The Blood Crown - Chapter 321

Chapter 321

A handwritten letter from Feng Ye was sent by five messengers, departing at different times and from different routes, to Datuo Prefecture for reinforcements, in case someone was captured along the way.

Yan Sikong followed his example, finding five messengers to deliver two letters, one to Shen Hexuan and the other to Chen Mu. However, the contents of these letters were identical.

Unlike the heartfelt persuasion in the first letter he wrote to Shen Hexuan, this letter only quoted a line from the Southern Song poet Chen Runeng:

“The capital of Yao, the land of Shun, the domain of Yu. In between, there should be no shameful traitor or soldier! The stench of barbarism spread over thousands of miles; where are the heroic spirits of a thousand generations, when will the tides of righteousness flow? Why ask about luck, for the sun will rise on its own!”

This was Chen Runeng’s farewell poem to his friend, Zhang Demei, who was about to be sent to the Jin court. The cowardly, incompetent Southern Song court had signed the humiliating “Longxing Treaty” with the Jin people, and Chen Runeng scolded the stench of the barbarian invaders spreading across the land and called upon those with vision to seek vengeance and resist Jin.

Yan Sikong’s veiled sarcasm at Chen Mu and Shen Hexuan was his final, powerful blow. He could imagine that Shen Hexuan would be ashamed and enraged upon reading the letter, while Chen Mu would be furious. Whether it could change the situation of the Chu army colluding with the Jin troops, he did not know; in any case, it could not be worse.

After the letters were sent, Feng Ye insisted that his condition was no longer serious and wanted to lead the troops to boost their morale, but Yan Sikong dissuaded him, as the timing for Feng Ye’s appearance was not yet right.

—

After three days of challenging the enemy, the Jin troops began to show signs of fatigue, and the soldiers of Guangning were also uneasy. Yan Sikong knew it could not be delayed any longer and ordered the attack at dawn.

The black night sky was illuminated by the fire of cannons, as countless Jin troops surged forward like a black tide, extending for miles, filled with murderous intent as they surged toward Guangning City.

Hundreds of catapults and dozens of large cannons were positioned outside the city, and with the command of the three main commanders, cannonballs and stones rained down, and the drums of war beat fiercely.

Yan Sikong stood on the city tower, watching as cannon fire, rocks, and arrows poured down like locusts, smelling gunpowder in the air, feeling the chill of the wind mixed with blood, and sensing the boiling murderous aura. His body trembled uncontrollably, not out of fear, but from shock.

He watched as the enemy’s cannonballs struck, and saw his own artillery blooming across the frozen ground of Liaodong like the hellfire of red lotus, cruelly devouring everything.

The sound of explosions was deafening, and for a moment, Yan Sikong felt as if he could no longer hear anything. Everything around him fell silent, and the vast land seemed to become mute. He saw the twisted, screaming faces of the Jin soldiers, their mouths wide open, bodies torn apart, blood splattering, massive rocks shaking the earth, and the soil and flames flying up when shells exploded. When all of this lost its sound, the scene became even more savage and frenzied.

Boom—

The Jin troops’ ice stones and shells smashed into the walls of Guangning City, shaking the city tower. Yan Sikong stumbled and almost fell, but a soldier caught him just in time. In an instant, all sounds cascaded down from the heavens like a waterfall, surging into his ears, causing him a splitting headache and making him feel as though his body was being torn apart.

The stones and arrows continued to rain down; the Jin troops lay dead for miles, and the city walls of Guangning were also smeared with blood.

At first, both sides were strong, with the Jin troops unable to advance, but refusing to retreat. However, with the enemy so numerous and their forces limited, the Jin troops pushed forward arrogantly, trampling over the bodies of their fallen comrades.

The battle raged from midnight to dawn, and by the time morning came, Guangning City was riddled with holes, and the land was stained with blood, looking like a purgatory.

Zhuo Letai believed the time to break the city had come, and continued to use catapults and cannons to support the infantry, who carried ladders and battering rams, pushing forward to Guangning City.

But the first to greet them would be the defensive structure Yan Sikong had built — the “Mountain Wall.”

The Jin troops had never seen such an unusual defensive wall and did not take the three solid walls seriously. However, when they crossed the sea of corpses and blood and finally stormed into the mountain wall, they began to experience its power.

First, the three tall walls divided the Jin troops into thirds, weakening their strength. Second, in an ordinary city, attacks only came from the front, but the additional mountain wall made the attacking Jin troops face enemies from the front, overhead, sides, and back at the same time. Once they entered the mountain wall, they were like fish in a barrel—unable to move forward, but too late to retreat. Soon, the area beneath the mountain wall was flooded with blood.

Seeing the mountain wall’s effectiveness, the morale of the soldiers defending Guangning was greatly boosted.

Under the heavy losses, Zhuo Letai no longer let the troops push forward but instead tried to use the cannons and catapults to destroy the mountain wall.

The mountain wall, being hastily constructed, was not as solid as the main city walls, which were several yards thick. It could not withstand artillery and stone attacks for long, but it was positioned between the main city wall and the Jin troops, making it hard to hit with precision. Striking the main city wall required little aim, but hitting the narrow mountain wall was not so easy.

Zhuo Letai focused on the mountain wall, attacking it with cannonballs and stones. Although most of them missed, those that did hit caused significant damage to the wall.

The soldiers of Guangning fought back as best as they could, but with such disparity in numbers, they began to show signs of defeat. The mountain wall crumbled piece by piece under the intense bombardment.

The battle raged from dusk to dawn and from dawn to noon. Both armies were worn out, their strength spent. The Jin troops had lost forty to fifty thousand men and still had not breached the city wall. It was truly brutal.

Dead bodies piled up, and the stench of blood mingled with the scent of grass.

Human suffering surpassed even that of hell.

Guangning was more stubborn than Zhuo Letai had imagined. At this point, Zhuo Letai found himself in a dilemma: to continue the attack, which would cost even more lives, or to retreat, which would still mean pointless deaths. Should he push forward while the mountain wall collapsed or withdraw to regroup and regain strength? He was torn between two choices.

Yan Sikong noticed Zhuo Letai’s weakening offensive and realized he was considering retreating.

Although the casualties of the Guangning soldiers were not as severe as those of Zhuo Letai’s troops, the mountain wall had been destroyed, and the main city wall was severely damaged. It was uncertain how much longer it could withstand the bombardment. Still, Yan Sikong did not want Zhuo Letai to retreat, as doing so would give them time to recover and reload the catapults and cannons. With the same amount of time, repairing the city walls would be nearly useless. It was better to fight for a decisive victory now.

Yan Sikong conspired with Liang Huiyong and Yuan Nanyu to feign weakness and entice Zhuo Letai to continue the attack. Their defenses appeared to grow weaker, and sure enough, Zhuo Letai thought he had found an opportunity and rewarded his troops handsomely to push forward.

The mountain wall had been destroyed, and the Jin troops pressed forward furiously until they reached the base of the main city wall. This was not part of Guangning’s strategy to lure the enemy; they truly could not hold out any longer.

The battlefield was a sea of corpses and blood, and the first ladders were raised against the city walls, followed by siege ladders and assault vehicles. The Jin troops, using the most brutal tactics, climbed the ladders to launch a fierce attack on the city that stood in their way to the fertile plains of the Central Plains.

The soldiers of Guangning poured boiling oil and scalding water from above, knocking down row after row of siege ladders. The screams of the Jin soldiers echoed, mingled with the foul stench of burning flesh that made one’s scalp tingle.

When the siege vehicles reached the city walls, Yuan Nanyu gave the order, and the soldiers cut the ropes in front of them. Red-hot iron chains slid down the walls, sweeping away the hooks and ladders thrown up by the Jin soldiers.

The corpses of the Jin troops quickly piled up at the base of the walls, but some soldiers still charged up with reckless courage. The defenders of Guangning were exhausted, the supply of stones and ammunition dwindled, and their defenses weakened further. As the Jin troops kept climbing, seemingly without end, the situation grew nearly hopeless.

Yan Sikong gritted his teeth and called for Feng Ye’s personal attendant, instructing him, “It’s time.”

Soon after, dozens of wolves suddenly appeared on the city tower, baring their teeth and howling menacingly at the Jin troops below.

The legend of the wolves attacking the Jin soldiers in Taoxian Dao had already spread far and wide, instilling great fear in them. Now, seeing the wolves appear, even those Jin soldiers climbing the walls were terrified, whether or not they had been present in Taoxian Dao.

Yan Sikong shouted hoarsely, “The Wolf King has arrived—”

The soldiers, filled with excitement, echoed the cry, “The Wolf King has arrived! The Wolf King has arrived! The Wolf King has arrived!” As they shouted, their eyes searched, and soon they saw a tall, heroic, and unmatched man in armor holding a sword on the city tower. His blood-red cloak billowed in the fierce wind, and all the wolves stood beside him, bowing their heads in submission.

The Wolf King, Feng Ye!

Although Yuan Nanyu and Liang Huiyong had kept reassuring the troops that the Wolf King was recovering and would be fine, rumors that he was on the brink of death or even already dead were rampant in the city.

Thus, when Feng Ye appeared with the wolves on the tower, it was as if the soldiers were witnessing a god descend from the heavens. The dark clouds parted, and the sun and moon shone brightly. The soldiers’ previously despondent morale surged with new energy, their blood boiling once more!

Feng Ye drew his sword and pointed it at Zhuo Letai, shouting with a strong voice, “I swear to live and die with Liaodong, and never let the barbarians stain our rivers and mountains!”

The defenders of Guangning roared back with heartfelt determination, “We swear to live and die with Liaodong, and never let the barbarians stain our rivers and mountains!”

The sound pierced the skies, resonating across the land!

The soldiers of Guangning, as if brought back to life, surged with newfound power, launching a fierce counterattack against the Jin troops.

Feng Ye struggled to hold his body up, but he was on the verge of collapsing. The attendant timely brought a bronze chair behind him and helped him sit down.

Amidst the smoke and blood, Feng Ye and Yan Sikong exchanged a glance from a distance. That glance seemed to transcend time, spanning countless generations, never to be forgotten.

Feng Ye supported himself and continued to oversee the battle, while Yan Sikong ran across the city walls, commanding the troops who were now driven by powerful morale to defend the city with all they had.

United as one!

Though it is said that a brave man can be found under the promise of great reward, if there is no life, what use is there in the reward? After being hit by successive shocks from the wolf pack and the appearance of Feng Ye, the fear among the Jin troops reached its peak on the battlefield of corpses and blood. Gradually, no one dared to climb the walls anymore, no matter how much Zhuo Letai used rewards or threats.

Finally, as the daylight faded and dusk descended, with darkness ready to take over the land once again, Zhuo Letai, reluctant and defeated, called for the retreat.