Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xie Yun did not say a word and stepped forward to stand beside Empress Wu.
Queen Wu asked, "Do you see that?"
Xie Yun did not follow her finger to look at the battle formation on the plains. She only asked, "Does the Empress want to use me as a threat?"
"You think too much."
Queen Wu sneered, "You have been in the Forbidden Palace for many years. Your old subordinates in Beiya are still there. Everyone is watching.
If you are used as a shield, it will be useless. Won't it be like a fox grieves for a rabbit's death? "
"Why did the Empress call me here?"
Empress Wu cast her gaze towards Xie Yun, and after a long while, she let out a long laugh. "The disciple that you personally brought up has traveled thousands of miles to ruin my Great Tang's flourishing country. How can I not let you personally watch as his head is separated from his body and his bones are crushed?!"
"Send out the cavalry and prepare the crossbows!" Queen Wu let out a terrifying roar, "Kill them all outside the city gate!"
The bugle horn sounded. The cavalry on the left and right of the Emperor's Army stirred up a storm of dust.
Under the city gate in the distance, the vanguard of the Valiant Cavalry Battalion pushed out a row of thousand-stone crossbows. Burning barrels of kerosene were thrown at the Emperor's Army!
Dan Chao withdrew his gaze from the city gate tower. His face was as calm and expressionless as water. He blocked all of Li Jingye's hesitant questions and coldly said, "Chang 'an is surrounded by eight rivers. It is easy to defend and hard to attack. Under the condition that there are sufficient provisions in the city, it is not difficult to defend the city for more than a month. However, the morale of the southern army will be exhausted.
Therefore, we must win today. Otherwise, we will not be able to calm the hearts of the people.
Men, prepare the siege crossbows! "
Li Jingye whispered, "The General's family is in the city. What if the Wu family is ruthless …"
Usually, people would not say this before the battle. However, Li Jingye knew that it was a fact. He just wanted to calm them down.
Who would have thought that Shan Chao would remain unmoved, but a cold smile slowly appeared on his face.
Ever since he had witnessed the miracle of Luoyang, Duke Ying had felt an indescribable fear and dread toward Shan Chao. At this moment, he stared at the imperceptible smile lines and inexplicably smelled a strong bloodthirsty aura.
Shan Chao did not answer him. He suddenly whipped his horse.
"Go!"
The cavalrymen responded emotionally and followed him into the rain of fire that was smashing down from above!
"Heavenly Empress, please leave!"
The Imperial Bodyguards swarmed forward and pushed Queen Wu back. Arrows rained down from the city gate tower onto the battlefield. Yuwen Hu strode forward and pulled the bowstring. The specially made arrow with carved plumes and steel ridges drew sparks in the air, whistling as it pierced toward the front of the formation!
Shan Chao swung his halberd and knocked over a dozen enemy soldiers around him. In an instant, they were trampled into a bloody pulp by the rolling hooves of the horses. At this moment, the carved plumes of the arrows flew through the air. The bodyguards on the left and right rushed forward. Several layers of huge shields formed an iron wall and were pushed back by the arrows.
"Bang!"
Shan Chao grabbed the scalding hot arrow and swung the bow backward. The steel arrow flew against the overwhelming flood and soared into the sky like a meteor!
Yuwen Hu dodged and cursed loudly. The steel arrow brushed past his body and shot through the head of a bodyguard in an instant!
"Reporting — Li Zhishi faced the enemy head-on and was cut down from his horse!"
"Reporting — Ma Jingchen was not a match for the enemy in front of the formation and was captured alive!"
"Reporting —!"
As soon as they met face to face, two fierce generals were killed one after another. Unexpectedly, no one was able to block Shan Chao's sword?
Yuwen Hu fiercely pushed away the soldier who reported the news. He personally ran down the city gate tower and led a large number of soldiers to kill their way out of the city!
At this moment, the battlefield had completely turned into a meat grinder. Countless corpses were piled up in the trenches.
Shan Chao led the cavalry that he had personally trained in various battles and relied on his superb horsemanship to avoid the heavy crossbow bolts. On the other hand, Li Jingye, who was guarding the middle of the army, ordered people to continuously reload the siege crossbows. The two of them cooperated extremely well. Like a torrential downpour of tens of thousands of tons of boulders, huge craters were formed on the city walls of Chang An.
The front line continued to advance toward the city gate tower. The siege chariots crushed the flesh and blood as they sped forward. The Emperor's army could be said to be advancing wave after wave. It was as if they were carrying countless corpses as they placed the ladder at the foot of the city wall!
Yuwen Hu roared and charged forward on his warhorse. He fiercely rammed into the vanguard of the enemy and in an instant, more than ten cavalrymen were sent flying backward!
Clang!
Sparks flew everywhere as the weapons clashed. Shan Chao and Yuwen Hu brushed past each other's horses. The two of them turned around at the same time. In a flash, they exchanged a few moves. The strength of their weapons sent the surrounding soldiers flying.
"You traitor!" Yuwen Hu roared angrily, "Today, I will completely dispose of you — —!"
With a deafening sound, Yuwen Hu's spear chopped towards Shan Chao's neck. Shan Chao did not dodge. Instead, his halberd blocked the spear. At the same time, his halberd brushed past Yuwen Hu's head and sent his helmet flying!
The bodyguards cheered loudly, and their helmets flew far away from the battle formation. Yuwen Hu took advantage of the situation to pull back, and with a strength as great as Mount Tai, he bent the halberd in Dan Chao's hand!
Shan Chao exhaled a mouthful of boiling blood and threw away the halberd.
The steel halberd, which was several hundred kilograms thick, fell heavily to the ground, splashing the soil that was soaked in blood. Soon after, the muscles on his back tightened, the compression spring vibrated, and the clear roar of a dragon sounded from all directions. He pulled out the Dragon Abyss with a backhand!
Yuwen Hu's eyes flashed with a dazzling snowy light.
In that instant, he vaguely saw the Azure Dragon spiraling up into the sky from the sword. He saw it clearly, but before his fear rose, he suppressed it. He instinctively roared and raised his spear to stab.
— — But at that time, no one could see Shan Chao's sword move clearly.
They only heard the sound of weapons clashing in the air. It was like a rainstorm hitting pear blossoms. It was also like countless sharp blades scraping against one's face. The cavalry all staggered back. Even the brave war horses neighed in fear.
In the blink of an eye, the rolling dust and sand blocked everyone's view. They could only see the cold whirlwind cut the wind and sand into countless pieces.
Clang!
An unusually loud sound tore through their eardrums. Half of the halberd flew into the air!
"You — —!"
Yuwen Hu's roar was like that of a dying beast. In the next moment, two heavy objects fell to the ground. Both of them fell from their horses at the same time.
The war horses stamped their feet and spun around. The cavalry turned pale with fright and swarmed forward. At that moment, Shan Chao threw a heavy and fierce punch that knocked Yuwen Hu over. Then, he raised his sword and stabbed down like lightning!
At that moment, Yuwen Hu really thought that he was going to die.
He subconsciously closed his eyes. Then, a chill brushed past his ears and stabbed into the ground!
"…" Yuwen Hu trembled and opened his eyes. He turned his head. Long Yuan's sharp blade was right in his eyes.
The cavalry's cheers shook the heavens and the earth. They quickly spread into the distance.
Yuwen Hu closed his eyes. The memory of being defeated by this person in the East Patrol Palace appeared in front of his eyes. After a while, he said in a trembling voice, "… Just kill me!"
Dan Chao's head and face were covered in blood and dust. However, the dim yellow sun shone from behind him. Half of his face showed an extremely rigid, straight, and cold, stern, and irresistible silhouette.
"You did your job faithfully. What crime did you commit?" He asked indifferently. Then, he stood up and shouted, "Guards, take him away!"
Yuwen Hu couldn't believe it. Then, he was dragged away by a few guards. Shan Chao walked to the war horse, flipped over, and raised his long sword.
The sword reflected a dazzling light under the sunlight. It spread in all directions along with his steady voice,
"Follow me and kill — —"
"Kill — —!" The cavalry answered brazenly. They rolled up a torrent of charging soldiers and rushed toward the city gate!
Boom!
The assault vehicle rampaged through the crowd. The siege crossbows on the vehicle threw boulders. With an earth-shattering sound, large cracks were left on the city gate.
However, Chang An stomped on the city gate tower and threw hundreds of barrels of kerosene. Several burning fireballs hit the assault vehicle head on!
The entire assault vehicle was instantly bathed in a towering fire. The flames burned the wood and made crackling sounds. The soldiers screamed tragically and jumped out from high places with their bodies covered in flames. The burning smell of iron and the smell of blood rushed out for miles. Everyone's expression changed dramatically on the battlefield.
"General Shan!"
Li Jingye was bathed in blood. He rode his horse from the rear and rushed forward. He was anxious and angry, "The city is about to be broken!
What should we do? "
— — What should we do?
Shan Chao frowned. His eyes looked through the billowing black smoke. He saw that the city gate was on the verge of collapse. It was as if he could push it down if he rushed over. However, in this gap where no one could go forward, countless soldiers in the city swarmed forward to reinforce the city gate.
What should we do now?
·
"Report —!"
"Yuwen's Great General was defeated in the battle and was captured alive!"
There was an uproar on the city gate tower. Queen Wu suddenly stood up, "How could it be?!"
Behind her, Xie Yun exhaled softly, and the lines of his tight shoulders relaxed slightly.
Cloud ladders were placed on top of the city walls. Countless soldiers were climbing up the city walls. The top of the city gate tower was like boiling water. Everyone was running, everyone was shouting and yelling. Bows and arrows covered the sky densely.
In a corner where no one noticed, a young man in black walked up the steps and stood in front of the gate tower.
"Who is it?"
As soon as the voice of the soldier fell, a cold light flashed in front of him. A human head flew into the air with a trail of blood.
The surrounding people were frightened. Three to five soldiers shouted at the same time, "Stop!" "Don't move!" "Protect the Emperor, there's an assassin!"
The Soul Seizing Hook slashed horizontally in the fan-shaped blood. Wherever the hook blade went, severed limbs flew up. The young man hooked his hood with his little finger, revealing a fiery red short hair and a wicked smile on the corner of his mouth.
In the distance, the Queen of Heaven suddenly turned around. She was shocked and angry, "Jing Ling?"
Jing Ling stood up. In an instant, five to six arrows were nailed to the place where he was originally standing.
His black figure swept over everyone's heads like the Grim Reaper. Almost every step he took, several people were cut in half by the huge iron hook. Everyone was frightened and screamed as they retreated.
"Protect the Queen of Heaven!"
"Quick, protect the Emperor!"
The Queen of Heaven was surrounded by her guards and staggered to the side door. Jing Ling stopped in front of Xie Yun and looked at her coldly. The heavy Soul-Seizing Hook came down from above.
With a splashing sound, half of Xie Yun's face was splashed with blood. The guards behind him were silently chopped into pieces.
Jing Ling took back the Soul-Seizing Hook and cut off the black iron chain on Xie Yun's wrist. He narrowed his eyes and looked at him for a moment.
"Come with me, Senior."
Xie Yun rubbed her wrist and sighed. She shook her head and smiled without answering. She picked up the bow from a soldier's corpse and walked to the city wall.
Jing Ling frowned suspiciously when they brushed past each other. His gaze followed Xie Yun's head and he heard her laughing voice, "You called me Senior for a few years, but I didn't teach you anything. If others know that I don't care about the younger generation, they will complain that I don't care about them."
"…" Jing Ling's expression was half relaxed and half vigilant. After hesitating for a while, he said, "The Sect Leader has already contacted that bunch of useless Northern Yamen Imperial Guards to provide support below the city gate tower. He told me to bring you down, you …"
"I'll go later." Xie Yun said softly. She put her slender fingers on the steel arrow and pulled the bowstring.
The pale white sun shone on the arrowhead. The bowstring was full and stretched like a full moon. The tip of the arrow was aimed in the direction of Shan Chao on the battlefield.
"Do you know how to shoot an arrow?" he asked.
"…" Jing Ling said provocatively, "Of course.
Why, you want to teach me? "
In the distance, Shan Chao held his sword in front of his horse and looked at the arrow that was reflecting a cold light in the sky.
"Okay, I'll teach you." Xie Yun curved her beautiful lips. "I'll only teach you once. Watch carefully."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xie Yun suddenly changed the direction of the arrow and released the bowstring!
Buzz —
The arrow left the bowstring and made a soft sound. Xie Yun let go and her five fingernails broke at the same time. The iron bow fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.
In the next moment, the sharp arrow suddenly turned into a Green Dragon. It let out an earth-shaking roar in front of millions of people!
The soldiers guarding the gate screamed in despair. However, it was too late for them to do anything.
Even the fastest and most agile cavalry could only feel the arrow breaking through the air and the huge body of the Giant Dragon passing over their heads.
Then, the huge bearing on the top of the city gate exploded. Under the heavy impact of the Giant Dragon, it shattered into countless pieces!
— — Thud!
The arrow was nailed to the top of the city gate with a heavy sound.
The heavy gate that lost the support of the bearing trembled. Sawdust filled the sky and the rope twitched. Under everyone's shocked gaze, the gate slowly fell down.
The dazzling light of the arrow breaking the gate had not completely dissipated from the sky. At the same time, millions of soldiers realized an unbelievable fact — —
The city was broken.
Chang An City, which was exhausted like a dying egg, was finally broken.
"Protect the Imperial Palace — —!"
Queen Wu's angry roar spread everywhere. In response, a loud bugle horn sounded on the battlefield. Then, the sound of the horses' hooves rumbled. The entire plain shook!
There was nothing else that could stop this cavalry from charging towards the Great Ming Palace.
— — Under the leadership of its new successor, the Royal Family of Li Tang, which was in a precarious situation, finally returned to the peak of power in the world.