My wife, Wei Gui, was 1.9 meters tall and fought against the Tang dynasty for the throne.

At dawn, the rebel camp was deathly silent.

There were no bugles, no drums, and no smoke from cooking fires.

One hundred thousand troops were arrayed outside the north city, a dark mass that, viewed from the city wall, resembled an endless black wasteland.

But the soldiers' faces were ashen, their eyes sunken, their lips chapped, and their hands trembling as they gripped their knives.

It has been four days since we ran out of food. All the horses have been killed, and we even boiled them down to make soup.

Yang Xuangan personally donned his armor and boarded the commander's chariot. He wore a black armor helmet, a scarlet cloak, and the long sword in his hand gleamed coldly in the morning light.

He raised his sword towards the north city, his voice hoarse yet overwhelming all other noises:

"Whoever conquers Luoyang will be granted the title of Marquis with ten thousand households!"

He was met with silence. It wasn't that he didn't want to shout, but that he couldn't—his throat, weakened by hunger, couldn't even produce a sound.

Li Zixiong led his remaining troops as the vanguard, mounted on horseback, his face ashen.

His vanguard battalion has dwindled from 5,000 to less than 2,000, and the rest are all wounded. But he is the vanguard, so he has no choice but to fight.

Li Mi sat in a simple carriage at the rear of the formation, looking out at the majestic city walls through the curtain.

He had no sword, no command flag, only a book in his hand.

But he knew that today's battle was the last.

If we can capture it, there's still a glimmer of hope; if we can't, our 100,000-strong army will be annihilated.

On the city wall, Li Ju stood in full armor.

He looked calmly at the dark mass of people outside the city.

Wei Feng stood beside him, gripping the hilt of his sword, his armor still stained with bloodstains from yesterday that he hadn't had time to wipe off.

Wang Yu was organizing the troops below the city wall, while Zhang Yi was running back and forth between the crenellations, checking the arrows and rolling logs.

"They're going to fight to the death," Wei Feng said in a low voice.

"A cornered beast's struggle." Li Ju gazed outside the city. "Let them come."

Yang Xuangan's chariot slowly moved forward, stopping a short distance away. He looked up at the figure in black iron armor on the city wall, gathered his strength, and shouted sharply:

"Li Ju! You treacherous scoundrel! We swore a blood oath, a father-son alliance, and you dare betray me!"

The sound carried across the city walls and below, reaching both armies. The defenders on the city walls all looked towards Li Ju.

Li Ju, leaning against the battlements, spoke in a low but clear voice that carried firmly to the foot of the city wall:

"Betrayal? Yang Xuangan, you used the name of a loyal minister to commit treason, poisoning the world and causing chaos among the people. My blood oath with you was merely a temporary expedient."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the emaciated rebel soldiers below the city walls, and his voice suddenly rose:

"You starving corpses dare to invade the fortified city of my Great Sui? Look behind you—the imperial army is already on its way. If you know what's good for you, lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid death!"

The soldiers defending the city walls shouted in unison, "Surrender and you'll be spared! Surrender and you'll be spared!"

Within the rebel ranks, some began to retreat. Li Zixiong spurred his horse back and forth, cutting down three retreating soldiers before barely managing to regain his footing.

Yang Xuangan drew his sword and roared, "Attack the city!"

The war drums thundered.

The rebels surged toward the city walls like a tidal wave.

The first wave: siege ladders. Hundreds of siege ladders were simultaneously erected on the city walls, and rebel soldiers climbed up like ants.

Arrows rained down from the city walls, logs and stones tumbled down, and ladders were overturned one after another, the soldiers on them smashed into pieces.

But those behind them continued to surge upwards, stepping over the corpses of their companions, their eyes bloodshot, as if they had gone mad.

The second wave: battering rams. Three battering rams simultaneously rammed the city gate, the dull thud shaking the very top of the city wall. One by one, the supporting beams behind the gate snapped, and the craftsmen desperately tried to push them up, but each ram ram struck with increasing ferocity.

"Zhang Yi! Archers, fire on the battering ram!" Li Ju shouted sternly.

Zhang Yi led the archers of the riverbank camp toward the battering ram, and a hail of arrows rained down on the soldiers pushing it. The men fell to the ground, but others immediately filled in, stepping over the corpses to continue pushing.

The third wave: slingshots. The rebels set up makeshift catapults, and stones whistled as they rained down on the city walls. One stone struck the crenellations, sending shards flying, and a defender was hit in the chest, collapsing with a muffled groan.

Li Ju remained calm and said to the messenger, "Move the reserves up the city wall. Tell Wei Feng to prepare for a counterattack."

The messenger rushed off.

Beneath the city wall, Wei Feng led a thousand elite troops, arrayed inside the city gate. He listened to the sounds of impact outside the city and gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

"Open the door."

The city gate slowly opened a crack. Wei Feng charged out first, followed by a thousand elite soldiers who, like tigers descending a mountain, rushed straight towards the rebel army below the city.

The rebels were attacking the city with all their might when the city gates suddenly opened, and a fresh force rushed out.

With a swift stroke of his longsword, Wei Feng slew several men, scattering the rebel vanguard.

Li Zixiong, who was overseeing the battle from the rear, was shocked to see this and hurriedly dispatched troops to provide support.

But Wei Feng did not linger in battle. After killing over a hundred men, he immediately retreated back into the city. The city gates were closed again.

This charge and retreat, which took less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, brought the rebels' offensive to a standstill.

Outside the city, Li Mi sat in his carriage, listening to the sounds of battle ahead through the curtain. His fingers tapped lightly on his knees, once, once, slowly and deliberately.

"Lord Pushan," his trusted advisor whispered, "the vanguard has suffered too many casualties. If we continue fighting like this—"

"I know." Li Mi opened his eyes. "We must fight to the bitter end today. The situation won't become clear until dusk."

"dusk?"

"If reinforcements don't arrive by dusk, we still have one night. If reinforcements do arrive—" He didn't finish his sentence.

On the river, Wang Yu led twenty small boats, stealthily circling around to the rear of the rebel army along the Yongji Canal. The boats carried archers who fired arrows at the rebels from the flanks. The rebel rear was thrown into chaos and forced to divide its forces to deal with the situation.

"Fire!" Wang Yu commanded, and a hundred arrows were unleashed. Soldiers in the rear of the rebel army fell to the ground, struck by arrows. Some turned to fire arrows, but the small boats were too fast; with a turn of the rudder, they steered into the middle of the river, and the arrows could not reach them.

This repeated disturbance kept the rebel rear uneasy.

Yang Xuangan watched anxiously from his chariot, constantly redeploying troops to defend the rear. But with each troop he redeployed, the strength of the frontal assault weakened.

On the north wall of the city, Li Ju stood in front of the crenellations, having stood there for a whole day.

His voice was hoarse from shouting, his eyes were red from the smoke, and his armor was covered with dust and arrow fragments. But he did not step back, nor did he sit down to catch his breath.

Outside the city, the rebels' offensive had clearly weakened. It wasn't that they didn't want to attack, but that they couldn't.

Corpses piled up beneath the city walls, blood flowed like rivers, and even a section of the moat was filled in. The surviving soldiers were all exhausted, too weak even to lift a sword.

At dusk, a beacon fire suddenly rose above the walls of Luoyang.

These were not ordinary beacon fires, but three plumes of thick smoke shooting straight into the sky—a signal that reinforcements were on their way.

The soldiers guarding the city walls cheered in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.

In the distance, at the end of the official road, dust billowed. A large banner was faintly visible in the twilight—embroidered with the words: "Yuwen".

Yuwen Shu's vanguard has arrived.

In the rebel ranks, everyone saw the beacon fire and the dust rising in the distance.

The charging soldiers suddenly stopped, some threw down their weapons, and turned to run.

Once he started running, it was like a flood bursting its banks, and he couldn't stop it.

"Stop! Don't run!" Li Zixiong spurred his horse and chased after them, killing several men, but no one listened to him. The fleeing soldiers surged forward like a tide, engulfing him and pulling him back.

Yang Xuangan stood on the chariot, looking at the rout of the army, his face pale.

The bugle call to retreat finally sounded, low and mournful, echoing in the twilight.

The rebels retreated to their camp like a receding tide. Thousands of corpses were left behind beneath the city walls, and rivers of blood flowed freely.

Yang Xuangan returned to the central command tent and abruptly swept all the teacups, documents, and command flags on the table onto the ground.

"Li Ju!" He slammed his fist on the table, which shattered with a crack. "I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him!"

The generals in the tent lowered their heads and remained silent, none daring to respond.

Li Mi sat in the corner, still holding the scroll in his hand. He turned a page and put it down.

"The Duke of Chu"

Yang Xuangan turned his head sharply and stared at him.

"If we fail to capture it today, reinforcements will arrive tomorrow. We—have no chance." Li Mi stood up, walked to the map, and slowly said, "I offer three strategies, middle and inferior, for the Duke of Chu to decide."