Chapter 382: 367: Great winds arise, clouds soar, war drums beat, and horses neigh!

Chapter 382: Chapter 367: Great winds arise, clouds soar, war drums beat, and horses neigh!

As a group of people stopped a hundred zhang away from the city wall, Yang Zhenshan contemplated as he gazed upon the majestic Chongshan Pass.

“Still, do we not know how many crossbows are mounted on the city walls?” asked Yang Zhenshan.

Niu Zhuang shook his head, “I’ve inquired many, yet nobody knows how many crossbows are on the city walls!”

Crossbows are the most powerful weapons for city defense, and Chongshan Pass, being the most crucial fort of Chongshan Town, is not lacking in them.

If this were five years ago at Chongshan Pass, whether it be Yang Zhenshan, Niu Zhuang, or Tang Feihu, all would be clear about the number of crossbows on the city walls.

But now, their understanding of Chongshan Pass is limited.

Ji Feiyu’s actions have always been secretive, and he has been intentionally concealing them; these years, both Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu knew very little about the military arrangements within Chongshan Pass.

“There are two walls in Chongshan Pass; although both walls are the same height, they are different.”

“The southern wall was built later, only one zhang wide, but the inner city wall, being the first constructed, is one zhang and eight chi wide!”

Tang Feihu said.

The layout of Chongshan Pass resembles a ‘日’ character.

Initially, Chongshan Pass was just a pass, but as more merchants relocated here, the court built a new city behind the pass.

The eastern and western sides of Chongshan Pass connect to forests and are unsuitable for siege; only the northern and southern sides are feasible for large-scale siege warfare.

The north wall was originally built to fend off the Hu Clan, not only thick but also equipped with many traps, the most crossbows, including catapults and archery slits.

The southern wall is relatively simpler, but attacking from the south means one must also overcome the central wall after breaching the South City Wall.

The defense of the central wall is certainly not as strong as the northern wall, but breaching both walls may not be easier than breaching the northern one alone.

“The art of war prioritizes conquering the enemy’s heart, secondary is besieging cities.”

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard and softly spoke.

A direct assault is the least favored strategy; though they had spent twenty days preparing for the siege, Yang Zhenshan still wished to conquer the heart.

“But currently, we cannot contact anyone inside the city!” said Niu Zhuang.

There are many heart-conquering strategies among the thirty-six stratagems, such as the Beauty Trap, Reverse Spy Plot, Empty Fort Strategy, all partaking in psychological gambits.

Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu had contemplated many strategies but had not thought of a good one.

Yang Zhenshan shook his head, “No, we can contact someone inside the city, or rather, we can send a message to someone inside!”

“How do we send a message?” Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu looked at him puzzled.

Yang Zhenshan did not respond; instead, he looked toward Chongshan Pass and observed the clear sky, uttering a seemingly enigmatic statement:

“In two days, there will be a southeast wind, and it won’t be small!”

“What does the general mean by this?” Niu Zhuang was even more perplexed.

Yang Zhenshan smiled and said, “Let’s go, the old man has an idea now!”

Conquering the heart does not necessarily target the enemy’s main leader; it can also target the ordinary soldiers.

To strike at the enemy’s morale is also a form of conquering the heart.

As for how to do it, there are still numerous methods.

Yang Zhenshan already had plans in mind.

…

July 3rd.

The weather turned from cloudy to overcast, and the southeast wind in July roared ferociously.

Strong winds arose, and clouds drifted rapidly, the battle drums thumped, and horses neighed!

The beating of war drums, the wailing of horns.

Tens of thousands of troops marched out of camp, aligning below the city.

Storm clouds brewed, military might fluttered fiercely, a terrifying force and murderous intent spread, carried by the blustering wind towards Chongshan Pass, looming over it.

In the middle of the army, a tooth flag embroidered with ‘Yang’ was erected, followed by the raising of a royal command flag.

Yang Zhenshan rode his horse under the flag, his face somber as he looked towards Chongshan Pass.

Times had changed; now he was the General of Chongshan Town, possessing not only the court’s royal command flag but also his own tooth flag.

Under the raging wind, the flags fluttered loudly, blending with the rapid beat of the war drums and the dull blare of the horns, creating a music piece of heroic and robust melody.

On the opposite city wall, Prince Qing, Ji Feiyu, and Hou Yao stood in front of the city gate tower, overlooking the military formation that seemed capable of engulfing mountains and rivers.

“Yang Zhenshan finally can’t hold back anymore!” Ji Feiyu’s eyes gleamed.

He wasn’t afraid of Yang Zhenshan laying siege; on the contrary, he had been uneasy about Yang Zhenshan’s lack of action.

He was confident in holding back the army outside the city, but he worried that delaying might lead to other unforeseen changes.

Now that Yang Zhenshan had finally initiated the attack, he actually felt relieved.

Hou Yao, in his forties, was not tall, standing half a head shorter than Ji Feiyu, but he was very robust.

“Big brother, should we seize the opportunity to sally forth and make a sortie?” Hou Yao, being rather impulsive, wasn’t as composed as Ji Feiyu.

Before Ji Feiyu could respond, Prince Qing spoke first: “No, once we leave the city, we will expose flaws, which could likely give Yang Zhenshan the opportunity to breach the city.”

Compared to his time at Qinghua Prefecture, Prince Qing was evidently more composed at this moment.

Or rather, he had his own understanding of military affairs.

Indeed, Prince Qing was a very intelligent man, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to conceal such an elaborate scheme from the Military Department.

However, his flaw was also clear; he had lived in Qinghua Prefecture City for over thirty years without ever leaving, except to immerse himself in books—abundant in knowledge but lacking in worldly experiences.

His understanding of warfare was limited to military strategies.

Aware of his shortcomings, he placed his utmost trust in Xu Maocai and Duan Heng.

Employ with confidence, suspicion precludes use.

Unfortunately, Xu Maocai and Duan Heng let him down.

Having learned from the failures in Qinghua Prefecture, Prince Qing became even more cautious and composed.

However, his caution towards Yang Zhenshan was mixed with a hint of fear.

Indeed, it was fear of Yang Zhenshan.

“Prince is right, we should not act rashly now. What we need is to remain still to control the movement, and wait for Yang Zhenshan to show his flaws!” Ji Feiyu agreed.

Hou Yao was somewhat anxious, “But if we keep defending passively, what if the court sends a large army to support us?”

His concerns were not without reason.

Compared to the entirety of Da Rong, their forces were far from sufficient.

Not to mention the entirety of Da Rong, even if the court deployed part of the military from the northwest, they would struggle to cope.

The strongest of Da Rong’s border towns was Beiyuan Town, but the most elite was Suzhou Town in the northwest.

Suzhou Town was about the same size as Chongshan Town, but its cavalry was the best in all of Da Rong.

The Yunlong Dragon Guard led by Liang Chu was technically part of Suzhou Town, initially trained in the northwest with the help of Suzhou Town’s forces.

The Wuliang Hu Clan could contain Beiyuan Town, but not Suzhou Town. If the court sent troops from Suzhou, they would be in big trouble.

“No, even if the court dispatches troops from Suzhou, they will prioritize using them to resist Wuliang’s large army in Liaoxi!” said Prince Qing.

“Is that so?” Hou Yao turned to look at Ji Feiyu.

His thoughts differed from Ji Feiyu’s; Ji Feiyu was loyal to Prince Qing, while he was loyal to Ji Feiyu.

The reason was simple. Although his three brothers were cared for and nurtured by Prince Qing, in Hou Yao’s heart, Ji Feiyu was his elder brother, the one who had raised him since he was a child.

Ji Feiyu slightly furrowed his brow and said: “That’s right. For the court, the Wuliang Hu Clan is the foreign enemy! And their threat is greater, so the court will handle them as a priority!”

Hou Yao nodded and spoke no further.

He felt somewhat stifled by the passive defense; it was not as satisfying as going out and fighting. But since Ji Feiyu had said so, he would patiently wait for Ji Feiyu’s arrangement.

The Tenglong Guard army outside the city quickly formed their ranks.

Yang Zhenshan looked at the majestic army, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

Back in the day, he found it tough to form a team of a hundred people in Yang Family Village; now he commanded tens of thousands of soldiers, and he felt quite proud of this.

“Begin!”

He turned his head to Yang Minghao beside him.

Yang Minghao immediately understood, took out a signal flag, and waved it several times; then, a dull horn sound echoed from behind him.

The mournful horn sound, under the howling wind, seemed exceptionally desolate.

Following the horn sound, ranks of crossbows were rolled out in the front line; each crossbow was accompanied by a small squad of soldiers either protecting or pushing it.

Moments later, more than three hundred crossbows were positioned about one hundred thirty zhang away from the city wall.

The location was precisely one hundred thirty zhang away because the crossbows inside Chongshan Pass had a maximum range of one hundred thirty zhang.

But the crossbows made by the Tenglong Guard had a range of one hundred sixty zhang!

This was not to say that the Tenglong Guard’s crossbows were superior to those of Chongshan Pass. It was because the Tenglong Guard’s crossbows were originally made for warships.

The Navy’s warship crossbows required long range, high power, and high accuracy.

Whereas the city wall crossbows demanded rapid firing; they didn’t need to be very powerful—just strong enough to penetrate iron armor—and accuracy was not highly demanded, as long as they could shoot rapidly.

Because the target of the warship’s crossbows was the warship itself, while the city wall’s crossbows targeted enemies, so the two types of crossbows differed.

The Tenglong Guard did not have city defense crossbows; they could only imitate those on warships.

Looking at the row of crossbows, Ji Feiyu narrowed his eyes slightly, “What are they implying? Do they intend to storm the city with crossbows?”

In siege warfare, the role of crossbows is far less significant compared to catapults.

Because the city walls can block crossbow arrows, making the power of crossbows greatly reduced.

Of course, this does not mean crossbows are useless, just that they can only serve as an auxiliary, not as a primary weapon.

“Prince, perhaps we should step back and avoid the brunt for now,” Ji Feiyu expressed concern for Prince Qing’s safety.

“Alright!” Prince Qing well understood the principle that ‘a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall’.

As they moved down from the city wall, the Tenglong Guard’s crossbows were also ready.

However, the crossbow arrows used this time were different from ordinary ones, each arrow seemed wrapped in many sheets of paper.

“Reporting to the General, the crossbows are ready, we can fire at any time!”

Xie Yuan rode up and reported from the front.

“Then fire!” Yang Zhenshan’s lips curved slightly, “Strike the heart first, then the city; let’s see if this tactic of striking the heart works?”

“Yes!”

Xie Yuan acknowledged, then rode back to the front.

“Fire!”

Following his command, over three hundred crossbows vibrated their bowstrings, emitting a buzzing sound.

Then, a swooshing sound of arrows tearing through the air followed, as the arrows shot towards Chongshan Pass wrapped in the fierce wind.

Rustling like countless birds flapping their wings.

Wings?

Of course, crossbow arrows don’t have wings!

But the arrows were wrapped in layers of paper.

The papers rustled in the swirling wind, and as the arrows flew further, the papers fluttered down.

Suddenly, countless pieces of paper floated over Chongshan Pass, like a heavy snow flurry.