Chapter 1 Before and After

Before Chen Xujing sent soldiers in waves to relentlessly attack Da Nan Pass, he used overwhelming manpower to build ramps that allowed soldiers to directly leap onto the pass. A dense array of trebuchets, ballistae, and divine crossbows were amassed below Da Nan Pass, continuously bombarding it... Chun Nan's stockpile of fire oil bombs purchased from Dong Ping was so vast, and procurement was ongoing. Funds flowed to Dong Ping, and cartloads of fire oil bombs and other military equipment were transported to Chun Nan, then sent to the front lines to be consumed by Chen Xujing. Chen Xujing could make any request he deemed necessary, and the rear, from the ruler down to the lowest-level officials, would work together to fulfill it. And all Chen Xujing had to do was win.

On that increasingly high and long earth ramp, blood mixed with sandbags, mud, and rocks. Groups of soldiers charged up the ramp, were killed, and rolled down. Many were even buried directly into the ramp, all for the sake of racing against time, to shorten the completion time of the ramp. Every day the ramp was completed ahead of schedule meant thousands fewer casualties for the Chun Nan soldiers.

"Has Wang Bo gone up yet?" Chen Xujing asked about one of his generals. This Wang Bo had a distant kinship with him and had risen through the ranks from a low-level officer, taking nearly ten years to become a basic Dang Kou General (Bandit Quelling General). Wang Bo commanded one of Chen Xujing's more combat-effective cavalry units, and today they would attempt to directly leap onto the pass from the ramp for the first time.

"Reporting, Great Commander, General Wang Bo has already led his men onto the ramp and is awaiting your orders," replied Chang Jian, the imperial overseer sent by the court. He was one of the few members of the royal family who wasn't annoying and one of the few who understood military matters. Chen Xujing had always treated Chang Jian as an ordinary civil officer, and Chang Jian was overjoyed and diligently carried out his duties. Chang Jian was a marginal figure in the court's succession struggle, which was why the Chun Nan ruler felt safe sending him as an overseer, unafraid that the internal strife would affect Chen Xujing's army. Chang Jian didn't take himself too seriously, but being by Chen Xujing's side allowed him to learn a lot, especially about being a practical civil officer rather than just an observer.

"Thank you, go and relay the order to attack. The Flying Fire Camp soldiers should work harder; at least half of this battle depends on them," Chen Xujing said with a slight nod. The Flying Fire Camp was equivalent to Dong Ping's heavy ordnance battalion, just with a different name in Chun Nan. Now, the heavy ordnance battalion rarely used stone projectiles.

Wang Bo and his elite force of a thousand men stood silently at the end of the ramp, awaiting Chen Xujing's order. Today was the day he would risk his life, and he knew how dangerous the mission was. The ramp was less than three zhang (approximately 10 meters) away from the city wall, a distance that first-rate warhorses could leap. But shortening that distance further would come at a bloody price for every chi (approximately 0.33 meters). Being too close to the city wall allowed the enemy's long hook-sickle spears to barely reach the sandbag sacks used to build the ramp and pull at them. Newly added sandbags could be dislodged by the enemy at any time. Although the ramp directly faced the city wall and not the towers or gates, it was still close to the city gate. In the past few days, Xi Ling had launched several attacks to break the ramp, and the right shoulder of the ramp had once collapsed and was only recently repaired. On the ramp, four divine crossbows, specially adjusted by Dong Ping technicians, were pushed forward to the end of the ramp. Each divine crossbow would shoot a giant arrow attached to a rope, directly hooking onto the city wall or embedding itself into the wall. To prevent the enemy from cutting the ropes, they were made of a mixture of silk, hemp fibers, and multiple strands of steel wire. Even these ropes were specially ordered from the Ye Family Workshop, the only place in the world that had mastered the steel wire drawing process. Once the four ropes were connected to the city wall, the four divine crossbows would immediately be pushed off the side of the ramp to make way for the many soldiers behind. First, Wang Bo would lead a cavalry force that had all been equipped with the best horses to forcibly leap the three zhang distance and jump onto the city wall. Then, hundreds of deathsworn soldiers would lay templates connected by iron chains onto the ropes, using the little time won by the cavalry brothers to pave this short suspension bridge. After that, the Chun Nan infantry could continuously ascend the city and fight... By then, the Chun Nan army, far superior in strength, would be able to pile up a victory with sheer manpower.

Wang Bo gritted his teeth, his fists clenched white. He knew that this attack was a near-death experience, especially for him, as he had to be the first to jump onto the city wall and was likely to be instantly drowned in a sea of enemy blades. However, Wang Bo did not regret it and had almost forgotten his fear. He didn't even understand how much of his foolish courage came from the fragrant liquor he had just downed, something called Bai Ling Tan (Ballantine's). ...Now, even the Chun Nan army was so dependent on Dong Ping.

"General Wang... it all depends on you." Chang Jian didn't send someone to relay the order but instead galloped from the central army tent to the ramp himself. "General, I will definitely request merit for you. Please come back alive."

"Overseer, you are too kind. Wang is going!" Wang Bo did not dismount to salute. To be honest, he really didn't care that much now. "Brothers, follow me! ...Wansheng (Ten Thousand Victories)!—Wansheng!—"

A thousand elite cavalrymen roared and followed Wang Bo onto the ramp. Hearing the sound of approaching hooves, the soldiers in front of the ramp quickly aimed and shot out the four ropes, then frantically cleared obstacles and lay on the shoulders of the ramp, trying to keep their bodies low and away from the center of the ramp, hoping not to be trampled by the warhorses. They knew Wang Bo's mission and knew that if they failed to complete these tasks quickly, Wang Bo would not stop for them but would directly trample over them.

"Hah!" At the end of the ramp, Wang Bo controlled his warhorse, his legs pressing hard, and the warhorse carried him flying in the air, heading towards the city wall. Wang Bo was overjoyed, his control was perfect, and the horse's strength and speed were sufficient, and he would definitely be able to cross the distance. But Wang Bo quickly felt all sorts of weapons coming at him from the city wall. Wang Bo hardened his heart and sharply pulled the reins horizontally, and the horse was forcibly twisted in mid-air, no longer able to land steadily on the city wall but instead slamming into it sideways. In this way, the expensive and well-bred warhorse would undoubtedly die. But Wang Bo couldn't care less. He pulled and then jumped, and just as the horse fell into the crowd on the city wall, desperately kicking and thrashing, he landed steadily on the city wall, wielding his broadsword and killing towards one side.

Behind Wang Bo, a thousand cavalrymen jumped up and landed one after another. Some were able to land successfully on the city wall and join the battle, while others fell into the gap between the city wall and the ramp due to jumping too early, becoming a large and cheap filling for the ramp. But everyone disregarded their lives. No matter what they saw happening to their comrades in front of them, they jumped up and fell one after another. Many of them even learned Wang Bo's method, directly using the bodies of their warhorses to clear the way for themselves. Under what kind of emotional drive would these soldiers, who deeply loved their warhorses, do such a crazy thing? It was unknown.

However, this desperate tactic caught the Xi Ling forces off guard. Although they couldn't spread out on the city wall, the cavalry's superiority over the infantry from a high position could still play a role. The battle circle grew larger and larger. When all one thousand cavalrymen had jumped, and more than six hundred had successfully landed on the city, they had controlled a section of the city wall and were desperately killing in both directions.

The soldiers laying the short suspension bridge also completed their mission, and Chun Nan infantry began to continuously ascend the city through the two short suspension bridges.

"Bombard that section of the city wall for me." Qiao Jin, the commander of Da Nan Pass, gritted his teeth and issued this order. The archers changed direction, and the trebuchets, divine crossbows, and ballistae placed on the city wall turned their direction and indiscriminately attacked this side of the wall. As long as he could contain the Chun Nan advance, Qiao Jin was willing to pay any price. But now it seemed a little late.

Caught off guard, a knife stabbed over, and Wang Bo, who was dealing with a Xi Ling officer in armor in front of him, was stabbed in the ribs. He stumbled back a few steps, kicked the officer away, and two soldiers quickly used their spears to finish off the officer. The Xi Ling soldier who stabbed him turned around in fright and ran away. Wang Bo gritted his teeth, pulled out the knife still stuck in his body, and threw it backhand at the fleeing Xi Ling soldier, hitting him directly in the back of the heart. At this time, Wang Bo cried out and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"The General is injured!" The two soldiers behind Wang Bo quickly rushed up to shield him.

Wang Bo pushed away the soldiers in front of him and said fiercely, "Damn it, kill forward for me, kill people! Kill people! Kill people! If you don't kill people, I'll kill you!" Wang Bo's eyes were bloodshot. He pulled out a tube of ointment from his arms and directly smeared it on the wound. He hastily tied up his clothes, pressed down on the wound, and then plunged back into the desperate battle.

"Knife Cart team, attack the city gate!" At this time, Chen Xujing also had no time to care about this nephew and added another boost to the battle. A huge siege vehicle covered in cowhide was pushed out of the camp and moved towards the city gate of Da Nan Pass. Now the battle on the city wall had become stalemate. The Chun Nan soldiers crowded on the city wall were not making smooth progress on both sides, but some people directly threw ropes from the city wall and attacked the troops below from the other side of the wall, even starting to dismantle the bricks on the city wall and throw them down... Now, the chaotic city wall had made Qiao Jin unable to care about the threat to the city gate.

ps: Next week, I seem to be participating in a very regrettable new function test called Update Tickets... That is, readers can expect how many words I can publish. If I reach it, I get money. If I don't reach it... then nothing happens. Don't overestimate me, and don't underestimate me. Thanks a lot.