Chapter 516 Stalemate
Commander Wu glanced at the emperor with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, sending troops down now would be disadvantageous for us. We only need to defend the city. The city is currently short of troops, and even if we go out of the city, we may not be able to capture the King of Chu's men."
The emperor nodded, a knowing glint in his eyes: "Very well, then Mengjin will be entrusted to you, my dear minister."
A hint of helplessness flashed in Commander Wu's eyes as he bowed and nodded to the emperor: "Your subject will do his best."
To be honest, Commander Wu wasn't very confident that he could stop the King of Chu.
Firstly, the King of Chu does indeed have a large army under his command; secondly, the supply lines and waterways are now in the King of Chu's hands, so the supplies and troops Your Majesty has brought will not last long.
The best course of action now is to hold firm and wait for reinforcements from all the garrisons and supply lines, provided that the emperor does not cause any trouble. His words just now have clearly demonstrated that His Majesty has little talent in warfare.
Compared to the King of Chu, who was immersed in the battlefield year after year, they were incomparable.
The first to charge were the "City-Breaking Team" of Lin Changning's Right Guard. Fifty infantrymen, clad in double iron armor, each carried a three-foot-wide battering ram on their shoulders. The wooden rams were covered with soaked raw cowhide, and sparks flew from the gravel crushed by the wheels.
The stones piled up to waist height on the city wall were already stacked up. At Commander Wu's order, more than ten soldiers worked together to push down a blue stone the size of a millstone. The stone hit the top of the battering ram, tearing a hole in the leather. A muffled thud came from below, and two infantrymen were crushed under the ram. Crimson blood seeped out from the cracks in the wood, and they were quickly trampled underfoot by the people behind them and disappeared without a trace.
Lin Changning watched as his soldiers quickly climbed up the city wall, only to be repeatedly knocked down by stones and scalding hot water thrown from above.
He gritted his teeth, somewhat annoyed by the orders from above.
After quickly leading Wei Shao and the others through the crossing, Lin Changning swiftly took out his composite bow, found a blind spot, and, under the cover of the others, rushed towards a spot a few hundred meters below the city wall.
Lin Changning drew the compound bow into a full crescent shape, pointing it directly at the bright yellow color on the wall.
The men above were completely unaware that Lin Changning was guarding them below. Under their cover, they slowly made their way to the foot of the city wall.
With a faint buzzing sound, the arrow, like a silver meteor, shot out from below with a whooshing sound, heading straight for the emperor on the city wall.
Commander Wu, being a military general, reacted almost immediately upon hearing the sound of the arrow trembling. He shielded the emperor behind him and swiftly drew his sword to deflect Lin Changning's arrow.
The arrow was instantly deflected, and Commander Wu's sword clattered to the ground. Commander Wu felt a slight numbness in his hand as he deflected the arrow.
Unconsciously trembling, Commander Wu silently hid his trembling hands behind his back and looked at the pale-faced emperor.
"Your Majesty, you have been frightened. It is dangerous on the city wall. Please move to the military camp in the city."
The emperor, who had been nearly pierced by Lin Changning's arrow, had palms covered in cold sweat. If it hadn't been for Commander Wu's timely intervention, he would have died here.
With a few beads of cold sweat on his forehead, the emperor looked at Commander Wu with a somewhat unpleasant expression: "Then I will take my leave."
After saying that, he quickly led the two dukes down the city wall.
Commander Wu turned his head, and the guard beside him picked up his sword from the ground and handed it back. After sheathing his sword, Commander Wu finally had time to see who had attacked the emperor.
Turning to the side and tilting his head, he looked down at the city wall and saw Lin Changning, who had just drawn his bow and nocked an arrow, pull the composite bow to a full moon once again.
Commander Wu frowned as he looked at Lin Changning's distance. At such a distance, shooting an arrow from below would probably not work.
Before the thought had even settled, another arrow whizzed past and embedded itself in the wall beside him.
Commander Wu quickly looked away from the arrow that was still trembling beside him, glanced at Lin Changning quietly, and then spoke.
"Everyone, step back a little."
Before he could finish speaking, one of his personal guards fell to the ground beside him.
Lin Changning shot four arrows before finally bringing down one of the men. Looking at the bright yellow figure disappearing from the city wall, Lin Changning felt a pang of regret.
If it weren't for someone close to the emperor intervening, this war would probably be over by now.
The bugle call of charging cavalry suddenly pierced the clamor. The heavily armored cavalry, personally led by the King of Chu, surged to the city walls like a black torrent, with soldiers on horseback brandishing axes as they charged towards the top of the walls.
The ferry crossings on both sides of the Yellow River were already fully occupied by the navy.
The King of Chu led his men to charge forward swiftly, while Li Mingxiu led his navy to gallop across the Yellow River. Li Mingde, on the other hand, followed Qin and executed a feint attack.
Commander Wu, standing atop the city wall, was having a headache. There were people on both sides of the ferry crossing. He had been careless just now, never expecting that someone had taken the opportunity to sneak up from the other side.
The standoff on the Yellow River appeared even more stagnant.
Two of Li Mingxiu's three warships had their masts broken by catapults, and the remaining ship could only cruise in the distance. Occasionally, a few stray arrows would be fired from the crossbow holes on the ship's side, but it was no longer possible to form the previous rain of arrows.
Half of the catapults at the corner of the city were also destroyed. The remaining few required more than a dozen soldiers to pull them. As soon as the stones left the winches, they were blocked by the shields on the warships, and the splashes they made were quickly swallowed up by the muddy Yellow River.
The most intense stalemate occurred at the breach in the city gate.
The King of Chu's cavalry had once broken through here, but Commander Wu had blocked them back. Now, the soldiers of both sides were crammed together at the gap, their swords and spears clashing and stabbing into each other's bodies. Some soldiers even abandoned their weapons, hugged their enemies, rolled down the city wall, and fell into the pile of corpses below, where they never moved again.
Zhou Qianhu's armor was already soaked in blood, and his left arm had been cleaved open by a battle axe with a deep wound that exposed the bone. He tightly wrapped it with strips of cloth, still holding his long sword in front of the gap. Each swing of his sword was accompanied by panting, but he dared not retreat even half a step.
Lin Changning was also in bad shape. The wound on his shoulder had not fully healed, and he had just suffered two more new wounds. His eyes darkened, and he was about to order the attack to continue when he saw several barrels of oil roll down from the city wall and tinderboxes thrown down. Instantly, a wall of fire ignited at the foot of the city wall, forcing the cavalrymen who were about to charge to rein in their horses and retreat.
Lin Changning was also choked by the smell of burning kerosene from the tinderbox and hurriedly rode his horse backward.
As dusk fell completely, the firelight on the city walls and the torches below reflected each other, illuminating the stalemate in the battle with a crimson glow.
Seeing that he could not break through after a long siege, Lin Changning turned around and rode his horse toward the King of Chu.
The King of Chu frowned deeply as he looked at the current situation.
"Father, this man is a tough nut to crack!"
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