Chapter 62: Xīu Guǒ Shū Bǎo

  "Hey yo, hey yo, hey yo!"

  As the sound of the horn sounded, when the cloud ladder and other light siege equipment had arrived under the city, the second batch of impact vehicles and cloud buildings were launched again.

  In the morning's fierce battle, dozens of large siege engines were basically destroyed by the defending Goguryeo people. However, for the Sui army, destroying a batch of siege engines was nothing. They had been preparing for today's battle for a month and had not brought out the large-scale equipment to attack the city until now, in order to concentrate their forces.

  After the infantry's large array, all components of various large-scale siege engines have been transported, and as long as they are assembled one by one in front of the array, they will become large-scale machinery. These mountain-like components can support a battle for several days at this rate of consumption this afternoon.

  Alongside the advancing battering ram, Uncle Treasure and his comrades in the same squad were pushing it with all their might. Although they had been fighting for a whole morning, this was nothing to these elite warriors. They were the cream of the crop among the crack troops, and they had only been fighting for a morning's siege warfare so far. They still had plenty of energy to spare, not to mention that they had just taken a short rest. Having eaten their fill, they were now bursting with energy.

  In the morning, Uncle Bao's team could be said to have rushed up with a strong desire to kill the enemy and make meritorious achievements. However, they were extremely unlucky in the end. When they charged to within a few zhang of the city wall, their chariot was destroyed by a large stone dropped from the top of the city wall. As a result, for the entire morning, they could only stand on the chariot with bows and arrows, exchanging fire with the enemy on the city wall. Although they also shot down many defenders, this outcome clearly left them somewhat dissatisfied. No matter how many more they killed, it wouldn't be too clear later. They had come with the idea of charging up the city wall, all fantasizing about becoming Shen Guang's second.

  Shu Bao was only nineteen years old, but at this time he had a lot of prestige in this small team. Originally, Shen Guang was the leader, and he was the deputy leader. After Shen Guang left, these people took him as their leader. However, although he was the leader, the leader did not have any rank. Shu Bao often thought about his childhood life, and then thought about the decline of his family's fortunes, and couldn't help but feel a little lost. Now that the Great Sui Dynasty is conquering in all directions, this Goguryeo is the last barbarian state that refuses to surrender.

  To revive the family business, he naturally knew that military merit was the fastest way. Now Liao Dong is about to be broken through, and if he can't make a name for himself again, there may not be many opportunities later on.

  "Everyone, be careful of the Liao dogs on the city wall. Don't let those scoundrels damage our wheels again. If they go up to the city head, we'll have to provide cover for them with arrows from below. What kind of thing is that? I'm not willing to do it, but if you are, then so be it. A real man should fight on the city wall with true bravery. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and kill a commander or something, and gain merit. I heard that the main general in this city is actually the Liao king's younger brother. Last time, General Shi was defeated by him, but if we're lucky and capture him, even if we don't become like Chen Pojun, at least we can be enfeoffed as a fifth-rank official like Old Shen."

  The crowd around them chimed in loudly, "Only those who have nothing to lose would be willing to shrink under the city wall. To seek wealth and glory, we must go up to the city head." Brothers all take care, protect the battering ram well, our promotion and fortune all rely on it. Apart from Uncle Bao's group, there were four groups of soldiers for this battering ram, which happened to form a team.

  That team is a forty-year-old bearded man, smiling and saying, "A few little rabbits, still quite big-hearted. Not afraid of choking to death, you think it's easy to get promoted and rich? I've been in the army for twenty years, and now I'm just a team leader, if we follow what you said, I should be at least a third-rank general by now."

  "Ah, sir, you're missing a great opportunity! His Majesty is watching from behind, and this is your chance to shine. Remember when we crossed the Liao River? His Majesty saw General Chen's outstanding performance during the battle and promoted him to Eagle General on the spot. And wasn't it also because of His Majesty's observation that Shen Guang was promoted to Wu Yong Lang General despite being only a fifth-rank officer? If not for His Majesty's attention, how could they have risen so quickly? Now, another chance has come, and if we perform well, I'm sure His Majesty will reward us. Who knows, sir, you might even become a fifth-rank official yourself! Don't forget about us when that happens!"

  The team was overjoyed by Uncle Bao's words, laughing with their mouths wide open. "Good for you, Qin Qiong, you really know how to talk. I'll borrow your auspicious words, and if I really get promoted and become rich in the future, I won't forget about you guys. Everyone, make sure to perform well later, remember to take down the city head, and behead more of those Liao dogs, this achievement is very heavy." The military achievements of the generals depend on what role they played during the war, such as successfully covering the retreat of troops or successfully blocking the enemy, so the military achievements of the generals are comprehensively evaluated.

  But for the big-headed soldiers, cutting off the enemy's head to report their merits is the simplest and most practical way. Whoever cuts off more heads during the war will definitely have greater merit.

  Another xiao guo hastily said, "I think the Liao dogs won't be able to hold on much longer. This morning when we pushed our carts along the way, they were shooting arrows and stones at us, but now that we're almost at the city wall, the defenders are only sporadically firing a few arrows. I don't think we'll need to use these battering rams to attack their female walls for much longer. Once we arrive at the city wall, let's charge up together with our knives along the thick poles of the battering rams. This morning, Zhang Da Ren's team did just that and almost took a section of the city wall. We're not just regular soldiers, we're xiao guo from the Left Guard Battalion - it's impossible for us to be any worse than them! If we can take down one section of the city wall, who knows, maybe we'll even break through the entire city in one go! With such a great achievement, when rewards are given out, how could they possibly leave us out?"

  The team leader, Wang Da Niu, brightened his eyes and gave a heavy pat on the shoulder of that handsome young man, "Good kid, usually you're the most cunning and lazy one, but unexpectedly at critical moments you can also make some contributions. This is not bad, we are all first-class men, usually our pay is higher than those government soldiers, so naturally at critical moments we should also show off a bit. It's settled then, wait for the right moment, everyone will follow me to charge up to the city head. Whoever doesn't have the guts to go can stay below and provide cover with bows and arrows."

  Wang Daniu was suddenly excited, and all the people on horseback patted their chests to indicate that they would all go up to the city, with no one willing to stay behind. These brave warriors were all valiant fighters from various armies, and at this moment, facing such an opportunity to achieve merit, who would be willing to let it slip away?

  With an excited heart, this team of brave warriors pushed the battering ram forward, dodging arrows shot from the city walls along the way. Although many infantrymen were wounded or killed in the attack, fortunately, this team's slow pace due to pushing the ram allowed them to avoid casualties. Moreover, they used the massive ram as cover and trampled over their fallen comrades' bodies without a single injury.

  When the troops arrived at the foot of the city, the other soldiers also had a strong desire to make achievements, and they climbed up the cloud ladder one after another, rushing forward in succession. As for their comrades who kept falling from the cloud ladder beside them, they seemed to be invisible, and not a single one was timid or afraid.

  The drums were beating loudly, the bugles were sounding long and loud. In front of the Sui army's formation, all the military bands lined up in a row, hundreds of cowhide drums emitted an exciting sound, which also covered up the endless mournful cries on the battlefield.

  Row after row of storming chariots and flying towers were pushed to the bottom of the city wall, amidst a hail of arrows and stones. All the soldiers carrying shields began to climb up. Non-stop, people fell down from above with arrows stuck in them, but still non-stop, more soldiers kept climbing up like ants.

  Uncle Treasure's team also started climbing onto the chariot, holding shields and withstanding the arrows flying wildly in the sky. They climbed desperately and soon reached the top platform of the chariot, where there was originally another team, but now less than half were left. The remaining ones all held long spears over 6 feet long, desperately stabbing at the defending soldiers on the city wall. These brave long spear soldiers advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, each time they stabbed out and pulled back very neatly.

  The city head of Liaodong at this time was originally not many well-trained defenders, mostly some civilian strongmen who had been trained for only a few months during the siege, and at this time even these civilian strongmen were mostly old and weak people. Facing these elite Sui troops, there were constantly people being pierced by long spears, with blood gushing out and falling to the ground.

  The Sui army on the battering ram, although well-trained, was in a precarious position on the top platform of the battering ram, dozens of feet high, with little room to dodge. Except for the shield-bearing soldiers in front who could block some arrows, they had no choice but to endure the various attacks from the defenders on the city wall. The long spears of the Sui army were no match for the defenders, and when the catapults of the defenders launched large stones at them, they could only be crushed to death. Fortunately, the catapults of the defenders would be quickly targeted by the catapults of the Sui army as soon as they were pulled up, and after a few rounds, they would be smashed into a pile of wreckage.

  Qin Qiong and his team of fifty climbed up to the top floor, no one went to take the long gun on the side, but instead put the horizontal knife in their mouths, threw down their shields, and started climbing along the thick pole towards the city wall opposite. Qin Qiong led the way, none of the brave warriors hesitated, all closely followed behind Shu Bao.

  The remaining long spear soldiers looked at these new and vigorous warriors, who were so fierce and brave, and for a moment they couldn't help but admire them. With a loud shout, they held up their long spears and charged towards the enemy's city head again. Qin Qiong bit his tongue tightly, holding onto the hilt of his sword with both hands and feet, using every ounce of strength to climb up the thick pole. In front of him were rows of Liao soldiers wielding swords and spears, while beneath his feet was a drop of over ten zhang (a unit of measurement). At this moment, apart from the shining armor on his body, he had no other protection. Behind him followed a group of comrades; if he couldn't charge up to the city head, he would be unable to ascend to heaven or descend to earth, and retreating was out of the question - all he could do was advance, advance!

  This month's final chapter, the first volume is about to end, the Great Era will come to an end, and from now on it will be Chen Ke Fu's battle.