Chapter 417 Reinforcements

Fortunately, whether it is fire attack or catapult and stone attack, there is one insurmountable disadvantage, which is that it cannot last long.

The consumption of tung oil is huge, and as for large stones, they also need to be transported and mined manually.

As Mu Xuan led the defenders to dodge the rockets, he shouted, "Hold the archers ready. Once the Beirong fire attack stops, the archers will immediately counterattack!"

"Yes!" The deputy general agreed to arrange it.

After a while, the deputy general rushed over in a panic, knelt down with a thud, and said anxiously: "General, the situation is not good! The arrows in our warehouse... I'm afraid there are not enough... There are only... only 50,000... 50,000 in total..."

The defense regulations of the Yanmen Pass garrison are similar to those of the Beirong, with three rows of archers preparing and shooting arrows in an alternating manner. Each row of archers generally consists of ten people. If the enemy's formation is wide, two more groups of archers will be arranged.

In other words, the minimum requirement is to use ten arrows at a time. Three rows equal thirty arrows. And to create a rain of arrows powerful enough to threaten the enemy's advance, thirty arrows can be used in just ten seconds!

These fifty thousand arrows can only last for two or three hours!

When defending the pass, especially when facing a powerful enemy with a huge disparity in strength, arrow attacks are almost the most effective means to stop the enemy from attacking the city!

After all, outside the checkpoints, there would usually be a moat or an open area created. If the enemy wanted to attack the city, they would have to pass through this open area, and would inevitably be exposed to a dense rain of arrows.

If there were not enough arrows, the consequence would be that the enemy army could openly carry ladders and large logs to break down the doors and reach the city wall as if they were in an empty space.

If this is true, no matter how natural the barrier is, or how strong the Yanmen Pass is, it will be vulnerable!

"What did you say? Where is the quartermaster? Why didn't the arrows be replenished in time!" Mu Xuan was furious!

The Northern Rong's invasion was too sudden, and he could understand that military supplies and armaments were not prepared in time. However, the fact that there were only 50,000 arrows left in the warehouse was beyond his expectations!

After a while, the quartermaster trembled as he climbed up the tower, fell to his knees with a thud, and said in a trembling voice: "General, I deserve to die!"

He was an old soldier with gray hair, and he had also fought with Mu Xuan in many battles.

Mu Xuan's face was grim as he rebuked him coldly, "Han Qingfeng, how do you explain the arrow shortage? There should be at least 500,000 arrows in the Yanmen Pass warehouse. Why is there only 10% left?"

Han Qingfeng's face turned pale. "General, I... I'm at a loss. The last time we paid salaries was in June of this year, and then they said all of Dayu had been hit by natural disasters, and the treasury was short, so we couldn't pay. I've urged them countless times, but to no avail. And then there were the extreme drops in temperature and heavy snow starting last month. My men haven't received pay in six months, and other military supplies are also in short supply. We can't even afford winter clothes! Seeing my men starving and freezing is unbearable, I..."

"So what?" Mu Xuan's heart sank.

"I... took it upon myself to estimate the price of the arrows in the warehouse and sell them to exchange for winter clothing and food for my brothers. General, I thought that with the severe winter chill, the Northern Rong would probably need to recuperate, so leaving 50,000 arrows in the warehouse would be sufficient. The shortfall... could be secretly replenished after receiving the military pay next year... Who would have thought..."

"Nonsense! Han Qingfeng, do you realize that your self-willed actions may lead to the demise of all our brothers guarding the pass? No, it's not just the soldiers guarding the pass. Once the pass is breached, how many people in Dayu will be slaughtered! Come on, tie him up and chop him up immediately!"

"General, calm down! General, Lao Han is just sympathetic to our brothers who are suffering from hunger and cold, not for any selfish reasons. Please have mercy on us..."

The soldiers on the city walls all knelt down.

Xiao Yunshuo also felt as if his heart was stuffed with thick cotton and he couldn't breathe.

He glanced at the soldiers on the city wall and saw that everyone's armor was more or less worn and rotten. Some were pierced by the enemy's swords, spears and arrows, and some with holes were still worn on their bodies. Many of the clothes that showed through the holes were still single clothes. He knew that what the quartermaster named Han Qingfeng said was true.

Deep regret made him want to punch himself hard at this moment.

In order to wait for the best opportunity, to avoid being branded as a traitor, and to uphold justice, he has been deliberately hiding his identity and biding his time for more than a year, turning a blind eye to the factions and power struggles in the court.

Little did they know that in this struggle for power among different parties, so many officials and soldiers were wronged, and so many civilians were harmed and their families were broken up and displaced!

He should have…revealed his identity and returned to the palace when his crime of treason was cleared.

In this way, at least the fight between the second and sixth princes will not affect innocent people as it does now, and will not damage the national system of Dayu to this extent!

Xiao Yunshuo looked at the quartermaster, kneeling hunched over on the ground with snow-white hair. Unbeknownst to him, it had begun to snow. Large flakes of snow fell on the quartermaster's head, making him look even more decrepit.

This wasn't his fault. If there was any real reason to investigate, it would be the fault of the court, the emperor, and also the fault of this Crown Prince Dayu!

"General! Please revoke your order! Give Old Han a chance to reform!"

"General!"

Mu Xuan knew very well that Han Qingfeng had no control over this matter. His mistake was that he foolishly acted on his own without reporting or consulting him, and now he had to bear the responsibility alone.

"Even if there are extenuating circumstances, Han Qingfeng is still the culprit who caused such a hard time guarding Yanmen Pass. Military orders are as firm as a mountain. He has caused such a disaster, so he must be executed as a warning to others. You don't need to plead for him anymore!"

At this moment, Beirong suddenly launched another wave of rockets and rocks.

Xiao Yunshuo's mind raced, and he whispered, "General, the situation is urgent now. The most important thing is to repel this wave of attacks from the Northern Rong and hold the pass. We should wait and see what happens to Quartermaster Han. We should lock him up first."

After Xiao Yunshuo finished speaking, he winked at Yuan Xu.

Yuan Xu nodded tacitly, indicating that he understood.

When Mu Xuan heard Xiao Yunshuo speak, he really couldn't bear to kill Han Qingfeng immediately, so after pondering for a moment, he accepted Xiao Yunshuo's suggestion.

Everyone fought against the torrential rain of arrows for a while. Fortunately, Mu Xuan's previous order to the logistics soldiers to dig the soil and transport it to the city wall was carried out, and baskets of soil were lifted up with hoists.

Some of the soldiers defending the city were responsible for deflecting the rockets, while others were responsible for putting out the fire with soil. The archers also formed a formation and shot arrows in the opposite direction to block the Beirong infantry who were rushing towards Yanmen Pass under the cover of the rockets, carrying ladders and siege logs!

This wave of attacks lasted for just an hour.

Even though it was snowing and Yanmen Pass was already high and dangerous, the number of arrows shot by the Northern Rong archers that landed on the city walls and inside the pass decreased significantly over time. However, the Northern Rong's offensive did not weaken at all. It was as if they were fighting a desperate battle to the death!

Rows of Northern Rong soldiers fell down after being shot by arrows, but another wave kept coming up. Many Northern Rong soldiers even attacked the city wall. Ladders were set up next to the wall, and many Northern Rong soldiers began to climb the ladders. The logs for attacking the city gate were also carried by hundreds of Northern Rong soldiers and slammed heavily against the huge and sturdy gate.

The soldiers on the city wall could only use big rocks to throw down, trying to knock down the soldiers climbing the ladders, but many of them still managed to climb up the city wall and fight with the defenders of Yanmen Pass.

Mu Xuan was anxious.

If we continue to attack like this, the arrows in the city will run out and we will be at the mercy of others!

Unfortunately, the Beirong used rockets, and the arrowheads had been burned and could not be recovered and reused.

This time, it was the end of the road!

Seeing the urgent situation, Xiao Yunshuo couldn't help but look towards the horizon.

Not here yet?

At this time, more Beirong soldiers climbed up the ladders and rushed over waving their swords.

Xiao Yunshuo killed two Beirong soldiers who rushed towards him with one sword, and his face became serious.

There are now more than a dozen ladders on the city wall, and there are Northern Rong soldiers below who are risking their lives to hold them up to prevent them from falling, and other Northern Rong soldiers are climbing up the ladders continuously.

The soldiers defending the city walls were busy fighting with the Northern Rong soldiers who had climbed up the walls, and they had no time to use stones or arrows to repel the soldiers on the ladders!

If things continue like this, even if the gate cannot be broken, the Beirong soldiers will be able to break through the pass from the city wall!

Xiao Yunshuo's heart sank, and he suddenly jumped down from the city wall!

"Your Highness... Young Master!" Yuan Xu's heart tightened when he saw this. He cried out in surprise and rushed to the city wall to check.

Mu Xuan was also startled, but he was mature and steady, and did not shout out like Yuan Xu, and continued to kill the enemy calmly.

Xiao Yunshuo naturally did not simply jump off the city wall. He simply relied on his superb lightness skills to land steadily in the middle of the ladder.

Beirong soldiers were climbing the ladders above and below. They were shocked to see that some Dayu soldiers actually took the risk and jumped directly from the city wall. Then they came to their senses, raised their swords and slashed at Xiao Yunshuo!

However, Xiao Yunshuo did not want to fight any longer. He swung his sword and cut the ladder in half. Then, like an agile eagle, he used the ladder to gain leverage and landed on another ladder several feet away, and did the same thing.

As soon as he left the first ladder, it broke in half and crashed to the ground. The Northern Rong soldiers on the ladder naturally fell down with a cry of terror.

The Beirong soldiers below finally came to their senses. A Beirong general who was in charge of the center looked over from afar, and his face couldn't help but become gloomy.

In a blink of an eye, Xiao Yunshuo had destroyed five ladders!

"Shoot your arrows, focus on shooting the person who destroyed the ladder!" General Beirong ordered coldly!

In an instant, countless arrows shot towards Xiao Yunshuo!

Xiao Yunshuo's heart trembled.

There was nothing blocking the city wall, so no matter how powerful his martial arts skills were, he was as conspicuous as a sitting duck.

He thought for a moment and looked around. Then, relying on his excellent lightness skills, he dodged and moved on the ladder, heading towards the area where the Northern Rong soldiers were.

The arrows from the Northern Rong followed him all the way, but not only did they not hurt Xiao Yunshuo at all, but many Northern Rong soldiers who were about to climb onto the city wall suffered the consequences. They were shot by arrows and fell down screaming.

"Grand Prince...our arrows have injured our own people. Should we continue shooting arrows?" General Beirong, who was in charge of the archery team, came to report.

The man called the Grand Prince was so angry that his face turned ashen. He gritted his teeth and said, "Keep going! I want to see if this guy is a god. How long can he keep flying around in the air like this?"

Although he was upset that the Beirong soldiers were accidentally injured, but... the ladder was not well built and it was an important weapon for their siege.

If the archery stopped, he had no doubt that the dozens of ladders of Beirong would be cut in half and destroyed by the Dayu soldiers!

If it comes to that, no matter how great the advantage of Beirong is, I am afraid they will return empty-handed!

By then, his father Khan will surely be dissatisfied with him again...

Xiao Yunshuo frowned slightly.

It seems that not all the people on the Beirong side are fools. They would rather their own soldiers be killed by mistake than stop the arrow attack and let him destroy the ladder!

Arrows continued to rain down, and Xiao Yunshuo couldn't help but feel a headache.

Just as the Prince of Beirong had expected just now, he was also a mortal. Even if he kept practicing light skills, there would always be a time when he would get tired and could not hold on.

At this moment, there was suddenly a flash of light in the night sky, and then the sound like firecrackers exploding rang out one after another!

Some Beirong soldiers near the city wall suddenly stopped moving strangely, and then fell to the ground and died with confused looks on their faces!

The sound of firecrackers rang out again, and another group of Beirong soldiers fell to the ground and died without even having time to make a sound!

Seeing this, Xiao Yunshuo was shocked and whispered, "Here it comes!"

Prince Beirong was stunned at first, and then he reacted.

"Grand Prince, it's a firearm!"

While he was speaking, another group of Beirong soldiers fell to the ground, suffering heavy casualties.

Prince Beirong's face turned green!

Although the Northern Rong have strong soldiers and horses and brave cavalry, they are no less capable than Dayu's small, bean sprout-like soldiers.

But every time they went south, they always returned in defeat. One reason was that Dayu had a prosperous economy, abundant resources, and also controlled a natural barrier city. In terms of a protracted war, the Northern Rong simply could not sustain it. Another reason was that Dayu was very advanced in the use of firearms and gunpowder. Even if the Northern Rong were brave, they were helpless in the face of the overwhelming lethality of firearms!

Although Beirong has been trying hard to obtain Dayu's firearms and gunpowder manufacturing techniques over the years, and has even secretly cooperated with Dayu's general Qu Wenmin, it ultimately failed.

I didn't expect that he would be defeated by firearms today!

"Grand Prince, the enemy's firepower is too strong. We are simply no match for them. It would be better for us to retreat first!"

Prince Beirong's eyes were bloodshot as he watched his soldiers fall one by one under firearms and ammunition.

Obviously... Yanmen Pass is just around the corner, and it will be broken through in a few more hours. Then he will have accomplished a great feat, and the position of the future Khan will be in his pocket!

But...

"Pass the order down, retreat!" Prince Beirong gritted his teeth.

This order was immediately executed, and the Beirong soldiers fought and retreated, returning to a covered area.