Chapter 454

With Murong Ke dead, the remaining defeated troops at Tongguan naturally fled in panic.

Had it not been for Murong Ke leading his personal troops to press the soldiers forward, Tongguan would have already erupted in riot.

Han Xiao also gave no order to chase the defeated troops, for the breach at the gate was piled with many corpses, utterly unable to accommodate a large army; facing the defeated troops, he was willing but powerless.

The gunpowder smoke had not yet cleared, the noise of the defeated troops faded farther away, and Tongguan, this natural stronghold, was finally captured.

Han Xiao looked around; on the ruined city walls, the surviving Beijiang soldiers silently cleared the corpses of comrades and foes, their movements stiff from the weather.

Some wounded soldiers leaned against broken walls and ruins, wrapped in whatever rags or fur they could find; their stifled groans were especially feeble in the cold wind.

"General!"

The Vice General hurried forward, his face smeared with black ash, his voice hoarse: "The breach is too big; relying only on corpses and debris won't plug it! The Xiliang brats piled it up too solidly—we can't clear it in a moment!"

Han Xiao's gaze swept over the huge breach blown open by the "Heaven-Shaking Thunder"; at present, it was blocked halfway by piles of corpses and stones like a mountain.

"Clearing is secondary."

Han Xiao's voice weary: "Immediately split into two teams! One team, you personally lead, to dismantle usable materials inside the city—timber, stone, even if it means tearing down the beams of the Xiliang soldiers' barracks—you must first plug the breach for me!

It need not be very sturdy; just able to block the wind, hold people, and stop cold arrows will do!

The other team, organize the lightly wounded and those still able to move, to gather all usable rolling logs, boulders, arrows, and fire oil from the city walls! Murong Ke may have fled, but he left plenty behind!

The Vice General blinked: "General, Tongguan is already breached, the Xiliang army has scattered, we..."

"Scattered?"

Han Xiao shook his head to interrupt him: "Defeated troops are still troops! Luoyang still stands! Si Wushuang still lives! Wei Wenlie is not yet dead!

Do you think they'll just watch Tongguan change hands? Xiliang reinforcements might already be on the way!

This Tongguan is now a piece of fat meat that everyone wants to bite! We must turn it into a hard bone! Quick! Get it done!

The order Han Xiao received from Jiang Jinshi was to capture Tongguan and garrison it, so he must act accordingly.

Moreover, since he still does not know the situation on the Xiliang side, he here cannot afford to be careless.

If Xiliang takes advantage of the Ming army's laxity and launches another attack before the walls are repaired, the Tongguan just seized and not yet warmed will change hands again!

"Yes!"

Hearing this, the Vice General shuddered all over; he understood Han Xiao's intent—having finally taken Tongguan with great effort, they could not afford to lose it through carelessness—and he immediately turned and bellowed the orders.

The soldiers, who had been somewhat lax, once again tensed their nerves and sped up their movements.

The sounds of dismantling, hauling, and work chants rang out again within the pass.

Han Xiao walked to a relatively intact arrow slit, untied his waterskin, and gulped a mouthful of icy cold water.

Tongguan has been taken, but the cost is not small.

Those immensely powerful "Heaven-Shaking Thunders" are nearly exhausted, and the elite infantry suffered heavy casualties in the struggle for the breach.

He needs time to let this battered stronghold rise again.

This place truly strangles Xiliang's throat; without Tongguan, any route from Xiliang to the Luoyang region must detour through Shu.

Even Wei Wenlie must consider a problem: if troops sally from Tongguan and form a pincer with other directions, he would have no chance to flee back to Xiliang.

Xiliang, as Wei Wenlie's main base, is naturally a hard bone—too bad he is now in Luoyang!!

This is Jiang Jinshi's idea; I took Tongguan without regard for cost—now, will you continue to garrison Luoyang, or abandon the south and return to your own Xiliang?

If the former, Jiang Jinshi will then encircle with his great army, inevitably severing the link between Wei Wenlie and Xiliang.

If the latter, the Ming army can then take Luoyang and Jiangnan and the like without bloodshed!

"Orderly!" Han Xiao said in a deep voice.

"Here!" a young orderly immediately ran up.

"Immediately send a horseman to Chang'an! Tongguan has been taken, Murong Ke beheaded! Our army is now fully repairing the defenses, holding firm awaiting reinforcements! And..."

Han Xiao paused, gathered his words: "Ask the lord, how goes the battle in the Lantian and Wuguan directions? If already secured, please quickly dispatch a crack unit from either Bai Ting's or Luo Feng's forces to rush overnight to reinforce Tongguan! Make haste!"

"As you command!"

The orderly leapt onto his horse, gave it a kick, and swiftly charged out of the ruined gate, vanishing into the wind and snow.

At this moment, in Luoyang, the Xiliang palace.

Before Wei Wenlie on the purple sandalwood imperial desk lay two battle reports delivered almost simultaneously.

One came from the defeated troops of Tongguan, its hurried script filled with despair.

The other was the grim news just presented by Si Wushuang, confirmed through secret channels.

The palace ladies and eunuchs standing at either side held their breath, wishing they could shrink into a crack in the ground.

Senior ministers Cui Yan and Lu Wen Chang, etc., stood with hands lowered, faces ashen, not daring to look upward, not even daring to breathe.

Si Wushuang stood before the desk, his stature still upright, but those eyes that usually remained unflustered in crisis had now rarely lost focus.

He lowered his head slightly, his expression somewhat incredulous.

Tongguan... broken? Murong Ke... dead?

The Tongguan he had placed high hopes in, deeming it sufficient to guard the natural peril, the line he himself had deployed, believing it infallible, actually collapsed under Han Xiao's all-out assault and the unheard-of "Heaven Thunder"?

Countless images flashed through his mind: Han Xiao's relentless feints and harassment outside Tongguan day and night, Murong Ke's repeated pleas for reinforcements, his own repeated emphasis on the possible threat from the Lantian and Wuguan directions...

And Wei Wenlie's stubborn decision to transfer the Luoyang garrison to Tongguan...

He had anticipated that Jiang Jinshi would exploit the winter, that Bai Ting might cross the Qinling, even that Zhang Honghong would take revenge in Lantian...

But he alone failed to anticipate—or rather, his subconscious refused to believe—that Jiang Jinshi would dare, in the bitter winter month, with logistics so difficult, to launch a full-scale massive offensive simultaneously on Tongguan, Lantian, and Wuguan!

And, they actually... all succeeded?

This is no longer merely a gap in strategy; it is an almost mad audacity and a command over his troops as if they were extensions of his own arms!

Jiang Jinshi... just how did he manage it?

Those soldiers—are they not flesh and blood?

Do they not fear freezing or starving to death in the wind and snow?

"Tongguan... Tongguan..."

Wei Wenlie muttered to himself, his voice low and tinged with suppressed anger.

He jerked his head up, his blood‑shot eyes staring intently at Si Wushuang, and in that look was a near‑collapse bewilderment and... a barely perceptible hint of fear.

"Tongguan... lost? Murong Ke... dead? Han Xiao... broke into Tongguan?"

His voice trembled with disbelief, "Tongguan! That is my life! How could it be lost?! What is Murong Ke doing! Tens of thousands of elite soldiers! A heavenly stronghold! Unable to hold it for a single winter?!"