Chapter 1263 - 1258: Sudden Assault
Outside Yunjing City.
To the east, the Yan Army was on high alert. The Yan General rode at the front, ordering that no one light torches. Under the cover of darkness, soldiers in black armor stood afar, like hungry wolves lurking in shadows, fixated on the lantern-lit eastern gate of Yunjing City.
Their goal was to break through the east gate first and make Yunjing a possession of the Yan Kingdom.
To the north, Bai Jinxiu’s warhorse restlessly pawed the ground, impatiently eager to charge ahead, snorting heavy white vapor.
Under the black sails emblazoned with a white python, Bai Qingqi, clad in silver armor, held a spear with eyes blazing, leading the brothers and sisters of the Bai family and the Zhou soldiers, poised to strike like a mighty beast crouching in the night.
Their aim was to exhaustively annihilate Xiliang for the unification of the realm and rescue their fifth brother of the Bai family!
To the west, General Shen Kunyang and Xie Xun stood with the Yan and Zhou troops. The combined forces of the two nations attacked the west gate to help scatter Xiliang’s forces that were separately countering Zhou’s assault on the north gate and Yan’s on the east, requiring all their efforts.
Soldiers from both nations wore different armors, but their movements were identical, like the edges of a sword, sharp and exposed.
To the south, Bai Jinzhi planted her spear at her feet, fiercely tying the red ribbon atop her head. There she aimed to block Li Tianjiao’s escape from Yunjing like a copper wall and iron bastion! She vowed to behead the enemy General Cui Shanzhong as her elder sister did with the Shu Kingdom, avenging her fifth brother!
Surrounded by Yan and Zhou forces on all four sides, Xiliang had no escape routes.
The night was eerily silent, without a sound around the massive army, perhaps heralding the coming storm.
Soon, the guards atop Yunjing City’s walls suddenly became disorderly. From the direction of the eastern gate, flames soared and thick smoke billowed, followed closely by a cluster of red fireworks rising into the sky.
The fireworks were the signal—to open the gates!
To the east.
The Yan General raised his head with the fireworks shooting up, drew his sword from his waist, and shouted hoarsely, "Yan soldiers! The time has come! This battle is to annihilate Xiliang! All our Yan soldiers... will be recorded in history! We are the heroes of Xiliang’s downfall! Attack!"
To the south.
As fireworks burst, he sternly grabbed the reins, turned his horse, the gleaming armor reflecting cold light, noble and unmatched: "Zhou soldiers! Those who stand here today include the Bai family army... and the Zhou army! Those who once alongside my Bai family sacrificed life in the South to protect tens of thousands of citizens of Zhou... Comrades facing ninety deaths for every life! Soldiers whose blood remains hot, serve to protect the nation, and pacify the realm! This battle is pivotal for the unification of the realm! It’s also our Zhou’s revenge battle! Xiliang... can only be destroyed by Zhou!"
"Soldiers!" Bai Qingqi shouted wildly, astride his steed rearing and neighing, raising his spear high into the sky, "Attack!"
"Sound the war drums! Attack!" Bai Jinxiu couldn’t suppress her excitement, turned her horse, drew her sword, and led her troops charging forward.
Bai Jinxiu and Bai Jinzhao led the vanguard, charging towards the northern gate of Yunjing...
Following closely behind them was a long line of shield bearers and catapults aligned in single file, rumbling like an advancing thunderstorm towards Yunjing.
For a moment, war drums and horns echoed together, the shouts of soldiers reverberating around Yunjing City on all sides.
General Cui Shanzhong saw from a distance as he galloped from the Imperial Palace to the northern gate, witnessing the Bai family’s army battling desperately against Xiliang’s soldiers inside the gate. The winch of the gate was turned by several Bai family soldiers pierced by arrows, the gate was slowly opening, even big enough for two people to pass through...
"Sound the drums! Where are our soldiers!" Amidst the chaos, Xiliang’s commander shouted loudly.
At this hour, soldiers should have been deep asleep, yet now with such commotion at all four gates, Xiliang’s soldiers were sluggish to respond, which was quite peculiar.
In Xiliang’s camp, soldiers barely managed to wake up upon hearing noise, hastily using cold water to rouse their companions, shouting that the enemy had invaded.
The drowsy Xiliang soldiers hurriedly put on their clothes, seeing the latrine outside crammed with Xiliang troops, urging those inside to hurry.
"Quick quick quick! The enemy is attacking! We’ll pull rank later! Move!" A general shouted while jumping to put on his boots.
At the gate, Xiliang soldiers in battle suffered spasms in their belly, unable to withstand the offensive, some even unable to hold back and drenched their pants, sweating heavily in pain.
General Cui Shanzhong was stuck in the distance behind his soldiers unable to get close to the gate, tugging at his reins, his eyes wide as he shouted, "Stop them!"
But Cui Shanzhong’s voice was completely drowned out by the thunderous sound of battle cries.
The Bai family army, captured alive by Cui Shanzhong back to Yunjing, was now pivotal in Yunjing’s downfall!
Once the gate opened, the Bai family army could storm in, and breaching the Imperial Palace would only be a matter of time.
Outside the northern gate, Bai Jinxiu and Bai Jinzhao’s cavalry sped ahead with the vanguard into Yunjing, where the cold gleam of their longswords turned every strike into a spray of blood, screams echoing continuously...
Zhou soldiers braced against the gate, pushing it forcefully inward to widen the entrance.
Inside the city, those Bai family soldiers personally seized by Cui Shanzhong donned Xiliang armor, twisted a white bandage around their arms for distinction from Xiliang troops, endlessly flinging themselves at the reinforcement winch, desperately turning it, one fell wounded, replaced by another, shouting as they turned, then perishing by arrow... or blade!
Bai Jinxiu had already noticed the situation, tugged at the reins, and charged directly towards the winch, her steed rearing in a gallop.
The cavalry followed closely behind Bai Jinxiu, charging towards the winch, ensuring their soldiers could safely turn it.
"Bai Jinzhao! Lead the charge onto the walls, seize the high ground, hoist the Bai family’s black sail with the white python over the walls! Boost our troops’ morale!" Bai Jinxiu ordered loudly, her eyes icy and severe, her longsword aimed at the direction of the city wall.
"Bai Jinzhao takes command!" Bai Jinzhao had been itching for the fight, leading soldiers courageously towards the city walls.
The gate widened more and more, with more Zhou soldiers flooding in, while outside troops still besieged the city. Xiliang’s defenders on the walls were struggling to fend off both Bai Jinzhao’s fierce soldiers and the Zhou army attacking the city, clearly unable to manage both sides.
Xiliang’s troops had been dispersed to contain the fire, their forces scattered across the four gates under siege, Yan and Zhou launched a surprise attack, and internal collusion existed in the city—all leading to Xiliang’s military inability to quickly coalesce a formidable and unified defending force.