Chapter 384: 369
Yang Zhenshan stood on horseback beneath the flagpole, looking at the overcast sky, his face solemn.
The sky was terribly gloomy, but it was not going to rain today.
His gaze swept over the wall ahead, as Yang Zhenshan closely observed through the telescope.
Today was the day of the decisive battle.
He had already delayed at Chongshan Pass for over twenty days, nearly a month, and could not afford to delay any longer.
All conceivable strategies had been considered, and all preparations that could be made had been set in motion.
Now the only thing left was to engage in a real battle.
Today there would be no probing attacks, only full-on assault from the start.
“Report, General, Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingzhen’s troops are in position and ready to attack at any ti!” A ssenger rode up hurriedly to report.
“Order them to stand by in place!” Yang Zhenshan commanded in a resolute tone.
“Yes!” The ssenger responded and galloped away again.
“Report, General, the Jinzhou Guard is ready and can attack at any mont!”
“Report, General, the Jianning Guard is ready and can attack at any mont!”
“Report, the front army’s crossbow arrows have been fully equipped!”
“Report, the cavalry on both eastern and western flanks have completed deploynt!!”
One report after another reached Yang Zhenshan’s ears as he stared silently at Chongshan Pass.
The deploynt needed had already been arranged two days prior.
For this siege, the Tenglong Guard’s infantry would act as the main force, led by Song Dashan, to make a frontal assault on the city gates.
Chongshan Pass had a Vessel City, making the attack on the gates the most difficult task. Not only did they have to break open the city gates but also had to charge into the Vessel City to breach the second door, where the slightest misstep could trap them like turtles in a jar.
The Jianning Guard and Jinzhou Guard’s infantry to assist the main attack, with Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu each leading their forces from the left and right to coordinate with Song Dashan’s attack on the city gates.
The two guards’ cavalry was placed on the left and right flanks of the Central Army to prevent cavalry attacks from inside Chongshan Pass.
Additionally, Yang Zhenshan had arranged for Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingzhen to lead 1,000 n each to launch an attack from the mountains on the east and west sides of Chongshan Pass.
The mountain terrain was rugged and vegetation dense, unsuitable for large-scale assaults, but small-scale sieges were feasible. Without ladders to scale the heights, they would use ropes to climb up the city walls, which was why Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingzhen were leading the elite of the Five Army Camps.
With the impending battle, the air was charged with tension.
The pervasive aura of death weighed heavy on everyone’s hearts, an oppressive terror that left many breathless.
On the city walls, Prince Qing, Ji Feiyu, and Hou Yao wore grave expressions, looking out at the stern military formation outside.
They all understood that today’s battle was a fight for life or death.
With things having co to this point, their only option was to battle to death.
On the city walls, the rolling wood and boulders were already prepared, boiling tal was ready, bows were strung, and the crossbow arrows shone with a cold, chilling light.
At this mont, the soldiers on the walls were Ji Feiyu’s and Hou Yao’s elite fighters. They had no choice; a single piece of paper had unsettled the hearts of the people within Chongshan Pass, and now they dared not let ordinary soldiers mount the walls, instead, they brought up their own best forces.
“Prince, your servant has prepared horses at the North City Gate. If things turn dire, you may leave first!” Ji Feiyu said somberly.
Prince Qing’s face changed slightly, while Zhang Hu behind him silently lowered his gaze.
“There is no need. If Chongshan Pass falls, I would have no place to go. I’d rather die fighting on these walls than live like a holess dog!”
Prince Qing’s voice was heavy with restraint.
“Prince, even if there’s no place for you in Da Rong, the world is vast; there’s surely sowhere for you to fulfill your ambitions!”
“Prince, you still have the Navy! You can go to the East South Sea Domain. There, you can do whatever you wish without any constraints!”
Ji Feiyu tried to persuade him.
Prince Qing shook his head, a bitter smile on his face, “Are you suggesting I beco a pirate?”
Ji Feiyu paused, then said, “Even if you were to beco a pirate, I believe you could rise again, Your Highness!”
Prince Qing said no more, his eyes gazing deeply at the forces beyond the city walls.
Enduring for thirty years in silence, all he sought was a mont of glory!
He hoped to stand before Emperor Chengping, granting him the chance to speak with the Emperor.
The thought of Emperor Chengping brought to his mind an image of a tall and imposing figure with unparalleled dignity.
That was the impression Emperor Chengping had left on him!
As for his father, the mory had beco quite vague.
He only rembered the figure lying frail on the bed within the deep palace.
Back then, soone told him his father would beco a great emperor!
But what was the outco?
It was not his father who beca the great emperor.
…
Boom boom boom~~
War drums rolled; war cries pierced the sky.
Thousands of soldiers surged towards Chongshan Pass like a tidal wave.
They pushed and carried ladders, hid in protective siege carts, or operated battering rams.
The sound of the war drums grew faster and more urgent, as the tide of attackers surged forward.
“Fire!”
The bowstrings vibrated, crossbow arrows crisscrossing under the overcast sky, either hitting the city walls or falling into the waves beyond the city.
Many soldiers failed to dodge in ti, getting directly nailed to the ground by crossbow arrows.
Yang Zhenshan watched the scene, his face cold and handso.
A siege was the ultimate test of an army’s discipline; the soldiers must rush forward with a resolve to die, advancing step by step over fresh blood.
The vanguard of those destined to die was no joking matter!
The Tenglong Guard’s sappers had created over a hundred ladders; now soldiers were pushing these ladders towards the city walls.
As the first ladder made contact with the city wall, a pot of molten excrent imdiately poured down from above.
This molten excrent, a boiling mixture of feces and urine, was commonly used in defending a city. Not only could it scald enemies, but the filthiness of the feces ant wounds would fester and rot, making them hard to treat.
What the attacking soldiers feared most was the molten excrent; it was both putrid and scalding, and if spilled on them, it would peel away their skin even if it didn’t kill them.
A few soldiers couldn’t dodge in ti and were drenched in the molten excrent, imdiately lying on the ground, writhing and screaming in agony.
The rest of the soldiers, upon seeing this, didn’t even spare them a glance, climbing up the ladder with fierce expressions, uncaring that the ladders were slick with the stinking ss.
A military officer with postnatal cultivation quickly clambered up the ladder, and in a few movents, he reached the top of the city wall. But just as his head peered over, he was t with the sharp blade of a long sword.
He raised his sword to block, parrying the incoming blade, but was still unable to steady himself and fell from the four-zhang-high city wall.
More and more ladders touched the city wall, and the soldiers desperately climbed, only to be knocked down continuously by rolling stones and logs, or to be drenched head to toe in molten excrent.
Boom, boom, boom~~
The drumbeats of war echoed to the heavens, not pausing for a mont, as if urging the soldiers to charge forward.
“Make way, I’m coming!”
Seeing his brothers fall one by one, General Flag Officer Zhang Hu from Nanling Village felt his eyes about to split.
With clenched teeth, he leaped onto a ladder, reaching the top in just a couple of bounds.
Waiting for him were rows of long spears, but with a powerful leap, he dodged them, grabbed the edge of the wall, and with a fierce pull, climbed over the battlent.
“Kill!”
With a roar, Zhang Hu’s long sword slashed and overturned two enemies who had closed in.
But then, more long spears thrust at him.
Zhang Hu’s eyes suddenly narrowed; without a second thought, he took a step back and plunged off the city wall.
At that mont, he had only two choices: be skewered by the spears or jump off the wall.
Being impaled by spears ant certain death, but jumping from the wall could potentially allow him to save himself.
The four-zhang height of the city wall was substantial, but if Zhang Hu adjusted his fall correctly, he had a chance to avoid injury.
However, the ground below was littered with rolling stones and logs, making a safe landing difficult.
Zhang Hu was fortunate; he landed on the bodies of his fallen comrades which cushioned his fall, preventing him from getting hurt.
But for his poor fellow soldier, it was a tragic fate; even in death, he was stepped on by Zhang Hu. Unfortunately, Zhang Hu had no ti to consider his brother-in-arms, quickly raising his head to look up.
His actions were not entirely in vain—while he had drawn the enemy’s attention, two of his brothers had succeeded in climbing onto the city wall.
However, their presence soon silenced.
Without a doubt, they were dead.
Gritting his teeth, Zhang Hu once again rushed up the ladder.
The cruelty of siege warfare was starkly exemplified at this mont, and scenes like Zhang Hu’s were repeated everywhere.
anwhile, at the city gate, Song Dashan was vigorously pushing a battering ram.
“Ram it open!”
Above their heads was a layer of protection made of wooden planks and ox hide to ensure safety while ramming the gate.
But the gates of Chongshan Pass weren’t easy to breach; even after dozens of soldiers pushed the ram against the gates nurous tis, the gate rely shook a little without any signs of collapse.
“Ram it!” Song Dashan’s forehead veins bulged as he exerted all his strength against the ram.
Around them, many more soldiers were trying to scale the walls using ladders.
Roars and cries of attack alternated with screams of agony.
Yang Zhenshan mounted on Red Cloud, holding a telescope, observed all this.
Now he was no longer just a commander with a re thousand soldiers; he was the General of Chongshan Town, essentially a chief commander.
As the chief commander, his primary duty was not to charge into battle, but to command the troops.
The soldiers of the Tenglong Guard were fearless warriors who shied away from death; he could see every soldier desperately assaulting the walls.
The soldiers from the Jianning Guard and Jinzhou Guard showed no cowardice either. Though their performance was not as fierce as the Tenglong Guard’s soldiers, they were also trying their utmost.
However, Chongshan Pass was formidable, its conquest extrely difficult.
Furthermore, the enemy defending the city was not weak; they were the elite troops under Ji Feiyu and Hou Yao, cultivated over five years.
Watching the tragic scenes play out, Yang Zhenshan’s mind remained undisturbed.
He had long grown accustod to the brutalities of war. Even though the past five years had been relatively peaceful, he couldn’t forget that he, too, had once waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
“Send the order, command Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingzhen to initiate their attack!”
Yang Zhenshan noticed that the defenses on either side of Chongshan Pass had significantly thinned and imdiately gave the order.
Yang Mingzhi and Yang Mingzhen were his surprise troops; ready to attack from the most unlikely places and catch the enemy off guard.
However, whether these surprise attacks would be effective remained to be seen.
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