Dragon Raja: History Simulator

Page 89

It wasn't until Liu Xiu arrived and, together with the powerful clans of Nanyang under his command, that the situation was brought under control.

Standing on the city wall, Liu Xiu gazed into the distance and said, "Kunyang is an isolated city. If it is defended for too long, it will surely fall. Moreover, as you and I both know, it is impossible for Nanyang to send reinforcements to relieve the siege."

Ultimately, the Green Forest Army was already short-handed and was besieging Wancheng, so how could they possibly divide their forces?

Zong Tiao calmed down and whispered, "Uncle Wen, as you and I both know, in addition to Nanyang and Kunyang, there are two other armies stationed in Yanling and Dingling. They are both under the command of our Nanyang family, and they are well-trained and well-supplied."

He glanced around and saw that all the Green Forest Army generals were keeping to their posts. After all, Liu Xiu, Liu Bosheng's younger brother, was quite famous in the Green Forest Army, and he was able to maintain order after receiving Wang Feng's tiger tally.

He breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Even if Kunyang falls, you and I can head east to Dingling and Yanling to support Bosheng."

“No,” Liu Xiu shook his head. “Kunyang is already the most fortified city in the surrounding area, and it is also garrisoned by the Green Forest Army. We must not give up on it.”

Outside the city, the sound of horses' hooves neighed, and the army was fully prepared and building fortifications. It was foreseeable that once the fortifications were simply completed and a retreat route was barely secured, the Green Forest Army would immediately attack the city.

He pointed to the army outside the city and calmly said, "In battle, courage is paramount. The Duke of Cheng lacks courage, believing only that the government army is too powerful to resist, and thus dares not defend the city. However, if we can blunt their advance today, Kunyang can be defended, and then..."

"Then, Uncle Wen, once you consolidate your authority, you can bring all the Green Forest armies under your control, and great things will be within your grasp."

Before Liu Xiu could finish speaking, Zong Tiao couldn't help but get excited.

Liu Xiu pursed his lips and said, "No, the armies in Kunyang are all bandits. If you and I fight for power, it will inevitably lead to infighting, and Kunyang will surely be lost. If Kunyang is lost, neither of us will survive."

Zong Tiao calmed down, but couldn't help feeling a surge of irritation. "If we follow Uncle Wen's advice, how should we respond?"

Liu Xiu picked up his sword and pointed it eastward, saying, "If Kunyang is to be held for a long time, we will have to rely on the Green Forest Army. You and I can head east to Dingling and Yanling to obtain troops and join forces to relieve the siege of Kunyang."

Zong Tiao was somewhat embarrassed and fell silent. Defending the city was already difficult enough, let alone fighting in the field. To be honest, he himself did not have the courage to fight an army of 420,000 in the open.

Liu Xiu didn't say much. If the city fell at this point, everything would be over, and there would be no need to talk about field battles.

Time passed slowly, and the camps of the government troops under the city were already built and ready. Liu Xiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"coming."

At this moment, Kunyang City appeared as a pale gray outline under the glow, and the feeling of dark clouds pressing down on the city and threatening to crush it grew even heavier.

The new army's vanguard, the colossus, walked at the very front of the entire army. This man, who was ten feet tall, was covered in heavy armor from head to toe, and dark bronze patterns appeared on the few exposed parts of his skin.

When he looked up at the Kunyang city gate, his eyes were slightly red.

At this moment, a man wearing a crown stepped forward, pointed to the guards on the city wall, and said, "General, Kunyang City is small but well-fortified. Should I go and persuade them to surrender?"

The giant grinned, revealing an extremely ugly smile. "No need. Lord Situ said that Nanyang has been a place where bandits have operated for a long time, and most of them are bandits. They are not allowed to surrender and must be eradicated completely."

He turned to look at the army behind him, his voice booming like the clanging of bronze bells and tripods.

"Riding a cloud chariot".

Ten cloud chariots, each ten feet tall, stood atop the wooden towers. Their exteriors were encased in bronze-colored shells, gleaming with an inhuman coldness under the golden light, as they were slowly propelled forward by the soldiers.

At this moment, before he could give any further instructions, an arrow flew down the city wall with the wind, heading straight for the vanguard behemoth.

The behemoth stared at the arrow before him, his heart unmoved. Only when the arrow was close to him did he reach out and grab it in a flash, the sparks rubbing against his hand.

The scholar standing nearby looked up at the behemoth. He was so shocked that he could hardly speak, "Someone can actually shoot arrows from twice the range of this target."

“Nothing special,” the behemoth released the arrow, the bronze patterns on his hand faintly visible. He turned to look at the soldiers, “Continue the siege.”

On the city wall, Liu Xiu looked at the bowstring that had been restored to its original state and the cloud chariot outside the city wall. He pondered for a while, not knowing what to do with this big trouble.

Zong Tiao exclaimed, "General, your archery skills are superb! After this shot, I am terrified!"

Liu Xiu shook his head and didn't say much. He knew that this arrow could only boost morale at most, but compared to that, the ten-zhang-tall cloud chariot was a real threat.

He immediately gave the order: "Prepare oil, gather archers and crossbowmen along the path of the siege engine! Prepare logs and rolling stones on both sides, and have the spearmen form ranks and await orders!"

Time slowly passed and the war drums thundered. Before the cloud chariots could get close to the firing range, Liu Xiu immediately went to the front line and commanded with composure: "Fire the rockets in a salvo—target: the roof of the cloud chariots!"

Hundreds of oil-coated rockets pierced the night sky, and several cloud-carrying vehicles instantly turned into fire towers. The defending troops took the opportunity to unleash a barrage of stones, and screams of agony filled the air.

The scholar looked at the behemoth with a look of horror and whispered, "General, we have suffered a defeat in the first battle. All our chariots have been destroyed and all our siege equipment has been lost. We should retreat to our camp and wait for Situ Hong's army to arrive before attacking the city again."

Enraged by this, the giant drew his sword and shouted, "How dare you, you brat, disrupt the morale of the army?"

He shouted, "Attack the city, those who retreat will be executed!"

So the Colossus personally led a suicide squad to launch a fierce attack with ladders. This giant even managed to withstand falling rocks and climb the wall with his bare hands!

Liu Xiu could see clearly that the behemoth was covered in three layers of armor, and was completely impenetrable except for his face. So he quickly ordered, "Concentrate the crossbow bolts and shoot at his face!"

Dozens of crossbow bolts were fired simultaneously, and although the behemoth parried with his sword, he was eventually forced to retreat.

However, their ferocity had shaken the defending troops, and the north gate was once under attack.

The setting sun dyed the Kunyang city wall blood red. The giant was shot in the chest with an arrow and was forced to jump off the city wall.

The sound of retreat echoed through the new army ranks, and the surging offensive began to recede.

The city walls were littered with corpses and broken weapons; the fierce battle raged on until sunset.

Zong Tiao was covered in blood, from killing more than a dozen government soldiers who had climbed the city wall. Looking at the retreating soldiers, he exclaimed with ecstatic joy:

"Kunyang has been defended."

"Clear the city walls and treat the wounded." Liu Xiu's voice was terribly hoarse.

This was the first time he had personally participated in and commanded a battle.

He bent down and picked up the broken arrow, discovering intricate alchemical matrices engraved on the shaft, which explained why the new army's arrows could easily penetrate the defenders' armor.

As night fell, the camp of the new army below the city was lit with a continuous bonfire, stretching as far as the eye could see, like a giant fiery python coiled around Kunyang.

In front of the county government office, Wang Feng looked at Liu Xiu, who had returned covered in blood, and after a moment of silence, said, "General, you have worked hard. Thanks to you, Kunyang was saved."

The generals around him looked at Liu Xiu, and their expressions changed.

At this moment, Wang Chang, the leader of the Xiajiang Army who had always been on good terms with the Liu brothers, spoke up: "The defense of Kunyang is largely due to Wen Shu's efforts."

We are seasoned veterans, yet we never imagined that our first encounter with the enemy would be so terrifying.

Wang Feng's face grew even uglier. Although Wang Chang's words were ostensibly a rebuke, they clearly implied that Wang Feng had mismanaged the situation and panicked when the enemy was at the gates.

Liu Xiu then said, "Lord of Cheng, I have something to say, and I hope you will take note."

"Please speak." Wang Feng sat in the head seat, his old suspicions resurfacing. He glanced at the admiring looks his generals gave Liu Xiu and answered absentmindedly.

Liu Xiu said, "Now that the enemy has suffered a setback in their first battle, they must be filled with fear. I want to take advantage of this time to lead a group of men to Dingling and Yanling to seek reinforcements."

Everyone quieted down, and a brief silence fell over the small conference room.

Wang Feng felt both joy and resentment. He was joyful because he could rightfully seize Liu Xiu's military power, but he was resentful because if he agreed to Liu Xiu's suggestion, Liu Xiu might just escape.

At this moment, Wang Chang broke the silence and said, "Why should you risk your life, Uncle Wen? Why not wait for Bosheng to come to our rescue?"

When they first arrived in Nanyang, it was Liu Bosheng and Liu Yan who led Wang Chang to defeat the new army. To be honest, Wang Chang was completely convinced of Liu Yan's abilities.

“No,” Liu Xiu shook his head. “My brother has besieged Wancheng for five months. His troops are exhausted and truly unable to fight any longer. Therefore, we must allow him to rest for a month before he comes.”

He further advised, "Yanling, Dingling, and Kunyang are very close to each other. If one falls, the other will be in danger. They also have large armies stationed there. If you want to lift the siege of Kunyang, you must join forces with the armies from both places."

At this moment, another general surnamed Wang spoke up loudly: "Why should you, Liu Wenshu, handle this matter? We can also dispatch a large army to come."

Liu Xiu smiled but did not speak.

Zong Tiao couldn't help but retort loudly, "Who are you to be able to mobilize the troops of Yanling and Dingling? Putting aside everything else, just leaving the city would probably make you tremble with fear!"

"You..." General Wang wanted to say something boastful, but was interrupted by Wang Feng.

"Alright, cousin, you may step down now!"

Wang Feng sized up Liu Xiu and Zong Tiao, lost in thought. Others might not know, but he was well aware that although the Green Forest Army had already enthroned Liu Xuan of the Nanyang Liu clan as Emperor Gengshi, the powerful clans of Nanyang had also joined the Green Forest Army under the leadership of Liu Bosheng.

However, the two factions remained clearly divided and distinct. The powerful clans of Nanyang looked down on the bandits, yet they had no choice but to cooperate with them. The high command of the bandit army was also very impatient with these powerful clans of Nanyang. If it weren't for the factions' need for supplies of food and weapons, and their fear of Liu Bosheng, and the fact that the new dynasty's army was pressing down on them like Mount Tai, preventing either faction from making any rash moves, they would have been fine.

Who knows when they might start fighting amongst themselves?

In this situation, Wang Feng was trapped in an isolated city. Let alone taking over the troops in Dingling and Yanling, it was unimaginable to even expect them to come to his rescue.

Friendly troops are in trouble and remain as motionless as a mountain.

This has been a fine tradition for thousands of years.

As for someone like Liu Xiu who left the city alone?

To be honest, Wang Feng did have such a thought in her heart, but when she thought about the consequences of leaving the city alone...

He had already offended Liu Yan when he supported Liu Xuan, and the surrounding area was basically the territory of the powerful clans of Nanyang. In other words, it was mostly Liu Yan's supporters. Since he left the city alone, he probably shouldn't expect to appear alive. The best outcome would be that he "disappeared".

On the contrary, he still had tens of thousands of troops in Kunyang City. These were all heroes of his Green Forest Army. Even though he had made a fool of himself today, the Green Forest Army still respected him, after all, he was the leader of the Green Forest Army.

Whether he defended the city or surrendered, it was a viable option for him.

The thought that Liu Xiu could also defend the city made Wang Feng's thoughts change, and he was no longer as afraid of the government troops as he had been at the beginning.

After all, Liu Xiu had not yet made a great name for himself in the Green Forest Army at this time; his most famous title was "Long-Legged General."

Despite repeatedly losing battles while following the Green Forest Army, he always managed to escape the government troops' encirclement and suppression. Although it couldn't compare to the speed of "drifting a donkey cart" for thousands of miles, it was still astonishing by today's standards.

This is why Liu Xiu's reputation is not widespread.

Wang Feng thought to himself, "If Liu Xiu could defend the city, then I can too."

As for why he was so terrified that he acted so dissolutely today?

Hmm, it must be because of wine and women that I've been led astray.

After all, I had a little wine yesterday. They say alcohol emboldens the timid, but it seems that's not true.

Starting tomorrow, I will abstain from alcohol.

Wang Feng thought to herself.

Therefore, his gaze towards Liu Xiu softened, and he had already made up his mind. So he said:

“What Wen Shu said is very true. A prolonged defense will inevitably lead to defeat. Therefore, Kunyang must receive reinforcements. However, since Wen Shu is not in the city now, how can we defend it?”

Liu Xiu smiled slightly at Wang Feng's feigned manner and said, "With the Duke of Cheng here, Kunyang is safe and sound."

Wang Feng felt much more at ease, but he was still afraid that Liu Xiu might not return. After thinking for a moment, he pointed to the many generals and said:

"The generals all had doubts in their hearts, worried that Wen Shu would never return."

Zong Tiao was furious. "Does the Duke of Cheng not trust us?"

Liu Xiu wanted to explain himself, but Wang Feng interrupted him.

He sighed, "How could I not trust Uncle Wen? I was just trying to reassure the generals."