Chapter 47

Late at night, Mi Fang, covered in dust and grime, led a dozen riders into Le'an Commandery, then hurried straight to the governor's residence to look for the second lord.

Guan Yu unfolded the letter Mi Fang had brought, pondered briefly, then decided to lead the 30,000-strong Jing'an Army of Le'an Commandery to set out at the mao hour.

The second lord, accustomed to years of campaigning, estimated that his 30,000-strong force would need at least about two days to reach the foot of Pingling City, and it was highly likely they would be intercepted by the Jizhou rabble along the way.

I hope Wenyuan can hold out for a few days against Yan Liang's assault……

At the foot of Pingling City, Yan Liang was surprised by the power of the stone cannon, yet it also stirred the ferocity honed by his years of campaigning; as the foremost general under Yuan Shao, he could not allow himself to fail.

"Pass the order: bring up the mantlet carts, prepare for a second assault, have the archers ready to provide covering fire, and send up another ten thousand troops."

The deputy commander took the order and left, his signal flag waving; immediately the Jizhou shield bearers spread from their two ranks, revealing a formation of thousands of crossbowmen.

"Fire!"

A hail of arrows rained onto the tower; Zhang Tou on the wengcheng hurriedly ducked beneath the battlements and, in the same motion, grabbed a nearby soldier who was about to peek out and pulled him to his side.

"Hurry and inform the tiger-crouch cannon crew to get ready to smash the opposing mantlet carts."

The soldier whom Zhang Tou had pulled back from the edge of the Bridge of Helplessness nodded dumbly, then crouched low, dragging his spear, to go deliver Zhang Tou's order.

The arrow rain in the Jizhou formation suppressed the defenders on Pingling City's walls; many soldiers who had not found proper cover fell to the arrows, and Zhang Tou watched, anger rising in his heart.

At this point, dozens of mantlet carts were pushed by the Jizhou troops to a distance of twenty paces from the city wall; the soldiers on the carts, firing from above, continuously shot arrows at the defenders on the wall, and city defenders kept being struck down by these indiscriminate arrows.

"Cannoneers, hurl stones, smash these mantlets!"

Zhang Tou roared at the stone-cannon crew inside the wengcheng, and the tiger-crouch cannon crew quickly adjusted their range, repeatedly blasting outward.

"Here we go again—just how many stones have these guys stockpiled……"

Yan Liang felt a wave of helplessness, yet he continued to draw his sword and issue orders.

"Keep charging—hold the mantlets at the city base, with the siege towers following behind; no retreat, supervising soldiers, watch closely! Anyone who retreats dies!"

The cavalry supervising unit under Yan Liang galloped around the periphery of the formation, ready at any moment to cut down retreating soldiers.

Huge stones rained down, smashing the attacking Jizhou forces into disarray; many mantlet carts were hit repeatedly, and the soldiers on the carts screamed as they fell from several zhang high, their fate unknown.

Zhang Liao on the city also ordered soldiers to retaliate with arrows; under this pincer attack, Yan Liang's assault force suffered heavy casualties.

Yan Liang's tiger eyes flashed with killing intent, and he bellowed,

"No retreat! Bring up another eight thousand assault troops and follow me personally! Deputy commander, take the remaining troops as a reserve—cut down anyone I see retreating!"

Having said that, Yan Liang brandished his steel saber and charged toward the city base; seeing their commander thus reckless, the soldiers all surged forward bravely.

Yan Liang deflected the incoming arrows with his saber as he advanced, quickly reaching the city base; Zhang Tou loosed two arrows in succession from the arrow tower, but Yan Liang dodged them both, and he instantly fixed his gaze on Zhang Tou atop the city, inwardly on guard.

As Yan Liang charged up to a mantlet cart, the collapsing cart threatened to crush him; his personal guards behind him turned pale, Zhang Tou saw it clearly and felt a secret delight—yet unexpectedly Yan Liang leapt high from his horse, avoiding the mishap.

If Liu Bei were here now, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy shit!"

Elder Brother Yan Liang's leap was nearly a zhang high—so impressive that even the coffin lid of the future Old Master Newton would barely be able to contain it, such was the godlike valor of Elder Brother Yan Liang.

Yan Liang spun halfway in the air and landed perfectly, sweat pouring from his palms, but the situation gave him no chance to marvel at his astounding feat.

Yan Liang rolled to a group of soldiers, then single-handedly lifted a siege tower that required over ten men to move, and with a mighty heave flung it against the city wall.

"Clang!"

The siege tower's hook slammed heavily onto the edge of the wall, firmly latching onto the parapet.

Elder Brother Yan Liang's daring maneuver boosted the Jizhou troops' morale, and many soldiers cheered together, then began climbing the siege tower.

A few of Liu Bei's army on the wall rushed up to hack at the newly placed siege tower, but they were repeatedly shot down by arrows from afar.

By now the stone-cannon crew inside the city could be of little use—surely we can't go on blasting indiscriminately and flatten our own parapet!

When a few of the Jizhou vanguard climbed out of the siege tower, they were met by Liu Bei's army with sabers and spears; these vanguard warriors were quite skilled, and the two sides quickly fell into melee.

Zhang Tou personally speared several Jizhou soldiers, but the siege towers kept coming one after another, landing on the wengcheng's wall, and Zhang Tou was beginning to find it hard to hold out alone.

Seeing this, Zhang Liao sent someone to signal Zhang Tou to withdraw, abandoning the wengcheng.

Zhang Tou thrust his spear, impaling a stout Jizhou soldier through the throat; watching the endless stream of Jizhou troops climbing up, he sighed helplessly and could only lead the outer-city garrison to cover the stone-cannon crew inside the wengcheng as they retreated into the inner city.

Meanwhile, Zhang Liao had also readied a "gift" for the Jizhou soldiers.

Having taken cover in the wengcheng, Yan Liang wore a proud look, then immediately ordered the soldiers outside to enter the wengcheng en masse, preparing to launch another assault and seize Pingling City in one fell swoop.

Corpses of Jizhou troops lay piled beneath the opposing towers and the moat; the Jizhou army had fought desperately to take the outer wengcheng, suffering some eight thousand casualties, yet Elder Brother Yan Liang, now in command, decided without pause to press on and take the main city.

Elder Brother Yan Liang, standing on the parapet with a bloodthirsty look, issued orders to the few junior officers beside him,

"Men, bring the rear to the front—let's charge again, all in one breath! Kill!"