The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 206 Attack the City (1)

The watchtower was higher than the city wall, so Li Ye could see the battle clearly and it was convenient for Li Ye to seize the opportunity to dispatch troops.

Camps were behind the watchtower and a hundred thousand troops were arrayed neatly in front of the watchtower. Of course, there were only about fifty thousand soldiers outside Li Ye’s city wall, but they were spread out over a large area, covering the surrounding area of hundreds of meters. Looking over the city wall, Li Ye could also see the military formation at the other end.

Before the three-sided military formation, Dengzhou seemed very small, like an island in the sea.

The formation was arranged with careful consideration. The small formations of the infantry made up the big formation and the cavalry guards on both sides of the big formation interconnected with each other, eventually forming a sea of armor.

There were big passages in the big formation and small passages in the small formations. On the one hand, it was convenient for the orderlies to transmit orders; on the other hand, it was to draw a line of separation between each army so that they could take independent action without affecting each other.

In each formation, the shield soldiers were in front, the spear soldiers followed and the archers were at the back. As for knives... Everyone in the troop carried a knife in Tang Empire.

Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, Li Ye waved the folding fan gently on his chest from time to time.

Today’s first combat mission was to fill the moat.

In fact, when Zhu Wen attacked Dengzhou, he had already filled the moat. All this time, working day and night, they only dug a ditch and it was far from being restored to what it was. The official troops prepared the sacks filled with soil, and naturally, it was the Caizhou soldiers who had to fill the ditch.

As Li Ye issued military orders, the war drum beat deafeningly. The formation in front began to move, like a lake leaving the ocean. They weren’t moving very fast, but the dust under their feet was flying about. As Li Ye looked down at them, they seemed to move like ants.

As they reached the shooting range of the defending soldiers of Dengzhou, clouds of arrows rained down from the city wall. The arrows glided in an arc and fell on to the formation of the official troops.

At this time, the official troops began to run fast. The men in front rushed forward with their shields, while the men at the back bent down to follow. Finally, they stopped in front of the ditch and the soldiers carrying sacks rushed out. They threw the sacks in the ditch, and then ran back.

During this process, many of them were hit by the arrows, but few fell to the ground. The official troops had fine armor, so it wasn’t easy for an arrow to pierce through the armor unless it went through a gap. Why would they have an armor otherwise?

And if an arrow were to pierce the armor, it would be more difficult for it to reach the flesh and further wound the viscera. At this distance, the arrows were not so powerful. Only the unlucky ones, who were shot in the face, neck or legs, would fall. The rest, who were hit by the arrows, didn’t cry on the ground but did what they had to do.

As the battle progressed, most of the running soldiers were hit by several arrows, but they still moved swiftly. The basic requirement on the battlefield was that the soldiers with minor injuries had to go on fighting. When wearing armor, they even had no time to see to their wounds.

Those brave soldiers were almost shot like hedgehogs, but they still kept on running with the sacks on their shoulders, throwing them in the ditch. They didn’t get injured in their vital parts. Although the arrows were stuck in the armor, they didn’t pierce the viscera, so they weren’t seriously injured.

However, as the battle continued, and the arrows kept raining down, so casualties were mounting. The covered shooting method was stupid, but it was useful. The unlucky ones were hit in their vital parts by the waves of arrows and fell to the ground.

And once the arrows continued to fall to a certain extent, only the lucky ones would avoid being hit in their vital parts.

The archers at the top of the city wall had changed several times. A normal archer could at most shoot over a dozen arrows in succession and his arms couldn’t stand shooting anymore. This was when the cultivators showed their value. The cultivators, who shot arrows, wouldn’t feel tired so easily, and the cultivators, who were shot, wouldn’t get injured so easily.

They continued to fill the ditch for half a day. The official troops had many people and adequate preparation, so the ditch was almost filled. Therefore, the soldiers in front retreated.

The big formation dispatched the second formation. Pushing the attacking carts, nest carts and shed carts and carrying the ladders, they began to rush forward at full speed. Holding their shields, the soldiers rushed across the ditch, put up the ladders over the city wall and pushed the nest carts against the city wall under the rain of arrows.

With knives in their mouths and round shields in his hands, the soldiers began to climb the ladders against the rolling stone and wood. After the wooden planks were pushed out from the nest carts and placed on the city wall, groups of soldiers rushed out. The archers in the nest carts were shooting against the enemies.

At this time, the soldiers climbed the city wall like ants. It was most bloody and cruel, and the casualties multiplied. It was also the time when the cultivators showed their ability. It was easier for them to climb the city wall than for ordinary soldiers.

...

On the first day, the Caizhou Army went out to fight, but they had nothing good to report.

On the second day, the Pinglu Army and the Zhongwu Army went out to fight one after another.

After the troops approached the city, groups of official troops suddenly rushed out from the formation. They were athletic and swift. They held no shields, just knives. They didn’t climb the ladders, but they kicked the ladders with their toes several times and leaped several times to the top of the city wall. As they wielded their long knives, the Dengzhou soldiers in front of them fell one by one in the flash of white light.

Dengzhou generals and cultivators went out to fight against the cultivators of the official troops in hand-to-hand combat.

The top of the city wall was in a melee, like a pot of boiling water. Soldiers and cultivators of both sides were fighting each other everywhere.

A Dengzhou soldier in Level 1 of Qi-refining holding a knife appeared in front of Shangguan Qingcheng. He rushed over and he wielded his long knife in his hand to chop out waves of light. The soldiers of the Pinglu Army nearby were killed or injured, leaving an open space in a short time.

His eyes turned bright as he saw the slender Shangguan Qingcheng holding a silver spear. And then he rushed over, bloodthirsty light shining in his eyes and his smile murderous.

“Punk, I’m going to kill you!” The practitioner of Qi techniques quickly approached. He mobilized the Spiritual Qi and sliced his knife down with all his strength. The scene of Shangguan Qingcheng being beheaded emerged in his mind.

Then he saw the silver-armored general in front of him move a little. She seemed to move just a little because her figure was vague for a second. He felt it strange. He was a practitioner of Qi techniques, so it was impossible for him to see her vague figure.

But before he could figure it out, he felt a pain in his chest, his limbs were stiff immediately, he couldn’t put down his hand which was lifting the long knife, the Spiritual Qi around him dissipated like wind and his power disappeared instantly like water gushing out of the floodgate.

Ducking his head in shock, the practitioner opened his eyes wide. He couldn’t believe that a silver spear had pierced his chest!

At this moment, he finally realized that he saw her vague figure just now because she approached him in a second. Because she moved too fast, disappearing in an instant and appearing in front of him suddenly, he had the illusion of her vague figure!

He looked at Shangguan Qingcheng, who looked calm and deep, in fear. “You’re... Master!” He could barely uttered the words before he collapsed.

Withdrawing the silver spear, Shangguan Qingcheng didn’t stop and rushed towards the next opponent.

Not far away in front of her, a cultivator of the Dengzhou Army, who was in Level 2 of Qi-refining, was cutting off the arm of the junior colonel of the Pinglu Army and was about to cut him in the neck with his knife.

The junior colonel of the Pinglu Army, who was in Level 1 of Qi-refining, looked frightened and kept retreating. When his back was against the wall, he finally had no way to retreat. He despaired when he was about to be killed by the other side’s knife.

Shangguan Qingcheng arrived in time. She blocked the practitioner’s long knife with her silver spear and pulled the junior colonel behind her. She handed him to her comrades and her silver spear pointed at the practitioner’s face.

“You dare stand in my way. You’re courting death!” The practitioner was furious and wielded his knife towards Shangguan Qingcheng. In an instant, he wielded his knife several times so that waves of light attacked towards Shangguan Qingcheng.

Instantly, carrying strong wind, the fluctuation of Spiritual Qi blew Shangguan Qingcheng’s robe before it approached her. Its power couldn’t be underestimated.

Shangguan Qingcheng looked calm. Her spear moved like a dragon and hit the light. The powerful light dissipated in succession as it touched her spear, while the silver spear continued to move straight to the opponent’s throat!

The practitioner was shocked and hurriedly retrieved his knife to protect his throat. In a second, the knife and spear hit each other, making a distinct sound.

The practitioner originally thought his defense was foolproof, but unexpectedly, the long knife was bounced off as soon as it touched the silver spear. The strong Spiritual Qi from the silver spear made his arm numb. It was like being pricked by needles. He shook with fear. He knew he encountered a powerful enemy, so he hurriedly retreated.

It was too late.

Shangguan Qingcheng rushed forward and the silver spear hit again, like a viper sticking its tongue out. The practitioner no longer had the long knife to protect his throat, so his throat was exposed to the enemy. No matter how hard he dodged, he couldn’t escape the silver spear cutting his throat.

“Ah!” The practitioner screamed and he was extremely frightened. But his scream soon stopped because Shangguan Qingcheng pulled back the silver spear and cut off his neck!

The practitioner fell powerlessly, while Shangguan Qingcheng flew past him. The soldiers of the Pinglu Army, who came around him, cut him to death with knives. Before he died, the practitioner was still in shock. “What a powerful force...”

The cultivators cleared the path, took up places on top of the city wall and covered the official troops as they ascended the city. The official troops’ offensive was swift and violent. Soon the elite soldiers in armor crossed the parapet wall and stood before the defending soldiers of Dengzhou.

In front of Shangguan Qingcheng, a military formation of the Dengzhou Army was rushing over. About a dozen soldiers in armor were holding shields and knives. All of them were strong and tall, like hills, giving people a great deterrent.

They wore layers of armor. With their knives or spears, the official troops managed to break through the shields and find gaps to pierce them, but the official troops couldn’t break the armor and injure them. And their knives and axes were heavy and powerful, so they killed the official troops easily.

Glancing at the soldiers in armor of the Dengzhou Army, Shangguan Qingcheng knew they were the absolute elites in the army. Although they weren’t cultivators, they were the best among the mortal warriors. They couldn’t comprehend the key to cultivation, so they couldn’t mobilize the Spiritual Qi, but they were not worse than Warrior Knights with their full strikes.

In the military formation, these elites were like sharp knives breaking through the enemy’s formation. There was a special name for them, the “Formation-breaking squad”. The so-called “Formation-breaking squad” was to destroy the enemy troops and break their formations. They were always successful in breaking enemies’ formations and destroying cities and camps. They were the general’s ace in the hole.

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