Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

"Sizzle—!"

The letter of surrender, filled with humiliation, turned into countless fragments in Li Shimin's hands, like white butterflies in winter, swept into a sea of ​​fire by the bloody wind and instantly swallowed up.

"drop?"

Li Shimin laughed wildly, his laughter filled with a resolute and sorrowful tone.

"I am the Emperor of the Great Tang! The backbone of the Han people!"

"These knees will kneel to heaven, earth, and even one's parents, but never to these savage barbarians!"

He suddenly raised the chipped Emperor's Sword in his hand, its blade pointing directly at the dark, tide-like enemy army at the valley entrance, his roar shattering the blood and foam in his throat.

"Where are the Xuanjia Army?!"

"exist!!!"

The remaining two thousand or so elite Xuanjia warriors roared in unison. They had just swallowed the flesh and blood of their former comrades (warhorses), and what burned within them now was a final, desperate burst of energy, and the most frenzied flames of revenge.

"Follow me... and kill!"

"kill--!!!"

There was no way out, no reinforcements, and no hope.

This was destined to be a tragic and heroic charge, like moths drawn to a flame.

The narrow terrain of Longmen Valley, which was originally the last line of defense for the Tang army, has now become their grave.

Jieli had clearly lost patience with the cat catching the mouse.

With a mournful bugle call, the 300,000-strong Turkic coalition launched its final assault.

That wasn't an army; it was a black tsunami.

Countless Turkic cavalrymen, clad in leather armor and wielding scimitars, even abandoned their horses and swarmed down the hillsides from all directions like ants.

Human wave tactics.

The most primitive, and also the most desperate tactic.

They trampled over the corpses of their comrades, over scalding blood, layer upon layer, using human flesh to flatten the Tang army's defenses.

"Get the hell out of my way!!"

Cheng Yaojin was covered in blood, and his iconic large axe was worn down and jagged. He looked like a wounded, mad bear, his eyes red, as he cleaved a Turkic soldier's head in two with a single blow, splattering brains all over his face.

"Your Majesty! Retreat! Retreat!"

Old Cheng mechanically swung his axe while turning back and roaring, his voice trembling with sobs.

Three arrows were stuck in his body, one in his shoulder and two in his thighs. Blood flowed down his armor skirt, and with each step he took, he left a bloody footprint on the ground.

But he cannot fall.

He fell, and behind him stood the emperor.

"Retreat? Where to retreat to?"

Yuchi Gong's spear had long since broken, and now he held two curved swords he had picked up from a pile of corpses, guarding Li Shimin's left side like a god of war.

His dark face was now as pale as paper, clearly from excessive blood loss, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

"Old Cheng, don't bother."

Yuchi Gong gave a bitter laugh and stabbed through an enemy who rushed at him with his sword. "Today, it seems that the two of us old brothers will have to give up our old bones here."

"Bullshit! I'm not done living yet! I still have meat stewing at home..."

Cheng Yaojin cursed and swore, but tears mixed with blood streamed down his face.

The Tang army's defensive line is shrinking.

From the valley entrance, it retreated to the middle section, and was finally compressed into a small, narrow hill less than a hundred feet high.

Of the 20,000 infantrymen, fewer than 5,000 are still standing.

The three thousand Xuanjia soldiers suffered more than half their losses, and the remaining men were all wounded, clinging on only because of their sheer willpower.

On their opposite side were countless enemies, covering the mountains and plains.

The Turks seemed inexhaustible; as one row felled, two more surged forward. Their greedy eyes were fixed on the middle-aged man in tattered golden armor surrounded in the center.

That was the emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Those are walking mountains of gold and silver, and ladders to heaven for those who are granted titles and high positions!

"Capture Li Shimin alive! A reward of ten thousand head of cattle and sheep will be given!"

"Kill him! Cut off his head, and you'll be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold!"

Jieli's bounty had driven these barbarians completely mad.

"clang!"

Li Shimin parried the spear aimed at his face with his sword, then retaliated by plunging his own sword into the enemy's throat. Warm blood splattered all over his face, stinking foul.

He was panting heavily, feeling like his lungs were about to explode.

The Emperor's Sword in his hand was as heavy as a mountain, and each swing required all his strength.

He is old.

He is no longer the King of Qin who could take the head of a general amidst a vast army.

"Your Majesty, be careful!"

A guard rushed forward and used his back to block a cold arrow; with a "thud," the arrowhead pierced through his chest.

The guard collapsed limply into Li Shimin's arms, blood gushing from his mouth, his eyes glazed over: "Your Majesty... live... live on..."

"ah!!!"

Li Shimin let out a beast-like wail, pushed aside the corpses of his personal guards, and brandished his sword like a madman, forcing back the surrounding enemies.

But it's no use.

The number of Tang soldiers around them was decreasing, and the protective circle was getting smaller and smaller.

From fifty steps, it shrank to thirty steps, and then to ten steps.

Li Shimin could clearly see the ferocious faces of the Turks, even the bits of flesh on their teeth.

"It's over..."

Changsun Wuji slumped down at Li Shimin's feet, clutching a broken sword in his hand, his face filled with despair. "Your Majesty, we...we really have nowhere to turn."

Li Shimin looked around.

Cheng Yaojin knelt on one knee, supporting his body with his axe, but he couldn't stand up no matter what; Yuchi Gong leaned against a rock, only able to exhale but not inhale.

Those young Xuanjia Army warriors fell one by one into pools of blood, their hands still tightly gripping the enemy's ankles even in death.

These are my soldiers.

These are the men of my Great Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin suddenly stopped trembling and stopped being angry.

An unprecedented calm enveloped him.

He slowly straightened up, straightened his tattered clothes, wiped the blood from his face, revealing his still majestic imperial face.

He looked at the approaching Turks, who were like wolves and tigers, and at the smug Jieli under the banner in the distance.

A bitter smile unexpectedly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Chengqian..."

He murmured softly, so softly that only he could hear it.

"You're right, old man... I was indeed too young and too impetuous."

"This time, I've really gotten myself into trouble."

"But thankfully you're here."

Li Shimin's hand slowly reached into his robes, where a blood-stained edict he had written the night before was hidden.

As long as that imperial edict can be sent out, as long as the Tang Dynasty still has that prodigious crown prince...

This country will not be thrown into chaos!

"bring it on!"

Li Shimin suddenly raised the Emperor's Sword, its blade reflecting a final, chilling glint in the firelight.

Instead of retreating, he stepped forward, facing alone the 300,000-strong army surging towards him like a tidal wave.

That figure, though desolate, was as majestic as a mountain.

"I am the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty!"

"Today, I will die here for my country!"

"Who dares to take my head?!"