Late Ming Dynasty: Starting with the overthrow of the county magistrate, a rebellion was launched to

No sooner had Li Dingguo finished speaking than a short, painful scream came from the top of the cliff in Guanbei.

Wang Tui led the investigation team and began climbing.

The grappling hooks swung up hard, grabbing the rocks and ancient vines on the cliff face. The soldiers, like geckos, moved upwards using both their hands and feet.

Because the ancient vines are slippery, the rocks are steep, and there is a bottomless abyss below, a single misstep would mean certain death.

So those screams were the cries of soldiers who accidentally lost their grip and were dying.

Not only that, but when they had just climbed halfway up the cliff, countless heads suddenly appeared on the top of the cliff.

"Enemy troops! Quickly cut the vines!"

The Da Xi army brandished machetes and sickles, hacking at the ancient vines that bore the weight of the trees.

One by one, the ancient vines snapped, and the soldiers who were climbing, caught off guard and filled with despair, fell from mid-air with screams, their bodies crashing heavily onto the rocks, leaving no trace of their flesh and blood, not even a complete corpse.

"Release the arrows!"

The defenders, naturally, were not satisfied with merely cutting down the vines and letting the soldiers fall to their deaths. From their hidden sentries atop the cliff, they began unleashing a hail of arrows, raining down upon the still-climbing soldiers. They were exposed and exposed, like live targets, and fell one after another, struck by arrows.

Those who cut the vines and fell to their deaths, and those who were wounded by arrows and let go in pain, all fell to the bottom of the cliff, some still hanging on the cliff face... Blood flowed down the rock face like a red stream.

Wang was struck by three arrows in the shoulder and back, the arrows piercing his flesh, yet he bit down hard on his clothes, grabbed an ancient vine with one hand, and drew a short knife with the other, cutting off the arrows aimed at him, roaring...

"Keep climbing! Don't stop! If you don't want to die, then keep climbing! Our lord is watching us from below!"

Another group of soldiers charged forward fearlessly, but what awaited them was still being shot, knocked down, and having the vines cut.

A quarter of an hour passed. Of the 120-strong detective team, only 47 remained, still struggling on the cliff face; the rest had all become mincemeat below.

Another quarter of an hour passed

Finally, in a desperate charge, seven people, with their ruthless determination, climbed to the top of the cliff.

"kill!"

They drew their last remaining short swords, and with a flash of cold light, the two sentries closest to the cliff edge had their throats slit instantly.

The remaining defenders were terrified and hurriedly surrounded the enemy. The cliff top was instantly engulfed in a chaotic battle, with shouts, screams, and the clash of weapons all echoing up to the pass.

"General! Something terrible has happened! The cliff top has been breached! The Ming army has climbed up!"

The panicked cries of the defending soldiers echoed throughout the gate.

Li Dingguo's face suddenly contorted, and he abruptly turned to look at Guan Bei.

"Damn it! Zhang Da is really insane! He still managed to get his hands on her!"

Li Dingguo immediately drew his sword, ready to personally rush to the north of the pass to block the breach, but his personal guards held him back tightly.

"General, you mustn't! The Ming army is about to charge again! If you leave, morale will plummet, and the enemy will likely break through our defenses!"

"Alas! What can be done?"

Li Dingguo gritted his teeth, sighed, his eyes bloodshot, and then said sternly.

"Send another three hundred men to the cliff top! We must push the Ming army back! The rest of you, hold the front line to the death! Anyone who retreats even half a step will be executed!"

So, after receiving the order, the three hundred guards rushed to the north of the pass. No matter how hard the seven detectives fought on the cliff top, they were ultimately outnumbered.

A soldier was stabbed through the chest and detonated the gunpowder on his body before dying, which killed three defenders.

A soldier and his garrison commander fell off a cliff together.

The last man cut down the flag and was hacked to pieces...

A quarter of an hour later, the cliff top returned to calm. The three hundred defenders had suffered more than half casualties, but they managed to hold their ground.

The news reached the hilltop, and the guards whispered it to Zhang Daling.

"My lord... all the brothers on the cliff top are gone."

Zhang Da closed his eyes, forcing himself not to think about the casualties.

The first wave of frontal assault resulted in 347 casualties, and the entire 120-strong raiding team was wiped out. In just one hour, he had lost nearly 500 men, yet Huaqiao Pass remained completely unmoved.

"Brother! If this keeps up, all the brothers will be wiped out!"

Zhou Wenqu could no longer bear it. He knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly, "Why don't we retreat to Baoqing first, and come back later after we've recharged our energy?"

"fart!"

Zhang Da was already in a bad mood, and upon hearing this, he cursed even more angrily, "Retreat to Baoqing? What about the people of Hengzhou? What about the land we were allocated? Once Zhang Xianzhong has secured his position in Huguang, Baoqing will be the first place he'll raze! If we retreat today, we won't even have a chance to fight to the death later!"

After calming the wavering morale of the troops, Zhang Da took a deep breath and gave the order again. His voice remained steady, but with a ruthless edge born of desperation.

"Second wave of frontal assault, begin! This time, no shields, all lightly armed. Musketeers, keep within ten paces and fire. Infantry, withstand artillery fire and set up ladders! Zhou Wenqu, you personally go to the front to supervise the battle. Anyone who dares to retreat even a step, execute them on the spot!"

Zhou Wenqu was startled. Looking at Zhang Da's resolute eyes, he bowed and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Yes, sir!"

The second wave of attack was not as imposing as the first. There was no fanfare, no shouting, no cheering; only a silent charge.

One should press on with full force, but then falter...

At this moment, four hundred infantrymen, carrying machetes and the last five siege ladders, charged towards the pass again under the cover of musketeers.

The rolling logs and stones on the gate had been used up quite a bit, but so what? They were still deadly!

Soldiers fell in droves, just as they had during the first attack, yet no one retreated.

Zhou Wenqu, holding a long sword, walked in the middle of the group. If anyone turned around, he would immediately kill them with a single stroke.

"Build a ladder! Build a ladder quickly!"

Under Zhou Wenqu's supervision, two siege ladders were successfully erected on the city wall, and the soldiers, seeing this, climbed up as if their lives depended on it.

Upon seeing the Baoqing Prefecture soldiers, who resembled zombies, the defenders could only extend their spears and thrust them fiercely at the soldiers on the ladders. Some were knocked down, while others used their bodies to clamp the spear shafts and slashed at the defenders with their swords.

In the midst of the chaotic battle, a soldier was pierced through the shoulder by a spear, but he clung tightly to the spear shaft, allowing his comrades below to climb up by stepping on his body.

A soldier, drenched in boiling oil, leaped and grabbed a defender, both tumbling off the city wall together…

Finally, eight soldiers climbed up the wall again, and the morale of the crowd soared!

"The Ming army has stormed the city!"

It's unclear who shouted this, but the defending troops were thrown into chaos upon hearing it. They thought they could seize the opportunity, but unexpectedly, Li Dingguo personally charged forward with his sword, effortlessly slicing down two Ming soldiers with a single stroke, roaring...

"Push them down! Quickly!"

The defending troops finally regained their morale and launched a desperate counterattack. The eight Ming soldiers fought to the last man, but they could not escape the fate of being killed. Their bodies fell from the city wall, and the siege ladders were cut down again.

The second wave of attacks ended with the Ming army suffering another 276 casualties, and they still failed to breach the city walls.

At this point, Zhang Dajun's casualties had exceeded eight hundred. Cries and wails echoed through the valley, and the painful groans of the wounded soldiers were chilling...

Zhang Da watched all this with his eyes half-open and half-closed; his heart was bleeding.

But can we back down? No!

Even without seeing Li Dingguo, Zhang Da was certain that Li Dingguo's complexion was also very bad, and the garrison at Huaqiao Pass must have reached its limit!

Both sides are holding out for now; it's a battle of endurance to see who can last the longest!

What's being tested is willpower, military discipline, and who breaks down first.

"Third wave of attack, prepare!"

Zhang Da shouted this sentence again at the top of his lungs towards the army.

"Bring out all the gunpowder and rockets! This time, no climbing the walls, just fire! Burn their walls, burn their tents, burn their flags!"

One should press on with one effort, but the momentum will wane on the second and be exhausted on the third.

Zhang Da's soldiers fell even more silent, numbly obeying orders, numbly tying gunpowder packets to arrows, then lighting the fuses and shooting towards the pass.

The rockets that were launched landed on the gate walls, gate towers, and tents like a meteor shower, and then instantly burst into flames.

Thick smoke billowed and flames shot into the sky.

The defenders of Huaqiao Pass, exhausted and choked by the smoke and fire, were in disarray and in great distress.

"Now! Charge!"

Ignoring the excruciating pain in his severed arm, Zhang Wen, who was at the front line, personally carried the last ladder and charged toward the pass with a roar.

These thousand Ming soldiers charged forward like madmen, following their commander. Faced with the hellish scene before them, they were bloodthirsty and had forgotten their fear. They had only one thought in their minds—to break through the pass!

Looking at the raging flames, the retreating soldiers, and the gate tower engulfed in fire, Li Dingguo could only let out a helpless yet furious curse.

"Zhang Da, I'll fuck your mother!"

Huaqiao Pass could not hold out any longer. Although the Ming army suffered heavy casualties, its defenders were out of ammunition and food. The Great Western Army was exhausted and its morale had completely collapsed.

"General! We can't fight anymore! We must retreat quickly! We'll be surrounded if we don't leave now!"

The generals began to desperately try to persuade and hold onto Li Dingguo.

"We can retreat, either to reunite with the commander-in-chief or to Hengzhou; we can still fight again! General! As long as we're alive, we can always fight again!"

Looking at Huaqiao Pass and the corpses of the defending soldiers scattered on the ground, Li Dingguo could only let out a desperate roar as he recalled his humiliating defeat.

"Zhang Da, I'll fuck your mother!"

Li Dingguo cursed again, and then he had to face reality.

"Send word: Break out immediately! Take the small path behind the pass! Order the rearguard to cover the main force's retreat!"

Two hundred veteran soldiers responded in unison.

"I am willing to fight to the death for the general!"

The two hundred veteran soldiers left behind to cover the rear responded in unison.

Then they turned and charged at the onrushing Ming soldiers, clashing fiercely together.

They were all the same; they had no way out and risked their lives to buy their commander time to escape.

Thus began a close-quarters battle, with each strike aimed to the bone and leaving no room for retreat.

For every Ming soldier killed, two or three knives would pierce their bodies simultaneously. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all two hundred men covering the rear were dead, not one of them survived, and their corpses piled up into a small mountain.

Li Dingguo, under the cover of his personal guards, led less than three hundred remaining troops in a hasty breakout through a small path behind the pass.

Li Dingguo's dejected figure disappeared into the mountains, signifying that something had happened.

"The gate has been breached! The Flower Bridge Gate has been breached!"

The Ming army finally realized that they had captured the place, and their cheers were deafening, echoing through the valley.

The soldiers who survived the ordeal collapsed on the city walls, below the pass, and amidst piles of corpses, weeping loudly, not out of joy, but out of the fear and exhaustion of surviving the ordeal.

They were so tired, in so much pain, and in so much misery.

Zhang Da sighed, and with the help of his personal guards, he stepped onto the city wall of Huaqiao Pass...