Chapter 453

He pulled out the long knife at his waist, clearly having made up his mind.

"Order!"

His voice rose. "Infantry! Battering rams! Smash open that pile of junk for me! Cavalry! Prepare! Once the city gate is broken, follow me and rush in! The target is Murong Ke's commander flag! Anyone who beheads the general and takes the flag will be rewarded with a thousand gold and promoted three levels!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The Beijiang army outside the pass erupted in earth-shaking roars.

The infantry, who had been suffocated for a long time, pushed the heavy battering rams and rushed toward the city gate gap that was crumbling under the cover of shields.

This time, it was no longer a tentative harassment, but a real general attack!

"Hold on! Fire arrows! Smash!"

Murong Ke's voice was already hoarse; he rushed to the gap himself, commanding his personal guards and soldiers who could still fight.

Beijiang infantry kept falling, but the subsequent people stepped over the corpses of their companions without hesitation and slammed the front cone of the battering ram toward the temporary barrier piled up by debris and corpses.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Every time the dull impact sounded, the Western Liang soldiers blocked behind the gap felt their hearts tremble.

"Put in some effort! They can't hold on much longer!" The Beijiang centurion roared, rushing up himself.

Murong Ke's eyes were bloodshot; he saw a Beijiang fierce soldier shielding himself with a shield, actually climbing to the top of the barrier along the battering ram, and slashing a Western Liang soldier to the ground.

"Looking for death!"

Murong Ke roared, and the long spear in his hand thrust out violently!

Pfft! The long spear pierced the chest of the fierce soldier and nailed him heavily to the barrier.

But the moment he pulled back the long spear, another Beijiang soldier had already squeezed in from the side gap, slashing at his personal guard with a knife!

The melee began; at the city gate gap, it became a meat grinder.

In the narrow space, blades and spears collided, and flesh and blood flew.

The Beijiang army was fearless and followed one after another.

The Western Liang soldiers also erupted with their final ferocity under Murong Ke's personal supervision, not giving an inch.

Corpses piled up rapidly, almost blocking the gap again.

Han Xiao saw it clearly in the rear and knew that he couldn't drag it on any longer.

He clamped his horse's flank abruptly. "Cavalry! Follow me! Crush them!"

"Crush them!"

The Beijiang iron cavalry behind him roared in unison, following Han Xiao, and launched a charge toward the city gate gap that was still fiercely contested but already showing signs of decline!

When Han Xiao took the lead, his long knife split the head of a Western Liang officer who tried to block him, and he rushed into the city gate hole of Tongguan, the Western Liang army's defense line finally collapsed completely.

"The city gate is broken! The Beijiang army is in!" Desperate shouts spread among the Western Liang defenders.

Resistance quickly disintegrated, and soldiers began to flee in all directions, or threw away their weapons and knelt to surrender.

Murong Ke looked at the Beijiang cavalry pouring in like a tide, and at the fewer and fewer personal guards around him, his heart was dead.

But he did not retreat; instead, he faced Han Xiao's commander flag, went against the flow of the routed soldiers, and rushed up!

Behind him, only a few dozen loyal personal guards remained.

"Han Xiao! Do you dare to fight me!"

Murong Ke pointed his long spear straight at Han Xiao; he knew he was not Han Xiao's opponent, but he still couldn't retreat.

Han Xiao pulled his warhorse to a stop, looking at the blood-soaked Murong Ke, a flash of respect in his eyes.

He recognized Murong Ke, the defender of Tongguan, a famous general of Western Liang, and Wei Wenlie's confidant.

Only by taking his head could the Battle of Tongguan be considered complete, and the blow to Western Liang be heavy enough.

"Fulfill you!" Han Xiao replied in a deep voice, his long spear pointing diagonally at the ground, driving his horse forward slowly.

Murong Ke said no more, roared, urged his warhorse, and the long spear carried a shrill wind, thrusting straight at Han Xiao's throat!

Han Xiao's eyes narrowed, and he advanced instead of retreating!

He jerked his horse's head, and the warhorse moved sideways half a step nimbly; the long spear brushed past his shoulder armor without causing any damage.

At the same time, Han Xiao's long spear drew an arc from bottom to top, the tip of the spear sticking to the shaft, slashing toward the fingers of Murong Ke holding the spear!

Murong Ke was immediately alert in his heart; he had been a general for many years, but he found that everyone in Beijiang was a fierce general, and none of them were easy to deal with.

His wrist shook violently, and the long spear shrank backward like a living thing, narrowly avoiding that fatal slash.

But Han Xiao's change of moves was faster! The spear momentum was not exhausted, the spear head changed from slashing to lifting, from bottom to top, toward Murong Ke's chest and abdomen!

Murong Ke had no time to pull back the spear to block, and could only lean backward violently, trying to avoid it.

But the reaction was ultimately not fast enough; the spear tip brushed past his chest armor, and the inner leather armor and shirt were also cut, blood instantly gushing out.

Pain came, Murong Ke let out a muffled groan, but his movements did not stop at all; borrowing the momentum of leaning back, the long spear swept horizontally, smashing toward Han Xiao's waist and ribs!

"Fighting you is not as painful as the training ground in Beijiang!"

While Han Xiao was saying trash talk, he pressed the spear shaft down hard, using the spear shaft to accurately knock on the spear shaft sweeping over!

Clang!

The huge force shook Murong Ke's arm numb, and even the warhorse was shaken back half a step.

The two passed each other, and instantly turned their horses around, confronting each other again.

In just one round, it was extremely dangerous, and Murong Ke had already been wounded.

He lowered his head and looked at the wound on his chest, blood gushing out, staining the broken armor red.

He knew he couldn't last much longer.

A sense of sorrow surged in his heart, and the faces of his wife and children at home in Luoyang flashed through his mind.

"Come again!"

Murong Ke charged again with his long spear; this time, it was a desperate fighting style, the long spear opening and closing, only attacking and not defending, every move pointing at Han Xiao's vital points, completely a posture of exchanging life for life!

Facing Murong Ke's storm-like attack, Han Xiao chose a more stable fighting style, focusing on defense.

No matter how Murong Ke used all his means, he still couldn't do anything to Han Xiao; Han Xiao was waiting for Murong Ke to exhaust his strength.

Murong Ke was already wounded, and such a desperate fighting style couldn't last long!

Sure enough, after more than a dozen moves, Murong Ke's breathing became heavy, and the blood loss from the wound on his chest made his eyes start to blur, and his movements inevitably slowed down.

After a full-force thrust was easily deflected by Han Xiao, a fatal gap appeared in his center!

It's now!

Han Xiao seized the opportunity and clamped his horse's flank abruptly; the warhorse immediately rushed out!

The long spear no longer blocked, but from left to right, pressing down diagonally!

Murong Ke had no time to react, watching the spear tip enlarge rapidly before his eyes.

He tried to lift the long spear to block, but it was too late.

Pfft!

The spear tip slashed across Murong Ke's neck without any obstruction, and the Western Liang general Murong Ke died!

"General!"

The remaining personal guards let out heart-piercing cries, frantically rushing toward Han Xiao, but were instantly drowned by the surrounding Beijiang cavalry and chopped into meat mud.

Han Xiao pulled his warhorse to a stop, his long spear pointing diagonally at the ground, letting the blood flow down.

At the same time, his heart also secretly breathed a sigh of relief; with Murong Ke dead, Tongguan was finally broken.

It's just that I don't know... how the other brothers are doing!