Chapter 267: Things Are Different Now
Upon learning that the main general defending the city was Shen Yuexi, Xiao Beiheng, who was leading the attack on the city, became furious.
"Xiao Zhuo is going too far, actually letting a woman defend the city." He pulled out a half-foot-long Yanque sword, "This is clearly insulting me, the prince, and saying I'm not as good as a woman. Send a message to the three armies, we must capture this city today."
The lieutenants all looked hesitant. They didn't dare disobey military orders, but Langya Pass was not a city that could be captured in a day. Everyone turned their eyes to Song Zhen, who was standing next to Xiao Beiheng.
Song Zhen understood, raised his fan and told the generals to wait for a moment, then said to Xiao Beiheng, "Your Highness, please calm down. If you can't control yourself, you will fall into Xiao Zhuo's trap again."
Xiao Beiheng threw the sword back into its scabbard: "Is this another of Xiao Zhuo's schemes?"
He had suffered two losses in battle before, and when Song Zhen said that this was Xiao Zhuo's plan, he forced himself to suppress his anger.
Song Zhen asked, "Does Your Highness remember why our army came here?"
Xiao Beiheng immediately reacted and said, "The military advisor reminded me, but I forgot in the moment of impulse."
Seeing that Xiao Beiheng understood, Song Zhen waved his fan to let the lieutenants retreat and said to Xiao Beiheng, "Your Highness, our real target is Xiao Zhuo's food supplies. The attack on the city is only to divert Xiao Zhuo's attention and prevent him from predicting our true intentions."
"But he actually ordered women to guard the city. This is too much..."
"Your Highness," Song Zhen gently pressed down Xiao Beiheng's raised hand with his feather fan. "Xiao Zhuo has just assembled the army and has no trustworthy generals around him. This is a helpless move. Moreover, Shen Yuexi once used the Ice City to resist the attack of the Western Rong Army here. She is definitely not an ordinary woman. Your Highness should not underestimate her."
Xiao Beiheng nodded and rode to the front of the battle formation. When his eyes met Shen Yuexi's on the city wall, Xiao Beiheng immediately understood what Song Zhen meant.
He clearly remembered the first time they met.
After swinging his sword to kill the bandits, he also looked at Shen Yuexi in the carriage like today.
At that time, Shen Yuexi, her face half smeared with ink, her eyes filled with fear, like a frightened little animal, cowering in the corner of the carriage. She met all his definitions of a woman.
They met several more times later, and his deepest impression of Shen Yuexi was that she was very good at making trouble, whether it was when she tried every means to escape when she was under house arrest, or when she performed an inexplicable dance when he hosted a banquet for Xiao Zhuo.
Now, Shen Yuexi stood on the city wall, wearing white armor, facing the 40,000 Qi Wang troops calmly and without any fear.
When did this woman become so outstanding?
He snorted coldly and turned back to the formation.
Seeing Xiao Beiheng circling in circles on his horse beneath the city walls, Shen Yuexi was actually quite frightened. However, considering that he was the commander-in-chief, any sign of fear would be detrimental to the morale of the army. So, he gritted his teeth and stood still until Xiao Beiheng turned his horse and left.
The soldiers in the Qi King's army began to move slowly, and the battle was about to begin.
Beside her, Xia Lan had seen Xiao Beiheng marching out from afar and had already crouched down, not daring to show her head. Shen Yuexi knew she was afraid of Xiao Beiheng, so she didn't force her. She said to Shen Lan, "Sister, we're going to fight soon. You guys go down the city wall first."
"I...I won't leave," Shen Lan said with a pale face, but she refused to leave. "I want to help my sister."
Shen Yuexi had no choice but to point to the tall tower above the city gate and said, "Sister, let's go there now. Feng Zhang has already gone up there. We will command the battle from the tower."
Shen Lan looked at the ladders in the Qi Wang army formation, which were carried by dozens of people and passed through the gaps in the army formation to the front. He said to Shen Yuexi:
"Sister, the military manual says that if the enemy attacks the city with ladders, you can use kerosene and stones to defend. This city is built on the mountain on both sides, so there are enough stones..."
As she was speaking, she heard a shout from far away in the city.
Shen Yuexi's expression changed. She pushed Shen Lan's back and pushed her into the tower. She also pulled Xia Lan in. "The enemy has begun to attack."
Chen Lan looked back and saw a row of dense black spots suddenly appear in the blue sky outside, as if countless birds were flying towards here.
"Rain of arrows," Shen Yuexi shouted, "Everyone raise your shields."
Without waiting for her orders, the soldiers defending the city walls had already crouched down, shields raised simultaneously. Countless arrows rained down from the sky, hammering like nails into the wooden pillars and window frames of the tower. In an instant, hundreds of gleaming arrows were embedded in the walls.
Shen Yuexi climbed up to the second floor of the tower and looked down. The main target of the rain of arrows was the defenders on the wall, so she was not in danger here.
Under cover of a hail of arrows, the Qi army launched the first wave of thirty ladders toward the city wall. Behind each ladder stood two hundred soldiers armed with shields and swords, like thirty straight snakes charging toward the wall.
Feng Zhang looked at Shen Yuexi nervously and said, "Madam, do you want to shoot?"
"No need. We are outnumbered, and the enemy soldiers all have shields overhead," Shen Yuexi said calmly, looking at the Qi army charging towards them. "Don't waste arrows. Have everyone prepare rocks and kerosene. When they start climbing the ladders, throw rocks at them and pour kerosene to set them on fire."
"Madam, the people have come to help defend the city," Yang Cong ran up to the tower, panting. "They are helping to transport stones and kerosene."
"oh?"
Shen Yuexi was a little surprised. These people didn’t go to worship the statue?
Yang Cong held his knees and breathed for a while, then straightened up and said, "The village head said that the Crown Princess, a woman, cannot be left alone to guard the city, so he called on everyone to come and transport the supplies needed for the defense."
Shen Yuexi smiled and said, "Tell everyone to be careful of arrows and stay out of the city walls. Just carry the stones and the injured."
Yang Cong said, "Doctor Hua and his son Hua Duoduo have arranged a tent in the city square to treat the wounded. Madam, don't worry, everything has been arranged."
The iron hook of the first ladder slammed into the battlement of the city wall with a loud bang, like two iron fingers hooking the city wall. The defending soldiers dodged the rain of arrows and immediately picked up stones on the ground and threw them down with both hands.
There are mountains on both sides of the city at Langya Pass, and there is an endless supply of stones.
Shen Yuexi leaned over the city wall and looked to both sides. She saw people coming and going on the wall, and stones were falling like rain, smashing the Qi army soldiers who dared to climb the ladders into tears. There was not even a single Qi army soldier on many ladders.
She had witnessed Xiao Zhuo attacking Yongwei County with her own eyes, and the feeling was very similar to that time.
The Xiao Zhuo army at that time was similarly powerful. They appeared to be marching with great force, with volleys of arrows and a surge of ladders, but in reality, the attack was weak, lacking any of that desperate spirit. It was completely different from the Xirong army's attack on Ice City, where they had crossbows to defend and the enemy practically stepped on a path paved with the bodies of their own comrades.
Comparing the two, she could tell the difference. As Xiao Zhuo had expected, the other party was feinting.
The other party’s real target was Xiao Zhuo’s food supplies.
After holding the city for half a day, not a single soldier from the Qi army managed to climb onto the city wall. They retreated after suffering hundreds of casualties. Shen Lan calmed down and said to Shen Yuexi, "Sister, defending the city isn't that difficult."
"Sister, the enemy didn't attack seriously," Shen Yuexi and Shen Lan explained, "If they had fought desperately, they would have already reached the city wall by now."
"My sister can actually see all this?" Shen Lan was quite surprised.
Shen Yuexi smiled and was about to answer when shouts and screams came from the southwest of the city. A cavalry unit came charging diagonally, broke through the line of the King of Qi's army, and arrived at the foot of the city.
"Yes, my lord, open the city gate quickly!" Feng Zhang shouted.
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