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

On the city wall, there was a deathly silence.

The Dongyi soldiers seemed to have their necks grabbed at once, their breaths even stopping for a moment.

They gasped in shock as they looked at the corpse that had been cleaved from its horse below the city walls, and at the burly man from the Great Qian Dynasty carrying a blood-dripping longsword.

"General Tanaka... was he cleaved in two with a single blow?"

"How is that possible... General Tanaka's swordsmanship is among the best in the Eastern Barbarian Army."

"When did the Great Qian army acquire such a fierce general?"

"Why didn't I see him when we attacked Ninghai City?"

Shocking words echoed from every corner of the city wall.

Otomo Tetsumaru stood in the center of the castle tower, his hands braced against the battlements, his fists clenched, and he slammed them heavily against the stone wall.

He had seen Tanaka Ichiro wield his sword before; it was fast, ruthless, and accurate. Although not the most skilled, he was still capable of being cleaved in two with a single blow.

He looked down at the figure laughing loudly with his head thrown back, and his anger flared up. He could no longer suppress his fighting spirit.

"General."

"Let this humble general leave."

Standing beside Ryunosuke, Takenaka Hyōe took a deep breath after his initial shock and composed himself.

"General, that black-clad fellow's swordsmanship... is powerful and fierce, but it also has many flaws."

"General Tanaka lost because of his lack of strength. If General Otomo had fought, he might not have lost."

Ryunosuke's Adam's apple bobbed, and his eyes flickered.

He glanced at Ōtomo Tetsumu's face, which was already red with anger, and then at the figure still shouting below the castle.

"General Ōtomo," he finally spoke, his voice steady yet carrying a tension he himself didn't realize, "Go, be swift and clean, don't give him a chance to breathe."

Otomo Tetsumaru suddenly turned around, hoisted the iron rod onto his shoulder, and strode towards the foot of the city wall.

His boots pounded on the steps, each step carrying anger and murderous intent.

He even shouted, "General, this humble general will be right back!"

……

Meanwhile, a different scene unfolded within the Daqian army.

"Just one cut... just one cut?"

"That Dongyi general looked pretty fierce, how did he just disappear like that?"

"I felt sorry for that man just watching Captain Tie Niu's strike..."

"I heard that Commandant Zhao Tieniu was brought from the northern border by Elder Su!"

"Are all the soldiers in the North this fierce?"

The surrounding soldiers whispered among themselves, their eyes following the figure carrying the sword.

As Xu Cheng rode on his horse, his previously tense nerves relaxed slightly.

He stared at the still-bleeding corpse below the city wall, then looked at Zhao Tieniu's imposing back, and couldn't help but sigh, "I never expected... Brother Tieniu, you killed that Eastern Yi general with a single stroke."

He was someone who had suffered losses at the gates of Ninghai City, and he clearly remembered how fast and ruthless the swordsmen of those Eastern Yi generals were.

While Tanaka Ichiro may not be as powerful as Otomo Tetsumaru, he is certainly not someone who can be killed with a single strike.

But Zhao Tieniu did it, cleanly and decisively, cutting it in two with a single stroke.

Xu Cheng turned to look at Su Mu, and then at Qin Hao, You Zhongyi, Gu Changfeng and the others beside Su Mu.

Their faces were calm, as if they had known this would be the outcome all along, and no one showed any surprise.

Xu Cheng understood immediately.

The people Su Mu brought from the northern border were not just Zhao Tieniu; each of them possessed such abilities.

Qin Hao could lead two hundred men to charge against an army of thirty thousand at the South Gate River Estuary; You Zhongyi could kill several enemy generals with a single spear thrust; Gu Changfeng could move through thousands of troops as if they were nothing...

Any one of these people could be a formidable general capable of leading an army independently.

Xu Cheng slowly loosened the reins, his gaze returning to the imposing figure below the city.

He was eagerly anticipating whether Otomo Tetsumaru would personally lead the troops out of the city to confront Zhao Tieniu.

Xiao Jingyu, mounted on his horse, looked at Xu Cheng's profile, then at Su Mu, and whispered, "Old Su, General Xu's mind is at ease now that Tie Niu has struck."

Su Mu nodded slightly.

"Everything was expected!"

……

On the battlefield, Zhao Tieniu shouldered his sword, looked up at the city wall, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Hey! You barbarian bastards on the city wall!"

"Your General Tanaka has already reported to the King of Hell!"

"Who's next?"

"Send more people quickly, don't let them come one by one to their deaths, it's a waste of time!"

"Otomo Tetsumaru! You coward!"

"All your men are dead, what are you still standing there for? Get down! Let your Grandpa Tie Niu teach you how to be a decent human being!"

The Dongyi soldiers on the city wall all looked at Otomo Tetsumaru with a complex expression in their eyes.

They were waiting for Otomo Tetsumaru to make a move and kill this arrogant and domineering general of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Otomo Tetsumaru had already reached the city gate.

He mounted his horse, iron rod in hand, and with a strong squeeze of the horse's flanks, the warhorse neighed and charged out of the city gate.

"Hey, you bastard! Your grandpa Iron Ball is here!"

His voice was as loud as a bell, booming out in front of the city gate.

He carried an iron rod, spurred his horse out of the city gate, and suddenly pulled on the reins a few dozen paces away from Zhao Tieniu. He held the iron rod horizontally in front of him, his eyes like knives, sizing up his opponent.

Zhao Tieniu looked at him, grinned, revealing a set of white teeth: "Finally decided to come out? I thought you were going to stay on the city wall until the New Year."

Otomo Tetsumaru did not answer.

His warhorse immediately bolted, charging towards Zhao Tieniu like a black lightning bolt, the iron rod in his hand whistling as it slammed down in his face.

Instead of retreating, Zhao Tieniu advanced, his long sword held horizontally.

The two weapons clashed together, producing a deafening clang of metal against metal, sparks flying everywhere.

The two were simultaneously jolted back half a step, but regained their footing and charged at each other again.

The iron rod was powerful and heavy; each strike seemed to crack the ground.

The longsword was fierce and domineering, each strike accompanied by a sharp, trembling sensation.

The two men were of similar strength, and their moves were one forceful and the other fierce. They stirred up dust in the open field in front of the city, and the flashing of swords and clubs made everyone on the city wall and in the army hold their breath.

"Clang... clang... clang!"

The sounds of weapons clashing were dense and exploded across the open field.

The two exchanged dozens of blows, neither gaining a clear advantage.

Zhao Tieniu became more and more excited as he fought, his eyes shining brighter and brighter: "Good! That's more like it!"

"Your grandpa Tie Niu hasn't had this much fun in a long time."

Otomo Tetsumaru did not answer, and the iron rod slammed down again.

Zhao Tieniu blocked the iron rod with his sword, his body sinking slightly under the pressure. But then he suddenly exerted his strength, pushed the iron rod away, and swept his sword horizontally, forcing Da You Tiewan to take two steps back.

At this moment, Zhao Tieniu suddenly changed his sword technique, turning his long sword from a horizontal sweep to a diagonal thrust, aiming straight for Otomo Tetsumaru's right rib.

Otomo Tetsumaru instinctively sidestepped to block, but in that instant, his right arm was half a beat slower than his left shoulder.

That was his habitual weakness, which he had never been caught in all these years of fighting.

Zhao Tieniu, however, was shrewd despite his rough exterior, and he kept observing the flaws in Otomo Tetsumaru's defenses.

He was caught red-handed the moment he appeared.

Zhao Tieniu's longsword spun in mid-air, the back of the blade knocking away Otomo Tetsumaru's iron rod, and the blade then swung back, slicing diagonally upwards from below Otomo Tetsumaru's right arm!

"puff!"

A thick right arm, along with half an iron rod, flew into the air, tumbled twice, and crashed to the ground several feet away, raising a cloud of dust.

Otomo Tetsumaru's movements suddenly froze. He looked down at his bleeding right shoulder, and before he could even scream, Zhao Tieniu's second slash was already upon him.

A flash of light.

A head rolled to the ground, hit the dirt, bounced once, and rolled twice more.

Otomo Tetsumaru's headless corpse sat frozen on the horse's back for a moment, then slowly tilted to one side and fell to the ground with a thud.

Zhao Tieniu sheathed his sword, stood still, caught his breath, glanced down at the corpse on the ground, and grinned: "I have to say, you Eastern barbarian bastard are quite a fighter. If I hadn't discovered your weakness, I wouldn't have been able to kill you."

The scene before them plunged the city walls into a deathly silence once more.

The Dongyi soldiers were stunned and utterly shocked when they saw the headless corpse still bleeding at Zhao Tieniu's feet.

A wave of amazement spread through the Dongyi army.

"General Ōtomo...was killed?"

"He...he is the most capable vanguard general in our Dongyi army..."

"Even General Ōtomo couldn't defeat him..."

Ryunosuke's pupils constricted, and he froze.

He stared in utter disbelief at the head and corpse of Ōtomo Tetsumaru.

He never expected that even a fierce general like Ōtomo Tetsumaru would be killed.

"General..." Takenaka Hyōe's voice trembled, "General Ōtomo, he..."

Ryunosuke did not answer.

He looked down at the figure below the city wall, carrying a sword and gazing up at the sky.

Suddenly, I felt an inexplicable chill rise from my back and slowly creep up my entire spine.

Good guy!

If a fierce general is this terrifying, how strong must Su Mu, who can withstand an army of ten thousand, be?

"Strategist, what should we do next?"

Before Ryunosuke could finish speaking, Su Mu, standing at the forefront of the Great Qian army, had already given the order:

"Vanguard Battalion, attack!"

In an instant, Xu Cheng and Qin Hao, along with their vanguard battalion, began their assault on the city!