Chapter Thirty-Six: Siege

  Rarely having a sick leave for half a day, I persisted in writing 10,000 words of draft, everyone collects and sends flowers.

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  The Chen family's militia team, on their way to reinforce, met two other militia teams from Zuojin Zhao Village and Wangjia Village. The three families joined forces, and the leaders of the two families hastily came forward to meet each other. Chen Jialong, the eldest grandson of the Chen family, didn't stand on ceremony and immediately assigned tasks as the leader of the Lianzhuang Alliance. After gathering all the teams, they continued to advance.

  The Zhao and Wang families' rescue efforts were actually made with great reluctance, as the Zhang family had been bullying the two villages for many years, and they would have loved to see the Zhangs humiliated. However, due to the original reason that the Zhang family was too powerful, they didn't dare to provoke them easily, fearing that if they didn't rescue them this time, the Zhangs would take revenge in the future, making it impossible for them to escape unscathed.

  They came, but when they left, the heads of both families repeatedly reminded the team leader that while they should put on a show, they shouldn't actually risk their own family members' lives. Being lectured by the Chen family like this made him even more resentful, so he had already decided to go through the motions without putting in any real effort.

  This can be seen from the team that killed Zhangjiabao with a strong momentum.

  The Chen family's troops were in high spirits, but the other two families were hiding on one side, their formation was disorganized and they didn't have the slightest intention of fighting.

  Seeing thousands of militia rushing over, Lü Shi stood on the city wall, and at this time he was actually calm.

  The most unsettling thing is an unknown enemy. If the enemy were to appear right in front of you, it would be almost like meeting an old acquaintance, and you'd let out a sigh of relief.

  Under Chen's great banner, although each of his sons and younger brothers were valiant and fierce, they still remained at the level of a disorganized mob. Their individual bravery was commendable, but their coordination in formation was not up to par.

  The village warriors of the other two villages were clearly the kind who didn't put in much effort, although there were nearly a thousand people and horses, but only the Chen family really wanted to fight.

  Not to mention the old and young of Zhūbīng Mountain, there are already 500 sturdy men from Tiān Xīng. What's more, relying on the city wall, being high and overlooking, and having their own deadly weapon, England... no, now called Lǚ Shì Cháng Gōng (Lü's Longbow), with this longbow to assist in battle, this is truly an easy fight.

  Lü Shi didn't see how the government army deployed troops in this era, but he saw a lot of rigorous tactics on TV and movies, although there were too many 3D effects, which made it look overly flashy. However, it did subtly conform to the laws of war arrays, which was fundamentally different from what these family heirs had trained for.

  A war horse galloped out, on which a spirited young man shouted loudly towards the city head.

  It turned out to be the eldest grandson of the Chen family, and when he saw that there was no fierce flame or thick smoke billowing from the Zhuangzi as usual, nor did he hear any shouting or screaming, his heart suddenly felt a chill.

  It's done, this is the stick that has already been done, and what's left is for oneself to avenge one's younger brother.

  But according to the rules, he shouted loudly against the city wall: "Which of you is the steward on the city wall? Please come out and talk."

  This is what ancient warfare referred to as "calling out one's battle formation", or it can also be said that courtesy comes before arms.

  Lü Shi took a step back and made way for the Heavenly Star.

  Guo Tianxing saw the situation and didn't decline, he loudly said while supporting himself on the city wall: "The hero of Woxiaoshan Guo Tianxing is here, who is under the city?" Everything was proceeding according to the script, Lü Shi couldn't help but secretly shake his head.

  Since you've come to rescue, let's not talk about whether we should rush into the city or not, but at least make some noise and show our presence, so that any potential defenders inside will get the message. Why are you still pretending and hesitating?

  "But I don't know what the Zhang family did to offend Guishan. If Guishan is really short of money and food, it's not impossible to ask for help, but don't make a big fuss and break into the Zhang family fort."

  "Haha, brother misunderstood, this time I'm not here for grain or silver, but to fulfill a friend's request and find that old man to settle the score. As for the grain, don't you worry about it, we'll take care of it ourselves. Hahaha!" Tianxing burst into triumphant laughter.

  "To save someone, just give a shout, with the great reputation of the Tianxing Dazhang family, I think the Zhang family will not be too difficult to leave. But what about my uncle and cousin?" This is the most concern.

  "That old man's anger was extremely great, I helped heaven to mete out justice."

  Chen's eldest grandson felt the sky spinning and the earth turning, and with a cry of alarm he fell off his horse. The Chen family's sons were greatly shocked and rushed to support him.

  Chen Changsun pushed away the supporting hands of his subordinates, shouted loudly: "Overt Heaven Star, I am at odds with you!" Then, staring with bloodshot eyes, he bellowed: "Brothers, avenge our Patriarch and grandson, attack the city——"

  "Brother, it's not possible." A relatively calm member of the Chen family stepped forward and grabbed hold of Zhangsun, who had already become red-eyed, loudly dissuading him: "We rushed here in a hurry, only bringing knives, guns, bows, and arrows, but no siege equipment. The Zhang family fortress has been managed by Old Master Zhang for over a hundred years, with high walls and deep moats. We have no way to take it down, and can only suffer unnecessary casualties and loss of brotherly lives."

  "Can't we just leave it like this and be done with it?" Long Sun shouted loudly with red eyes.

  "Brother, calm your anger, let's first gather some siege ladders and we'll fight again soon."

  Several other leaders' sons also came forward to dissuade them, if they went ahead and attacked the city like this, it would be no different from sending themselves to their deaths, the lives of brothers are also important.

  After being persuaded by everyone, Zhangsun finally dispelled some of his reckless chivalry and resentfully said to the Zhang family village: "Let you bandits live for a little while longer." Then he turned around and looked at the surroundings, loudly ordering: "All brothers listen, Ma Que and Zhao Wang's two families are waiting here in strict formation to prevent the bandits from breaking out and escaping. The rest of you go to the mountain village to gather ladders, tables, chairs and other materials, and prepare equipment for attacking the city."

  The crowd responded with thunderous approval, dispersed and took action, shouting as they rushed into the barracks on the side of the road. For a time, the barracks were in an uproar, with people shouting and causing a commotion that filled the sky.

  Fortunately, Lü Shi had already withdrawn all the old and young people from Zhushan to Zhangjiabao at the beginning. Although the village was empty, the household items were not evacuated in time. It was still convenient to find some ladders, and soon they moved out many large and small ladders, just before the formation, comparing the height of the wall of Zhangjiabao Fortress, starting to tie up the cloud ladder.

  In this tumultuous manner, time had already passed noon, and Zhangsun was so anxious that he jumped with impatience in front of the formation.

  It's not easy to get everything ready here, but those two villages of Zhao and Wang are dragging their feet endlessly. After several urges, they made all sorts of excuses. Zhangsun couldn't hold back his temper anymore, stamping his foot secretly, thinking to himself: This time, even if you don't help me, I can still take down Zhang's fortress; let's see how I'll deal with you afterwards.

  At that time, a war drum was pulled out, and he took off his shirt and beat it vigorously. The Chen family village youths shouted in the sound of the war drum, carrying the cloud ladder and rushing forward to launch a desperate attack on Zhangjiabao.

  Looking at the chaotic and disorderly city warriors, they couldn't form a line or a formation, without any coordination or organization, relying solely on a burst of bravery to charge forward, carrying several hastily assembled cloud ladders and holding up a few shields, shouting as they advanced. Their courage is commendable but really foolish.

  If this can also be considered a war, then the war is simply a joke. Lü Shi has gained boundless confidence in defending this family fortress.

  In the midst of the thunderous war drums, after these brave militiamen, a group of bowmen carrying bows and arrows of this era ran into range, preparing to suppress the beams on top of the city wall, in order to cover the militiamen climbing up.

  But they didn't know that the longbow in Zhang's hand had a shooting range that was beyond comparison with those bows and arrows. When the militia rushed into the range of the longbow, Tian Xing shouted: "Release the arrow."

  The longbowmen, who had been waiting in array for a long time, released the long arrows in their hands. A dense and intense bowstring sound rose, and one hundred long arrows with great kinetic energy flew out like a shuttle.

  At what the country thought was an impossible distance, they got their unexpected blow.

  A hail of long arrows flew in, accompanied by a series of terrifying thuds as they struck flesh, followed by heart-rending screams. The heavy long arrows carried tremendous kinetic energy, unlike the short arrows that were often deflected by shields or armor. Everything was pierced through and through, many militiamen were pinned to the ground, not dying immediately, and beneath the stockade wall was a sea of wailing.

  At this moment, Zhangsun was shocked by the scene of slaughter that was almost one-sided, and he opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound. This time, it was the loss of more than 50 relatives and brothers, while their side was powerless against the bandits on the city wall.

  "Fall back! Fall back!" A leader of the Chen family who had not yet lost consciousness shouted loudly.

  Don't mind his shouting, those defeated Chen family disciples have already retreated like a receding tide.

  Chen Jialang's grandson looked at the bodies of his comrades lying on the battlefield, and the bloodstains, wailing sounds, and was stunned.

  What he has been through are all clan feuds, face-to-face confrontations with knives and guns, relying solely on brute force and fearlessness of death. How can this be compared? This is not a battle at all, it's just a one-sided massacre.

  That was the first time Zhangsun had suffered such a heavy blow, and his proud heart had already confused his mind.

  The war drums beat again, and those Chen family sons once again formed a fearless queue, ready to launch another charge.

  The clan's rules are strict, as long as the eldest grandson speaks up, ahead is a sea of knives and fire, and one can only move forward, not backward. Once you retreat and don't advance, your own family will have no place in the clan. So even though they're facing another unilateral massacre, they can only face it head-on with their eyes open, so when the eldest grandson gives the order, all the younger brothers, although pale-faced, still muster up the courage to prepare for another assault on the city.

  Fortunately, not all the young men were blinded by their anger. One of them grabbed his arm and said, "Brother, please calm down. This won't do. Not only will it fail to avenge our cousin and uncle, but it will also cost many lives among our own clan."

  "Get out of the way, I'm in charge here." He kicked away that brother and shouted loudly: "Shield bearers in front, archers behind, ladders again, we attack once more. We must take the city head no matter what."

  Chen Jiaxiang shouted again and rushed towards the fortress like a tidal wave.

  But the wish is good, reality is cruel, it's just a repeat of the last tragedy. In places where Chen's bow and arrow cannot reach, long arrows rain down again on the wall of the village, the entire militia team lets out another wail, no different from before.

  Guo Tianxing stood on the city wall, watching this intense and thrilling battle, and couldn't help but burst out laughing loudly, causing those scattered soldiers to cheer along with him.

  "It's still Mr. Long who is effective, these village braves and household troops really can't do anything to us." Tian Xing had even more admiration for Lü Shi in his heart.

  "The great master's words are wrong, what good weapon is that must have qualified people to use it, these mountain brothers now grasp the longbow not too skillfully, and our arrows are also too few, two rounds come and go with a lot of waste, if three villages' militia come together to attack, several times down, the fugitive can only rely on the wall to defend, it seems that we still need to practice more in our spare time, and also need to make more arrows."

  "The master said that this time, it depends on how many ironware Zhang's family can obtain. At the same time, we must hurry to organize people to make arrow bundles. As long as these two are sufficient, then we will have an invincible force. The guards and soldiers in the county town are no match for us."

  Lü Shiwén listened and only sighed in his heart. It seemed that this Overlord of the Stars still couldn't let go of his position as the Alliance Master.

  Is it really easy for birds to stick their heads out?

  "Look quickly, something has happened over there with the village braves." A pole bearer pointed at the village braves' squad and shouted loudly.

  What's going on?