Chapter 307: Chapter 307

Although it was called a major northern stronghold, Jincheng City could hardly be considered sturdy. Ever since the Martial Emperor had adopted an offensive strategy against the Xiongnu, Jincheng City, located within the frontier walls, had never faced an enemy attack. Years of neglect had left it in disrepair with lax defenses, and the vast city housed fewer than a thousand garrison troops.

On a night when everyone was completely off guard, the Xiongnu suddenly surrounded the city. There had been no warning whatsoever beforehand—it was as if they had emerged from underground, or else the northern Great Wall had inexplicably collapsed.

Whatever the reason, the officials and civilians of Jincheng City were all thrown into terror.

The streets were filled with people everywhere—some coming out to investigate the situation, others calling for their wives and children while seeking places to hide, and still others crying aloud in extreme fear.

Fan Zhuangshan led a thousand soldiers lined up in formation on the street, directly facing the city gate. They were not mounted, as their mission was to guard the gate to receive the Northern Army from outside, not to charge into battle. He found the crying and shouting civilians extremely annoying, so he specifically dispatched a squad of soldiers to ride back and forth, driving away anyone who approached to prevent interference with their mission.

The shouting from outside the city grew louder and louder, audible even through the heavy city gates. Fan Zhuangshan was a stubborn character—no matter how many enemies were outside, the louder the shouting became, the more excited he grew. Standing at the very front, he spoke softly to the long axe in his hands: “Old friend, old friend, tonight it’s up to you. Don’t let your brother lose face. Afterward, your brother will reward you properly—washing you with the cleanest clear water, grinding you with the hardest stones, wiping you with the cleanest cloth, ensuring you’re as sharp as before…”

The officers and soldiers behind him suppressed their laughter, glanced at the weapons in their own hands, and silently gave them a few words of encouragement as well.

Someone shouted from atop the gate tower: “His Majesty’s decree! Open the city gate! Prepare to receive reinforcements!”

Fan Zhuangshan roared back: “We obey the decree!”

“Don’t open the city gate! Don’t open it!” someone shouted.

Fan Zhuangshan turned to look and saw several people riding horses at full speed between the two rows of soldiers. His brow furrowed involuntarily—with battle imminent, anyone causing chaos among the troops was committing a serious crime.

The newcomers knew no crime and feared none.

The corpulent Prince Dai dismounted, having not run so desperately in at least twenty years. Nearly breathless, he shouted toward the gate tunnel: “Don’t… don’t open the gate!”

The gate guards were all soldiers of the Dai kingdom, and hearing Prince Dai’s command, they all stopped.

Fan Zhuangshan, having been an official for many years, dared not act rashly before a prince. Patiently, he said: “Your Highness Prince Dai, opening the gate to receive reinforcements is His Majesty’s decree.”

“I’ll go see His Majesty, right now. I’ll tell him the gate cannot be opened—there are too many Xiongnu outside… Until I return, no one is permitted to open the gate. Anyone who opens it shall be executed.” Prince Dai swayed his corpulent body toward the city wall, stepping on each stair and pausing, needing to catch his breath twice before continuing to the next step.

Fan Zhuangshan watched anxiously as the shouting from outside grew ever louder. Looking up again, he saw no one leaning out from the gate tower—the Emperor clearly had not heard the sounds below.

“Open the gate!” Fan Zhuangshan bellowed.

The soldiers in the gate tunnel, holding torches, did not move.

Prince Dai’s four attendants had remained behind, and now they waved their hands: “No, we cannot open… cannot open the gates. Prince Dai has ordered…”

“Is Prince Dai’s command greater than an imperial decree?” Fan Zhuangshan could no longer restrain himself. In two steps he reached the attendant’s horse, raised his axe and brought it down, striking one attendant from his mount.

Everyone was stunned—no one even made a sound.

Fan Zhuangshan bellowed again: “Why haven’t you opened the gate?”

The remaining three attendants cried out for their mothers as they hastily moved aside, and the soldiers in the tunnel also hurriedly turned around, unlocking and removing the crossbar, straining to slowly pull open the city gate.

Prince Dai had only climbed halfway up the stairs when he turned to look, sat down heavily on his rear, and shouted angrily: “Scoundrel! His Majesty and all the city’s people will die by your hand!”

Fan Zhuangshan paid no heed—the Emperor had given the order, and he only wanted to charge out and fight to his heart’s content. He quickened his pace into the gate tunnel.

The gate’s crossbar had just been removed when suddenly the gate was rammed open from outside, sending the soldiers inside tumbling.

A large man in heavy armor strode in on foot, shouting loudly with his weapon raised high—also a long axe, though slightly different in design, with a longer shaft and shorter blade, rather crude in appearance.

Both axe-wielding warriors paused for a moment, then simultaneously became excited and swung their axes at each other.

Fan Zhuangshan was just a fraction faster, cleaving his enemy from helmet to head in two halves. His opponent’s long axe nearly grazed his shoulder as it fell, but Fan Zhuangshan paid it no mind, spitting on the ground.

Outside the city gate swarmed countless people, most of whom didn’t look like Xiongnu but rather infantry of unknown origin. Fan Zhuangshan couldn’t concern himself with such details—his long axe spun in circles as he hacked and slashed, leaving blood and flesh flying wherever he went.

The Dai soldiers who had been knocked down by the gate remained stunned, sitting on the ground without getting up.

Behind Fan Zhuangshan, his soldiers surged forward with spears like a forest, advancing step by step. But the enemy outside was numerous too, using their very bodies to form a wall.

Both sides fought bloodily, neither giving an inch.

Han Ruzi waited for news atop the gate tower. Outside the city, the Northern Army had already retreated beyond the gate, less than half a mile away, with only a bridge and countless enemy soldiers between them.

The Xiongnu outside abandoned their attacks on the gate tower, switching to besieging the Northern Army. Han Ruzi looked out—though it was very dark and neither side carried torches, he could still roughly make out the fierce battle. The Northern Army advanced with difficulty under enemy encirclement from all sides, with men and horses constantly falling.

He hoped Fan Zhuangshan could quickly clear a passage to support the Northern Army soldiers.

A tearful cry suddenly came from behind. Han Ruzi jumped in alarm, thinking another gate had been breached, and quickly turned around. “What is it?”

The corpulent Prince Dai knelt on the ground, looking more like a ball of flesh, crying: “Your Majesty, we cannot open the gate! General Fan will get Your Majesty killed…”

Han Ruzi felt annoyed and said sternly: “There are several thousand soldiers outside, all elite Northern Army troops. If we don’t open the gate to support them, they will surely be trapped among enemy forces with no chance of survival. With their assistance, Jincheng City might hold out longer.”

“No, Your Majesty! There are too many Xiongnu—once we open the gate, we… we won’t be able to close it again…”

“Have you seen the Xiongnu?”

“Not yet… but they say…” The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel⟡fire.net

The Emperor stood by the wall, but Prince Dai dared not approach, collapsing there as if unable to stand. Several guards came forward and lifted him up together.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” Prince Dai screamed like a pig being slaughtered, but the guards showed no sympathy, forcibly carrying him to the wall.

“Do you see the Xiongnu now?” Han Ruzi asked.

The Prince of Dai knelt on the ground, gripping the city wall with both hands, only his eyes showing above it. He swallowed hard and replied tremblingly: “I… I see them.”

“Can Jincheng City hold?”

“Jincheng City has six gates total, plus three sections of wall with breaches—nine positions that need strict defense. The city has barely three thousand soldiers at most. Without the aid of the three thousand Northern Army troops outside, Jincheng City won’t last until dawn. You and I will both be captured by foreign tribes—that would be the greatest defeat since the founding of Great Chu.”

Though Great Chu was in a weak position during its early establishment, never had an emperor fallen into Xiongnu hands.

Prince Dai dared not make a sound, gazing at the Xiongnu cavalry charging back and forth in the darkness. His heart and courage shattered, his legs went weak, and he truly could not stand up.

Angry roars suddenly erupted from below the city. Fan Zhuangshan had finally carved out a bloody path—he had charged to the bridge, his long axe sweeping in great arcs, unstoppable in his advance. Behind him, soldiers pointed their spears outward, driving enemy troops to both sides.

“Truly an invincible fierce general!” Cui Teng, who had been guarding the Emperor’s side, praised sincerely. He even felt an impulse to go down and fight alongside Fan Zhuangshan, though it remained just an impulse—his feet stayed firmly planted, consoling himself that protecting the Emperor was more important.

Prince Dai collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily, completely overwhelmed by enormous panic.

The Northern Army’s vanguard outside also spotted Fan Zhuangshan. Their morale soared as they quickened their pace, finally meeting on the bridge.

Fan Zhuangshan, caught up in the killing frenzy, nearly struck down the first Northern Army soldier who ran up. After recognizing the man’s identity, he retreated behind the bridge and charged toward the flanks to widen the passage.

Northern Army cavalry crossed the bridge into the city. Han Ruzi silently counted from the gate tower, his heart growing cold—too few had entered, only about a thousand men. The rest of the Northern Army was trapped somewhere unknown.

But he could no longer leave the city gates wide open. Xiongnu cavalry were following close behind from outside the city, and no matter how fierce a general Fan Zhuangshan was, he could not withstand arrows falling like rain.

The soldiers on the city walls received orders to shoot wildly at the bridge over the moat, trying their best to keep the Xiongnu cavalry on the far shore. Fan Zhuangshan cut down several more enemies before finally turning back to the city under repeated urgings from the soldiers.

The city gates slowly closed. Some enemy troops had followed into the city but immediately found themselves surrounded and failed to capture the gates.

Word came from below: “The gates are closed!”

Han Ruzi breathed a slight sigh of relief. The Xiongnu who had come to attack the city were not as numerous as he had imagined, and they were not very well prepared. Having changed their plans midway, they also lacked a clear main direction of attack, which gave the city a chance to catch its breath.

“Prince Dai, you don’t need to be afraid anymore… Prince Dai, Prince Dai?” Cui Teng called out several times, then bent down and pushed a few times before saying to the Emperor in panic: “Prince Dai… is dead.”

The Prince Dai, who had enjoyed decades of wine and debauchery, had actually been frightened to death by the Xiongnu on the gate tower of Jincheng City.

Han Ruzi was also startled. He stepped back a few paces and looked carefully. Prince Dai’s face was blue, his lips were open, and he seemed to have stopped breathing for some time.

“Go call the imperial physicians.” There were several imperial physicians in Han Ruzi’s entourage. Though it would be useless, they still needed to take a look.

Cui Teng felt many emotions in his heart but could not express them. He could only ask: “Does this count as dying for his country?”

“I suppose so,” Han Ruzi sighed. He could hardly announce to all the soldiers and civilians in the city that Prince Dai had been frightened to death.

Han Ruzi left the gate tower and walked down into the city. He met a Northern Army general coming toward him. The general, too urgent to observe proper etiquette, said anxiously: “Liaodong—the Xiongnu came from Liaodong.”

“We don’t know the specific details yet, but the Fuyu Kingdom broke through the pass. After the Xiongnu entered the passes, they circled around cities in a forced march. None of the local areas had time to send word.”

Han Ruzi was stunned. So Meng E’s words had been completely correct, but he had already sent people with imperial edicts demanding that Liaodong guard against the Fuyu Kingdom. How could they still have been breached?

“How many Xiongnu are there?”

The general could not answer. He turned to look down into the city, where several soldiers were pushing forward a prisoner—a Xiongnu man.

Someone in the army could speak the Xiongnu language and began questioning him. The Xiongnu man stood proudly without kneeling and quickly answered a few sentences.

“All the Xiongnu who could enter the pass have entered,” the interpreter said, looking toward the Emperor with a pale face. “The vanguard numbers over eight thousand, with even more behind them. The Great Chanyu will personally arrive soon.”

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