"Commander, you should leave! Yanmen Pass can't be defended! "
On Yanmen Pass, the Tang army was about to run out of arrows. Seeing this, a soldier came to Xu Tingda's side and urged him anxiously.
Xu Tingda was unmoved and said coldly, "I would rather die than retreat!"
After saying that, he turned to the soldiers on the city gate tower and shouted, "Generals, listen to my order! Follow me to open the gates and fight to the death with the Turkic army! Behind us are our parents, wives, and children. Tonight, we would rather die than retreat! "
Xu Tingda had been forced to give up the advantage of terrain and open the gates to meet the Turks. Their arrows were about to run out, and without any 'long-range attacks', the Turkic soldiers would be able to easily break through the gates. Rather than hastily engaging in battle, it was better to open the gates now and gather all the soldiers to engage the Turks in a battle of life and death!
"Rather die than retreat!"
"Rather die than retreat!"
Xu Tingda's words influenced the Tang army near Yanmen Pass, and they all shouted.
A solemn and stirring atmosphere suddenly pervaded the air!
"Reporting!"
"General, the Tang army has taken the initiative to open the gates and want to fight us outside Yanmen Pass!"
At the center of the Turkic army, a Turkic soldier ran over and bowed to Ashina Sheerchu.
"Oh? The Tang army actually dares to come out? "
Ashina Sheerchu raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then, his face turned cold as he said, "Pass down my order. The left, middle, and right armies move out together and take down Yanmen Pass as quickly as possible!"
"Yes!"
The soldier cupped his fists and turned to leave.
"Wu wu ~!"
Not long after, the desolate sound of a bugle horn could be heard in the open space outside Yanmen Pass. This was the bugle horn for the Turkic army to launch an all-out attack. Thus, countless Turkic soldiers mounted their horses and brandished their scimitars as they galloped toward the Tang army that had just exited the city and gotten into formation!
"Listen up! Tonight, I, Xu Tingda, will advance and retreat with my brothers. I swear to defend Yanmen Pass to the death!"
Below the city wall, Xu Tingda pulled out the sword at his waist and pointed at the Turkic army.
"Defend Yanmen Pass to the death!"
"Defend Yanmen Pass to the death!"
As soon as Xu Tingda finished speaking, the ten thousand Tang soldiers roared in unison.
"Follow me and kill!"
Xu Tingda roared as he led the charge into the Turkic army.
Seeing this, the Tang army at the back quickly urged their horses to catch up. A great battle had officially begun!
Xu Tingda had come from a poor family, and he had relied entirely on his own abilities to reach his current position. Thus, there was no need to doubt his personal strength. Under his command, the Tang army was able to break through the heart of the Turkic army like a hot knife through butter!
But the disadvantage of this was obvious. They would be easily surrounded by the Turkic army. After all, the Turkic army outnumbered them by four to five times!
"Hmph! Get out of the way! Wait for me to meet him! "
Seeing that Xu Tingda was unstoppable in the army, taking down several dozen Turkic soldiers in just a few moments, Ashina Sheerchu finally couldn't stand it any longer and roared.
Hearing this, the Turkic soldiers around Xu Tingda immediately scattered, creating an empty space. Xu Tingda's eyes focused as he looked at Ashina Sheerchu approaching on horseback. After a moment's hesitation, he raised his right palm to the Tang soldiers behind him and said, "All of you, withdraw as well!"
A general duel!
In the blink of an eye, a large-scale group battle had transformed into a one-on-one duel between generals!
In ancient war dramas like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it was common to see the commanders of two sides fighting one-on-one, and the one with superior martial strength would emerge victorious. Many people would be confused. Was there really such a phenomenon in history of generals fighting generals? In truth, this sort of situation had happened before, but it was not a scene from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but there were many restrictions.
First, generals fighting generals had already appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, it was called 'Zhi Shi', and after the Han Dynasty, it was called 'Duan General'. Both had the same meaning. In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, there were records of the Great War between the Jin and Chu states. At that time, King Zhuang of Chu led an army to attack Handan and met the Jin general Zhao Cheng. Zhao Cheng was unable to resist and abandoned his carriage to escape. In the end, Zhao Cheng threw away his clothes and armor, as the armor would affect his speed. This was the first time in history that a general fought a general. This was because King Zhuang of Chu's physical strength was exceptional, and he was considered one of the strongest amongst all the emperors.
During the Warring States Period, such a phenomenon rarely occurred. At that time, the Seven Kingdoms had already been perfected, and they relied on large-scale armies to fight. During the Han Dynasty, when Huo Qubing and Li Guang were repelling the Xiongnu, they also fought with enemy generals. However, this was a battle between the soldiers of the Central Plains and the nomadic enemies. It was somewhat similar to the current situation between Xu Tingda and Ashina Sheerchu.
During the War of Chu and Han, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang fought, and such a phenomenon also occurred. However, when Liu Bang sent his own general to challenge the Overlord, he was defeated by Xiang Yu in three moves. The end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was also the Three Kingdoms Period. It was recorded that Sun Ce and Taishi Ci fought at Shenting Ridge, and Sun Ce accepted Taishi Ci as a fierce general. There was also a duel between Ma Chao and Cao Wei. Other than that, there were no other records in the Three Kingdoms Period.
Generally speaking, there were situations where generals fought before a battle, but it was not as common as in ancient dramas. After all, the generals of ancient times were all well-versed in military books, and they understood the principle of 'a good man destroys schemes'. Thus, the purpose of these generals in battle was to win. Unless they were at the end of their rope and wanted to fight to the death, they would not engage in a direct confrontation with the enemy generals.
And now, to Xu Tingda, he was indeed at the end of his rope. Although he had killed many Turkic soldiers, his subordinates had also suffered many casualties. If this continued, in less than an hour, the ten thousand Tang soldiers would be defeated by the Turkic army.
"You are called Xu Tingda? Good! If this general wins against you today, you will have all the Tang soldiers retreat. If you win against this general, this general will immediately withdraw. How about it? "
Ashina Sheerchu stared at Xu Tingda and spoke in a booming voice.
"Hmph! Even if you win against this Xu, the army behind this Xu will not retreat even half a step tonight! The soldiers of the Great Tang can only die standing, not kneel and drag out an ignoble existence! "
Xu Tingda said with a cold expression.
Hearing this, Ashina Sheerchu's face sank. He had proposed a 'duel' with Xu Tingda partly because he wanted to reduce the number of casualties on his side, and partly because he wanted to save time. After all, Wu Jie was still waiting for them!
"Hmph! Since that's the case, this general will kill you first! Let's see if these Tang soldiers will do as you say and hold their ground! "
Ashina Sheerchu coldly snorted. He nocked an arrow on his bow and shot three arrows at Xu Tingda's forehead, neck, and heart!
"General, be careful!"
Many soldiers in the Tang army cried out in alarm.
Xu Tingda was lying on his back. The three arrows missed his body and brushed past the bridge of his nose!
But on the other side, Ashina Sheerchu took advantage of the moment when Xu Tingda was dodging the arrows to rush forward and slash at Xu Tingda's neck with a slender sword!
This person was actually proficient in both long-range and close combat!
Moreover, the speed of these two attacks was as fast as lightning, making it impossible to guard against!
For a moment, Xu Tingda was caught off guard. He hurriedly brandished his sword to block Ashina Sheerchu's killing blow. However, Ashina Sheerchu was a grandmaster. The speed of his sword was astonishingly fast. How could Xu Tingda's hasty sword block it?
"Keng ~!"
"Peng ~!"
First, there was the sound of metal clashing. Then, Xu Tingda was sent flying by the powerful internal energy attached to Ashina Sheerchu's sword and fell to the ground!
In just one round, the chief general of the Tang army was knocked off his horse. The surrounding soldiers were shocked and rushed to Xu Tingda like a swarm of bees, trying to protect him.
But someone was faster than them. After Ashina Sheerchu knocked Xu Tingda back, he dashed forward and stabbed his sword at Xu Tingda's throat!
Xu Tingda was alarmed as he hurriedly raised his sword to block in front of him. Ashina She's sword stabbed into Xu Tingda's sword. Xu Tingda took advantage of the situation to retreat. With this force, he finally stood up from the ground!
Under the illumination of the torches, the sword flashed and the two of them fought again!
However, although Xu Tingda was not weak, he was still not a Grandmaster. Ashina Sheerchu was not only at a higher level than him, but he also fought in close combat, took three steps back, and drew his bow in one breath. With such a combination of long-range and close-range attacks, Xu Tingda could not withstand it. After a few rounds, it was obvious that he was going to lose!
"Charge! Protect Commandant Xu! "
When the surrounding soldiers saw this, they understood that Xu Tingda wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. Someone shouted, and immediately, more than 10,000 soldiers rushed up to protect Xu Tingda!
"Hmph! It's time to end this! "
When Ashina Sheerchu saw that the Tang army was rushing towards him, he raised his sword and slashed at Xu Tingda. Xu Tingda swung his sword to block, and then Ashina Sheerchu used his left palm to hit Xu Tingda's chest!
Bam!
Xu Tingda was like a kite with a broken string after receiving Ashina She-Erchu's palm strike that was filled with True Qi. He fell heavily to the ground!
"Commandant! Commandant! "
The ten thousand soldiers were shocked. They hurried forward to help Xu Tingda up!
"Kill! Flatten Yanmen Pass! "
Ashina Sheerchu guessed that Xu Tingda was not going to live. He waved his hand and ordered the Turkic soldiers beside him.
"Charge!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Hearing the order, the 50,000 Turkic soldiers immediately charged at the Tang army. What was worse was that the Tang army's commander-in-chief had been severely injured by Ashina Sheerchu, and the 10,000 soldiers were in a desperate situation without their commander-in-chief!
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