Chapter 802 A Dream of Youth 334

The city walls of Wenshui County were charred black by fire, and piles of corpses lay below. Before the magistrate of Wenshui County could even order the gates to be opened, thunderous sounds echoed from the battlefield below.

The sky was still very dark. Magistrate Li immediately ran up the city wall and looked into the distance. He saw no reinforcements, but he heard the sound of thunder. Could it be that heaven sent gods to save them?

For a moment, Magistrate Li looked bewildered; he had never believed in ghosts or gods.

"Bang—" Another thunderclap rang out, scattering the Northern Jin army in all directions. They tried to dodge, but they couldn't escape.

They had no idea where this sudden attack came from.

The Northern Jin army's camp was also bombed.

Those Northern Jin soldiers who were unaware of the situation immediately cried out in despair, "Heavenly punishment! It's heavenly punishment!"

"Shut up!" The general's eyes hardened, and he swung his sword to behead the man. But the words had already spread, and the cries of the wounded soldiers echoed across the entire battlefield, demoralizing the army.

"It's the Great Zhou's thunderbolt! What divine punishment?! All of you, get up and speed up the siege! Anyone who retreats will die!"

Magistrate Li on the city wall suddenly felt his heart pounding wildly. "Reinforcements! Reinforcements!"

The thunder gradually subsided, and then a troop of cavalry appeared from the darkness. Some of them wore ordinary Great Zhou armor, while others wore Northern Jin armor, but all of them had white cloth strips tied around their arms.

Xie Ning, wielding a long spear, acted as the vanguard, leading his men to plunge into the enemy's rear. With a swift horizontal and vertical thrust, he slashed a man's neck. Cavalry has a natural advantage over infantry.

Li Dalang saw a white figure rushing towards them, very conspicuous in the darkness. "Father, what is that white thing?"

"Whatever it is, let's go out of the city and meet the enemy!" The morale of the Northern Jin army has collapsed, and they have lost more men. Now that reinforcements have arrived, he must take this opportunity to counterattack and join forces with the reinforcements.

Xie Ning didn't go deep into the area, but deliberately led people to a specific place, and then, as the thunderbolts fell, another group of people were blown away.

Besides the Thunderclap Bombs positioned far away, Xie Ning and his companions also had many other bombs strapped to their bodies. After stepping back slightly, they would throw one into the crowd to ensure they could kill as many enemy soldiers as possible without harming themselves.

The general attacking the city was furious when he saw that Xie Ning had blown a huge hole in his rear. He almost swung his scimitar at Xie Ning, but he managed to suppress his anger and gave orders to his deputy to lead men to surround Xie Ning, while he led the soldiers in front to attack the city.

Another thunderous roar struck, blasting the general off his horse. Had it not been for his personal guards blocking his way, he would likely be dead already. Raising his eyes to meet Xie Ning's lone army deep in enemy territory, the Northern Jin general's eyes turned bloodshot. He disregarded everything else, grabbed a cavalryman, mounted his horse, and charged at Xie Ning.

"General! No!"

Xie Ning breathed a sigh of relief; the effect of the Heaven-Shaking Thunder was better than she had imagined.

She initially only calculated how many people the thunderbolts could injure, but she didn't take into account the other effects they had. In a battle between two armies, morale is very important, and if the four thousand Northern Jin soldiers were demoralized by a few thunderbolts, then the Great Zhou's chances of winning would be even greater.

"Clang—" The scimitar was blocked by another long spear.

Xie Ning saw Zhang Qi suddenly rush in front of her and silently raised her hand to block the attack from behind.

The morale of the Northern Jin army had been forcibly rallied by this general, and now that he had lost control, there was no one to command the entire army.

As the drums sounded from the city tower, Xie Ning saw the soldiers from Wenshui County coming out to greet him. He put his bamboo whistle in his mouth and let it whistle for a long time. The other infantrymen who had been hiding also rushed over from behind.

Having eaten two full meals, they shouted even louder, further dampening the morale of the Northern Jin army.

The situation, which was initially one of overwhelming odds, instantly reversed, with Xie Ning leading his men to suppress them.

After exchanging a few blows with Zhang Qi, the general had calmed down. Even though he knew Zhang Qi couldn't beat him, he had to retreat now. If he didn't, given Xie Ning's ruthlessness, they would all be left here.

After all, he didn't know how many people Xie Ning had brought, nor how many divine artifacts Xie Ning still had left. He couldn't afford to linger in the fight!

"withdraw!"

The soldiers on the Great Zhou side were already bloodthirsty and almost rushed to give chase, but Li Dalang stopped them when he saw the situation was not right. Don't pursue a desperate enemy. They didn't have many people to begin with and could only defend the city.

If it weren't for Xie Ning's surprise attack, this battle would probably have been the last.

Xie Ning watched the sun slowly rise in the distance, its warm light gradually dispelling the darkness and revealing the ruins scattered on the ground.

"Wenshui County has been defended."

Magistrate Li felt a lump in his throat and just stared at the sky.