The bodies at the city gate soon piled up as high as a huge boulder. Blood flowed into the moat, and the water was instantly stained red, the crimson spreading farther and farther outward...
With a bang, Yun Chengxuan leaped onto a boulder and brought his Foxin down. Any barbarian soldier struck by it would be decapitated.
Behind him, the vanguard of the Jinyang Army had already arrived. They carried repeating crossbows and kept pulling the triggers at the flood of Jiao soldiers pouring out of the city.
By this point, the Jiao Army, which had sworn to avenge Yu He, finally began to retreat.
More than a thousand soldiers had entered this small section of the city gate, yet in less than half a quarter of an hour, several hundred had already been lost. Their bodies were piled up like a mountain.
This was despite the narrow gate, which prevented the Jinyang Army from fighting at full strength. Had the battlefield been more open, the thousand soldiers might well have been completely wiped out.
The most dangerous thing on a battlefield was losing momentum. As one side weakened and the other grew stronger, Yun Chengxuan and the others soon found an opening and charged into the city.
“Shameless! The Jinyang Army is shameless!” Chang Gai roared.
Covered in blood and under the protection of his soldiers, Ruan Jian entered the city tower. “Grand Chanyu, the Jinyang Army has broken into the city. What should we do?”
The Grand Chanyu’s eyes turned grim. “Have Ding County and Yunqi sent reinforcements?”
Ruan Jian nodded. “The reinforcements have already set out. Each side has dispatched twenty thousand men.”
Meng Su, however, felt vaguely uneasy. “Grand Chanyu, what if this is merely a diversion? What if they intend to lure us away?”
The Grand Chanyu’s heart jolted. “You mean they plan to take advantage of this opportunity to attack Ding County and Yunqi?”
“Impossible.” Chang Gai shook his head. “There are more than ten thousand Jinyang soldiers attacking Wuqin today. Where would they find the troops to attack Ding County and Yunqi at the same time?”
As he spoke, a soldier hurried inside. “Grand Chanyu, this is bad! The Jinyang Army has begun attacking the western gate!”
They were stationed at the southern gate. In other words, the Jinyang Army had started by attacking one gate and was now attacking two.
Ruan Jian looked through the arrow slit at the scene below. “The Jiao Army is nearly half destroyed. We have to think of a solution quickly.”
While they were discussing the situation, Yao Ji led his men in an assault on Ding County.
Yunqi County, meanwhile, was being attacked primarily by Jin Feng of Daqing Commandery, with Xie Nanxiao bringing the Cangming Guard and a small number of naval repeating crossbows to support him.
The cities were empty at this time. Most of their forces had been sent away as reinforcements, leaving morale low and the people terrified.
As a result, before Wuqin had even fallen, both cities were captured first.
The Jiao general heading to Wuqin for reinforcements had not yet arrived when he received news that Yunqi had come under attack. He cursed furiously. “The Jinyang Army is too cunning!”
The messenger wore a strange expression. “It isn’t only the Jinyang Army. There are also troops from Daqing.”
The general frowned. “The Jiao Army is attacking Daqing. Where did they get the troops to attack Yunqi?”
The messenger naturally had no answer.
The deputy general hurriedly asked, “General, what should we do? Do we turn back, or continue to reinforce Wuqin?”
The general gripped the reins tightly. After a moment, he made the difficult decision. “Reinforce Wuqin.”
The Grand Chanyu was in Wuqin. If anything happened to him, they could not bear the consequences.
The general at Ding County made the same decision. Even after learning that Ding County was under attack, he continued galloping toward Wuqin.
Daqing, Nanjiao City.
When Lu You saw the Jiao Army retreat once again, he secretly sighed in relief.
He looked north, his expression troubled. “I wonder how Jin Feng and the others are doing. They should have begun attacking the city by now, shouldn’t they?”
Li Zan nodded. “Judging by the timing, they should have.”
He sighed. “The Jinyang Army’s tactics always seem rather risky, but they possess powerful weapons. They can’t be judged by ordinary standards.”
Lu You let out a sigh. “I only hope their casualties are light.”
The reason he had agreed to lend troops was that Jiang Jin had promised to provide him with grain in exchange.
Although Daqing had previously traded for high-yield grain seeds with Jiang Jin, the supply was ultimately limited, and food shortages remained a serious problem.
Thus, when Jiang Jin proposed borrowing troops, Lu You agreed without much hesitation.
He also understood clearly that Jiang Jin was willing to provide grain not merely to borrow his soldiers, but also to save the people of Daqing.
Lu You gave a self-mocking smile. After a moment, he sighed. “Should I hand both my troops and Daqing over to the princess?”
Li Zan looked at him in astonishment, his eyes flickering slightly. “General, what makes you say that?”
This time, Lu You did not reply.
In Wuqin, the Grand Chanyu and the others ran toward the eastern gate under the protection of their soldiers.
As more and more Jinyang soldiers poured through the southern gate, the western gate was on the verge of falling. He had no choice but to avoid the enemy’s advance.
Chang Gai shouted as he ran, “Grand Chanyu, where are we retreating to?”
The Grand Chanyu knocked away an arrow flying toward him but said nothing.
Chang Gai stopped asking questions. He fought while covering the Grand Chanyu’s retreat toward the eastern gate.
At that moment, a soldier came running over with his back bent. “Grand Chanyu, the reinforcements should arrive in about half a quarter of an hour.”
Chang Gai’s face lit up. “Excellent! We’re saved.”
The moment he finished speaking, the soldier continued, “Ding County and Yunqi County are under attack by the Jinyang Army and Daqing Commandery respectively.”
The Grand Chanyu stumbled and nearly fell. “What did you say?”
Although he had anticipated this possibility, hearing the confirmed news still left him cold from head to toe.
The soldier panted and repeated himself.
The Grand Chanyu roared, “Then why aren’t they turning back to provide support?”
The soldier stammered, unable to find the right words.
Meng Su sighed. “The two cities each sent nearly twenty thousand soldiers away. That leaves only a few thousand defenders inside. How could they possibly hold? Even if they returned, it would be of little use.”
If they had been facing an ordinary army, a few thousand soldiers would not have been an insignificant force for defending a city. But they were facing the Jinyang Army.
He looked at the Grand Chanyu. “Grand Chanyu, we should be thinking about where to go now.”
Chang Gai ground his teeth and roared, “Then we’ll fight them to the death here in Wuqin! The Jinyang Army has only a little over ten thousand men. Once our reinforcements arrive, we’ll have sixty or seventy thousand soldiers!”
Meng Su shook his head. “The Jinyang Army may have only a little over ten thousand men, but the city has already been breached, and they have repeating crossbows. Even if we ultimately win, given the Jinyang Army’s combat strength, we would suffer a devastating victory at best!”
“And if our forces were reduced to a remnant afterward, how would we establish ourselves in Han territory?”
He looked at the Grand Chanyu. “Grand Chanyu, we should withdraw while we still have the strength to do so. With sixty or seventy thousand soldiers, we would be able to protect ourselves anywhere except against the Jinyang Army.”
This was the outcome he had considered before and least wanted to face. But as a military strategist, he had to anticipate even the worst possible result and then choose the course most favorable to them.
The Grand Chanyu gritted his teeth. “Then tell me, where should we go?”
Meng Su replied, “To Juan Prefecture!”
