Chapter 1044 – Drawing the Snake Out of Its Hole (5)
“Is there really any noise? Don’t scare yourself in the middle of the night—”
Hearing that voice, the soldier’s companion was startled, shaking off some sleepiness to surge forward with even more ferocity.
Letting out a yawn, he squeezed out a couple of tears from his tired eyes, alleviating the strain a bit.
“B-but I really heard something!” The soldier widened his eyes and peered down at the city, where everything was shrouded in darkness, save for the distant enemy camp still ablaze with a bonfire, adding a flicker of light to the night. “Hey—how strange, could it be that I really misheard?”
He scratched at his long-unwashed hair, his fingers dislodging a layer of oily dandruff, which he rubbed off on his clothes.
“Maybe… I really did mishear…”
Beside him, his companion was rubbing his arms, trying to warm himself a bit.
“This damn weather is freezing to death; I don’t know when this will end.”
At the bottom rung, soldiers were stripped of rights, doing the hardest work for the lowest pay, often going hungry and cold.
If everyone was like this, the treatment wouldn’t feel too bad; surviving in chaotic times was already a win.
But that bustling Liu Residence and Huang Song’s camp was a whole different story—it was lively, drinking and barbecuing at night, living like immortal beings.
Why, under the same chaotic sky, were they enjoying feasts while he could only starve and shiver?
No comparison means no harm!
Thinking of all this only made his already rumbling stomach growl harder, fatiguing him to the point where even speaking became a chore.
“Buddy, I’m going to lean back and catch a little nap; just shout if anything happens. This stomach is aching from hunger—”
“Hey! What could possibly happen right now? You rest easy; I’ll wake you when it’s light—”
Liu Residence and Huang Song’s camp only cared about eating and having fun, and it had been like this for over twenty days.
In the dead of night, there was no rustling grass or even a ghostly shadow to be seen.
The weary guards leaned against the wall, dozing off, hoping sleep would warm their bodies a bit and conserve some energy.
“Ahh—”
As drowsiness washed over, the guards at Han Chang Pass yawned incessantly, their awareness blurring, eyelids heavy as if filled with lead.
The cold wind howled, and snowflakes swirling through the air veered off their original paths.
On this unremarkable night, an arrow streaked across the sky, releasing a whistling sound as it flew.
The sharp blade pierced flesh, and the soldier, barely coherent, suddenly opened his eyes wide, enveloped in an unprecedented cold sensation, as if his body had sunk into a thousand-year ice pond. He tried to scream, but his throat produced no sound, as if the whole world had fallen silent.
In the blink of an eye, the remaining warmth in his body was brutally stripped away—
So painful—
So cold—
A fleeting thought flashed through his mind, and the scene before his eyes plunged into boundless darkness.
In the haze, he seemed to hear his companions screaming in despair, shouting—
Enemy attack!!!
The first wave of arrows ended, and over half of the city gate guards were lost, the survivors either dead or injured.
“Up the ladders, archers continue firing—Is the siege equipment ready?”
After clearing a wave of enemy soldiers and taking advantage of the reduced guards at Han Chang Pass, it was time to set up the ladders and prepare to scale the walls.
Jiang Pengji led her vanguard, each wrapped in white cloth, swiftly approaching the foot of Han Chang Pass under the cover of the snow and night.
The guard commander had led troops to ambush the enemy camp; it was only right for Jiang Pengji to respond in kind.
What is an ambush?
Taking advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness, launching a surprise attack.
Not only does it require being unexpected, but it also emphasizes “speed”—launching a brutal strike while the enemy has no defenses whatsoever.
Han Chang Pass had a treacherous terrain that was easy to defend but hard to attack; what of it?
Wherever she wanted to breach, no one could hold the line!
Jiang Pengji struck suddenly; with just one clash, a wave of guards on the walls fell, while the rest were wounded.
Some attempted to counterattack, some shouted loudly about the “enemy attack,” and others gritted their teeth, bloodied fingers trembling as they drew their bows with their last strength, sending a warning arrow into the sky—once the signal arrow was released, it felt as if the entire Han Chang Pass had shaken, soldiers in a frenzy!
They never imagined the enemy would launch a surprise attack at this time.
But—
The immediate priority was still to send reinforcements to the walls and secure the Han Chang Pass; they absolutely could not let the enemy break through.
“Enemy attack—quick—”
At three-thirty in the morning, many had already slipped into sweet dreams.
They had to sleep; it was cold and hungry; if they didn’t get some rest, they might end up so starved they couldn’t even sleep later.
When the commotion outside erupted, many reluctantly left their dreams, casting aside their tightly wrapped blankets and charging out of their tents.
The frigid wind blew, scattering the remaining warmth surrounding them; many shivered, their sleepy minds snapping awake.
Would Jiang Pengji give them a chance for reinforcements?
The archers lying in ambush in the snow were arranged in three rows; when the first row finished shooting, the second row took over. By the time the third row was done, the first row would already have strung their bows, aiming in the right direction. With this simple tactic, the archers could keep a rain of arrows descending on the city walls of Han Chang Pass.
Using the cover of the archers, the ladders were swiftly pushed toward the walls, and the vanguard began attempting to scale the walls.
However, Han Chang Pass had earned its fearsome reputation for a reason, possessing natural geographical advantages.
The guards were caught completely off guard; the sudden attack nearly left them without reaction.
Of course, this was only temporary.
Once they recovered, they immediately used the terrain to counterattack.
Jiang Pengji narrowed her eyes, her dark gaze fixed intently on the city walls of Han Chang Pass.
The area before Han Chang Pass was not a smooth road; the terrain was steep and narrow, unfavorable for siege equipment. If not for Jiang Pengji’s specially designed siege ladders, they would struggle to make much headway. Otherwise, they could only rely on a brute-force assault with heavy casualties to scale the walls. But for now, they could still use ladders and arrows, making Han Chang Pass less daunting than expected.
While Jiang Pengji fought, she started a live stream, with 850,000 night owls hanging out in her channel.
As the battle unfolded, the audience noticed something odd with the guards at Han Chang Pass—
【Feng Qi Wu Tong】: Have you all noticed—the enemy’s combat ability seems a bit weak—
【He Shui Bu Pang】: I don’t think they seem weak; it’s just our streamer is too strong—
【Piao Liu Fei Xu】: They really do seem a bit weak, at this rate, in less than half an hour, our streamer will definitely break through. I zoomed in and noticed the guards here are all a bit older, looking a bit off like the whole army lacks young soldiers.
While the careless viewers only took in the bloodshed on the battlefield, their hearts surged with excitement.
The observant ones, however, noticed that the enemy’s combat strength was different from what they had imagined. Despite holding the precarious pass, they were being utterly thrashed by Jiang Pengji.
They were puzzled, but Jiang Pengji knew exactly what was happening.
It wasn’t that the guards at Han Chang Pass were weak; the guard commander had removed all the elite troops for a successful ambush.
According to the commander’s understanding of Han Chang Pass, even though the leftover soldiers weren’t as strong as the elites, the treacherous terrain could still hold the line.
However, he underestimated Jiang Pengji and Huang Song’s strength and overestimated the terrain’s defense against the improved siege ladders.
