Qu Tianshi narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing toward the distant woods. Vaguely, he could indeed make out occasional flickers of tree shadows and faint clouds of dust rising. Though not very obvious, he still noticed them. He couldn't tell the exact number of people, but judging by the range of the dust, there were at least ten thousand troops.
What he didn't know was that in the dense forest, yamen runners and a few hundred commoners were casually dragging tree branches back and forth, stirring up dust that wasn't too noticeable.
Jiang Jin felt helpless as well. Besides Ze'a Commandery, there were stationed troops in Donghu Commandery and Zhou County, but the forces in these two places weren't very large.
Shanguan County might refuse to send troops to Ze'a Commandery for reinforcements because she had too few soldiers, and wouldn't that put Ze'a Commandery in a tight spot? She had taken money for a job, and to ensure Shanguan County would definitely send someone to Ze'a Commandery for aid, she had to resort to this low tactic.
Luo Qingci and a few civil clerks sat in the carriage. Her expression was complicated—the lord really made the most of everyone. They and these commoners had followed the main army's advance since the middle of the night.
According to Jiang Jin's plan, Shanguan County could be taken within two hours. Maintaining order in the county town would be her responsibility, so she had selected over forty yamen runners to come along.
During this period, the Gofeng County yamen had been recruiting people gradually, now boasting fifty or sixty yamen runners and over a dozen civil clerks, all in preparation for the attack on Shanguan County.
On the city wall, Qu Tianshi couldn't figure out why the Jinyang Army had suddenly produced so many troops, but he knew this wasn't the time for such thoughts.
Shanguan County was in grave danger!
He gritted his teeth and gave the order: "Hurry, send someone to Zhou County and have the stationed troops rush over to reinforce us!"
Recalling that there weren't many troops in Zhou County, he gave another order: "Also send someone to Ze'a Commandery and ask the general to send us more support."
"Yes!" A soldier immediately acknowledged and hurried off.
The deputy commander opened his mouth to say that Ze'a Commandery was also at a critical moment, but thinking of the over twenty thousand Jinyang troops, he shut his mouth. Shanguan County was equally important; if it were lost, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Archers, prepare. Trebuchets, prepare. Once the Jinyang Army enters firing range, shoot!" Qu Tianshi stared at the approaching Jinyang Army, his expression grim.
Watching the assault bridges draw closer and closer to the city wall, Jiang Jin raised her blade and shouted, "Charge!"
With that, she spurred her horse forward, taking the lead. Yun Chengxuan rode beside her.
Behind them followed Yao Ji and the others, along with dozens of Dragon Shadow Guards and several hundred cavalry.
Soon, Jiang Jin crossed the assault bridge and charged onward.
On the city wall, the Qu Zhao soldiers nearly forgot to breathe, waiting for the Jinyang Army to enter firing range before making their move.
Qu Tianshi watched Jiang Jin charging fearlessly ahead, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart. Suddenly, he remembered the Jinyang Army's long-range repeating crossbows!
Sure enough, he saw the cavalry raise their repeating crossbows, aiming at them. In an instant, countless arrows flew toward them.
Qu Tianshi's pupils shrank. He bellowed, "Take cover! Take cover! Prepare shields!"
But it was too late. The soldiers standing on the city wall fell in droves, and arrows continued to rain down on them.
This was Qu Tianshi's first encounter with the Jinyang Army's repeating crossbows, and his first taste of the helplessness Qu Bai had once felt.
The Jinyang Army was still over a hundred zhang away from the city wall, and neither their trebuchets nor their bows could reach the enemy.
What's more, with the firing speed of these repeating crossbows, for every arrow they shot, the enemy could shoot ten. There was no need to string and draw bows repeatedly—it was a true war-ending weapon.
He deflected several arrows and ordered the soldiers coming up behind him, "Shields ready, stay concealed."
No sooner had a soldier raised his shield and lifted his body slightly than a heavy arrow smashed through the shield, pierced the soldier behind it, and sent both the shield and the soldier tumbling backward.
Qu Tianshi was horrified. Was this the power of the Jinyang Army's heavy crossbows?
Below the city wall, hundreds of Jinyang cavalry quickly came to a halt. They aimed at the wall and kept firing their triggers. Every soldier Qu summoned who dared to show his head was shot down instantly.
Under Zhou Sui’s command behind the lines, the heavy repeating crossbows thundered repeatedly, striking the city wall and any shields that rose above the parapet.
The Dragon Shadow Guards charged forward with Jiang Jin. The soldiers pushing the assault bridges moved like they had been injected with adrenaline, their speed closing in on that of galloping horses.
The distance shrank. They finally entered range. Up on the wall, Qu Tianshi organized a volley of arrows.
But under the suppressive fire of the Jinyang archers, the arrows from above the wall came sparsely, most of them fired blindly without a proper target—after all, barely anyone dared to lift their head.
Jiang Jin deflected an incoming arrow with her blade, leading her men to cover the rapid advance of the assault bridges. Soon they reached the moat.
With almost no resistance, the bridges were laid quickly.
Jiang Jin dismounted, gripped her long saber, and strode across the bridge in long steps, charging straight toward the wall.
Qu Tianshi’s eyes bulged with rage. "Stone throwers! Launch—"
Before he could finish the command, several arrows flew at him. He swung his blade to block them. Clang, clang, clang...
One arrow punched straight through his armor and lodged in his left shoulder.
His deputy commander shouted in panic, "County Magistrate!"
Several guards immediately raised shields to protect the magistrate.
Qu Tianshi let out a muffled groan. Despite his injury, he gritted his teeth and gave orders: "Never mind me! Use the stone throwers. Smash their bridges!
"Archers, ready! Fire down at them!"
Following his command, soldiers hunched low, raising shields as they scurried toward the stone throwers on the wall. The Jinyang arrows rained so relentlessly that they seemed to cost nothing.
Clang.
An arrow pierced through a shield, embedding inches into the wood behind it before stopping.
The soldier was jolted backward by the force. The arrowhead was barely a handspan from his face. Terrified, he ducked down immediately.
The Jinyang Army’s heavy crossbows were formidable, but even their repeating crossbows packed astonishing power!
Meanwhile, Yun Ce advanced in an orderly push with his infantry. As they reached the rear of the cavalry archers, he gave a calm order: "Prepare the stone throwers. Knock theirs out!"
"At your command!"
The crossbow crews quickly adjusted their angles.
Jiang Jin had just crossed the assault bridge when she heard a thunderous crash from the wall, shaking the ground itself.
One of the enemy stone throwers had been blown to pieces. Crushed into pulp alongside it were several of Qu’s soldiers who had just reached the position.
Then came more deafening impacts—boom, boom, boom...
Qu Tianshi was nearly blind with fury. Glaring at the Jinyang stone throwers below the wall, he realized these were improved machines—not only reaching farther but also achieving terrifying precision.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them with grim resolve. "Send another squad to Donghu Prefecture for reinforcements. Fast!
"Add one more unit to Ze’a Prefecture. Send it urgent! Say tens of thousands of Jinyang troops are besieging Shanguan County. It’s critical! Request immediate reinforcements!
"And send word to the neighboring counties at once. Ask them to pull whatever men they can and come help!"
Jiang Jin had no idea yet that her sudden assault would throw the entire northeastern region of Fengzhou into chaos.
She dodged an arrow, planted her foot on the shaft of a climbing arrow, grabbed the shaft above her, and nimbly scaled the orderly row of arrows embedded in the wall.
Dozens of Dragon Shadow Guards advanced in coordinated attack and defense, moving swiftly in small teams. Soon, each found their position on the climbing arrows and began their ascent.
Yun Chengxuan moved with explosive speed, gripping the arrow shafts as he climbed hand over hand. Just as he was about to reach the top of the city wall, a blade thrust out from a crenellation, aimed at his head.
He sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the blade, and at the same time swung his Buddha's Heart blade. Blood sprayed as half the body of a Qü Zhao soldier tumbled from the wall.
Yun Chengxuan placed one hand on the wall, pushed himself up with a burst of strength, and vaulted onto the rampart.
Two Qü Zhao soldiers crouching behind the crenellations charged at him.
He swept his Buddha Heart horizontally. Two bloodcurdling screams pierced the air as the soldiers were sent flying, tracing perfect parabolic arcs before crashing down from the wall.
