Chapter 785: Song of Triumph

In the eastern barbican of Yulin, a bloodstained White Tiger banner hung over the collapsed ruins of the gate tower.

The drawbridge crashed down with a roar, slapping heavily onto the silted-up moat choked with earth, stone, and timber, sending dust surging into the air.

"Left Commander, my unit has seized the east gate. The defenders are firing cannons from inside the city, and the inner gate is blocked solid with wood and stone. General Xu has brought up gunpowder — we'll blast it open soon!"

Zuo Liangyu, acting on Liu Chengzong's orders, rode up beside the bridge and looked toward the gate inscribed with the three characters "Zhenwu Gate." His old subordinate soldiers were leaning over the cannon-shattered battlements, waving at him.

The elite Baturu Camp cavalry had formed ranks outside the city, already prepared to drive straight into Yulin.

Off to one side, Zhang Xianzhong, the Minister of Rites, reined in his circling horse, one hand steadying his iron helmet. Irritated that the soldiers on the wall were greeting only Zuo Liangyu, he simply shouted up at the ramparts: "Who is the Ming commander holding the wall up there?"

"Wang Shiqin! General Xu already killed him with cannon fire — his head will be sent down to the gate shortly!"

Wang Shiqin?

Zuo Liangyu turned the name over in his mind and said to Zhang Xianzhong, "Minister, he served as Vice Commander of the Divine Machine Battalion late in the Wanli reign. He may have been the superior of Commander-in-Chief Cao of Gansu. Later he held the post of Commissioned General-in-Chief north of Shanhai Pass. I was briefly under his command."

After a pause, he explained, "It lasted less than a month. The censors from the Chief Surveillance Bureau hounded Wang Shiqin back home, calling him a good-for-nothing playboy with no talent whatsoever."

Zuo Liangyu figured that Zhang Xianzhong, having risen from bandit stock, probably didn't know much about these hereditary Ming generals.

To his surprise, Zhang Xianzhong let out a contemptuous snort. "When I was a soldier, I served under his father. The old man nearly had me executed by military law. If not for Chen Hongfan saving my life — pleading my case and getting the sentence reduced to a hundred strokes of the heavy rod — I wouldn't be standing here today..."

At this, Zhang Xianzhong raised a hand and flicked imaginary dust from the lapel of his shoulder-baring battle robe. "Heh, the seat of a Minister."

Watching Zhang Xianzhong's round, self-satisfied face, Zuo Liangyu opened his mouth, had no idea how to respond to that, and simply raised his head toward the wall and shouted, "Hurry up and send that head down here so Minister Zhang can present it to the Grand Marshal!"

Spending all your time with such a prick will rot your brain.

Not wanting to engage Zhang Xianzhong any further, Zuo Liangyu forced a dry laugh, squeezed his horse's flanks with both legs, and urged his mount across the drawbridge into the barbican.

Entering through the barbican's south-facing outer gate, the roughly hundred-pace-wide circular enclosure opened onto an inner gate passage facing east, where the fighting still raged.

The two heavy gate leaves had already toppled to the ground and were being trampled underfoot by the surging assault troops. The thousand-jin iron portcullis had been winched up and locked in place after Xu Yong's men seized the gate tower. Only the gate passage itself, choked with brick, stone, earth, timber, and gate-blocking blade wagons, remained sealed tight as a wall.

Yet through the gaps between the blade wagons and the rubble, the Ming defenders on the other side of the wall still refused to withdraw. Long spears thrust ceaselessly against the assault troops' shields, while bird guns and three-eyed guns barked sporadically through the cracks.

The gate passage, originally nearly ten feet wide, now seemed cramped and narrow, thick with gunpowder smoke as the two sides fought a desperate, barrier-to-barrier death struggle.

Just then, a shout went up from the assault troops outside, and the Changping soldiers ebbed like a tide out of the gate passage.

Zuo Liangyu saw clearly what was happening: the gunpowder, lowered by rope from the top of the wall, had arrived.

Several fearless soldiers, shielded by comrades holding up their shields, shoved a powder keg right up beside a gate-blocking blade wagon. A long fuse was trailed out into the barbican beyond the passage.

The fuse ignited with a hiss, and then a colossal blast split the air, deafening.

Boom!

Smoke and dust billowed. Zuo Liangyu slapped irritably at his helmet, wishing he could just knock the round copper hearing-guards right off his neck-guard.

'Damn it all, knowing full well they were about to blow the gate, why the hell did I ride in here?'

The gunpowder's explosive force compressed and folded back upon itself within the stone arch of the passage, then reverberated through the barbican, the echoes setting his head ringing and buzzing.

Zhang Xianzhong, just entering through the outer gate, heard the blast, wheeled his horse around on the spot, and rode right back out.

The inner gate passage was blasted three times in total.

An acrid smell of gunpowder hung in the air throughout the barbican, refusing to disperse. When the roiling dust finally cleared, the blue stone bricks of the passage's arched ceiling were cracked open and teetering on the verge of collapse. The rubble blocking the way had been blasted into a slope. The blades of the gate-blocking wagons had been sent flying everywhere — one broken blade was even embedded deep into the stonework of the passage wall.

But on the inner side of the gate, there was no sign of the defenders — only the corpses of two soldiers killed by flying shrapnel, and deep drag-marks of blood on the ground.

The moment that first powder keg exploded, the defenders on the other side had known this gate could not be held.

Or rather, they had known even earlier.

They were all soldiers of the Wang family army. Their commander, Wang Shiqin, had been killed atop the gate tower, and with no further orders coming down from the tower, they had simply continued to hold their position.

Only when the blast roared from the other side of the gate did the soldiers, led by their squad commanders, withdraw into the city with their wounded.

They had no choice but to retreat. After Wang Shiqin's death, the defenders on the barbican walls had little fight left in them.

Soon after losing the gate tower, they lost the horse-ramp leading down from the wall as well. But the defenders in other assigned sectors of the eastern wall were also collapsing in retreat, all swarming toward the descent ramps, which prevented Xu Yong's unit from descending to provide support.

But clearly, that was only a matter of time.

"Left Commander! Three heads of Regional Commanders — and a Vice General's too!"

Xu Yong descended from the wall and, upon seeing Zuo Liangyu, saluted him as a subordinate officer despite both men now holding the rank of Vice General. He gestured to the soldiers behind him carrying the heads, then said excitedly, "I thought only Wang Shiqin was up on that gate tower. Never expected Wang Shiguo was there too — killed earlier, his coffin was right there in the tower."

"Who's the Vice General?"

"Wang Chengxun. And his uncle, Wang Shiren, the Regional Commander of Changping. He was trying to carry Wang Shiqin's body down off the wall. I caught up and cut him down."

Zuo Liangyu was utterly astonished. You think killing people in this battle is a good thing?

Wang Shiguo was the son of Wang Ji, the Baoding Regional Commander and younger brother of Wang Wei. He had also served as Regional Commander of Xuanfu. Now he was dead on this wall too.

You've nearly collected the entire set of heads from the great Wang military clan.

Zuo Liangyu raised a hand, wanting to explain Liu Chengzong's purpose in this battle, to make him understand the stakes. But after a moment's thought, he said nothing.

He felt only a kind of helpless despair, like a dog trying to bite Mount Tai — nowhere to even sink its teeth in.

It was pointless.

What could he say? Tell him Liu Chengzong wants you to deliver a pledge of allegiance?

Xu Yong was no fool. He was doing exactly that — delivering his pledge of allegiance. The Grand Marshal had asked for one head per man, and he'd gone and gotten three all by himself.

What else was there to say? That Wang Pu would definitely come to kill him for this?

Who would kill whom was far from certain.

And then Zuo Liangyu remembered that Xu Yong, that little bastard, had always fought like a mad dog. Telling him would be useless anyway.

The man was a born savage — it would have been a waste of nature's design if he hadn't become a soldier.

Before, he'd worn the skin of a government soldier, fighting Mongols, Later Jin, roving bandits — all the same.

The only difference now was he was fighting Ming troops.

No matter whose command he was under, no matter who he was fighting, he was always like this.

In the end, Zuo Liangyu could only say, "If you encounter General You, spare his life. He once showed me kindness."

Xu Yong, of course, still listened to Zuo Liangyu. He immediately grinned and agreed.

As for which General You, it didn't matter — anyone surnamed You was to be kept alive.

As long as there was profit in it.

Xu Yong savored this sense of power — stripping a lofty Regional Commander bare and dragging him to the ground, deciding his death with a word, granting his life with a word.

Zuo Liangyu didn't know what to say. He'd always thought Xu Yong was a brave general; now it turned out the bastard simply lacked the empathy to feel grief for his own kind.

But Zhang Xianzhong, riding up on horseback, knew all about it. The moment he saw that all-too-familiar behavior from Xu Yong, he was delighted.

Zhang Xianzhong knew this type of man inside and out!

One such creature in a room was like having a lunatic loose in the house — terrifying. Even he got the creeps looking at Li Zicheng.

But with ten of them, Old Zhang here was right at home: Liu Chengzong convening council in the command tent.

If the number of lunatics crammed into one room surged to thirty, that was practically Zhang Xianzhong's comfort zone: New Year's, with all the Grand Commandant's great generals back in the mansion.

Lunatics — who hadn't seen one?

He swung down from his horse, clapped Xu Yong on the shoulder, pointed at him, and roared with laughter. "Brother Xu, you rejoice at the sound of battle, delight in killing generals — aiyaya, you've come to the right place in this Grand Commandant's mansion!"

But when Zuo Liangyu, Xu Yong, and the others donned their armor, mounted up, and led the Changping troops and elite cavalry in a charge to break the formation, within the long streets of Yulin City they saw no cannon emplacements, nor the brutal street fighting they had anticipated.

The streets and markets held no defenders. They drew their swords and looked around, utterly at a loss.

Wang Shiqin had long since made a pact with the eastern wall defenders: if the city fell and he died in battle, every soldier was to return home and burn the grain stores, so they would not fall into rebel hands.

And so, when the east gate was breached, the defenders all went home.

Immediately after, the forces of Zhou Qing and Hui Dengxiang on the wall seized the southern ramparts as well.

Yulin's north and south walls were narrow, while its east and west walls were long. Zhou Qing quickly set fire to the southwest corner tower, captured the cannons to bombard the sparse defenders on the west wall, then lowered the drawbridge at the west gate and let Ren Quan'er's Second Brigade into the city.

At this point, the Grand Commandant's army poured into the city en masse, thoroughly breaching Yulin.

The heads of the eastern city defenders, Wang Shiqin and the others, were sent by Sun Long's subordinates at full gallop to Zhenbei Tower.

"The heads of former Shanhai Regional Commander Wang Shiqin, Xuanfu Regional Commander Wang Shiguo, Changping Regional Commander Wang Shiren, and Assistant Regional Commander Wang Chengxun — delivered."

The man who came to report was Sun Long's battalion commander Kong Youde. His military salute was exceedingly respectful; he performed the triple kneeling and nine kowtows before speaking. "Grand Marshal, all heads were taken by Assistant Regional Commander Xu Yong. Among them, Wang Shiguo died in the artillery battle during the siege days ago."

At this news, even Liu the Lion's eyes widened.

Though he'd long known this Yulin City was crawling with Regional Commanders, he hadn't expected Xu Yong's combat efficiency to be this high.

"Good. Courage worthy of praise. Record merit for General Xu. As for that Wang Shiguo who was killed by cannon fire earlier, credit him to Liu Fangming, who fired the shot from outside the city."

Liu Chengzong studied the delivered heads closely, ordered Zhao Jifang to find lime and wooden boxes to store them, and said to Kong Youde, "Go back and tell Sun Long to press the frontline commanders who have no achievements into battle. Also, find wounded soldiers pulled from the fight, and prisoners — anyone who witnessed Ming officers dying in battle — and send them to the central army to report."

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Liu Chengzong saw plumes of black smoke rising within Yulin City.

He immediately added, "Furthermore, reiterate military discipline to the frontline units: no killing of those who surrender, no burning of houses, no mistreating soldiers or civilians. All spoils and prisoners taken by each unit are to be handed over to the Assistant Regional Commander for unified post-battle management. Zhang Yong, take two companies of the Feathered Forest Guard into the city, find Zuo Liangyu, and supervise all units. Any violators — have their commanding officers deal with them. Minor offenses, cut off a hand; major offenses, behead."

Those bald-headed fellows under Sun Long were fine for delivering orders and pressing the attack, but actually using them as military supervisors was no good.

On one hand, Liu Chengzong feared their heads might get borrowed by the former Ming troops. On the other, he worried they might have some... uniquely personal interpretations of military discipline, falling well below the Ming army's average.

After Kong Youde left to relay the orders, Liu Chengzong gazed at Yulin City and smiled silently. Only then did he turn back and continue speaking to Zuo Maodi. "Brother Zuo, as I was saying... What is it? Do you feel these commanders and generals, dying like this — it's a pity?"

Ever since the heads of Wang Shiqin and the others had been delivered, Zuo Maodi's expression had been utterly rigid.

Even though he had personally witnessed Liu Chengzong allowing the younger generation of Yulin's military families to leave for Shanxi, and had long known what end awaited the old Yulin generals who chose to fight to the death under siege by tens of thousands of troops...

Now that their blood-soaked heads were actually laid out before him, Zuo Maodi still could not contain his emotions.

But he could not speak to Liu Chengzong.

Because just moments ago, they had been chatting as if nothing were wrong, casually discussing the situation in Hancheng County, while the distant, indistinct rumble of cannon fire drifted over from Yulin City.

No sooner had Kong Youde left than another dispatch rider from Sun Long's camp came running over.

Clearly, after Sun Long had sent Kong Youde, a new situation had arisen in Yulin City, and he had dispatched additional men to report.

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal: Yulin Guard Commander Huang Tingzheng, and Battalion Commanders Huang Tingbi and Huang Tingyong — three brothers — have rallied the banner troops at the Victory Song Tower. They are using firearms to hold the Crossroads Street. The tower is sturdy; General Zuo is struggling to take it in one assault. Director Zhang requests a hundred fire arrows."

"The Victory Song Tower? Using fire arrows there will burn down the houses on both sides."

Liu Chengzong raised his telescope and looked toward Yulin City. He could make out, in the distance, a three-story tower straddling the crossroads.

On Yulin City's main north-south thoroughfare, from north to south, stood six tower structures in total.

In order: Zhenyu Tower atop the north gate, the Bell Tower beside the Guangyou Granary, the North Drum Tower, the Victory Song Tower, the South Drum Tower, and Zhenyuan Tower atop the south gate — together known as the Six Towers Straddling the Street.

Among these six structures built over the main avenue, the Victory Song Tower stood roughly at the very center of Yulin City, for it had once been the gate tower on the southern wall of old Yulin.

Later, when the southern city was expanded, it was converted into a crossroads tower, and the new city extended southward — which was also why Yulin had two drum and bell towers.

As for why the Victory Song Tower was the tallest, it was because the Martial Emperor had once lodged there during a border inspection tour and renamed it the "Palace of the Supreme One." Later, it was used for victory celebrations, prisoner presentations, and other ceremonies. The Grand Coordinator and Regional Commander could stand atop it to review the troops, and so it was renamed the Victory Song Tower.

Back when Liu the Lion was still a vanguard scout in the border army, he had once walked beneath this crossroads tower.

He knew full well that if the defenders atop it were resolute, it would indeed be hard to assault. But using fire arrows directly was even less reliable. Those things scattered wildly; once the fire spread out of control, from the Victory Song Tower's position, it would simply turn the entire city of Yulin into a sea of flames.

Liu the Lion had done plenty of torching on this eastern campaign, but Yulin City — this military stronghold so fiercely loyal to the Great Ming — held immense political significance for him. It absolutely could not be burned to the state of Liaoyang.

So fire arrows alone would not do. They also needed warriors skilled in storming fortifications and close combat.

"Summon Wang Ziqi of the Tiger Guard Battalion."

Wang Ziqi was a former subordinate of Zhang Xianzhong, ferociously fierce in battle. During the Guanzhong campaign, he had challenged Long Zaitian's war elephant with a long saber, slashing its trunk and causing it to turn and trample its own formation.

Though Liu Chengzong had never given him command of troops, whenever he earned battle merit, his rank moved up. By now, he was already a squad commander in the Tiger Guard Battalion.

In mere moments, Wang Ziqi ascended Zhenbei Tower and saluted. "Grand Marshal!"

"Director Zhang has encountered a difficult tower in the city. Take a hundred fire arrows — bring only the warheads. Enter through the south gate to reinforce him. Director Zhang will know how to use those. Go and relay my order: demand the defenders' surrender."

"If they refuse to weigh their fortunes and insist on fighting, then ignite the warheads and throw them onto the tower. Don't let them fly everywhere. Under no circumstances may you set the city ablaze."

"Your subordinate receives the order!"

After Wang Ziqi descended from the tower, Liu Chengzong leaned on the battlements and gazed toward Yulin, murmuring to himself, "Huang Tingzheng, Huang Tingbi, Huang Tingyong — hereditary military officers of the guard post. Descendants of heroes and martyrs, no doubt."

"Better than dying old or dying sick. If they will not surrender to me, then to die in battle..."

Liu the Lion's face was expressionless. "Is a worthy death."

Good evening!