Chapter 354: Heaven‑Shattering Opening

These four words "heaven-shattering opening" were like a curse, constantly following him like a shadow.

This made Chen Wuji quickly adapt to this rhythm of life.

He had only just begun to deal with military affairs, yet everything he experienced was high‑difficulty combat.

Facing many with few, the outnumbered against the many, night battles, jungle fights, and now the scene before his eyes—driving civilians to attack the city.

Although the saying goes 'when the cart reaches the mountain, a road will appear,' Chen Wuji couldn't help but complain that this road was damn hard to travel.

The eighteen‑switchback mountain road looked like child's play compared to this broken path.

He didn't want to treat these civilians cruelly, but this is war.

These civilians were nothing but scouting troops driven out by tigers and wolves.

He had no choice!

The soldiers held their bows high, lying on the city wall and shouting Chen Wuji's just‑issued order.

The civilians below, carrying ladders with trembling hearts, the quick‑witted among them instantly threw down their weapons, stripped naked, and charged straight over.

The slow‑witted and doubtful kept to their own ways, merely lowering their heads and charging forward under the enemy's drive.

Ladder after ladder was set up.

The hooks on the ladders caught firmly on the wall, and each civilian began to climb the wall frantically.

The enemy troops wielding big knives used these civilians as shields, following closely and beginning to climb the wall.

Chen Wuji watched coldly, then again issued a stern order: 'Tell them, anyone holding a weapon will be killed without mercy!'

He could not sacrifice his soldiers' lives to perform some benevolent act.

That's going south while aiming north.

'Drop your weapons, or be killed without mercy!'

The soldiers shouted in unison, then began to put down their bows and pick up long knives.

In a sense, the enemy's plan of driving civilians to attack the city had already succeeded more than halfway.

They forced Chen Wuji to abandon arrow‑based long‑range defense and to discard the city's defensive logs and stones, leaving him no choice but to face combat on the wall from the start.

This is the price of mercy.

And this is exactly what the enemy wanted to see.

The Gu family's little brat can be inhuman, but Chen Wuji cannot bring himself to slaughter these civilians as if they were enemy troops.

Each civilian rushed to the top of the ladders and began climbing onto the wall.

Anyone who had thrown away his weapon and stripped naked, once on the wall, was ordered to crouch to the side and was immediately taken down by the provincial troops.

Any civilian who showed even something that could be considered a weapon was instantly cut down.

Chen Wuji held a horizontal knife and personally demonstrated for his subordinates.

He showed not the slightest hesitation.

Whoever refused to obey and act accordingly would be executed without pardon.

The melee on the wall quickly turned fierce and chaotic.

The civilians who refused to cooperate became the enemy's vanguard, waving their miscellaneous weapons and trying to seize the wall.

They also blocked the path of the civilians behind who had discarded weapons and stripped naked.

This made the civilians who had chosen to cooperate with Chen Wuji instantly flare up in anger.

The chaos quickly spread from the wall onto the ladders.

To cut off someone's wealth is like killing his parents; to cut off his livelihood is far worse than cutting off his wealth.

The obedient civilians, eyes red, rushed forward, grabbed the legs of those ahead, and began desperately pulling them down.

A ladder made of rough wood is extremely sturdy with just a few people, but when the front and back are packed with civilians fighting on it, it instantly becomes fragile.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of breaking rose one after another, immediately turning into cries of misery.

Ladder after ladder snapped in the middle, and the civilians on them fell like dumplings being dropped.

Chen Wuji swung his knife and knocked down a civilian holding a short dagger.

The other side was clearly brandishing a dagger, trying to kill, yet kept shouting, 'I'm a good person, I'm a good person, make way, let us go up.'

Chen Wuji really couldn't see anything good about him, so he just kicked him off the wall.

Just then, the enemy camp underwent another change.

With a burst of fierce drumming, the enemy's entire army surged forward and began charging the wall.

As far as the eye could see, figures bearing ladders filled the view, and the shouts of slaughter rolled like thunder, exploding in Chen Wuji's ears.

"Mr. Xu, it seems we've miscalculated this time." Chen Wuji sighed.

Xu Zengyi remained calm: 'We always have to pay some price for mercy on the battlefield. Fortunately, Commandant, you needn't worry too much—we've at least saved some civilians. But now we must give our all; we can't open any more gaps. What do you think, Commandant?'

"I'm not the sort of pedant who can't think his way around a corner; if we don't go all out, are we just waiting for them to storm the wall and chop off our heads?" Chen Wuji muttered irritably, then shouted the order, 'All troops, give it everything—full‑scale counterattack!'

If we open another gap for the civilians now, this battle will have no hope of victory.

Once the enemy's main force approaches and begins climbing the wall, they will drown this small city in numbers.

Saving these civilians is already Chen Wuji's limit.

If he were able, he would naturally wish to save more, but there's no chance now.

He must employ defensive measures to slow the enemy's siege speed.

Having received the order, the soldiers changed equipment again; the skilled archers picked up their bows and greeted the ladders.

The rolling logs and stones and golden broth, previously unused, are now employed without hesitation.

The cries of misery instantly intensified, echoing back and forth across the three walls.

The enemy's cloud carriage was slowly approaching, with rows of shield‑bearers on either side and units carrying huge timbers.

This kind of giant wood that requires two people to embrace actually has a formal name: it's called Lin Chong, or Chong Che.

The front of the relatively standard one is sheathed in iron, below it has wheels, and on both sides there are also lifting handles.

But the enemy's version of this device is crude; it can only be called a giant wood.

Since there's nothing on top, the wood looks fresh, and it is entirely carried on people's shoulders.

"Still want to ram the city gate? That's pure fantasy!" Xu Zengyi let out a cold laugh.

Chen Wuji was also quite calm about this.

To conserve manpower, Xu Zengyi had already filled the city gate last night.

He mixed stones and sand to completely block the entire city gate opening.

No matter how much strength the enemy has, they cannot even dream of breaking through the completely blocked city gate.

Don't even think about it.

The two units originally tasked with defending the city gate, Wu Bu Yong and Qian Yong, are now resting below the city.

After the Chen clan troops have guarded the city for two hours, they will be relieved by those units.

Or if the enemy's offensive is too fierce, they will appear as reinforcements.

The enemy outnumbers us several times over; Chen Wuji must retain sufficient manpower to face a prolonged war.

If we throw all our strength at once, Chen Wuji worries about lacking reserves.

"You little rascals, watch grandpa show you a flashy fist and embroidered leg!"

A sudden shout rang out from beside Chen Wuji; turning his head, he saw Qian Fugui leading a few soldiers, his right hand holding high a burning wine jar, which he hurled at the enemy's cloud carriage.