Chapter 136 Withdrawal from Daxing

As dusk settled, the Tatar wolf-head banner was already fluttering less than a hundred miles from the walls of Daxing.

Lin Changning and Qi Rong stood side by side on the city wall, feeling as if a huge rock was pressing on their hearts. Under the dark sky, the cold wind on the city wall made the hair on their foreheads flutter in the wind. Lin Changning scratched the stray hairs that were making his face itchy and stood quietly with Qi Rong.

"Why did you come back in person?"

The wind was strong, and Lin Changning didn't hear clearly for a moment: "Huh?"

Qi Rong gripped the hilt of his sword, turned his head, and repeated with a serious expression, "Why did you come back in person? Sending someone back with a message would have been the same. With your abilities, the King of Chu would value you highly. With your intelligence, you must have already guessed that Daxing would become an isolated city."

Lin Changning chuckled, her eyes sparkling: "Your Highness, there are no so many whys in this world. I really like the saying, 'Knowing it is impossible, yet doing it anyway; though there are thousands of people, I will go.' Things always have to be done by someone. Since that's the case, why can't it be me? To put it pretentiously and arrogantly, someone like me, with immense strength and superb swordsmanship, was born to die on the battlefield."

Qi Rong looked at Lin Changning with a hint of inquiry in his eyes. He felt that the burning flame in those phoenix eyes was somewhat incongruous with that youthful face. After a moment, he felt that it was normal and felt a little emotional. He thought that youthful spirit should be like this and that he was overthinking it.

The city wall acted as a dividing line, clearly separating the inside and outside of the city. Outside the city, the Tartar army was surging, while inside the city, the people, with their families and necessities, gathered under the command of the border troops and walked out from the east gate.

Old Zhou, riding his horse, kept shouting along the way: "Take all the grain you can carry! Leave everything you can't take in the square. The Tartars outside the city have already gathered. Those who haven't left, hurry up and pack your things. Keep an eye on your children and valuables. Anyone who tries to cause trouble in the chaos will be killed without mercy!!"

The border troops escorted the civilians out of the city gate, and then continued to meet up with civilians according to the areas designated by Lin Changning. There were some who tried to rob and steal in the chaos, but they were all killed with a single blow. In times of chaos, severe punishments were used, otherwise it would have incited a civil unrest. Fortunately, the evacuation of the crowd was relatively quick, and several thousand civilians had been evacuated by the time dawn was breaking.

However, it will take at least three more days to evacuate everyone step by step and ensure that the Tartars cannot catch up.

At this moment, time is life, the life of the people of Daxing, and the life of the border troops of Daxing.

Suddenly, smoke signals rose from the city wall, and the urgent sound of gongs reached Lin Changning's ears. The several commanders gathered on the city wall immediately became anxious.

Old Ma said with a grim face, "The Tartars are about to attack the city!"

Qi Rong nodded: "Old Ma will command the troops, Old Zhou will guard the city, and Changping will be the vanguard. Follow me down the city walls and fight! This battle! We cannot retreat!"

"Yes!" The shouts that soared into the sky reached Zhang Bo's ears, but Zhang Bo's face turned pale. As he descended the city wall and headed towards the east city, Qi Rong stopped and stared at Zhang Bo with contempt in his eyes.

Three soldiers immediately pinned the man to the city wall. Qi Rong gritted his teeth and said in an unfriendly tone, "Before we return, please command us and stay in Daxing!"

The fear was that this man would ruin morale. Zhang Bo's battle had almost shattered the soldiers' spirits, and they were even thinking of running away before the battle. Qi Rong glanced at his personal guards and said, "Protect the commander."

After speaking, several guards took Zhang Bo back to the city wall and kept him under close guard.

Iron cavalry, whipping up sand and dust, rushed towards the walls of Daxing, their neighing horses and horn calls weaving together into a magnificent war song.

On the city tower and the watchtower, Commander Zhang raised his sword and shouted, "Fire the arrows!"

The archers behind him fired long arrows in unison. The arrows, like shooting stars, traced a semi-circular trajectory in the air and bloomed into scarlet flowers in the enemy cavalry formation. Before the first thousand cavalrymen could even reach the city wall, nearly half of them were shot down by the continuous arrows.

Lin Changning and Qi Rong led a thousand infantrymen to stand beneath the city wall, watching from afar as the Tartars relentlessly attacked towards Daxing.

Now they only have 800 cavalry left, and the rest are 2,000 infantrymen, some of whom are wounded. The more seriously wounded soldiers are now evacuating and escorting civilians within the city. With so few people, defending Daxing is extremely difficult.

The screams, mixed with the smell of blood, were blown to Lin Changning's nose by the north wind. She gripped the hilt of her knife and looked at the enemy opposite her, feeling somewhat uncertain.

Back then, I read the book too superficially and didn't pay attention to this war at all. Or rather, the book didn't describe this battle at all. The enemy's strength was three times that of theirs, and it seemed like a battle they were destined to lose.

As they drew closer, Qi Rong raised his sword, the silver armor flashing before Lin Changning's eyes: "Soldiers! Charge with me!"

With her adrenaline surging, Lin Changning barely remembered how she rushed out. Like a precise machine, she slashed at anyone she saw. Wan Jin and several guards surrounded her closely. The sound of blades piercing the necks of Tartars was crisp, and warm blood would spurt out from the arteries and spray onto her face. A small squad of a dozen Tartars separated Lin Changning and Qi Rong.

Lin Changning glanced at the twenty or thirty men left around him, gritted his teeth, and roared, "Kill!"

The blade was incredibly fast, so fast that it could take several lives in just a few breaths. As Lin Changning slew his enemies, Wan Jin once again experienced what it meant to be a one-man army, invincible against ten thousand.

The young general's armor was almost soaked in blood. Under the siege of the Tartars, the solidified killing intent around him made people dare not approach easily. They could only surround him. There was no other reason than that the young general's blade was too sharp. Countless Tartar warriors had their lives taken the instant they got close.

Lin Changning rode on Moyun, his hooves raised high, his sword pointed at a leader opposite him, his handsome face filled with fighting spirit: "Do you dare to fight!"

The chieftain flinched and didn't respond. Among the pile of corpses beneath Lin Changning were many tribal chiefs. In just a short while, they had lost 40% of their men, nearly 30% of whom had died at the hands of this young man.

Seeing the man cower in fear, Lin Changning grabbed his bow and arrow, nocked an arrow, and shot it at the enemy's wolf-head banner. The arrow whistled through the air and snapped the flagpole in two. The banner crashed to the ground with a thud.

A commotion broke out in the Tartar army. Seeing the opportunity, Lin Changning shouted, "Soldiers! Follow me and kill the enemy!"

Hearing Lin Changning's roar in the arena, the guards and infantrymen were roused and charged towards the opposing general with red eyes.

In a battle between two armies, the first attack is vigorous, the second weakens, and the third exhausts the strength.

Lin Changning's killing spree had already terrified the Tartars and demoralized them somewhat. His arrow that pierced their flag further fueled their desire to retreat.

Lin Changning, leading the charge, moved with unparalleled speed and agility, his long sword flashing like a shadow as he swiftly slashed at the Tartars opposite him. Many Tartars turned and fled. A strange phenomenon occurred: although it was the Tartars attacking the city, three thousand Tartars were running towards Daxing. Some of them were being held back by Qi Rong, with both sides exchanging blows. On the other side, the battlefield and the infantry were locked in a stalemate, and many fell into traps.

The most obvious one is in the middle, where a young man wearing a dark red padded jacket, two swords at his waist, and a tattered silver-gray helmet is chasing and killing the Tartar warrior in the middle, leading two hundred cavalrymen and five hundred infantrymen who are slowly closing in.

Suddenly, a gap appeared in the middle, throwing the Tartar army into chaos. The once-solid shield wall was now riddled with holes.

Fortunately, it was just a probe before a full-scale siege. The third Tatar prince, observing the occupied area, pointed to the middle section and asked with a grim expression, "Who is that person? The heir of the Duke of Qi?"

Another tribal chief respectfully bowed and said, "Your Highness, it's not Qi Rong. This is a chiliarch who has made a name for himself in Da Xuan this year. He is young but has outstanding martial arts skills. Several of our tribes have suffered at his hands. Udar and Alshan died at his hands."

The third prince of Tatars sighed as he looked at the collapsing battle formation: "This man is arrogant and brave. Da Xuan is indeed full of talented people. Let's sound the retreat and attack the city again tomorrow. We have explored enough today. It's only a matter of time before Da Xing is taken down. Don't let the morale be broken."