At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

The next morning.

Outside Ninghai City, war drums thundered.

Thirty thousand Dongyi troops covered the open fields outside the city in a dark mass.

The front row of heavily armored infantry, siege weapons, and shields formed a black iron wall.

The cavalry horses in the middle rank were eager to pounce, their front hooves pawing the ground restlessly.

The archers in the back row had their arrows nocked, ready to unleash a barrage of arrows at any moment.

On the city wall of Ninghai, the Azure Dragon Banner of the Great Qian Dynasty fluttered in the morning breeze.

The 50,000-strong army marched out in formation outside the city gate, their banners fluttering, their momentum as strong as a rainbow, in no way inferior to the Eastern Barbarian army.

Crown Prince Xiao Yunfeng rode a black warhorse, clad in golden armor, wearing a phoenix-winged helmet, and with a sword at his waist, looking majestic in the sunlight.

But his hands, gripping the reins, were sweating profusely, because he had never seen anything like it before.

Xu Cheng rode alongside the Crown Prince, his face grave.

He glanced at the black-clad Dongyi army formation opposite him, his brows furrowed, and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, this humble general still suggests that we hold the city."

"The Dongyi people have come from afar and are short of supplies. If we can hold out for ten or fifteen days, their morale will surely collapse. Then we can go out of the city to meet them in battle, and our chances of victory will be even greater."

The crown prince turned his head and looked at Xu Cheng, his tone carrying a hint of impatience.

"General Xu, you are being too cautious."

"With an army of 50,000 under my command, I have an overwhelming numerical advantage. How can I hide in the city like a coward? What will the soldiers think? They will think I'm afraid of those Eastern barbarian bandits!"

"We dare not engage in battle!"

"Moreover, my father's orders to me are to suppress the Eastern barbarian bandits and recover lost territory. If I dare not even step out of the city gates, how can I face my father in the capital?"

Xu Cheng wanted to persuade him further, but seeing the Crown Prince's determined face, he swallowed his words.

He knew that the Crown Prince had always been like this.

Impatient, competitive, and unwilling to listen to different opinions.

The more you try to persuade him, the more he wants to prove himself.

"Order the entire army to leave the city and meet the enemy!"

The crown prince issued the order.

The 50,000 soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing.

The city gates swung open, the drawbridge crashed down, and the army filed out, forming square formations outside the city gates.

Swordsmen and shieldmen were in front, spearmen were behind, and archers and crossbowmen spread out on both flanks. The formation was neat and orderly, and the momentum was overwhelming.

On the opposite side, in the ranks of the Dongyi army, Takenaka Heibei saw the Daqian army march out of the city and form ranks, and a smug smile appeared on his lips.

"General, did you see that?"

He said to Shimazu Ryunosuke, "The crown prince of the Great Qian Dynasty has indeed come out of the city to meet the enemy. They did not choose to defend the city, but instead chose to fight us on the plains."

Ryunosuke Shimazu glanced at the Daqian army arrayed opposite him, a slight smile playing on his lips: "What are your thoughts, strategist?"

Takenaka Hyōe, waving his iron fan, replied with a smile:

"General, what I was worried about was that the Daqian people were holding Ninghai City, and if we were to attack and capture the city, we would inevitably suffer heavy losses."

"But now that they have voluntarily left the city and abandoned the protection of the city walls, and the two sides are fighting on the same flat ground, our chances of winning have increased."

Otomo Tetsumaru, who was standing nearby, suddenly brightened up when he heard this.

"The strategist is right! Fighting on flat ground, are we afraid of them?"

"Today I'm going to unleash a massacre and show those 'Great Qian dogs' what a true Eastern Barbarian warrior is!"

Ryunosuke Shimazu nodded, drew his katana from his waist, pointed the tip at the opposite formation, and shouted:

"Beat the drums! Form ranks! Prepare for battle!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The war drums thundered, and the Eastern Yi army roared with deafening shouts, wave after wave of sound.

Thirty thousand pairs of eyes were all locked onto the formation opposite them.

The two armies stood facing each other, about five or six hundred paces apart.

Otomo Tetsumaru, as the vanguard general, was the first to ride out into battle.

He rode a jet-black warhorse, carrying an eighty-pound iron rod on his shoulder, the iron nails on the rod gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

He spurred his horse to the front of the two armies, reined in it, and shouted in a booming voice toward the Great Qian camp:

"You worthless bastards of the Great Qian Dynasty! Who is the vanguard commander? Come out and face your death!"

"I am Otomo Tetsumaru, the vanguard general of the Eastern Barbarian siege! Your so-called prince, are you so scared you wet your pants? Too afraid to come out? Then send out a few capable fighters and I'll smash their heads!"

The Dongyi soldiers behind him burst into loud, arrogant laughter.

Upon hearing these words, Crown Prince Xiao Yunfeng's face turned ashen, and he was filled with anger.

Is this an insult to the incompetence of my subordinates?

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the generals behind him, and said, "Who is willing to fight and cut off that arrogant fool's head for me?"

"This humble general is willing to go!"

Zhao Huaizhong was the first to ride out, his silver ringed saber flashing in his hand, the blade gleaming brightly in the sunlight.

His face was full of eagerness and excitement.

He knew this was a good opportunity for him to show off in front of the Crown Prince.

If that barbarian brute can be killed, the Crown Prince will surely look at him with new respect.

If the Crown Prince becomes the heir apparent or even the emperor in the future, he will have the opportunity to rise through the ranks.

The crown prince nodded, quite satisfied.

"Very well! General Zhao, go and teach this arrogant fellow a lesson for me!"

"Let him know that he is not a general under my command, and he cannot be insulted at will!"

Zhao Huaizhong gripped the horse's back with both legs, and the warhorse neighed loudly as it charged out of the battle formation.

He raised his silver-ringed saber high and charged straight at Da You Tiewan, roaring like thunder: "Zhao Huaizhong of the Great Qian Dynasty is here! You Eastern barbarian traitors, prepare to die!"

The distance between the two horses is rapidly decreasing.

Otomo Tetsumaru looked at Zhao Huaizhong charging towards him with a disdainful smile.

He did not charge on horseback, but stood still, his iron rod held horizontally in front of him, waiting for Zhao Huaizhong to come down.

"clang!"

In his first move, Zhao Huaizhong slashed at the top of Otomo Tetsumaru's head with his sword.

Otomo easily blocked it with a horizontal stroke of his iron rod.

Zhao Huaizhong felt a tremendous force of recoil coming from the knife, his hand went numb, and he almost lost his grip on the knife.

"this one?"

Otomo Tetsumaru sneered and swung his staff horizontally with a backhand motion.

Zhao Huaizhong hurriedly raised his knife to parry, and the knife and staff collided with a loud "clang," almost causing the silver ring knife to fly out of his hand.

His warhorse was jolted back two steps, its hooves leaving two deep furrows in the ground.

"Here comes the second move, get ready."

Otomo Tetsumaru's voice was mocking.

Suddenly, he spurred his horse forward and charged down again, the iron rod crashing down with tremendous force, accompanied by a whistling sound.

Zhao Huaizhong mustered all his strength to raise his sword to block, and with a "crack," the silver ring sword broke in the middle, with half of the blade flying far away.

Zhao Huaizhong's face turned pale instantly.

He hadn't expected that the power of the Ōtomo Iron Ball would be so great; one strike almost knocked over his warhorse.

Otomo Tetsumaru's third move followed immediately. His iron rod swept across Zhao Huaizhong's chest with tremendous force.

Zhao Huaizhong's armor dented instantly, and he flew off his horse like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground. He rolled twice, coughing up blood, and struggled a few times before being unable to get up.

"Hahaha! Useless trash! You couldn't even withstand three of my moves!"

Otomo Tetsumaru raised his iron rod and burst into loud laughter, the piercing sound echoing across the battlefield.

A deafening cheer erupted from the Dongyi ranks:

"General Iron Ball is mighty!"

"General Iron Ball is mighty!"

Seeing Zhao Huaizhong's defeat, Crown Prince Xiao Yunfeng's face turned ashen, and he was furious.

He didn't expect that Zhao Huaizhong couldn't even withstand three moves.

"Go and save them!" Xu Cheng shouted to the soldiers behind him.

A captain named Li Ye spurred his horse out, brandishing his long sword, and charged straight at Otomo Tetsumaru.

He wanted to snatch Zhao Huaizhong back before Otomo Tetsumaru could react.

But Otomo Tetsumaru's reaction was much faster than he had imagined.

He glanced at Li Ye charging towards him, then turned his horse around and slammed the iron rod down.

Li Ye raised his sword to parry, but his strength was about the same as Zhao Huaizhong's. The moment the sword and the stick collided, there was a "crack" sound, the long sword broke, and the iron stick, still with momentum, slammed heavily into Li Ye's chest.

"Bang!"

Li Ye's body collapsed as if crushed by a mountain, falling straight off the horse and crashing to the ground. He spat out blood, twitched twice, and then remained motionless.

died.

One blow to the head, and he was dead.

Otomo Tetsumaru didn't even glance at the corpses on the ground. He turned around, raised his iron rod towards the Dongyi formation behind him, and began to show off his achievements.

The cheers of the Dongyi soldiers grew even more frenzied.

"General Iron Ball! General Iron Ball!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhao Huaizhong struggled to climb onto his horse and slunk back to his own camp.

Blood was still trickling from the corner of his mouth, a large dent was in his chest armor, his face was ashen, and the intense pain made him tremble all over.

At this moment, Crown Prince Xiao Yunfeng's mind went completely blank.

Zhao Huaizhong was defeated, and Li Ye died.

The opponent only sent one person, who injured one in three moves and killed the other with a single blow.

Meanwhile, his 50,000-strong army had not yet moved, but their morale had already begun to waver.

"Your Highness..." Xu Cheng's voice came from behind, steady and firm, "This humble general requests to fight."

The crown prince turned his head sharply, looked at Xu Cheng's resolute face, and nodded in agreement: "Alright, General Xu, go and curb this fellow's arrogance."

Xu Cheng raised his spear and slowly rode out of the formation.

From afar, Ōtomo Tetsumaru saw someone else going into battle and sneered, "Another one coming to die? State your name!"

Xu Cheng did not answer, but held his spear horizontally in front of him, his eyes burning with the flames of revenge.

The war drums sounded again, and all the soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty focused their attention on Xu Cheng's figure.

Xu Cheng knew that if he also lost, the morale of the Daqian army would completely collapse.

Therefore, he cannot underestimate his opponent and must go all out!