ATPnovel Chapter 91 Armored and Carrying Wood
Chapter 91 Armored and Carrying Wood
Chapter 91 Armored and Carrying Wood
"Your Highness, you mustn't!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Bin and Li Chuyun were immediately shocked and objected in unison.
Li Chuyun stepped forward and said urgently, "Your Highness, the soldiers have not slept for a day and a night. They have been fighting and advancing for days and are already exhausted. Forcing them to rush to Runzhou will only deplete their strength and further lower their morale!"
"Moreover, although Runzhou is not far from here, once we attack the city, we will inevitably be exposed, and Tang reinforcements will arrive in an instant. At that time, we will truly be in a desperate situation with no chance of survival!"
Cao Bin also stepped forward and advised, "Your Highness, although Runzhou is poorly defended, our army should not rush to attack the city now. The most urgent task is to rest our troops and find an opportunity to break out."
Seeing the increasingly low morale of the soldiers under Zhao Dezhao's command, he knew that what the two men had said was true.
Attacking Runzhou is undoubtedly a risky move, even a desperate situation with a slim chance of survival!
Runzhou is only about 30 li away from Cuiping Mountain. Once the war starts, Zheng Yanhua and Zhou Chengzhao's army will arrive to reinforce us within three hours.
If the city cannot be breached before reinforcements arrive, it will be a dead end.
Even if we take Runzhou, without any internal or external support, the Tang army can easily surround Runzhou, and we will still be doomed!
Even so, Zhao Dezhao's eyes still burned with a resolute determination to break the deadlock.
"My mind is made up." Zhao Dezhao's tone left no room for doubt: "The enemy is currently concentrating its forces to besiege Cuiping Mountain and the river. Runzhou must be unprepared. This is our only chance to break the deadlock."
"If we remain trapped here, we will only be slowly worn down by the enemy. Only by attacking Runzhou can we disrupt their plans and regain the initiative."
He paused, his tone softening slightly, and then said to Cao Bin, "Uncle Guohua, please select a few good swimmers and see if they can smuggle themselves across the river so that Shi Shouxin can rush to the other side of Runzhou to provide assistance."
Seeing this, Cao Bin, though helpless, could only obey military orders and said, "Yes, sir."
"Issue my order: the three armies shall break camp and proceed to Runzhou!" Zhao Dezhao shouted the order.
Upon hearing that the Song soldiers were to continue their raid, they immediately began to complain.
"Are they retreating again? — And where will they retreat to this time?"
"When will this ever end?"
Apart from Zhao Dezhao's personal guard battalion and two thousand specially trained imperial guards who were still holding on with gritted teeth, the rest of the soldiers were all dejected, groaning and lamenting, their steps heavy as if filled with lead, and they barely had the strength to complain.
Zhao Dezhao frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, then spurred his horse up a small hill to the side, instantly exposing himself to the entire army's view. He then raised his hand and struck the war drum.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Three war drums sounded, and the army gradually quieted down, with everyone's eyes focusing on Zhao Dezhao.
"Soldiers!"
Zhao Dezhao put down his drumsticks, his eyes blazing as he scanned each person in the formation. He shouted, "I have received reports from scouts that General Shi Shouxin is leading 40,000 reinforcements on the north bank of the Yangtze River, north of Runzhou, ready to meet us!"
"As long as we can capture Runzhou, General Shi Shouxin will immediately build a pontoon bridge to guide us across the river to retreat north!"
"If we hold out at Cuiping Mountain, we'll be sitting ducks sooner or later. Our only chance of survival is to fight a desperate battle. We either capture Runzhou and cross the river to retreat north, or we become prisoners, at the mercy of others!"
At this point, Zhao Dezhao paused slightly, then said meaningfully, "Moreover, as far as I know, Jiangnan has been hit by frequent floods this year, resulting in a severe shortage of food and provisions—"
Upon hearing this, many veterans seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, and their expressions all changed.
Seeing this, Zhao Dezhao suddenly shouted, "Fellow soldiers, things have come to this point. Are you willing to fight with me to the death?"
"I wish—I wish—"
The ten thousand Song soldiers responded weakly, their voices scattered and mostly from the Imperial Guard.
These traditional methods of boosting morale seem to have little effect on these fifth-generation soldiers.
Seeing this, Zhao Dezhao remained calm and casually dropped a bombshell, silencing the entire army: "Listen up, everyone! If we can capture Runzhou in this battle—"
"After the city falls, you may take all the wealth from the treasury without taking a single penny!"
"In addition, when we return to Yangzhou, I will give out another 300,000 strings of cash to reward the entire army!"
One sentence, like a thunderclap, resounded among the Song army!
Exhaustion and despair were instantly replaced by burning greed. The soldier, who had been looking dejected, suddenly raised his head and his eyes blazed with intense light as he looked at Zhao Dezhao!
"Is what Your Highness said true?" a bolder soldier asked, his breathing rapid.
"No jokes in the army!" Zhao Dezhao declared loudly.
Now, all the previous complaints in the army vanished, replaced by roars of "We are willing to follow Your Highness, even if it means dying nine times!!"
"Damn it, that's 300,000 strings of cash! Even if we divide it up, we can still get 30 strings. Let's give it our all!"
"What are we waiting for? Jiangnan is renowned throughout the land for its wealth, and Runzhou's treasury contains the wealth of an entire prefecture! Charge!"
Beneath the lucrative pie, there are bound to be warriors!
During the Five Dynasties period, the soldiers' fierce and valiant nature was fully unleashed under the temptation of fame and fortune.
They would never fight for empty loyalty!
Knowing all this, Zhao Dezhao immediately mounted his horse, drew his sword, pointed it at the night sky, and declared loudly, "Today's battle is for life and death, and also for fame and fortune!"
"Now is the perfect time to achieve great deeds, to secure a high position for one's wife and children!"
"All troops, march forth! Follow me to take Runzhou and we will gain riches!"
As he spoke his last words, Zhao Dezhao raised his sword high before the army, its sharp edge pointing directly at Runzhou!
The next moment, a torrent of murderous intent, led by Zhao Dezhao, poured out.
The night was as dark as ink, and the outline of Runzhou City was faintly visible in the pale moonlight.
The patrolling soldiers on the city wall were sparse, their steps were slow, and a few yawns could be heard from time to time, showing that their vigilance was lax.
"Everything is as Your Highness predicted; the defenses in Runzhou are lax."
A slight smile appeared on Li Chuyun's lips.
Zhao Dezhao, however, was not blinded by the praise. He casually brushed the fallen leaves from his shoulder, looked up at the sky, and asked in a deep voice, "Uncle Li, how many rockets and rocket launchers are left?"
"There are still a thousand rockets left, but only three hundred artillery pieces."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Dezhao pondered for a moment before saying, "This battle will primarily rely on surprise attacks; firearms must not be used."
-
"Pass down the order: all soldiers must hold hardwood sticks in their mouths, extinguish all lights, wrap coarse cloth tightly around the soles of their shoes, and not make a sound!"
"At midnight, the attack will officially begin. Tonight, we will turn the tables and seize control!"
As the saying goes, there are no fixed formations in warfare, just as water has no fixed shape; the situation between the enemy and ourselves is not necessarily irreversible.
Li Congjia wanted to trap him to death on Cuiping Mountain, but he also wanted to see if Li Congjia had the ability to do so.
"Yes, sir!" Li Chuyun bowed and accepted the order, then immediately turned and went to make arrangements.
Half an hour later, the sound of a night watchman's drum echoed through Runzhou City.
It's past midnight!
This is precisely the time when people are most sleepy.
Since Emperor Shizong of Zhou attacked the Southern Tang, there had been no major battles in Jiangnan for two years. The soldiers defending the city gradually relaxed their guard and lost their former vigilance.
On the city wall, several soldiers leaned against the battlements and dozed off. They would wake up suddenly from time to time, pretend to peek outside the city, then yawn and shrink back to continue dozing off.
However, what they didn't know was...
In the dense forest not far outside the south city, there was a scene that was enough to chill anyone to the bone!
Nearly ten thousand Song soldiers, clad in dark soft armor, held their breath, mouths filled with hardwood, and shoes wrapped in cloth, and lay prostrate on the ground, their eyes greedy and fierce, staring intently at the sparsely lit city.
In their eyes, this is not a city.
It's a treasure trove! A rich treasure trove that they can take whatever they want!
Now, their treasure trove has been seized, and they want to reclaim everything that belongs to them.
They're all mine!
The nearly 10,000 Song soldiers had fierce expressions, their eyes glancing at the "Zhao" banner at the front every now and then, waiting for his command to swarm forward!
"Jing Si, move out!"
As the third watch drum sounded, Zhao Dezhao gave the order, and Jing Si led more than a hundred guards to silently approach Runzhou City in the night.
Throughout the entire process, there were no rousing shouts, only some slight friction sounds and barely perceptible footsteps.
Under the cover of darkness, hundreds of elite guards split into several small teams and quickly rushed toward the city wall.
Jing Si, who was running in the lead, bent down to the foot of the city wall, pulled out a grappling hook from his waist, flicked his wrist a few times to build up power, and then threw the grappling hook with a soft whistling sound as it caught the parapet on the city wall.
The other guards followed suit, throwing dozens of grappling hooks onto the city wall one after another. The faint sound of the hooks tightening was completely covered by the night wind.
After tugging on the grappling hook twice to make sure it was secure, Jing Sichong gave a hand signal to his squad.
"Ascend the city!"
The command was transmitted silently, and the thirty-person team simultaneously gripped the ropes and climbed upwards using both hands and feet.
This is one of the daily mandatory training items in the Guard Battalion.
In just over ten breaths, Jing Si scaled the city wall. Just then, a patrolling soldier yawned and slowly walked over, carrying a torch.
The garrison soldier was still sleepy and distracted, and for a moment he did not notice the unfamiliar figure on the city wall. Jing Si, of course, would not give him a chance to react.
With a swift step forward, Jing Si's right hand, as firm as a vise, covered the guard's mouth and nose, while his left hand swiftly slashed with a short knife, the movement clean and decisive.
The garrison soldier fell silently into Jing Si's arms.
Jing Si took the torch that was about to fall to the ground, pretended to be a garrison soldier, and led the advance team that was climbing the city wall one after another, walking silently toward the steps on the city wall.
Similar scenes played out repeatedly on the city walls.
More than a hundred soldiers of the vanguard quietly spread out, and whenever they encountered patrolling guards, they killed them with a single blow, without any hesitation.
It wasn't until more and more guards climbed the city walls that a few of the more alert defenders noticed something was amiss.
But just as they were about to shout a warning, several short crossbows shot out and accurately pierced their throats, preventing them from even uttering a scream.
"quick!"
Jing Si gave another hand signal, and the group quickened their pace, heading straight for the city gate up the steps.
When the hundred-strong vanguard arrived at the city gate, they ran right into the Tang army guarding the gate.
When the two faced each other, Tang Jun was clearly stunned for a moment, and then a shrill scream of terror instantly broke the silence of the night sky.
"Enemy attack—!!"
Despite being exposed, Jing Si was not afraid at all. Instead, he grinned and excitedly gripped his long sword. The next moment, he charged towards the Runzhou garrison like a nimble cheetah!
Jing Si, a historical figure, was known in the Song army for his bravery and skill in battle.
He fought over 150 battles and never suffered a single defeat!
In terms of sheer bravery in battle, none of the famous generals of the early Song Dynasty, except for Zhao Kuangyin, could match Jing Si's prowess.
So when this ferocious beast charged into the enemy ranks, it was like a wolf among sheep. With a swift stroke of its blade, several defenders who had no time to react screamed and fell into pools of blood.
A hundred men from the vanguard followed closely behind, silent, only swinging their swords, swinging their swords, and swinging their swords again!
The Imperial Guards of the Great Song Dynasty were originally an invincible force in the world!
These men were selected by Zhao Dezhao from among the elite of the Song Dynasty's Imperial Guards, and their bravery was naturally unmatched by the Tang soldiers.
Moreover, the elite troops of the Southern Tang had already been taken to the front lines by Lin Renzhao, leaving only newly recruited soldiers in Runzhou, few in number and weak in combat power.
After all, who could have imagined that a reckless Song army would circle around to the heart of the Southern Tang territory and launch a sudden attack from the south gate?
Therefore, as soon as the two sides clashed, the defending troops scattered and fled.
After defeating the city gate guards, Jing Si immediately opened the city gate.
As the city gates opened, nearly ten thousand Song soldiers, who had been waiting outside the city for a long time, surged into Runzhou City like a surging tide under the leadership of Zhao Dezhao.
As he crossed the city gate, amidst the blazing firelight, Zhao Dezhao raised his sword high and unleashed the first roar of the night that shook the entire city: "Anyone inside the city who dares to wield weapons shall be executed!!"
"Unforgivable!!"
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