Chapter 690
Chapter 690
Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate.
When Jin Mulan led three thousand soldiers of the Second Nirvana Army on an expedition to South Vulture City, the fortress walls were instantly deserted. The commander, Nangong Ao, naturally noticed this, but he chose not to risk an attack. Instead, he opted for a conservative defense. He suspected it might be a trap. Moreover, he dispatched dozens of scout parties to survey the surroundings, preparing for any potential ambush. However, news soon arrived from South Vulture City. The report stated that Jin Mulan had attempted to seize South Vulture City with three thousand elite soldiers. Although she had failed, she had broken through the encirclement without losing any troops.
Hearing this, Nangong Ao was stunned.
‘I knew Shen Lang was capable of insane schemes, but I never expected Jin Mulan to be just as reckless. Attacking South Vulture City with only three thousand men? Doesn't that mean the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate is practically empty?’
He immediately consulted with Commander Shayan on whether to attack at this opportune moment. They still had nearly thirty thousand troops under their command, half of whom were surrendered soldiers from the State of Yue, and the other half vassal troops from the South Vulture State. The details of their discussion were unimportant; Commander Shayan's opinion was to strike at once. Soon after, Nangong Ao mobilized twenty thousand troops to attack the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate again, but to his surprise, the result was another devastating defeat.
Inside the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate, there were only eight hundred soldiers of the Second Nirvana Army and about three thousand private soldiers of the Jin Clan. The Jin Clan's private soldiers, while not possessing any extraordinary archery skills, were armed with remarkable crossbows. These crossbows were incredibly powerful, rivaling a two-dan strongbow. The Jin Clan's soldiers used a more specialized tool that didn't even require them to draw a bowstring. Their firing rate was extremely slow, but the power of the crossbows was astonishing.
If this had been the first siege attempt by Nangong Ao's coalition forces, the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate might have been in real danger. An army attacking a fortress for the first time has high morale. But now? Having been slaughtered by the enemy twice, the morale of Nangong Ao's army had plummeted to its lowest point. After suffering over three thousand casualties out of twenty thousand men, their morale shattered once more, and deserters began to appear. Nangong Ao's attack on the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate had ended in another crushing defeat.
Commander Shayan was furious, so enraged he could have slaughtered all the surrendered Yue soldiers himself. Compared to the Shaman warriors, they were too weak, possessed no fighting spirit, and were a disgrace to the name of 'warrior'. Eventually, everyone realized that the main force of the Second Nirvana Army was not inside the fortress, but Nangong Ao's army had completely lost the will to attack the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate.
* * *
Compared to the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate, the situation at Yangguo City was far more dire. After about ten days, the effects of the Golden Dragon's Blood began to fade rapidly. Of course, the guards were still much stronger than they had been before. But the first things to disappear were their courage and fighting spirit. Recalling the moments they had fought bravely on the battlefield felt like a nightmare; they couldn't even imagine themselves acting that way.
‘Gods! Was that really me, fighting like a madman? When did I become so unafraid of death?’
This isn't to say the guards went from being incredibly brave to being as timid as mice. The effects hadn't worn off to that extent yet. In fact, the first thing that appeared was a sense of despondency. They no longer showed any signs of fervor or high spirits, but they weren't terrified either. They simply fell into a listless state, as if filled with self-doubt. It was as if they had expended all their excitement and fervor in the previous battle. The army's morale gradually declined. This was because they had already fought the main force of the Shaman warriors and now understood just how powerful their opponents were.
It was then that Su Nan began launching small-scale probing attacks. The first few assaults were repelled by the First Nirvana Army. The three hundred soldiers of the Nirvana Army were unbelievably brave. Moreover, they wore the same armor as the guards, leading people to initially suspect that the effects of the Golden Dragon's Blood consumed by the guards hadn't faded at all.
But after three probing attacks, Su Nan finally saw the truth. He became certain that the guards' fighting spirit and combat effectiveness were rapidly declining. From then on, he stopped the probing attacks and simply maintained the siege, no longer assaulting the city. He was waiting for the effects of the Golden Dragon's Blood to disappear completely before attacking the city again.
On the fifteenth day of the second month, Su Nan received a familiar face: Shu Tingyu, who had come from the Hidden Yuan Society to mediate. He told Su Nan to temporarily halt the siege, explaining that the State of Yue might be entering into entirely new negotiations with Prince Gong. Su Nan was puzzled.
‘New negotiations? How could Prince Gong possibly agree to that? Wasn't it Ning Yuanxian who voluntarily rejected Prince Gong's goodwill in the first place?’
Shu Tingyu explained that the situation had changed. In a very ambiguous tone, he advised Su Nan that his top priority now should be to dispatch a large force to support Nangong Ao and take this opportunity to eliminate the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate and settle his grudges. The Zhu Clan's change of heart to support Prince Qi was still a secret, so Su Nan couldn't have known about it. However, being politically astute, he read between the lines of Shu Tingyu's words.
Following that, Su Nan received another mediator. This time, it was Xue Ban, the heir to the Count of Wu'an's Estate. The terms he offered were even more tempting. If Su Nan halted his northward advance and sent reinforcements to Nangong Ao to destroy the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate, he would be given back the Su Clan's former territory, the Marquisate of Zhenyuan, and even the entire city of Zhenyuan. In other words, they were offering to restore everything Su Nan had lost, and even give him more than before. His fiefdom would be more than double its former size.
Su Nan replied with a cold smile.
“If I don't advance north, the Prince of Wu's army will march south, and the glory of destroying the State of Yue will go to him. Our Great Southern Kingdom will gain no merit.”
Shu Tingyu replied with a smile.
“The Prince of Wu will not march south.”
Upon hearing those words, the politically sensitive Su Nan understood the implications. How could he not? He was a veteran minister, once one of the leaders of the Yue court. He immediately concluded that the Third Prince, Prince Qi, was about to ascend the throne. The Hidden Yuan Society had changed its stance, and even the Zhu Clan had switched sides. If these two great powers pressured the State of Wu, the Prince of Wu might truly be prevented from launching a war.
If the Prince of Wu, under pressure from the Great Yan Dynasty, did not dispatch troops to attack the State of Yue, Su Nan would be in a difficult position. The large army in the north of Yue would then move south to defend the capital, and Su Nan's tens of thousands of troops would have to face a defending force more than twice their size. Shu Tingyu hadn't said it outright, but his intention was crystal clear. If Su Nan stopped his northward march, ceased his attack on Yangguo City, and turned to eliminate the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate, the Su Clan could become independent. But that would mean betraying Prince Gong. Therefore, Shu Tingyu was not only tempting Su Nan but also trying to drive a wedge between him and Prince Gong.
Su Nan considered this seriously for nearly a full shichen. According to his plan, he was supposed to launch an all-out attack on Yangguo City on the twenty-fifth of the second month. But now, he had to change his plans. On the nineteenth of the second month, the entire army must attack, take Yangguo City, and immediately march north to attack the Yue capital. He could not give the Prince of Wu a chance to back out, nor could he give Prince Qi a chance to succeed. This judgment was almost identical to Prince Gong's thinking; it could truly be said that the ruler and his subject were of one mind.
The Su Clan's independence? Su Nan was naturally tempted by the offer, but for now, he was the only one left in the Su Clan. Without other family or children, and no direct army of his own, what use was a large fiefdom? For the Su Clan to become strong, it first needed to grow lush branches and leaves. A great tree must have deep roots in the ground for its trunk to thicken. Otherwise, everything was nothing more than a sandcastle, easily washed away. Su Nan firmly believed that the hope for the Su Clan's resurgence lay with the Great Southern Kingdom.
* * *
On the nineteenth of the second month, Su Nan's forty-seven-thousand-strong army assembled once again. Thirty thousand troops took their positions, while dozens of catapults and large crossbows were readied to once again unleash a frantic barrage upon the enemy. This time, Su Nan was determined to win.
‘I will take Yangguo City in half a day.’
The battle for Yangguo City had begun anew.
* * *
Inside Yangguo City, Gao Douhuan was greatly surprised. What on earth had happened? According to his predictions, Su Nan should have continued the siege for a few more days, waiting until the effects of the Golden Dragon's Blood had completely worn off, not attacked now. This attack meant something had changed.
*CRASH.*
A massive stone from a catapult slammed into the city wall with a deafening roar, and Yangguo City shook once more. The situation inside the city was very different from before. A fortnight ago, when Su Nan had first unleashed his catapults, the guards had not only been fearless but had grown even more excited. It had taken immense effort from Shen Lang, Gao Douhuan, and others to calm their frenzy. Otherwise, they would have leaped at the stones to prove their bravery on the walls or charged down to fight Su Nan to the death. Never before had soldiers with such courage and fearlessness of death been seen.
But this time, as Su Nan attacked again, the guards' once-impassive faces turned pale, and they even began to tremble slightly. Although no one fled, everyone was despondent and listless, as if suffering from depression. It seemed Shen Lang's potion had completely drained their spirit and energy. They still obeyed orders, but their hearts were no longer filled with the lust for battle. Gao Douhuan recalled what Shen Lang had said before.
“Your Highness Ning Zheng, the situation is about to collapse! In one shichen, Su Nan's army will launch a formal assault. We will not be able to defend the city this time; Yangguo City will fall! After taking the city, Su Nan's army will not pause for a moment before marching north to attack Tianyue City. Therefore, Your Highness, you must change into commoner's clothes and hide in the secret chamber Master Shen has prepared for you. After Su Nan's army departs, you must secretly make your way to the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate and then cross the sea to Raging Tide City.”
“And you?”
“I am the supreme commander on this battlefield. How can I flee? I will, of course, share life and death with my brothers.”
Ning Zheng said calmly.
“You are willing to die for our State of Yue, for the domain of the Ning Clan. As a son of the Ning Clan, where would I run?”
Gao Douhuan said, moved.
“Your Highness, this battle is hopeless. We are certain to lose. Yangguo City will fall, and the guards will be annihilated. I am a straightforward man, not one for cunning schemes. As the commander of this army, I cannot abandon my troops and flee. But you can, Your Highness. If you live, there is hope for the future.”
“I, too, am a straightforward and stubborn man. Do not forget, I am the new Great General of the Pacified South. To ask me to abandon my army and flee is something I can never do.”
Gao Douhuan raised his voice.
“Your Highness, your sacrifice would be meaningless! You must go to Raging Tide City. Only then will you have a chance to rise again.”
Ning Zheng shook his head.
“Then hide for now. After that, how about you return to the capital as quickly as possible to organize its defense?”
“Do not try to deceive me. There is no need for more words. If we are to die, we die together. My battlefield is Yangguo City. If I flee from here, what explanation could I give to others?”
Ning Zheng pointed to the guards and said.
“If we are to die, we die together!”
As Ning Zheng drew his sword with force, a fiery flame seemed to ignite in the hearts of the utterly despondent and demoralized guards. This time, it wasn't because of Shen Lang's potion, but because of Ning Zheng's spirit—a vow to live and die together.