Chapter 700
Chapter 700
“Your Majesty the Queen, please rest assured. Troops from the surrounding castles and districts are rushing here. The fastest will arrive by tomorrow. Our Chu capital is tall and sturdy; it will never fall unless attacked by a hundred thousand men.”
The Queen of Chu was in her fifties. While her radiant beauty had faded, she had maintained herself well, retaining much of her elegant grace. The Queen of Chu asked,
“Who leads the Yue army?”
“Ning Zheng and Shen Lang!”
A bone-deep resentment flared in the Queen of Chu’s eyes. In the last battle on the border, Shen Lang had played the State of Chu like a fiddle.
“Shen Lang? Does his army have wings? Did they fly all the way to our capital?”
“It seems they marched north from the State of Jiang, crossing over a thousand leagues of snow-covered mountains.”
Hearing this, the Queen of Chu said,
“That’s impossible. No army has ever crossed the great snowy mountains, and none ever will.”
Everyone fell silent. If they hadn’t crossed the snowy mountains, had they truly flown here? The Queen of Chu waved her hand dismissively, as if it didn’t matter.
“How they came is not important. What’s important is how we kill them! Privy Councilor Lian, how many defenders are in the capital right now?”
“There are twenty thousand escort troops and ten thousand imperial guards. In addition, I have conscripted the household retainers of all the powerful clans in the capital, gathering another ten thousand.”
Lian Jing, the Privy Councilor of Chu, replied.
“Forty thousand? Can you gather more?”
The Privy Councilor replied to the queen’s question.
“There are many escort agencies and gangs within the city. If we offer them official positions, we can probably conscript another ten or twenty thousand men!”
“Conscript them quickly. This is no time to be stingy.”
Privy Councilor Lian Jing internally disagreed. What mattered in an army was the quality of its elite soldiers, not sheer numbers. But as a Privy Councilor, his voice didn't carry much weight. The true helmsman of the Privy Council was the Crown Prince of Chu. Besides, it seemed some of the ministers gathered here were making a mountain out of a molehill. Shen Lang had fewer than ten thousand men and had brought no siege equipment. They must be exhausted after marching thousands of leagues. For such an army to attack a fortress like the Chu capital was nothing short of suicide. Surely, forty thousand troops were more than enough to defend the city?
“Continue conscripting soldiers. Order all troops from the surrounding castles and districts to mobilize and surround Shen Lang and Ning Zheng’s army. I want them all dead. Not a single one will return to Yue alive. Let Ning Zheng and Shen Lang learn that those who dare to violate the sanctity of our Chu capital will die a miserable death with no place for burial!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
* * *
After arriving at the capital of Chu, Shen Lang’s nine thousand five hundred soldiers did not attack immediately. Instead, they rested in place and waited for dawn. Inside the capital, a frantic conscription was underway. The armed retainers of the powerful clans all gathered into the army. Local ruffians and gang members were also assembled, and various gang leaders and escort agency chiefs were transformed into military officers. The people of the Chu capital, initially shocked by the news of Shen Lang’s army, were now thoroughly enraged, their fighting spirit soaring.
*The people of Yue are too arrogant. How dare they attack our capital with fewer than ten thousand men? It’s not just a fool’s dream; it’s utter madness!*
Countless local ruffians and martial artists answered the call to arms, and within a few hours, another twenty thousand men were conscripted. These local thugs sought to bask in unprecedented glory.
*They say the rise and fall of a nation is everyone’s responsibility. And now, the Queen herself has asked us to step forward. We may be scoundrels, but we love Chu dearly.*
“Let’s earn some merit!”
“Let’s kill Ning Zheng and Shen Lang!”
“Let’s flay those Yue bastards and burn them alive!”
*The King slaughters our enemies on the front lines, while we defend the capital in the rear. How glorious!*
Then, the Queen, the Privy Council, and the Department of State Affairs jointly issued a decree.
With such bounties declared, the capital of Chu was in an uproar. The large rewards promised a path to fortune. Twenty gold taels was enough to build a house and take a wife. It was enough money to spend on food, drink, and pleasure for several years. But why was the bounty for Ning Zheng, a prince of Yue, only five thousand gold taels, while Shen Lang, a mere live-in son-in-law, was worth ten thousand?
“Let’s go get rich! Let’s go! If we kill that pretty boy Shen Lang, we’ll live in wealth and glory for the rest of our lives!”
“Can we trade Shen Lang’s flesh, or even his cock, for money?”
“My good sirs, that bastard Shen Lang dared to raid our capital because he thinks there’s no one here to defend it. I suggest this: after we kill his entire army, let’s cut off all their cocks and send them to the King of Yue as a gift. What say you?”
“Excellent, excellent! But should we send Shen Lang’s cock to Jin Mulan, or to Aruna?”
“Send the cock to Jin Mulan, and the balls to Aruna and Ning Yan, those sluts.”
They were local ruffians, accustomed to spewing vulgarities daily. But such talk absolutely boosted their morale. As time passed, more and more defenders gathered in the capital of Chu. Forty thousand, fifty thousand, sixty thousand, seventy thousand... This situation was different from the surprise attack on the Shu capital by Deng Ai, mentioned earlier. At that time, Wei was strong and Shu was weak, so the officials and people of Shu were filled with despair. Moreover, the weak-willed Liu Shan had surrendered with barely a fight.
But the Chu of today was different. Now, Chu was strong and Yue was weak. The King of Chu was advancing bravely on the front lines, poised to annihilate Yue. The people of the Chu capital were brimming with pride and a great sense of self-importance. Besides, Shen Lang had brought only nine thousand men; he had clearly come to die. In such a situation, earning military merit and grasping shimmering gold would be easy. Why wouldn’t they go for it? Everyone was enraged by Shen Lang’s audacious attack. The martial artists within the capital didn't see this battle as a danger; rather, they saw this crisis as a golden opportunity to strike it rich.
* * *
After resting and regrouping for several hours, dawn broke. The nine thousand five hundred soldiers under Shen Lang began to assemble. From the sky, one could see more than five groups of soldiers approaching the Chu capital. These were all reinforcements sent from the surrounding castles and districts. Of course, they were not elite frontline troops, but local garrisons. Looking up at the walls of the Chu capital, countless defenders were packed tightly together. Their armor and weapons were somewhat uniform, but their military formations were not clearly defined. Yet, excitement gleamed in every defender's eyes. They weren’t looking at Shen Lang’s army as people, but as military merits and gold taels.
Shen Lang swept his gaze over them.
*So many defenders in the city? Sixty thousand? Seventy thousand? Weren’t there originally only thirty thousand? To think their numbers more than doubled overnight.*
“Where is Shen Lang? Where is His Highness Ning Zheng?”
Privy Councilor Lian Jing of Chu shouted toward Shen Lang and Ning Zheng’s army. Shen Lang couldn’t even be bothered to respond. Ning Zheng stepped forward, bowed, and said,
“Ning Zheng greets Privy Councilor Lian.”
Lian Jing said coldly,
“Your Highness Ning Zheng, you have truly surprised us.”
Ning Zheng replied,
“Our two nations are at war. As long as we do not slaughter civilians, nothing should be surprising.”
Lian Jing laughed and said,
“You intend to attack our Chu capital with an army of less than ten thousand? What a joke! You are a prince of Yue, a man of noble birth, so I should grant you some face. But since you have committed such a disgraceful act, do not blame me for showing no mercy! If I do not kill you all today, the world will laugh at Chu for being weak and incompetent. Ning Zheng, Shen Lang, if I do not kill you today, may I end up like this sword!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lian Jing snapped the sword in his hand.
“Attack the city!”
Ning Zheng immediately gave the order without delay.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
The war drums sounded. The Second Nirvana Army advanced to the front of the formation, followed by the sharpshooters of the Savage Tribes. A total of seven thousand five hundred men marched forward in orderly steps, drawing ever closer to the walls of the Chu capital. The walls were so high that it strained the eyes to look up at them. Two hundred meters, one hundred and fifty meters... The distance to the wall steadily decreased.
“Halt!”
“Fire!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Seven thousand five hundred archers loosed their bows like a torrential downpour, and a dense rain of arrows fell fiercely upon the city walls. The defenders of the Chu capital were not particularly concerned.
*From this distance, and shooting upwards? Bullshit. How could arrows shot like that have any killing power?*
But when the rain of arrows descended, a spray of blood erupted in all directions. Hundreds of men on the walls were struck and fell, stunning the people of Chu.
*W-what kind of demonic archers are these? To have such killing power from so far away?*
The defenders, not as brave as the Savage Tribe warriors, keenly felt the power of Shen Lang's arrow volleys. They all crouched down behind the battlements to protect themselves. This was certainly a way to reduce casualties. However, the number of defenders crowded on the walls was too great, and the arrows, arcing in a parabola, rained down from the sky. As volley after volley fell, casualties mounted among the groups of defenders.
Thwump, thwump, thwump, thwump.
A moment later, the trebuchets on the city walls began to unleash their power. The capital had over sixty defensive trebuchets in total. Fifteen were installed on each side of the wall, completely fixed in place. However, the capital walls were so long that no more than ten trebuchets were within range of Shen Lang’s army.
After a loud roar, a dozen massive stones rained down toward Shen Lang’s army with a deafening crash. They left astonishingly large craters in the ground, but the results were negligible. It was a miracle for a trebuchet to hit the enemy on its first volley. Mulan nocked an arrow, drew her bow, and took aim at one of the trebuchets.
Whoosh.
It was a massive bow, over two meters long, and the arrow was fitted with a special arrowhead crafted by Shen Lang.
Bang.
The master archer Mulan’s arrow struck the trebuchet’s lever, burying itself several inches deep. Of course, that alone was not enough to destroy the trebuchet. But the next moment...
BOOM!
An explosion rang out, and the thick lever of the trebuchet snapped instantly. The top part of the machine flew off, turning the nearby Chu soldiers into minced meat. Then, Mulan began a miraculous and astounding performance.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Every trebuchet within range was struck by her arrows, exploding and shattering violently. The massive arrows contained gunpowder, more than enough to destroy the wooden machines. In the end, all ten-odd trebuchets on the Chu capital wall were destroyed. Next, Mulan drew her bow and aimed at Lian Jing, the commander of the Chu capital’s forces. This arrow was tipped with a deadly cyanide poison. Anyone struck by it was certain to die, and even the slightest scratch while dodging the attack would mean certain death.