Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 385 The City Falls (Part Two)

General Shen fought for half a day, sustaining two minor injuries and utterly exhausted. The fierce, dark-faced female general was held back by his personal guards, while a young boy and girl, wielding knives, surrounded him.

At first, General Shen was somewhat dismissive. But after exchanging blows for only a short while, he was immediately impressed. Both of these young men were highly skilled, their swordplay swift and their coordination impeccable.

He quickly found himself unable to move freely, and a knife wound pierced his right leg, causing profuse bleeding.

The screams of his personal guards echoed around him, while the black-faced female general's sinister laughter and battle cries continued to reverberate in his ears.

Even the most stubborn General Shen knew the situation was dire. He fought and retreated, shouting loudly, and another group of people rushed up from below the city walls, barely managing to hold off a new wave of attacks.

Pei Xuan and Pei Feng held onto General Shen tightly. Half an hour later, Pei Feng slashed General Shen in the lower back with his sword. General Shen screamed in agony. Pei Xuan then slashed his own neck and severed it.

With General Shen's death, the morale of the Bohai Navy completely collapsed.

Suddenly, a large number of Bohai Navy soldiers turned and fled.

The reinforcements who were originally waiting below the city were thrown into chaos by this wave of deserters, and then some of them secretly ran away with them.

Looking down from above, one could see a group of soldiers scattering and fleeing like frightened wild beasts. Some headed towards the west or north gates, while others, armed with knives, fled into civilian homes.

As the saying goes, a defeated army collapses like a house of cards. The Pei family army's morale soared, and they charged forward with renewed vigor, reaching the city gates. The city gates, sealed for nearly three months, were finally opened. Large numbers of Pei family soldiers shouted as they stormed into Bohai County.

Bohai County has finally fallen!
Pei Qinghe led his army into the city. According to the original plan, they marched straight in and headed straight for the palace.

Soldiers were fighting everywhere in the streets and alleys. The Bohai Navy wasn't all cowards; there were also soldiers who would fight to the death, and these tough guys had to be killed.

Those willing to surrender threw down their weapons and knelt by the roadside. There was a minor incident: when Pei Qinghe led his troops to the palace, several soldiers from the Bohai Army feigned surrender and then suddenly launched an attack, attempting to kill Pei Qinghe.

Unfortunately, these few rare and loyal soldiers were riddled with arrows before they could even get close to Pei Qinghe's warhorse.

Five thousand soldiers were stationed in the palace; these five thousand were all veterans and elite troops from the Bohai Navy. They were exceptionally loyal to the Zhang family.

Pei Qinghe was prepared and led the Pei family army's elite troops to charge forward.

The palace, which had been ravaged by bloodshed some time ago, once again witnessed the brutality of war, with flesh and blood flying everywhere. Its intensity and cruelty far surpassed that of the last time.

No one surrenders here, and naturally, no one retreats. To advance even one step forward requires paying a bloody price.

However, in the end, it was Pei's army that moved forward step by step.

Pei Qinghe, as the commander-in-chief, had previously mostly commanded battles. Today, personally leading his troops to kill the enemy, he was like a tiger descending the mountain, or a vengeful demon. His men were virtually invincible. Whoever charged at him, he could simply slash them with a single, composed strike.

Blood kept splattering onto his body, staining his gray military uniform.

His gaze was cold and unhurried.

Song Dalang was one thing, but for General Fei, it was the first time he'd ever seen General Pei in battle. He was both excited and terrified, secretly relieved. Thankfully, the Taiyuan army had switched sides in time and joined the Pei family army. He would never want to be General Pei's enemy!
As dusk fell, the last rays of the setting sun shone down. After half a day of fierce fighting, the shouts of battle in the imperial palace finally subsided.

Pei Yun, Yang Hu, and others each led their troops to continue pursuing the scattered fleeing soldiers.

Covered in blood, Pei Qinghe strode forward and entered the Golden Palace.

Blocking this way are General Zhang's personal guards.

Pei Qinghe remained silent and continued to wield his sword to kill the enemy.

The sounds of battle grew closer. General Zhang, lying on the imperial bed, looked ashen-faced.

Zhang Yun, drawing strength from who-knows-where, rushed to the bedside, grabbed General Zhang's hand, and whispered, choking back tears, "Father, the Pei family army has broken in. We've been defeated!"

General Zhang remained silent.

The father and son looked at each other with fear and trepidation, like stray dogs.

What should we do now? What else can we do?
"Let's run!" Zhang Yun whispered through gritted teeth. "Let's change our clothes and escape under the cover of darkness and chaos. Maybe we can still save our lives. As long as we're alive, we can always fight another day!"

General Zhang grunted, "You can run now!"

He's too badly injured to move, how could he run? Zhang Yun, on the other hand, might have a chance to escape in the chaos. Perhaps he could even make a comeback someday.

Time allowed Zhang Yun no time to hesitate. He kowtowed three times by the bedside, quickly changed into ordinary military uniform, and then escaped through the back door with dozens of his personal guards.

From beginning to end, Zhang Yun never saw his younger sister, Zhang Jingwan.

In a life-or-death situation, he could only care about himself and couldn't care about anyone else.

Zhang Jingwan, who spent her days in tears, was already in a daze. She tightly embraced the young crown prince.

General Zhang looked over and suddenly ordered, "Bring the Crown Prince here."

Zhang Jingwan reacted slowly. Just as a guard approached to take the crown prince away, she suddenly snapped to attention. She hugged her son tightly, shouting angrily, "Get out! Don't touch the crown prince!"

The guard turned to look at General Zhang. General Zhang uttered three words: "Bring him here!"

Two other guards stepped forward and twisted Zhang Jingwan's arms. Then the guard snatched the crown prince away. The crown prince was gripped painfully and cried out.

Zhang Jingwan trembled violently and cried out like a madwoman, "Let him go! He's only two years old! Father, what are you going to do to him? Let him go right now!"

General Zhang ignored him and whispered to his personal guards to hold a knife to the prince's neck.

The cold blade touched the child's tender skin. The prince struggled and cried, his skin was cut by the sharp blade, and soon a patch of scarlet blood flowed out.

Zhang Jingwan was almost driven mad. She suddenly broke free and rushed over. The guards holding the crown prince hostage reflexively swung their knives.

Zhang Jingwan felt a sharp pain in her chest. She looked down, then looked up in horror, quickly closed her eyes again, and collapsed heavily to the ground.

The guard who had mistakenly killed Zhang Jingwan was terrified and knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly to beg for forgiveness.

General Zhang didn't even have the strength to berate his personal guards. He struggled to lift his head, glanced at his daughter lying dead in a pool of blood, her eyes wide open, closed them tightly, and then opened them again, his gaze returning to calm: "Keep an eye on the Crown Prince."

The guards trembled as they received the order, drew their long swords, and once again held them to the prince's neck, the swords reeking of blood.

The young prince was terrified by the bloody scene, and his cries grew increasingly shrill.

Bang!
The door was kicked open!
Even though General Zhang was mentally prepared, when the moment actually arrived, his throat tightened and his heart sank.

Below was a bottomless abyss; my heart kept falling, never finding its way back to shore.

(End of this chapter)