Chapter 226: Bloody Battle
The side defending the city naturally holds the advantage of geographical advantage.
Pei Qinghe shot the first arrow, and all the archers followed by shooting arrows. Arrows fell like a sudden rain, striking the foremost Xiongnu barbarians and sending men and horses tumbling.
The Xiongnu barbarians raised their arrows to counterattack one after another. However, shooting from below upward is no easy task. These shot arrows either struck the city wall or fell midway in the air. Very few truly threatened the Pei Family Army.
Pei Qinghe had specially worn soft armor today and donned a helmet, protecting all vital areas. She shot arrows from her hand without stopping, each arrow hitting its mark.
The Xiongnu general overseeing the battle below the city furrowed his brows.
This Xiongnu barbarian, named Wu Yan, was the fiercest military general under the Xiongnu Khan.
Wu Yan was a master archer among the Xiongnu barbarians, arrogant and disdainful, never having taken the Jing Dynasty’s armies seriously in the past. After all, over these years, the Xiongnu barbarians had entered the passes to raid without encountering any true opponents. Only the Beiping Army could be considered a tough nut; the rest were like chickens and dogs, utterly unable to withstand the iron hooves of the Xiongnu great army.
This time, Wu Yan had volunteered and split forces with another Xiongnu great general into two routes. Before setting out, they had even made a bet on who would loot more money and grain and women to bring back.
But unexpectedly, before they could indulge in pleasure for long, they encountered luring the enemy and one ambush after another. The Xiongnu great army suffered an unprecedented defeat, with heavy casualties.
In anger, Wu Yan launched fierce attacks for several days in a row, with both sides suffering deaths and injuries. Today, Wu Yan had sworn before battle that he must capture Guangning Prefecture. He also promised his brave soldiers that after the city fell, they could massacre for three days, allowing the brave soldiers to loot and enjoy to their hearts’ content.
The Xiongnu warriors were stirred to fighting spirit and came to attack the city with high morale. But unexpectedly, right from the start, they were suppressed by the opponent’s arrows, unable to raise their heads.
“Who is that divine archer on the city wall?” Wu Yan asked in a deep voice.
His several personal soldiers could not answer, so they simply dragged over a few captives.
These captives were all officers and soldiers from the vanguard camp sent out by the Guangning Army a few days ago. To lure the enemy deeper, they had fought desperately to the death. About ten had escaped, while dozens more had been captured alive. In these past few days of unfavorable warfare, Wu Yan killed a few captives every day, boiled them in a large iron pot, and let the Xiongnu warriors share the food.
The captives were pale-faced, their legs trembling. One even had water dripping from his crotch.
One of the personal soldiers who knew Han speech asked in a stiff and awkward tone: “Who is the divine archer on the city wall?”
The captives were starving and on the verge of death, dizzy and blurry-eyed, unable to clearly see the distant city wall. One hesitated without speaking and was hacked to death.
The remaining captives knew they could not survive, and a surge of courage rose within them as they cursed endlessly with filthy language. Wu Yan understood some Han speech, sneered coldly, waved his hand, and had all the captives killed.
“No matter who this person is, today he is doomed to die!”
From afar, the figure on the city wall was blurry. Wu Yan never imagined the opponent was a woman. He did not stop issuing military orders, commanding the Xiongnu warriors to attack the city.
Arrows were exchanged, and catapults were also brought into use. However, the opponent firmly held the geographical advantage on the sturdy city wall. The Xiongnu warriors threw away their lives in vain.
The painstakingly built cloud ladders were pushed to the city gate by the crowd. Xiongnu warriors shouted as they climbed the cloud ladders and jumped onto the city wall. During this, deaths and injuries were constant. Unfortunately, after jumping onto the city wall, there was soon no more movement. Corpses were continuously thrown down.
“General, today’s city defenders are exceptionally powerful.” A personal soldier lowered his voice, fearing to disrupt morale: “Our warriors cannot keep dying in vain like this.”
Wu Yan was rich in combat experience—how could he fail to see it?
However, withdrawing troops midway would too greatly damage morale.
Wu Yan’s face was dark, his expression grim: “Continue beating the military drums to attack the city. Today we must breach the city!”
The personal soldiers dared not disobey and could only continue beating the military drums.
The Pei Family Army defending the city was now facing immense pressure.
The Pei Family Army had been formed for less than three years, and most of them had previously been ordinary common people. Unable to survive, they had fled their hometowns and become refugees. For a bite to eat, they joined the Pei Family Army. The Pei Family Army trained very strictly on ordinary days, and those who endured were good soldiers. Against the Fanyang Army, no need to say more—the Fanyang Army was just easy prey. Even against the Guangning Army, the Pei Family Army had no fear.
But the Xiongnu barbarians were exceptionally ferocious. Those who charged onto the city wall grinned fiercely as they raised curved sabers, killing very efficiently. The Pei Family Army’s weaknesses were immediately apparent: little experience in battle, not much exposure to blood, insufficient experience, and skills not matching the Xiongnu barbarians.
They formed a five-man military formation, backs relying together, jointly resisting the enemy.
People around them kept getting injured or dying, blood flowing everywhere, severed limbs and broken bodies covering the ground. They endured their fear and swung their sabers with all their might. They occasionally glanced at Pei Qinghe standing at the forefront.
Her not particularly tall figure stood steadily on the city wall like cast iron. She waved her long saber in her hand, continuously harvesting the heads of Xiongnu barbarians.
As long as the general was there, victory would surely belong to the Pei Family Army!
Courage suddenly rose in everyone’s hearts, and their sore and limp arms regained strength.
Kill!
Kill all these ferocious invaders!
Pei Xuan’s small face was covered in bloodstains. She was not tall, but her figure was exceptionally agile. When fighting Xiongnu barbarians, her long saber went straight for the opponent’s lower body.
Pei Feng desperately killed one Xiongnu barbarian, hot blood splashing onto his face. He tensed his handsome face, endured the nausea, and continued wielding his saber.
While fighting, Pei Qinghe surveyed the overall situation with the corner of her eye: “Pei Feng, withdraw and rest for a moment.”
Pei Feng did not act tough, retreated a few steps, quickly went down the city wall, and vomited cleanly. He drank a few mouthfuls of water and went back up the city wall.
Pei Xuan did not mock him but instead looked over frequently. Clearly worried for Pei Feng.
Pei Feng gritted his teeth and wielded his saber.
Cousin Sister Qinghe had held up the Pei Clan and established the Pei Family Army. Cousin-in-law and cousin sisters were all brave and valiant and powerful. He was the oldest male in the Pei Clan by age and could not bring shame to the Pei Clan. He had to lead his cousin brothers into battle to fight to the death, letting everyone see that while Pei Clan women were powerful, the Pei Clan men were no slouches either.
After a day of intense fighting, Pei Feng did not know how many people he had killed.
The Xiongnu barbarians finally withdrew their troops.
Pei Feng used his long saber to prop himself up on the ground, preventing himself from falling.
Pei Xuan’s expression changed: “Pei Feng, your leg is injured!”
Due to excessive blood loss, Pei Feng felt somewhat dizzy and did not even notice the pain from his leg wound. He dullly let out an “oh.”
Pei Qinghe strode over, had Pei Feng lie down, tore open his blood-soaked clothes with both hands, exposing the bloody wound.
Pei Qinghe pursed her lips tightly, her hands moving very swiftly as she applied hemostatic medicine and wrapped bandage around several times.
Only then did Pei Feng feel the pain.
He trembled his lips and said softly: “Cousin Sister Qinghe, how did I do today? I didn’t bring shame to the Pei Clan, right!”
Water light flashed in Pei Qinghe’s eyes, but her voice remained steady: “You did well today! You brought honor to the Pei Clan!”
Only then did Pei Feng relax, and he fainted with relief.
