Chapter 1584: Siege Assault [6]
Chapter 1584: Chapter 1584: Siege Assault [6]
The young soldiers guarding the city had long been terrified, looking at Troop Commander Li, then at the Rong army rushing towards the county. They hid on the watchtower, trembling, completely afraid to open the gate.
Afraid that once the gate opened, the Rong people outside would charge into the county and they would be killed by the Rong people.
Troop Commander Li was furious, and shouted, "What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and open the gate for me. If you don’t, are you just going to wait for the Rong people inside the city to wreak havoc and then run away?!"
Troop Commander Li had been on the battlefield and had also defended cities with his superiors. Watching the Rong army set fire to villages and manors along the way, yet not attacking Guanlu County, he seemed to understand... The Rong people probably wouldn’t attack this small county of Guanlu. Their mission was likely to quickly head to Xing’an Prefecture, to gather with the main forces, and then attack Xing’an Prefecture.
They’d burn the villages, towns, and county cities along the way to create chaos and cut off the supply routes of Great Chu.
But the young soldiers guarding the gate didn’t understand this. They only thought that opening the gate would let the Rong people into the county, and the county would fall.
Troop Commander Li, furious, cursed and warned, "Open the gate quickly! If you delay the opportunity, not only will you die, your whole family will be taken to the battlefield as targets!"
But the young soldiers were scared, not daring to move at all.
Fortunately, an experienced soldier heard the commotion and ran over to see what was happening. Learning that Troop Commander Li had arrived, he promptly dragged the young soldier to open the gate.
The city gate was very large and heavy. To open it required using a ladder to unlock the big bolts on the gate one by one. Then it took two people working together to open a small gap large enough for two people to pass through.
"Troop Commander Li, quickly come in! Hurry, don’t let the Rong people outside notice." The old soldier, fearful, beckoned. He had stood on the watchtower earlier and spotted many Rong troops on the move, fearing they would find the gate open and seize the chance to charge in.
Troop Commander Li hurriedly led his team into the city. Once everyone was inside, he immediately had the old soldier shut the gate.
Zhang Zhong reminded, "Troop Commander Li, the Rong people have almost burned down the county city. Now they should be heading out of the city to head towards Xing’an Prefecture. Let’s immediately set an ambush at the West City Gate. When they reach the West City Gate, we’ll immediately surround and kill them!"
Zhang Zhong had seen the Northwest Map drawn by Qin San Lang, which showed that the main road from Guanlu County’s West City Gate led towards Xing’an Prefecture, so the Rong people would definitely go through the West City Gate.
After receiving the Detoxification Pills from Zhang Zhong, Troop Commander Li trusted him and ordered, "Soldiers, follow me to the West City Gate; we cannot let those Rong beasts escape!"
"Yes!" The soldiers, perhaps knowing that the Rong people outside were merely passing through and wouldn’t attack Guanlu County, felt much calmer and more courageous, immediately rushing towards the West City Gate.
But what they saw along the way made them utterly furious.
Homes and shops were burned along the route, with many front doors wide open and numerous corpses on the streets.
Even worse, they saw a group of Rong people bullying two young women!
"Go, slaughter these beasts!" Troop Commander Li and his men, being soldiers, couldn’t stand idly by while Rong people bullied Great Chu’s young women. They led the cavalry straight into an adjacent home, slashing at the Rong people who were harassing the women with large knives.
Slash, slash!
In the sudden attack, several Rong people indulging themselves had their heads chopped off with a single slash.
The other Rong people heard the commotion and immediately rushed over. Seeing that Troop Commander Li’s forces outnumbered them, they let out a strange sound resembling a cow’s call.
Before long, a few wolves howled and charged out, knocking down the soldiers blocking the gate, then sped towards the West City Gate.
"It’s the messenger wolves, quickly shoot them!" Zhang Zhong knew these messenger wolves were off to deliver a message, so he immediately drew his bow and shot at the wolves.
The soldiers under Troop Commander Li also reacted, and the archers quickly turned around, shooting arrows towards the messenger wolves.
Howl —!
The messenger wolves got hit by arrows and fell down one after another.
Fearing that the wolves’ howls would attract more Rong people, Zhang Zhong immediately rode over and chopped off the wolves’ heads.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Inside the house, the clash of weapons continued, with Troop Commander Li leading the soldiers in fierce combat with the Rong people.
These Rong people were here to burn down homes, so their numbers were few, and within less than a quarter of an hour, they were all slain by Troop Commander Li and his men.
"Troop Commander Li, we can’t wait any longer. We must hurry to the West City Gate!" shouted Zhang Zhong.
"Let’s go!" commanded Troop Commander Li, rallying the soldiers to ride towards the West City Gate.
Tang Ling, however, dismounted and said to Zhang Zhong, "Section Leader Zhang, these two young women need care. I must stay here and look after them. You go ahead and kill as many of those beasts as you can, avenge us!"
Was Tang Ling seeking death?
Zhang Zhong frowned upon hearing this, but given the urgent situation, he had no time to deal with Tang Ling. He nodded, "Alright, you and Section Leader Yao stay and look after them. Once things settle down in the county, I’ll come to take you back to the village."
With that, he turned his horse and rode off.
Yao Wan, already injured, had reached his limit after running so long, so staying with Tang Ling to take care of the victimized women was a good thing.
Yao Wan dismounted and called out to Tang Ling, "Stop staring, get inside quickly, and close the door. I don’t want to die."
Tang Ling snapped out of her daze, promptly entering the house to shut the door.
Alas, the door had been hacked apart and couldn’t close at all.
"Take those two girls to the side room. We’ll hide there," suggested Yao Wan, leaving the horses outside and painfully heading to the side room.
Tang Ling hurriedly went to pull the two girls along. Seeing their miserable state, she couldn’t help but shed tears.
Once inside the side room, she placed a tablecloth over them.
They had hidden quickly; shortly after they entered the side room, a group of Rong people arrived at the courtyard entrance. Seeing the main door open and the inside wrecked, they didn’t venture in and left.
...
Zhang Zhong and the others had already reached the West City Gate. As the archers just set up their formation, a batch of Rong people began to approach the West City Gate.
Troop Commander Li hid behind a shield and gestured...
Swish, swish, swish!
Countless arrows were launched, raining down on the Rong people.
"Ah—!" A series of screams erupted, with many Rong people wounded by the rain of arrows.
Realizing they were ambushed, the Rong people immediately shouted in the Rong Language to be cautious, setting up their formation and firing arrows towards Troop Commander Li’s side.
The Rong people were more skillful than the Great Chu soldiers, with more accurate archery. After several exchanges, Troop Commander Li’s side had suffered dozens of casualties.
Troop Commander Li, exasperated, yelled, "Shoot more accurately, will you? How did you practice?! "
Seeing this, Zhang Zhong knew this wouldn’t work. He immediately took out the poison he carried with him and handed it to Troop Commander Li, "Lord Troop Commander, here is some poison that can cause unconsciousness. Have the soldiers tie the poison bags onto the arrows and shoot them at the Rong people; it will put many into a stupor."
The distance, however, was a bit close. If the poison dispersed, the soldiers on Troop Commander Li’s side could also be affected.
Zhang Zhong mentioned this to Troop Commander Li.
Troop Commander Li snatched the poison away, saying, "Being knocked out is better than being slaughtered by the Rong people!"
Besides, the poison would be shot towards the Rong people, so more of them would be affected than their own men. It would be a gain!