Chapter 179

The sound of gunpowder explosions continued to ring out on the battlefield, the ears were filled with the painful wails of soldiers around them, and the shadow of death hung over every Hun soldier.

"Great Khan, the city gate can no longer be defended." The Hun soldiers came hurriedly to report.

Even the city walls built by Dayan could not withstand the attack of a few artillery shells, let alone the walls made of wood. With a "boom", the shells fell on the city walls, and the soldiers on the city walls were blown away instantly. With a "click", the city gate collapsed.

Muxie Chanyu drew the scimitar from his waist and charged out with the Hun soldiers. Rank and other Hun generals followed closely behind. Xubu Ni and the Hun women guarded the city wall.

Xie Chen listened to the sound of horse hooves coming from the Xiongnu and said coldly, "Bowmen, get ready."

Rows of cavalrymen armed with crossbows advanced, the rhythm of the war drums intertwined with the soldiers' steps, shocking everyone. Xie Chen saw Muye Chanyu and his soldiers approaching and shouted, "Shoot."

Countless arrows were shot into the Xiongnu soldiers like heavy rain. Seeing many cavalrymen being hit by crossbows, Muye Chanyu looked at the oncoming rain of arrows and shouted loudly: "Don't let your formation be broken up, warriors, follow me and kill them."

As soon as he finished speaking, familiar explosions sounded all around, followed by the neighing of horses and the shouting of soldiers. However, this time the Hun soldiers quickly gathered together under the organization of Konoha Chanyu and continued to charge forward.

Shouts and cries of killing rose to the sky, and the entire battlefield was filled with blood and yellow sand. The sound of artillery fire, like the roar of wild beasts, rang out again, and the Hun soldiers were stopped again. Mu Xie Chanyu tightened the reins and said to Lan Ke: "Lank, you lead a group of warriors to charge in the front."

Rank knew that the firepower of the Yan army was too strong. If they could not make a breakthrough, they would have suffered heavy casualties before they even reached the Yan army.

"Yes, Great Chanyu." Rank raised his scimitar high, gathered the soldiers who had just been scattered by the artillery and thunder bombs, and rushed towards Xie Chen like lightning.

Xie Chen was still throwing shells and arrows like crazy, but he saw a team killing the enemy swiftly and coming towards the strong cannon fodder. Xie Chen led his soldiers to meet them head-on.

Rank saw a young general coming forward who was as fast as lightning and moving very swiftly. He wielded the spear with great force and had already cut a bloody path towards this side. It turned out to be Wei Zhongxuan. He brought his soldiers to block the hole he had torn open, and not only that, he also advanced a lot further.

The Xiongnu soldiers' attack was thwarted and they could only retreat continuously. The Yan army marched straight in and arrived directly at the Xiongnu royal city.

"Clang" was the sound of weapons colliding. Xie Chen's spear was placed on the ground. Relying on the force of the bent spear body, he kicked several guards around Muxie Chanyu off their horses. The soldiers of Dayan stepped forward and assassinated the Xiongnu guards who fell to the ground.

Xie Chen landed on his horse, grasped the gun, and with a slight movement of his wrist, the sharp tip of the gun moved forward and brushed past Mu Xie Chanyu's neck. If he hadn't ridden his horse to dodge in time, the gun would have moved forward an inch more, and he would have surely bleed profusely.

Before the Hun soldiers could come forward to rescue him, Xie Chen rode his horse closer again and stabbed with his spear with a tremendous force. Konoha Chanyu blocked with his scimitar, but he knew how powerful Xie Chen was and did not dare to be careless. He wielded his sword like lightning and switched his scimitar from his right hand to his left, then chopped towards Xie Chen sideways. Xie Chen's spear lay horizontally, making a buzzing sound, and the spear head swung rapidly, heading towards Konoha Chanyu.

The surroundings were filled with the harsh sounds of weapons colliding. Rank saw that Konoha Chanyu was entangled by Xie Chen, and he took care of the Yan soldiers in front of him in a few moves and prepared to come over for support.

"Great Chanyu, be careful." Rank shouted.

Muxie Chanyu narrowly avoided Xie Chen's attack and retreated back to the royal city under the protection of a group of Xiongnu soldiers.

"General, we..." The soldiers of Dayan looked at the Huns who were retreating like the tide and asked Xie Chen. Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Xie Chen.

"Attack the city." Xie Chen said.

After the arrows carrying kerosene were inserted into the city wall, a fire broke out immediately. The inside of the Xiongnu royal city was in chaos. Several Hun soldiers were organizing Xiongnu soldiers to put out the fire, but the fire was getting bigger and bigger. Arrows from the Yan army kept piercing the city from time to time. Everyone was anxiously waiting for Muxie Chanyu to make a decision.

Muye Chanyu hurriedly climbed up the city wall. Da Yanshi Xubuni was commanding the soldiers to defend. From time to time, Xiongnu soldiers were hit by arrows and fell off the city wall.

Mu Xie Chanyu looked at Xie Chen and the Yan army under the city, knowing that he might fall into this man's hands today. He waved his scimitar to block several arrows coming towards him, and said to Xubu Ni: "I am afraid you can't leave alive today. I will guard this place. You take the others and escape as soon as possible. The Right Wise King has not received any news of attacking Dingyuan, and the Left Wise King is seriously injured. Go find the Left Guli King."

Xubu Ni glanced at him, but before he could say anything, an arrow came with a cold light, "Great Chanyu, get out of the way."

Konoha Chanyu had no time to dodge and was shot in the chest by an arrow. Xie Chen, who was under the city, put down the crossbow in his hand, his eyes full of coldness. A huge bird swooped down from the sky, Xie Chen stretched out his arm, and the arrow landed directly on his arm.

When the soldiers of Dayan saw that Xie Chen had shot Muye Chanyu with an arrow, the sound of drums and cheers resounded through the sky. Their morale was greatly boosted, and they fired crossbows and artillery, and charged towards the Xiongnu royal city like a hail of bullets.

All the soldiers on the city wall gathered around Muxie Chanyu. Muxie Chanyu was the heart of the Wangcheng army. If he were alive, with the 10,000 cavalry of Wangcheng, they could fight another battle with the Yan army. But if something happened to Muxie Chanyu, the army's morale would be broken and they would surely fail.

At this moment, a soldier panicked and said, "Great Chanyu, Great Chanyu, a cavalry suddenly appeared in the city, and the brothers can't stop them."

"Great Chanyu, the west gate of the city was attacked by the army of Dayan." Another soldier came to report.

Konoha Chanyu closed his eyes, sighed, and ordered Rank to lead Yanshi and the remaining soldiers to break out. As he spoke, the roar of gunpowder rang out again, and a raging fire was imprinted on Konoha Chanyu's face, which was pale due to excessive blood loss. The situation was hopeless.

The setting sun was like blood, and the bloody earth returned to peace. Lao Zhang looked at the Xiongnu nobles kneeling on the ground and smiled arrogantly, "General, this trip is..."

Not only did they capture the Xiongnu Chanyu and his generals and his wife, but they also captured tens of thousands of Xiongnu people, and the cattle and sheep were countless. He sighed in his heart several times at the credit of this trip. This was an achievement that would go down in history. Not only would their generals be promoted several levels, but their names would also be recorded in history. This battle would be written down by the historian himself, and even they would have their names recorded in the history books.

Morse and his tribesmen knelt down and said, "Thank you, General, for avenging us. If you have any instructions from now on, my tribesmen and I are willing to serve as your vanguard."

Xie Chen comforted him with a few words. Lao Zhang was able to lead his men to break through the Xiongnu King's City thanks to the Mohe people as an insider. Since they had surrendered, Xie Chen accepted their surrender on behalf of the Duwei Mansion, and then ordered Lao Zhang and He Xin: "Reorganize the entire army, we will go back immediately."

Old Zhang knew that he was concerned about Lin Shuge, so he immediately said, "Yes, General."

Lin Shuge is resisting another attack from the Huns. After days of attacks, not only the Qingquan defenders are exhausted, but even the Huns soldiers are unable to keep up.

"Sir, we don't have much gunpowder left." Lu Yuechuan said to Lin Shuge.

In order to defend the city during this period, almost all the gunpowder stored in the county was used up. The craftsmen worked day and night but could not withstand such consumption. In order to produce gunpowder, Lin Shuge even asked people to select many civilians with clean backgrounds to join in the production of gunpowder. But even so, it could not sustain the daily loss.

"What did Xiangligu say?" Lin Shuge wrapped himself with bandages. During an attack by the Huns a few days ago, he was accidentally injured by Liuliu. Fortunately, the jade pendant given by Xie Chen on his chest blocked the heavy blow for him, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

"The gunpowder in the county can only last for three days at most. If reinforcements don't arrive, sir, we..." Lu Yuechuan said in a hoarse voice.

"Hold on for now. The Xiongnu are running low on food and have been repeatedly defeated by us. They won't be able to hold out for much longer. Now it's a matter of who can hold out the longest."

Lu Yuechuan felt sorry to see Lin Shuge's pale face. Ever since the Huns arrived at the city, the safety of the entire county had been decided by him alone. He had seen how he worried about everything every day and was exhausted. Now that he was injured, he couldn't even recuperate and had to supervise the battle every day.

"Where is the food in the city?" Lin Shuge asked again.

"There is enough food. In addition to millet and wheat, we can fortunately still have potatoes to satisfy hunger. The potato production is abundant. Not only is there a lot stored in the county government, but there is also a lot of surplus in people's homes." Lu Yuechuan replied, and in his heart he sighed that thanks to Lin Shuge's introduction of grain seeds in the past. Although this thing is not as good as millet and wheat, it is harvested in large quantities and can be a kind of food.

That's good, Lin Shuge thought, as long as there is enough food, the whole city can hold out for a while. Zhongxuan has not arrived yet, he must be delayed due to something. As long as he is alive for one day, Qingquan County can hold out for one day, and can always wait until the day when Zhongxuan arrives.

"Sir, it's bad, the Huns are attacking again." A soldier came hurriedly to report.

The Qingquan Tower was covered with traces of weapon attacks and burning fires. When Lin Shuge arrived, the soldiers were already resisting with all their might. The burning kerosene engulfed all the attacking Hun soldiers. Lin Shuge had become numb to the sound of the crossbows being pulled and the arrows being shot.

"There's not enough kerosene." Lu Yuechuan came over and said, hunched over.

Lin Shuge frowned and said, "Send soldiers to the county government office. There is a lot of oil in the county dining hall. Take it first."

During this era, with the previous dynasty's feat of communicating with the Western Regions, many crops were introduced into the Central Plains. As the only way to reach Yandu in the east, Dingyuan County naturally also retained some grain and oil crops from the Western Regions, such as sesame. Although not much was planted in the county, because Lin Shuge loved sesame oil, the canteen stored more.

"Okay." Lu Yuechuan sent the soldiers down.

Shouts and cries of killing rose again from the city walls, and waves of Xiongnu soldiers surged up the ladders, "Sir, we have the kerosene."

Lin Shuge chopped down a soldier with his sword and shouted, "Light the fire, don't let them come up."

"Yes, sir."

The burning kerosene gave off a fragrant smell, and the catapults continued to throw down gunpowder and stones, and the Huns' attack was blocked again.

Lin Shuge looked at the Xiongnu soldiers retreating under the city, his legs went weak and he sat down on the ground. "My lord, my lord, are you all right?"

He waved his hand and asked, "Where does so much kerosene come from?" Even if the county government canteen had oil stored, there would definitely not be such a quantity. It would be impossible to supply the needs of several city gates.

"When the people in the county heard that there was no kerosene, they all brought oil from their homes. Several grain and oil stores even contributed all their stocks," the soldier replied.

Lin Shuge felt a warm feeling in his heart. He turned around and looked towards the city. His eyes turned red, but he didn't say anything.

At this time, a soldier's cry caught his attention, "Sir, the Huns are retreating."

"Just retreat, we've been repelled many times." Some soldiers disagreed.

"No, we really withdrew our troops."

"What?"

Lin Shuge stood up with his hands on the wall, and saw only the corpses of soldiers were left under the city. In the distance, smoke and dust were billowing, and the Hun cavalry were retreating farther and farther until they disappeared.

There was silence on the tower at first, but then cheers broke out. Lu Yuechuan excitedly shouted, "Sir, the Huns have really retreated. We have held on."

Lin Shuge covered his eyes with his hands. Finally.

A loud eagle cry was heard, and Lin Shuge looked up suddenly. Xiao Hei fell from the sky, folded his huge wings, and landed on the city wall in front of him.