Chapter 599: Panic, a quick battle to force a decision (2/2)

He didn’t give Long Feiye a chance to retory, but ordered a female archer to jump off the watchtower and began the duel. The archer in question had no bow but a full quiver of arrows on her back. She flew in front of Long Feiye but kept a healthy distance. Unfortunately, he didn’t even spare her a glance. Looking up, he mocked, “Sending a woman out to fight? I see, so there’s no men left in your Chu Clan troops!”

Han Yunxi laughed out loud from her horse. “If the Chu Clan’s really out of men, then this wangfei has no choice but to fight in Your Highness Duke of Qin’s place.”

Long Feiye might have infuriated them with his words, but here was Han Yunxi angering them to death! She’d really gone too far!

“You!” General Chu raged before gritting his teeth. “Long Feiye, since you don’t want to duel, this general won’t accompany you, either!” As he spoke, he prepared to hurry away. The female archer was only a pretense so he could reject the duel and leave. He’d long given up on staying here when Youyun Prefecture needed his help.

But how would Long Feiye let him off that lightly after waiting for him for so long? Instead of wasting words, he withdrew to his horse and brandished his sword. Immediately, his 5,000 soldiers split up into two sides, revealing two red coat cannons hidden within their ranks! Before the soldiers on the watchtower could shout out a warning, Long Feiye had already given the order to fire!

Boom! Boom!

The two cannons caught the Chu troops unprepared as they blasted off a corner of the city walls! General Chu and Chu Yunyi were still descending the stairs when the shockwaves shook them to the core!

“This…” General Chu blanked out before he urgently issued orders and ran back upstairs. “Defend the cannon stations, quick! Quick!”

Cloud Realm Trade Consortium had given them four red coat cannons, adding to their strength like a tiger sprouting wings. Two of the cannons had been left at Fenglin Prefecture, while second pair was split between Youyun and Yaoshui Prefectures. Who would have expected Long Feiye to have such rare weapons as well?!

General Chu saw the cannons as soon as he ascended the watchtower. He immediately ordered his own cannons to blast away, but Long Feiye seemed ready to abandon his own cannons. He only left a few men to guard the duo while his troops split into two and began to attack the city from opposite sides! The walls had already been damaged by the first blasts. If the cavalrymen invaded, the consequences would be unthinkable. General Chu waved his hand to summon the archers, who soon sent a storm of arrows raining upon their foes.

As the cannons warred for dominance in the center, arrows poured down from the two sides. Although General Chu was highly dissatisfied, he still ended up fighting his battles here. Now there was no chance for him to divert troops north or south!

“Gather all archers in the city!”

“Release flaming arrows to the right! And on the left, use crossbow arrows! Quickly!”

“Someone, release the cannons! Blast theirs with ours!”

General Chu was still very fast to get into the rhythm of warfare. With two cannons for both armies, they were equally matched. Cannon blasts went off endlessly in the center, releasing huge clouds of smoke. But the most furious fighting came from the two sides. Long Feiye’s cavalrymen weren’t easy to deal with and dodged arrows left and right as they pressed on towards the city. Many of them had already left their horses to kill their way forward mid-air. Alarmed, General Chu released that there were quite a few martial arts experts within Long Feiye’s army. More than he ever imagined!

Sensing the bad turn of events, he immediately ordered, “Someone, open the city gates and engage the enemy!”

Battle horses poured out of the gates at his command from the left and right doors of the city, aiming for the invaders. Their efforts kept in check the ones who would scale the city walls. Chu Yunyi made a prompt decision and transferred the Nether Clan’s Driving Arrow Arts regiment to deal with the ones still climbing their walls. In the mess of arrows that followed, many of the invaders had no choice but to retreat. Finally, they regained some control over the chessboard. General Chu originally thought that the Chu troop’s superiority in numbers would be enough to control Long Feiye’s crack troops, but he had to expend half his forces just to keep them in check. Despite this, he still couldn’t control the flow of the battle, whose pace had grown faster and gaster!

Using 5,000 soldiers to face off against a force at least 20,000 strong in direct combat was rather like throwing an egg against a rock. But Long Feiye had personally trained each and every one of his troops. They spent most of the year stationed near the Three-Way Battlefield and were frequent witnesses to sudden changes in war!

Of the men in his forces, each one could stand for the strength of three others, so their combined might far surpassed their original 5,000 count. General Chu’s experienced eyes quickly picked out their abnormalities.

“Curse it, there’s no way to fight a quick battle and force a decision!”

“What next, then? Are we supposed to just watch Youyun and Yaoshui Prefecture fall before our very eyes?” Chu Yunyi was irritated. Since they started fighting, they had to end this fast. A day or two’s delay would cost them both prefectures and result in an ultimate loss! If he hadn’t been blinded in one eye, he would’ve shot a few arrows and killed Long Feiye himself!

General Chu shot his own arrows while he considered different strategies. “Someone come, spread my orders. All forces set out! Destroy the Duke of Qin’s 5,000 troops and the entire army will receive rewards!”

Now 50,000 soldiers were set to face off against the threat. Would Long Feiye and Han Yunxi be able to defeat them?