We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 1128 Danger

Wang Sanchun's martial arts skills were inferior to those of first-rate generals like Yue Yun.

But at this moment, the anxiety of His Majesty being surrounded and his life hanging in the balance burned in his chest, and all of it transformed into a frenzied fighting spirit.

He doesn't play defense at all; every shot is a desperate, all-or-nothing attack.

Injury for injury, life for life!

This frenzy somehow made up for the lack of skill in his moves, leaving Dorje, whose martial arts were even slightly superior, completely unable to break free.

Dorje grew increasingly anxious as the battle progressed. He could sense that while Wang Sanchun's sword strikes were fierce, they were not invincible.

Under normal circumstances, he was confident that he could find an opening to break through within thirty moves.

But now the army's morale has collapsed, and pursuers are on all sides.

Every second of delay means death is drawing ever closer.

He wanted to leave, but Wang Sanchun refused to let him. His wielding broadsword was like a raging storm, giving him no chance to escape.

"Stop him! Stop him now!" Dorje shouted sternly at the guards around him.

Several loyal guards gritted their teeth and tried to bypass the main battle to attack Wang Sanchun from both sides.

However, Wang Sanchun was not alone. His deputy generals and personal guards had also broken through the encirclement and caught up, immediately intercepting these Tibetan soldiers.

The two sides clashed again on the outskirts of this small core battle zone.

After fighting for more than twenty rounds, Dorjee knew he couldn't drag this out any longer.

He seized the subtle gap in the air after Wang Sanchun's powerful strike that split Mount Hua in two, when the old force had dissipated and the new force had not yet been generated.

He immediately pulled on the reins, and the warhorse quickly retreated two steps to the side and rear.

At the same time, he feinted with his sword and turned his horse to charge diagonally.

"Want to leave?!"

Wang Sanchun's eyes widened in anger; he was unwilling to let him go, and he spurred his horse to give chase.

At this critical moment——

"Duke, be careful!"

"Duke, step aside!"

Two shouts came from the flank almost simultaneously.

Before the words were even finished, two dark figures tore through the air from the left and right, heading straight for Dorje!

On the left was a grappling hook with a menacing barb, aimed straight at Dorje's neck.

On the right, however, came an inconspicuous spear, which flew silently straight toward Dorje's waist and abdomen.

Dorjee is indeed a veteran of the battlefield; his hearing is keen and his sense of crisis is extraordinary.

He recognized the sound and immediately leaned down on the horse's back, his upper body pressed flat against the horse's back.

"Whoosh!"

Ma Zhong's hook, whipped by a fierce wind, flew past his nose but missed.

Dorjee's attention was drawn to the hook, and he had just relaxed for a moment when he suddenly felt a chill on his side, followed by excruciating pain!

He dodged the grappling hook, but the spear pierced through the chainmail on his side and embedded itself deeply in his flesh.

Although his internal organs were not damaged, half of his body instantly felt numb and weak, and his strength was completely depleted.

"Ugh!"

Dorje cried out in pain, lost his balance, and could no longer sit firmly on the saddle.

He swayed and fell diagonally from his galloping warhorse, crashing heavily onto the frozen ground, raising a cloud of dust and blood.

He felt dizzy and struggled to get up.

But the sound of rapid hoofbeats could already be heard.

"Caught!"

A dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and a hard wooden stick covered in iron whistled through the air, striking him precisely on the back of the head!

hum-

Dorje's vision went black, all his senses vanished instantly, and he was plunged into boundless darkness.

Ma Zhong reined in his horse, looked at Dorje whom he had knocked unconscious with a single blow, and raised an eyebrow triumphantly at Duan Rui, who had just put away his spear: "Old Duan, you threw the spear accurately!"

Duan Rui chuckled: "General, your strike was just the right amount of force."

Wang Sanchun had already rushed over.

Looking at the captured Dorje, his chest heaved violently, and he spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. The violent killing intent in his eyes slowly subsided.

He looked at Ma Zhong and quickly asked, "How is His Majesty?"

Ma Zhong clasped his hands and replied, "Reporting to the Duke, His Majesty is well."

Hearing that Li Che was unharmed, Wang Sanchun finally relaxed, and a strong sense of relief brought tears to his eyes.

He didn't have time to ask any more questions and hurriedly nodded to Ma Zhong and Duan Rui.

He spurred his horse and broke away from the main force, galloping madly toward the wide-open Chuimacheng Gate.

Upon reaching the outskirts of the city, the horses' hooves trampled over the devastated battlefield, littered with the corpses of soldiers from both sides.

Seeing this, Wang Sanchun felt even colder.

Just by looking at the corpses on the ground, he could imagine how fierce the battle must have been.

Upon entering the city, Wang Sanchun dismounted, pushed aside the soldiers who were bowing in salute along the way, and galloped all the way to the vicinity of the south city gate.

When he saw that familiar figure in black, the anxiety and fear that had been building up for days instantly overwhelmed the warrior's defenses.

"His Majesty!!!"

Wang Sanchun rushed forward, pushed Qiu Bai aside, and knelt down on the ground with a thud, his armor striking the ground with a dull thud.

His voice choked with sobs: "This humble general has arrived too late to save Your Majesty! I deserve to die! Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

He dared not look up, feeling as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

If he had been a step later, if something had happened to His Majesty... he would have no redemption even if he died a thousand deaths!

Li Che's shoulder wound, which had just been treated with wound medicine, was burning with pain.

Hearing the sound, he raised his eyelids and saw Wang Sanchun kneeling on the ground, covered in blood and dust, with even his helmet askew.

He didn't speak immediately, but just watched quietly for a moment to make sure his trusted general was alright.

Wang Sanchun's loyalty to him was beyond question. Li Che did not believe that he deliberately did not come to the rescue; there must have been some uncontrollable force affecting him.

After a few breaths, Li Che slowly spoke: "Whether it's a crime or not, we'll talk about it later. Get up first."

Wang Sanchun, upon hearing the order, still dared not get up, but instead lowered his head even further.

"Wang Sanchun," Li Che said in a slightly somber tone, "I order you to rise immediately, reorganize the troops, and clean up the battlefield!"

"We're all dukes now, we should be able to distinguish between what's important and what's urgent. Is this the time to talk about these things?"

Wang Sanchun was slightly taken aback before standing up: "Yes."

Li Che's tone softened slightly: "I am unable to move easily, so I will leave the rest to you."

"Properly handle the remains of fallen soldiers, immediately concentrate our wounded for treatment, and send the seriously wounded back to Qingji territory as quickly as possible for proper medical treatment in the rear, without delay."

His gaze swept over the corpses strewn across the city walls, and he continued, "We must also find a way to apprehend the defeated Tibetan soldiers and take inventory of the spoils, especially the warhorses."

"The walls of Chuima are severely damaged, and the city gates have been destroyed. We need to organize people immediately to repair and reinforce them in order to prevent the Tibetans from launching a counterattack with reinforcements."

Each instruction was clear and specific, addressing all urgent matters.

Upon hearing this, Wang Sanchun knew that what was needed most at this moment was to stabilize the situation, rather than to assign blame.

He replied in a deep voice, "This humble general obeys the decree! I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

He then stood up and turned to give instructions to the lieutenants who had followed him.

By sunset, the battlefield had been initially cleared, the wounded were sorted and placed in designated locations, and repairs to the city walls began.

The routed Tibetan soldiers who had surrendered were imprisoned, and the city of Chuima finally recovered from the chaos.

The air was still thick with the smell of blood and burning, but at least the tension of an impending army was gone.

Li Che returned to the makeshift central command tent.

It was called a large tent, but it was only slightly larger than a soldiers' tent, and the furnishings were extremely simple.

He asked Qiu Bai to bring him some clean water and quickly wiped the blood and dirt off his body.

The wound on my shoulder was cleaned and treated again by the doctor, then tightly bandaged with a clean cloth and antibiotics were administered.

The wound wasn't big; it was just a cut to the skin and flesh. Since medication had been applied, Li Che felt it shouldn't cause an infection.

After doing all this and changing into a clean black casual robe, Li Che sat down in the tent and gestured for Qiu Bai to summon Wang Sanchun.

After Wang Sanchun entered the tent, he bowed again, but Li Che raised his hand to stop him.

"Sit down." Li Che pointed to a small stool opposite him.

He picked up the ginger tea that his personal guards had just brought him, took a slow sip, and felt the warmth slide down his throat, dispelling some of the chill.

"Tell me, what happened on the way? Why are you so late?"

Wang Sanchun's face immediately turned ashamed when this was mentioned.

"Your Majesty, I have failed to live up to Your Majesty's expectations!" he said with difficulty. "After arriving at the Northwest Army Camp, I received Your Majesty's decree to immediately muster the troops and provisions and enter the Tibetan territory."

"At first, things went smoothly, but after advancing less than a hundred miles, we were harassed by Tibetan cavalry. They harassed the rear guard and ambushed scouts day and night, which greatly affected our marching speed."

He clenched his fists and said with difficulty, "Later, I realized something was wrong. These attacks, though seemingly chaotic, were actually quite organized, as if they were intentionally delaying things."

Li Che didn't speak, but he understood perfectly well.

It must have been when his identity was exposed that the entire Tibetan army desperately tried to stop reinforcements.

Wang Sanchun continued, "Later, scouts risked their lives to bring back news that the Tibetans had deployed troops on several key roads. With the deadline set by His Majesty drawing ever closer, this humble general is extremely anxious!"

"With no other choice, I had to take a risk and ordered the slow-moving laborers, auxiliary soldiers, and most of the baggage to be abandoned, with only three days' worth of rations carried."

"With the deputy general leading the infantry at a slower pace, I personally led the cavalry, lightly equipped and traveling day and night..." His voice lowered, "Even so, we still... we still almost messed up the important matter!"

Li Che listened quietly, his face expressionless, only his fingers tightening slightly as he held the ceramic bowl.

That was close! If it weren't for Wang Sanchun's decisive action, I would have lost my life here.

Even if he doesn't die, if he causes a 'Siege of Baideng' like Emperor Gaozu of Han, it will be a stain on his reputation for life.

The next moment, he slowly said, "You did the right thing."

“In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken. If you do not act decisively, I and all the soldiers in this city would probably be dead by now.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Sanchun not only did not feel relieved, but his face became even more bitter: "Your Majesty... there is one more thing."