He instinctively looked at the old soldier again, who also looked fearful. Seeing him look over, the old soldier whispered, "..."
"Weren't the... the rebels... driven back?" The recruit tried to keep his voice from sounding too loud. "The rebel army's formation is not disrupted. The attack just now was merely a probe before the general offensive. Now the rebel generals know where to defend on the city walls. If they attack again, they will definitely go all out." The veteran saw that the officers and generals were exhausted and huddled in the back, and whispered, "The rebel army is testing this place. If they attack with all their might, the government troops are outnumbered, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to defend."
"You...you mean...we can't hold out?"
The old soldier chuckled strangely: "If the city had twice the number of troops and a capable general in command, taking the city would be an impossible task. But now the city has few soldiers and cowardly generals, His Majesty dares not personally lead the troops to offer encouragement, and the Prime Minister has already packed up his valuables. How can we possibly hold the city?"
The new recruit looked around in disbelief. The remaining officers and soldiers around him were either whispering or staring blankly, showing no signs of having repelled the enemy. The more he looked, the more anxious he became, and asked, "Then...then will we die?"
"Who knows?" the veteran sighed. "On the killing field, who knows if they'll be around for the next moment?"
The new recruits felt a chill creep into their hearts, but the fear on the veteran's face slowly faded. He spat on the ground and said, "To be able to raise an army like this, Li Jun truly deserves to be one of Marshal Lu's favorite generals. If I were lucky enough to serve under Marshal Lu for three to five years, Li Jun would be even more formidable. Kid, you should meet Li Jun sometime."
The new recruit's curiosity overcame his fear after hearing his nonsensical boast. Just as he was about to speak again, the war drums sounded loudly from below the city walls once more!
"This is for real!" the veteran shouted, seemingly to himself to bolster his courage, or perhaps to warn the new recruits. The soldiers wiped the sweat from their palms on their clothes, gripped their spears, and watched as the main force of the Peace Army began its charge again.
The veteran's hunch was correct. Although the Peace Army had once again launched a full-scale attack from the south and west of Liucheng, they had in fact concentrated their daredevils at the Duijin Gate in the west of the city. Once dozens of siege ladders were mounted on the battlements near the Duijin Gate, these fearless warriors climbed upwards like madmen. Although some fell from the ground, struck by logs and stones, others were immediately put in their place. The logs and stones used in the previous probing attacks at the Duijin Gate had been exhausted, and there was no way to replenish them quickly enough. Therefore, after all their arrows and stones were used up, both sides entered a state of stalemate.
Although the new recruit understood that the Peace Army would choose to attack the weakest point, he didn't expect that the weakest point chosen was himself. It seemed that the enemy had already realized that most of the guards here were newly conscripted soldiers, and the number of veterans with combat experience was limited. He swung his spear with all his might, and the spear pierced the chest of a Qiang warrior. The Qiang warrior seemed unaware and continued to climb up the city wall. In shock, he tried to pull back the spear, but the spear was caught by his opponent's body. The Qiang warrior covered the bleeding wound on his chest with one hand, and with the other hand, he grinned at the new recruit with a sinister smile. His blood-red eyes revealed a cold light that seemed to be mocking him. He was about to climb up the city wall, but his time was exhausted, and he finally swayed and fell down from the ladder.
The recruit hastily released his grip, and his spear fell to the ground below the city wall, embedded in the Qiang corpse. He reached for his sword when a one-eyed, bearded general of the Peace Army peered out from the siege ladder. The general was incredibly agile, hooking one hand onto the battlements and using the other to scale the city wall. Seeing the general's battle axe gleaming coldly as it came crashing down, the recruit dared not draw his sword to parry. He hastily retreated, tripping over the corpse of a government soldier behind him, and fell backward.
Fortunately, he fell backward. The one-eyed, bearded Peace Army general, after missing his first axe strike, swung his axe again with a backhand. The heavy battle axe was no different from a small wooden stick in his hands. But as the recruit fell, the axe swept across his chest. The recruit felt a sharp pain in his chest, and the urge to urinate, which he had been holding in for so long, finally became uncontrollable. With a sigh, he fainted. The veteran soldier beside him, seeing the Peace Army general's ferocity, tried to retreat, but the Peace Army general did not let him go. He took two fierce steps forward, swung his battle axe horizontally, and the veteran soldier's head flew off, blood spurting three feet high from his neck.
"Long live the king! Long live the king!" The one-eyed, bearded general of the Peace Army was the first to climb the city wall, and the soldiers below were excited.
(two)
"Long live!"
Tens of thousands of people shouted loudly, their voices loud enough to pierce the sky and shatter the clouds.
Following closely behind the one-eyed, bearded Peace Army general, a Qiang warrior climbed up somewhat clumsily. He wielded a nine-ringed broadsword and held a purple dragon flag in one hand. He found a crack on the city wall, inserted the flag, and then turned around to cut down a welcoming soldier.
The cheers below the city grew louder. The two Peace Army soldiers guarded the crenellations they had occupied, but in a short while, more Peace Army soldiers climbed up.
"Zhong Biao! Zhong Biao! The first to scale the walls is Zhong Biao!" Soldiers who recognized the one-eyed, bearded general shouted. Zhong grinned; he had fought on the battlefield for many years, always an unsung hero, and had never experienced such glory. Li Jun, standing at the front lines, looked up thoughtfully and asked Dong Cheng beside him, "Was the first one to charge onto the city walls Zhong Biao, whom you subdued in Liangshui Town?"
Dong Cheng couldn't help but show a hint of pride, but this pride was quickly replaced by another strange feeling. His general had won the first merit in the siege, but the city he had attacked was the capital of the dynasty he had sworn to serve. He said in a deep voice, "Not bad, very brave, and quite resourceful."
Li Jun lowered his head, pondering something slowly. After a while, he asked again, "Has this person ever served under Commander Lu?" "No, he hasn't. This person joined the government army five years ago, and before that, he was supposedly a mercenary."
Li Jun's heart skipped a beat. He recognized Zhong Biao's figure and thought he knew him from when he was under Lu Xiang's command. But now, it seemed that this Zhong Biao was a different person.
"It can't be such a coincidence..." he thought to himself, but he quickly dismissed the thought. This was a crucial moment, and he had to concentrate on commanding and deploying his troops.
"Fight back! Fight back! Drive them away!"
A military officer, shouting hoarsely, charged forward amidst the soldiers. Zhong Biao, his single eye wide open, swung his battle axe like a whirlwind as he met the officer's attack. Two spears, like venomous tongues, stabbed towards his chest and throat, but he deflected them both with his axe. Before the two soldiers could even parry their spears, Zhong Biao cleaved one of them in two from head to waist with a single blow. He then kicked the other soldier in the groin, who dropped his weapon, clutching his abdomen and kneeling. Without hesitation, Zhong Biao struck again, sending the soldier's head flying high into the air, crashing into the shouting general.
"Traitor!" The general, surprisingly bold, wasn't intimidated by Zhong Biao's imposing aura. He thrust his spear forward, the tip darting back and forth like a venomous snake, the tassel dancing like a butterfly, a dazzling display. But Zhong Biao paid no heed, chest out, meeting the spear head-on, and simply brought it down on Zhong Biao's head!
"Spit! Spit! Spit!" With several spitting sounds, the general's spear tip pierced five holes in Zhong Biao's breastplate, each hole oozing blood. However, each wound only broke Zhong Biao's skin and did not penetrate his chest cavity. On the other hand, the general's head was split in two as if it had been cut open, with red and white blood flowing out.
"Hmph!" Zhong Biao kicked the general's corpse aside, brandishing his battle axe, glaring at his one-eyed enemy, and roared, "Who dares to come forward?!" Seeing him covered in blood, imposing and awe-inspiring like a god of war, the government troops dared not approach. The government troops' counterattack turned into a rout, and taking advantage of this opportunity, dozens more Peace Army soldiers scaled the city walls. They quickly attacked from the left and right, driving away the wavering government troops, occupying more of the battlements, and allowing even more Peace Army soldiers to climb up.
At this moment, government troops were urgently transferred from other locations to rush over and temporarily stabilize the situation. The two sides then engaged in fierce fighting on the walls of Duijin City. However, the space on the walls was limited, and the hundreds of soldiers from both sides were crammed together, making it impossible for either side to maneuver effectively.
"Battering ram!" Li Jun, who could see clearly from below the city walls, waved his hand and gave the order.
In a short while, a battering ram pulled by a hundred or so strongmen arrived in front of the Duijin Gate. Ignoring the shouts from the city wall, the strongmen exerted their strength together, and the battering ram crashed with a loud bang, sending dust flying all around the city gate. The huge tremor could be felt even dozens of feet away.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho, ho!" The strongmen's shouts went unnoticed amidst the battle cries, but they slammed into the city gate, denting the copper-clad door where the ramming corner struck. The soldiers inside the gate were also knocked down, unable to use heavy objects to prop it up.
"Boom!" The repeated ramming of the battering rams finally created a hole in the city gate, allowing the soldiers inside and outside to face each other. Seeing the imposing presence of the Ping Army outside, the government troops dared not remain there. After a few more rammings, the tall and heavy city gate finally collapsed to the ground.
"Long live!" Shouts of "Long live!" rang out again from the Peace Army, the third such cry of the day. Before the battering rams could even reach them, the Peace Army charged past them, heading straight for the fleeing government troops inside the city. Seeing the city gates breached, the soldiers on the city walls knew there was no point in defending them any longer and retreated into the inner city.
"Chase them! Don't let them escape!" Zhong Biao roared, his murderous intent palpable. He swung his battle axe tirelessly, stepping over the corpses of the soldiers.
But before all the officers and soldiers could escape into the inner city, the inner city gates were tightly shut, and no matter how much the officers and soldiers pounded on them, there wasn't a single crack.
Looking at the wailing of their comrades below the city, the officers and soldiers on the city walls could not help but feel saddened.
"Fighting to the death for the country is the duty of loyal ministers and righteous men. You must not be afraid of death. Quickly turn back and fight the traitors!" The Imperial Guard general, seeing that things were not going well, shouted loudly.
"How can we fight to the death?" the soldiers below the city shouted. Seeing that the outer city was falling one by one, the morale of the army was low. They had no brave generals to command them and no way to retreat. Fear and anger filled their hearts, and they no longer cared about loyalty and righteousness.
"Order the entire army not to pursue them." After hearing the military intelligence from the messenger from the vanguard, Li Jun decisively ordered, "Why not take the opportunity to annihilate the soldiers under the city walls, instead of giving them time to escape?" A general beside him asked in confusion, "Killing them will only provoke the soldiers in the inner city to defend to the death. On the contrary, sparing them a way out can win over the hearts of the soldiers and civilians and weaken the will of the soldiers defending the city."
Li Jun simply explained, then turned to Dong Cheng and asked, "Brother Dong, what do you think we should do?"
“The inner city is fortified and has a complex terrain, far superior to the outer city. Moreover, there are many people in the city, and it will be difficult to avoid burning it under the attack of a large army.” Dong Cheng said, “If we can win without fighting, that would be the best outcome.”
"The reason I didn't send a general to attack from the north city is precisely this," Shi Quan said slowly. "My only worry is that Tu Longziyun might arrive in time."
"He's sloppy on trivial matters like slaying dragons, but he never falters on important ones," Li Jun said. "His assessment of the situation is pretty accurate."
The other generals were puzzled. One of them asked, "What do you mean, 'almost there'?"
“Naturally, the officers and soldiers will surrender and the city will be handed over.” Wei Zhan laughed. Seeing that Li Jun was not very happy at the moment when his long-cherished wish was about to be fulfilled, he asked, “Does the commander still have any worries?”
Li Jun gently urged his warhorse forward. Since his own horse, Xiaoyue Feishuang, had been swept away by the flood, he hadn't found a suitable steed. Although Wuzhi was a fine horse, he always felt it couldn't compare to Xiaoyue Feishuang. Some old things, though gone, leave behind memories that cannot be erased. Even if seemingly forgotten for a time, they will reappear in one's mind given the right conditions and timing. In Liuzhou City, the sounds of battle gradually subsided. Amidst the astonished gazes of his generals and advisors, Li Jun's mount slowly carried him. Ji Su and his guards immediately followed beside him. Although surrounded by elite troops, Li Jun felt utterly alone, wandering along the banks of a river called memory.
His memories of his parents had long faded, but now he remembered them clearly, as well as his cousin Li Tan, the villagers, and his playmates. His comrades from his early days as a mercenary, the feeling of killing for the first time, Lu Shuai's face and voice, the desolation of crying out to heaven in vain on Snowfield Star, the vow he made when he first met Feng Jiutian, his long and arduous journey like a bandit, Peng Yuancheng's betrayal in Thunder City... Countless faces and countless emotions rose in his heart at the same time.
"Long live!" The cheers of the Peace Army soldiers inside the city resounded again, which boosted the morale of those outside the city. Another major development had occurred that was favorable to their side. Sure enough, a moment later a messenger arrived with the report: "Commander, the inner city troops have breached the gates and surrendered the city. There is no more resistance!"