Volume 5, Chapter 21: Troops Sally Forth from Hu Pass (1/2)

Volume 5, Chapter 21: Troops Sally Forth frouarded the strategic route of Baixing through the Taihang Mountains Fro to enter into Northern Han territory Surrounded by hold that controlled the entire Baixing To the north was Mount Baigu and to the south was Mount Shuanglong The pass was called the Jar Pass because it edged between the twoarmy could penetrate deep into the Northern Han hinterlands

As the Yong army had split in two this ti Chi This tiht thirty thousand horseinning a fierce assault upon Hu Pass starting on the fourteenth day of the third arrison coeneral At the head of seven thousand troops, he stoutly defended the pass without withdrawing After assailing the pass for eight days straight, the Yong army still found it difficult to conquer Hu Pass

On the twenty-first day of the third ed his horse forward until he arrived at his coaze, he looked upon the fortifications stained red with blood Only his somewhat chapped lips revealed his inner anxiety This time, his orders were clear He had to breach the Hu Pass before ¹ to reach Qinyuan and rendezvous with the Prince of Qi to pincer the main Northern Han army The Northern Han army was heavily outnumbered and could only defend a nu as Hu Pass fell, there was only vast, undefended territory behind However, even though Hu Pass had been assaulted for eight days straight, it re Chi felt like a fire blazed in his heart, itching to personally take the field However, it was too reat waste to use cavalry to attack fortifications The Prince of Qi’s intent was very clear—the Zhenzhou garrison was to attack the fortifications, while Jing Chi’s cavalry was to be used for the breakthrough and could not suffer heavy losses at Hu Pass

Raising his eyes to look up at the sky, Jing Chi saw that the sun had already set behind Hu Pass, shi+ning over the entire walls and towers a blood red light He ferociously stated, “Recall the troops” Afterwards, he spurred his horse and returned to camp He had to think of a way In at most two days, if he did not capture the pass, he had to set foot within the pass even if he had to personally lead the assault

On the twenty-second day of the third arrison responsible for assaulting Hu Pass, Lin Ya, stood atop the three itation Over these days, countless nue ladders, and catapults had been destroyed The land below the walls was in utter shaates had long been burned to a crisp by the oil used by the Yong ared with stones, bricks, and tree trunks by the Northern Han ar Chi could capture the pass, it would adversely affect military plans

It was unfortunate that Liu Wanli was cruel andarmy was about to attack Hu Pass, he had levied all of theareas to help in the pass’s defense, forcing all of the levied h collective punishents who infiltrated Hu Pass, they never had the opportunity to coordinate with the attackers outside of the pass Were it not for the shrewdness of several of the agents to exploit the tossing of tree trunks and rocks to also passarmy likely would not know the real situation within the pass Even so, the walls of Hu Pass were firm and the pass was protected on both sides by holds on eachin cooperation, the Yong army suffered heavy losses without success

Today, Lin Ya had steeled his heart and dispatched the best of his soldiers and officers As he watched, a siege ladder collapsed under the raging inferno and the blood of the brave Yong warriors was painted upon the façade of the walls of Hu Pass Even though he was a veteran of a hundred battles,³ Lin Ya felt his te

Just as Lin Ya with directing the assault, he felt the wooden coin to tre Chi cliown that did not cover his left shoulder with the rest billowing behind hi Chi’s hands was a war dru Chi set the war dru the dru Chi’s personal troops who had followed Jing Chi up promptly handed over two drum mallets with red silk wrapped around their heads With a loud cry, Jing Chi began to brandish thethe war druh the skies, alhout the entire battlefield After the Battle of Zezhou, Jing Chi had heard of how Jiang Zhe had beat the dru ar Zhe’s exaht Jing Chi for a few days Although Jing Chi didn’t know anything aboutan experienced soldier and a nificence, boldness, and power even though the drumbeat he created did not have countless per the drue After learning that the one beating the dru Chi, the soldiers were both stirred and asha Hu Pass under orders to allow General Jing to invade Northern Han! However, we have battled bitterly without success, forcing General Jing to wait here painfully! Now that General Jing is personally beating the drums to cheer us on, if we cannot take Hu Pass, it will be i! In addition, Zhenzhou’s reputation will have been completely lost by our failures!”

The Zhenzhou soldiers and officers ed each other This tian to quake and waver under the druathered, almost as if the Heavens did not wish to see the bloody and brutal battle on the ground below

Standing atop the walls, Liu Wanli’s entire face was covered with griidly cold, because there were no reinforce’s Zezhou troops; the only available troops were in Jinyang or Daizhou However, the Jinyang troops could not be lightly roaned When Lin Yuanting had surrendered to Northern Han, he had co The Daizhou army would not leave the borders On the one hand, this was likely to prevent the powerful Daizhou troops fro Northern Han’s political situation However, Lin Yuanting had cheerfully agreed and proclaimed that the sole purpose of the Daizhou army was to protect the homeland, not for the sake of internecine strife As a result, over these years, the Daizhou army had never stepped foot outside of Daizhou Of course, the Daizhou army still marched out of Yanmen to attack the barbarian tribes

As a result, Liu Wanli knew he could only rely upon his own troops to defend Hu Pass However, after eight days, Liu Wanli knew that Hu Pass was on the verge of collapse, while the Yong army continued to attack without end In this battle, he could not win and could only be defeated

Liu Wanli’s deputy walked over His lips were blistered and his voice hoarse, as he said, “General, the eneht up four siege towers They are truly deterh The terrain before Hu Pass was narrow Generally speaking, three siege toere e towers, they would inevitably become too concentrated and increase the casualties However, in addition, the pressure on the ene had taken its tie towers Heaving a deeper sigh, Liu Wanli said, “Set them on fire”

The deputy co to issue the order In order to hold out longer, Liu Wanli had already issued orders to wait for the enee towers pushed the Yong troops to the walls When the deputy commander issued the order, the Northern Han troops on the walls collected the firewood into bundles After pouring oil on thee towers Afterwards, fire arroere loosed The siege toere i are towers to shoot arrows into the pass

At thissoldiers below the walls did not act nore towers Instead, they forcibly pushed over the siege towers In an instant, the four siege towers had toppled against the walls, creating an incline Just then, bugle horns sounded The Zhenzhou troops opened files and a squadron of five hundred horse dust was kicked up, dispersing the smoke and fire Unexpectedly, the horses actually jued up onto the walls

Liu Wanli loudly shouted, “Loose! Loose!” No longer using arrows sparingly, the Northern Han ar cavalry At this h heartily as he arrived atop the walls Two Northern Han soldiers were staeneral brandished the lance in his hands, sending blood flying all around hi soldiers arrived atop the walls

h he was on the verge of despair, the indonited After secretly issuing orders, he personally led the Northern Han soldiers on the wall in a desperate effort to repel the attackers for a period before he shouted, “Retreat! Retreat! Allow them to climb the walls!”

At this moment, Liu Wanli’s face was stained with blood, alh the defenders on top of the ere puzzled, they were all inti four hundred Yong horsemen all ascended to the walls However, just as they were celebrating, Liu Wanli shouted, “Loose the crossbows!”

A continuous string of crossbow mechanisathered Yong cavalry Alle bolt pierced a horse or a rider Atop the narroalls, the horse Northern Han soldiers had revealed thirty crossbowmen armed with Divine Armed Bows This crossboas used to defend fortifications Each bolt that it fired was four th Each time, the crossbow could fire two bolts However, each crossbow required three soldiers to operate Because of the crossbow’s enormous power, the bolts it fired were able to penetrate all ar⁵ As a result, they were the most formidable prizes used to defend fortifications Because these crossboere easily da to employ theuard and seize the advantage Since it was a ht now, Liu Wanli had allowed the Yong cavalry to mount the walls while he secretly marshaled crossbow their aweso horsemen had suffered disastrous losses At this moment, the Northern Han defenders seized the opportunity to surround the surviving Yong horse oil down onto the toppled siege towers, forcing the Zhenzhou foot soldiers to retreat Finally, the toppled siege toere ignited and burned to ash With this, the tens of thousands of Yong troops below the walls could only watch as the cavalry that hadall of theradually di voice sang in a loud voice from above:

<blockquote class="Quote">Our troops are few and chariots brokenAnd arrows fall as soldiers fightThe right flank wounded; and in the dust,Mix with striking dru to the end, the voice was suddenly severed, filling the Yong soldiers below the walls with grief

Jing Chi threw aside the drue strides Grabbing the reins of his warhorse, Jing Chi spurred his horse forward and galloped towards Hu Pass without bothering to put on arazed up at the walls of the pass At this un to retreat in defeat Jing Chi suddenly looked up at the sky and began to sing:

<blockquote class="Quote">The slaughter done, we flee the field,Until the battle is far awayBeheading the living without warning;Resolute until the end—and no one could crossTheir souls are now heroic ghosts”⁷</blockquote>

At first, the Yong soldiers were stunned that Jing Chi had continued the song Afterwards, the soldiers began to join in the song Quickly,the chorus to beco to resonate under the Heavens A sole soldiers As the song increasingly echoed, repeating the verses, the Yong ared and pessi fla intent condensed to become an unstoppable spirit and drive

This known to every single soldier, regardless of whether they hailed fro or Northern Han Even those soldiers ere illiterate were able to re army set ablaze, the Northern Han army’s morale became filled with distress and sorrow In a flash, the Northern Han soldiers’ faces beca of the consequences after defeat, every single Northern Han soldier was scared witless

Standing atop the walls, Liu Wanli sla, “ such aarmy after a defeat!</e uards promptly handed over Liu Wanli’s iron bow Liu Wanli was a master of horse archery and was able to draw a boith five piculs⁸ of pressure It was a piece of cake for him to take an enemy’s life within one hundred paces⁹ However, because he had suffered a grievous injury to his waist, he could no longer use his strength in a sustained fashi+on As a result, he had not personally gone into battle for a long ti Chi bare a shoulder and advance forward, killing intent welled up within Liu Wanli Fearing that others could not match his archery, he chose to personally shoot the arrow