Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 88: Xiongnu Cavalry Breaks Through the Gate

On the fifth day after Meng Tian led his army through Shenmu, the sky was clear and the view was unobstructed. Standing on the city wall, he looked out at the narrow valleys among the rolling mountains outside the pass and thought to himself, "The Xiongnu should be here soon. Did I miscalculate?"

Wuzhan guessed that the reason why Meng Tian led his troops to rush from Lintao to Yanmen Pass in a hurry must be that he had received intelligence that the Hun army was approaching and he went to resist. However, Wuzhan believed that the Huns' approach to Yanmen was just a bluff. The Huns had always been mainly composed of cavalry and had a fast marching speed. They often invaded the Central Plains at lightning speed, burned, killed, looted, and then left. They would definitely not choose to attack by force.

When Wuzhan was a child, he memorized the maps and terrain of each country in his mind, especially the area outside Yanmen Pass, where he spent the best time and was most familiar with it.

This Great Wall was built from Lintao to Shenmu in the west, and started from the Yan Great Wall in Liaodong in the east, connecting with the Zhao Great Wall, extending all the way to the Yinshan Mountains, separated by the Deshui River in the middle. It is ten thousand miles long.

But think about it, how can such a long Great Wall resist the Huns' cavalry? As the saying goes, "a whip is too long to reach", the Huns still come and go as they please, fighting a mobile war with the Qin soldiers, taking advantage of the Qin army's weaknesses to attack. Even if the Qin army was strong, it could only run around, useless, and could not outlast the Huns' cavalry.

The reason why Wuzhan believed that the Huns would attack Shenmu was that once Meng Tian's cavalry reached Yanmen, the other passes would be empty, and the Huns would turn west and attack nearby Shenmu, Yulin, Yanchi and other places. Hundreds of thousands of cavalry would easily break through these passes, and when Meng Tian led his troops to defend, the cities around these places would be looted.

……

Faintly hearing the neighing of war horses coming from outside the pass, Wuzhan frowned, knowing that the Hun's cavalry was coming. Then, wolf smoke rose up on the Great Wall, and horns sounded. Wei Pianjiang hurriedly gathered the soldiers and ran to the city wall to watch.

At this time, the clanking sound of cavalry appeared before the eyes of the Qin soldiers. Looking around, there were at least 30,000 cavalrymen, followed by ladders, battering rams and other siege equipment. They were a black mass, moving slowly and in an orderly manner.

Although General Wei had been on the battlefield for a long time, he had no command experience. When he saw 30,000 Hun cavalry approaching the city, he only had 3,000 soldiers to defend it. His mind went blank and he was terrified. He couldn't issue any orders for a long time.

The captain asked, "General, please give the order to deploy the defenses!"

Wei Pianjiang suddenly realized and said, "Okay! Give the order!" But he couldn't take his eyes off the Huns' cavalry. His face turned pale and his scalp numbed.

Seeing that the general still did not give orders, the captain asked, "General, please give orders!"

Wei Pianjiang shouted angrily: "You are idiots, do you even need to ask this? Close the city gates tightly and defend with all your might!" He groaned in his heart, why didn't the Hun cavalry attack Yanmen Pass but attacked Shenmu? The city wall has just been built and the rolling logs and rocks are not ready yet, how can they resist so many Huns? He has only been in office for a few days. Is he going to die on the job and perish with the city wall?

The captain said, "I am ignorant. I will pass the order immediately!"

The Qin soldiers were on full alert on the city wall, but every soldier knew that the city could not be defended. They were sweating profusely, their calves were weak, and they were waiting for death to approach.

The Hun army slowly arrived at the foot of the city, led by a burly man wearing animal skins, with bulging muscles, a fierce face, and loose curly black hair, like a beast eager to fight. Sitting under him was a howling tiger with sharp fangs and claws like blades. It was even taller than the surrounding war horses. On the tiger's back was a ten-foot-long, shiny black goose-wing long sword weighing a hundred pounds. This man was the newly rising Tiger General of the Huns, Xukotuo, ranked third in the Huns.

When the general saw Sukotaku, he was immediately frightened and hesitantly gave an order: "Archers, get ready. Shoot when they come up!"

Sukotaku glanced at the Qin soldiers on the city wall, his facial muscles twitched, and he ordered in a cold voice: "Knock the city gate open!"

The Xiongnu cavalry quickly dispersed on both sides, leaving a passage of more than ten feet. The rumbling sound of horse hooves and shouts came from the end of the formation, and yellow sand was flying. In an instant, hundreds of strong war horses, pulled heavy conical battering rams with iron chains, were driven by the cavalry and rumbled towards the gate, speeding up faster and faster.

When General Wei saw the huge cone-shaped battering ram, he was stunned. If it hit the city gate with such speed and force, the gate would be smashed immediately and the city wall would collapse instantly. He shouted in panic: "Shoot!"

Thousands of arrows were shot down from the city walls like dense rain. The hundreds of war horses were covered with vests, leaving only their eyes and air vents exposed. They were specially used for siege. The arrows were shot at the horses' backs and it was difficult to penetrate them. Even if a few horses fell, the chains would immediately become unhooked, which would not have much impact on the speed of the ramming car.

Just as the battering ram was about to hit the city gate, the war horses dispersed to both sides, bent back, and the chains came off. The battering ram was like an arrow shot from a bow, and with a "bang", it instantly smashed the sturdy city gate. Sparks flew, gravel flew, and the city wall collapsed with a "crash", leaving a hole more than ten feet wide. After the battering ram smashed the city gate, the remaining force was still there, and immediately killed dozens of soldiers guarding the city gate who could not dodge in time. After rushing out a hundred feet, it crashed into the rock with a "bang" and stopped.

Once the city gate was broken, all the Qin soldiers went into a panic. Few people would think of escaping, because according to Qin law, escaping also meant death. Only fighting would give them a chance to survive, but facing such a fierce army, the chance of survival was too slim.

On the contrary, General Wei calmed down. He thought that since he would die anyway, he might as well die with dignity. He shouted, "As long as the city survives, we live. If the city falls, we die too!" This was the oath shouted in unison by the soldiers of Yan State on the city wall when he followed Wang Ben to capture Liaodong. At that time, he was just a charging soldier. He felt quite inspired when he heard the shouts and was not afraid of death. At this moment, he suddenly remembered it.

The shouts became louder and louder, shaking the valley and boosting the morale of the Qin soldiers in the face of the upcoming fierce attack. After the city gate was knocked open, the Xiongnu cavalry did not attack immediately, but calmly watched the soldiers on the city wall and listened to their shouts.

Jin Xingzi, who was standing on the mountain wall, laughed and said, "I think if this shouting can kill the enemy, the world should belong to donkeys!"

Ling Kongzi laughed and said, "Big Tooth, what you said today makes a lot of sense."

Jin Xingzi said leisurely: "I just speak according to my own will, the law is in my heart!"

Ling Kongzi made a "Puh" sound and spat, "If I praise you a little, you will become an immortal!"

Jin Xingzi said, "Fool, fool! If we are on different paths, we cannot make plans together!" He then smiled and said to Wuzhan, who had been silent in front of him, "Little Master, the Huns are here too, and the opportunity has come too. Why don't you go and help Wei Lin command the defense? Isn't this the time for you to show your skills?"

Wuzhan looked at the battle that was about to break out at the foot of the mountain and said calmly: "This is not the opportunity. We need to wait!"

Jin Xingzi said: "In my opinion, there is no need to wait. I just want to go meet the tiger!"

Wuzhan said: "Even if I resist the invasion this time, I can only be a soldier defending the city. It will be difficult for me to leave. Moreover, the merit of defending the city is too different from the merit of annihilating the enemy. This Wei Lin also needs to be eliminated. Although he doesn't know why I came here, it is not appropriate to keep him. I can't make any mistakes."

Jin Xingzi said, "It seems no one is giving us wine to drink!"

Ling Kongzi scolded: "You just want to drink. That wine is worth only a few dollars. The money we gave him can buy several cars. Besides, that wine was also obtained by the little master. In the future, if you follow the little master, will you still worry about not having wine to drink?"

Jin Xingzi muttered, "I was just talking casually, but you took it seriously."

……

The Qin soldiers on the city wall shouted for a long time, but when they saw that the Huns were not in a hurry to attack, the voices gradually stopped.

Sukotaku smiled contemptuously, waved his hand, and shouted: "Kill them all!"

The horn sounded immediately, and the Hun cavalry rushed towards the city gate like a tsunami. There was a loud rumbling sound, yellow sand rolled up, and the earth trembled. Seeing that they were about to reach the city wall, they drew their bows and shot thousands of arrows at the top of the city.

When the Qin soldiers saw the arrows coming at them, they immediately took out their shields to block them or hid behind the wall, not daring to show their heads. When the Wei general saw the cavalry trying to pass through the gate, he shouted angrily, "Shoot! Shoot!"

After hearing the order, several soldiers were ready to shoot arrows, but they were hit by arrows and died before they could even draw their bows. Who would dare to shoot again? In an instant, hundreds of cavalrymen crossed the rubble, rushed through the gate, drew their scimitars, and fought with the defenders under the city. There was a bloody scene, and the sounds of shouting, clanging, and screaming continued.

After the rain of arrows stopped, the Qin soldiers drew their bows in panic and shot at the cavalry under the city. The Xiongnu cavalry held up their shields to resist, and some cavalry were hit by arrows and fell off their horses. However, the vast majority of cavalry continued to pour into the city. Hundreds of Qin soldiers under the city were either killed by the iron cavalry or hacked to death by scimitars. Thousands of corvées resisted with wooden poles, iron sticks, etc., but this resistance was powerless. The Xiongnu cavalry swung their knives and hacked the thin corvées to death like cutting wheat. Blood flowed like a river and screams shook the sky.

The Hun soldiers followed the passage and climbed up the city wall, fighting with the Qin soldiers on the wall. People kept falling down from the wall, and after landing, their brains burst and blood was everywhere.

General Wei was already in a desperate fight, he was extremely brave, every time he stabbed with the spear in his hand, a Hun would scream in pain, but there were too many Hun soldiers rushing forward, he could not kill them all, his body gradually became exhausted, and as he killed more and more, he found that there were only a few Qin soldiers left.

At this time, there was a tiger roar. Xu Ketuo rode on the Roaring Sky Tiger and jumped onto the city wall from the passage. The surrounding Huns made way and the Qin soldiers retreated in fear. The Roaring Sky Tiger's thick claws "Pu Ta! Pu Ta!" stepped on the ground and slowly walked towards the Qin soldiers. Xu Ketuo held a black goose-wing long knife in his hand. His eyes were full of murderous intent and his facial muscles kept twitching, like a beast about to attack. The long knife suddenly whistled and swung up, instantly cutting off the bodies of several Qin soldiers, and blood spurted into the sky.

General Wei knew that Sukotaku was coming to take his head, and he definitely couldn't avoid it, so he swung his spear and stabbed at Sukotaku. Seeing the spear coming at him, Sukotaku snorted coldly, showing a contemptuous look, swung his long sword, drew a black semicircle, and swept across with a whistling sound. With a "clang", the spear was cut off and flew out, and with a "crack", General Wei's head flew up, and a column of blood spurted out more than three feet high.

At this moment, General Wei saw the scenery above and below the city. Blood flowed like a river, and not a single Qin soldier was left. He also saw three figures on a high mountain in the distance, but he could no longer tell who they were.

(End of this chapter)