Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 30

  "Brothers, charge...!" Yuwen Tong kicked a shield-bearing soldier who was blocking his way and suddenly shouted loudly.

  The ferocity of the soldiers had already been stirred up by the mighty battering ram, and in the shouting voice of Yuwen Valley, they one after another pushed aside the shield-bearing soldiers around them, no longer caring about the long arrows flying randomly in the air, let out a loud shout, using all their strength to push the huge battering ram, and charged forward without hesitation towards the tightly closed two city gates.

  Soldiers who fell to the ground were either crushed in two by the spinning wheels or trampled to death by their fleeing comrades. Everyone's emotions went wild with the crashing war chariots. They yelled and ran, seeing nothing but the city gate in their eyes.

  The shield bearers did not forget their task, stubbornly holding up their long shields and closely following behind like flying.

  The Han soldiers on the city gate tower shot out arrow after arrow in anger. They knew they were powerless to stop the enemy's impact, but they knew they had to hold their ground and not retreat a single step.

  The war drums on the gate tower were beaten violently, and the low and urgent drumbeats suddenly overwhelmed the enemy's horn sounds, which suddenly sounded above Yucheng.

  "A thunderous boom shook the sky and earth, coming from within the city gate."

  The soldiers on the battlefield felt the earth shaking, the city walls trembling, as if the entire Fishing City was swaying in the sound.

  Liu Yu was shocked awake from the bloody slaughter before his eyes, and he looked up at the city gate tower in astonishment.

  A streak of sunset slowly sank below the horizon. The great curtain of night was slowly drawn up.

  Outside the fishing village, dozens of huge bonfires suddenly lit up. The flames illuminated the night sky over the fishing village, making the bloody battlefield stand out in an extremely terrifying and miserable manner.

  Liu Yu stood on the gate tower, gazing at the flames in the dark night, and let out a sigh of despair.

  Tian Kai's men came to tell him that on the east side of the city, Xiong Ba's troops were attacking fiercely. Although the enemy was taking intermittent attacks, their own soldiers were heavily injured and could only barely maintain the situation. He was certain that reinforcements had arrived at Baoqiu River, and if they advanced in one direction, they should be able to reach Yuyang City within a day or two.

  Taishou He Yi brought food and weapons from the city. He stood beside Liu Yu, silently gazing at the distant Xianbei army.

  "Sir, do you think Tian Duwei's words are credible?"

  "Last year in Lulong, a small military officer had predicted this war." Liu Yu did not answer He Yi's question, but instead brought up another matter.

  "Time, location, tactics, troop strength, many aspects of the matter and his initial predictions were basically identical. He told me that we must win this war. If we win, at least we can gain four or five years of peaceful time. With this time, we can let the economy of Youzhou recover and make the lives of ordinary people better."

  "What if we lose?" He Yí asked worriedly.

  "The Xianbei will occupy this land in the short term, plundering all valuable things on this land, and turning it into ruins. With the current national strength of the Great Han Empire, even if we drive out these bandits later, we will not have the ability to rebuild our homes on this ruined land in the short term, let alone save the countless lives that have already been lost. The Great Han Empire and Youzhou will suffer a major blow. Therefore, this battle must be won." Liu Yu said firmly.

  He Yi didn't say anything. At present, there is no chance of winning at all. Having ambition is not enough, and having strength is also necessary. But reality is too cruel.

  "If Governor Tada's estimate is correct, the only possibility of reinforcements coming from the south bank of the Baqiu River is from Youbei Ping Prefecture. I hope he won't let me down." Liu Yu muttered to himself as he gazed in the direction of the Baqiu River.

  A low and clear bugle call suddenly pierced through the dark silence, and the enemy began their attack once again.

  Yu Su led the last thirty reserve soldiers in a charge against the surging enemy. The gap could not be opened. Once the defensive front was breached, the consequences would be the collapse of the entire defense line. Even if it meant using corpses to block it, they had to block it up.

  Yu Su rushed forward without regard for his own life, leading the charge with his battle knife into the enemy ranks. The first person he met was an enemy centurion who had been shot by multiple arrows. Yu Su moved swiftly and quietly, rushing to the side of the enemy, and with one swing of his knife, killed him. Immediately after, he found himself surrounded by three enemy soldiers who were fiercely attacking him. The soldiers around him kept crying out in agony, constantly falling down. No one retreated; everyone's eyes were red from killing, completely forgetting what life was about. The enemy became even more frenzied, having paid a heavy price and repeatedly failing to make gains, finally occupying a piece of land in the second half of the night after great difficulty - how could they easily give it up?

  A soldier, on the verge of death, still managed to muster up the strength to swing his sword and cut off one of the enemy's legs. The legless enemy was immediately stabbed multiple times, but he found a way to prop himself up and, despite being shot through with an arrow, he managed to chop off the hands of the archer. The man whose hands were chopped off screamed in agony, not even noticing the war knife lodged in his chest. Two soldiers collided in anger, each stabbing their swords into the other's body. Before the giant could climb up from the cloud ladder, a long arrow had already been shot out. A Han soldier who was fighting nearby was pierced through by the long arrow and fell silent, revealing an opening for the enemy to strike him with another blow. Just as blood was splattering everywhere, he suddenly counterattacked, catching his opponent off guard and striking back. With a loud roar, he summoned his last bit of strength and stumbled towards the enemy archer who had already jumped inside the city walls. The giant shot another arrow. The Han soldier's body was covered in blood, and he was knocked back repeatedly by the force of the long arrow until he finally died from exhaustion.

  Yu Su had already killed six people and was himself covered in wounds. The blood flowing from his body was too much, his strength was rapidly declining. The surrounding soldiers and the Xianbei people were still fiercely fighting like wolves.

  On the city wall, civilians in various attire and soldiers in armor were mixed together, fighting bravely at each defensive point. The sounds of killing shouts, loud cries, clashing weapons, drums, and cow horns wove together to resound through the night sky.

  Yu Suo took another blow. He clearly heard the sound of his own shoulder blade breaking, saw a burst of blood spurt out, and felt the warm blood splashing onto his face. He no longer had the strength to lift his sword, he swayed, using all his might not to fall over. The enemy swung his battle-axe again, aiming for Yu Suo's neck. The axe suddenly lost its force mid-swing, although it struck Yu Suo's neck, it only managed to leave a shallow cut. The enemy looked at Yu Suo in disappointment and slowly fell over, with a bloody battle-axe lodged in his body. A Han soldier appeared before Yu Suo, opening his mouth wide to shout loudly. Yu Suo couldn't hear him, he didn't know what his subordinate was saying, his vision gradually became blurry. The soldier quickly killed one person, and with the help of two approaching comrades, grabbed Yu Suo as he fell towards the ground. Yu Suo had already stopped breathing.

  The soldiers were blinded by hatred, and one of them shouted loudly: "Kill... avenge General Sima..."

  The fierce battle has lost all sense of propriety, everyone is gathered in groups of three to five, fighting to see who can be more ruthless. No one dodges anymore, whether it's the attacking side or the defending side, everyone is determined to die, embracing the idea of perishing together with the enemy, like a group of madmen who have lost their sanity, tearing and biting each other.

  Yuwen Tan's throat was hoarse from shouting. Seven or eight battering rams had been destroyed, either shattered to pieces or set on fire by the Han soldiers' flaming arrows. Now Yuwen Tan was yelling again, ordering his soldiers to prepare another battering ram.

  Today's attack came in waves, but did not achieve the effect that Murong Ji wanted to achieve. The Han army probably thought that their city gate was very strong and didn't pay much attention to the Xianbei people. Their main defensive force remained on the city wall, and many civilians joined the garrison troops, increasing the difficulty of the Xianbei's attack.

  Now, apart from the earliest arrival of Liu Yu with over a hundred archers to provide support, there were also over a hundred civilians helping to throw stones and pour hot water and boiling oil. Murong Ji was extremely angry and sent someone to scold Yuwen Tan severely. He demanded that Yuwen Tan increase the number of attackers and required him to make an effective attack before dawn, forcing the enemy to withdraw troops from the city wall to provide support.

  "Sir, now there are many defenders on the city gate tower. As soon as we approach, long arrows, stones, hot water and boiling oil will be poured down. In such a narrow space, it's hard for us to escape the enemy's killing, the loss is too great." A small commander under Yuwen Tong said loudly beside him.

  "What do you suggest we do?" Yuwen Tan asked furiously.

  "The enemy poured a large amount of boiling oil under the city wall, did you see it?" The man pointed to the distant city gate and said.

  Yuwen Tong nodded slightly.

  "Our several battering rams were destroyed in the gate, and now it is covered with oil poured down by the Han people from above. As long as we get close to the gate, use strong bows to shoot fire arrows into it, we can definitely set off a big fire. Burn it for one or two hours, no matter if its gate is made of wood or wrapped in iron nails outside, let it burn completely."

  Yuwen Dong looked at him with a praising gaze, shook his head and said: "The Han people are not fools, they will not send someone to pour water from the city wall to put out the fire."

  "We suppressed them with dense long arrows for half a time. Half a time, the wood under the city gate had already been burned into a big fire. Even if you want to extinguish it, it will take some time. At this time, we will ignite our own battering ram and collide with it while burning it, see how long it can last."

  Yuwen Tan sighed. His own soldiers were too heavily injured, and he was heartbroken. But if they continued to fight recklessly, there would be no avoiding more deaths. Although this method wasn't a good one either, at least the situation looked better, and for now, the soldiers didn't have to rush into the city to take risks. As long as casualties could be reduced, it was a good thing. Murong Ji himself had no ability to break through the city walls, but he was shifting the blame onto us, which was simply outrageous.

  Rockets shot out, drawing beautiful arcs in the night sky, and then fell on the chaotic battlefield under the city gate tower.

  The battering ram abandoned inside the city gate was immediately set on fire, and the flames grew bigger and bigger, burning fiercely.