Chapter 169: Self-Inflicted Ruin, Shutting the Door to Beat the Dog
Zhou Yan witnessed the battle from afar for nearly half an hour.
The battle line on the Zhongdu city walls was like a violently fluctuating river tide.
The Mongol soldiers’ offensive was simple, transforming their fierce fighting will and personal skills into physical force, directly pushing countless soldiers onto the city walls with siege ladders and grappling hooks.
The Jin soldiers’ counterattack was equally fierce, with burning oil poured like water, and rolling logs and stones raining down.
The archers on both sides desperately provided suppression; every moment, soldiers could be seen falling with screams after being hit by arrows. Those doused in burning oil and then hit by fire arrows burned with flames, their hysterical cries sending chills down one’s spine.
In the Legend of the Condor Heroes trilogy, there are many descriptions of the battle of Xiangyang in The Return of the Condor Heroes, but such a tragic scene is rarely elaborated upon in writing. Seeing the scene before him, Zhou Yan couldn’t help but recall the saying, “The success of one general is built on the bones of ten thousand soldiers.”
In the Jianghu of the Legend of the Condor Heroes, the Mongol siege of Zhongdu was merely glossed over. However, due to the change in the storyline, Zhou Yan was now experiencing the blood and fire firsthand.
What troubled Zhou Yan even more was seeing Jianghu figures assisting the Jin soldiers with city defense on the city tower. He was unsure if these martial artists were disciples from gangs or people from martial arts schools and escort bureaus within the city, whether they were participating voluntarily or under duress.
As for Guo Jing participating in the battle of Zhongdu, Zhou Yan could understand it. Yang Kang committed regicide, Wanyan Honglie ascended the throne, and the Jin Dynasty moved its capital; Guo Jing’s storyline had undergone a complete upheaval.
His attempt to kill Wanyan Honglie failed, so he would naturally wait for the Mongol army outside Zhongdu City.
Zhou Yan vaguely recalled that besides being the Golden Saber Consort, Guo Jing was also appointed a chiliarch by Genghis Khan. If Tuolei, Hua Zheng, and others were also present during the battle of Zhongdu, it would be logical for Guo Jing to attack the city.
As this thought arose, he couldn’t help but wonder if Yang Kang, now the Jin Dynasty Crown Prince, would also lead to Guo Jing being enfeoffed in the future.
In the Jianghu of The Return of the Condor Heroes, Guo Jing and Yang Kang clashed in the martial world.
In the current world, the Jianghu and the battlefield were locked in combat.
Zhou Yan was frustrated by his inability to enter the city, when suddenly he saw Guo Jing, holding a long saber, nimbly climbing a siege ladder. Then, using a grappling hook, he rapidly moved towards the city wall like a gibbon climbing a cliff.
As an observer, Zhou Yan had a clear view of the entire situation. Two burly Jin archers on the city tower suddenly appeared, drawing their iron bows with their arms and aiming at Guo Jing.
Just as Zhou Yan was about to gather his internal force to shout a warning, from the army formation, a young girl in Mongolian attire, wearing leather boots and holding a long bow, along with a boy beside her, simultaneously drew their bows.
The two arrows flew like meteors, hitting the Jin archers.
Zhou Yan let out a slight sigh of relief. He saw clearly and thought that the girl drawing her bow must be Hua Zheng.
The setting sun was like blood, and beacon smoke billowed.
Zhou Yan saw Guo Jing, having narrowly escaped danger, climb the city wall using the grappling hook. As Jin soldiers lunged at him, Guo Jing’s long saber severed the opponent’s spear.
Then, the saber light exploded from the Jin soldier’s chest, and blood splattered.
Guo Jing landed steadily, his movements as swift as a shadow, slicing into the swarming Jin soldiers with one saber strike after another.
The Mongol soldiers below the city tower cheered like thunder, their shouts of “Golden Saber Consort, Golden Saber Consort” echoing across all directions.
Guo Jing, enduring his own injuries, firmly controlled an area of two to three zhang around him on the city wall. From the direction he climbed, a second, third… more than ten Mongol soldiers ascended.
Zhou Yan sighed. The Golden Saber Consort had taken the lead in breaching Zhongdu City; Genghis Khan would likely reward him handsomely.
The city floated amidst the chaotic firelight. The sound of giant stones shaking the long wall could be heard for miles.
As night fully descended, with a continuous stream of Mongol soldiers storming the city tower and entering the city, the west gate of Zhongdu creaked open amidst the beacon smoke.
With the west gate breached, Mongol infantry and cavalry entered in an orderly fashion.
Zhou Yan entrusted his “Night Shining Lion” to the horse market and, using the cover of night, entered Zhongdu, which was filled with the sounds of shouting and killing.
…
The west gate of Zhongdu was the first to be conquered. Fierce fighting spread through the streets and alleys. A flying long arrow bounced off the armor of a Mongol soldier, who roared and charged forward. His curved saber swiftly sliced into the shoulder of a Jin archer, pushing him back and crashing through a courtyard gate before disappearing inside.
Amidst cries of “Ah, ah,” two figures darted across the courtyard. A Mongol soldier drew his saber, kicked a Jin soldier into the hall, and then rushed in, his saber cleaving off the other’s head.
Blood sprayed out like fireworks. A woman hiding under a table screamed and rushed out of the hall into the courtyard, holding a child.
The blood-crazed Mongol soldier caught up to the woman in a few strides. He raised his long saber, and with a single blow, decapitated her.
“Chii”
A sharp sound of breaking wind suddenly struck the Mongol soldier’s face. A soft whip, as straight as a spear or halberd, hit the Mongol soldier’s face, and the burly soldier fell to the ground like a wooden post.
Mei Chaofeng, dressed in black clothes with her dark hair flying, and Huang Rong, clad in a white robe, landed in the courtyard one after another.
“Hey, you’ll die if you run out, why aren’t you hiding?” Huang Rong said.
The woman holding the child heard the young girl’s voice and looked back. Seeing the Mongol soldier on the ground, her legs went weak, and she collapsed.
Huang Rong sighed, “The Mongol army is no different from the Jin soldiers.”
“The strong prey on the weak. What do you think, Junior Sister?”
Huang Rong didn’t reply to Mei Chaofeng but instead said, “Clean up the corpses, go to the Fu’an Escort Agency to check, and leave Zhongdu tomorrow.”
“We should have left long ago,” Mei Chaofeng said. As if able to see, she flicked her wrist, and her soft whip coiled around two corpses, throwing them into the street.
In the past, Huang Rong had told Zhou Yan that she wanted to see the “king’s banner change on the city walls” in Zhongdu. The Jin Dynasty had moved its capital, the Zhao Wang Manor was empty, and she lived freely. Now that Zhongdu had fallen, and seeing a considerable number of Mongol soldiers venting their anger on civilians, her curiosity had vanished.
Huang Yaoshi, as the Eastern Heretic, was unrestrained in minor matters but upheld major principles. Huang Rong was the same, filled with disgust for the Mongol soldiers.
The medicine boy was still in the backyard of the Zhao Wang Manor. Huang Rong acted as Mei Chaofeng’s eyes, and figures in black and white moved through the scale-like arrangement of houses, approaching the Fu’an Escort Agency.
…
The clamor was like a tide. Over two hundred Jin soldiers, led by a slightly plump military officer in his forties with a thick beard on his chin and a rather imposing appearance, charged into the Changfeng Escort Agency.
Helian Chuncheng had defected to Yang Kang. Changfeng had opened a branch office in Kaifeng Prefecture. Lei Luo, the former Boss of the Four Seas Escort Agency, had finally seen his day and was in charge of the Zhongdu branch.
The sudden intrusion of the Jin soldiers greatly surprised Lei Luo. He thought that with the Mongol army about to take Zhongdu, coming now would only stir up trouble.
However, he dared not be negligent and led several escorts to receive them.
Upon seeing the military officer, the former Boss of Four Seas’ expression changed again. He recognized the officer as Tang Zude, and he had heard that he had learned martial arts from him when the Crown Prince was still a little prince at the Zhao Wang Manor.
During the siege of Zhongdu, they had privately shared drinks.
Lei Luo also knew some scattered details: Tang Zude’s greatest hatred was for people to mention that he was Han Chinese. He believed his martial arts skills and his unwavering loyalty to the Jin Dynasty were unquestionable, yet the Jin court had never allowed him to lead troops. After toiling for over twenty years, he only held a sinecure position in the Zhao Wang Manor.
When the Prince ascended the throne and the Little Prince became the Crown Prince, and before the Jin Dynasty moved its capital, Tang Zude was finally allowed to lead troops after the city’s defenses were redeployed, but he only became a garrison commander. Therefore, he had complained a lot during their drinks.
“Why has the General come?” Lei Luo asked.
Tang Zude replied, “The west city has fallen, the Mongol army has entered the city, and Zhongdu cannot be held.”
How could Lei Luo not understand the other’s intentions? He cautiously said, “But these two hundred people cannot be hidden in the escort agency.”
Tang Zude said, “It’s simple. Just change their escort and runner uniforms, and there will be no problem.”
The speaker said it without thinking, but the listener took it to heart. Lei Luo immediately thought of his enemy, the Fu’an Escort Agency.
He said, “It cannot accommodate so many people either. The Mongol soldiers will search house by house and expose the flaw. The Fu’an Escort Agency is not far away. With over a hundred people, if they are dealt with cleanly, not only can we find a place to stay, but we can also gain tens of thousands of taels of silver.”
“Boss Lei has a good idea,” Tang Zude said with great joy.
Lei Luo mused that if Fu’an were eliminated, his branch in Zhongdu would become dominant, and he would surely gain the favor of the Big Boss. He then said, “The Fu’an Escort Agency has a few experts. I will arrange for escorts to assist.”
Tang Zude was dismissive. No matter how good the martial arts, could they withstand arrows? However, time was pressing, so he was happy to have more helpers.
“Thank you, Boss Lei. When we reach Kaifeng, I will certainly speak well of you to the inner court.”
“Thank you!” Lei Luo said joyfully and selected over ten escorts and runners to accompany him.
Zhou Yan, Wang Kui, and Shi Baichuan were not at Fu’an, which Lei Luo had known for a long time. With only Zhang Wangyue and Huyan Lei, they could not possibly contend with over two hundred fierce Jin soldiers and more than ten experts from the escort agency.
Lei Luo watched Tang Xiande lead his troops away, a smug expression on his face. He muttered to himself, “Duan Huai’an, it’s time to settle the score for the revenge of Four Seas.”
…
In the five-courtyard compound of the Fu’an Escort Agency, only a few places were lit. The escorts and runners of the agency were all on high alert, hidden in the darkness.
Such a deployment was not to deal with the Changfeng Escort Agency. It was to guard against the Jin soldiers, in their desperation as the city was about to fall, resorting to arson and looting, and also to prevent Jianghu scum from taking advantage of the chaos.
When Wang Kui and Shi Baichuan returned, the Mongol army was besieging the city, and they were blocked outside. Currently, the agency was missing nearly a third of its escorts and capable runners.
Gu Gu was hiding in the darkness along with Mu Nianci.
The meeting hall was lit. Inside were Boss Duan Huai’an, Young Master Duan Zhaoxi, Zhang Wangyue, and Huyan Lei.
Duan Zhaoxi was restless and paced back and forth in the hall. Duan Huai’an said, “Don’t pace around and distract my eyes.”
“Father, I’m worried.”
“It will be better after tonight.”
As soon as he finished speaking, hurried footsteps approached. Liang Xiaowu quickly entered the hall, “Boss, Chief Escort, a Jin military officer has arrived at the escort agency, saying he wants to capture Mongol spies and asking the agency to concentrate its personnel.”
Duan Huai’an looked at Zhang Wangyue.
The Chief Escort of Fu’an frowned, “There’s something fishy. With the city about to fall, what’s the point of capturing Mongol spies? This is clearly aimed at us.”
“What should we do?” Duan Zhaoxi asked nervously.
Zhang Wangyue looked back at Duan Huai’an.
The Boss of Fu’an said, “Chief Escort, you decide.”
“Thank you, Boss!” Zhang Wangyue stood up and bowed. He said to Liang Xiaowu, “Let the Jin people in.”
“Got it!”
Liang Xiaowu turned and hurried away.
