Chapter 378 Conquering the City and Recapturing Dingzhou

On the battlefield, Xiao Xuance fought against five enemy generals single-handedly.

He swept the two men off their horses with a single spear thrust, the tip of the spear slicing through their throats.

Just as he was preparing to take down the other three one by one.

The three men fled quickly, and he chased after them on horseback for more than ten meters.

Seven or eight enemy soldiers surrounded him again, and several of them simultaneously threw out the iron chain connecting the iron ball, weaving a net that stretched to the heavens and the earth.

The spear in his hand was entangled in iron chains. He leaped up, broke free of the chains, and retrieved the spear.

An iron ball came hurtling toward his leg. He swung his gun and slammed the ball back. "Bang!"

The three generals who had just fled returned.

Faced with the enemy's inescapable trap, and having to fight ten against one, it was difficult to escape for a while.

The two sides' light cavalry were locked in fierce combat. The Zhou side, lacking a strong general to lead them, was being overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers and momentum, and was forced to retreat steadily.

Xiao Xuance's waist was wrapped with an iron chain. He stepped hard on the stirrup, spun around and flew up, breaking free of the restraints and grabbing the chain with his other hand.

He dragged the enemy soldier off his horse, then swung the iron ball in a wide arc, smashing everyone around him to the ground with a series of loud crashes.

"ah!"

Taking advantage of the opening, he withdrew.

"Chase!" Wu Yan suddenly lowered his spear, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground, and spurred his horse to give chase.

As it approached Xiao Xuance from behind, the spear thrust towards his back.

He bent down to avoid it.

At the same time, Wanyan Zonglie swung his long axe down at him.

Xiao Xuance parried with his spear.

Wu Tu withdrew his spear and thrust it at him again.

Wu Yan leaped into the air, his dagger slashing down towards Xiao Xuance's face. "Ah!"

At this moment, several arrows came flying towards Wanyan Zonglie and his men.

They sensed danger and had no choice but to withdraw their attack to avoid it.

The two men each held a broadsword in one hand and a crossbow in the other.

Wu Yan was slow to react and eager to make a name for himself. Just as he flew into the air, an arrow pierced his heart.

He fell heavily to the ground with a "thud!"

A large spurt of blood gushed from his mouth, "Pfft!"

"Wuyan..." Upon seeing this, Wutu glared angrily at the newcomer, shouted loudly, spurred his horse to gallop to his brother's side, reached out and scooped him up onto the horse's back, and quickly rode away.

Xiao Xuance, who was on his back, sat up and mounted his warhorse.

"Your Highness, we are here to help you!"

Xiao Xuance looked at the newcomers with surprise, "Why are you here?"

Zhuiying replied, "Your subordinate has already escorted the Princess and the County Princess to Lin'an. The County Princess has sent us to assist you."

"You've come at the perfect time! Follow me and kill!"

Zhu Feng untied a repeating crossbow and quiver from his horse and tossed them to him, saying, "Young Master, catch this. This is the repeating crossbow that the Princess improved."

The crossbow is equipped with multiple arrow slots, which can hold several arrows at once, and can be fired one by one by pulling the trigger.

Xiao Xuance wanted to test the power of the crossbow, so he pulled the trigger on an enemy soldier, then pulled it again, and both of them fell to the ground.

He discovered that this crossbow could not only fire in rapid succession, but was also more powerful than a single-shot crossbow.

The three stormed into the enemy camp, with Xiao Xuance leading the attack and the other two flanking him...

Xiao Xuance charged into the enemy ranks on horseback.

The Wind Chaser on the left and right flanks wielded their swords and fired their crossbows in rapid succession, charging back and forth among the enemy cavalry, leaving a trail of fallen soldiers in their wake.

The enemy's flagpole fell to the ground in response.

Upon seeing this, the already scattered and retreating light cavalry of the Great Zhou turned around and roared as they charged back.

The enemy army was thrown into chaos, and Wanyan Zongqin ordered the retreat. The soldiers of Dajing hastily withdrew back into the city, and the drawbridge creaked and rose amidst billowing dust.

Xiao Xuance had already reached the edge of the suspension bridge when he saw it rise. He quickly reined in his horse and stopped, his front hooves raised high.

The soldiers of the Great Zhou followed closely behind.

Arrows rained down from the city wall, "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!"

Soldiers with shields rushed to the front and used their shields to block.

Xiao Xuance spun off his horse and landed on the ground.

The siege ballista was pushed forward, and the soldiers quickly carried three heavy iron-feathered arrows.

He took the heavy sword from the soldier, drew his bow, and fired three arrows at once, "Whoosh!"

It tore through the air and hurtled straight at the enemy troops on the city wall who were turning the mechanisms and lowering the drawbridge.

Two arrows pierced the heads of two enemy soldiers, pinning them to the city wall, while another arrow struck a soldier standing nearby.

"Ah!" The soldier operating the winch on the city wall fell backward with a thud, and another fell from the crenellations of the wall with a "thud!"

The suspension bridge crashed back into the bloody mud with a deafening roar!

The enemy troops on the city wall rushed over again, trying to lower the drawbridge.

The soldiers wielding broadswords rushed forward and used their axes to chop down the two iron chains connecting the nearest drawbridges to them.

Xiao Xuance didn't stop, and fired three more arrows at once, severing the remaining ropes of the suspension bridge. "Clang!"

Three arrows were aimed at the top of the wall, and the arrows with ropes attached were shot up onto the city wall.

Just as Xiao Xuance was about to call for an attack on the city.

Chasing the wind and pursuing the shadows told him to wait.

They carried up a weapon they had never seen before; the strange weapon was thick and long, with a sharp head that glowed with a greenish light.

Shadow Chaser crouched down, pressing the barrel against his shoulder sockets, while Wind Chaser raised the barrel's tail high with both hands, slightly bending his knees to brace his back. Aiming at the distant city gate, the green object shot out, its tail trailing smoke and fire, crashing into the gate and suddenly exploding into a ball of flame with a thunderous roar.

The deafening roar engulfed the entire city gate, sending splinters of wood and dust soaring into the sky above the barbican. Soldiers on the city walls felt the earth tremble, and some were thrown off the walls by the shock. The power of the arrows diminished.

The soldiers of the Great Zhou were completely bewildered, not knowing what was happening. After they came to their senses, they waved their weapons and shouted excitedly, "The city gate has been breached! The city gate has been breached!"

Xiao Xuance didn't ask them where the secret weapon came from, guessing it was related to Yin Zhaoxue. Now wasn't the time to ask. He leaped onto his horse, brandishing his spear and pointing it at Dingzhou across the way.

"Soldiers! Follow me and attack the city!"

Inside the city—

Zhao Furou, who was hiding in the alley, heard the commotion outside.

The soldiers of Dajing were enraged and cursed in a language that the others could not understand.

She said to the others, "It seems like our army has won."

The others shed tears of excitement, "We won! We won! That's great, we're saved, right? We don't have to die."

"Shh! Keep your voice down."

Wanyan Zonglie, who had retreated back into the city, saw several familiar faces rummaging through the alleys as if searching for someone. He asked, "What are you looking for?"

The soldier leading the group dared not conceal the truth and replied, "Your Highness, several female slaves have gone missing."

Where is Zhao Furou?

The soldier didn't dare look at him, lowered his head, and whispered, "She...she ran away too."

The women of the Great Zhou are all spineless; you can scare them to tears by just pulling out a knife. Only Zhao Furou is tough; she must have run away with her men.

"Search the nearby alleys, even if it means digging three feet into the ground, we must find him."

A soldier responsible for surveying the situation at the city gate rode up to report, "Second Prince, Fourth Prince, they've attacked the city."

"Send more men to the city walls; we must stop them from attacking the city."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a deafening roar came from the city gate, like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting open.

They felt the ground tremble twice, and their warhorses pounded the ground restlessly, "Clatter, clatter!!"

Wanyan Zonglie roared, "What's going on?"

Just then, several soldiers with faces that looked like they'd been smeared with coal smoke came to report, "Second Prince, Fourth Prince, something terrible has happened! The city gates have been breached! They've broken in!"

How could the city gates have been breached?

"It was like a thunderbolt, it exploded with a bang, the gate flew off, the city wall shook three times, and the soldiers behind the gate were blown away."

They had just suffered a defeat, and the enemy, with superior weaponry, breached the city gates in an instant. Morale plummeted.

If they were to fight them head-on again, it would be disadvantageous for them, so Wanyan Zonglie and Wanyan Zongqin decisively gave the order.

"Withdraw! Withdraw back to Baoding!"

Zhao Furou, who was hiding in the alley, heard the sound of horses' hooves hitting the ground and realized that they were not safe there, so she led them to another place.

They ran through the alley.

Zhao Zhenrou tripped and fell, her knees slamming heavily onto the ground. "Ah!"

"There's someone over there!"

The squad of soldiers in charge of the search heard the commotion nearby, rushed over with spears in hand, and shouted, "Halt!"

"Ah! Run..." The others ran away in fright, and Zhao Furou helped Zhao Zhenrou up from the ground and followed.

Weaving through the alleyways, I knew they were about to catch up with me.

In a moment of quick thinking, Zhao Furou saw a low wall that was about to collapse from the fire, walked to the inside and pushed it towards the alley, blocking their way.

They darted around the alleys, hiding whenever they saw enemy soldiers.

Despite his efforts to hide, he was eventually discovered and chased for several streets before finally finding refuge in a haystack.

The enemy searched the area and quickly found them.

Zhao Furou told the others to run to the other side while she went to lure them away.