Chapter 493: The Light in the Snowy Night

After surrounding the city for so many days, both the attackers and defenders would, as if by tacit agreement, cease all activities at night—this had seemingly become an established custom. That night, the snow fell heavily. Although sentries were posted in the camps in all four directions to monitor movements inside the city, no one attempted to launch a surprise attack or escape for six consecutive nights, and the patrolling scouts gradually became less vigilant. Moreover, the guards on the city walls were extremely diligent; anyone who got too close would immediately face gunfire. Coupled with the fear of those skilled archers who could kill two people with a single arrow and hit the main flag directly, everyone instinctively stayed at a distance.

At that moment, after glancing at the west wall of Xinghe Fort from afar, two Mongol men struggled to ride back. Despite the snow providing some illumination, visibility should have been good at night, but with snowflakes swirling everywhere, they could barely see more than a hundred meters. Eventually, they stopped trying at all. Although the Great Prince had been severely injured and the army flag nearly destroyed, the setback was significant. Yet no one believed that anyone in that small Xinghe Fort would dare to launch a desperate attack. So, they set aside all rules and pulled up their hooded caps, which kept them warm but impaired their vision.

“This kind of major battle in such cold weather has never happened before!”

“We won’t even make it until spring arrives. I heard many horses, cows, and sheep have died from the cold in these past few days!”

“Sigh, the Great Prince is half-dead now, and even the main flag was shot down by an arrow. This isn’t a good sign. In my opinion, we’d better withdraw quickly. Otherwise, if the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty gets angry, he’ll send hundreds of thousands of troops again…”

“Stop talking! Last time someone mentioned this, they were whipped to death! If the Grand Tutor wants war, we’ll fight. Don’t worry about too much—just live another day… Wait, what’s that?”

One of the men, who had been talking, suddenly spotted a white figure darting across the snow and was shocked. But after shouting that once, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Soon after, he saw his companion’s neck being twisted. Almost at the same time, everything went dark before his eyes, and he lost consciousness. After the two men collapsed, the white figure approached, quickly stripped off their clothes, threw them on itself, turned around, and let out a low whining sound by puffing out its cheeks.

Soon, a group of about a dozen people in white cloaks appeared on the snowfield. After joining that group of white figures, they moved forward cautiously for a distance. Only when they saw neatly arranged large tents hundreds of steps away did they stop, taking down their packs from their backs and assembling them skillfully. Peng Shisan, the only one who didn’t know how to do this, watched vigilantly around, occasionally glancing at the others’ hands.

The divine guns and mechanical arrows could use specially made arrowheads and projectiles, but otherwise, ordinary arrowheads tied with flammable materials could also be used as rockets, though with a shorter range. Since the igniters were prepared in advance and the operators were experienced members of the Mechanical Army, they quickly filled the gun barrels with gunpowder. While keeping an eye on the surroundings, Peng Shisan also watched the city walls. When he saw a flicker of light there, he immediately ordered everyone to light the fuses.

Bang bang bang bang—

After the loud explosions, rockets lit up the night sky, tracing beautiful curves as they plunged into the camp filled with military tents. Flames erupted in all directions, causing great chaos. But the perpetrators didn’t bother to watch the results of their feat; they grabbed their divine guns and mechanical arrows and fled at top speed.

When they were about a hundred steps away from the city gates, Peng Shisan, who was covering the retreat, heard the sound of approaching horse hooves behind him. He immediately turned around, slid a few steps along the ground like a fish, and grabbed two large handfuls of snow. As the pursuers got closer, he leaped up, throwing snow in the air. Taking advantage of their blurred vision, he drew his sword and slashed, splitting one of the riders in two. Ignoring the blood splashing on him, he mounted his horse and charged at another Mongolian archer. At the moment the two horses collided, he raised his sword with his lowered right hand and precisely struck the archer’s bowstring, then quickly blocked another arrow as if he had a third eye at the back of his head.

In the blink of an eye, he killed one man, destroyed one bow, and blocked one arrow—acting like an angel sent from heaven amidst the snowstorm. The three pursuers were proud Mongolian warriors, but the remaining two were terrified by his ferocity. By the time they recovered, one of them saw a cold light slashing down at him. Unprepared, he could only barely block it with his sword. The attacker feinted, took advantage of the opening, and thrust his sword straight at his chest, killing him instantly.

Turning his head, he saw that the soldiers from the Divine Machine Camp were already not far from the city gates. Another knight seemed terrified and turned his horse around to flee. Peng Shisan, relieved, ignored the dead man on horseback and tightly gripped the restless horse with his legs. Having previously served as a cavalryman under Duke Zhang Fu of Yingguo, he handled such tasks with ease. After calming his mount, he seized the strong bow he had just taken and pulled out a long arrow from his quiver.

After checking the wind direction and strength, Peng Shisan narrowed his eyes and focused on the fleeing figure, gathering all his strength. The bow was drawn like a full moon, and the arrow flew like a meteor. In an instant, the arrow pierced the back of the man. Hearing the death cry, which was quickly drowned out by the strong wind and snow, he saw many people rushing out from the Tartar camp. Having achieved success with a single arrow, he sharply struck the horse’s flanks and rushed toward the city gates at lightning speed.

By then, the city gates had already closed, but a rope ladder had been lowered from the battlements. With sharp eyesight, he managed to stop his horse beneath the ladder and climbed up skillfully. With just two steps left, he suddenly heard a gust of wind behind him. He quickly bent down and then leaped upward, flipping onto the battlements. Almost at the same time, two long arrows missed him by a hair’s breadth, hitting the earthen wall where he had been standing. As he finally reached the battlements, the entire area erupted in cheers.

“Great Ming warriors—invincible in the world!”

Seeing the chaos in the camp to the west and the magnificent cavalry charge below, Zhang Yue, who had been waiting on the west wall for a long time, took a deep breath and then shouted loudly, “Fire!”

The moment his voice rang out, a hundred strong bows fired simultaneously. With so many people gathered on the snowy ground below, the cries of warhorses and the screams of people echoed loudly, sounding particularly harsh amidst the howling wind. After the first hundred shots, another hundred archers took their place and fired another round.

After two rounds of shooting, the Mongol cavalry, who had rushed out in anger, had completely lost their formation. Those who had experienced the first northern expedition in the eighth year of the Yongle era remembered the disastrous retreat and retreated in fear, further hindering those behind them. For a while, the shouts of people and the neighing of horses created countless dissonant sounds. It took some time before the number of people falling off their horses due to collisions decreased.

“Great Ming warriors—invincible in the world!”

The unaltered cheers remained uniform and resounded throughout the night sky. Moreover, two carefully selected loud-mouthed sergeants boomed in Mongolian from the city walls, using smoothly crafted lies invented by Zhang Yue. One claimed that the Oirats had submitted a request to the Ming emperor to help them defeat Altan and cut off the Tatars’ supply lines, while the other mocked Altan, saying he lacked supplies and couldn’t hold out. One said that 100,000 reinforcements were on their way, while the other claimed the city was well-prepared and could withstand an attack for a year or even longer. When this speech ended, bursts of loud laughter erupted from the city walls.

At that moment, Zhang Yue standing on the city walls couldn’t help but smile. With a limited number of people inside the city, he didn’t want to resort to suicide attacks even if they launched an assault. Perhaps those dozen or so rocket attacks were only meant to throw the Tatars into chaos without causing many casualties, just like the simultaneous arrow attacks—seemingly fierce but likely to result in few actual deaths or injuries. However, when defending a city alone against a larger army, morale was crucial. With Altan suffering repeated defeats yet still showing great confidence in Xinghe Fort, this was exactly the outcome desired.

Thinking of this, he noticed that the enemy below had gradually become alert, and arrows were flying like rain. He quickly shouted, “Archers, retreat to the arrow towers! Swordsmen and shield bearers, step forward and raise your shields! Old Peng, show these Tatars what you can do as a master archer!”

“Great! So many living targets—perfect for my skills!”

Peng Shisan was eager to wreak havoc that night, finally making up for his earlier frustration of being forced to fight defensively on the east wall. He immediately agreed. His own bow and arrows had been damaged from overuse in recent days, and the bows provided for ordinary archers were not strong enough for him. Since the Mongols were skilled at making bows, the powerful bow he had just seized was just right. Seeing him excel, Zhang Yue didn’t bother with details and stepped back, nodding at Zhou Bailing.

“There are at least a few hundred people below. Have them prepare rockets, and the musketeers should follow.”

“Heh, I was waiting for you to say that, Lord Zhang!”

He strode back to the arrow tower and saw that the soldiers who had just returned from the attack were beaming with joy. Zhou Bailing immediately joked, “Alright, stop being so happy. The Tatars are already gathered below. We’ve worked hard all day just for this moment!”

At this moment, due to Arutai’s orders to pursue, more and more cavalry gathered below the city walls, and no one noticed if anything had appeared on the snow. Seeing that the arrows flying down from the city walls gradually decreased, they turned their frustration into attacks. Suddenly, over a dozen bursts of flame poured down from the city walls again, and the prepared cavalry immediately steered their horses away, causing all the rockets to miss their targets. Yet the moment those rockets hit the ground, they instantly ignited into raging fires. Moreover, the cannons that seemed to have disappeared from the city walls suddenly spewed out countless flames, followed by numerous jars and bottles that crashed to the ground, each producing a loud explosion. The red flames illuminated the snow-covered ground, turning the snowy night into day.