Chapter 776: The Rising Wind, How Can It Not Bring Heads to Fall (Part 2)

Xu Fengnian's presence was like a submerged reef in a riverbed; though it stirred up immense waves, it ultimately could not halt the unstoppable surge of the raging flood.

On the battlefield north of Tiger Head City, the cavalry on the flanks of the infantry squares had already launched several rounds of suppressive arrow volleys at the city walls, utilizing their skilled archery. At the forefront, shield-bearing infantrymen suddenly raised their shields outside the city, while archers in the rear, braving a shower of arrows from the city walls, initiated their first wave of high-angle shots. As the shield bearers and archers engaged in offense and defense, scaling ladders and siege towers abruptly accelerated through the gaps in the infantry formations. While the latter drew more of the Beiliang army's crossbow and archery attention, the archers, protected by the shield bearers, continued their high-angle fire without cease. Then, North Mang elite soldiers, acting as suicidal shock troops, began to charge forward. They wore only light leather armor instead of heavy iron, each holding a shield in one hand and a crude sabre in the other. These shock troops, who had conserved their energy during the advance of the formations, began their full-speed charge about 150 paces from the city walls. They were destined to play one of the bloodiest roles in military history: "ants clinging to the wall," with men swarming the ramparts like insects.

Almost simultaneously, nearly a hundred scaling ladders, held high by North Mang soldiers, were placed in the gaps of the merlons. And the more than ten towering siege towers, almost as tall as the city walls, lived up to their name: once stopped, they formed a menacing standoff with the city. At this moment, they revealed their true, formidable nature. The thick cowhide coverings, euphemistically called "blinds" by the remnants of the Southern Dynasty of North Mang, were suddenly pulled away with a rush. The archers concealed within these towers were all master marksmen from the steppes. Their accuracy far surpassed that of the archers who had previously created a curtain of arrows from behind the shield-bearers, aiming to maximize casualties among the Tiger Head City defenders who might hide in the blind spots of an upward assault.

Between the siege towers, scaling ladders with iron hooks at their tips clung like maggots to a bone, biting firmly into the body of Tiger Head City, a giant of the northwestern frontier. Simultaneously, the first ordinary soldiers to push the ladders began to ascend, raising their shields. The shields they carried were smaller than those of the shield-bearers but more robust than those of the shock troops who had already charged to the city base with them. The duty of these soldiers was simply to clear a path for the shock troops behind them; they had no hope of reaching the top of the wall. Therefore, they carried no weapons, offering only their flesh and blood, even their lives, to gain just a small amount of height for the assault.

In the distance, an elite cavalry unit had appeared beside Dong Zhuo. Their iron armor was remarkably gleaming, yet it was not merely for show. Each man carried a large bow, a light crossbow, and a war blade, with an iron spear hanging from the side of their saddle. These were the Kheshig Iron Guards, elite royal guards that only those with the great imperial surnames of Yelu and Murong were qualified to join. The only heavy cavalry unit in North Mang, which had never before appeared on a battlefield, was entirely selected from these Kheshig personal guards, demonstrating the unprecedented importance North Mang placed on this military force.

Two hundred Kheshig cavalry guarded a young man and woman. The man, clad in a light yellow python-embroidered robe, possessed a naturally rugged face but appeared sickly, with a pale complexion. He sat hunched on a Ferghana horse, looking constrained. In contrast, the dignified woman beside him seemed more at ease with the battlefield atmosphere than her husband. She constantly squinted towards the city walls, occasionally glancing at the figure steadily breaking through formations and drawing closer, an aura of deep gloom emanating from her. Her sect, the Chess, Sword, and Music Institute, had suffered greatly: apart from the Grand Marshal still serving as Imperial Tutor, and Hong Jingyan fighting at Calabash Pass, the other prominent figures – the Bronze Man Ancestor was missing, Da Yuefu had fallen in battle, and Jian Qi Jin Huang Qing was also dead. Thus, she, the North Mang Crown Princess, who had earned the title "Han Gu" as one of the Institute's leading figures and was usually considered gentle, had practically compelled her husband to come here. She wished to witness firsthand the perpetrator responsible for half the collapse of her sect.

North Mang Crown Prince Yelu Hongcai whispered, "Grand Marshal of the Southern Court, that fellow is still breaking through our formations and getting closer. Shouldn't we retreat a little?"Dong Zhuo chuckled without replying. Dong Fatty's wife, Fifth Fox, frowned. She had once heard the woman in their household, who constantly vied with her for the title of chief wife, say that Yelu Hongcai seemed to have been scared witless as a child. Now, he bore a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to the late Emperor, but his spirit was utterly lacking; he even suffered from hemophobia. Whenever he accompanied the Empress on her hunts, he could only rely on the game caught by his Kheshig personal guards to feign participation. Fifth Fox soon felt relieved about this: if Yelu Hongcai possessed the same strategic brilliance as his father, he would probably have died young, just like many other royal descendants of the Yelu clan.

Yelu Hongcai likely realized his suggestion was somewhat undignified, so he quickly found an excuse, feigning composure: "Grand Marshal of the Southern Court, aren't we waiting for the God of War? The deeper the Prince of Beiliang penetrates our formations, the more energy he will expend. If our position is too far forward, won't he immediately run into a wall and turn back? Then, after enduring hardship, the man named Xu might just retreat into Tiger Head City and refuse to come out. Wouldn't that ruin your Grand Marshal's grand plan?"

Dong Zhuo finally turned his head slowly, looking directly at the imposing man who held the most esteemed position in North Mang. He said with a smile, "Your Highness the Crown Prince speaks perfectly, truly grasping the military tactic of luring the enemy deep. Very well, we shall do as Your Highness suggests. How about we retreat five hundred paces?"Yelu Hongcai softly asked, "Would eight hundred paces be safer?"Dong Zhuo burst into laughter, saying, "As Your Highness commands, so it shall be."

Dong Zhuo's personal army and the Crown Prince's Kheshig Iron Guards began to retreat, and the hidden top martial arts masters and the repeating crossbow formations shifted along with them. Yelu Hongcai immediately beamed with joy, unconsciously straightening his posture a little. It was unclear whether this Crown Prince, who was little more than a puppet in the North Mang royal court, was celebrating his escape from danger or relishing the immense sense of accomplishment that came from being respected by Dong Fatty. Yelu Hongcai reined in his horse and was about to spiritedly whip it forward when he suddenly heard Dong Zhuo cough a few times beside him. The bewildered Crown Prince stared at the Grand Marshal of the Southern Court with a puzzled expression. Dong Fatty subtly gestured with his chin, and only then did Yelu Hongcai realize that his wife was still standing her ground, with no intention of retreating with him. This North Mang Crown Prince, about whom virtually no anecdotes circulated in the Liyang court or common folk, sighed softly. He signaled his Kheshig Iron Guards to continue forward, then turned his horse alone and approached her, asking gently, "What's wrong?"

She raised her riding crop and pointed towards Tiger Head City, saying coldly, "On that battlefield, tens of thousands of my Great Mang sons are marching forward to their deaths."

Yelu Hongcai rubbed his chin, nodding, "Yes, Beiliang indeed dares to fight, but when have our steppe warriors ever feared death?"

She slowly turned her head, looking at the man with whom she had shared a bed but dreamt separate dreams for many years. Her eyes were filled with a complex mix of anger at his inaction and sorrow for his misfortune. At the same time, her clear, autumn-like eyes seemed to question this man, destined to be the future master of the steppes: "Our steppe warriors do not fear death; even the Prince of Beiliang dares to personally enter the fray. So, what about you, Yelu Hongcai?"

Yelu Hongcai seemed to shrink from directly facing the Crown Princess. He lowered his head and said, "Let's go."She put down her riding crop and sneered, "Retreating eight hundred paces is hardly enough; we might as well just go straight back to Xijing."Turning her horse, she galloped north, leaving him in the dust. Yelu Hongcai watched her receding figure, his lips moving slightly, but in the end, he uttered no sound.

Behind this couple, and further south of that lone figure, the great battle raged fiercely at Tiger Head City.

Tiger Head City's formidable defensive line, renowned as unparalleled in the world, served as a boundary separating life from death.

Along this northern defensive line, the city wall stood five and a half zhang high. Its upper infill layer was topped and compacted with mortar mixed from tung oil, glutinous rice, and lime, a section alone measuring over a zhang in height, further fortified with seven layers of bricks. On top of the wall, besides the main arrow tower above the principal gate, there were twelve fortified platforms, eight large crossbow towers, and two corner towers constructed on the east and west sections. The merlons on both sides of what the Beiliang border army called the "horse-walking path" faced each other. Tiger Head City boasted a total of over two thousand battlements for archery and observation. In this city, located in the northwesternmost region of the Liyang Dynasty, even every brick bore an official seal, clearly indicating the year, kiln, and the artisan's name to prevent negligence. Furthermore, to the direct north of Tiger Head City, there were three distinct gate structures: the main gate, an arrow tower, and a sluice gate tower. Liu Jinu, the commanding general of Tiger Head City, stood on the highest level of the arrow tower, overseeing the entire situation from above.

Due to the Hongjia Northern Exodus, which years ago brought many scholars and artisans to North Mang, there had never been a nomadic invasion southward in military history that achieved such a peak in siege warfare, overshadowing many native Central Plains dynasties throughout history. More critically, North Mang had never so resolutely and voluntarily abandoned their warhorses, fighting on foot with such fearlessness. Tiger Head City was reputed to possess Liyang's most abundant and comprehensive reserves, serving as Beiliang's largest weapons depot. Yet, in less than two months of defense, over four thousand bows and crossbows had been damaged, half the crossbow towers destroyed, and more than twenty winches used for deploying rolling logs were ruined. Consequently, Tiger Head City was forced to switch to brick-and-mud rolling logs, which had significantly reduced power.

More than half of the thousand-plus shock troops from North Mang, who ascended via a hundred scaling ladders, were dead or wounded. Although during this time over ten ladders had shock troops who finally reached the top of the wall, they ultimately failed to gain a foothold. At the base of the city wall, layers upon layers of corpses lay alongside wounded soldiers who could not be dragged from the battlefield in time; the former were silent, the latter wailed. Their casualties stemmed not only from the torrent of arrows pouring down from above but also from pots of boiling oil, rolling logs, and even battering rams similar to those used in naval warfare. A single downward swing could instantly shatter a scaling ladder, and the robust North Mang soldiers clinging to them were as fragile as mosquitoes, instantly crushed against the city wall.

Compared to the self-sacrificing charge of the ladder-climbing shock troops, the North Mang archers inside the gigantic siege towers outside the city inflicted casualties that could not be underestimated on the Tiger Head City defenders. The Beiliang border army wore more robust and resilient armor compared to the North Mang soldiers, who had to sacrifice heavy armor for faster city ascent. While the earlier high-angle volleys from the North Mang cavalry flanks and archers behind the shield-bearers seemed dense, they rarely caused significant combat damage unless they struck a vital point. However, the North Mang archers now delivered virtually face-to-face, close-range direct fire. Especially with every archer being a master marksman, Tiger Head City defenders were shot through the throat, had their eye sockets pierced, and many Beiliang soldiers were even impaled through their armor and bodies on the spot.

Scaling ladders from the infantry formations were continuously erected onto the city walls. After the more than one thousand lightly armored shock troops paved the way with their lives, buying time for those behind, North Mang gave Tiger Head City no chance to breathe. Next, North Mang strongmen, wearing iron helmets and chainmail, began their fierce ascent of the siege towers. If the first wave of shock troops consisted of agile North Mang infantry, then this subsequent wave of exceptionally robust infantry could, on virtually any other battlefield, don true heavy armor and rival the Central Plains heavy infantry that historically almost led to the demise of cavalry.

As these strongmen ascended the walls, even arrows shot from the city top at close range merely caused them to pause slightly as they raised their shields. Occasionally, a remarkably strong Beiliang archer would pierce a shield with an arrow, its sharp tip embedding directly into an arm, yet they would not falter. Amidst the deafening roar of battle, one North Mang strongman climbing a tower had four or five arrows already embedded in the shield held over his head. He was in the prime of his life, a man from a small tribe on the northern steppes. For him, concepts like the royal court or Baoping Province held no meaning. His enlistment in the southern campaign this time was simply to accumulate enough military merits by winter so that his growing son could eat his fill of meat and, consequently, rise one level in the household registry alongside him. He hoped his son would one day escape the unpredictable blizzards of the steppes and have the chance to travel to the Central Plains of Liyang in his stead. As for himself, he harbored no hope of leaving the battlefield alive. This Tiger Head City was truly unshakeable, vastly different from the rumors when he enlisted. Yet, he felt no anger at having been deceived; even if he died in battle, the compensation would be enough for his son to grow into a man, a steppe warrior no less capable than himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, the iron-armored, shield-bearing strongman glimpsed a siege tower being violently struck by a battering ram from the city wall. The tower shook violently, its top smashed to pieces, and a dozen master archers instantly died, their bodies flattened into pulp, merging with the tower. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, continuing his upward climb. Then, in an instant, he was pulled clear of the scaling ladder, and the three or four strongmen behind him suffered the same fate. His heart immediately sank into despair. The next moment, he and several North Mang strongmen simultaneously struck the city wall near the ladder, like a string of pitiful grasshoppers strung together. Dazed from the fall, he clutched his shield tightly and raised his arm to protect his head. Sure enough, light crossbow bolts instantly shot down from the city wall. Having narrowly escaped for now, he knew the real danger lay ahead. Their group had been hooked by "Flying Owls," a specialized Beiliang defensive weapon designed to counter the Great Mang strongmen. This device was a seven-zhang-long iron chain with sharp hooks every three feet. Once a ladder-climbing armored soldier was hooked, they were helpless and would quickly be dragged up, to be met by a volley of long spears. He had personally witnessed many strongmen tragically die beneath these Flying Owls. At this moment, hastily discarding his armor in an attempt to escape by falling from the wall was completely unrealistic. Hanging at the very top of the iron chain, he roared downwards, "Hold onto your war blades!"

Along the Tiger Head City battle line, one side swarmed like ants, the other slaughtered them; indeed, lives on both sides were as insignificant as ants.

Deep within enemy territory, Xu Fengnian continued his advance, breaking through all opposition.

He was invincible, facing no opponent capable of a single stand. Yet, Xu Fengnian clearly sensed several intense energy signatures lurking nearby, subtly moving with him. These were undoubtedly North Mang martial arts masters lying in wait, mostly at the Minor Grandmaster realm. Further away, two hundred paces out, two top masters were hidden: one Diamond Realm expert and one Finger Profound Realm expert. Xu Fengnian advanced in a straight line, killing without any flashy moves. Most of his spear techniques came from the 'Collapse' and 'Arc' characters of the Four-Character诀 (Four-Character Techniques) developed by the Spear Immortal Wang Xiu. The 'Arc' spear, in particular, with its broad, sweeping movements, was ideal for chaotic battles against overwhelming numbers. Wherever the 'Arc' spear moved, imbued with the energy of the 'Collapse' technique, no one survived within two zhang of Xu Fengnian.

However, Xu Fengnian, despite his deep penetration, felt no triumph; instead, his thoughts grew heavier. He was heading straight for Dong Zhuo's banner. Everyone knew that only martial arts masters could truly impede him; ordinary soldiers were meaningless. Yet, the North Mang infantry formations advanced meticulously, without deviation. If they unfortunately encountered him, death was instantaneous.

Historically, large-scale southern invasions by steppe cavalry mostly bypassed formidable passes and great fortified cities. They would either besiege but not attack, leaving the strongholds isolated amidst the iron cavalry, forcing them to surrender. A true siege battle was not only unfamiliar to the nomadic peoples on horseback but also often resulted in losses outweighing gains. It was more cost-effective to bypass strongly defended border cities and plunder the hinterlands where cities were smaller, walls lower, and morale was weak. Xu Fengnian had long understood that North Mang's initial strategy of striking Beiliang first was a last resort. However, within this 'last resort' strategy, Dong Zhuo and the Grand Marshal were clearly ambitious, intending to use Beiliang's three hundred thousand border troops as a whetstone. This was similar to Xu Fengnian's recent tactic of allowing Tuoba Pusa to build momentum; if victorious, the path ahead would be clear. If Beiliang fell, North Mang, despite seemingly heavy casualties, would gain the most valuable strategic advantage. It would be akin to how the Xu family's iron cavalry defeated Western Chu, securing victory in a single battle at Xilei Wall, with subsequent campaigns against Western Shu and Southern Tang merely being mop-up operations and embellishments. What weighed heavily on Xu Fengnian was that initially, only Dong Zhuo, the Grand Marshal, and a few others in North Mang harbored such grand ambitions. But as the fierce fighting at Tiger Head City and Calabash Pass dragged on, North Mang soldiers rapidly shed their discomfort with dismounted combat. Xu Fengnian had previously led the Ghost Riders to battle North Mang cavalry outside Calabash Pass, and at that time, he hadn't seen Zhong Tan leading a siege, so the impression wasn't deep. Only when he was present himself, witnessing their orderly advance and rotational sieges, did he realize that North Mang's desperate gamble with a million-strong army had a genuinely high chance of success.

A surge of anger suddenly welled up within Xu Fengnian.

Beiliang was a small and sparsely populated region; Qingliang Mountain had to use every Minor Grandmaster it recruited with extreme caution. Even Xu Fengnian himself treated Mi Fengjie, a Finger Profound Realm sword master, with considerable respect. Yet, on this battlefield, several Minor Grandmasters had already died: three from the initial group that appeared, two more who later blocked his path, and one whom he discovered signs of and casually killed on the spot with a thrown arrow. In the blink of an eye, six had fallen. In contrast, how many Minor Grandmasters could the entire Qingliang Mountain or the Fushui Residence possibly produce to gather six of them together?

Just as Xu Fengnian was preparing to unleash a deadly assault on the hidden masters, those martial arts grandmasters with deep qi suddenly retreated from the battlefield in unison.

Xu Fengnian looked up and saw that Dong Zhuo's Grand Marshal of the Southern Court banner had begun to move backward.

Luring the enemy deeper?

Xu Fengnian, who had intended to advance rapidly, suddenly halted. The Huaiyang Pass Protectorate, to guard against unforeseen battlefield events, had already made corresponding deployments of cavalry from the towns of Liuya and Fuling. If North Mang chose to encircle and kill him with thousands of iron cavalry, the two cavalry units were even prepared for the worst-case scenario of charging into the enemy formation. Even Liu Jinu had explicitly stated that the cavalry within the city could sally forth at any moment. Xu Fengnian had focused his attention solely on Tiger Head City's immediate vicinity, confident that he could enter the fray alone and also escape the battlefield. However, at this moment, a bad premonition suddenly seized him.

Dong Zhuo's breakthrough point, or rather North Mang's breakthrough point, was not Tiger Head City, nor Calabash Pass, but Liuzhou! Liuzhou was a place both sides had initially targeted but then tacitly abandoned as circumstances changed.

At that time, he had taken a risky military maneuver, proposing a stunning strategy to Chu Lushan and Yuan Zuozong: to use the always-stationed Great Snow Dragon Riders and a truly formidable heavy cavalry unit as the main force, execute a large-scale troop transfer, and completely annihilate Yang Yuanzan's forces at Calabash Pass. It was a classic "lure the enemy into the jar, then catch the turtle in the jar" strategy.

So, was it possible that North Mang had also changed its strategy before this, attempting to completely conquer Liuzhou?

Although Xu Fengnian, before arriving at Huaiyang Pass, had already executed his pre-planned strategy, arranging for Chu Lushan to give Kou Jianghuai the title of Liuzhou General. Kou Jianghuai was to lead three thousand cavalry and six thousand Liangzhou infantry to reinforce Liuzhou, coordinating with the thirty thousand Dragon Elephant Army to defend the Liuzhou battlefield, where Tuoba Pusa had joined the fighting.

Xu Fengnian stood still, looking west, towards the distant Liuzhou.

At this moment, over twenty horsemen, swords strapped to their backs, had also, at some unknown point, followed him, the Prince of Beiliang, into the battlefield.

The two leading riders were Wu Liuding, the current Sword Sage of the Wu Family Sword Mound, and his female sword attendant, Cuihua.

Wu Liuding, whose carefree demeanor was hard to conceal even while breaking through formations and killing, galloped his horse up to Xu Fengnian. The young swordsman grinned and said, "Afraid to go forward now?"Xu Fengnian remained silent. Cuihua, the sword attendant who habitually kept her eyes closed in meditation, frowned and said solemnly, "Let's talk business."Wu Liuding immediately fell silent, as if struck by a sudden chill, and said helplessly, "Protector-General Chu asked me to deliver a message. He feels that young Dong Zhuo is up to no good, so he took it upon himself last night to lead a few hundred personal guards to Liuzhou. However, at the border between Liangzhou and Liuzhou, he already had eight thousand ambush troops waiting there, just for North Mang to make such a move. Oh, Protector-General Chu also said that those eight thousand men are all troublemakers who were recently hastily pulled from various border armies. Without him personally leading them, no one else could control those veteran soldiers."

Xu Fengnian suddenly burst into hearty laughter, unable to stop.

Wu Liuding turned to Cuihua and asked, "Has he lost his mind?"Xu Fengnian finally managed to stop laughing. He looked towards Dong Zhuo's banner far to the north and asked with a smile, "Do you dare to break through another two li of their formation with me?"Wu Liuding replied without hesitation, "I'm just a messenger; I wouldn't dare!"The female sword attendant, however, opened her eyes and calmly told Xu Fengnian, "Your Highness can rest assured concerning your back."

Xu Fengnian nodded.Those eight thousand hastily assembled veteran soldiers...

In fact, even before the Xu family entered Beiliang, their forces were not formally structured. Even earlier, when a certain fatty led a thousand cavalry to conquer Shu, there was no concept of a direct lineage of troops. Grand General Xu Xiao simply gave him whatever troops were available, and he fought with them. The soldiers under his command were either the quickest to die in the Xu family army or the quickest to be promoted. If one had to assign a name to them, there was a makeshift one from a famous battle he commanded in his youth: it was by a river, where out of eight thousand cavalry haphazardly assembled under his command, only four hundred survived. After Xu Fengnian succeeded as the Prince of Beiliang, he casually chatted with the fatty, who was then the Beiliang Protector-General, at Huaiyang Pass. Only then did he learn that since the fatty had served as a commanding general, leading over seventy battles, large and small, a mere ten thousand surviving soldiers had served under him in Beiliang. The older ones had become heads of military households, while most were able-bodied men in their forties. Even the least successful among them would have attained at least the rank of a standard bearer.

That river, if Xu Fengnian remembered correctly, was called Yiluo River.

The border where Liangzhou and Liuzhou meet.

A fatty, having just donned his armor and mounted a large horse, gazed at the cavalry force before him, at their familiar faces. He asked with a booming laugh, "Gentlemen, how does it feel to transition from generals, colonels, or at the very least, standard bearers, back to being mere soldiers under my command, Chu Lushan?"A roar of laughter erupted from the cavalry formation.The fatty smiled and said, "I hear there are quite a few who've come from the infantry to make up the numbers. As I, Chu Lushan, am nostalgic, I won't hold it against you. I suppose your archery and horsemanship haven't declined too much over the years."The knights' laughter grew even louder.

The fatty's face suddenly filled with killing intent, and he said ferociously, "Most of you know an old rule: fight alongside me, and as long as you don't die, you'll get a promotion later. This time, I'm going to disappoint you. Whether you live or die is hard to say, but even if you live, there will be no promotions! Let me tell you beforehand, this time our enemy is Dong Zhuo's elite cavalry from North Mang, at least twenty thousand strong! We only have eight thousand men. What do we do?"Silence fell across the entire field.Chu Lushan suddenly clasped his hands in salute and declared, "Then, gentlemen, let us once again walk the path of the Yiluo River with me, Chu Lushan!"