Chapter 97: with translation of chapter title

Just as the Great Qian marriage alliance contingent arrived in Cangzhou.

At this moment, below Jade Splendor Pass.

The sun had just risen, and the besieging army had already deployed its formation.

The Cangzhou Army was numerous, pressing toward the mighty pass like a dark cloud.

Although the mighty pass was perilous, the soldiers defending Jade Splendor Pass had been fighting continuously for days and were exhausted.

Under the command of Commander Li Jing, the Cangzhou Army had been relentlessly attacking Jade Splendor Pass for over ten days.

At this moment, beneath the walls of Jade Splendor Pass, Li Jing, who oversaw the besieging army, was tall and sturdy, with a resolute countenance and eyes sharp as an eagle's.

Riding a black warhorse, he exuded a mighty presence.

Under his command, the Cangzhou Army's besieging forces, deployed in batches, launched their attack in an orderly manner.

A large contingent of archers began firing dense volleys of arrows at the city wall.

The arrows whistled as they poured down like a violent storm.

The defenders of Jade Splendor Pass raised their shields, struggling to withstand the arrow barrage.

The arrow slits on the city walls were riddled with holes, and the stone crevices reeked heavily of gunpowder.

Next, the massive trebuchets began to show their power.

Like the arms of a giant, they hurled boulder after boulder toward the wall.

The boulders smashed into the wall, unleashing deafening booms.

The wall shook as if it might collapse, stone fragments flew, and smoke and dust filled the air.

The defenders were staggered by the blows; under the Cangzhou Army's days of intense assaults, some sections of Jade Splendor Pass's walls had begun to crumble.

For the defenders of Jade Splendor Pass, this was adding insult to injury.

However, the defending commander did not give up resistance, brandishing his spear and loudly ordering the troops to hold their positions.

Under his leadership, the weary soldiers rallied, stubbornly resisting the besieging army with bows, stones, and swords.

"Order them to withdraw this batch."

Watching Cangzhou soldiers continually falling on the battlefield, Li Jing's face was expressionless.

He knew that to breach this mighty pass, he needed a more clever method; otherwise, relying solely on the lives of the Cangzhou Army would be futile.

It's not impossible.

But the final casualties would surely be severe.

This was, strictly speaking, the first major campaign Su Ye had led since taking office as Cangzhou Inspector.

We can't let it turn out so ugly.

Thus, he ordered the soldiers to feign retreat, thereby exhausting the defending troops.

The besieging army lit bonfire after bonfire outside the city, feigning a withdrawal.

Meanwhile, hundreds of soldiers armed with iron shovels and picks, under the cover of battlefield smoke, dug tunnels day and night without cease.

The excavated earth was cleverly concealed so the defenders would not discover it.

The tunnels gradually extended toward the base of the wall, while the defenders remained completely unaware.

This clearly shows that Li Jing's strategy of wearing down the enemy, employed over the past days, has taken effect.

Over these many days, there has been relentless high-intensity assault.

Li Jing naturally would not merely think of filling this mighty pass with the lives of the Cangzhou Army.

Even if not for the purpose of exhausting the enemy.

He would not even risk a desperate all-out assault.

He ordered the soldiers to take turns attacking the city, creating the illusion of an undiminished offensive.

The archers continuously shot arrows at the city wall, the trebuchets hurled boulders at it, and the infantry launched charges.

Although these attacks caused some damage to the wall, their true purpose was to wear down the defenders' strength and will.

While the commander defending Jade Splendor Pass might have sensed a hint of Li Jing's scheme.

But there was nothing to be done; it was an open ploy.

Given the Cangzhou Army's overwhelming numerical superiority, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and hold the pass.

They might have observed the Cangzhou Army's relentless attacks and the movements outside, beginning to suspect the enemy was digging tunnels.

But this suspicion was of no use.

Tunnel warfare is extremely covert, and under the relentless offensive of Li Jing's Cangzhou Army.

They simply lacked the time to determine the tunnels' exact location and scale.

Instead, they feared that acting rashly would only alert the enemy.

Under this anxiety and exhaustion, the defenders' morale began to waver.

They had fought continuously for days, and their stamina was severely depleted.

Meanwhile, the Cangzhou Army, under Li Jing's command, seized the opportunity to intensify tunnel digging, gradually approaching the base of the wall.

And at this moment, inside the tunnels beneath Jade Splendor Pass.

Several War Gods of the Cangzhou Army, Sun Wukong and Wu Wenhua among them, were bitterly digging tunnels here.

Previously, taking advantage of the defenders' unfamiliarity with them, Sun Wukong and these War Gods had assaulted the city wall several times.

This posed a tremendous threat to Jade Splendor Pass.

However, after the defenders of Jade Splendor Pass finally reacted.

The situation could then reverse.

The defending archers and bed crossbows were not to be trifled with, and Sun Wukong and his companions were not the mythical sort that could fly and burrow through the earth.

Faced with the constant aimed fire of the defenders' archers and the bombardments of the bed crossbows aimed from above.

Moreover, Jade Splendor Pass serves as the first mighty pass of Qi Zhou defending against the Cangzhou army.

After Qi Wang of Qi Zhou learned that the Cangzhou army had launched a major invasion, he urgently dispatched supplies to Jade Splendor Pass.

This also included, among the Heavenly Martial Continent, the imperial army's equipment specifically designed to deal with War Gods and Cultivators: the "Gang-breaking Crossbow," "Splitting Gang Arrow," and "Qi-shattering Crossbow Bolt."

Dense Splitting Gang Arrows and heavy Qi-shattering Crossbow Bolts kept falling around them; even though they were all War God–level powerhouses, facing such high‑grade targeting still posed a huge threat to several of them.

Therefore, under such targeting, Sun Wukong, Wu Wenhu, and Bai Hu et al. had to go down into the tunnel themselves, leading the soldiers to continue digging the tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, the space was cramped and the light dim; only the sound of iron shovels digging earth and the soldiers' heavy breathing could be heard.

The tunnel was damp, making clothes prone to moisture, which made the already exhausted soldiers even harder to endure.

Sun Wukong broke the gloomy atmosphere first, saying, "This damned tunnel is worse than crawling into a rat hole."

He spoke while sweating profusely as he dug the earth.

"We have no choice but to do this."

"If we keep attacking like this and let those archers and bed crossbows continue firing, our casualties will only grow worse."

Bai Hu gave a bitter smile, yet his hands never stopped moving.

His whole body surged with platinum‑colored gang energy, and he waved his iron shovel at lightning speed.

Suddenly, a violent tremor came, and a loud bang sounded from above the tunnel.

The three looked up and saw a huge boulder plummet from the sky, smashing near the tunnel entrance.

Inside the tunnel, dust instantly flew up, and several soldiers were injured by the flying stone fragments.

Sun Wukong roared, "Damn it, the defending troops really have no scruples."

"Once I, Old Sun, finish digging this tunnel, I'll smash open every one of their heads!"

He swung his iron shovel and dug with even greater vigor.

Bai Hu hurriedly comforted the frightened soldiers, "Don't panic, stay calm."

He spoke while organizing the soldiers for emergency treatment.

(End of chapter)