Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sparks flew in every direction. Some of the fire arrows embedded themselves in the walls, while others landed on the battlements, instantly illuminating the entire city gate.
They were accompanied by a rain of ordinary arrows.
The messenger was horrified. “Open the gates! Let me in—”
He never finished shouting. An arrow pierced his throat, and his body tumbled from the horse.
The last thing he saw was the growing number of lights in the sky…
Hua Ruo had just reached a position where she could lie in ambush when she heard screams coming from the south gate.
Her second-in-command sounded anxious. “Do we make our move now?”
But Hua Ruo remained calm. “Not yet. Wait until they’ve drawn more people over there.”
Only after the drums began to thunder atop the city wall did she wave her hand. “Assault team, with me!”
Inside the city, at a government compound, the county commandant strode toward the entrance.
“What’s going on? Did they say how many Jinyang troops are attacking the docks?”
The soldier shook his head. “No. We rushed to report the attack on the docks as soon as we heard about it. The messenger from the docks is still waiting at the south gate.”
The moment they stepped outside, the deep boom of drums reached them, accompanied faintly by screams.
“Something’s wrong!”
The county commandant’s heart lurched. He hurried forward several steps, then stopped and turned around, heading back into the compound.
The soldier: “…”
“Put the entire city on alert. Wake all the soldiers and prepare for battle.” The county commandant’s voice came from inside.
The soldier quickly acknowledged the order. “Yes, sir!”
Then he hurried off to relay the command.
Before long, the county commandant emerged from the compound wearing armor and carrying a mace. He mounted his warhorse and galloped straight for the south gate.
The moment he reached the wall, an arrow shot toward him. He twisted aside to avoid it, but before he had taken two steps, two more arrows came flying. He knocked them away, then had no choice but to advance bent low—the attack was simply too dense.
By the light of the flames, he saw that countless soldiers had been killed or wounded on the wall. Those still alive had taken shelter inside the gate tower or beneath the crenellations.
Many shield bearers were covering soldiers who were trying to put out the fires.
Yet for some unknown reason, the flames could not be extinguished with water. The soldiers could only stomp on them repeatedly, but the fire showed no sign of dying down.
Instead, their own feet gradually began to burn. Crying out in pain, the soldiers hurriedly stripped off their shoes and threw them away.
Just then, a tremendous boom rang out.
A massive flaming arrow tore through the air with irresistible force. It pierced a bronze shield, carrying the soldier behind it along with it, and slammed viciously into the shield bearers and men fighting the fire behind him.
Screams erupted as all of them were knocked to the ground, plunging the wall into chaos.
Some soldiers were crushed onto piles of fire that had not yet been fully extinguished. Their bodies instantly caught alight, and their screams grew even more horrific as they rolled frantically across the ground.
The shield that had been pierced was splashed with the fire oil coating the arrow and burst into flames in an instant. The entire scene descended into chaos.
“County commandant, over here!” a familiar voice called.
Following the sound, he saw his deputy crouching behind a crenellation and waving at him furtively.
The county commandant: “…”
The whole situation felt bizarre. Hadn’t battles always been fought with thunderous roars and earth-shaking war cries? Why did this one feel so eerie?
He hunched over and crept toward him. “What’s going on?”
His deputy was suffering inside. “The Jinyang army is too cunning. Their arrows are coming in too densely, and we have no way to strike back.”
He had heard before about the Jinyang army’s long-range repeating crossbows, but this was his first time facing them in battle.
They were strong—far too strong!
It was humiliating. Truly humiliating!
He had never fought such a one-sided battle. They were being completely crushed.
“And the arrows fired by the Jinyang army have some kind of oil on them. They’re extremely difficult to put out,” the deputy added through clenched teeth.
The county commandant frowned. “Have enemy soldiers been spotted at the other gates?”
The deputy shook his head. “No. The Jinyang army most likely came by water. If they were transported by boat, they shouldn’t have many men—probably only enough to launch a main attack at one gate.”
The county commandant knit his brows. Something about this situation felt wrong.
He picked up a shield and held it in front of himself, then cautiously raised his body to look out. The darkness beyond the wall concealed everything.
His unease deepened. “The other gates must remain on alert as well, in case this is a ruse.”
“Hiss… What’s that?”
He drew a sharp breath as he stared at the lanterns swaying in the distance.
The deputy raised his head to look. Four groups of lanterns were slowly approaching the city, with two lanterns in each group.
“Siege bridges!” the deputy exclaimed.
The light was too faint to make out clearly, but judging by their size, he guessed that they were siege bridges.
“This is outrageous!” The county commandant was so furious his heart and liver seemed to ache.
How little did they think of him? They had actually lit lanterns on their siege bridges and advanced openly. Were they afraid he couldn’t see them clearly enough?
Yet he truly had no way to stop them. The distance was too great for his men to hit them.
As for sallying out to attack, he didn’t dare. All he could do was endure the humiliation and wait for the enemy to enter the range of his archers.
“We should have dug traps all over the ground outside the city and planted chevaux-de-frise,” he snarled.
The nearby city of Dan had done exactly that. After all, the Jinyang army favored night raids and was exceptionally skilled at them.
But it was a massive undertaking. Xianglu was the city farthest from the Jinyang army, and he had never imagined that their first battle would be aimed at Xianglu.
He did not yet know that tonight, the coastal regions of Donghu Commandery were erupting into battles everywhere.
Just as his fury threatened to overwhelm him, another deputy hurried up with a squad of soldiers.
“County commandant, the troops have assembled.”
“Good. Archers and shield bearers, get ready. The moment the Jinyang army enters range, open fire!” The county commandant’s voice seethed with anger.
“Send another two hundred soldiers to each of the other three gates. We must hold them at all costs. If anything happens, beat the drums to signal us.”
“Also send four squads to patrol the wall continuously, in case anyone climbs up from the middle sections. They have ladder-bolt arrows.” His voice was thick with resentment.
Two hundred men might not sound like much, but the entire city had only a little over two thousand defenders—and at least a hundred of them were already lying dead on the ground.
Now that the Jinyang army had brought out its siege bridges, it was obvious that the south gate was their main target. Naturally, he had to concentrate most of his forces there.
By the light of the flames, Yao Ji curved his lips into a smile when he saw more and more soldiers being sent onto the wall at the south gate.
“First Battalion, follow me.”
“Remember, keep the siege bridges moving slowly. There’s no rush.” He did not forget to remind Zhao Feng, who was staying behind.
Zhao Feng nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Under cover of the night and the screams of the soldiers at the south gate, Hua Ruo led a squad of soldiers skilled at swimming across the moat.
She moved with remarkable agility, rising gently from the water without making almost any sound.
The nights at the beginning of May were still cold, especially in the water after dark. Her lips had turned purple from the chill, yet she controlled her breathing perfectly.
She knew that once the fighting began, she would warm up.
She placed both hands against the wall of the moat. Though it was steep, it posed no real challenge for her. Using both hands and feet, she quickly climbed to the top.
The other soldiers followed her ashore.
“Move!” Hua Ruo ordered in a hushed voice, leading the squad as they stealthily made their way toward the city wall.
A moment later, she brought the squad to the foot of the wall. They pressed themselves against it and stood waiting for the signal to act.
