bookrandom Chapter 2160 Personally Attacking the City
Chapter 2160 Personally Attacking the City
Led by Ran Ming, the 50,000-strong army surged forward like a flood bursting its banks, heading straight for the east gate of Jianghuai City.
They didn't shout or roar, only the heavy footsteps and the rustling of armor plates blended into a heart-palpitating low hum.
Meanwhile, dust billowed up from the west gate.
Han Xing personally led an army of 100,000, advancing in a completely different manner.
The army was arranged in a neat square formation, with three layers of heavy infantry at the front, their giant shields like walls and their spears like a forest.
The square formation was flanked by cavalry guards, while behind it were densely packed archers and catapults.
More importantly, there was the sheer scale of the battle – a hundred thousand soldiers marched in unison, each step deliberately made to be deafening, the war drums thundered like lightning, and the bugles blew shrill and piercingly.
Outside the West Gate, smoke and dust obscured the sky, creating such a massive spectacle that it seemed as if the main force of the Chu army was concentrated there.
"Send the order!"
Han Xing sat upright on his horse, his gaze cold and stern: "Archers, advance three hundred paces and fire a test volley!"
"Order!"
Three thousand archers stepped forward and stopped an arrow's throw from the city wall.
As the command flag fell, three thousand arrows soared into the air like a swarm of locusts, cutting through the morning mist and striking the city towers, crenellations, and shields of the Jianghuai West Gate with a dense, rain-like thud.
This was not a real attack, but a deterrent, a test, a message to the Tang army inside the city.
The west gate could become the main target of attack at any time.
On the city wall, the Tang army commander looked grave.
Fifty thousand elite Chu troops are approaching from the east gate, while one hundred thousand Chu troops are approaching from the west gate. Which of these two is the real killing move?
"Reporting to the Commander!"
A messenger rushed down from the city walls: "The Chu army is approaching from both the east and west gates simultaneously! Approximately 50,000 at the east gate and at least 100,000 at the west gate!"
Inside the Marshal's Mansion, Guo Ziyi stood in front of the sand table, placing two red chess pieces in his hand at the positions of the east and west gates respectively.
He stared at the sand table for a long time before slowly saying, "Where are Dongmen Ranming, Ximen Hanxing, and Chu Ning himself?"
"Still in the central command, hold back."
A glint of light flashed in Guo Ziyi's eyes: "The central army? What about the south gate?"
"There is no movement at the South Gate for the time being, with only a small number of Chu cavalry patrolling the opposite bank of the Huai River."
"wrong."
Guo Ziyi's fingers traced across the sand table: "Chu Ning has hidden his most elite cavalry, Feng Mulan is nowhere to be found, and so is their navy..."
He suddenly looked up and said, "Order: The guards at the east and west gates must not move rashly and must defend according to the pre-arranged plan."
"South Gate, send an additional three thousand archers, no, five thousand! Tell the South Gate commander that today, the South Gate may face its fiercest attack yet!"
"Order!"
The messenger rushed away.
Guo Ziyi walked to the window and looked out of the city.
As the morning mist gradually dissipated, he could clearly see the 50,000-strong army silently advancing outside the east gate, and the dust and smoke that blotted out the sky outside the west gate.
A pincer attack from the east and west, a feint to the east while striking in the west, or a three-pronged attack?
Chu Ning, where exactly are you hiding your real killer move?
Outside the city, Chu Ning remained seated on his horse, gazing towards Jianghuai City.
He saw the silent torrent of Ran Ming's army at the East Gate, the imposing square formation of Han Xing's army at the West Gate, and the movement of Tang army flags on the city walls.
"Guo Ziyi should have already discovered it."
Chu Ning suddenly spoke up: "Feng Mulan and Ma Chao are not at the east or west gates."
Guan Yun, standing beside him, stroked his beard and said, "But he can't guess where the cavalry and navy will come from, or when they will arrive."
"So he will divide his forces."
Chu Ning smiled slightly: "He needs to be on guard at the South Gate, the North Gate, and even inside the city."
"What we want is to distract him, make him suspicious, and make him wary and vulnerable at every turn."
He paused, his voice turning cold: "Order Ran Ming and Han Xing: At three quarters past Chen Shi (7:45 AM), launch the first round of attack precisely on time."
"Don't go all out, just use seven-tenths of your strength, but fight hard and fight seriously, so that Guo Ziyi will believe that at least one of the two gates, east or west, is the main direction of attack."
"According to the order!"
With the command flag waved, the rhythm of the war drums suddenly changed.
Outside the East Gate, Ran Ming stopped and looked up at the sky.
The morning mist has dissipated, the sun is rising, and it is almost dawn.
He slowly raised the siege hammer in his hand, its head gleaming a dark, blood-red color in the sunlight—the color of years of battles.
"Sons."
Ran Ming's voice wasn't loud, but it carried throughout the 50,000-strong army: "The time has come to make a name for ourselves."
He paused, then his voice suddenly rose: "Today, I will lead you to take Jianghuai City!"
"Roar—!" The roars of fifty thousand people merged into thunder.
At the same time, outside the west gate, Han Xing drew his longsword, its tip pointing directly at the Jianghuai city tower: "All troops—advance!"
The 100,000-strong army, like a moving mountain, began its slow advance.
Fifty miles downstream from the Huai River, Feng Mulan's 30,000 cavalry had all boarded their warships.
The navy, with its thousands of sails racing, was silently heading towards the south gate of Jianghuai City, taking advantage of the morning mist and the river's flow.
The final battle has finally begun, and the bloody prelude has begun.
Jianghuai City is about to face the longest and most brutal day in its history.
Arrows rained down from the east gate of Jianghuai City.
The Tang army's archers fired wildly from behind the battlements, the whistling of arrows piercing the air like the howl of death.
Battering rams and siege ladders advanced with difficulty amidst a hail of arrows, and Chu soldiers continued to fall to the ground, struck by arrows.
But those behind immediately filled in, stepping over their fallen comrades to continue forward.
Leading the charge was a massive siege engine.
This vehicle is framed with century-old hardwood and covered with sheet metal. It has a metal-clad battering ram at the front that is as thick as two people can hug, and it requires thirty strong men to push it.
But at this moment, only a dozen or so people were pushing it—because most of the soldiers pushing the cart had already fallen along the way.
"Quickly! Cover the battering ram!" the Chu army captain roared.
The shield bearers charged forward desperately, using their bodies and shields to shield the soldiers pushing the cart from the rain of arrows.
But the Tang army's arrows were too dense; shields were constantly being pierced, and soldiers fell with screams.
Just then, a burly figure rushed out from behind.
The man was bald, shirtless, wearing only a leather breastplate, and his muscles were bulging like iron, gleaming with a bronze luster in the morning light.
He had no shield, only a long spear, but when he wielded it, it was as impenetrable as a windmill, deflecting all the incoming arrows.
It was none other than the vanguard commander, Ran Ming.
"Get out of the way!" Ran Ming roared, his voice like thunder.
He rushed to the back of the siege engine, planted his spear in the ground, and braced his hands against the engine frame.
The heavy battering ram, which required thirty people to push, actually moved forward slowly with his push!
The surrounding soldiers were stunned.
"What are you looking at!" Ran Ming's forehead veins bulged: "Push the cart!"
The dozen or so surviving cart pushers seemed to wake from a dream and hurriedly stepped forward.
With Ran Ming, this "human beast," joining the fray, the battering ram's speed suddenly increased, advancing twenty, thirty, fifty steps forward amidst the rain of arrows...
The Tang soldiers on the city wall also witnessed this scene.
"Fire arrows! Fire arrows at that bald guy!" the commander roared.