Volume 1: Entering Great Qin for the First Time Chapter 36: The Restoration of Wei State

  The rioters retreated into the camp, having just exhausted all their untrained strength in the charge, and fell to the ground powerless.

  Chen Yu stood on the high platform, looking at the scattered and fallen rebels, and whispered to his personal army to take people down to prepare food and drink and treat the wounded. He then turned to a group of generals and said: "Gentlemen, this method of deploying the entire army cannot be sustained for long. I want to divide the army into two parts, one attacking while the other can rest and rush to build siege engines. This will surely make the Qin army defending the city exhausted, and when the main force is launched, Chen County will definitely fall in one fell swoop."

  "What a great general!" The other generals nodded in agreement.

  About 80,000 of the rebels who had retreated back to their main camp were quickly divided into two groups by Chen Yu, with each group consisting of about 40,000 people.

  Chen Yu stood on the high platform and had his personal soldiers bring out several dozen boxes of gold, silver, pearls and other treasures. He pointed at the open boxes and said: "You can take them all."

  At this time, all the rioters had been slaughtered twice and were mentally exhausted, with a dull expression. When they heard Chen Yu's words, their eyes showed a complex color, and some people took out the life-saving flower. At this time, everyone already knew that Chen Yu was going to use his own life to fill up Chen County.

  At this time, a middle-aged man in his forties suddenly rushed out of the crowd and shouted loudly: "Sir, lead us to take the city! This Chen County is where all of us have staked our lives, and it's hard for us to take it. Please spare our lives, sir."

  The middle-aged man finished speaking and knelt down on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, loudly pleading.

  Originally, the tens of thousands of rioters who were staring blankly at Chen Yu now heard the middle-aged man's words and slowly showed color in their eyes. Ah, yes, we can go take his city. Suddenly, dozens of people followed and knelt down on the ground, crying and begging Chen Yu to give up attacking Chen County.

  Chen Yu was stunned by the sudden situation, and seeing that the already disheartened mob had been stirred up by the middle-aged man's words, he immediately became enraged, pointing at the kneeling middle-aged man and shouting: "This kind of person who disrupts military morale shall be beheaded!"

  Upon hearing Chen Yu's words, the two imperial guards pounced on the middle-aged man like wolves and tigers. Before he could struggle, they swiftly beheaded him, and a hot fountain of blood spurted out several feet.

  The middle-aged man was beheaded, frightening the already somewhat restless crowd. Chen Yu pointed to the dozens of people who followed the middle-aged man and knelt down crying and begging, saying: "Take these people down for me too, eighty sticks each."

  He originally wanted to kill all these people, but he was afraid of triggering a backlash from the rioters. If the rioters turned against him, his own army would not be able to withstand them, and in the blink of an eye, they would be torn apart and nothing would be left.

  Dozens of rioters who followed middle-aged people to kneel down and beg for mercy were quickly subdued by the Imperial Army, and were beaten down to the ground with a "crackling" sound.

  Chen Yu said loudly: "Are you guys aware that your methods are too cruel? But do you know that our army's food and grass are only enough for today's meal? If Chen County is not conquered today, we will not need to attack other cities, but we will also starve to death. Should those who disturb the military heart be killed?"

  Upon hearing Chen Yu's words, the rioters who were initially stirred up by Chen Yu's ruthless tactics gradually calmed down. All the rioters' expressions changed, and if things were indeed as he said, then taking down Chen County was their only way out.

  Chen Yu looked down and calmly said, "Do you know where the several tens of thousands of elite soldiers under my brother's command are? I can tell you that Chen County will fall today. If you can capture Chen County before my brother does, each of you will be promoted three ranks, and the wealth, goods, and beautiful women in the city will be yours for the taking. Is becoming a marquis or a high-ranking official far off?"

  The originally restless mob, upon hearing Chen Yu's words, each and every one of them suddenly became even more fervent in their hearts. Ah, it seems that we still have tens of thousands of elite soldiers with armor hiding in secret. It appears that the two generals must have some plan in mind.

  Tens of thousands of unknowing armored warriors and the temptation of enfeoffment blinded the eyes of all the rioters once again. Chen Yu's move had exactly the same effect as Xiang Yu breaking his cauldrons and sinking his boats, except that he had an extra trick up his sleeve.

  Chen Yu, standing on the high platform, felt the fervent eyes and rising morale of the rebels below, and loudly ordered: "Bring up wine and meat to reward the brave warriors."

  At Chen Yu's order, a large number of guards pushed out fragrant meat and wine among the rioters, distributing large pieces of meat and big bowls of wine to each of the rioters.

  Chen Yu also raised a bowl of wine on the high platform and said: "We must conquer Chen County! Cheers!"

  "We must take Chen County!"

  The roar of anger in the great camp made heaven and earth change color.

  After everyone had enough wine and food, Chen Yu quickly launched another charge with the mob, this time mobilizing only over 40,000 people. The remaining 40,000 people rested while cutting down trees to make siege engines and shields.

  The rioters charged again after a brief retreat, Chen Yu quickly sounded the gong to withdraw his troops, leaving behind a field of corpses. However, in less than an incense stick's time, another 40,000 rioters with high morale launched another charge.

  In this way, the rioters started from noon till sunset, except for a slightly longer interval between the first two charges, and then basically every incense stick would have tens of thousands of rioters swarming to attack Chen County.

  That afternoon, the rebels launched more than ten offensives, but not once were they able to climb over the city walls. By sunset, nearly all of the 20,000 Qin soldiers had been deployed to this section of the wall and had taken turns fighting for several rounds. Despite this, by the time the last wave of rebels retreated, every single Qin soldier was exhausted and collapsed to the ground.

  Especially for soldiers using crossbows, many people's fingers were already bloody. In a short period of time, they could no longer pull the bow or use the crossbow.

  The rebels, after splitting into two parts, finally had enough time to make simple shields and other defensive equipment. With the decline of the Qin army's strength, the casualties eventually became fewer and fewer.

  But even so, more than 100,000 rioters had dwindled to less than 40,000 after an afternoon of siege warfare.

  Almost every inch of land under the city wall was covered with thick corpses, and the flowing blood even washed away the solid ground, filling the air with a pungent bloody smell, a scene of human hell.

  One afternoon of defending the city, except for a few soldiers with injured fingers, the majority of Qin army soldiers were exhausted from continuous battles, and there were no other casualties.

  Several hours of uninterrupted slaughter made even the Qin soldiers who were accustomed to bloodshed feel like vomiting when they ate.

  The sky has darkened, and Meng Xin's heart, which had just been put at ease by the retreat of the rioting civilians, has risen again. This afternoon, the rioting soldiers launched a desperate attack without regard for their lives, resulting in heavy casualties. If there is no change tonight, then tomorrow the rioting soldiers will have only one way to go - defeat and retreat.

  Thinking of this, Meng Xin secretly instructed a few trusted subordinates to pay attention to the movements of the rebels and report back at any time. However, looking around at the Qin soldiers who were scattered all over the ground, Meng Xin's worries grew even more.

  Meng Xin had just turned around and walked out a few steps when he heard a shout of killing from under the city wall. How long had it been? Less than half an incense stick, the chaotic army suddenly launched another attack without any warning signs.

  The exhausted Qin soldiers, who had collapsed to the ground, quickly got up and returned to their posts when they heard the rebels' battle cries. Under the light of torches, the dense crowd of rebels outside the city walls charged forward again, undaunted by death, with occasional cloud ladders being set up against the city walls only to be pushed back down.

  The entire afternoon, the Qin army soldiers were unable to rest properly, and their fatigue was evident. As night fell, after holding on for a while, several cloud ladders had civilians climbing up, fighting alongside the Qin army soldiers on the city walls.

  This was the first time that rebels were able to climb up onto the city wall, Chen Yu watched from below with a surge of emotions, drew out his long sword from his waist and shouted loudly: "Chen County has fallen! Chen County has fallen!" After saying this he followed a cloud ladder that had not been pushed down and led his soldiers in climbing up towards the city wall.

  When Chen Yu's shout was heard, and seeing that Chen Yu, as the commander-in-chief, was charging forward with his soldiers, the rioters who had been numbed and mechanized by the afternoon's battle suddenly regained their morale. They shouted "Chen County is down" and exhausted their last strength to rush towards the few breaches that the rioters had already climbed up.

  Meng Xin saw this scene, his eyes were about to split, and he shouted loudly: "Follow me to kill!" He led the Imperial Guard to charge towards the gap where the rioters were rushing in.

  At this time, a large number of torches suddenly appeared under the south wall, and countless soldiers in armor rushed to the south wall under Zhang Er's leadership. The south wall was left with only a small number of exhausted Qin troops, who were unable to react quickly enough and were soon climbed over by Zhang Er's soldiers, who had high morale and strong physique. In an instant, the south wall was filled with more than 20,000 elite soldiers under Zhang Er's command.

  These vanguard troops cleared out the remaining Qin army, and soon divided into two routes to charge westward along the city wall and eastward along the city wall.

  The Qin army soldiers who had been fighting for a day without rest were now unable to withstand these fully equipped and sharp-bladed warriors, and they collapsed at the slightest touch.

  Meng Xin, who was leading his troops to charge at the rioters on the east wall, saw flames rising high into the sky from the south and west walls. His vision went dark as he realized that Chen County could not be defended. The loyal soldiers around him urged: "General, let's break out of the city!"

  "You all quickly take advantage of the chaos to escape and report back to Xianyang. As a general, I have a responsibility to defend my territory. Now that Chen County has been lost, how can I live on in secret?" Meng Xin shouted loudly as he cut down a rioter who was charging towards him with his sword.

  "General..."

  "Hurry up!"

  Meng Xin turned around and shouted loudly.

  Chen Yu had already rushed up to the city wall, hearing Mongxin's roar not far away, and seeing that Mongxin was clearly wearing a general's uniform, he was overjoyed in his heart. He quietly took out a bow, drew an arrow and shot it at Mongxin.

  The arrow only entered the body, Meng Xin let out a mournful hum, turned his head and saw Chen Yu holding the bow, mustering up strength with the few remaining personal soldiers by his side to desperately charge at Chen Yu, but just after taking a few steps, he was killed by the surging mob of rioters.

  It was at night that Chen County was lost!

  The next day, Zhang Er declared the restoration of the State of Wei in Chen County. He proclaimed himself King of Wei, with Chen County as his capital, and controlled the four counties of Qiao, Jiao, Zhang and Ku. Chen Yu was appointed Chancellor and Upper Pillar of State, with a fief of 10,000 households, and those who had contributed to the victory were richly rewarded.

  The news of the restoration of the Wei state spread quickly throughout the land, and heroes flocked to join, more and more powerful warriors rose up in arms against Qin, and the Great Qin Empire was suddenly thrown into turmoil.