unstoppable...

However, at this very moment, roars louder than their own battle cries suddenly erupted all around.

From all directions, Xiongnu Cavalry suddenly appeared.

Chen Ping's expression changed as he watched: "What does the Xiongnu want to do?"

Liu Chang also panicked: "My lord, they must just be trying to scare us..."

Who would have thought that before his words had even faded.

Those one hundred thousand Xiongnu Cavalry had already launched a charge from all directions against this army of one hundred and fifty thousand!

One hundred thousand surrounding one hundred and fifty thousand sounded quite ridiculous.

However, these were the Xiongnu!

The Xiongnu, whose individual combat capability was extremely fierce!

The Xiongnu, who possessed extremely high mobility!

The Xiongnu, who were rested and waiting, occupying the advantageous position! And at this time, the remaining Longyan soldiers inside the Rongshan Pass fortress were finally intentionally allowed a gap, and they escaped from within.

However, the other nearly one hundred thousand Xiongnu soldiers at Rongshan Pass once again occupied the advantage of Rongshan Pass.

"Wha... what?"

Chen Ping's expression changed drastically: "Didn't the Xiongnu Army only have one hundred and fifty thousand? How could there be over two hundred thousand?"

Liu Chang was also so frightened that his legs were trembling: "My lord, my lord, I don't know..."

Chen Ping's face turned pale: "We've been tricked!"

Only today did the Xiongnu Army truly reveal its real strength, with the goal of luring Chen Ping out!

They intended to achieve the goal of completely annihilating the Liangzhou army.

And looking at this posture, the scale of the Xiongnu soldiers was not just exactly two hundred thousand, but perhaps even over two hundred thousand, or three hundred thousand!

Emerging one after another, like a mountain toppling and the seas overturning.

The pressure from the momentum alone was enough to make people unable to bear it.

At this moment, the Rongshan Pass and the Xiongnu Army from all directions had already formed a surrounding posture against the Longyan Army soldiers.

Seeing this situation, Zheng Yuxing could not help but sway, spitting out a mouthful of blood: "The Great Trend is gone!"

Crown Prince Xie Fang was still crying.

Xie Ling was also stunned.

At this time, wave after wave of arrow rain had already descended from the sky.

The Longyan Army fell into extreme chaos.