My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 323 The hero appears
"The pontoon bridge is too short. Too short!! Too short!!"

Yuwen Kai, who was observing the battle, suddenly screamed like a madman. He grabbed his hair, his eyes wide, roared a few times, and then fell backward.

Husi Zheng's expression was also not very good, and he was loudly cursing something.

Yuwen Shu stared at the distance with a stern face.

At that very moment, the group of people rushed to Yuwen Shu's side on horseback.

Husi Zheng and Yuwen Shu were standing together when they saw the newcomer. They were both taken aback. The newcomer was none other than Li Xuanba.

Li Xuanba pointed into the distance, "Duke Xu, the pontoon bridge is not long enough! Our soldiers are being slaughtered. Please quickly send boats and rafts to rescue them! At least suppress the enemy and protect our soldiers as they evacuate!"

Husi Zheng shouted, "General! Your duty is to supervise the battle and ensure that no one deserts! How dare you come here to give orders?!"

Yuwen Shu looked at Li Xuanba, "Without an imperial edict, I cannot go to the rescue."

He looked at Husi Zheng and said, "Please inform His Majesty immediately that I must go and provide support!"

Husi Zheng clearly wanted to reprimand him further, but seeing Yuwen Shu's gloomy face, he dared not say anything more and hurriedly sent someone to report.

Li Xuanba gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, "We can't hesitate! By the time the imperial edict is issued, all the soldiers will be dead! We have to go to their aid! We must rescue them!!"

"Without His Majesty's decree! Who dares to use troops without authorization?! Arrest them and execute them! Execute them!!"

Husi Zheng shouted loudly.

Yuwen Shu's lips trembled.

"kill!!"

Mai Tiezhang, holding a shield in one hand and a knife in the other, was fiercely hacking at the Goryeo soldiers in front of him.

Corpses piled up around him. Korean soldiers charged again. Mai Tiezhang roared, smashing the enemy in front of him with his shield. He swung his knife high, and another head flew off.

The bodies of the Sui soldiers blocked the Liao River, floating there. The soldiers jumped into the water and rushed towards the enemy. The enemy on the shore, having waited in ambush, easily killed them. At the end of the three pontoon bridges, the corpses of the soldiers were piled up.

Qian Langjiang and Meng Langjiang both stood beside Mai Tiezhang, and the three fought to the death without retreating.

More and more soldiers climbed out of the water, roaring as they opened up the front lines on the shore. They charged relentlessly, breaking through one formation after another, and arrows rained down from the high walls.

"what!!!"

Qian Lang roared, his body riddled with arrows, his right hand severed and blood spurting out. With difficulty, he threw his short spear, which flew toward the city wall. An archer on the wall was impaled and fell down screaming.

Qian Lang stared at the distant city wall, then collapsed with a thud.

"Shixiong!!"

Meng Lang let out a heart-wrenching cry, and then rushed towards the high wall without hesitation.

On the enemy's city wall, a general with a long beard quietly stared at the horrific battlefield below, his brows furrowed and his eyes filled with fear.

This thief was named Eulji Mundeok.

As Eulji Mundeok looked at the enemies ahead, who were relentlessly breaking through his defenses and almost reaching the foot of the high wall, he was filled with apprehension.

Fortunately, the pontoon bridge was not long enough.

Even under such circumstances, these Sui soldiers were incredibly fierce, especially the leading generals. The thought of facing nearly a million soldiers like this in the future filled Eulji Mundeok with fear.

The entire east coast has now become a living hell.

The monsters that crawled out of the water were fighting desperately, even though their numbers were dwindling.

Mai Tiezhang had no idea how many heads he had chopped off; all he knew was that he had changed weapons three times.

His comrades around him were dwindling, his body grew heavier and heavier, and the enemy's arrows continued relentlessly.

He listened to his own heavy breathing and looked at the enemy soldiers in front of him who looked terrified. Everything became quiet, and he could hear nothing but his own heavy breathing.

Urged on by the enemy general, the bandits, filled with doubt and uncertainty, slowly stepped forward.

When they realized that the terrifying monster in front of them had finally lost its strength, they were relieved and shouted as they thrust out their spears at the same time.

"Bang!"

Something flew out!!

The soldier who had thrust his spear at Mai Tiezhang had his head explode, blood and flesh flying everywhere. Something heavy leaped to Mai Tiezhang's side.

The bandits looked at him; he was a 'monster' clad in several layers of armor, holding a short spear. He slowly raised his head, his eyes blazing with killing intent, and shouted, "Kill!!"

Li Xuanba charged towards the bandits in front of him, throwing out short spears that pierced through the enemies. He threw three spears in succession, and several soldiers fell down. He picked up the golden mace on the ground and charged left and right.

Mai Tiezhang suddenly came to his senses. He looked around and saw a new army rushing into the battlefield.

Many small boats and rafts were moored on the shore.

Li Xuanba, the general in charge of the bandits, wielded his golden mace, swinging it left and right. Anyone who got near it was injured, and anyone who touched it was killed instantly. The densely packed bandits were sent flying from side to side by his blows. Another fierce general, wielding a long sword, followed Li Xuanba and charged together. More and more of the elite troops rushed ashore, and some of the bandits at the forefront on the east bank could not hold on and began to retreat.

"General!! Get on the ship!! Get on the ship!!"

Yang Xuanzong raised his shield and rushed to Mai Tiezhang's side. He ordered several soldiers to carry Mai Tiezhang towards the distant ships, and then shouted for a retreat. The Xiaoguo Army led the wounded soldiers back to the ships. Small boats were helping to move the pontoon bridge. The soldiers returned to the pontoon bridge and began to evacuate in large numbers.

On the city wall, Eulji Mundeok could no longer sit still. He could see clearly that just as the enemy in front of him was about to collapse, some enemy soldiers landed on rafts. There weren't many of them, and the rafts still had plenty of space, so it was obvious that they were there to rescue people.

As he had expected, the officers on the rafts were directing the evacuation of the pontoon bridge and the soldiers in the water, returning them to the other side.

At first, Eulji Mundeok didn't pay much attention, until the two monsters who jumped ashore began to wreak havoc, terrifying the Goryeo soldiers outside the city. He finally couldn't hold back any longer. His eyes widened, and he roared, "Chase them! Chase them! Don't let them get away!"

The sound of war drums rose from the city wall.

However, the Goryeo soldiers on the periphery could not be organized at this moment. Li Xuanba, covered in blood, was charging recklessly in the enemy's formation, causing chaos in the enemy's formation, and they could not support each other.

Eulji Mundeok was furious. He held his spear and looked behind him.

Inside the city walls, tens of thousands of elite troops are currently resting and preparing for an attack.

Eulji Mundeok kept these people around for use in times of crisis.

But now, seeing that the soldiers are about to leave, we can't skimp on these people any longer!
No matter what, those generals must be killed! Only when they are dead will the morale of the Sui army waver, and only then will we have a chance to win!
The war drums sounded again, and the soldiers inside the city slowly rose, picked up their weapons, and prepared to go out and join the pursuit.

"General! General!"

Someone grabbed Eulji Mundeok's hand and pointed in terror into the distance.

Eulji Mundeok looked toward the Liao River, following the man's gaze.

He saw a dense array of ships, with a large number of soldiers standing on them, holding bows and arrows. They were like evil spirits drifting from the opposite bank, emerging from the mist. The ships were not moving fast, but were slowly closing the distance between them.

The number of these people was terrifying. Eulji Mundeok dared not even try to count them, feeling as if their numbers were blocking the entire Liao River.

On the ship closest to them, Yuwen Shu stood with a stern face, holding a large bow, his head raised and staring in their direction, his eyes fierce and terrifying.

Eulji Mundeok was terrified. "No one is allowed to leave the city! No one is allowed to leave the city! Send some men to defend the city!!!"

"General! We can retreat now!!"

Yang Xuanzong raised his shield and rushed to Li Xuanba and the others. Li Xuanba and Qin Qiong retreated little by little. The soldiers on the other side had no intention of pursuing them and huddled under their own city walls.

As Li Xuanba and Qin Qiong jumped onto the ships, the Sui army retreated completely.

The Liao River was stained red with the blood of Sui soldiers, and countless corpses floated downstream.

The situation on the shore was even more horrific, with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the bodies piled up to form small hills.

Li Xuanba pulled out the arrows from his body. Yang Xuanzong's hands trembled as he took out a silk cloth to wrap Li Xuanba's arm. Only then did Li Xuanba realize that his arm had been cut open and was bleeding.

Qin Qiong felt somewhat guilty and remained silent.

The defeated soldiers returned to the west bank. Meng Lang took a few steps and fell to the ground. Thinking of his comrades, he couldn't help but cry. Mai Tiezhang sat down shakily. He was covered in wounds, not a single part of him was unharmed.

His sons sat around him, unable to hold back their tears.

Li Xuanba stepped ashore and immediately spotted Yuwen Shu, whose face was gloomy.

Li Xuanba bowed respectfully to him.

"Thank you, Duke Xu."

Yuwen Shu pursed his lips and cursed, "I've been dragged down by you again, you brat."

P.S.: This is the first time I've felt old. I usually recover from a cold in a few days, but this time it's dragged on for so long. My throat still hurts today, but my headache is gone, so at least I can write something. I'll resume normal updates starting tomorrow. I'm really sorry to have kept you all waiting.

(End of this chapter)