novelzi Chapter 147.1
Chapter 147.1
The sun hung in the sky, casting a large white disk.
Before the gates of Lumen, the wilderness was now filled with Northern Barbarian soldiers.
The first wave of Xie family cavalry, attacking from the rear, clashed with the enemy.
The ground trembled, the thunderous sound of galloping horses and battle cries drowning out the roar of war drums.
The Northern Barbarian cavalry, forming the front line, and the infantry at the rear were suddenly ambushed.
Unable to adjust their formation in time, the Northern Barbarian infantry was quickly overwhelmed.
The Northern Barbarian’s commanders of the infantry quickly reacted, roaring, “It’s the Xie family cavalry! Front line, switch to rear! Form a shield wall! Archers and spearmen, prepare!”
The scattered Northern Barbarian’s soldiers quickly divided into two teams, raising huge shields.
Arrows and spears rained down on the Xie family cavalry, causing casualties, but reinforcements constantly filled the gaps.
The cavalry roared, disregarding their lives, trampling over their fallen comrades, determined to retaliate against the invaders threatening their homeland.
The Xie family cavalry, the only force capable of battling Northern Barbarian’s cavalry head-on in recent decades, were not only brave but also unafraid of death.
The Northern Barbarian’s infantry struggled to counter them.
The Xie family cavalry charged at the shield wall, continuing their assault without pause, using the momentum of their horses to leap over and attack.
Countless spears thrust out from behind the shield wall.
The leading cavalrymen and their horses were impaled, blood spraying as they fell, knocking down the shields in front of them.
They paved the way for their comrades with their own deaths.
With thousands of troops and horses approaching, the Northern Barbarian’s infantry couldn’t raise their shields in time.
They were met head-on by the charging horses, crushed and trampled into the ground. The Northern Barbarian’s infantry couldn’t withstand the onslaught of the Xie family cavalry.
The Northern Barbarian’s army, consisting of 150,000 soldiers, formed a “convex” formation.
The vanguard attacked the city, while the cavalry deterred the Chen army on the city tower.
Behind them was a formation of infantry.
Inside a chariot at the center of the army sat the Northern Barbarian’s chieftain and several tribal leaders, watching the battle.
Hearing the sounds of battle behind them, the old Khan sighed, “Is that Shen fellow allied with the Xie family army?”
A scout replied, “According to the frontline scouts, the Xie family army from Leizhou arrived after learning of our siege.
It seems they weren’t aware of the situation at Lumen Gate beforehand. Also, a Chu army from Jianghuai is speeding toward Lumen Gate from thirty miles away!”
This news puzzled the tribal leaders in the chariot.
Watching the relentless charge of the Xie family cavalry, the wrinkles on the old Khan face deepened.
He seemed to sigh with both resignation and confusion, “These Central Plains people... Even though they’re mortal enemies, they band together at times like this without any promises.”
The other tribal leaders shared his confusion.
While they often waged wars with other tribes, they never showed mercy to outsiders, even if their foes were annihilated.
They had agreed to move south from Liangzhou, no longer clashing with the Xie family of Beiting.
They also harbored thoughts of not provoking Beiting further, perhaps hoping Beiting would remain neutral.
However, there was clearly no communication with Beiting from Shen Yanzhi’s side.
With Lumen Gate besieged, both Beiting and Jianghuai had sent troops.
This proud tribe suddenly realized that perhaps they didn’t understand the Central Plains people after all.
But their introspection ended there.
With 150,000 troops and every warrior skilled in horseback archery, they could transform infantry into cavalry given enough horses.
However, the Xie family cavalry, carefully nurtured, lost a rider with every death.
Despite their ferocity, the Xie family cavalry was futile against the overwhelming numbers.
The old Khan withdrew his gaze and ordered, “Cavalry, prepare to engage.”
As the Northern Barbarian’s infantry formation broke under the attack of the Xie family army, the Northern Barbarian’s Cavalry, originally facing forward, turned around in time.
The two cavalry forces collided.
The Xie family cavalry, exhausted from battling in the infantry formation, began to falter against the enemy’s superior numbers.
Xie Chi, with the remaining Xie family troops, stood on a hill, overlooking the battlefield.
Although their cavalry continued to charge forward, their speed noticeably slowed. Outnumbered by the enemy’s cavalry, they were easily surrounded and overwhelmed.
Xie Chi sat on his horse, the sunlight reflecting off his bright silver armor, devoid of any warmth.
His face was clouded with gloom. “Picking this broken place to fight against the Northern Barbarian is a mistake. If Lumen Gate can hold against the Northern Barbarian army, it would be a miracle.
Shen Yanzhi better have succeeded in trapping Kadan, or I’ll personally crush his head into the snow when I enter the city!”
Lumen Gate was just a small city, never historically chosen as a battleground for siege warfare.
After all, Lumen Gate led to Liangzhou, which was like the northwestern gateway to Greater Chu.
One reason was to make the Northern Barbarian’s believe that the three forces of Jianghuai, Leizhou, and Bianjing were all mobilized, which would make them wary.
Another reason was to coordinate with the Xie family cavalry from Leizhou, avoiding leaving them isolated and unsupported.
Qin Zheng herself, accompanied by Dong Cheng and Yang Yi, rallied the local civilians of Zijing Pass to dig trenches and set traps.
She was intimately familiar with every piece of information returned by the messengers about the enemy’s movements.
Yet, despite this, the sensation of the impending danger, as the formidable enemy closed in step by step, made her fingers tremble uncontrollably.
Clasping her fingers tightly, Qin Zheng stood on the city tower, watching the trenches dug by the soldiers and civilians in the distance.
Lumen Gate.
The dilapidated city gate could no longer withstand the onslaught of the Northern Barbarian’s army.
It collapsed with a loud crash, and the soldiers trapped beneath it were trampled into a pulp by the Northern Barbarian’s troops pouring into the city.
Arrows rained down like locusts on the entering Northern Barbarian soldiers.
Those who fell in front were stepped on by those behind, and in moments, the pile of corpses at the city gate was higher than a man’s head.
Below the city was a fierce battle, and the same was true on the arrow tower.
Kadan, born with extraordinary strength, effortlessly thrust arrows into the bricks to climb the arrow tower.
His face and body were scratched to varying degrees, but the blood only accentuated his bloodthirsty and ferocious eyes.
Faced with arrows flying towards him, he casually grabbed a Chen soldier to use as a shield, blocking all the arrows that came his way.
With another hand, he drew the curved knife from his waist, cutting through the soldiers like slicing through melons and vegetables. None of the Chen soldiers he passed survived intact.
Although the archers aimed arrows at him, they could only retreat, trembling like sieves.
Only Shen Yanzhi, holding a crossbow, remained unfazed.
Kadan threw the body of the Chen soldier he was using as a shield at the archers blocking his way.
The archers were knocked down in a pile, and in their panic, the arrows they released were effortlessly deflected by Kadan’s blade.
Using his left hand to wipe away the blood from his face, Kadan looked at Shen Yanzhi not far away and smiled, “It seems the Regent Prince is losing?”
Shen Yanzhi pulled the trigger of the crossbow, and a golden-patterned arrow shot straight towards Kadan. “Not necessarily.”
The arrow was aimed at Kadan’s throat, but he caught it with his hand.
Kadani sneered, “Is the Regent Prince underestimating me too much?”
But Shen Yanzhi just returned a cold smile.
The sound of chains came from behind, and Kadan realized something was wrong.
In an instant, he leaned back, avoiding two assassins attempting to strangle him with chains.
Although he dodged the direct attacks, his feet were caught by two other chains.
The two assassins pulled the chains in opposite directions, but Kadan’s lower body was incredibly stable.
With a strong stomp, the tiles on the arrow tower cracked under his feet.
However, it was also at this moment that he managed to grab the two assassins with the chains.
Chen soldiers swarmed in from all sides, helping to pull the four chains, attempting to lift him off the ground.
Veins bulged on Kadan’s forehead as he resisted the force of a dozen soldiers pulling at him.
However, the chains couldn’t withstand such force and snapped.
At the same time, another golden-patterned arrow was shot towards Kadan’s chest.
Unable to dodge, he was hit, leaving a bloody wound on his shoulder.
The soldiers pulling the iron chains fell backwards, and Kadan immediately used the broken chains as weapons, taking the lives of several men in an instant.
The soldiers surrounding Shen Yanzhi began to flee in panic, but Shen Yanzhi remained calm, even putting down his crossbow.
Kadan sneered, “Is the Regent Prince planning to surrender?”
Even though he could barely breathe, Shen Yanzhi’s expression was full of satisfaction. “As you move more, the poison spreads faster. Everything the Crown Prince has planned so carefully has now become someone else’s funeral clothes. How does it feel?”
Kadan fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at the Northern Barbarian’s soldiers who had already broken through the city gate. “Not bad.”
The snow fell heavily, as if to cover the rivers of blood on earth.
Snowflakes landed on Kadan’s braids, and his resolute and profound face showed no resentment, no fear of death. “As long as my people no longer suffer from cold and hunger, the girls of Northern Barbarian’s will soon be able to wear silk and satin, and wear silk flowers and jade hairpins like the women of the Central Plains. That’s enough.”
Shen Yanzhi was taken aback for a moment.
On this foreign man Kadan, he saw many familiar shadows:
The Duke of Qin,
The one who occupied the body of the former Chu’s Crown Prince,
The woman who occupied his Beloved Azheng’s body,
And even the one who had just entered his service Chen Qin.
He slowly smiled, and the haze and hostility between his eyebrows faded away layer by layer, like melting snow.
“Then I should be even more grateful to have killed you.”