Chapter 121: Iron Man

Xiao Wazi loosened his grip on the spear shaft and looked into the city from the parapet — a dense expanse of overlapping rooftops, streets threading through the gaps between them, and many figures running along those streets.

Xiao Wazi stuck his head out; at the foot of the wall, people were coming and going — all old folk and women hauling stones, plus some able-bodied men carrying stone slabs that were clearly the doorstep stones from those great households; even this stuff had been donated, but none of it would do any good now.

He raised his waist saber, thrust his upper body out over the parapet, and bellowed, "The city is breached!"

Below, some heard the voice and looked up; seeing Xiao Wazi's red coat and red headscarf, the women beneath the wall broke into panicked shrieks.

The crowd screamed, dropped their stones, and fled into the city — chaos erupted at the base of the wall.

Xiao Wazi roared with laughter, watching the chaos spread into the city, the crowd scattering like headless flies.

"All of them will be my servants." Xiao Wazi gave a dark chuckle.

A bell tolled; Xiao Wazi looked up — in the distance stood a solitary, jutting structure, the shape of the bell tower found in every city; a red banner was waving atop it, though Xiao Wazi had no idea what it meant.

"Xiao Wazi, where do we strike?" came a loud shout from behind.

Xiao Wazi turned to look — it was the three Child Army soldiers he led; they had just climbed onto the wall, their faces brimming with excitement.

"We hit that gate tower." Xiao Wazi pointed ahead; the gate tower of the South Incense Gate was not far now, and the comrades who had charged over earlier were locked in a melee with a newly arrived group of Community Soldiers.

The three let out a battle cry and charged; Xiao Wazi, saber in hand, slowly followed behind.

Further ahead, several companions were sweeping through the Community Soldiers; those Community Soldiers had no formation — though numerous, each fought alone, most just standing in place jabbing wildly; the companions coordinated, ganging up on isolated foes, and the Roving Bandits held the complete upper hand; several Community Soldiers already lay on the ground.

Behind them, some Community Soldiers threw down their weapons and fled toward the City Stairs, shouting in panic.

The Community Soldiers were about to collapse; taking the gate tower would allow them to mass a large force — whether to continue assaulting the wall or to directly seize the gate, capturing Tongcheng was only a matter of course.

More comrades began leaping onto the wall from bamboo ladders; Xiao Wazi called out to the new arrivals while advancing with his saber.

Several Community Soldiers fled past, and a group of black-clad bailiffs appeared ahead, red cloth tied around their sleeves; their formation was tight, somewhat resembling the group that had killed his brother.

Xiao Wazi's face twitched; he let out a furious roar: "Kill all the government curs!"

Five or six companions had just cut down a lagging Community Soldier and were in the heat of slaughter; with a shout, they charged.

A command rang out from the opposite side; the front rank of bailiffs suddenly halted in unison, bodies twisting sideways and leaning back.

Xiao Wazi had never expected to see such a sight atop a city wall; even in field battles against Government Troops, only a few used javelins — most long-range strikes on both sides were done with bows and arrows; if Government Troops were on the wall, they generally would not assault the city at all.

That synchronized movement before him was unmistakably the drill of trained Government Troops.

A fierce shout: "Throw!"

The bailiffs twisted their bodies; Xiao Wazi, jolted alert, ducked behind a companion.

Five javelins tore through the air; one missed and shot past Xiao Wazi with a hiss; among the five companions ahead, two screamed simultaneously — the foremost companion's whole body shuddered; at under ten paces, a thrown javelin was nearly impossible to dodge; two javelins pierced into him, one driven with such brutal force that the shaft's tail vibrated violently, emitting a rattling hum; carrying both javelins, he staggered crookedly two steps before collapsing to the ground along with the other fallen companion.

Xiao Wazi bellowed, "Don't stop — charge through!"

The remaining Roving Bandits rushed forward; Xiao Wazi leaped over the companion at his feet and charged toward the enemy with the others; the wall top here was narrow — if they let the other side keep throwing like this, two more volleys and they would be virtually wiped out.

Before he could close in, a massive figure pushed through from the rear rank, a short spear in hand; without dodging, he thrust straight at the lead Long Family.

Xiao Wazi reached the front as well; steeling himself, he hacked down with his saber — the man moved sluggishly, and the blade landed cleanly on his shoulder.

Only the screech of metal on metal was heard; a spark burst from the blade's edge, and several notches chipped out of the cutting edge; the other men's waist sabers struck home with the same result.

Instead, the brawny man let out a furious roar and ran the Long Family before him clean through; the Long Family's body curled, and he stumbled backward two steps, hands desperately clutching the spear shaft.

Xiao Wazi hastily sized him up — the brawny man was actually wearing a suit of scale armor covered in metal scales; no wonder his frame looked so enormous.

His scalp instantly went numb. "Government troops?"

A government soldier in full-body armor meant a Household Retainer — at minimum, only a Garrison Commander or above could afford Household Retainers; if Tongcheng had concealed troops, then how many were hidden?

The brawny man yanked backward on his short spear, but the spearhead was lodged in the Long Family's back and would not come free for the moment.

At that moment, the other men slashed at him; the brawny man simply abandoned the short spear, using the armored vambraces on both arms to parry left and right — and suffered not a single scratch; the bailiffs behind closed in, using short spears to threaten the Roving Bandits on the flanks.

The Roving Bandit directly in front was about to stab with his Cloud Ladder Blade, but now, with support from both sides gone, the brawny man charged forward recklessly, bearing down like a small mountain; the panicked Long Family jabbed wildly — the blade struck the scale armor with a clink, the armor plate denting inward but the edge failing to pierce it; the brawny man seized the Roving Bandit around the waist, hoisting him upside down.

With a furious roar, the brawny man smashed the Roving Bandit headfirst onto the floor; the Roving Bandit flailed his limbs in terror — his skull struck the floor with a sickening thud; a crack rang out, the Roving Bandit's neck snapped, and his thrashing limbs instantly stilled, collapsing like a rag doll onto the ground.

Empty-handed, the brawny man advanced toward this side again; the Roving Bandits felt their courage shatter — they had never anticipated encountering a Heavy Armor Soldier on the wall; the appearance of this Heavy Armor Soldier dealt a crushing blow to their morale; at that moment, another javelin flew out from behind the brawny man's flank, striking yet another companion.

A voice from the opposite side shouted, "Xu Lengzi, get a weapon!"

The brawny man halted, intending to pick up a waist saber from the ground, but he could not crouch down; his movements were clumsy and comical — but in Xiao Wazi's eyes, there was nothing funny about it at all.

His nerve was already gone; he had no idea how many Government Troops were inside the city, and even this iron man alone before him was hard enough to deal with.

A short spear was handed to the brawny man from beside him; he took it in one hand and strode forward, his free hand carrying the sense that he might grab and smash someone to death at any moment.

One Roving Bandit suddenly shrieked, "It's a Household Retainer!" — then turned and fled headlong along the wall without looking back; several Roving Bandits were just arriving from behind, having rushed up eagerly to breach the city, only to run straight into their fleeing comrade; they halted, momentarily stupefied.

The group of bailiffs charged forward with a great shout, their formation tight; on either side of the iron man were two or three short spears — on the wall top, there was simply no way to evade them.

Xiao Wazi, too, had little room to retreat, because the sound of fighting now came from behind as well; he turned hastily to look — fierce combat was underway there too, and there seemed to be two iron-armored men; at this point, Xiao Wazi was certain that Government Troops had indeed entered the city.

Behind the bailiffs, someone was hurling Fire Thunder down the wall; five or six were thrown in quick succession; the cries below shook the heavens — likely everyone had scattered; even the support at the wall's base was gone; no more men would be coming up this section of the wall; the situation had been reversed in the blink of an eye.

The bailiffs ahead kept pressing their assault; the few comrades who had been stunned moments before were quickly speared into bloody messes; the remaining two turned and fled, but now both sides were closing in and they had nowhere to run; one of them screamed and threw himself onto an arrow crenel — a new companion was just climbing up through that very crenel; caught completely off guard, the two grappled and plummeted off the wall together; a wave of horrified cries rose from below.

Several explosions rang out; plumes of white smoke billowed up from beneath the wall, the acrid smell of gunpowder swiftly spreading over the wall top.

On the opposite side, bailiffs were again twisting sideways, preparing to throw javelins; the nearest target was very likely himself; Xiao Wazi no longer cared about the glory of scaling the wall, much less about any servants — he immediately threw down his waist saber, planted his hands, and vaulted onto an arrow crenel.

In his panic, he still glanced back and saw that at least two men had already begun their throwing motion; terror sent a jolt through his scalp; his mind went blank — there was no time to step onto the bamboo ladder; he leaped straight off the city wall; the moment he jumped, two javelins howled past just above his head with a rush of wind.

On the upper section of the bamboo ladder at that spot was a Child Army soldier; halfway up, he had seen Fire Thunder hurled from above and companions leaping down nearby; he was looking around in bewilderment, not knowing what to do.

Xiao Wazi slammed hard into him; the Child Army soldier screamed and tumbled off the ladder; the collision slowed Xiao Wazi's fall, but he could not control his body's posture — his rear struck the bamboo ladder, sending him slanted into the white smoke below the wall.

He knew the ground beneath the wall was littered with stones; landing headfirst meant certain death; he could only desperately stretch one leg downward.

Before he could adjust, his foot touched ground; he felt it land on something protruding, then his foot slipped and he crashed heavily to the ground; his head struck a wounded soldier's arm, and his waist was jabbed by a hard object.

Dizzy and disoriented, he still knew he had not yet left the danger zone; he hurriedly tried to stand, but a sharp pain shot through his foot — his waist was somewhat better, but still intensely painful; Xiao Wazi cried out in pain, his forehead drenched in cold sweat; he immediately abandoned the idea of rising and began crawling in the direction away from the city.

Several more explosions boomed nearby; panicked cries spread beneath the wall; Xiao Wazi turned his head to look and saw two red-clad figures leap from the wall top, plunging heavily into the white smoke below.

He knew this wave was finished; the pain in his left ankle was growing worse; he endured it and crawled a stretch further; ahead, the sound of brass gongs rang out — Eight Master had already ordered the retreat.

Countless Roving Bandits fled from the wall as if escaping death; the wounded beneath the wall each sought their own way to leave; someone hobbled past him at a run, but no one paid any attention to Xiao Wazi lying prone.

Xiao Wazi gritted his teeth, let out a muffled grunt through his nostrils, and crawled toward the direction of the Yellow Banner.

……

Pang Yu, drenched in sweat, stood at the arrow crenel. Seeing the enemy outside the city recede like the tide, he turned and leaned against the battlements, slowly sitting down. Dozens of corpses lay on this narrow stretch of the city wall, blood pooling across the ground. He was practically sitting in bloody water.

Nearly everything prepared on the city wall had been thrown. He also hadn't expected the Fire Thunder to be used up so quickly. After last night's fire attack, many Community Soldiers, fearing the Fire Thunder would be detonated, had moved a large portion into the City Tower. If they had stockpiled more in the Grass Depot, the Roving Bandits wouldn't have been able to storm the city wall.

Xu Lengzi, clad head to toe in Iron Armor, leaned against the opposite parapet, panting heavily. Those blacksmiths had no experience and blindly insisted on adding more iron material. The armor plates were densely strung together, and in the end, the weight exceeded the standard — all four suits were around sixty jin. The load-bearing points were all on the shoulders, and the inner lining stitching was even worse. On one suit, the right arm couldn't even be lifted, so the wearer could only use a Long Spear. Other finer attachments hadn't been made either; the neck, shins, insteps, hands, and face all lacked protection.

Yet it was these few crudely made suits of Iron Armor that allowed the three Armored Soldiers on both flanks to play a mainstay role. When facing those Roving Bandits without armor, the situation immediately reversed. The Zhuang Squad members near them had a psychological anchor and fought with far greater confidence.

"We need to make more of your granny's Iron Armor." Pang Yu cursed and stood up. "Tell the people below the wall to send up stones and equipment, quickly."

A Runner hurried off. Inside the city, a clamor rose. Pang Yu looked down from the parapet and saw the streets in complete chaos.

Pang Yu roared in anger, "What are you all doing? The city hasn't even fallen."

On City Wall Street, a Runner looked up and said, "Just now someone said the city had fallen, and everything inside fell into chaos. Squad Leader, you need to go into the city quickly and make a round to calm people's hearts. At Bean Family Bridge, several women have already jumped into the pond."

"What?" Pang Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked in astonishment, "Jumped into the pond?"