Tang Dynasty: Starting with 3,000 elite cavalry, a bloody battle to retake the city.

If viewed from above, one can see—

Although the Turks were as numerous as ants, the Tang soldiers were fearless and went against the tide, risking their lives to save others and paving the way with their blood!

They are not fighting; they are writing the words "never retreat" with their lives!

Where the blade flashes, waves of blood surge to the heavens!

"Pfft—!"

"kill!!"

"Thud—!" The severed arm spun around, the head rolled to the ground, and the mangled body fell, but the next second someone stepped over the corpse and rushed to the front line!

The earth was already soaked in blood, a blood so red it was almost black, a blood-red that was glaringly bright.

This is not a battlefield.

This is a national gate built with the sacrifices of loyal souls!

The army slaughtered each other, blood stained the yellow sand, and an overwhelming sense of sorrow filled the world!

"I, Li Shimin!"

A furious roar tore through the sky, like thunder rumbling in the heavens, shaking both friend and foe.

"I hereby swear! I will not retreat a single step unless I personally behead Khagan Jieli!"

Even if the blade breaks and the sword is shattered, even if the bone is broken!

"As long as a drop of blood in my heart remains hot, this battle will be fought to the death!!"

Amidst the rolling torrent of iron, the figure in bright yellow personally charged forward with a halberd, like a raging fire and a raging wind, going against the current!

He is the emperor, the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, but he is also the sharpest blade on the battlefield at this moment!

For this reason, the Turkic cavalry, like hungry wolves smelling blood, pounced on his location.

A dense, dark crowd surged in, layer upon layer, as if to swallow him whole.

His position has always been at the heart of this battlefield—the most dangerous, the fiercest, and the place where there is no room for retreat!

"Pfft!"

A spear pierced through the shoulder armor, and blood splattered onto the armor. Li Shimin merely gritted his teeth and sneered, then drew his halberd and led his army forward once more!

Li Jing was on his left, Fang Xuanling held a sword to protect his right, and Changsun Wuji, with disheveled hair, brandished a knife. The three of them were no longer civil officials and strategists in the court, but death warriors who fought bloody battles!

Not a single civil or military official in the court retreated at this moment; they all followed the emperor into the mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

"Charge!" A metallic taste rose in Li Shimin's throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes burned with a fiery red light. "Bring back the Divine Might General! My subjects of the Great Tang, my sons of the Great Tang..."

"Today, no one shall survive behind enemy lines! Follow me—and charge through their ranks!"

Li Jing and the others' eyes bulged, tears mingling with blood as they roared in unison, "Yes, sir!!"

"kill!!!"

In an instant, the war drums sounded again, and the Tang soldiers, like trapped beasts, launched a counterattack, stirring up a monstrous wave of blood!

Just then, a rough, wild laugh erupted from the chaotic army—

"Hahaha, Your Majesty! It's me, Old Cheng—here I come!!"

Before he finished speaking, Cheng Yaojin charged into the enemy formation like a mad tiger, swinging his battle axe in a circle of bloody light, forcefully cleaving a bloody path, and fell heavily in front of Li Shimin's horse, his helmet askew, his armor cracked, and his eyes bloodshot!

Li Shimin was suddenly taken aback.

Immediately, the corner of my eye suddenly felt hot.

Because the figures fighting so fiercely before him, weren't they all his brothers who, just two months ago, risked their lives to kill their sworn brothers and force their fathers to surrender at Xuanwu Gate and seize power?!

At that time, he stood atop the palace wall, pointed to the Milky Way over Chang'an, and made a promise:

"Upon my ascension to the throne, I will surely bring about a complete rebirth for the Tang Dynasty!"

But now...

He gazed at the battlefield strewn with corpses, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his lips, and whispered as if on the wind: "The prosperous era I promised you... I'm afraid... can only be fulfilled in the next life..."

"Young man... what a pity, you taught me so many principles back then..."

"But I...in the end, I still couldn't protect all of this..."

"I fear there will never be another chance to sit side by side with you atop the city wall, discussing the world all night long..."

His eyes flickered slightly, and a slender figure appeared in his mind—the young man who once commanded the world and settled matters with a smile.

If he were here... how would he break the deadlock?

Li Shimin felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, and shook his head with a wry smile.

On the banks of the Wei River, with the nation on the verge of collapse, how could that person possibly appear here?

But what he didn't know was—

Just behind the Khan's personal guards, three thousand iron cavalrymen, like ghosts in the dark, were closing in step by step.

The hoofbeats were soft and deep, as regular as a heartbeat.

"despair……"

"despair……"

"despair……"

Every step is in step with the pulse of destiny.

At this moment, amidst the deafening shouts of battle and the glint of swords, the Turkic army and the Tang army were locked in a fierce battle, and no one noticed the approach of this ghostly army.

Khagan Jieli sat high in the rear, grinning maliciously, his curved sword pointing straight ahead: "Kill Li Shimin! Whoever brings me his head—will be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!!"

His gaze was fixed on the heart of the battlefield, watching Li Shimin being besieged and forced to retreat step by step, and he was already certain that victory was in his grasp.

He never even considered it—

Behind him, a countdown to death had already begun!

At the very front of those three thousand iron cavalry, a man wearing a ghost mask stood silently, his black robes fluttering, his killing intent as deep as the abyss.

It was Han Ye.

He stared at the retreating figure of Jieli Khan, a chilling smile slowly creeping onto his lips.

"Yes, that's it..."

"Continue to be arrogant, continue to be overconfident, continue to think you've already won..."

"Don't look back, never wake up..."

He murmured softly, as if death were whispering in his ear:

"Keep this smugness in mind—so you won't struggle in pain when I cut off your head."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly raised his hand, his warhorse swooped down like an eagle, and he shouted coldly:

"Proceed!"

Three thousand iron cavalrymen silently rode their horses, like ghostly soldiers from the underworld seeking death, quietly approaching the rear of the Turkic camp.

The wind rises and sweeps across the grassland.

Suddenly, Khagan Jieli froze, feeling a chill on the back of his neck, as if an icy hand was slowly pressing against his throat.

But he dismissed it as a cold, sneered, and raised his knife again, roaring angrily:

"Kill them! Kill them all!!"

The spear pierced the air with a flash of cold light, then plunged deep into Li Shimin's shoulder, tearing the cloth and opening his skin!

"ah--!"

He groaned, blood trickling down his arm, which only made his eyes turn bloodshot.

The Emperor's Sword swung backhand, unleashing a bloody arc that cleaved the attacking Turkic cavalryman to the ground, his head rolling into the dust!

At this critical moment—

Footsteps thundered behind him as Li Jing rushed forward, his back slamming into his. The two stood back to back amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood.

"His Majesty!"

"Pharmacist!"

No words are needed; a single glance is enough for them to understand each other perfectly.

In an instant, two figures, like mad tigers entering a pack of wolves, plunged straight into the heart of the Turkic army, causing waves of blood to surge in the battle!

"Pfft—!"

"Ugh!!"

The sounds of swords piercing bone echoed one after another, like death whispering in one's ear.

Li Shimin was panting heavily, his eyes already burning with a scarlet light.

Before their eyes, the Tang soldiers fell one by one, their battle flags were broken, and corpses littered the ground... But the Turkic cavalry continued to surge forward like a black tide, with no end in sight!

Suddenly, he threw his head back and laughed wildly, his laughter maniacal and on the verge of collapse!

"Hahaha... Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!"

Li Jing had just slain an enemy general when he turned around and roared, "Your Majesty, why are you laughing?!"

"What am I laughing at?" Li Shimin wiped the blood from his face, a grin spreading across his face, a mixture of absurdity and sorrow. "I've only been on the throne for two months, and yet I've already lost this vast empire... When I die and go to see my brothers, what will they say about me? Will they call me a ruler who brought about the downfall of his kingdom?!"

"Hahaha... Ridiculous! Ridiculous indeed—!"

As he laughed, a tear slid down his cheek, mingling with blood, and fell into the soil.

He abruptly turned to Li Jing, his voice hoarse as gravel: "Pharmacist, to tell you the truth... do you regret it?"

Li Jing was taken aback.

Then he laughed, a laugh that was open and fearless.

"I have no regrets."

"I even feel honored."

"To die alongside Your Majesty, to shed the last drop of blood for our Han lands—what is there to regret in such a death? I feel only... the greatest honor!"

Glory.

These two words struck Li Shimin like a thunderbolt.

Whom did he once use it to describe? The general who wore a ghost mask and fought to his last breath... Now, however, it is being used on himself by Li Jing!

He was stunned, as if his soul had been violently struck.

"This is... Glory?"

As he murmured, the mist in his eyes suddenly dissipated.

"Ghost-faced General... I think... I finally understand."

"Now I understand why you would rather die than retreat, I understand why you would bleed to death until you stopped..."

Before he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly snapped open, and an unprecedented determination exploded from his very bones!

"kill--!!!"

A furious roar, like a dragon's cry echoing through the heavens! The Emperor's Sword was swung out once more, raining blood across the sky!

At this moment, he was no longer the emperor sitting high on the dragon throne.

He was a warrior, a suicide soldier, a ghost-faced general willing to sacrifice his life for the cause!

And he was not alone!

Li Jing was on his flank, Cheng Yaojin roared and charged forward, Fang Xuanling held his sword to protect the formation, Changsun Wuji's robe was stained with blood... and countless other Tang Dynasty soldiers whose names he did not know, all with red eyes and roaring, faced death!

"Fight to the death, never retreat!"

"A fight to the death—!"

Slogans echoed across the battlefield, like iron oaths branded into heaven and earth! Even with severed limbs and broken bodies, they would pounce and bite off a piece of flesh! Even with their intestines ripped out, they would drag the enemy down with them to their deaths!

"Damn it!!"

"These Chinese people are crazy!!"

"Are they out of their minds?! Ah—my hand!!"

The Turkic cavalry finally panicked.

They had seen fleeing enemy troops and defeated generals begging for mercy, but they had never seen such a... madman fighting to the death!

The corpses were piled up like mountains, the blood flowed like rivers, and the earth had long been soaked in dark red.

Every inch of the land was covered with bits of flesh and broken blades.

But the Tang army continued to charge! Continued to kill! Even with only one breath left, they would keep their eyes wide open and unleash their final strike!

"Kh...Khan..."

A guard knelt trembling before Jieli Khan, his voice shaking: "They...they've all gone mad! Even the emperor is charging forward!"

Jieli squinted and looked over, his face ashen.

The next instant, he let out a cold laugh, his voice hoarse like the whisper of a demon:

"It's just a death throes, what's there to be afraid of?!"

"Order—continue the charge! Leave no one alive, slaughter all the Tang dogs!!"

"kill--!!!"

The order fell like thunder, and the Turkic army pressed forward once more.

The two torrents collided with a deafening roar, like the gates of hell being flung open, and a meat grinder began to grind wildly! Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a scene so gruesome it was nauseating!

But right here in this purgatory—

The banner of the Tang Dynasty never fell.

On the banks of the Wei River, the blood-red setting sun, like molten gold splashed across the sky, dyed half the heavens crimson.

The battle flags of the Tang Dynasty fluttered in the wind, yet were already teetering on the brink of collapse.

Soldiers fell in droves, their armor shattered, and their blood soaked the yellow sand.

The war situation is like a burst dam, irreversibly sliding towards the abyss of defeat.