The round trip would take at least ten days. On the tenth day, before he could receive any reports, Zhu Wenyuan's army arrived at the walls of Leiming City. Leiming City adopted a scorched-earth policy, using its strong defenses to repel wave after wave of attacks from the Zhu family army. On the first day of the battle alone, the two sides clashed six times, resulting in heavy casualties and thousands of corpses being left on and around the city walls.
"Reporting to the Marshal, the Tong family's army has arrived at the west and north gates of Leiming City." The spy brought news that boosted the morale of the Zhu family's army but also lowered the morale of the Leiming City troops. Although they had not formed a formal alliance, the messengers from the Zhu and Tong families reached a tacit agreement to split the revenue from the silver mines of Leiming City after it was captured.
In an instant, war clouds gathered over Thunder City, and an even more brutal massacre seemed imminent. The one who would play the role of terminator in this carnage was on his way to Yujiang City.
In the eleventh year of Chongde in the Chen Kingdom, the fifteenth year of Zhongxing in the Su Kingdom, and the sixth year of Wuwei in the Lan Kingdom, at dawn on the third day of the ninth month, Zhu Wenyuan, the second son of Zhu Mao, the governor of Yu Prefecture, and Tong Chang, the younger brother of Tong Sheng, the general manager of Yinhu City, simultaneously issued an order to attack Leiming City.
The shouts of battle roused the defenders of Thunder City from the tranquility of the early morning. Catapults hurled stones at the city walls, forcing the soldiers on the towers to retreat into their fortifications. Then, the soldiers, carrying ladders or pushing siege engines, charged rapidly toward Thunder City.
As they approached Thunder City, the catapults inside the city began to operate, and huge stones rained down like hail, smashing soldiers' heads, destroying siege equipment, and staining the road leading to the city walls red with blood, brains, broken bones, and stone fragments.
"Fireballs!" After figuring out that the Thunder City garrison had mounted catapults on the inner wall, Zhu Wenyuan gave the order. Hundreds of fireballs fired flaming catapults into the city, turning the catapults into a sea of fire in moments. The flames spread and set some houses ablaze. In the chaos, people were unable to organize their efforts to put out the fire, and could only watch as the cries of children calling "Mama" in the flames gradually faded and eventually disappeared.
Clearly, both sides had exhausted their ranged attack equipment in the morning's fierce battle, and an even more brutal fight was about to begin. Qi Guang stood on the city wall, shielding himself with a shield in one hand. His slightly graying beard swayed gently in the autumn wind. He needed to use this lull in the fighting to rearrange the defenses.
Section 2
Dark, gloomy clouds hung low over Thunder City. The battlefield, still soaked with blood, was filled with the stench of death. Occasionally, the groans of wounded soldiers could be heard, but overall, everything was quiet, and the usual birdsong was absent.
Everyone knows that this is just the calm before the storm.
The Zhu family's army formed four square formations at the south and east gates of Leiming City. Generals on horseback were already reorganizing the ranks, and soldiers were carrying ladders. Behind them stretched a dense mass of heavily armored infantry, followed by a full platoon of archers. This formation clearly indicated that the enemy was about to launch a full-scale attack. Qi Guang's gaze swept over his troops. His Flying Tiger Regiment was responsible for the defense of this side of the city. These seasoned mercenaries were accustomed to war and death, even numb to it. Living in this chaotic world of a thousand years of war, there was fighting every day, and death every day.
"Archers, prepare! Shieldbearers, protect!" Unlike regular armies, which often have large, heavily armored units, mercenaries are more mobile, lightly armed units. In order to hold their own against large regular army groups, mercenary units have to be more meticulous in their coordination. A single mercenary often serves as an archer, light infantryman, and other roles.
Suddenly, the war drums sounded, first one, then two, then a dense chorus. The drumbeats seemed to strike the hearts of everyone on the city wall. Without the officers' urging, the soldiers knew that the great battle had begun.
Arrows rained down from both sides, naturally targeting the archers first. The archers on Thunderclap City, thanks to the height of the walls, had a slightly longer range than the Zhu family's archers, but were far outnumbered. Therefore, on the southern battlefield, the Flying Tiger Regiment not only failed to suppress the enemy but was also forced to advance. Amidst the rain of arrows, the soldiers erected ladders on the city walls, followed by a tidal wave of heavily armored infantry.
The chaotic battle rendered the attackers' numerical advantage in archers meaningless, forcing both sides into a brutal, meat-and-bone fight. Zhu's army surged onto the city walls, but the Flying Tiger Regiment halted their advance, driving them off the walls. Before they could even catch their breath, wave after wave of enemy troops swarmed in, resulting in another bloodbath. Soldiers used weapons, fists, nails, teeth—everything at their disposal—to kill each other. They had no prior hatred, were complete strangers, but now they were sworn enemies. Blood and flesh seemed to have driven everyone mad; warmth and care vanished, replaced only by the single word "kill."
This single word was also expressed in shouts from both sides. The cries of "Kill!" blended together as one soldier shouted "Kill!" and beheaded his opponent, but he himself was also stabbed to death by another soldier shouting "Kill!" and moments later, the other soldier's body lay on top of him. The eyes of the two corpses met, seemingly mocking each other, or perhaps mocking themselves.
The battle continued until late afternoon, when both sides were exhausted. The Zhu family, who had a numerical advantage, took advantage of the rotation of their attacking troops to at least have lunch, while the Flying Tigers on the city walls didn't even have time to drink a sip of water.
Qi Guang sat wearily atop the city wall. In the course of half a day's battle, his side had lost nearly two thousand men, while the Zhu family soldiers had left behind over four thousand corpses. Even he had never encountered such devastating losses. He began to doubt his own predictions: why hadn't the Peace Army appeared yet?
When he heard the news that Li Jun had left Huafeng, his first thought was that this was impossible. Although he hadn't yet seen through Li Jun, he firmly believed that Li Jun wasn't the type to flee at the last minute. His departure must have been part of a clever plan, perhaps to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy at the most crucial moment on the battlefield. But the result was different from what he had imagined. Now both sides were extremely exhausted. If he were Li Jun, he would have taken this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Zhu's troops.
Zhu Wenyuan was also waiting. On the surface, he was attacking Leiming City with all his might, but in reality, he still had some concerns about the vanished Peace Army. He left 5,000 reserves in each of the two rear areas, and the actual troops deployed to the battlefield numbered only about 20,000. In less than a day, a quarter of his 20,000 troops had been lost, which made his eagerness for victory begin to cool down.
"Sound the retreat, reward the soldiers properly, and we will fight again tomorrow." He gave the order to temporarily halt the battle. Qi Guang did not dare to open the city gates to pursue them. The two sides temporarily ceased hostilities, preparing for the next attack.
The next day, also at Chenshi (7-9 AM), Zhu Wenyuan ordered another attack. As Zhu's warriors scaled the city wall for the fourth time, and Qi Guang was fighting fiercely, a wounded messenger stumbled past.
"The North Gate is under attack! Commander Qi, please send reinforcements immediately!"
"What a joke!" Qi Guang roared angrily. In the past day or so of fighting, the Flying Tiger Regiment had suffered more than a third of its casualties, and the situation was now unfavorable. How could they possibly have the spare strength to support the North Gate? "If we can't hold it, then let them die in battle!"
Terrified by his rage and murderous intent, they scrambled back. The day's fierce battle had ultimately held out for Thunder City. That night, taking advantage of a brief respite, Qi Guang stormed into the Hua residence.
Several mercenary leaders had already arrived before him, and everyone looked worried. Clearly, tomorrow would be a crucial day, but the city's soldiers were exhausted and could no longer hold on.
"Whether to fight or make peace is entirely up to Chief Steward Hua. To be frank, the North Gate, which we are responsible for, doesn't have much fighting strength left," said Mo Yunlong, commander of the Cold Moon Regiment.
Everyone understood that he meant surrender, but most of the commanders actually agreed with him. After two days of bloody fighting, the city had only about 20,000 soldiers left to fight, while the enemy seemed to be sending reinforcements continuously.
Only Hua Feng could still laugh: "Haha, everyone, you've all worked hard. This is a battle that concerns the life and death of Thunder City and my Hua family. We can only win, we cannot lose. Please grit your teeth and hold on. Tomorrow I will ask the teachers and students of the Magic Academy to fight. As long as we hold on for just one more day, we will surely win!"
The commanders exchanged bewildered glances, wondering where Hua Feng's confidence came from. Qi Guang said loudly, "Chief Steward Hua, if you have any plans, please speak them out so as to reassure the troops."
Hua Feng said, "It's not possible to say now. If you all hold on until this time tomorrow, I will tell you everything."
The meeting ended without result, and neither the Zhu nor the Tong families were able to launch a nighttime attack on the city. Another night passed in this manner.
Early on the third day, the relentless attacks resumed, with reinforcements from the Zhu and Tong families arriving to not only replenish the losses of the previous two days but also to strengthen the city. The teachers and students of the Magic Academy were indeed distributed across the four gates. In the hail of arrows, their magic could not match the range of the bows and arrows, so all they could do was buff the defending soldiers, quickly healing their wounds and reducing casualties. Even this small amount of help was enough to allow the depleted Thunder City to hold out for another morning. When the Zhu and Tong families simultaneously committed their reserves to the battle at noon, everyone knew that Thunder City's doom was imminent.
But at that moment, the sound of retreat suddenly came from the Tong family's camp. The soldiers quickly retreated, not even having time to send troops to cover their retreat. The garrison on the city wall stared in disbelief at all of this, not knowing why. Only Hua Feng understood that Yu Sheng had persuaded the Rong people. The Tong family was now too busy to take care of themselves and had no choice but to retreat at full speed.
Only the Zhu family's army remained. Even so, the Thunder City garrison, weakened by the great battle, concentrated its main forces on guarding the south and east gates, barely managing to hold out from being captured.
"Please, Li Jun." On the surface, Hua Feng remained calm and composed as he personally came to the South Gate, where the battle was most intense, to boost morale, but in his heart, he was praying to Li Jun, who had already left.
"Chief Steward Hua, why didn't you send people from the Magic Academy sooner? If they had come earlier, our losses would have been less!" Taking advantage of a lull in the battle, Qi Guang questioned Hua Feng.
Hua Feng smiled wryly and said, "Whether it's Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or other schools of magic, you need enough spiritual power to cast them. Spiritual power is consumed faster than physical strength. If we use the power of the Magic Academy too early, we'll be left with nothing but helpless eyes now."
Seeing that the teachers and students of the Magic Academy were all exhausted, Qi Guang had no choice but to reluctantly accept Hua Feng's explanation. In fact, Hua Feng did not send the teachers and students of the Magic Academy at the beginning because he had his own selfish reasons. He hoped that through this battle, he could deal a great blow to the mercenaries in Thunder City who were too big to handle, so that he could introduce new forces.
Seemingly realizing something was amiss, Zhu Wenyuan ordered his troops to assemble, preparing to attack Leiming City through the most damaged south gate that afternoon. Sima Hui advised, "Second Young Master, the Tong family's troops have temporarily withdrawn; something must have happened behind this. And there's been no news from Li Jun's Peace Army for so long. I think we should turn back."
"So we've returned empty-handed?" Zhu Wenyuan roared in dissatisfaction. "I mobilized 70,000 of the Zhu family's 100,000 troops, suffering nearly 30,000 casualties, and yet we've returned empty-handed?"
Sima Hui advised again, "Second Young Master, we have not received any orders from the Governor from Yujiang City for five days. The reinforcement troops also said that they have not received any news from Yujiang City since receiving the reinforcement order. If we do not return now, I am afraid there will be changes in Yujiang City."
Zhu Wenyuan stared at him for a long time, then resolutely said, "We will attack the city this afternoon. If we fail to capture Leiming City, I will die beneath its walls!"
Sima Hui opened his mouth to speak, but Zhu Wenyuan waved his hand to stop him: "I understand what Mr. Sima means. This time I have suffered heavy losses. If I have not yet conquered Leiming City, I will surely be regarded as an incompetent person when I return. Rather than live with such humiliation, I would rather die gloriously in battle."
Sima Hui remained silent. The losses in this battle were too great. Even if Zhu Wenyuan returned alive, he would have no hope of becoming the successor to the governorship of Yuzhou. For this ambitious but incompetent marshal, the shattering of his ambitions was indeed worse than death. However, using the army, which was crucial to the Zhu family's survival, as his sacrificial lamb was far too irresponsible.
Should he also follow such a lord to his death? Sima Hui suddenly felt a sense of admiration for himself; even in this situation, he could still calmly analyze this life-or-death question. As someone influenced by Confucianism, although he was not a sorcerer, the concepts of "loyalty and righteousness" were strong enough to prevent him from easily leaving for survival.
Fortunately, Zhu Wenyuan solved the problem for him: "Mr. Sima, you should immediately go back and inform Father that the Tong family has withdrawn their troops, and ask him to prepare for any unforeseen events..."
"...Yes." After a moment of silence, Sima Hui hesitated before finally saying "yes." Escorted by dozens of cavalrymen, he left the battlefield of Thunder City.
After they had run for several miles, deafening battle cries echoed again from the direction of Thunder City. Hearing this, Sima Hui suddenly rallied; the exhausted troops in Thunder City clearly couldn't hold out until the afternoon.