Chapter 190

"Surrender? Or are you giving me a chance?" General Yu was so angry he couldn't get up, he shouted angrily, "I, General Yu, acting on the orders of His Majesty of Da Yu, swear to crush your Xuan Guo and avenge the Crown Prince! I haven't even reached Xi Tun Guan yet, and you come running up to my face to make a fuss!"

Duan Wu laughed and said, "Who let you be so slow? Our His Majesty even knew we had arrived at Huangsha Pass a step before you did; your scouts and hidden sentries really have no effect on us. General Yu, you're an old general—you don't need me to say it to understand what this means for war."

General Yu's face looked grim.

He certainly knew what that meant.

But he felt that Duan Wu's remark was somewhat exaggerated.

Indeed, he only learned of the situation when Xuan Guo's troops arrived outside the walls of Huangsha Pass, but no matter how he thought about it, Xiao Qidi could not possibly have known beforehand.

Surely Duan Wu couldn't be using a thousand-mile sound transmission, right?

"Bring my heavy bow and fine iron long arrows over here." General Yu lowered his voice, hand moving to his back.

A guard immediately took down the heavy bow and arrows he was carrying and handed him to him.

This bow was custom-made for him by Da Yu's top weaponsmith.

The arrowheads were forged from rare fine iron; under normal circumstances he would be reluctant to use them, otherwise it would be too wasteful.

But the situation is now extraordinary, and moreover Duan Wu is only a few hundred meters from the city wall; although his close entourage includes thousands of soldiers in black armor, none of them carries a shield.

Isn't this an opportunity handed right to him?

General Yu snorted inwardly, thinking Duan Wu was still too young; as a commander-in-chief, he was so reckless as to place himself in the most dangerous situation.

And yet he wanted him to surrender?

Idiot!

"Duan Wu, you brat! Come and take your life!" General Yu roared angrily, nocking an arrow on his bow.

Creak—

The heavy bow was bent to its limit, the bowstring pulled taut.

The fine iron arrowhead reflected a sharp gleam in the sunlight.

Whoosh!

The arrow left the string with the speed of thunder, flying straight at Duan Wu's left chest.

This arrow, shot by General Yu, was perfect—full force, precise angle.

He had absolute confidence that he could kill Duan Wu with a single blow.

A soft bang sounded.

The fine iron arrow struck precisely the left chest armor of Duan Wu.

The tremendous impact sent Duan Wu reeling backward.

"Hahaha!" General Yu laughed loudly, "Duan Wu is dead! All you Xuan Guo soldiers, quickly lay down your weapons and surrender!"

However, just as his words fell.

Duan Wu, who should have been killed by that arrow and fallen from his horse, instead clamped his legs around the horse's belly, hooked his feet in the stirrups, and instantly sat upright as if nothing had happened.

"General… how… how is he not dead?!" the nearby guards exclaimed, their jaws dropping.

Our own commander-in-chief is a divine archer.

A heavy bow that no one dares to face head-on, plus fine iron arrows, at this distance could easily pierce through two men wearing bronze armor in succession.

The result… the opponent was actually still alive?

General Yu's laughter cut off abruptly, his eyes widened and pupils constricted as he stared fixedly at Duan Wu's chest.

He then discovered that his fine iron arrow had penetrated less than half an inch!

"How is this possible?!" General Yu gaped, "Even the finest iron armor forged by Da Yu couldn't possibly stop this arrow of mine outright!"

"Great shot, General Yu!" Duan Wu praised loudly, "If I were still wearing my old bronze armor, I would surely have been killed just now."

Saying that, he casually pulled out the arrow embedded in his left chest.

He lowered his head and took a look.

There was a hole in his chest armor.

This was sent by the Jinli Fairy; according to her, it was made from some steel alloy modeled after the armor commonly used by the Daxuan army.

Apart from being coated in a dark Xuan color, its appearance is indistinguishable from bronze armor.

In reality it is lighter and harder; bronze weapons striking it leave no mark, and it is more than sufficient against the raw iron arrowheads commonly used by Yu Guo.

Unexpectedly, it was still pierced through by General Yu's arrow.

Fortunately, it only went in a little over half an inch; moreover, Duan Wu was wearing a bulletproof suit provided by the Jinli Fairy underneath this armor.

Even if this arrow's power were multiplied several times, it could not inflict a fatal wound on Duan Wu.

However, Duan Wu's sincere praise was taken by General Yu as mockery.

General Yu's old face instantly twisted with anger; in his fury he nocked another arrow and shot again.

Swish swish swish!

Lightning-fast, three consecutive shots were fired again at Duan Wu.

Duan Wu immediately raised his hand to shield his face, his whole body tensing.

With three dull thuds.

All three fine iron arrows struck his arm guards.

"Impressive, General Yu!" Duan Wu lowered his arm, clicking his tongue in amazement, "Good thing I reacted quickly; otherwise those three arrows would have pierced my eye sockets—I would surely have died."

"Come on, everyone, give General Yu a round of applause!"

Duan Wu raised both hands and clapped vigorously.

The several thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army soldiers nearby, enjoying the spectacle, also clamored applause, shouting, "Great shot, General Yu!"

"You…" General Yu nearly fainted, hand over his chest, somewhat unsteady on his feet.

"General!" the guards hurried to support him.

General Yu swallowed the blood surging up his throat, gritting his back teeth as he ordered, 'Let... let the archers... go up onto the city wall!'

"Yes! General!"

The horn sounded to relay the order.

The archers, who had long been prepared, quickly climbed onto the city wall.

In the high sky, several drones silently passed by, but no one on General Yu's side noticed.

"General Duan, they have deployed several thousand archers." A Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor soldier, while looking at the screen of his remote controller, informed Duan Wu of the situation.

"We retreat three hundred meters." Duan Wu gave the order.

Although the armor and gear worn by the soldiers and even the warhorses could effectively block iron arrows, if there were too many arrows, exposed areas such as the face and hands could still be injured; therefore, when avoidance is needed, one should still avoid.

Once the thousands of Yu Guo archers on Huangsha Pass's city wall had taken their positions, Duan Wu and the several thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor soldiers beside him had already retreated to seven or eight hundred meters away.

Whoosh!!!

On the city wall, the arrows poured down like rain in a parabolic trajectory!

The momentum was quite grand.

But they all landed about ten meters in front of Duan Wu.

A distance of seven or eight hundred meters is still too far for those archers on the city wall.

"Now it's our turn," Duan Wu grinned, "Everyone, load the repeating crossbows!"

Several thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor soldiers immediately took from behind their small yet capable repeating crossbows.

This was also equipped to them by Jinli Fairy.

The crossbow bolts are only a few inches long, with twenty placed together in a bolt case; as long as the case is mounted on the crossbow, pulling the trigger fires one bolt, and if the trigger is held down, twenty bolts can be fired in rapid succession.

Moreover, not only is it simple to use, its power is also strong, with a range reaching up to a kilometer.

Duan Wu led the great army all the way in a swift advance; the Yu Guo vanguard forces and scouts they encountered were first spotted by drone reconnaissance, then swiftly eliminated by crossbow bolts.

Including those dark-post scouts near Huangsha Pass, they were dealt with in the same way.

Soon, several thousand Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor soldiers had already raised their repeating crossbows.

With a wave of Duan Wu's hand——

Swish swish swish!!!

A dense tearing-through-air sound rose.

A vast sheet of crossbow bolts, like a violent rain, flew upward in an even larger parabolic arc, then struck the Huangsha Pass city wall like a waterfall.

Several thousand Yu Guo archers had no time to react before they were turned into porcupines.

General Yu was only spared by a dozen or so shield-bearing guards who surrounded him, but after this volley of crossbow bolts ended, more than half of the guards were dead or wounded, and their shields were shattered into sieves.

Seeing this, General Yu was both startled and angry.

After two engagements, he suffered crushing defeats each time, leaning against the wall and sitting on the ground, he murmured: 'Our Da Yu has always looked down on the various major states of Zhong Yuan with its iron equipment, yet I never expected…… the armor and crossbows of Xuan Guo…… to be so formidable…… How did they achieve this……'

"General, it's too dangerous up on the city wall; please withdraw first!" the guards urged.

General Yu had no choice; he descended the city wall in a sorry state under the protection of the remaining guards.

Having just personally experienced the terror of Xuan Guo's army's weapons and equipment, he realized that even if he commanded three hundred thousand troops, in a direct confrontation he would likely not be a match for those eleven thousand Xuan Guo soldiers.

Even his own fine-iron arrows could not pierce Duan Wu's armor, while the enemy's arrows had greater power and range; once melee combat began, the Da Yu soldiers would only be crushed.

"General! How is the situation?!" Upon his descent, the deputy generals quickly gathered around.

General Yu's face turned pale; he gritted his teeth and said: 'Convey my order…… hold Huangsha Pass…… Fortunately, I did not hastily lead troops to attack Xi Tun Guan, but had already reinforced this side's walls early on, so I believe we can still defend it.'

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock.

"General, we are supposed to go conquer Xuan Guo and trample it! How come now…… we haven't even killed our way there, yet we've become just defending the border pass?"

"General, please allow me to lead the army out of the city to fight!"

"I, your subordinate, also earnestly request to go into battle!"

"……"

Seeing this, General Yu had no choice but to recount in detail the situation of his initial clash with Duan Wu on the city wall just earlier.

The deputy generals went from initial disbelief to shock, and finally fell into silence.

A deep sense of helplessness welled up in their hearts.

The enemy not only moved their troops with lightning speed, but their equipment and weapons also surpassed their imagination.

Faced with such a huge gap, how…… can this battle still be fought?

"No wonder…… no wonder the Da Yu's twenty thousand elite troops plus the thirty thousand Sha Yue barbarians all suffered defeat at Xi Tun Guan……" General Yu looked up at the sky, sighing helplessly.

"Also no wonder Xiao Qidi dared to behead even our Da Yu's envoys and the Crown Prince's head; it turns out…… the Xuan Guo army has already become this formidable."

"I finally understand, Xiao Qidi did this on purpose…… this is not Yu Guo conquering Xuan Guo; it is he…… who wants to annex our Da Yu!"

Those words made all the deputy generals present break out in a cold sweat.

"General!" a deputy general proposed, "We have trebuchets; even if we focus on defense, we must first make them lose a layer of skin! No matter how strong their armor, can they withstand huge stones?"

General Yu pondered briefly, then nodded and said: 'This proposal is good, approved.'

That deputy general received the order and left.

General Yu, at this moment, also regained his composure, and while thinking, he gave detailed instructions to his other subordinates:

"As long as Duan Wu leads his troops near, we will attack with the trebuchets; we must absolutely not go out to meet them in battle."

"Fortunately, Xuan Guo must attend to its other borders, so it cannot send more reinforcements; Duan Wu has only about eleven thousand troops, so he cannot encircle Huangsha Pass, nor can he flank us to cut off our grain supply; we need not fear."

"On the contrary, they, being far from Xi Tun Guan, will have limited grain supplies, and besides, there is no water source outside Huangsha Pass; they cannot hold out long. As long as we first hold the pass, once they run out of food and water and their troops are exhausted and forced to retreat, we can then seize the opportunity, march out, and pursue them!"

General Yu quickly formulated a battle plan based on the current known situation.

No matter how you look at it, this is the best approach.

The deputy generals' hanging hearts settled back into their stomachs; afterward, they split up, each leading troops to strengthen the defenses of the remaining positions of Huangsha Pass.

In no time, the catapults on the city wall were already in position.

Countless Yu Guo soldiers formed a long line, swiftly carrying stone blocks up to the city wall.

General Yu stood on a watchtower behind the city wall, observing the situation. When he saw Duan Wu retreat to a kilometer away and stop, he sneered, "Kid, you can't evade my catapult at that distance."

Buzz—

A faint sound came from the high sky.

General Yu followed the sound, and saw a few tiny shadows flash by, but the sun blinded his eyes; when he tried to look more closely, the shadows vanished into the clouds.

He didn't think further, assuming they were just a few strange birds flying across the sky.

At the same time, Duan Wu held a Drone controller, watching the captured footage on the screen with interest.

"Their movements are quite swift," Duan Wu said with a smile, then asked his subordinate, "Are we ready?"

The subordinate took out a Walkie-Talkie, asked, and quickly received replies that they were ready and could launch the attack at any moment.

Duan Wu nodded, "Alright, then let's attack. Be careful—focus on the city wall and city gate, don't launch too far, and avoid harming the civilians inside the city."

"Yes, General!"

The subordinate immediately relayed the orders via the Walkie-Talkie.

On the Huangsha Pass side of the city wall, the Deputy General reported to General Yu that the catapults were ready.

General Yu waved his hand grandly, "Hit them hard for me!"

Immediately, a thunderous drumbeat rang out on the city wall.

Just as the catapults at Huangsha Pass were about to fire, General Yu suddenly saw something flying out from Duan Wu's distant army.

The object was about the size of a catapult stone, cylindrical, and its whole surface glimmered with a silvery metallic sheen.

In the blink of an eye, it slammed heavily onto a spot on the side of the city wall.

Before General Yu could examine it closely, a booming crash rang out!

Flames shot up instantly, and the city wall shuddered!

The massive impact knocked everyone on the city wall off balance.

Even the watchtower behind the city wall seemed about to collapse.

"General! Drop down quickly!" the Deputy General shouted.

General Yu hurriedly dove to the ground.

Whoosh!

A fragment of brick and stone that burst from the city wall flew past General Yu's helmet, and with a bang it split the nearby war drum in two!

"What… is that?!" General Yu exclaimed, looking up in shock.