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

The poison soldiers are gone.

When the Wei cavalry, clad in strange armor, tore in from the flank and rear, poisoned arrows couldn't penetrate them, poisonous insects couldn't climb them, and even poison powder couldn't stick to them.

Two thousand poison soldiers were no different from paper in front of the rattan armor cavalry.

Looking at the scattered remnants of the poison soldiers ahead, Tuwuhu had only one thought in his mind.

Jiangnan City is a trap.

The collapse of the city wall was fake, and the retreat of the defending troops was fake.

That woman named Huo Qingluan led his army of over 400,000 men into the city—and then Wei Zhao stabbed him in the back.

The vanguard was trapped in the city's streets and alleys, while the elephant cavalry and Tuoba Ye were entangled in a chaotic battle.

The central army was blocked by the breach in the city wall, unable to advance or retreat, while the rear army was being torn apart piece by piece by the cavalry of that white-clad madman.

The 430,000-strong army was transformed into a snake with both ends pinched.

They couldn't worry about Tuoba Ye anymore.

Tuwuhu made judgments very quickly. He became the barbarian king not through brute force, but through his intellect.

Tuoba Ye is in the city? That's his fate.

Thirty thousand remnants of the Western Qiang and one Yongzhen soldier were inside the city? That was the price to pay.

The only urgent task now is to get the remaining 380,000 people and 60 elephants out alive and leave Jiangnan.

"Blow the horn!"

Tuwuhu grabbed the horn and handed it to the messenger next to him.

"Waaaaah—"

The mournful sound of bugles rang out from under the central army banner, passing through shouts of battle, screams of agony, and the clatter of horses' hooves, reaching all the way into the city of Jiangnan.

Three long and two short.

This is the highest-level order given by the entire Southern Barbarian army—retreat.

All elephant troops immediately disengaged from the current battle and turned back to the central army to regroup.

All infantry, halt your advance into the city, turn around on the spot, and prepare to break out.

Tuwuhu stared at the direction of Wei Zhao's white banner, his teeth grinding together.

"Bring all the elephants back! Charge at them!"

He pointed in the direction of Wei Zhao's cavalry.

"Use the elephant cavalry to create an opening, and the entire army can break out from the rear!"

……

Inside Jiangnan City, Tuoba Ye was cutting down a shield-bearer of the Wei family army. The blood on his scimitar hadn't even been wiped clean when the sound of three long and two short horns entered his ears.

His hand paused.

The entire army withdrew.

These four words went through his mind, and the taste they evoked was both bitter and spicy.

Tuoba Ye wasn't stupid. In fact, he was far from stupid. From the day he was hunted down by Wei Zhao at Eagle's Beak Gorge, he learned one thing—to listen to the unspoken meaning behind the bugle calls.

The entire army retreated, and the elephant corps was moved back to the central command.

Once the elephant cavalry left, he was left with no troops in the city.

The remaining 30,000 Western Qiang troops were cut into pieces by the streets and alleys, blocked in front by the Wei family army and left by the retreating elephant troops.

Once the Wei family army has freed up their forces, they will deal with him first.

Tuwuhu abandoned him.

No, it wasn't giving up; it was that I never intended to take him with me from the very beginning.

Thirty thousand Western Qiang soldiers and one Yongzhen soldier entered the city, originally to test the swords. After testing them, if they worked well, they would keep them; if not, they would discard them.

Tuoba Ye was, from beginning to end, just a whetstone in the hands of the barbarian king.

"You bastard..."

Tuoba Ye gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the scimitar tightly.

I hate it, but it's not unexpected.

He himself used people in the same way.

Back in the Western Qiang, he used those forcibly conscripted tribal soldiers as cannon fodder. How is that any different from how Tuowu Hu is using him now?

retribution.

But Tuoba Ye didn't believe in retribution; he believed in fate.

Life is about running away whenever you can.

He suddenly turned his head and glanced around.

There were seven men left, not Southern Barbarian soldiers, but trusted confidants who had followed him all the way from the Western Qiang, his old brothers who had been with him for more than ten years.

They were covered in blood, and two of them were wounded, but their eyes still held life.

"Come with me."

Tuoba Ye did not hesitate. He sheathed his scimitar and crouched down to slip into a narrow alleyway nearby.

The Southern Barbarian's Yongzhen soldiers have nothing to do with him.

Tuoba Ye only cared about one thing—his own life.

Seven bodyguards followed behind, and no one asked why, nor did anyone scold him for abandoning the army.

They knew Tuoba Ye all too well. From Yumen Pass to Yingzui Gorge, from the Western Qiang royal court to the Southern Barbarian camp, this man had traveled there time and time again.

He survived every single time.

Tuoba Ye moved quickly, his scimitar close to his leg, and his figure disappeared into the depths of the alley.

……

When Wei Zhao heard the horn, he was just about to knock a southern barbarian centurion to the ground with his white wax spear.

Three long and two short.

He didn't understand the orders of the Southern Barbarians, but he could understand the battlefield reactions.

The infantry in the rear of the Nanman army stopped advancing, the shield bearers in the front began to retreat, and further away—the elephant cavalry in the city were moving out.

The tiger suddenly tried to run away.

No, it's not running away. It's breaking through.

Wei Zhao's gaze passed over the chaotic Southern Barbarian infantry and landed on the herd of elephants turning around in the distance.

Those enormous, grayish-brown creatures squeezed out from the gap in the city wall, their four pillar-like legs making the ground tremble.

Dozens of giant elephants are gathering.

They're going to charge.

Wei Zhao's mind went through the entire situation in an instant.

Tuwuhu's plan was clear—to use the elephant formation to clear a path, tear open a gap in his territory, and lead the main force out.

It's common sense that cavalry can't stop a charging elephant herd.

Horses fear elephants. With 100,000 cavalry blocking their path, the elephants charged, causing the horses to panic and their formation to break apart. The southern barbarian infantry then poured out.

He has something in his hand.

Wei Zhao turned his head to look at the ten crossbow carts covered with black cloth behind him.

Shang Wanqing squatted down next to the first crossbow.

Her face was still covered in soot, her iron hairpin was askew behind her head, and her leather apron was covered in burn holes.

His fingers rested on the copper ruler of the ballista, motionless, like a stone statue.

But her eyes are alive.

Those bright black eyes were fixed on the elephant herd gathering in the distance, their pupils reflecting the huge, gray-brown outlines.

Wei Zhao rode up to her side without saying a word.

"Wanqing".

Shang Wanqing didn't even look up.

"I saw it."

The four words were spoken with a crisp, clear sound, like a hammer striking a chopping board.

She stood up and touched the iron spear-like crossbow bolt in the crossbow trough with her finger.

"Sixty heads."

She was talking to herself.

"In the first round, attack the front row, not the sides, attack from the front."

Wei Zhao was taken aback.

"You said before that the sides are soft—"

"That's a one-man kill strategy."

Shang Wanqing interrupted him.

"Sixty elephants lined up and charged at your face, are you going to wait for them to turn to the side?"

Wei Zhao remained silent.

Shang Wanqing adjusted the copper ruler by one notch.

"The frontal armor is the thickest, but the crossbow bolts are tough enough that even the frontal armor can't withstand them within two hundred paces."

She paused for a moment, and for the first time, her voice carried something beyond just warmth.

"Shoot it in, and the elephants will fall on the spot. Once the front row falls, the elephants behind will trample on the corpses in front. When they are trampled, they will be startled and rush around in a panic."

Wei Zhao's mind suddenly lit up.

It's not about killing all sixty heads, it's about knocking down the front row so that the back row can trample on themselves.

The greatest weakness of an elephant cavalry is not the defensive capabilities of a single war elephant, but rather that they are social animals.

When one falls, the smell of blood and screams will trigger a chain reaction—

The remaining elephants will go out of control, trampling and charging around, trampling not the enemy, but the Nanman's own infantry.

Shang Wanqing has kept this tactic hidden until now.

We've been waiting for this moment.

"Should I give the order?"

Wei Zhao asked.

"Need not."

Shang Wanqing turned around and shouted at the crossbowmen operating the nine ballistae behind her:

"Upwards!"

The winches turned simultaneously, creaking in unison, as ten iron spears were pushed into the crossbow slots, the thick crossbow strings stretched into a straight line, and the crossbow body trembled slightly.

In the distance—the elephant formation of the Tuwu Tiger has finally assembled.

Sixty giant elephants were lined up in three rows, their heads facing Wei Zhao's direction. The elephant charioteers plunged iron hooks into the elephants' heads, and the giant elephants began to accelerate.

"Charge! Elephant charge! Break through!"

The tiger roared as it stood on the chariot.