Happy New Year. Little Dragon wishes everyone good health and peace.
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The tranquility after the night raid did not last long. The next morning, the Jin Army outside the fort began their formal preparations for a siege.
However, with the previous night's raid as a prelude, the dayti scene didn't exert much pressure on the Yan Army inside the fort.
While the Jin soldiers outside the fort were slowly preparing to advance, the Yan Army soldiers on the fort wall were casually chatting and eating the hot, dry rations that had been delivered to them.
The fort already had its own grain reserves. Most importantly, when Zheng Fan had departed from Green Willow Fortress, he had taken virtually all the portable supplies. Thus, there was currently no shortage of grain in this stronghold.
They had white flour stead buns, filled with shredded radish and a bit of minced at. Stead hot, they were held in hand and accompanied by a large bowl of hot water, serving as both a dish and a staple food.
Xue Three, while gnawing on a bun, muttered to the Blind Man, "Anything with filling should be called a stuffed bun."
"It's a stead bun. Only those with pure at fillings are called stuffed buns," the Blind Man retorted, eating slowly and deliberately.
Customs varied from place to place, so nas naturally differed. Yet, the fact that the Blind Man and Xue Three still had the leisure to debate this point indicated their confidence regarding the Jin Army's impending siege.
And indeed, that was the case.
When the Jin Army's war drums began to thunder, the siege officially comnced.
Zheng Fan remained in his pri position, leaning against the coffin in which Shatuo Queshi lay. Liang Cheng was not by his side this ti but had moved to the other flank.
However, A Ming and Siniang were constantly protecting Zheng Fan on either side; this was the minimum standard deploynt.
Zheng Fan rubbed the strongbow in his hands, tilted his head slightly, and peered down at the situation below through the gaps between the crenels.
Truth be told, the Jin Army faced problems similar to the Yan Army: an abundance of cavalry and a shortage of infantry. Of course, this didn't an the proportion of Jin cavalry was higher than that of the Yan people. The Situ Family of the Three Jin territories had always specialized in cavalry. After all, they had to combat the wild people in the Skybreak Mountains and the northeastern snow plains; they couldn't expect their soldiers to traverse the snowy terrain on foot.
The Wenren Family and the Helian Family did possess well-configured infantry units, but most of them had been wiped out in that previous battle.
Yu Huacheng's current force was largely composed of defeated soldiers he had recruited and incorporated into his army under the banner of Emperor Jin. In this era, escaping as a defeated soldier without a horse was difficult. These various factors led to the classic, if incongruous, scene of cavalry attacking a fortified city.
Zheng Fan, being cautious and putting himself in others' shoes, began to feel for the opposing Jin general. After all, ordering cavalry to dismount and act as infantry to scale city walls was a decision that would make any commander with a sound mind find it so heartbreaking they could barely breathe.
Furthermore, it was unclear whether it was due to concerns about their own reputation or because the warlords of the Three Jin territories were mindful that they were all locals, but the kind of scene Li Fusheng had orchestrated back then before the imperial capital—forcing civilians to fill in siege works—did not play out here.
When the Jin Army began to advance in formation, an awkward sight erged: this army was severely lacking in shield allocation.
Many of the Jin soldiers in the front ranks carried door panels stripped from nearby village houses or wooden planks dismantled from tables and chairs. While not terrible in terms of defense, these makeshift shields made it difficult to form an effective, organized defensive line.
In addition, it was dayti. Daylight created a fair environnt: you could see clearly, and I could see you clearly.
The majority of the soldiers under Zheng Fan were barbarian troops, and their archery skills were their bread and butter. As soon as the Jin Army formation entered arrow range, the Yan Army on the city wall began to rain down arrows upon them.
Facing these highly accurate volleys, Jin soldiers fell one by one. The Jin archers and crossbown behind them then pressed forward, beginning an archery duel with the Yan Army on the walls.
After loosing seven arrows in succession, Zheng Fan paused to rest, silently regulating his qi and blood.
At that mont, the Jin soldiers at the foot of the wall began to erect siege ladders and climb.
The fighting between the two sides intensified. However, the defenders held a clear advantage. Initially, the Jin Army managed to maintain their formation and assigned roles. But as the battle grew more heated, they descended into a state of reckless abandon, completely losing their cohesion. This, paradoxically, reduced the pressure they exerted on the city walls.
Siniang's silk threads snaked down from the battlents. Before any Jin soldiers could climb the two siege ladders in front of her, the ladders snapped and collapsed in the middle.
A Ming, in contrast, operated like an emotionless machine: nocking an arrow to his crossbow, rising, loosing a shot downwards, then squatting to nock another, rise, and shoot again.
Due to his rapid rate of fire, he attracted the attention of many Jin archers below, and soon, several arrows were sticking out of him.
Zheng Fan would occasionally pluck arrows directly from A Ming's body and shoot them back down himself—recycling at its most efficient, one might say.
The tactic of using elite troops for a sudden assault, like the one seen the previous night, was not employed again today. Instead, both sides engaged in a grueling battle that dragged on until the afternoon. The Jin Army finally sounded the retreat, leaving behind a field littered with their dead.
The battle was fierce, but there was truly no sign of the defenses being "on the verge of collapse."
After the Jin Army withdrew, those inside the fort began to prepare food, and the soldiers seized the opportunity to rest.
In reality, defensive tools like boiling oil, rolling logs, and other siege equipnt were ready below, but Liang Cheng hadn't ordered their use because it wasn't yet ti for such asures.
After the Jin people retreated, Liang Cheng ca over to Zheng Fan to check on the situation.
"The Jin Army has retreated already?" Zheng Fan asked, still sowhat incredulous. He had anticipated a fierce battle during the day, but now he felt a peculiar sense of anticlimax, akin to I haven't even exerted my full strength, and you've already fallen.
This was entirely different from the intense, heart-pounding battles he had envisioned. There was little of that thrilling fervor. Instead, everyone seed more like individual components on the city wall, operating chanically.
"Reporting to My lord," Liang Cheng said, "our armored soldiers are all elites. Even the few hundred cavalry Emperor Jin brought with him are all seasoned warriors. In this situation, if the enemy thinks they can breach the city with just a few siege ladders, it's practically impossible."
The implication was clear: unless the Jin Army took their ti and invested more effort in constructing additional siege weaponry, only then could they pose a genuine threat to the Yan Army within the fort.
"Why does it feel less tense than last night?" Zheng Fan asked curiously.
"My lord, it was also our n's first ti defending a city last night."
"Oh, right." Zheng Fan nodded.
"My lord can go down and rest first. The Jin Army has lost a significant number of ladders; it will be difficult for them to launch another assault today."
"Alright."
Zheng Fan trusted Liang Cheng's judgnt and experience. Without any fuss, he got up and descended the city wall.
Siniang still had to stitch up wounds for so soldiers, so she didn't co down with Zheng Fan.
The Blind Man was still rallying the troops. Xue Three, after the Jin Army ceased their attack, had once again snuck out of the fort to hide in the outskirts. Fanli was busy hauling sacks of sand and earth to help reinforce the city defenses.
Only A Ming accompanied Zheng Fan down. Last night, quite a few of those "glowing ones" had died on the city wall, so A Ming's waterskin was once again bulging. He would walk a few steps, take a sip, his expression one of pure comfort and contentnt.
The fort wasn't very large. Zheng Fan's resting quarters were right next to Emperor Jin's, considered the two best rooms in the fort.
As he drew near, Zheng Fan heard sounds coming from the adjacent room—a series of modulated groans: "Aah... Ooh... Eeh... Yih..."
Has he really given up on himself to this extent? Zheng Fan couldn't help but sigh.
Just the day before, Emperor Jin had still been a monarch of considerable dignity; in Zheng Fan's mind, he had even briefly evoked the image of Goujian.
But now... the soldiers on the city wall outside had just endured a slaughter, and here Emperor Jin was, beginning his own kind of conquest.
The mutiny of the army outside signified that Emperor Jin's ho base, the capital city, had already fallen into other hands. It could be said that Emperor Jin's qualification to even be at the gambling table had been revoked.
Although he never truly possessed the qualifications to place his own bets at the main table, he could at least stand by, hoping to pick up so "lucky money." If soone suffered a devastating loss and was forced out, he might even have had a chance to take their place for a couple of hands. Now, however, he didn't even have the right to remain a spectator.
"My lord," A Ming comnted, "I believe it's more accurate to say that Emperor Jin's despair stems from romantic disappointnt rather than political setbacks."
"He's already so down on his luck, let's not ridicule him further."
"You are right, My lord."
"With the capital city lost, I just wonder if that Empress Dowager is safe."
"..." A Ming was speechless.
This abrupt turn in conversation nearly made A Ming choke and spit out the blood he had just swallowed.
Just then, a woman in tattered clothes erged from the room. She curtsied to Zheng Fan and A Ming, saying, "Sirs, His Majesty summons you."
Zheng Fan and A Ming exchanged a glance and then entered the room where Emperor Jin resided.
Emperor Jin had just finished his "great battle"; the woman inside was only just putting on her clothes.
Zheng Fan entered, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty."
In truth, when the two had t the previous day, Zheng Fan had been quite casual. Now, however, he appeared more formal and respectful. Yet, this formality clearly conveyed a sense of deliberate distance.
Emperor Jin's face was flushed. He was drinking water from a teapot. After setting it down, he asked Zheng Fan, "General Zheng, have the rebel forces outside the fort been repelled?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, they have been repelled."
"General Zheng, you are truly a god of war in this age!"
Zheng Fan's eyes flickered slightly. It seems those hailed as 'gods of war' rarely et good ends, he thought.
"With General Zheng by my side, this heart of mine can finally be at ease."
The flush on Emperor Jin's face beca even more pronounced, and his entire deanor grew increasingly agitated.
This made Zheng Fan feel that sothing was amiss. His gaze swept across the table and landed on a patch of silvery-white powder.
Damn it, he's high!
"General Zheng, I must thank you properly! I must reward you heavily!"
"Your Majesty overpraises . This humble general was rely performing his duty and dares not covet a reward."
You're poorer than I am right now. What could you possibly reward with?
Emperor Jin rose, walked up to Zheng Fan, and shouted, "Take off your armor!"
"..." Zheng Fan.
What?
Zheng Fan was stunned.
Emperor Jin frowned slightly and bellowed, "Are you disobeying my command? I said, take off your armor!!!"
Are you insane?! They say pederasty is common among the Jin people, but do you, as an emperor, really need to use your own body to curry favor? More importantly, Chief Zheng here is perfectly normal in that departnt, with absolutely zero interest in such homosexual tendencies!
"Take off your armor!" Emperor Jin roared.
Zheng Fan prepared to draw his saber and knock this emperor, who clearly had a few screws loose, unconscious.
However, before he could even draw his blade, the two won in the room—the old fort master's two granddaughters—began to disrobe, sobbing as they did so.
Emperor Jin laughed with great satisfaction. "General Zheng, you're a connoisseur. What do you think of my military discipline?"
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