A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

On the seventh day at dusk, when the garrison at Yangguan was almost out of ammunition and food, dust raised by cavalry appeared on the eastern horizon.

"There's smoke coming from the east!"

Just as the scout on the city wall shouted this, Huo Qingluan was distributing the last bundle of Divine Arm Crossbow bolts to the right side of the main building.

The lieutenant suddenly looked up.

"East?"

His voice has changed.

These days, all Yangguan hears are news from the west and northwest.

To the west is the Black Flag Army, and to the northwest is the Western Regions Allied Army.

If smoke rises from the east, it means either reinforcements or people cutting off their retreat.

Huo Qingluan reached out her hand.

"telescope."

Shang Wanqing shoved the wooden tube into her hand, her fingers still covered in iron filings.

"Look carefully. If it's the enemy, I'll turn the ballista around right now."

Huo Qingluan ignored her words and climbed to the highest point of the battlement.

The smoke and dust stretched long on the eastern horizon.

They are not stragglers.

It wasn't a caravan either.

The vanguard ran extremely fast, but the ranks behind them remained orderly. Their hooves kicked up yellow sand as they charged toward Yangguan in straight lines.

She moved the telescope forward.

flag.

The leading flag was stretched taut by the wind, bearing only one word.

willow.

Huo Qingluan stared at it for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

The lieutenant was stunned: "General?"

Huo Qingluan put down the binoculars, and the breath that had been pressing on her chest for seven days finally eased a little.

"Liu Jingshuang has arrived."

At first, no one spoke from the city wall.

Then someone asked in a low voice, "General Liu?"

"General Liu has arrived with his troops?"

"Have our reinforcements arrived?"

The sound gradually rose, like someone who had been holding their breath for too long finally daring to breathe.

Huo Qingluan did not press.

They should be informed.

When a person is about to collapse, the worst thing is not seeing a way out.

Now that a way out has come, we have to make them regain their courage.

But she didn't feel completely relieved.

Twenty thousand cavalrymen are fast, but twenty thousand is not fifty thousand.

The Northwest Allied Army is still approaching, and the Black Flag Army outside the city still has more than 20,000 combat-ready soldiers.

It's a good thing that Liu Jingshuang arrived early.

However, if they are not used properly, these 20,000 cavalrymen could also be dragged into the breach at Yangguan Pass.

Does she want Liu Jingshuang to come to the city?

No.

Entering the city means defending it.

If they hold out, Yangguan will still be crushed by the tens of thousands of allied troops from the Northwest.

Liu Jingshuang would be better off not going into the city.

The moment this thought crossed his mind, the cavalry vanguard on the east side changed direction, not heading towards the city gate, but instead bypassing the south side of Yangguan and heading straight for the rear of the Black Flag Army camp.

Huo Qingluan smiled.

"She didn't go into town."

Shang Wanqing also held up her binoculars to look, her brows furrowing slightly before her eyes lit up.

"She's going to storm the camp directly."

"right."

Huo Qingluan turned around, pointing her spear down at the city walls.

"Order the entire army to prepare for battle. Open the city gates halfway, and once Liu Jingshuang has engaged the Black Flag Army's rear camp, we will leave the city."

The lieutenant took a breath.

"General, how many more men can we send?"

Huo Qingluan glanced at him.

"Those who can still stand count."

The lieutenant did not ask any further questions.

He understood.

Having defended Yangguan to this extent, the remaining people weren't without fear, but rather their fear had become excessive, leaving them with only a fierce determination.

Letting them stay huddled behind the wall will only drain their spirits. Letting them go out and fight will actually save their lives.

In the Black Flag Army camp, bugle calls rang out urgently.

They had obviously also spotted the cavalry from the east.

Discovering it is one thing, but whether you can adjust the formation in time is another.

Huo Qingluan saw it very clearly.

The Black Flag Army attacks the city by day and harasses it by night; the troops in the camp have long been pressing towards Yangguan.

The rear camp was piled with water bags, wounded soldiers, spare camels, and an open space prepared to receive the Northwest Allied Army. That place shouldn't be in chaos.

But Liu Jingshuang happened to be there.

Twenty thousand cavalrymen, like a long sword, cut in from behind the camp.

The cavalryman at the front did not stop or shout; his saber fell straight down.

The camels in the rear camp of the Black Flag Army were startled and ran around wildly, breaking water bags and collapsing wooden frames.

Huo Qingluan gripped the spear tightly.

Right now.

"Open the city gates!"

The city gate creaked open.

Only the taxi driver remained in Yangguanli and rushed out.

Some had cloth wrapped around their legs, some had their arms in slings, but they still gritted their teeth and kept up.

Huo Qingluan mounted her horse, the banner behind her billowing up yellow sand.

"Follow me and kill them!"

When she rushed out of the city gate, she had only one thought in her mind.

Don't let Liu Jingshuang take the lead in this battle.

If the Black Flag Army recovers, its 20,000 cavalry will be surrounded on both sides of the camp.

But as soon as they push forward from Yangguan, the Black Flag Army will have to turn back. Caught between a rock and a hard place, even the most formidable camel soldiers will have to turn their heads around first.

The slowest thing a camel can do is turn around.

Chaos reigned outside the city.

Just as the Black Flag Army's vanguard was about to form ranks, the Yangguan garrison pressed forward.

The ballistae fired their last shot from the city wall, the thick bolts embedding themselves in the camel caravan and halting the charge of the first rank.

Huo Qingluan led her men to attack from the side of the gap, avoiding a direct confrontation with the heavily armored cavalry, and instead cutting the camel's legs and stabbing its belly.

The Black Flag Army finally fell into chaos.

It's not that the entire army collapsed, but that every part of it is stuck.

The front camp attempted to attack the city, but the rear camp was torn apart by Liu Jingshuang.

The central army wanted to return to reinforce, but the camels were squeezed between the tents and wooden frames and couldn't move.

Some people tried to dismount from the camel-riding position, but as soon as their feet touched the ground, they were knocked over from the side by the new Wu cavalry.

Liu Jingshuang's flag has already reached the central camp.

Huo Qingluan saw the figure in plain clothes from afar.

She was covered in blood, but the knife kept slashing forward.

Every cut is clean, without any unnecessary frills.

It's still the same Liu Jingshuang.

It was freezing cold, and it was also incredibly harsh.

Huo Qingluan cursed inwardly.

They arrived so quickly, did they burn the horse as a death sentence?

But she knew that Liu Jingshuang would definitely do that.

The Wei family army, as long as they know that Yangguan can hold out for another five days, will never arrive on the sixth day.

"Azure Phoenix!"

Someone called her from afar.

Huo Qingluan looked up and saw Liu Jingshuang cleave a black-armored cavalryman in two with a single stroke. She then reined in her horse and glanced in her direction.

The two met eyes across the chaotic camp.

No need to say anything.

Huo Qingluan held her spear horizontally, pointing it towards the left flank of the Black Flag Army's central force.

Liu Jingshuang immediately understood and turned to strike with her sword.

"Press to the left!"

The two armies, like two pairs of scissors, closed in on the Black Flag Army camp.

The Black Flag Army's bugle call sounded again.

This time, it's not an attack.

Yes, we're withdrawing.

However, it's not that easy to back out.

Camel soldiers are durable on sandy terrain and stable when charging into battle, but their campsites are too narrow.

Tents, corpses, fallen wooden frames, and the wreckage of waterwheels all blocked the road.

The people in front want to run, but the people behind are still pushing and shoving.

The camel was so startled that it knelt down, and the cavalryman fell off its back and was trampled by its hooves.

The lieutenant, his eyes bloodshot with rage, roared, "They escaped! Chase them!"

Huo Qingluan swept aside the shield-bearers in front of her with a single thrust of her spear, and said coldly, "Don't scatter them!"

The deputy general was jolted awake by the shout and quickly rallied the troops.

Huo Qingluan knew all too well.

The Black Flag Army is in disarray, not completely ineffective.

If the chase breaks out and darkness falls, it's uncertain who will kill whom.

What she wanted was to drive them away from Yangguan Pass, not to let the remaining garrison chase them into the desert to their deaths.

Liu Jingshuang, however, did not stop.

She led 20,000 cavalrymen to pursue the fleeing soldiers westward for 20 miles.

As night fell, shouts of battle could still be heard in the distance.

Huo Qingluan stood at the edge of the Black Flag Army camp, blood dripping from the tip of her gun, her face showing no trace of the smugness of victory.

We won this round.

But there are still 50,000 in the Northwest.

That's the most annoying part. Just when you finally catch your breath, another rock falls from the sky.

Shang Wanqing walked over from the side, carrying a broken crossbow in her arms.

Huo Qingluan looked at her.

"Why are you holding it?"

"It can still be repaired."

"Those are from the Black Flag Army."

"As long as it can shoot people, that's fine."

Huo Qingluan had nothing to say.

This woman is quite skilled at picking up trash so diligently even on the battlefield.

Half an hour later, Liu Jingshuang withdrew her troops and returned to the city.

Beneath the gates of Yangguan, two teams, steeped in blood, clashed.

Some people hugged their comrades and cried, some sat on the ground and laughed, and some cursed while looking for water.

Liu Jingshuang dismounted, her armor smeared with blood, and her face also splattered with blood.

She walked up to Huo Qingluan, glanced at her, and suddenly smiled.

"Did you get to attend Wei Heng's full moon celebration?"

Huo Qingluan smiled too.

That statement is very inappropriate.

The battle at Yangguan had just ended, and the bodies outside the city had not yet been collected when the Northwest Allied Army arrived.

But upon hearing those words, the tightness in her chest eased somewhat.

"I didn't get to drink it."

She stood the spear upright on the ground.

"I need to have two more bowls when I get back."

Liu Jingshuang nodded.

"Alright, I'll have Wei Zhao pour it himself."

The eyelids of the guards nearby twitched as they listened.

Only they would dare to say something like that.

Huo Qingluan was about to speak again when her smile faded.

She turned her head to look northwest.

In the darkness of night, there was still smoke and dust over there.

They were far away, but they didn't disperse.

The vanguard of the Western Regions allied forces should arrive by tomorrow at the latest.

Liu Jingshuang followed her gaze, and the smile on her face vanished.

"besides?"