The Marquis Is Innocent - 153.1
Chapter 153.1
The battle for the defense of Shanggu has been going on for more than half a month. Marks left by swords, axes, and fire covered the thick walls of solid rock. Blood stained the black soil beneath the walls, seeping layer by layer into the rock walls, and the foul smell of blood filled the air.
The Xiongnu’s attacks came in waves and repulsed back in waves.
A few days ago, the Qiang army of 50,000 men led by Qiao Ci finally arrived to support the Wei soldiers.
The Qiang army took advantage of the fact that the Xiongnu army had not had time to defend and break open a siege from the side. The Wei soldiers inside the city opened the city gates to rush out in formation to fight alongside the Qiang army amidst the beating of war drums.
The Xiongnu were skilled in cavalry field fighting with heavy troops. They had been attacking the city for days, and their morale was already low. Suddenly the situation changed, and their opponents switched their formation, which made them unprepared.
Because of the unknown number of reinforcements, Wu Wei did not dare to launch another siege for a while and ordered to organize the team in place, both to catch their breath and to spy on the enemy.
……
The siege of the city, which lasted for more than ten days, was finally resolved with the timely arrival of reinforcements.
The soldiers of the Wei family fought bravely against the Xiongnu, with few soldiers against many. The two generations of Wei’s female rulers climbed the city walls to share life and death with the soldiers and people. The news spread to the four corners of Yuyang as if it had wings. More people began to turn around from the fleeing road and came spontaneously from all directions.
Men put on armor taken off from those who had died in battle and picked the blood-stained swords and spears to join the fight.
Women, led by Xiao Qiao, tended to the wounded and brought hot soup and hot meals in time for the blood-soaked soldiers.
Within a few days, tens of thousands of people volunteer to join the battle of defense. The military and the people were united as never before, fighting against the same enemy. Everyone had only one thought, hold on and never give up a step.
……
Wu Wei began to feel uneasy about the battle. He is the son of Shan Yu, the Crown Prince of Tuqi. However, his reputation in the royal court had been inferior to his uncle, King Rizhu, Wu Zhuqu.
When Wu Zhuqu took Wei’s daughter as his concubine, the Xiongnu people did not think he was disobedient but felt it was an honor. A few years ago, Wu Zhuqu welcomed his son Wei Yan, the son of the Wei consort. It was common for the Xiongnu royal family or nobles to have sons from Han Chinese ancestry. The current king of the royal court, King Yi Qiu Ruo, and the trusted advisor, King Yi Zhi Zi, are descendants of the princesses sent by the former Han family to make peace. But these people couldn’t make Wu Wei feel an unprecedented sense of threat, unlike Wei Yan. Only in a couple of years, Wei Yan’s reputation had risen to great heights. Since he conquered the East Hu people, who had been stubbornly entrenched in the Onion Ridge for decades, and put the East Hu clan into one of the twenty-four Xiongnu tribes, the Xiongnu people began to call him Hutukun. Even Shan Yu made him King Jian Jiang – a title that qualified him to command 10,000 soldiers. Wu Wei was very wary of this.
Therefore, not long ago, when Liu Yan, the Langya emperor, sent an envoy to express his intention to borrow troops and surrender the Xiongnu, Wu Wei intervened vigorously and convinced Shan Yu to send troops to the south under his leadership.
According to his plan, he should have already captured Yuyang. He intended to wipe out the shame Wei’s family brought to the Xiongnu people. More importantly, he needed this victory so that Shan Yu, his clan, and the Xiongnu nobles, who had been questioning him, the Huyan clan, the Xubo clan, and the Qulin clan, could see what he could do. However, he didn’t expect the battle process would be so bad.
He failed to seize the opportunity to wipe out 100,000 Wei soldiers in one fell swoop, allowing them to borrow Qiang soldiers as reinforcements, missing the best chance to fight. With further delay, if Wei Shao returned with troops, he was even less sure of the situation. Since he was in charge of the elite Xiongnu division, he could not afford to lose this battle.
The next day, Wu Wei regrouped his men, and the moment before dawn, he supervised the formation and poured out his nest, launching another ferocious attack on the Han and Qiang allied forces on the opposite side.
Kill one person, and get the reward.
Kill ten people, and get a beautiful woman.
Kill a hundred people, and you will get a hundred men.
And if you can break the city and capture the Wei female ruler who beat the drums to help the battle, you will be given a thousand households and the title of marquis!
……
The vicious battle continued from morning to evening. Lei Yan and Qiao Ci defended against death, leading the crowd to resist. The sound of killing resounded in the ears, and the wilderness near the city gate filled with corpses.
The Xiongnu stepped on the dense layer of their fellow soldier’s corpses, erecting ladders and digging the walls. On the top of the city wall, another soldier would fill in if the other fell.
From the southeast corner of the city gate sounded an explosion accompanied by a wild cry of excitement from the Xiongnu. A stream of arrows whooshed overhead, and one fell and stuck in the back of a dead soldier just half a step away from Xiao Qiao.
Xiao Qiao has long felt no fear. She and two women carrying a basket of stone cannons continued to ascend the city wall when they saw a soldier running toward them with blood streaming down his face.
“Lady, come with me!” The soldier roared.
“Is the city about to fall?” Xiao Qiao asked, her voice was hoarse. She had not closed her eyes for several days, her face white as paper, and her eyes were dry, but she did not feel tired.
“A hole has opened in the southeastern wall, Mr. Qiao is blocking the gap with his men, and all the soldiers are ready to fight in the street, vowing to defend the Shanggu and never give up half an inch! General Jia ordered me to send the lady away quickly! All the remaining women should also retreat from the city!”
“Immediately leave through the south city gate! There is no need for you to stay here anymore!” Xiao Qiao immediately said to the women.
With tears in their eyes, the women knelt to her, got up, and left.
In the battle of defending the city, if it came to this level of street fighting, Xiao Qiao knew that she would only become a burden if she stayed.
Mrs. Xu was very sick, but fortunately, she was sent out of Shanggu a few days ago. In the face of 300,000 raging Xiongnu iron cavalry, holding on to this moment, everyone here has done their best.
She suddenly felt a moment of dizziness. Closing her eyes, she held her hand on the city wall.
“Lady!” The soldier noticed that she looked different and reached out to help her but stopped when he was about to touch her.
Xiao Qiao settled down, opened her eyes, and said, “I’m fine. I’ll leave now.”
Suddenly, at this moment, a sound like a thousand horses galloping came from the distance. The sound seemed distant but slowly became clear, like muffled thunder. With the rapid advance of the sound wave, the earth underfoot and the corner tower of the city wall follow its rhythm, slightly trembling. The two sides of the battle felt the unusual ground movement that was becoming clearer.
The Xiongnu stopped climbing, and the Wei soldiers at the top of the city wall stopped their swords and turned their heads to look at the sound.
After being absent-minded for a moment, Xiao Qiao lifted her skirt and ascended the steps. She rushed up to the high platform at the city wall and looked ahead.
In the direction of the setting sun, at the end of the distant wilderness, she saw a long line of black legions coming rapidly toward the city.
……