Chapter 45

As a person nears death, their words are sincere. The captured puppet army soldier, severely wounded, revealed the enemy's situation before dying. A thousand Jin soldiers were preparing to cross the mountains and launch a surprise attack on the southern side of the pass. They were the vanguard, only twenty in number.

Zheng Ping was secretly shocked to hear that there were a thousand men, as he only had fifty men.

He thought for a moment and cursed, "To hell with it, if we die, we die, what’s there to fear!"

Although he said this, he still sent a soldier back to report to the commander. He needed more fire oil.

At this moment, Zhao Xiaoyi had already boiled the poison in an iron pot, and the soldiers had poured hundreds of iron caltrops into it.

Despite his plump and easy-going appearance, Zheng Ping was actually full of wicked ideas and was skilled at using all sorts of underhanded methods.

He surveyed the canyon, noting how narrow and poorly ventilated it was. Zheng Ping's eyes twinkled, and he turned to a squad leader and ordered, "Take a few more men to cut some fresh pine branches. The more, the better."

"Understood!"

The squad leader saluted and led a dozen soldiers to the pine forest to the north.

Zheng Ping then led a dozen men to scatter the hundreds of poisoned iron caltrops within a mile of the canyon.

The soldiers held shields and crossbows, ready for battle.

The table was set, the knives and chopsticks were in hand, and now they just needed to wait for the dish to be served.

After half an hour, the enemy did not arrive, but the pine branches did. Over a hundred Song soldiers brought a large amount of pine branches. Zheng Ping's men encountered the Song soldiers cutting wood in the pine forest. The branches were already prepared, and together they brought over a dozen large carts of pine branches.

"Enough, enough, brothers, go back to your duties! I'll handle this."

Zheng Ping said this insincerely, wishing he could keep all the soldiers, but considering the greater pressure at the pass, he had to abandon this thought.

As soon as the soldiers left, a scream echoed from the canyon—someone had stepped on an iron caltrop.

"Quick! Pile up the pine branches."

The men hurriedly piled the pine branches at the canyon entrance, doused them with fire oil, and sprinkled several scoops of gunpowder. Zheng Ping glanced at the remaining poison in the iron pot and had an idea.

"Pour the poison in as well!"

The pine branches were set alight, and thick smoke billowed into the canyon.

......

The fierce battle in Wujia Town lasted nearly an hour, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The Jin soldiers were extremely fierce, fighting four to one, yet they did not fall behind and even had the upper hand, controlling the situation.

They used their highly mobile cavalry and powerful archery skills to continuously assault the Song army's formation. When the situation turned against them, they immediately withdrew, reorganized, and came back, repeatedly putting the Song army on the defensive. In just over an hour, the Song army had lost more than half its men, but the Jin army had also lost nearly two hundred men.

A commander shouted, "General Yang, if we keep fighting like this, we will be completely annihilated. We must retreat!"

Yang Zheng, who had been hit by an arrow, smiled bitterly and said, "If we retreat, we will be completely annihilated. The Jurchen cavalry will not let us go. If we hold on, the Jin soldiers will not fight to the death, and we might still have a chance to survive."

‘Whistle!’

The Jurchen cavalry began to gather again in the distance. Yang Zheng shouted, "Brothers, let's fight the Jin soldiers to the end!"

The Song soldiers roared in unison and quickly formed a spear formation.

......

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The war drums at Jianque Pass shook the heavens. The Jin army launched a tidal wave of attacks, with Han Chang committing eight thousand troops, sparing no expense to capture the pass.

He used a barrage of arrows to suppress the enemy, and the soldiers carried ladders to assault the walls.

Han Chang had learned from his mistakes and replaced the first four crossbars of the ladders with steel rods, making it impossible for the Song soldiers to cut them.

This strategy worked; the Song soldiers' axes could no longer cut the crossbars, and several axe wielders were killed by arrows.

Logs and stones rained down from the walls, and the attacking soldiers screamed as they fell. Some managed to reach the top and engaged in fierce battles with the defenders.

Both sides were fighting with bloodshot eyes. A bearded puppet army commander, wielding a shield and a short spear, killed three Song soldiers in quick succession on the wall.

An arrow shot from the side ‘whooshed’ and hit the bearded commander in the neck. He screamed and staggered, and the Song soldier he was facing seized the opportunity, thrusting a spear through his chest and pushing him off the wall.

The tiger shooters, crouched by the wall, played a crucial role at critical moments. Ten tiger shooters specialized in shooting enemy commanders and fierce soldiers. Their presence was vital to the defense of Jianque Pass, as they prevented numerous enemy attempts to breach the walls.

Chen Qing, with a wound on his back, could not use weapons or bows, so he could only command the defense of the wall.

"Order Luo to send fifty more men to support the eastern wall!"

"The tenth defense position is in trouble; send reinforcements to attack!"

"General Yang!"

Chen Qing shouted, and Yang Yuanqing looked up.

Chen Qing pointed behind him, "That big black guy is about to break through. Aim for his lower body!"

Yang Yuanqing turned and saw a tall, muscular black man climbing up with a large shield. The tiger shooters' arrows had been blocked by his shield, and the three soldiers defending him were almost overwhelmed.

Yang Yuanqing roared and charged forward, slicing through the gap in the large shield.

‘Crack!’

This strike exploited the black man's defensive weakness, severing his right leg.

The black man screamed and was pushed off the wall by three Song soldiers.

Yang Yuanqing turned to Chen Qing and gave him a thumbs up, and Chen Qing smiled and returned the gesture.

The battle became increasingly bloody, but Chen Qing remained calm, his eyes sharp, monitoring the situation at every defense position. Whenever a position was in crisis, he immediately sent reinforcements.

It was his effective command that allowed the Song army to hold the wall, despite the constant threats, and prevent the enemy from breaking through.

Han Chang, the general, watched the battle on the wall with a grave expression. He was deeply troubled. Although the enemy had few troops, the wall was narrow, allowing only a few hundred to defend it.

But even so, the enemy's morale was too high, and they were resilient. When did the Song army become so fierce and skilled in battle?

He looked at the sky; the sun was setting, and Han Chang became anxious. He turned and shouted, "Bring the battering ram!"

Two hundred soldiers carried a massive battering ram, a tree trunk with a sharpened end, about fifty feet long, with fifty men on each side supporting it and another hundred holding shields for protection.

From a distance, it looked like a long, scaly centipede.

The battering ram was immediately spotted by the soldiers on the wall, who reported to the commander, Chen Qing.

Chen Qing quickly went to the wall, where a half-drawn bridge hung below, and the sides were sloping, making it difficult to attack. Only this area was relatively safe, with no enemy assault.

Several soldiers held shields to protect the commander as Chen Qing looked down and saw the centipede-like battering ram team approaching the gate.

"Commander, that's the battering ram!" Yang Yuanqing appeared beside Chen Qing.

How to deal with the enemy's battering ram had been discussed by Chen Qing and the other commanders. They could use arrows or crossbows to pierce the enemy's shields.

But the most effective method was to use logs and stones, for which they had a specific plan.

However, the gate received an unexpected advantage: the half-drawn bridge. The bridge had been burned and broken into two parts, with one half hanging in front of the gate, forming a natural protective shell.

This made it more difficult for the battering ram to break through, as it had to first smash the half-drawn bridge before continuing its assault.

Chen Qing nodded and said to Yang Yuanqing, "Follow the plan to deal with the battering ram!"

"Understood!"

Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered the ten tiger shooters, "Aim for the battering ram!"

He then ran to the wall and shouted to a dozen soldiers, "Prepare the logs and stones!"

The tiger shooters were skilled archers, using crossbows with two soldiers behind each to help with the tension.

‘Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!’

Ten powerful arrows shot out, with sharp, armor-piercing tips, effective against shields.

Ten soldiers in the battering ram team immediately fell, the ram's head dipped, almost touching the ground, and the protective shield at the front was breached, exposing the men holding the ram.

The tiger shooters quickly reloaded and aimed again.

Another ten soldiers in the battering ram team were killed, and the ram lost balance, crashing to the ground.

Han Chang, watching from a distance, was furious and shouted, "The copper shield soldiers, go and provide cover, continue the assault on the gate!"

Two hundred copper shield soldiers, a special unit designed to counter the Song army's crossbows, rushed forward. They were not numerous, partly because copper was expensive and could not be mass-produced, and partly because each copper shield weighed over thirty pounds, requiring specially selected, strong soldiers.

Han Chang had three special units: the Khitan wolf soldiers, who had been completely annihilated, the copper shield soldiers, and a special unit equipped with fire weapons.

The soldiers throwing fireballs from the mountain top were from the fire weapons unit.

The two hundred copper shield soldiers held their shields to block the Song army's arrows, and the soldiers picked up the battering ram again, advancing towards the gate under the cover of the copper shield soldiers.

Yang Yuanqing turned and shouted loudly, "Bring several barrels of fire oil!"