Chapter 473
The Ultimate Battle!
The morale of the Great Yu army soared the moment the Sixth Prince appeared on the city tower.
This is the power of an army possessing a military spirit.
In ancient times, and even in modern times, the personal influence of the commander has been maximized. A so-called "iron army" is generally first and foremost led by an iron-fisted commander.
Even though Wei Wusheng had just suffered a defeat against Ji Yuan, his presence here meant that the army's morale could not be low.
In this sweltering summer heat, although they hadn't attacked the city before, but had only herded and slaughtered the people like ducks, they had been arrayed for almost an hour and were quite exhausted. Therefore, this sudden attack was completely overwhelmed in terms of 'potential energy'.
Wang Dalong, who had just lost to Mi Heng, personally rode out on horseback.
Ji Yuan's army was dealt a heavy blow.
"Now's the time, let's storm in!"
Although Mi Heng did not expect the enemy to come out of the city, she still retaliated immediately and planned to use soldiers to fill the gap.
However, at that moment, Ji Yuan rode over and shouted at them, "Spread out, spread out, do not charge head-on!"
This is the same principle as how ordinary people were forced into the moat even though they knew they would die.
Because the people in the front row were being pushed along; they didn't want to move forward.
The terrified civilians instinctively fled into the distance to avoid the Qi army's arrows.
That's how Zhang Liao won his battle against Sun Quan.
Historically, it's said that 800 defeated 100,000, but that's inaccurate. It was actually 7,000 defenders who selected 800 daredevils to charge head-on and utterly destroy Sun Quan's tens of thousands of vanguard troops who were crossing the river. The vanguard troops scattered, one leading ten, ten leading a hundred, a hundred leading a thousand, like an avalanche, completely annihilating an army of 100,000.
Even though there are a lot of people here, Ji Yuan knows the extent of the destructive power that will be unleashed once the potential energy is accumulated.
Without much thought, Mi Heng quickly followed Ji Yuan's instructions, spreading out the army and leaving the shield bearers to cover the rear.
Heavy cavalry could charge two miles in one go, but they were still unstoppable after five miles.
As Ji Yuan's army gradually decreased in density, after decimating the large army outside the city gates and annihilating approximately several thousand infantrymen, Wang Dalong indeed retreated.
At this moment, Ji Yuan directly ordered, "Light cavalry, go and plunder prisoners!"
And so, the light cavalry, who had been poised to attack, charged forward all at once, entangled with Wang Dalong's tail, and forcibly plundered the lone soldiers.
At this moment, the soldiers covering the retreat from the city walls rained down arrows on the unarmored horses and cavalry, causing them to fall one after another.
These frail horses and riders simply wouldn't survive.
Fortunately, their mobility was extremely strong, and under these circumstances, they managed to drag several Dayu soldiers back to Ji Yuan's troops.
The war ended, and the fighting ceased.
The army of Dayu returned to the city, and Ji Yuan's army, except for a portion that blocked the roads, also returned to their camps.
Three Dayu soldiers were brought into the camp. One of them, tormented by fear, chose to commit suicide with a dagger while being dragged, leaving only the other two, who were brought before Ji Yuan.
Facing these two soldiers who were unlikely to lie and who were right in the city, with every opportunity to see Wei Wusheng, Ji Yuan asked with icy eyes, "Did you see Wei Wusheng on the city wall?"
"It's His Majesty! I see him!"
"Your Majesty... I saw it too, it's Wei Wusheng, there's absolutely no way it could be fake!"
Hearing what the two said, Ji Yuan's heart tightened slightly.
But at the same time, I also felt a little excited.
"Your Majesty, Wei Wusheng must be in the city!" Chen Xing said to Ji Yuan. "Then, apart from Shuofeng, we can take over the rest of the cities!"
Instead of responding directly to this rational suggestion, Ji Yuan looked into the eyes of the two men and continued to ask, "How many troops are there in the city? How strong are they? How plentiful are the provisions? You tell me."
He chose one of them who was slightly more articulate and less stupid.
After swallowing hard, fearing he wouldn't be able to provide any value to Emperor Ji, the man quickly replied, "Your Majesty, there are many soldiers in the city, but General Luo Ting and General Zhu Qing took most of the troops with them when they retreated. The remaining troops are mainly elite Imperial Guards, Imperial Bodyguards, and some heavy and light cavalry. There is plenty of food, with twenty granaries distributed throughout the city, and many precautions have been taken to prevent fires."
After saying this, Chen Xing looked at Ji Yuan, and Ji Yuan looked at him as well.
The two of them understood everything.
Luo Ting and Zhu Qing took away the ragtag troops; the main force and most elite soldiers remained in Wei Wusheng's hands.
Moreover, the grain and fodder were plentiful.
The core and strongest fighting force of the Great Yu army is still here.
“Wei Wusheng is determined to hold out in Shuofeng to the death, just like before,” Chen Xing said. “Your Majesty, we should bypass Shuofeng and defeat the remaining cities and armies!”
Based on the available intelligence, it shouldn't be too difficult to do this.
"Lord Chen." However, Ji Yuan had other thoughts. Looking into the other man's eyes, he said very seriously, "Even if all the other places are dealt with, are we sure we've taken over Nanshuo County?"
"If we don't get Shuofeng, it doesn't count," Chen Xing said. "After all, the largest ferry crossing is right outside Shuofeng City on the Chishui defense line."
Ji Yuan slowly turned his head, looked at the two soldiers in front of him, and fell into thought.
This is a matter of choice.
Should we proceed cautiously, gradually turning Shuofeng into an isolated city, or simply end the battle here?
Finally, he made a decision.
"Lord Chen," Ji Yuan said, "Song Shi'an has crossed the river, but he certainly won't be able to take Wuwei quickly. His only hope is that Wei Wusheng can hold us off at Shuofeng. If Shuofeng falls, his backers..."
“There was no one there,” Chen Xing said.
He also knew that as long as Wei Wusheng wasn't dealt with, Song Shi'an would still have no worries.
Even if all the other cities and lands fall, as long as this stronghold remains firmly embedded in the banks of the Chishui River, Ji Yuan will leave most of his elite troops here.
Crossing the Chishui River was no easy feat. "But Your Majesty, even if we take the other places first and then come back to besiege Shuofeng, we can still win," Chen Xing still felt it was better to play it safe.
“We are racing against time with Song Shi’an,” Ji Yuan said. “What we are relying on is that Wuwei will not fall so easily. But Song Shi’an is also relying on the fact that Shuofeng will not fall so easily.”
If their people fail to hold Wuwei within the time limit set by Ji Yuan, then they will be essentially strangled – their path back to Qi will be blocked.
All of Ji Yuan's troops will be trapped in such a cage.
In this situation, even a corrupt dynasty like the Great Yu would devote all its resources to it.
People all over the world will come to vie for control of Ji Yuan.
"We must take Shuofeng within twenty days." Ji Yuan's eyes narrowed as he made this judgment. "We must breach the city within twenty days!"
This statement also implied that Ji Yuan could not say it in front of everyone.
If they fail to conquer it, they will return directly to Wuwei.
Because Song Shi'an's army could not possibly capture Wuwei within twenty days.
They could barely begin the siege at that time.
This time, Ji Yuan learned his lesson and was determined not to be dragged down to his death by Wei Wusheng.
Moreover, he was absolutely certain.
Chen Xing knew that it was useless for him to say anything more. When Wei Wusheng's face appeared, it was like a succubus using witchcraft, leaving Ji Yuan with no other thoughts but to place all his hopes on him.
However, Chen Xing himself also believes that this is the best time.
And so, a devastating siege began.
As the weather gradually reached its scorching peak and the corpses completely decomposed, the plague indeed began to appear five days later.
However, Ji Yuan completely copied Song Shi'an's epidemic prevention policies, so there were not as many losses and impacts as before.
Shuofeng City, having also experienced the pandemic, is responding promptly as well.
However, it was a small, enclosed city, unlike Ji Yuan's open camp. Their soldiers suffered considerable damage to their health, and the proportion of those who lost combat effectiveness was much higher.
Those tunnels were also dug underground in Shuofeng City.
Two of them led to the discovery of groundwater.
Immediately afterwards, Ji Yuan began to poison the plants frantically.
Although Qin Kuo discovered the problem in time and activated the backup water storage, some civilians and soldiers still died from poisoning.
At this critical juncture, Ji Yuan issued the most decisive order: to launch a full-scale attack at all costs!
For the first three days, the city walls were breached countless times, two city gates were broken, and the Qi army repeatedly stormed into the barbican.
In response, the Dayu army had no choice but to seal all the gates of the barbican with mud.
Within three days, Ji Yuan forcibly exchanged a significant number of the enemy's elite troops for a casualty ratio of approximately four to one.
It should have been even more disastrous, but the debuffs from the plague and poison weakened the enemy soldiers' fighting ability, so Ji Yuan managed to get away with it relatively smoothly.
Three days later, eleven days after the attack was announced, Ji Yuan reduced the casualty ratio between himself and Wei Wusheng to two to one.
Because a section of the city wall at the north gate was directly destroyed.
The collapsed area is now passable.
Under normal warfare conditions, the soldiers of Dayu could carry out timely repairs.
However, Ji Yuan chose to work day and night, and at the same time erected multiple powerful cloud ladders, directly turning the siege passage into a fixed sky bridge.
Ancient cloud ladders were not ladders, but solid, enormous structures.
Therefore, by the twelfth day, the Qi soldiers were able to storm into the city.
Thousands of men rushed in and began a fierce street battle with the soldiers of Dayu.
The ability to engage in close combat at will means that the city has become ineffective.
Ji Yuan could already see the tragic state of Wei Wu's life hanging in the balance before his eyes.
"Your Majesty, there are three armies from the Yu Kingdom surrounding us, each carrying the banners of several of their generals!" Chen Xing reported to Ji Yuan. "The closest one is about thirty li away, and the furthest one is about fifty li away."
"They've come to rescue Shuofeng, to rescue their prince!" Ji Yuan's eyes shone with excitement, and he made a very decisive decision, "Spread out your troops, besiege the city and intercept the reinforcements. Don't worry, their army isn't strong. Just hold your ground and prevent them from getting close!"
Ji Yuan knew that although the Great Yu was powerful, it was not a chicken that could lay eggs indefinitely. It was impossible for elites to be here and elites to be there, and for some elites to suddenly emerge after the elites had suffered heavy casualties.
If there were an unlimited supply of bullets, the world would be at Song Shi'an's disposal, why bother fighting?
Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for those people to actually attack him.
Even with their superior numbers, their own army can still use its superior numbers to surround and kill the enemy!
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chen Xing had complete faith in his emperor and was full of anticipation for the upcoming victory.
.........
"Your Highness, the city has fallen; we can only fight in the streets now."
Qin Kuo strode into the prefect's residence, where only one person was sitting.
He was dressed in golden scale armor, tall and handsome.
Despite the urgent battle situation, he showed no fear, even smiling as he walked to a long spear, picked it up with one hand, and held it in his hand: "Ji Yuan, you've come."
Qin Kuo watched as the prince slowly stepped out of the prefect's residence. His spirited profile made Qin Kuo momentarily lose his composure, as if he were seeing Shuo Feng from that time: "It really is... too similar."
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I recommend a novel by my good friend; he's one of the Twelve Heavenly Kings on Qidian.com. It's about the robot WALL-E, and I grew up reading his novels. It's a cyberpunk genre, and quite interesting. (End of Chapter)