Chapter 353: Defending the City (4)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Tudan watched with a livid expression as their soldiers fell to the ground, including the soldiers behind them. As arrows rained down from the city gate tower, he asked with clenched fists, “What’s on the ground?”
A soldier in front ran back with a dirty face and shouted, “It’s ice, General. There’s ice on the ground. It’s slippery.”
“Why is there ice on the ground? It didn’t snow last night…” Obviously, this was the work of the Han people.
“General, look at their gate tower.”
Tudan looked up and narrowed his eyes for a long time. Only then did he realize that the city tower was shining slightly under the sunlight.
“Their city gate tower is also frozen. I’m afraid the ladders don’t have a landing point.”
The city wall was originally made of stone. As long as the ladder was placed in the right place, it would be very easy to stabilize it. Even if the people on the city wall pushed the ladder, it would only shake a few times before it would stabilize again. That was, unless the other party straightened up and risked their lives to topple the ladder.
“Archers, get ready. Advance in groups and arrange yourselves in ten rows. Block our men with shields in front. Suppress the people on the city gate tower and let the people carrying the ladders go up.” Tudan gritted his teeth and ordered.
This was risking their lives to attack the city. However, with Jingzhao Prefecture in danger of falling, he could no longer care so much.
On the city gate tower, Mu Shi was also giving orders. “Archers, get ready. Suppress their advancement and prepare the catapults as well. As soon as they enter the range, throw rocks down with all your might…”
Everyone knew that this was a life-and-death battle. If they won, they might be able to take down Jingzhao Prefecture. If they lost, the hundreds of thousands of citizens behind them might fall into a disaster.
By noon, they had already blocked the Jin soldiers’ attacks twice. Seeing that Wu Jin had yet to return, Mu Yangling gritted her teeth in anger. “Why aren’t they here yet?”
As soon as she finished speaking, three guards ran over with a bow and a box of arrows, followed by an old man.
“Miss, the bow and arrows are here.”
Mu Yangling took the bow and didn’t have time to ask them for details. After pulling the bowstring and feeling the tension, her eyes lit up and she said to her father, “Father, give the order.”
Mu Shi nodded and got someone to signal for a truce before standing at the side of the city tower.
Mu Yangling entered the house and held the bow tightly before slowly pulling the bowstring. When Xu Shi entered, he saw her draw the bow in a semicircle. His eyes widened, surprised that there really existed someone in this world who could draw a ten-picul bow.
The guard was also very excited and hurriedly opened the box. “Miss, these are the arrows to go with the bow.”
Xu Shi hurriedly said, “These arrows were made 18 years ago. I wonder if they can still be used.”
Mu Yangling took an arrow and tried folding it. She realized that it was incomparably hard. As she pinched the arrowhead, she nodded in satisfaction. “Not bad. The wood is top-notch, and the arrowhead is well polished.”
Xu Shi heaved a sigh of relief. Mu Yangling sat on the chair and adjusted her breathing. She looked at Xu Shi with a smile. “This must be Old Master Xu, right?”
Xu Shi hurriedly nodded. “Indeed I am. Miss, you can actually draw a ten-picul bow. That’s truly amazing.”
“I’m just stronger than most.” Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “Master Xu, it’s dangerous here. You should wait in the city.”
“No, no, I’ll just watch from here. Miss, just go ahead and do whatever you need to do. Don’t worry about me.”
Seeing that he was stubborn, Mu Yangling did not persuade him further. Instead, she shifted her gaze outside. At this moment, Mu Shi had already spoken to the other party.
When Mu Shi called for someone to signal the halt flag, the Jin soldiers’ attack had just weakened a little. Because the ice on the ground was too slippery, many of the enemy soldiers were injured from the fall. Furthermore, the powerful arrow attack had also destroyed their formation.
Tudan also wanted to know what he had to say, so he rode forward. The deputy general hurriedly stopped him. “General, you can’t get too close. Be careful of their archers.”
“Don’t worry, unless it’s an enormous crossbow, no arrow can shoot so far.” Tudan rode forward.
The deputy general thought about it and agreed. Considering the size of an enormous crossbow, as long as it was placed on the city gate tower, they would be able to see them.
“What are you trying to say?” Tudan shouted.
Mu Shi looked at Tudan gloomily for a while. From the corner of his eye, he saw that his daughter had already stood behind the scarecrow in the left corner of the city tower. He said, “I propose we temporarily stop fighting at noon today so that everyone can have a full meal. How about that?”
“Are you trying to be funny?!” Tudan roared.
“No.” Mu Shi also said loudly, “You and I both know that either you or I will die in this battle. Perhaps we will all die in the end. We Han people have a saying that even if we have to die, we have to die with a full belly. Therefore, let’s temporarily stop fighting and eat a good meal before resuming our battle. How about that?”
Tudan was so angry that his face turned green. “You’re stalling for time!”
This was the first time he had seen someone ask for a truce in the middle of a war.
Mu Shi was also very helpless, because after thinking for a long time, he could only think of this reason to call Tudan out.
Therefore, facing Tudan’s accusation, Mu Shi said helplessly, “What can we do? Why don’t you retreat directly? Then I won’t make such a request.”
Tudan’s deputy general felt that something was wrong. Just as he shouted, “Something’s not right.” Tudan had already roared angrily, “Bullsh*t!”
Just then, an arrow shot out from the northwest corner of the city tower. When the deputy general saw the arrow, he only had time to shout, “General!” Alas, the arrow had already pierced through Tudan’s glabella and shot into the chest of the guard behind him.
Mu Shi ordered at the same time, “Shoot!”
Arrows rained down from the city gate tower. The deputy general could only hold back Tudan’s corpse and shouted, “Retreat! Retreat quickly!”
Mu Yangling felt her hands go numb. She leaned against the wall behind her and rested for a while.
The corners of Xu Shi’s mouth trembled as he muttered, “She hit the target. She really did it.”
Mu Shi had already ordered all the cavalrymen to prepare and chase after them. He only had time to push the straw away and grab his daughter’s shoulder. “You guard the city. I’ll chase after them.”
“Father, don’t chase after a desperate enemy.”
“I know. I will take a detour to Hanzhong Prefecture and try my best to chase them to the easternmost line. We can’t let them pass through Hanzhong Prefecture.”
That’s right. If they left in defeat and there was no one guarding Hanzhong Prefecture, they would definitely slaughter everyone in the city. Mu Yangling nodded. “Father, bring more flags and have each man carry a branch to confuse the enemy.”
Mu Shi nodded and rushed down the city tower. He got someone to open the city gate and rushed out with his men.
The retreating Jin soldiers panicked because of the death of their commander. When they heard the sound of horses’ hooves, everyone fled in all directions. Someone tried to persuade the deputy general to organize their men to kill their way back, but the deputy general shouted, “We’ve been tricked. We’ve been tricked. There are more than 2,000 people on the city wall!”
The deputy general shouted, “There are 2,000 people in front. Why didn’t their numbers decrease after we’ve been fighting for an entire day? Instead, their numbers increased yesterday afternoon. Their reinforcements have long arrived. What were the scouts doing? Why weren’t we informed that the enemy sprinkled water last night?”
“Then, General, what do you think we should do?”
“Retreat. We can’t force them to send out a distress signal anymore. Since they already have reinforcements, the people attacking Jingzhao Prefecture won’t return. We’re just wasting time here. Let’s go back and attack the Han soldiers surrounding the city from behind. Perhaps this way, we can contribute to guarding the Jingzhao Prefecture.”