knife

Chapter 689 War begins

Standing atop the city wall, Ma Dacheng gazed at the vast array of colorful banners stretching into the distance, and the diverse siege weapons slowly approaching. A sense of absurdity suddenly washed over him.

The Yangguan Pass was originally established to prevent forces from outside the pass from invading the interior. I have been stationed at Yangguan Pass for nearly twenty years and have been working towards this goal.

But who would have thought that in the end, Yangguan would become the first line of attack from outside the pass to those inside?

If we include able-bodied men, laborers, and other auxiliary troops, the combined forces of both sides in this major battle numbered at least 300,000.

Yangguan may only have 40,000 people, but to keep these 40,000 people running, there are at least twice that number of people from all walks of life behind the scenes.

The opposing army was many times larger than that of Yangguan, meaning that the number of laborers they mobilized was also several times greater than that of Yangguan.

Such battles are extremely costly.

In fact, Cui Ming, Linghu Ye and others made one very accurate judgment: the Beiting Protectorate was indeed in dire economic straits. It wasn't that Xiao Changche didn't want to mobilize more troops, but rather that the Beiting Protectorate couldn't afford the enormous expenses of recruiting more soldiers.

If they can hold out for a few more years, the Beiting Protectorate will be able to accumulate enough money and provisions.
But no one expected that Li Dachui's trip to Jiangnan would drastically change the entire situation in the world, and the decisive battle would be brought forward.

Mao Daxian hadn't expected this change, and Xiao Changche certainly hadn't.

Therefore, Mao Daxian insisted on using defense as offense, focusing on Yangguan Fortress as the core, and enduring the enemy's advance.

This was also the overall decision of the Beiting Protectorate.

However, how this decision is implemented depends on Commander Xiao Changche.

Xiao Changche's style dictated that she would adopt an offensive approach to defense, simultaneously opening up two battlefields at Volcano Fortress and Tiger Roar Plain while holding Yangguan Pass.

She was on the defensive at Yangguan Pass, but on the offensive at Volcano Fortress and Tiger Roar Plain.

Tiger Roar was originally for the future, while Volcano Fortress can be directly considered as the flank battlefield of Yangguan. If it can be won, it will be a huge psychological blow to the enemy on the main battlefield.

Compared to defeating the opponent head-on in the open, the chances of success are much greater in the volcano fortress.

Although it's three thousand to ten thousand.

But these three thousand people were personally led by Xiao Changche.

"An Xuan, is this your first time fighting a battle of this scale?" Ma Dacheng looked at An Xuan, who was blond, blue-eyed, and burly.

An Xuan nodded: "We prefer to set up battle formations and engage in duels on the vast land, where victory or defeat can be decided in an instant. It's not as complicated as this!"

Ma Dacheng laughed loudly: "What if the enemy is much stronger than you? Would you still try to fight a rock with an egg?"

"Then run! Avoid their strength, find their weakness, seize the opportunity, and launch a surprise attack!" An Xuan laughed. "Strong isn't scary; they'll always reveal a weakness!"

"This is the reason why you can only be a thief for a thousand days, but not a thief for a thousand days!" Ma Dacheng said, "However, your way of fighting is not suitable for us. As you can see, there are so many people inside Yangguan and in the surrounding area. If we leave, these people will become the enemy's prey. And if we lose Yangguan, our Beiting will be locked outside the pass by them. So this time, we can only confront them head-on!"

An Xuan let out a breath, "Now I understand!"

His clansmen have all been settled by the Beiting Protectorate in more than a dozen counties outside the pass. They have been given newly built houses, allocated fields, and enclosed pastures. Before coming to Yangguan, An Xuan took a tour of the area. His clansmen are now very happy and at ease because they can focus on farming and herding without any distractions. This is a world of difference compared to their lives in previous years.

In those years, there was constant migration and fighting. Staying in one place for a month or two was considered a long time. Under such circumstances, there was no way to produce anything; there was only consumption. He could only watch helplessly as the number of his people dwindled day by day, not only dying on the battlefield but also from disease and hunger. The deaths of infants, in particular, were heartbreaking. During this inspection, many families in the tribes had new additions to their households, forcing him to distribute many rewards and leaving him penniless.

"You command, I'll fight the enemy!" An Xuan said simply, "I'm not good at defending the city!"

"I'm afraid we'll sometimes have to go out of the city to fight the enemy!" Ma Dacheng said. "Defending to the death is not an option!"

"My thousand men are all skilled warriors in battle!"

"Thank you!" Ma Dacheng said, cupping his hands in thanks.

An Xuan's martial arts cultivation was higher than his, and his position in the Beiting Protectorate was also higher. However, the highest commander of Yangguan was Ma Dacheng. Ma Dacheng was somewhat worried that An Xuan would have a son, after all, the other party was a Hu person.

As they were speaking, a whooshing sound came from behind the city wall, and a huge stone projectile flew up and crashed into the ground more than a thousand paces away, creating a large crater in the flat ground.

An Xuan raised an eyebrow. With such a large rock crashing down, even he couldn't withstand the impact head-on. He looked back at the hundreds of such massive catapults beneath the Yangguan city wall and suddenly realized that human strength has its limits. Could a Xiantian (a type of cultivator) withstand such an attack? He doubted it!

Of course, whether you're at the peak of the ninth rank of Xuan Yuan or even a more advanced Xiantian, it's impossible for such a thing to hit you. However, when thousands of people start attacking the city, if this thing falls from the sky, there's probably nowhere to hide.

"These things aren't actually just for dealing with people!" Seemingly understanding An Xuan's thoughts, Ma Dacheng said, "These giant catapults are used to counter the enemy's siege weapons, like siege towers, siege engines, and watchtowers. Those things are the biggest threat to our city walls; one hit and we're done for. As for dealing with soldiers, hehe, boiling gold syrup is far more effective!"

The scent carried on the wind made An Xuan's expression somewhat strange.

The so-called "golden sweat" was made by boiling human and animal excrement with water. If this stuff was poured on a person, they would basically be rendered useless. Soldiers would carry bundles of arrows, soak them in the boiling excrement water for a while, and then carry them away. The mortality rate of people hit by these arrows was as high as 80%.

Anxuan's clansmen used to frequently do things like dipping arrowheads in water.

Smoke billowed into the sky, and the drumbeats gradually grew stronger, a display of power only achieved by the simultaneous beating of hundreds or even thousands of large drums. Then, An Xuan saw massive siege towers being pushed out from behind the enemy's formation, surrounded by densely packed infantry. Countless cavalrymen leaped out from the rear and charged towards Yangguan with lightning speed.

"It's started!" Ma Dacheng laughed. "You're really impatient to get started as soon as you arrive."

"So many siege engines!" An Xuan exclaimed in amazement.

“We’re aristocratic families, we have plenty of money and plenty of craftsmen!” Ma Dacheng laughed. “Making this kind of thing is a piece of cake for them.”

"They really are very rich!" An Xuan said. "Even if it's a one-time purchase, a vehicle like this must have cost a lot of money, right?"

“Not counting labor costs, it must cost at least a hundred strings of cash, right?” Ma Dacheng said. “War is a luxury.”

"They have catapults too!" An Xuan pointed to the massive structures that were being pushed out one after another after the siege towers opposite. "Wow, how many are there? It seems like they have significantly more than we do!"

"These ground-based weapons don't have the range of ours! If even a third of them can be pushed into range to hit us, that would be considered good!"

Before the words were even finished, the catapults in the city began to roar, sending hundreds of large stone projectiles flying into the sky. The sight of them falling in droves was quite spectacular.

With a rumbling sound, some siege towers and catapults were hit and smashed into piles of rubble, while some stones landed in empty space, kicking up a cloud of dust.

In the distance, the drums beat faster, the soldiers began to run faster, and the cavalrymen had already mounted their horses and drawn their bows, and whistling arrows flew towards the city walls.

(End of this chapter)