Chapter 459 Fierce Battle
Song Yu's eyes widened in horror as he watched the cold light point towards the road ahead. At that moment, it was too late for him to turn his horse around.
Just as the cold light was about to shoot out from Shang Ruyi's fingertips, suddenly, a figure rushed up the city wall.
It's Nie Chong!
He leaned close to Shang Ruyi's ear and whispered something. Shang Ruyi immediately opened her eyes wide and turned to look at him with an incredulous expression.
And all of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Just as Song Yu saw this scene, before he could even fully react, another soldier from Longxi caught up from behind, wielding a spear that was about to stab him off his horse. At the same time, Shang Ruyi turned to look at him again, and once again drew her powerful bow to its full extent. The arrow on the bowstring flew towards the city like a bolt of lightning.
It’s over!
Song Yu closed his eyes in near despair.
However, the arrow whizzed past his head and struck the soldier right behind him. The soldier fell from his horse, giving Song Yu a chance to survive.
At the city gate ahead, the soldiers had already closed the gates to a crack, shouting desperately at him—
"Lord Song, hurry!"
"Come in quickly!"
"Prepare to close the city gates."
Song Yu gritted his teeth and spurred his horse on. Without the obstruction of the flying arrows, his steed no longer hesitated, galloping away and disappearing into the city gate in a flash.
The moment he entered the city gate, the gate slammed shut with a loud crash!
The heavy sound, as if the heavens and earth were about to collapse, made Song Yu's whole body tremble. When he turned around, he was covered in cold sweat, which soaked his clothes. Suddenly, he fell off the horse.
The crowd quickly caught him.
"Lord Song!"
"Quickly, take Lord Song away and seal the gate immediately!"
Amidst the cacophony of voices and frantic activity, the massive bolt fell shut, slamming the door shut. Two squads of soldiers then carried over several sturdy pillars, which they braced against the heavy door. Although they hadn't seen Xue Xian's men bring the ramming pillars, they still had to be prepared.
Once everything was ready, the soldiers held their breath and listened intently to the sounds outside.
While chaos reigned below the city gate, Shang Ruyi's heart pounded as fiercely as the war drums she had beaten that day. She took two deep breaths and finally managed to calm herself down.
Then he slowly turned his head and looked at Nie Chong beside him.
Her eyes still held a sliver of blood-red killing intent that had just risen and hadn't yet subsided, making Nie Chong's heart tremble. He heard her say in a deep voice, "Are you sure?"
Nie Chong was panting, but he still nodded solemnly: "Young Madam, please rest assured, I am sure, and I have already succeeded."
"……good."
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath and then said, "Go down, this matter is not over yet."
"yes."
Nie Chong didn't say much to her, nodded, and turned to leave the city tower.
At this moment, upon hearing the sound of the gate closing below the city wall, the archers on the city wall also stopped. However, although they had just successfully repelled a wave of attacks from the Longxi army, everyone's eyes revealed a sense of disappointment and even defeat.
Because almost all of those twenty-odd water carts were lost outside the city gate.
They had been busy all day, but all their efforts had been in vain. Meanwhile, the people in the city, who had been watching from afar, watched as the city gates closed and no water carts were brought in, and they couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.
"how so?"
"How can we fight a war when we don't even have water?"
"We're dying of thirst."
Hearing those lamentations, the soldiers on the city wall were even more dejected. They looked at each other, feeling somewhat discouraged.
For a moment, everyone was plunged back into that dejected mood.
Although he had just ordered a retreat, Dai Junliang couldn't help but frown when he saw the dejected look on the soldiers' faces. He knew very well that morale was sometimes even more important than weapons. If morale collapsed, it would be difficult to win the battle.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but walk to Shang Ruyi's side and whisper, "Young Madam..."
"Don't rush,"
Seemingly noticing the anxiety in his eyes, Shang Ruyi slowly lowered her bow and arrow, her gaze still fixed on the area below the city wall, and said in a deep voice, "It's not time for us to give up yet."
"..."
Dai Junliang didn't say anything, but followed her gaze and looked down from the city gate.
Just now, a volley of arrows shot out a ring of spikes in front of the city gate, blocking the Longxi soldiers just outside the range of the arrows.
As the city gates closed, the people stopped.
Leading the way, standing at the very front of the group, was still Xue Xian. He spurred his horse back a couple of steps, then turned to look at the city wall. His piercing tiger eyes swept over the people on the city wall, but he did not find that familiar figure in the crowd. Instead, he saw another slender, somewhat out-of-place figure.
The general's wife who once beat the drum to cheer on the troops and helped Yuwen Ye fight alongside her all the way was now standing on the city wall again. And this time, she was no longer holding a drumstick, but a bow and arrow!
Even the general's wife went up to the city wall, but General Yuwen Ye did not appear.
Looking back at the more than twenty huge waterwheels they had abandoned, a sinister smile slowly crept onto Xue Xian's lips.
really……
"General!"
At this moment, several of his lieutenants spurred their horses forward and asked, "How is it now?"
Xue Xian grinned maliciously and said, "Their general has indeed fallen ill, and, just as we suspected, the mound of corpses spread the plague to the people in the city."
"Really?"
"Otherwise, they wouldn't insist on fetching water from upstream, and they wouldn't have sent so many people today. It's clear that the city's water shortage has reached its limit."
As he spoke, Xue Xian slowly turned around and looked at the waterwheels that were parked haphazardly around him. They were originally the hope of the people in the city, but now they could only be helplessly abandoned here. He sneered and said, "Now, without water, they have lost their souls."
"..."
"This is a perfect opportunity—"
Upon hearing his words, the soldiers around him glared fiercely and cheered. Xue Xian slowly raised his hand and waved it gently at the people next to him.
Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound rang out in the distance.
The sound also attracted the people on the city wall. Dai Junliang and Yin Changyue also stepped forward, leaned on the city wall battlements and looked down. They saw some huge shadows slowly moving out of the dense forest. On both sides of the shadows, there was a group of densely packed black dots. Upon closer inspection, they were infantrymen holding huge shields. They had assembled and pushed the huge shadows towards the city wall.
Those were actually siege ladders!
Upon seeing these things, the soldiers on the city wall panicked and shouted, "Watch out!"
"They're going to attack the city!"
"What to do? What to do?"
Already parched from lack of water, the soldiers had waited for most of the day, only to watch helplessly as the waterwheels were left outside the city gates due to the general's mistake. Now, with the formidable enemy about to attack the city, the soldiers, though demoralized, could only muster their spirits. However, the arrows they fired seemed to be tainted by their dejected mood, becoming weak and powerless.
Meanwhile, the people below the city wall took advantage of this opportunity and quickly set up ladders below the city wall.
Upon seeing this, Yuwen Qian frowned slightly.
Before he arrived, he truly hadn't expected the battle in Fufeng to escalate to this extent.
But what he didn't expect was that Shang Ruyi, who had been standing on the city wall and fighting alongside the archers around her against the Longxi army, clearly felt the morale of those around her was low. Instead of boosting morale, she even stopped firing her bow and arrows and stopped retaliating.
Instead, he quietly watched what was below.
It's more like—
It seemed as if they were waiting for Xue Xian's cloud ladder to be delivered.
Although Yuwen Qian himself felt that this idea was somewhat inexplicable, the situation before him was indeed like this. In fact, when the first siege ladder approached the city wall, Shang Ruyi even glanced down.
The siege ladder was stopped below the city wall when it suddenly tilted, causing panic among the people below. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that a corner of the ladder's support had sunk into a trench.
Immediately, someone shouted, "Watch out, there's a ditch here!"
When everyone looked down, they saw a trench about half a person's width wide, covered with some straw and dry branches, and then a thin layer of soil, so no one noticed it.
At this moment, Shang Ruyi's eyes, which had been calm but were now slightly red from the sudden surge of murderous intent, suddenly flashed with a cold light.
Even Yuwen Qian, who was standing behind her, felt that she seemed to tremble slightly.
But he didn't say anything.
Only Yin Changyue, who was standing nearby, rushed over to take a look and said, "A ditch? How come there's a ditch over there?"
"Has Lord Yin forgotten?"
Dai Junliang stood behind him and said in a deep voice, "The general's last military order before he fell ill was to close the city gates, dig deep ditches, fortify the city, and not to go out to fight."
Upon hearing these sixteen words, a hint of astonishment appeared on Yuwen Qian's usually calm face.
Immediately, a faint smile appeared in his clear eyes, and when he looked at Shang Ruyi again, his eyes seemed to reveal a hint of admiration.
So that's how it is.
When Yin Changyue heard the military order, he couldn't help but frown and say, "Dig deep trenches? You dug them here? When did you dig them? How come I didn't know?"
"Just a few days ago, at night."
"But what's the point of digging a ditch here?"
As they were talking, several more siege ladders were pushed down to the city wall amidst a hail of arrows. However, thanks to a reminder, they carefully avoided the moat that ran along both sides of the city wall, which was almost half a person wide, and began to place the ladders on the city wall.
At this point, Yin Changyue panicked and shouted desperately, "Quick, stop them!"
His frantic shouts finally roused the fighting spirit of some people, and the soldiers behind them carried up the stone rollers that had been prepared in advance to deal with the enemy's attempt to scale the city walls, and hurled them down hard.
There was a loud bang.
The first ladder placed on the city wall suddenly broke, and those who hadn't yet climbed it were crushed, their heads bleeding, and they tumbled to the side.
But Xue Xian showed no fear and immediately waved his hand—
"Archers!"
Immediately, his archers returned fire at the people on the city wall. The sound of arrows whistling through the air was deafening. Soon, several soldiers on the city wall fell to the ground, hit by arrows. Taking advantage of this opening, the people below quickly erected ladders on the city wall, and the soldiers of the Longxi Army began to climb up one by one.
"Quickly, stop them!"
Someone shouted from the city wall again, and this time, it was Shang Ruyi who rushed forward. She raised her powerful bow, nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring to its fullest extent, and said in a deep voice, "If the water is gone, we can get more; but if you lose your life, there will be no chance."
"..."
"If you are defeated, they will attack. Can you afford to lose?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the arrow in his hand shot down with a whoosh.
The first soldier, who was climbing the long ladder, was waving his spear and was about to pierce the battlements when a cold glint of light shot down in his face. With a scream, he fell backward.
Upon seeing this scene, the surrounding soldiers were also roused to life.
Yes, the water is gone, but we can get more.
If you lose your life, you lose everything!
In an instant, the crowd roared fiercely, throwing logs and stones down from the city wall with even greater force than before. Archers also took the opportunity to fire arrows down continuously, while Xue Xian's men, undaunted, also fired countless arrows towards the city wall. For a moment, even the evening glow was obscured by the cold light emitted by the flying arrows.
However, the roars and the sound of arrows flying were quickly swallowed up by an even louder sound.
The people on the city wall looked up and their hearts sank.
Right in front of the city gate, more and more Longxi soldiers kept rushing up. They were the main force of Xue Xian's troops. While they were attacking the city, they also took the opportunity to cross the river and attack down to the city gate. In an instant, they completely covered the land below the city gate. As far as the eye could see, there were densely packed Longxi soldiers.
Another group of archers rushed over, and before they even reached the city gate, they unleashed another burst of cold light towards the city tower.
Instantly, the people on the city wall were also suppressed and unable to raise their heads. Taking advantage of this gap, the people on the ladder below desperately climbed upwards with their shields on their heads.
Before long, someone jumped onto the city wall.
The man, blinded by rage, leaped onto the city wall and charged directly at Dai Junliang, who was clad in armor. Dai Junliang, showing no fear, cut the man to the ground with a single stroke.
But many more people are still climbing!
Once someone climbed the city wall, the morale of those on the wall was beyond saving. The ladders were already densely packed with people, and below were soldiers of the Longxi Army. Countless arrows flew overhead, making it hard for them to breathe. This scene made the already dispirited people on the city wall even more desperate.
They seemed to have reached a dead end.
Just then, a somewhat weak voice, yet imbued with an incredibly powerful aura, rang out—
"Bring me fire!"
Those around were taken aback.
Everyone looked up and saw Shang Ruyi, the general's wife who had just been shooting arrows with them and repelling the first wave of attacks from the Longxi army. At this moment, she showed no fear at all. She was still holding the bow, and she tore off a piece of cloth from her already torn clothes and wrapped it around the tip of her sword with a few swishes. She then instructed Dai Junliang, who was still covered in blood, "Now, it's time."
...
Everyone was stunned.
What do you mean by "when will it be time"?
How long is it?
The enemy troops below the city wall continued to surge upwards, and the people on the city wall, even if they resisted, were already so weak that they were almost insignificant. At this time, what time was it?
But Dai Junliang, who was standing to the side, seemed to have finally waited for this moment. His eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately said, "Torch!"
But at this moment, he couldn't even wait for his men. He took a torch from the other side of the city wall and handed it directly to Shang Ruyi.
Suddenly, the arrow wrapped in cloth burst into flames.
The firelight instantly illuminated everyone's eyes.
She's going to—
Just as Shang Ruyi raised the flaming arrow and drew her bow, a calm voice, even carrying a hint of a smile, rang out from the other side.
"Aren't you going to give it to me?"
The crowd's gaze turned to the other side, where a tall, handsome man, so handsome he seemed almost otherworldly, stood on the other side of the city wall, opposite the city gate. He held a bow and an arrow in his hand, and the tip of the arrow was wrapped with a piece of clothing torn from his body.
It was Yuwen Qian.
Although the soldiers did not yet recognize the Duke's heir, Shang Ruyi spotted him at a glance, and saw his clear, bright eyes, as if they had seen through everything about her and were just waiting for this moment.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
But she didn't say anything; there was no time to say anything at that moment. She simply nodded to Dai Junliang.
Although Dai Junliang was somewhat surprised, he immediately stepped forward and used the torch in his hand to light the arrow in Yuwen Qian's hand. He stretched out his long arm, drew the bowstring, and sent the burning arrow tracing an arc in the sky full of red clouds.
Then, both of them aimed their arrows downwards.
The people below the city gate were also somewhat taken aback.
Although both sides were already engaged in a fierce battle with gunfire and arrows, the sky and earth were darkened, at this moment, two flaming arrows appeared. Moreover, upon closer inspection, they were not aimed at the soldiers of the Longxi Army in the distance, nor at the soldiers climbing the ladders.
Rather, it was the ground beneath the city gate tower.
To be precise, it was the trench that had already been discovered and therefore deliberately avoided!
What are they up to?!
At this moment, Xue Xian suddenly noticed something. He sniffed and realized that there was a strange smell coming from the trench below the ladder that had almost fallen into it. However, because of the dust and blood mist on the battlefield, no one noticed it.
The taste was—
Just then, the two men on the city wall exchanged a glance, and Shang Ruyi said in a deep voice, "Send!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two flaming arrows shot like two fiery meteors into the moat below the city wall. With a soft thud, the arrows disappeared deep into the moat, and the flames vanished from everyone's sight.
For a moment, everyone's heart seemed to stop beating.
At that moment, Xue Xian suddenly understood what the smell was, and he roared—
"careful!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud bang was heard.
Two flames suddenly shot up from the trench, like two tall, crimson walls, rising abruptly from the ground and instantly engulfing the several siege ladders that had been placed on the city wall!
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