Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Although the deputy general was puzzled, seeing Zhang He's renewed spirits, he couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope and quickly accepted the order to leave.

Meanwhile, at Zhou Yu's camp.

Zhou Yu also received a summary estimate of today's battle losses and the situation of the garrison in the city.

When he saw the conclusion that "Zhang He's remaining troops number less than three thousand, and the city's defense supplies are almost exhausted," a confident smile finally appeared on his usually calm face.

"Less than three thousand men, out of arrows and food, morale is low."

Zhou Yu tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

"Zhang Junyi, even if you are made of iron, how many nails can you hammer? Tomorrow will be the day your city falls and your people perish!"

He glanced at the completely dark sky outside the tent, a sharp glint in his eyes. To ensure a fatal blow tomorrow, he decided to give Zhang He no chance to breathe or take any chances.

"Order all battalions to triple the number of patrols tonight, closely monitoring the four gates of Nanchang to prevent Zhang He from making a desperate attempt to break out. At the same time, send more squads to shout and make noise below the city walls, feigning a night attack, to keep the defenders awake and exhaust their last bit of energy!"

"promise!"

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

A deep, urgent bugle call rang out from Zhou Yu's army camp. Unlike the usual probing attacks, today's bugle calls were filled with a chilling sense of impending doom and a final assault!
Zhou Yu, clad in bright silver armor and a crimson cloak, stood personally atop the central military platform.

He gazed at the Nanchang city wall, which was faintly visible in the morning mist, and seemed to already see it being breached.

"Everyone!"

Zhou Yu's voice was clearly transmitted to all the armies through the messengers.

"Zhang He is at his wit's end, today is the day! All troops, listen to my command—give it your all and attack from all sides! The first to scale the walls of Nanchang will be rewarded with ten thousand gold pieces and ennobled as a marquis! After the city falls, swords will not be sheathed for three days!"

"Roar--!!!"

With generous rewards and the morale boosted by days of victories, tens of thousands of Sun Jian's troops erupted in thunderous shouts, like a flood bursting its banks, launching the most ferocious and costly all-out attack on the walls of Nanchang since the start of the war!

The siege ladders were densely packed like a forest, and the battering rams were aimed at the crumbling city gate. Arrows rained down on the city walls, suppressing the defenders' weak counterattacks.

Zhou Yu committed almost all of his available troops to the battle, even including his reserves.

The entire rear camp, apart from the thousand elite personal guards around him for protection and emergencies, was almost empty! He wanted to achieve his goal in one battle, crushing Zhang He in one fell swoop with overwhelming force!
The battle escalated rapidly from the outset. Just as Zhou Yu and Zhang He had predicted, the defending forces, stretched thin and lacking in supplies, quickly found themselves in dire straits under such a fierce offensive. The shouts of battle, screams of agony, and the deafening sound of collapsing city walls filled the air.

Less than an hour later, the battle report from the front line was sent back to the central army.

"Report—Commander! A section of the city wall south of the West Gate has been breached by a battering ram, creating a gap! Our troops are pouring in and engaging in fierce street fighting with the defenders! Zhang He is personally leading men to plug the gap, and the battle is at a stalemate!"

"it is good!"

Zhou Yu's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He slammed his hand on the railing, his face beaming with excitement and anticipation at the impending great success.

The breach has been opened, and street fighting has begun. This means that Nanchang's defense system has collapsed, and its fall is only a matter of time! No matter how brave Zhang He is, he has no chance of turning the tide under the overwhelming force of the enemy and the combined attack from both inside and outside!
However, just as Zhou Yu was filled with excitement and preparing to order the final push to widen the breach, seize the city's core, and capture Zhang He alive—

The solid ground of the platform beneath his feet, with its fine sand and dust, suddenly trembled very slightly without warning!
At first, it was very faint, almost like an illusion. But Zhou Yu's years of military experience had honed his almost instinctive sensitivity to the battlefield environment, allowing him to instantly detect this anomaly!

This was not the vibration of siege equipment, nor the vibration of a running army... It was a much heavier, more orderly, and more rhythmic vibration! Moreover, the tremor was growing stronger and was coming from the northwest!
Cavalry! And a massive, heavily equipped cavalry force is approaching at high speed!
Zhou Yu's expression changed drastically! He abruptly turned his head, looking northwest, towards the upper reaches of the Gan River, which was also the direction of Changsha Commandery. Sun Jian's reinforcements? Impossible!

If reinforcements were to arrive, I would certainly receive no news! Moreover, the troop movements in Nanhai County take time; it's impossible for them to be so quick, and it's even more impossible for them to have such heavily armed cavalry!
Who could it be? Zhang He's reinforcements? The thought had barely crossed his mind when Zhou Yu dismissed it. Zhang Ren of Guiyang was being held back by Lu Xun, and Deng Ai of Nan Commandery was far away in northern Jingzhou, also needing to guard against Cao Cao.

The only possibility is to transfer troops from Changsha Commandery, but the number of troops garrisoned in Changsha Commandery is limited, and the journey from Changsha to Yuzhang via the southern part of Luling is long and would take at least half a month! There simply isn't enough time!
Could it be... Gu Rubing's main force? No, that's even more impossible! They're still in Youzhou, a thousand miles away. Even if they had wings...

Just as Zhou Yu was racing through his mind, filled with doubt and uncertainty, trying to find the source of the sudden tremor, a sentry responsible for perimeter security scrambled up the platform in a panic, shouting hoarsely before even saluting.

"Commander...Commander! From the northwest! Dust...dust is obscuring the sky! There...there's a large force of cavalry rapidly approaching! Look...look at the flags and uniforms...it's...it's the Iron Pagoda!!!"

"Ironclad Pagoda?!"

Zhou Yu's pupils constricted sharply, almost thinking he had misheard! For the first time, his handsome and composed face showed undisguised shock and astonishment! Iron Pagoda? Gu Rubing's most elite, mysterious, and fearsome heavy cavalry?
How did they end up here? From Youzhou in the north to Yuzhang in the south, it's a long journey, with Sun Jian's heavy troops blocking the way. Did they fly here?!

The shock was fleeting; Zhou Yu's mind immediately raced, searching for a plausible explanation. Lu Xun had blocked the main army's routes, especially targeting any reinforcements Zhang Ren might send. But what if it was a small, elite force, dispersed and stealthy…

A thought flashed through my mind like lightning—that's it! The Ironclad Cavalry is strong, but their numbers have always seemed small.

If they shed their iconic heavy armor, disperse into small groups, and disguise themselves as refugees, defeated soldiers, or even bandits, taking advantage of the complex mountainous and water-rich terrain of Jiangnan, they could avoid official roads and instead choose secluded paths...

No matter how tight Lu Xun's blockade was, it was mainly aimed at organized troops and supply lines. It was indeed difficult to completely prevent the infiltration of a few dozen or even a few individuals!

Once these small groups regroup at a pre-arranged location within Yuzhang County, don their armor, and mount their horses, they will once again become a terrifying and destructive force!

They arrived yesterday? And even made contact with Zhang He? Zhou Yu instantly understood the source of Zhang He's unusual "composure" last night and this morning! It wasn't a calm of despair, but rather a patient forbearance while waiting for reinforcements and preparing to turn the tables!

He had meticulously planned a war of attrition, believing he had Zhang He cornered, but little did he know that the enemy had already secretly launched a counterattack, delivering this fatal "hammer"! Meanwhile, in his attempt to achieve victory in one fell swoop, he had committed almost all his forces to the siege, leaving his rear vulnerable…

Cold sweat instantly soaked through Zhou Yu's inner shirt.

He suddenly looked up towards the northwest and saw that the smoke and dust on the horizon were getting thicker and thicker, like a giant yellow dragon rolling in. The dull, thunderous sound of horses' hooves could be clearly heard, and he could even vaguely see the moving iron wall at the front of the smoke and dust reflecting a cold, icy light!
Although their speed was not as fast as that of light cavalry, their unstoppable and crushing power could terrify people from a great distance!

"Quickly! Issue the order! All guards in the central army, form ranks immediately! Archers, advance! Spearmen, line up! We must stop them! Buy time for the main army to retreat!" Zhou Yu almost roared the order, his voice trembling with urgency.

He knew how terrifying the Ironclad Cavalry's charge was. Although his thousand personal guards were also elite, he had no idea whether they could withstand the heavily armored cavalry charging with their momentum, given their hasty formation.

However, as soon as the order was given, he realized an even bigger problem—the generals! The generals around him, including Huang Gai and Han Dang, were all at the front lines directing the siege!
Aside from a few messengers and staff officers, he had not a single capable general who could independently command the troops to resist the Iron Pagoda's attack! This thousand-strong personal guard cavalry lacked a core commander, and their combat effectiveness was bound to be greatly reduced.

Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of troops besieging the city at the front, hearing the unusual commotion and faint hoofbeats from behind, and seeing the urgent flags raised in the center, would inevitably see their morale waver and their offensive falter. Getting them to immediately disengage and return in an orderly fashion to reinforce the city would take time! But the Ironclad Cavalry wouldn't give them that time!
In a flash, Zhou Yu made the most rational, yet also the most helpless, choice for a top commander.

"Messenger!"

Zhou Yu's voice returned to its icy tone, but with a barely perceptible tremor.

"Immediately issue the highest-level retreat signal to all attacking forces! Instruct them not to return to reinforce the central army, but to retreat southeast towards Kuaiji County! Retreat as many as you can!"

"Commander! Then you..."

The captain of his personal guards became anxious.

"go!"

Zhou Yu mounted his horse, took one last look at the approaching torrent of steel, and then at the fierce battle raging on the walls of Nanchang. His eyes were filled with resentment and anger, but even more so with determination.

"This place is no longer defensible! Follow me to break through the encirclement! Let's go to Kuaiji and reunite with General Huang and the others!"

Before he finished speaking, he spurred his horse and, surrounded by dozens of his closest guards, galloped off in the southeast without looking back!

He didn't even wait for the frontline army to begin its retreat, because he knew that waiting meant being entangled by the Ironclad Cavalry and falling into an abyss of no return! As the commander-in-chief, he had to protect himself first before he could regroup.

The commander-in-chief's retreat and the movement of the central army's banner were a devastating blow to the morale of an army. Seeing this, the already wavering morale of Sun Jian's troops, who were besieging the city, collapsed instantly!

"The governor is gone?!"

"The central army has retreated!"

"Enemy cavalry are attacking from behind! Run!"

Panic spread as quickly as a plague.

Soldiers climbing the ladders began jumping down recklessly, and troops that had already breached the city wall lost their will to advance and began to push backward. Officers tried desperately to maintain order, but without unified command and clear signals from the rear, their efforts were largely ineffective.

The entire attacking force, from the vanguard to the rearguard, quickly descended into chaos, scrambling to break away from the battlefield and retreating southeast, trampling each other and abandoning their armor and helmets in countless numbers.

When the five hundred Ironclad Cavalry, like metal monsters, stormed through the thin dust with a deafening roar that crushed everything, and arrived at Zhou Yu's central camp, all they saw was an empty camp with flags askew, supplies scattered everywhere, and the distant silhouettes of Sun Jian's army fleeing in disarray like ants in a swarm.

The commander of the Ironclad Cavalry reined in his horse, scanned the area with his masked head, and muttered a curse in a deep voice.

"You run fast!"

Heavy cavalry are not good at pursuing enemy forces, especially scattered infantry. Their efforts are inefficient and they are prone to falling out of range of their own support.

"Turn! Destination: Nanchang City! To provide cover for General Zhang He!"

The armored commander gave the order without hesitation.

Their primary task was to relieve the siege of Nanchang; pursuing the defeated enemy was a matter for the subsequent infantry and light cavalry.

The heavy hooves thundered again, and the Ironclad Cavalry turned around, like a torrent of steel mudslides, crushing towards the breach in the Nanchang city wall where fierce fighting was still raging.

At this moment, the battle on the city wall of Nanchang has reached its most fierce and critical stage.

Zhang He, wielding a longsword with several nicks, was locked in a fierce battle with Huang Gai, an old general with white hair and beard who wielded an iron whip and was incredibly brave.
The two had just exchanged a fierce blow, their blades and whips clashing, sparks flying. The immense recoil caused them both to involuntarily take a step back, barely managing to regain their footing on the slippery pool of blood and corpses.

Although Huang Gai was old, he possessed astonishing strength and extremely rich combat experience.

He was ordered to lead the attack on the breach in the west gate, and he personally led his troops to the top of the city wall, where he ran into Zhang He. Both men knew that the other was the key to the battle, and they fought without holding back, each with a life-or-death attitude.

Meanwhile, more and more of Sun Jian's soldiers had poured into the gap in the city wall and a nearby section of the wall.

These soldiers, fearless and well-equipped, are engaged in a fierce and desperate struggle with the remaining defenders, fighting for every inch of ground.

After days of attrition and the fierce attack just now, less than two thousand of Zhang He's garrison troops were still able to fight, and all of them were wounded and exhausted.

Faced with a relentless, high-spirited enemy force surging through the breach, they fought desperately, but their defensive line was being compressed smaller and smaller, and casualties were rising sharply. Several crenellations near the breach had already fallen, and more enemy soldiers were climbing up from there.

"General! The eastern fortification has fallen! Lieutenant Wang has been killed in action!"

"The south side is about to collapse! The brothers have suffered too many casualties!"

"Arrows! We need arrows! Rolling stones will do!"

Bad news kept reaching Zhang He's ears, but he was currently entangled with Huang Gai and was unable to give orders.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his personal guards fall one by one, and he watched his familiar men scream as they plummeted off the city wall under the onslaught of an enemy force several times their size. His heart ached as if it were being torn apart. (End of Chapter)