Chapter 139 Holding firm and refusing to retreat
As dawn broke and the clear blue sky was cloudless, the Tartars began their preparations for the final assault. Lin Changning and Qi Rong were already on the city wall.
The sound of the Tatar cavalry's iron hooves was like muffled thunder. After they had assembled, they moved in an orderly fashion toward the city wall of Daxing.
Everyone was on the wall, ready for battle. The soldiers stared intently at the approaching Tartars, their fingers turning slightly white from gripping their sword hilts too tightly. Old Ma drew his sword and shouted, "Today's battle! We'd rather die than retreat!"
The border soldiers on the wall shouted loudly, their throats rumbling with hoarse anger: "We'd rather die than retreat!"
Their eyes gleamed with a death wish and unwavering fighting spirit. They knew the chances of survival were slim, but behind them were their families and fellow villagers. They were soldiers; they could not retreat. It was a battle they were destined to lose. As long as they could hold off the enemy for even a minute longer, their families would have a better chance of survival.
The people of the northern city will not be able to finish their evacuation until tonight. As long as they can hold out until tonight, the Tartars will no longer be able to catch up with the people in the city. As for them, their loyal bones will be buried in their hometown, which will not be a disgrace to their clothes.
The thunderous sound of horses' hooves grew closer, and the soldiers on the wall grew increasingly tense. Old Zhang stood on the wall, his palms slightly sweaty. Once the enemy was within range, he sharply raised his hand and shouted, "Archers! Fire!"
A deluge of arrows, like shooting stars, rained down on the opposing army. The shield bearers quickly halted and formed a shield wall, which blocked most of the damage, but many soldiers at the front still fell from their horses.
In the second and third rounds, arrows mercilessly took lives. Qi Rong had already led his men down from the city wall, and the subsequent command was handed over to Lin Changning and a few others.
Below the city walls, Tartar infantrymen were already carrying ladders and quickly erecting them. Lin Changning glanced down briefly, his gaze fixed on the Tartars rapidly climbing upwards. When they were high enough, he waved his hand and shouted, "Down!!"
Boiling water poured down from the city wall, and the foot soldiers on the ladder screamed in pain as they were scalded, tumbling down the wall. Many were burned and their skin was torn open, and screams echoed from below.
One after another, the siege ladders were pushed down by the soldiers on top. A few that managed to climb up were quickly dealt with by the border troops. The brief obstruction could not extinguish the enemy's desire for the city. Ladders were once again erected on the city wall, one after another. This time, the Tartars were very well prepared. The scimitars and long spears clashed, producing dazzling sparks. Lin Changning walked along the city wall, and almost any Tartar who came face to face with her was instantly killed.
Old Zhang commanded the archers, and the crossbows unleashed a fierce volley of arrows as soon as the enemy entered their range, whistling through their leather armor. However, the deaths of their comrades could not deter the Tartars' courage to advance. Countless cavalrymen charged forward one after another towards the city wall. Even falling into traps or being shot off their horses could not stop the enemy.
The number of people was simply too large. Although the border troops suffered few casualties while the Tartars suffered heavy casualties, the border troops were still at a disadvantage due to the overwhelming number of people.
Old Zhou slammed his scabbard down at a soldier who had climbed up, spitting at him: "Damn it, how come there are so many people!"
Old Ma's knife was almost dull. After cutting down a Tartar who had climbed up, he was about to pick up a new knife from the ground when a sudden gust of evil wind came from behind him.
Old Zhou was horrified: "Old Ma! Behind you!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Lin Changning shot through the Tartar behind Old Ma with an arrow, sending him tumbling down the city wall. Old Ma turned around and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that it was Lin Changning who had saved him.
"Thanks, kid."
Lin Changning, carrying a bow and arrows, was guarding five checkpoints by himself. His sword flashed so fast it left afterimages. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow: "Don't get distracted, Lao Ma!"
"Okay, okay."
The north gate suddenly opened, and Qi Rong led his cavalry out of the town. Once everyone was out of the city, the north gate closed again.
Amidst the smoke and dust, Qi Rong led his men like wolves, surging into the city walls. His long sword gleamed silver in the sunlight as he hacked down anyone he saw below the city gate. In no time, more than half of the Tartars below the city were killed, and the pressure on the city walls instantly lessened considerably.
The third Tatar prince outside the city saw Qi Rong rushing out and a glint of excitement flashed in his eyes: "He actually came out on his own! Mortai, order the cavalry to pursue Qi Rong and drive him towards me! I want to personally kill this commander of Daxing!!"
With a wave of the command flag, the cavalry that had been surrounding the city walls instantly turned around and surged forward like a tide to pursue Qi Rong. Qi Rong was no fool; he bent down to dodge a scimitar and then casually took a life. His blade was like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, aiming straight for the throat of the person who was trying to block him.
After delivering a fatal blow, the cavalry formed a battle formation to protect Qi Rong within their ranks. Behind them came a large number of pursuing Tatar cavalry. A Tatar leader wielded a broad axe and slammed it heavily into the cavalrymen, causing three of them to fall from their horses and be instantly cut down by the Tatars.
Qi Rong's eyes narrowed as he charged out of the encirclement, slashing at the opposing leader with his sword. The leader retaliated with a swift axe blow, attempting to knock Qi Rong off his horse. Qi Rong ducked to dodge the axe, his swordsmanship nimble. The tip of his blade unexpectedly rose from below, piercing through the leader's abdomen. The leader's eyes widened as he tried to retreat, but another sharp slash cut across his neck. Qi Rong wasn't as strong as Lin Changning, but severing a person's trachea with a single blow was no problem for him.
The Tatar leader fell to the ground with a thud, and Qi Rong, seeing the Tatar cavalry catching up, quickly led his men to flee.
Once the main force of the opposing cavalry had fallen behind, a small portion caught up and stopped to intercept them. In the ensuing back-and-forth, they managed to kill quite a few, but this disgusted the opposing side. The Tatar Third Prince's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot: "You can't even capture a mere two hundred men? Are you all useless idiots?!"
After saying this, he personally led the charge, and three hundred of his personal guards, carrying a large banner with wolf heads, swiftly intercepted and killed the Qi Rong.
Qi Rong wiped the blood off his face. The pressure was slowly mounting. Tatar cavalry surrounded him from all sides. A layer of blood had congealed on his sword. Of the two hundred men, only half remained. Many of the wounded soldiers were teetering on the brink of collapse.
The battle formation was breached on all sides, and Tartars kept catching up with them, trying to kill them. There were almost no soldiers left at the city gate. Most of the Tartars began to pursue and surround him, which was quite an honor. Looking at the sky, it was already noon. As long as they could hold out until night, everyone could escape.
"Commander! It's the banner of the Tatar royal family!"
The guards pointed at the approaching banner and the leading Tatar prince and roared. Qi Rong looked up and gazed through the crowd at the figure riding towards them.
The man was around twenty years old, and the jewels on his braids shimmered beautifully in the sunlight. His handsome face beneath the golden wolf helmet seemed somewhat familiar to Qi Rong. After a moment, the man drew closer, and Qi Rong finally recognized him as Uld, the third prince of the Tatars, a defeated opponent from a few years ago.
Holding a scimitar, Uld held Qi Rong in his hawk-like gaze and asked in fluent Chinese, "Do you remember me? Prince Qi?"
Qi Rong knew it, but he didn't say so.
Qi Rong glanced at Uled to the side and then casually looked away: "Oh, I don't know you, I don't remember you. Who are you?"
Changping said that what drives your opponent crazy is not mocking him, but that you don't even remember him.
"you!"
Uld was indeed enraged. He raised his scimitar and charged forward without regard for anything else: "Today I will use your blood to sacrifice for the flag! You surnamed Qi! Prepare to die!"
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