Chapter 48: Mercy (9)

Retreating was no longer possible; fighting bravely still offered a glimmer of hope.
“Brothers, follow me!”
Tao Cheng had no other choice. Drawing his sword, he charged ahead first. Seeing their commander’s courage, the soldiers were inspired and rushed forward bravely after him.
“A bunch of overconfident fools!”
Yang Yibo sneered, waved his hand, and signaled the spearmen to step forward and “deal with” these reckless men. At his command, dozens of spearmen waiting at the western battlements immediately raised their spears and stabbed at the attackers’ lower bodies. Those eight-foot-long spears were like venomous snakes striking at their prey.
“Ah!”
One soldier was hit in the knee by a spear and fell backward in pain. Before he could even see who his attacker was, he crashed heavily onto the blankets below the city wall, groaning loudly.
“Charge! Don’t look around. There are few of them—someone of us will surely make it over.”
Tao Cheng shouted to encourage his men. There were less than twenty defenders at the western battlements. If anyone could climb over the wall, the situation could turn around…
Meanwhile, Li Kuo’s Third New Brigade had already circled to the south side of the city. At first, the defenders on the city walls were wary of this fast-moving unit, but after realizing they were only feigning strength, they grew careless and allowed them to circle the walls.
Li Kuo glanced west and saw the fierce battle intensifying. Gritting his teeth, he ordered firmly, “Pass my order: All soldiers in the Third New Brigade must climb silently without making a sound!”
Pu Dachui was furious. Hearing this, he slapped his thigh and quietly gave orders, “The commander orders us to climb silently and not make a sound. Once we’re on the walls, we’ll turn them all upside down!”
Pu Dachui waved his flag vigorously, finally pointing resolutely at the battlements atop the wall.
The soldiers took wooden tokens from their waists, put them in their mouths, carefully pulled out the ropes tied to their waists, and threw them toward the battlements.
“Ding, ding”—the bronze hooks made soft noises as they hit the wall, and everyone took a deep breath.
“Old Wang, what was that sound just now?”
A guard stationed on the south wall seemed to have noticed something and whispered a reminder.
“What?”
“I said, there was a sound. Didn’t you hear it?”

“There’s no such thing as noise—stop overreacting. Battle is raging in the north and west of the city; the enemy doesn’t have the time to send troops to attack the southern wall. It’s probably just a rat—stop being paranoid and hurry up and push forward. Decide whether to push harder or softer—don’t try to blame others if you lose!” Old Wang glared at his partner jokingly.

“Stay close to the wall and make no sound!” Dou Qing, with his rich military experience, warned in a low voice.

The guard looked down from the wall and, seeing no one, grew frustrated. He then turned and went to place his bet with his partner.

“Sigh.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If that guard had looked down from the battlement, they would have had nowhere to hide. A single loud shout, along with twenty soldiers, could have sealed off the southern wall completely, making it impossible for them to win by surprise.

“Be quiet and move quickly!” Dou Qing kept urging his men. To him, this was nothing but a high-stakes gamble. Though it’s said that war is all about deception, he had never encountered such a bold and aggressive tactic before.

The soldiers clung tightly to the ropes, inching their way up the wall. Although the fortifications, built overnight, were mostly made of straw bales, they had later filled the gaps with glutinous clay and poured buckets of tung oil on them. Though the walls appeared bumpy and offered many footholds, they were still harder to climb than smooth stone walls.

One foot, two feet… The silent pressure made it hard for them to breathe. Sweat seeped from their palms, making the already slippery ropes even harder to hold onto. A new recruit lost his footing and slipped back down.

“Ugh, ugh…” A low groan came from his mouth, startling everyone. Dou Qing grabbed the recruit and glared at him, signaling him to be careful. The man nodded reluctantly, tightened his grip on the rope, and continued climbing.

Nine feet, ten feet. They were getting closer… When they reached halfway up the wall, Li Kuo felt a strong desire to survive. This was his first siege as the leader of a brigade—a perfect chance to prove himself. He had to seize it. The young man gripped the rope tightly.

Hundreds of soldiers climbed up the bronze-colored walls like agile monkeys.

Another siege ladder was pushed down by the defenders, knocking three soldiers who were climbing it onto the carpet. But it seemed the defenders had run out of their “rolling logs” and “burning oil,” and the new recruits clearly felt less pressure above them.

“Charge! They’ve run out of defensive weapons. Follow me!”

A man with the appearance of a fire commander shouted loudly, trying to stabilize the morale of his troops, which were on the verge of collapsing. He dodged left and right, struggling to climb upward. When he was just two feet away from the battlement, he leaped with all his strength and managed to climb onto the city wall.

“Ugh.”

As soon as he managed to steady himself, he swung his sword and killed a guard. But before he could target another, the enraged guards surrounded him and chopped him to pieces with their swords.

Seeing their commander die tragically on top of the wall, the new recruits lost all courage to climb further. Seizing the opportunity, the guards pushed hard and overturned the ladders tied to the battlements.

“Commander, we can’t hold on any longer!”

One after another, the new recruits fell from the main wall on the north side of the city. Watching his comrades “die,” Yuan Youde, the leader of the second squad, reported to his commander with a grim expression.

“We have to hold on, even if it’s impossible!”

Wu Hai slammed his forehead and shouted. His brigade had suffered heavy losses—half of the over a hundred men attacking the city had already died. If this stalemate continued, his entire brigade might be wiped out. But he couldn’t retreat; he had to buy time for his comrades.

Wu Hai looked toward the passage west of the city and let out a long sigh.

Unbeknownst to him, Tao Cheng’s troops on the west side were also in a desperate situation. With just a dozen spearmen, the guards had completely blocked the battlements. The makeshift ramp was too narrow, so the spearmen didn’t need to exert much effort—just hold their eight-foot-long spears and sweep down at the crowd to kill them all.

“Fight them! Cling together and charge!” Tao Cheng roared like a beast. There was no longer any talk of tactics. If they didn’t break through this defense line, all over a hundred men in his brigade would die on that narrow ramp. By charging together, some of them might reach the other side of the city wall. Killing one was worth it; killing two meant gaining one in return!

The second brigade’s soldiers, eyes blazing with fury, saw their combat strength surge. The soldiers in the front lines were already engaging in close combat with the spearmen. Though the spears covered a wide area, they lacked the agility of the swords. Tao Cheng drew the sword at his waist and swung it at a burly spearman. By the time the spearman reacted and tried to defend himself, three white lines already marked his waist. Disheartened, the spearman threw his weapon to the ground and walked away head bowed. But Tao Cheng didn’t stop. He turned aside to dodge an arrow shot at him and then charged at the next target. He couldn’t pause—his comrades needed time to climb the city walls. For every enemy he killed, they had a better chance of capturing that section of the wall. Tao Cheng mechanically “reaped” lives, unleashing the pent-up anger in that cramped passageway.

“Jump onto the wall and fight them close!” he shouted loudly, having created a gap for his comrades. All they had to do was rush in through that gap and widen it further.

“No, Old Wang—that’s not a rat’s sound!” The guard on the south wall’s parapet twitched his ears and heard heavy breathing. He rushed to the edge and looked down, only to fall to the ground in terror. Nearly a hundred enemies were climbing up from the south side of the city—they were just five or six feet away from reaching the top of the wall!

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” The guard turned around and ran toward the center of the wall, shouting. They had made a fatal mistake, and now he only hoped it hadn’t been discovered too late.

Note 1: In ancient times, to remain hidden during battles, troops often took measures to muffle noise—people would hold wooden plugs in their mouths, and horses would have their feet wrapped.