Chapter 796 – The Veteran’s Counter-Strategy (6)
“Useless bunch, can’t even stop over a hundred people—”
The commanding officer, burning with urgency, was on the verge of letting rage overshadow his reason.
Outside the city, the battle raged fiercely, and it was night once again; the longer they fought, the heavier the losses became.
In comparison, the psychological pressure on this side of the Jia Gate was far greater than that of the attacking forces outside the city.
As the catapult’s stones were fired, each hit sent tremors through the walls, creating an illusion in the minds of the defending soldiers… the once-indestructible Jia Gate was being dismantled by an external demolition crew!
Of course, it was just an illusion; the Jia Gate was renowned as one of the world’s perilous passes and wouldn’t fall so easily.
However, the enormous stones raining down from the sky were like a meteor shower, not only pounding the city walls but also crashing into the city itself.
Thanks to warning arrows, Meng Hunyun instructed the artillerymen to steer clear of that area. As for other places?
Hit harder!
With arrows pouring down like a tide and stones raining from the sky, ladders from outside the city were already propped against the walls, and soldiers were climbing up slowly, carrying shields to block projectiles. Under the cover of dozens of catapults, the defending soldiers had no energy left to stop the enemies trying to scale the walls.
“Deputy General, it’s bad! The enemy has breached the city gate!”
“Stop them—are we just going to watch them open the city gates from inside?”
The commanding officer felt his sanity teetering on the brink of explosion; the main general was ensnared, their lives hanging by a thread, with enemies pressing from both inside and outside, suffocating him with pressure. Yet he always held one bottom line—lives could be lost, but the Jia Gate absolutely couldn’t be relinquished!
Even though Jiang Pengji killed like a whirlwind, this band of over a hundred was at risk after losing the advantage of narrow terrain—they faced enemies closing in from all sides, making their charge much more difficult. Even if Jiang Pengji could tear through the enemy ranks like a sharp blade, their advance was becoming slower, leaving the bodies of their fallen comrades increasing along the way. The enemy forces were too numerous; a mere hundred couldn’t keep the defenses impenetrable. Anyone too exhausted to respond would find themselves overwhelmed in an instant.
Along the roads, the corpses of the enemy and their own comrades were strewn everywhere, falling victim to trampling as they collapsed from fatigue.
If not for Meng Hunyun’s cover with the catapults outside, they might not have lasted at all.
Jiang Pengji’s eyes widened in determination, her breathing far from the initial calm, heavy and hurried, her cheeks splattered with the blood of the enemy.
If one looked closely, they’d even see thick blood clinging to her eyelashes, the shade of red almost turning black, as if tainting her dark, starry eyes. It wasn’t just Jiang Pengji who was in a sorry state; Li Yun, fighting nearby, had become a fearsome version of a “madman.”
“Hold your shields, tighten the formation!”
With numbers dwindling, Jiang Pengji commanded the remaining soldiers to consolidate their defenses to relieve some pressure and prevent the enemy from breaking through.
The city gate was less than thirty paces away, but countless enemies separated them—a chasm they had to cross.
The catapults were still incredibly terrifying; not only could they cause violent tremors to the Jia Gate walls, but they could also deal devastating damage to the buildings within the city. With a large concentration of defending soldiers inside, the giant stones didn’t even require precision; wherever they landed, they hit.
Jiang Pengji and her team pushed forward another ten paces, her fierce combat prowess instilling dread in the enemy as they seemed as though their guts were ripped apart.
They had initially thought the last stretch would be brutal, but strangely, it turned out to be somewhat easier.
The main reasons were twofold.
First, the range of the catapults was limited; while they could strike inside the city, the distance wasn’t far.
As Jiang Pengji and her team approached the city gates, they essentially entered the targeting range of the catapults, causing the enemy to grow fearful.
Second, Jiang Pengji was overwhelmingly vicious in her kills; the more enemies she eliminated, the less daring those blocking her path became.
Leading the remaining thirty men, Jiang Pengji rushed into the city gate, only for Li Yun to realize the gate had been brutally nailed shut.
Seeing this, even his normally calm demeanor couldn’t help but let an expletive slip, and the audience in the live stream began to curse profusely.
After finally reaching the city gate, to find it hammered shut felt like this:
Imagine a patient saving up desperately for surgery, only to discover the cost was not ten thousand but a hundred thousand—such a blow, it couldn’t be described in mere words!
Even a man like Li Yun felt despair swell within him, his eyes reddening.
Separated by just a thick wall, his comrades awaited outside, but that mere distance defined the line between life and death.
“Lord! The gate is nailed shut!”
Li Yun’s voice trembled.
It was one thing to lose military generals in battle; to have their leader perish alongside them would be the ultimate incompetence.
Jiang Pengji glanced at the jumbled thick wood on the gate, her expression gaining a hint of ferocity and menace.
The audience in the live stream collectively erupted; though they were not participants in the bloodbath, they watched with bated breath, excited for the triumph only to discover the enemy had resorted to underhanded tactics! No wonder there were so many soldiers waiting inside the gate; this was all a ploy—
Jiang Pengji calmly stated, “Han Mei, you direct the defense and try to hold out a little longer!”
The narrow terrain of the gate meant they only had to face the enemy from one side, working to their advantage.
However, no matter how advantageous it was, they couldn’t hold indefinitely.
Jiang Pengji bore the brunt of the stamina expenditure, but the other soldiers felt the pressure too.
She might be able to operate like a machine without a drop in her state, but the others couldn’t.
“Yes, I will obey!”
Li Yun replied, and though he was unaware of Jiang Pengji’s intentions, she instilled immense security in him.
What did Jiang Pengji plan to do?
Tear down the city gate with her bare hands!
At that moment, Meng Hunyun outside felt a stir of anxiety; it had been quite a while since he’d heard a warning arrow signal from his lord.
Either it was inconvenient, or perhaps…
His heart raced at the notion of the latter and he quickly buried that dreadful thought.
Absolutely impossible!
His lord would surely be blessed by fate!
At this moment, Meng Hunyun felt intense regret for not strongly advising against his lord’s reckless actions when he had the chance.
The Jia Gate, indeed known as a perilous pass, had yet to be breached despite such a fierce assault, and the more it stood firm, the more anxious he became.
Inside the city, the enemy commanders worried about their lord, and outside, Meng Hunyun was equally troubled for his leader.
He could only order the continuation of the assault, his heart filled with a jittery hope.
At that very moment, the commanding officer left to guard the gate snarled, “We must annihilate them!”
It was he who had temporarily sealed the gates, preparing to trap Jiang Pengji and her comrades inside.
At that moment, a violent tremor shook the ground, accompanied by the sound of the gates being hammered.
“Are they using battering rams?”
If so, this would be interesting; the inside of the city gate was full of enemies, let them fight among themselves!
“Not battering rams!”
