Chapter 102: 'Telegraphing' Ji Yuan - The Yu Army Enters the Pass |
Wang Dalong, imprisoned in the jail, heard the earth-shaking roar sweep over like a tsunami. Officials and jailers in the prison corridor rushed back and forth in haste.
"What's happening?!"
He gripped the cell bars and shouted toward the outside.
But no one paid him any attention—they were all busy with their own affairs.
At that moment, Song Shi'an emerged from the office chamber carrying a blade, seemingly about to run outside.
"Song-sheng, where are you going?!"
Seeing him about to leave, Wang Dalong called out loudly.
"Ji Yuan is attacking. Of course I'm going to kill the enemy. What kind of question is that?"
Song Shi'an couldn't be bothered with him and was about to rush out.
"What kind of bullshit talk is that!"
Song Shi'an stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and glared at him with righteous indignation: "Right now the Qi bandits have invaded our borders and massacred all of Wuwei. Every Great Yu citizen has a duty to resist the enemy. Here in Shuofeng City, women and children are helping push carts and transport stones. Even seventy or eighty-year-old men are leaning on their canes to help gather firewood. Even the wild dogs in the city have to bark twice when they see Qi bandits..."
"Stop scolding, stop scolding." Raising his hand to interrupt that needle-sharp mockery, he compromised: "Just let me out quickly."
"The city is already surrounded. You can't leave."
"I'm not trying to leave the city..."
"You can't go out to spread rumors and shake military morale either."
"Aiya! I'm going out to kill the enemy! Give me a blade, a bow—I'm going to kill the enemy! Can I be an ordinary soldier?!" Wang Dalong was so anxious he was practically stamping his feet.
Song Shi'an assumed a slightly suspicious expression, then glanced at the others and said: "Release him."
Then the jailer released the last prisoner in the city.
As soon as Wang Dalong got out, he snatched the blade from Song Shi'an's hand and ran out of the jail.
Song Shi'an's solemn expression immediately became relaxed and casual.
He was really getting tired of all this acting.
To get anything done, he had to put on a performance for everyone. It was truly exhausting.
When will I be able to just be myself?
"San Gou, let's go," Song Shi'an said.
"Tangzun, are we going to the city walls?" San Gou asked.
"Commanding the city defense isn't my forte, and being near the walls means I might be injured by flying stones or arrows. I just need to keep this Shuofeng City running without stopping for even a moment."
Song Shi'an had done everything he could. So when it came to actual combat, he naturally left it to others: "Trust Little Wei."
"?!"
San Gou didn't know of anyone else in the city with that surname.
But adding the word "little" before that surname made him truly see Tangzun Song's attitude of facing death without regret.
---
Wang Dalong left the jail and finally saw the light of day.
Then he was shocked to discover that all of Shuofeng City was completely filled.
Everywhere he looked there were people, crowded like a military camp.
Moreover, there was wood everywhere—it felt like all the trees within dozens of li around Shuofeng City had been completely cut down.
As he walked near the city wall, arrows flew over like falling rain, filling the sky.
Many of the laborers transporting stones into the city were pierced by arrows.
Boulders flung by catapults landed on houses near the city walls with thunderous crashes, immediately collapsing them.
This was the first wave of all-out assault.
He walked along the street houses and finally reached the city gate, climbing up the side staircase.
This was the inner gate. There was also an outer gate. Between the two gates was an elliptical barbican roughly fifty steps in diameter, designed to prevent the enemy from pouring directly in after breaking through the first gate.
After climbing onto the wall, he crouched and pressed against the corner, quickly shuffling toward the outer gate tower.
The soldiers on the wall were basically all bent over, moving close to the wall.
Otherwise, in an instant, thousands of arrows could turn a person into a porcupine.
"General Wang!"
Suddenly, a soldier from Langya recognized him and called out excitedly.
"Defend the city properly!"
Wang Dalong nodded, then continued pushing forward.
Finally, he reached below the gate tower.
He saw the great Wei character banner being whipped by the arrow wind, already riddled with holes.
Crouching down, he peered through a small angled square hole in the wall.
Normally, archers would shoot arrows through this hole to kill attacking soldiers below.
And because of its clever construction, arrows from outside couldn't shoot in, so one could observe the situation from here relatively safely.
The moment he saw outside, he was stunned.
This moat was as deep as a building—at least three zhang, and more than four zhang wide.
Seven meters deep, ten meters wide.
Was this the result of forty to fifty thousand people digging day and night?
And there were pillar-like fully enclosed structures with only tower-sized spaces at the top for hiding soldiers, functioning as defensive towers for shooting arrows outside the city.
According to the original assessment, the reason this city couldn't be defended was that it was fundamentally different from Wuwei—it simply wasn't a strategic stronghold.
Wuwei's walls were towering and solid, and its moat had grown deeper and deeper over years of excavation. But Shuofeng's fatal weakness was that its walls were too short.
They couldn't be built higher in a short time.
So they could only work on the area outside the walls.
This was Song Shi'an's masterpiece from emptying Langya...
This guy really is a genius!
If this is the case, with the entire army fighting to the death, defending for over two months would be absolutely no problem!
Just then, a massive siege ladder slowly made creaking sounds as it was positioned against the wall.
Wang Dalong grabbed a shield, stood up, and braved the arrows hammering his shield like hail as he went forward to command: "Pour oil! Set fires!"
Inside the gate tower, Wei Wusheng and Zhu Qing waited inside, with Xinyue also at their side.
Outside, catapults hurled boulders that continuously smashed against the exterior, frequently shaking down mortar from the inner walls.
"They have too many strong arrows. Our men are dying quickly too. Roughly for every three Qi bandits that die, we lose one Yu soldier," Zhu Qing reported.
Looking out from the gate opening, it seemed as if those people could rush in at any moment. Wei Wusheng's heart pounded violently, thumping wildly.
"One man carries a shield, another carries a sandbag, advancing toward the moat at the city gate..." Wei Wusheng said. "Using lives to fill the pit."
"They want to forcibly fill out a path through the moat so battering rams can pass through and smash the gate," Zhu Qing immediately stood up, preparing to leave the tower. "It won't be that easy—unless they pile it with corpses!"
From the tower, Wei Wusheng could see that after Zhu Qing personally went out, morale was instantly boosted, the commands became precise, and attacks were all directed at the shield troops trying to fill the path, slowing the progress of the sandbag filling.
"What can I do?"
Wei Wusheng suddenly realized that when the great battle came and blood and flesh flew everywhere, he was as confused as an ignorant child, unable to make any decisions.
Unable to provide any help.
"Your Highness, your presence here is a banner itself," Xinyue comforted him.
But these words had no comforting effect whatsoever: "No, I don't want this!"
Saying this, he threaded his hand through the handle grip on the back of a thick, solid shield where the straps crossed, and descended from the tower.
Seeing this, Xinyue also grabbed a shield and hurriedly followed.
Every soldier on the wall had their heart in their throat, dodging arrows while shooting them and throwing stones.
Just then, they suddenly saw a 'general' wearing golden scale armor and a red cloak, holding a shield and bent at the waist, passing by them, heavily patting each one on the shoulder: "Hold fast."
"It's the Sixth Prince!"
All the soldiers saw that under this rain of arrows, their prince had personally arrived.
In ancient times, an emperor personally leading a campaign was the best way to boost morale.
When fighting desperately, having your commander at your side also increased morale.
If that commander also happened to be a prince...
Then morale naturally doubled!
---
Ji Yuan, mounted on his horse, watched the siege with appreciation.
"This Song Shi'an doesn't look at all like a pampered young master," Chen Xing couldn't help but praise. "From the very beginning, he intended to turn this Shuofeng into a vortex of war. And he did transform it into something 'easy to defend, hard to attack' in such a short time."
"How does it compare to Wuwei?" Ji Yuan asked.
"Naturally it's far inferior," Chen Xing replied.
The natural disadvantages were there—nothing could be done about that.
Shuofeng City was simply smaller, shorter, and thinner than Wuwei.
But if they didn't need to worry about provisions, stubbornly defending would still be a major headache.
"I was still too harsh on them."
Ji Yuan had been slightly angered earlier by Song Shi'an's audacity to directly challenge him, but after proper consideration, he revealed a faint smile: "Song Shi'an's wit and strategy are excellent, and Wei Wusheng is also very brave."
"Then this city really is somewhat difficult to attack," Chen Xing said.
"What I mean is—"
Looking toward Shuofeng, Ji Yuan rarely showed such regard for these two youngsters: "This place must become their burial ground. Otherwise, they'll cause no small trouble for Great Qi in the future."
---
Qin Prefecture and Huai Prefecture each squeezed out ten thousand provincial troops to advance simultaneously from the western and eastern sides of the Northern Liang valley—from Langya and Qiya Valley.
Xiao Qun himself was positioned at Jiamen Pass in the very center.
He sat calmly in command atop the walls.
At this moment, a cavalry scout galloped from behind the pass, climbed the walls, and reported: "General, it's been twenty days and Shuofeng still hasn't fallen! And the Qi army's offensive has also slowed somewhat!"
"They're just briefly regrouping. The all-out assaults will come wave after wave." Though he said this, the seated Xiao Qun couldn't help but sigh: "For this kind of city to hold out for twenty days under siege by a hundred thousand troops—this Song Shi'an is truly remarkable."
"Indeed, General," a nearby advisor also chimed in. "Shuofeng is different from Wuwei. To accomplish this is simply a miracle."
"His Majesty is also remarkable," Xiao Qun also praised the emperor. "After defeats at Tongmen Pass and Zhao Xiang's defeat, when Wuwei would inevitably fall sooner or later, he could still decisively send reinforcements in that situation."
"For us, we certainly don't want to give it up," the advisor said.
"Of course. The Northern Liang valley is too important. If it's completely lost, Ji Yuan will forever be a sword hanging over our heads. Now being able to reclaim half and face off with Chishui River as the boundary—this would be a great achievement of turning the tide."
Everyone was cursing Song Shi'an.
But they had to admit that Song Shi'an was gambling for wealth and honor they could scarcely imagine.
Meritorious nobility was earned through military achievement.
To become new meritorious nobility, one had to earn it through battle.
In chaotic times of division, military merit always surpassed all other achievements.
"Looking at it this way, it's impossible for Ji Yuan to achieve a quick victory either."
Slowly, Xiao Qun stood up.
"But the pressure on Shuofeng's side is still immense."
"Then we should also apply equal pressure on Ji Yuan."
Xiao Qun finally decided: "Enter the pass."
With one command, Jiamen Pass's gates lowered.
Behind the pass, an endless expanse of eight thousand elite soldiers raised the Xiao character banner of the Marquis of Liangzhong and advanced toward the Northern Liang valley.