Chapter 56 The Commander’s Banner Still Flies: Xu Da’s Struggle as a Trapped Beast

In Lingbei, the wind carried the stench of blood.

Standing atop the arrow tower, Xu Da pressed a hand against his sword, his face ashen.

All around him, a dense sea of Yuan cavalry stretched out endlessly—like a tide of black, stagnant water washing over a crumbling embankment, wave after relentless wave crashing against his precarious, isolated island.

The caltrops and trenches had long since been filled with corpses, making it impossible to distinguish the fallen soldiers of Ming from those of Yuan.

The artillerymen of the Divine Machine Unit roared, shoving packets of gunpowder and iron shot down smoking barrels. The metal was hot enough to bake a cake, but they remained entirely oblivious.

The fingers of the archers were long since mangled and bloody, yet they mechanically notched arrows and released them.

The Yuan forces were endless.

Most lethal of all was the prominent banner bearing the character "Wang" fluttering amidst the enemy host.

Koke Temur, Wang Baobao!

He was wielding his most elite Yuan cavalry like a poisoned steel spike, hammering mercilessly and without regard for casualties against the core of the Ming army's formation.

What he wanted was Xu Da’s command banner.

"Marshal! The west side... the west side is about to fall!" The messenger’s throat was raw, his voice soaked in blood.

Xu Da did not turn back; his lips were pressed into a razor-thin line.

Slowly, he drew his sword. The blade reflected the dim, dreary light of the sky. His voice was not loud, yet it struck everyone’s heart like a hammerblow of solid iron.

"The command banner shall not fall, and so we fight to the death without retreat."

A hundred miles away, Fan Tong’s demonic bull snorted impatiently, churning out two plumes of white steam as it pawed the ground.

"Boss, that’s the smell!" Bao Nianfeng sniffed hard, licking his dry lips, his eyes bloodshot. "The stench of blood, the reek of gunpowder—there’s no mistaking it! It’s right ahead!"

Fan Tong pulled on the reins and gazed into the distance.

On the horizon, the faint sounds of battle cries and war drums rolled across the earth like muffled thunder.

Behind him rode every mobile cavalryman of the Vanguard Battalion, along with those foot soldiers who had lost their mounts but still gritted their teeth and kept pace through over a hundred miles of relentless marching.

Every face bore the heavy mask of exhaustion, yet their eyes burned like blades quenched in fire—terrifyingly bright.

"Boss, it looks like Marshal Xu is in deep trouble," Zhu Di said, his voice hoarse.

Fan Tong narrowed his small eyes into slits. He saw the chaotic battlefield, the encircled central army array, and, most clearly of all, that fiercely advancing banner bearing the character "Wang."

An idea dropped into his mind like a spark into a vat of oil, exploding instantly.

He whipped his bull around to face the exhausted yet rigidly upright brothers behind him.

"Lads," Fan Tong said, his voice carrying over the whistling wind, "I’m asking you something."

His gaze swept over every young and weathered face alike.

"Right now, I’m leading you to your deaths."

"Any fucking complaints?"

Dead silence.

The only answer was a crisp, sharp *clang*.

A soldier, expressionless, struck the iron armor on his chest heavily with his executioner’s blade.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The next second, those crisp strikes merged into a rhythmic, echoing symphony of steel.

Fan Tong’s eye sockets burned hot.

He drew a deep breath, the flesh of his face quivering as he forced a ferocious, terrifying grin.

[Aura of Fearlessness activated!]

"Good!" Fan Tong roared, pointing his oversized executioner's blade straight at the "Wang" banner!

"Target: That feathered bird of a Marshal! Chop off his bird head and pull down his bird banner!"

"Remember, just charge straight in that direction! If I go down, none of you bastards are to stop!"

"Sun and moon, mountains and rivers endure forever!"

"Great Ming! Eternal victory!"

He dug his heels into the bull's flanks. The demonic bull let out a heaven-shaking roar, launching forward like a cannonball bursting from its breech!

"Victory!"

Bao Nianfeng, Zhu Di, Wu Mang, and every man behind them roared in unison like beasts, following closely behind to form a black torrent that smashed viciously into the rear of the Yuan army’s formation!

Koke Temur was directing his troops, preparing to launch the final decisive assault.

Suddenly, he felt a tremor ripple through the ground beneath him. Turning his head, his pupils violently contracted!

A squadron of black-armored cavalry had emerged from nowhere, acting like a white-hot dagger driving with incomprehensible speed straight into the beating heart of his central army!

"Stop them!" he barked fiercely.

Thousands of Yuan cavalry immediately wheeled their horses around to meet the charge.

At the first clash, that formation of thousands was pierced through in an instant as if it were made of paper!

Fan Tong’s executioner's blade required no fancy techniques; it only cleaved. Every time it fell, a Yuan cavalryman, horse and rider alike, was split neatly into two.

Bao Nianfeng’s great axe whipped up a storm of flesh and blood, while Zhu Di’s wolf-toothed mace was precise and lethal.

They were a spear, and the flesh and blood of the Yuan soldiers could not block them by even a fraction!

The momentum of Koke Temur’s central attack abruptly faltered.

Xu Da noticed the commotion on this flank immediately. Though he could not clearly see who had arrived, that familiar, utterly unreasonable momentum of the charge instantly brought the fat man to his mind.

"Sound the horns! Full counterattack!"

Xu Da seized this fleeting opportunity without an ounce of hesitation!

"Kill!" The morale of the Ming army was ignited in an instant.

Koke Temur’s expression finally shifted. He mustered more troops, including his most elite personal guards, and threw them into a frantic effort to encircle and suppress Fan Tong’s charge.

"Slash the horses' legs! Bring them down!" a Yuan officer shrieked hoarsely.

The tactic was vicious, but effective.

The leading Ming cavalry horses collapsed with piteous cries, and their riders were instantly swallowed by a sea of curved sabers.

An old veteran’s mount was hamstrung. The moment he hit the ground, seven or eight Yuan soldiers lunged forward, locking their arms around his legs and limbs. The veteran roared, shattering a Yuan soldier’s skull with a single punch, but more enemies surged over, their sabers stabbing frantically into the gaps of his armor.

Blood dyed the black iron armor crimson.

Fan Tong did not look back. He could not afford to look back.

In his eyes, there was only that "Wang" banner, growing closer and closer.

His executioner's blade swept, his demonic bull charged, and together with Bao Nianfeng and Zhu Di, he carved a bloody path through a sea of bodies with sheer corpses.

Watching the approaching fat man with those god-of-war eyes, Koke Temur—despite being a warlord of his generation—felt a chill seep straight from the bottom of his heart.

Whose subordinate was this? Ferocious to such a terrifying degree!

"Fall back! Guard the Marshal as we withdraw!" he finally ordered the retreat.

Because of the frantic enemy resistance, the charge led by Fan Tong and the others inevitably began to slow down.

At that moment, Wu Mang, who had been trailing behind, let out a bizarre, inhuman howl. Jerking his reins, he veered off the main charging path, looped around in a wide flank, and sprinted directly toward the slowly retreating banner!

"Get the hell out of my way!" Wu Mang’s eyes were bloodshot, whirling his wolf-toothed mace like a windmill.

Koke Temur’s personal guards immediately split off to intercept him.

As Wu Mang reached the banner, his mount let out a pitiful shriek as its forelegs were cleanly hacked off, sending it crashing heavily to its knees!

Utilizing the immense forward momentum as his body tilted, Wu Mang leaped forcefully from the beast's back, spinning through the air before landing steadily on his feet.

That massive "Wang" banner was within arm's reach!

He saw the terrified expressions of the standard-bearers beneath the pole.

He cracked a smile, grinning brilliantly.

"Splish! Splish!"

Several long spears pierced deeply into his body from different angles.

Wu Mang paid no mind to the excruciating pain of the blades passing through his heart. Using his final shred of strength, he swung his wolf-toothed mace and smashed it fiercely into the thick flagpole!

"Crack!"

With a crisp snap!

The "Wang" banner, symbolizing the supreme commander of Northern Yuan, broke instantly!

Wu Mang’s body was hoisted into mid-air by the multiple spears piercing him. He lowered his head slowly, looking at the bloody tips protruding from his chest, foam bubbling from his lips. Yet, his face still bore that brilliant, triumphant smile.

"Boss Fan... I... did a decent job, didn't I..."

"Wu Mang!"

Fan Tong, Zhu Di, and Bao Nianfeng finally smashed through the final barrier, reaching his side as they let out agonizing, heart-rending roars.