Chapter 526 The Fall of Mengjin City
As dawn broke, Lin Changning led 5,000 cavalrymen at breakneck speed toward the shallowest crossing point of the river. Unlike the previous times, Lin Changning was determined to take Mengjin City within the day.
The city's defenders are running low on food and medicine. After nearly eight days of attacking, Lin Changning is almost at his wit's end. The city's defenders are quite capable; at the very least, they have caused Lin Changning and the King of Chu a lot of trouble in the battle to defend the city.
Lin Changning led his troops straight into the weakest pass he had attacked a few days earlier. With lightning speed, he led 5,000 soldiers to the front. The people on the city wall were somewhat troubled when they saw Lin Changning leading his troops to attack again.
After fighting with the King of Chu's soldiers for so many days, they had gained some understanding of the generals under the King of Chu. Among them, the most troublesome, besides the veteran generals, was this vanguard who was leading the charge.
Yesterday, two skilled guards from the emperor's side went out as vanguards to fight against the Prince of Chu and his men, but they were cut down from their horses by their leader, Lin Changning, in just two exchanges.
The vanguard on the other side led only 800 men, and on the third day they almost broke into the city. If the commander hadn't ordered his men to return to defend in time, Mengjin City would probably have fallen by now.
Seeing the cavalry charging forward again, the commander on the city wall waved his hand and ordered: "Archers, prepare!"
As he squinted at Lin Changning leading the way slowly toward the city wall, he suddenly gave the order.
"Release the arrows!!!"
Wave after wave of arrows rained down on Lin Changning. He slowly reined in his horse and swung his sword, cutting off arrows aimed at Wei Shao: "Shieldbearers, form ranks!!!"
The next moment, the shield bearers in the cavalry quickly dismounted, took the large shields and formed a large shield formation, completely covering the cavalry and horses behind them.
Wei Shao gritted his teeth: "Minister, shall we enter through the east gate again later?"
Although Lin Changning was anxious to attack the city, he remained rational and turned to look at Wei Shao, nodding slightly.
"The defense at the east gate is still the weakest point. We must launch a strong attack today and take the east gate!"
Wei Shao, carrying his spear, clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Yes, Assistant Magistrate!"
Seeing that the enemy seemed to have stopped moving after three rounds of arrows, Lin Changning rode his horse forward and charged again, brandishing his long sword.
"kill!!!"
In addition to shield bearers and cavalry, Lin Changning also brought Right Guard soldiers who were skilled climbers. These soldiers were protected in the very center of the formation. Once they reached the east gate, they would launch a feigned attack from the front. To the west, the King of Chu and his army were pressing in with their large forces, while to the east, Li Mingde and his men were launching a general offensive.
Li Mingxiu then led the soldiers on the right to the east gate. After they had lured the troops to the east gate, he had the climbing soldiers use grappling hooks to quickly climb the city wall from the other side of the east gate and seize control of the east gate.
Once control of the east gate is secured and the east gate is opened, Lin Changning can lead his cavalry into the city, and Mengjin can be captured.
Now everyone knows that the east gate is poorly defended, and the people from the other gates will probably rush to its aid. Lin Changning's main goal this time is to break through the city quickly.
To catch the opponent off guard.
As soon as Lin Changning rushed to the city wall of the east gate, she saw a person leading a group of soldiers rushing out from under the wall. A look of understanding flashed in Lin Changning's eyes. She had fought with this person a few days ago.
The emperor's bodyguard commander was a skilled swordsman, no less so than her. A few days ago, he had killed nearly six commanders and was about to capture the opposing commander when this bodyguard commander rushed out and rescued him.
Therefore, Lin Changning had a fairly deep impression of this person. After seeing the man ride out on horseback, Lin Changning turned his head and glanced at Wei Shao: "Leave the man to me, you continue to lead the men to attack the city!"
After saying that, he charged toward the guard commander opposite him with his long sword. Commander Liu was also having a headache dealing with the young general who had not yet come of age.
The two fought no less than four times, and each time Lin Changning was able to take away the guards around him, who were all carefully trained guards by the royal family.
Each of them has put in countless hours of effort, manpower, and resources to reach this point. Lin Changning seems even more ferocious this time, with greater strength than before.
The two exchanged blows only twice before Commander Liu's arm went numb and trembled from Lin Changning's two slashes. Fortunately, his armor and sword were made of fine steel, so the two fought back and forth.
This time, however, the young player on the other side seemed to have gone all out, and in the middle of the fight, he even tried to use a strategy of trading blows. If I hadn't stopped in time, that knife would probably have been slashed into my neck.
Commander Liu looked warily at Lin Changning opposite him. If Lin Changning had hit him with that slash, he would probably be decapitated by now. Even if this kid didn't fare any better, he would probably be slashed in the arm.
Commander Liu, taken aback by Lin Changning's ferocity, frowned as he watched Lin Changning ride past.
The next moment, Lin Changning turned his horse around again. As soon as he turned his horse around, he swiftly slashed at his own heart. Commander Liu dodged Lin Changning's slash by dodging it. When he saw that Lin Changning had made a mistake, a look of joy flashed in his eyes. He quickly slashed at Lin Changning's neck.
But the joy in Commander Liu's eyes vanished the next moment. Lin Changning pressed down on the back of Commander Liu's sword with his hand and used the armor on his shoulder to firmly block the blade.
Just as Commander Liu was about to draw his sword, his gaze met Lin Changning's reckless eyes. He was startled and realized that it was too late to draw his sword.
Seeing Lin Changning press down on the blade on his shoulder with one hand, blood flowed down the blade, and the next moment Lin Changning's knife sliced across Commander Liu's neck.
Commander Liu stared wide-eyed in resentment, feeling a chill on his neck. When his gaze fell on the blood-stained armor on Lin Changning's shoulder, he still felt a trace of disbelief. The moment their eyes met, he noticed the coldness and killing intent in Lin Changning's eyes and became somewhat confused.
It was only then that they realized that Lin Changning's actions this time were completely different from those of the previous few days, showing a more reckless and suicidal attitude.
But it was too late; Commander Liu collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The emperor, who was watching the battle from the city wall, turned pale as he watched helplessly as his most trusted commander was killed. He stood up in disbelief and stared intently at Lin Changning, who had killed his own guard commander.
Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Lin Changning felt the gaze coming from the city wall and squinted to look up. When he met the emperor's somewhat incredulous gaze, he reached out and took the bow and arrow from the guard beside him.
Despite the pain in his shoulder, Commander Wu drew his bow and aimed the arrow directly at the emperor who had risen to his feet. The next moment, Commander Wu's face turned pale, and he quickly pushed the emperor to the ground.
"Watch out! Your Majesty!"
The arrow pierced through the emperor's helmet, sending it flying and embedding it in the wall. The emperor, who had fallen, had his hair disheveled and crouched on the ground, still shaken.
He stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the bow and arrow whose tail was still trembling.
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