Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Breaching the City—Victory?

One cloud ladder after another was placed against the city walls, and the soldiers of the Celestial Master Army climbed up one by one.

At the rear, the sound of war drums changed accordingly, becoming increasingly heavy, each beat louder and more spaced apart. Under the urging of the drumbeats and the supervision team, the siege vehicle finally arrived beneath the city walls.

This was a large weapon over two zhang tall, primarily made of wood. Its overall structure was akin to a pointed wooden house, exceptionally sturdy, equipped with six wheels, covered in oxhide. It relied on the speed and kinetic energy of the battering ram inside to break the city gate or damage the city walls.

“Move aside, let me do it,” Huang Da shouted forcefully, arriving at the rear of the siege vehicle.

“Marshal Huang, let me assist you,” Song Niu rushed over as well.

The two jointly grasped the battering ram and moved it backward. Hanging by iron chains in the middle, the ends were iron-clad logs, starting to gather momentum as they were pulled back.

“Bang!”

A tremendous earth-shattering noise struck the city gate of Zhuima City heavily, directly breaking one of the tree root bars behind the gate.

Dozens of Yu State Army soldiers bracing inside the tunnel behind the gate felt a formidable force transferred onto them.

The city gate did not budge.

“Again,” Huang Da shouted forcefully.

Meanwhile, Liang Song, having learned of the gate being rammed, immediately ordered the pouring of fire oil.

The civilian workers carried barrels of fire oil to the city top and, upon Liang Song’s order, poured it towards the siege vehicle below.

By the time the Celestial Master Army noticed, the top of the siege vehicle was already covered in fire oil. As a torch was thrown down, a raging fire instantly ignited.

Huang Da’s personal soldiers quickly retrieved iron spades from the siege vehicle, dug soil on the spot, poured water into it, then applied the mud onto the fire as an attempt to extinguish it.

Although the siege vehicle had been pre-emptively coated with mud to prevent fire attacks, if the fire was too intense, it could still destroy the siege vehicle.

More and more Celestial Master Army soldiers climbed onto the city walls, while those of the Yu State Army on the walls were decreasing little by little.

However, Liang Song was not worried at all. Waving the flag in his hand, with the transmission of the personal soldiers’ order, a centurion led a complete battalion of one hundred soldiers onto the city walls.

The space on the city wall was limited, still having to store beating wood, rolling stones, gold juice, and such.

To avoid congestion, Liang Song divided them into squads of one hundred, sending them up successively.

“Meet your doom.”

Shi Meng, alone at the pass, wielded a Double Pumpkin Copper Hammer, smashing into a rebel army soldier rushing towards the city top.

“Clang!”

The great saber fell to the ground. That Celestial Master Army soldier immediately spewed a mouthful of blood, was sent flying backward, landed on the ground with a wretched scream, and then closed their eyes.

“Victory!”

The surrounding Yu State Army soldiers, inspired by Shi Meng’s bravery, were stirred with bloodlust.

They began a ferocious fight.

Ultimately, the Celestial Master Army could not match the regular army. As the casualty ratios continued to increase, the assaulting soldiers dared not ascend the cloud ladders again. They wanted to retreat but were cut down by the supervision team.

But the number of frightened retreating Celestial Master Army soldiers grew, even the supervision team was struggling to hold.

The Celestial Master Army began a large-scale rout.

On the tower, Lu Yonggang witnessed this scene, furrowed his brow, and picked up a black command flag from the side, waving it.

On Chen Mo’s side, Sun Meng observed the waving command flag and promptly said, “County Magistrate, it’s our turn.”

Chen Mo had already seen the massive rout spreading before him, nodded, and then waved his hand.

Sun Meng waved the command flag in his hand, and the Divine Brave Guard moved in unison, their steps neat and audible, drawing the surrounding troops’ attention, even Lu Yonggang’s gaze shifted over.

The Divine Brave Guard advanced a hundred steps, then squatted down, took out their longbows, Divine Arm Crossbows, and crossbows, aiming at the routed soldiers retreating towards the central army.

Upon entering shooting range, Chen Mo commanded in a deep voice: “Fire.”

“Fire,” Sun Meng echoed.

Below, Han Wu also shouted.

Within the Divine Brave Guard, Su Wu heard the order and roared: “Fire!”

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”

Numerous arrows shot in unison.

The Divine Arm Crossbows shot down the front-line routed soldiers, while the feathered arrows landed in the ground a step ahead, serving mainly a deterrent effect.

Simultaneously, a loud shout echoed from the central army: “Don’t retreat, go back!”

“Don’t retreat, go back!”

“Don’t retreat, go back!”

The routed soldiers, eyeing the bows and crossbows in the Divine Brave Guard’s hands and the fallen comrades, swallowed and could only turn back.

“Dong, dong, dong…”

The heavy drumbeats resumed, one after another, as Lu Yonggang personally beat the drum.

“Victory must be ours!”

“Victory must be ours!”

“Victory must be ours!”

High shouts came from the Celestial Master Army’s central force.

At the city top, Liang Song saw this scene, his expression grew solemn, understanding that the rebel army planned to pile up with human lives.

The Celestial Master Army started another large-scale climb on the cloud ladders.

The number of both armies began to decrease, with the reduction in the Celestial Master Army being five times that of the Yu State Army.

“Bang bang, bang bang, bang bang…”

The siege ram was rhythmically pounding the city gate, the bolt behind the gate had been completely snapped.

But if they thought this alone could break through the city gate, they were mistaken.

The Yu State Army had already lowered the Mystic Sect gate, then the Thousand-Pound Gate, and dozens of Yu State soldiers were pushing from behind, attempting to break through the city gates and enter the city, but it wasn’t so simple.

The siege dragged from morning until noon, and the gushing blood pooled on the ground, forming blood pits, then gradually congealed, turning purple and black.

On the city walls, the drums roared, and the Yu State Army shouted with bravery as they advanced.

The Celestial Master Army began to collapse again.

“Release.”

On the middle army’s tower, Lu Yonggang waved his hand, and the catapults, loaded with stone bullets, immediately launched, smashing and slaughtering soldiers from both sides without distinction.

The Yu State Army had not taken cover in advance, resulting in large casualties.

“The rebel army is crazy; their own people are on the city walls.” Qin Lang pulled a soldier over to shield him, and the next second, the spot where the soldier was standing was blasted into a pit.

“Sir, the rebel army has launched another attack, and it’s yet another army.”

“Sir, it’s not good. A breach has opened in the west, and a large number of rebels have climbed up using cloud ladders.”

“It’s not good, the Mystic Sect gate has been breached.”

Reports of the military situation were passed through Signal Soldiers to Liang Song’s ears.

“Sir, let me watch the city gate,” Shi Meng volunteered.

Liang Song nodded, his gaze fixed on the rebel forces surging in from not far away, his expression growing grave.

On the Celestial Master Army’s side, Li Gan led twenty thousand central troops to reinforce the front line, and the retreating soldiers, who saw the reinforcements arriving, turned back to attack, whether out of fear or something else.

With the addition of these twenty thousand troops, the Celestial Master Army gained the upper hand for the first time.

Meanwhile, Lu Yonggang had already set up a fourth wave of attacking troops, determined to capture Zhuima City.

At this moment, he still had over twenty thousand troops.

Lu Yougang sent a Signal Soldier to inform Chen Mo that he would temporarily lend him five thousand troops, and if Li Gan’s twenty thousand had not yet broken through, it would be his turn to attack.

Chen Mo could only accept the order.

In his heart, he was somewhat impressed.

Lu Yougang’s method of incrementally increasing the siege forces was indeed suitable for the Celestial Master Army.

It was clear that no matter which stage of the Celestial Master Army experienced a large-scale collapse, it could be stopped at any time by deploying the next stage of troops, keeping morale high throughout.

The battle continued until 3:00 PM.

Seeing no sign of breaking through Zhuima City, Lu Yonggang’s heart was in his throat.

As the Commander-in-Chief, his pressure was undoubtedly immense, with his palms sweating profusely.

But he knew, given the current situation, they could only move forward, not retreat.

If they retreated now, the heavy casualties would cause a massive drop in morale, leaving no fighting spirit.

Just as he raised the black flag in his hand, ready to signal Chen Mo to lead the charge.

“The city is breached.”

“The city gate is breached.”

A tide of cheers came from the direction of Zhuima City.

After several hours of battering by Huang Da and Song Niu, their Innate Spiritual Qi was exhausted, and they could only continue battering with sheer strength. When they were tired, they let their Personal Soldiers take over, replenished their strength, and then resumed the battering.

Perseverance pays off.

The city gate, along with the Thousand-Pound Gate behind it, were smashed open together.

The Personal Soldiers surged in like a tide.

However, the casualties of the Celestial Master Army were also extremely severe. After three consecutive waves of attacks, they were on the verge of collapse and mutiny.

The bodies piled up outside the city became like small hills, and the moat was stained red with blood.

Seeing the city gate breached, Lu Yonggang finally felt relieved, with sweat soaking his back.

Lu Yonggang drew his sword from his waist and laughed loudly, “Followers of the Celestial Master Sect, the city gate is broken; victory is in sight, and glory, beauty, and wine await in the city.

All troops attack.”

“Black Cavalry, charge with me!”

Below the tower, Lu Yougang’s confidant, also the commander of the Celestial Master Army’s scarce eight hundred cavalry, raised his Long Spear, pointed it skyward, squeezed his thighs, and led the eight hundred cavalry to charge out from the rear army, leading the first charge towards Zhuima City.

“General Chen, the city is breached,” said a black-faced man, excitedly to Chen Mo.

This man was the general of the five thousand troops Lu Yonggang had assigned to Chen Mo, also a vice general under Lu Yonggang, named Zhao Ye. The actual control of these five thousand troops was indeed in his hands.

After the battle, Zhao Ye was to lead these five thousand troops back.

Currently, however, these five thousand troops along with Zhao Ye were to follow Chen Mo’s orders.

“Go ahead.” Seeing Zhao Ye’s excitement and the eager soldiers behind him, clearly unable to resist looting the city.

“Brothers, charge.” Zhao Ye waved his hand, leading the five thousand troops in.

Chen Mo led the Three Guards’ troops along with Lu Yonggang and the rear army into the city.

Inside the city, fierce hand-to-hand combat had already broken out in the streets.

The Yu State Army covered the civilians as they fought and retreated.

“Let the civilians go first, draw them in,” said Liang Song.

“Understood,” Shi Meng and Qin Lang responded warmly.

Then Shi Meng led his troops into the rebelling army flooding the city, shouting, “You rebel scum, your grandpa is here, if you want your grandpa’s head, come and take it.”

Saying that, he swung his double hammers, smashing a swath of them, and everyone hit vomited blood and fell.

“Hahaha,” Shi Meng laughed three times.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep