Chapter 76: Monster, There’s a Monster!
Chapter 76: Monster, There’s a Monster!
Kaiyuan.
“I, Yang Xin, who dares to fight me!”
Yang Xin carried a huge cross and arrogantly roared beneath the walls of Kaiyuan city.
He stood on a carriage, pulled by four horses running sideways. On the cross was the finally deceased Abatai. To his south was what seemed like an endless sea of cavalry. Thirty-five thousand horsemen were arrayed with their backs to the riverbank, stretching beyond sight. At that moment, both the Mongols and the Ming Army were roaring excitedly, displaying their power to the Jiannu on the city walls.
The latter responded with silence.
On the city wall, Hurhan, one of Wild Boar Skin’s Five Great Ministers and effectively his adopted son, silently watched Yang Xin’s arrogant performance. He did not dare to venture out to fight. If not for Abatai’s crushing defeat, he might have still maintained his contempt for the Ming Army.
But now it was different.
And he had no need to go out to fight anyway.
If he could hold out for just a day or two, the main army returning from Yehe City would arrive. In fact, he had already sent someone to urgently inform Wild Boar Skin last night. But Wild Boar Skin was also locked in a bloody battle at Yehe City, and the attack was not going well.
Whether to first capture Yehe City or return to deal with the Ming Army was a decision even Wild Boar Skin would find difficult to make quickly. Handling both at once was impossible, especially with thirty thousand Mongol cavalry plus five thousand elite Ming troops here. To defeat them, Wild Boar Skin would need at least thirty thousand men to return. But he had already suffered significant losses in the attack on Yehe City. Whether the remaining less than twenty thousand could withstand Jin Taiji’s counterattack was still questionable. Moreover, Wild Boar Skin didn’t know if this was a full-scale Ming counteroffensive or something else. Even if he decided to return, it was over a hundred li back; at best, light cavalry on a forced march would take at least a day. All in all, it would take at least a day or two.
What Hurhan needed was to hold for that one or two days.
“You lowly slaves, you cowardly rats, do you want to see me slice Abatai to pieces?”
Yang Xin continued to roar.
Of course, he wouldn’t actually slice him up.
Abatai’s corpse was to be sent to the Capital City to report the achievement to Wanli. Li Ruzhen had already sent someone to Liaoyang to report the victory to Xiong Tingbi. By now, Xiong Tingbi in Liaoyang was probably unsure whether to be angry or happy. But regardless of his anger or joy, Abatai’s corpse would ultimately be sent all the way to the Capital City, just like E Yi Dou’s head had been.
This was a great victory.
No matter how Xiong Tingbi dealt with them later, he would still report this success.
Just then, a flash of fire suddenly appeared atop the city wall. Immediately after, accompanied by the sound of cannon fire, smoke rose. The next moment, a cannonball struck not far from the carriage. Yang Xin looked up in surprise. A man still wearing Ming military attire was lighting a fuse. Then, the Great Frankish Cannon in front of him spewed fire.
A cannonball came whistling again.
But Yang Xin was on the rapidly moving carriage. The cannonball landed directly behind it.
“Jin Yuhe!”
Huang Degong, who was driving the carriage, shouted.
“The former Company Commander of Kaiyuan Garrison! He was the one who acted as the inside man for Wild Boar Skin in the city!”
He added immediately after.
“Turn around, charge straight for the city gate!”
Yang Xin yelled.
Huang Degong executed this insane order without hesitation. Yang Xin then threw the cross down from the carriage. The cavalry following them quickly dismounted, cut the ropes, and retrieved Abatai’s corpse, before turning back to rejoin the formation behind. Meanwhile, Yang Xin picked up his Green Dragon Crescent Blade from the carriage. The galloping carriage, driven by Huang Degong, charged directly at the city gate. Behind them, Cao Wenzhao, without hesitation, took over for Li Ruzhen and issued the order to prepare for the assault.
But Chen Yujie stopped him.
Because at the same time, the Mongol cavalry on both flanks began to advance.
Yang Xin paid no mind to the scheming behind him. He stood on the carriage charging at the city gate. Two cannons opposite spewed fire again. This time they fired Grapeshot. Several grapeshot pellets hit the carriage; one even struck him. But their power was weak, not even piercing his three layers of heavy armor…
“Turn around!”
He shouted, holding his blade.
Huang Degong abruptly turned the carriage. Almost simultaneously, Yang Xin leaped from the carriage. The moment he landed, he began sprinting at full speed. Huang Degong withdrew behind him, while the Mongol cavalry on the flanks eagerly surged forward. They also knew clearly that Wild Boar Skin could return at any moment. They had at most two days. If they couldn’t capture the city in two days, they must retreat. Fighting a decisive battle against fifty thousand Jiannu was something even Chahua knew was unrealistic.
He truly wasn’t afraid of Wild Boar Skin.
Because for now, Wild Boar Skin had to focus entirely on dealing with the Ming Army.
And the Mongol tribes were nomadic; Wild Boar Skin couldn’t ignore the Ming Army to get entangled with them.
Thus, the hope of opening Kaiyuan lay with Yang Xin. This invincible fierce general would lead the main assault to open the city gate. They would charge straight in and plunder everything inside. Ultimately, this was the shared goal of the various Mongol Noyans. Their purpose in allying with the Ming Army was the supplies in these two cities. Especially after the gains in Tieling, they were extremely eager for Kaiyuan. As Wild Boar Skin’s logistical base, Kaiyuan had even more grain than Tieling. Wild Boar Skin needed grain to survive the coming long winter, and the Mongol tribes needed it too!
Yang Xin, sprinting toward the city gate, was now the beacon of hope for the Mongol tribes.
Yang Xin continued sprinting forward.
The two cannons on Kaiyuan’s wall spewed fire again, still firing Grapeshot.
But this still couldn’t stop him. He was simply too fast. Even slowed by the heavy armor and holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, he wasn’t easy to target. Moreover, the Grapeshot from the Frankish Cannons couldn’t penetrate his heavy armor. On the wall, Hurhan and Jin Yuhe constantly urged their men to fire. Two Frankish Cannons and countless bows and arrows, even the very few Matchlock Guns, all joined in shooting at him. Behind him, the Mongol cavalry thundered forward. The Ming Army formations roared, and war drums beat frantically to cheer him on. This exaggerated charge ended at the edge of the Moat—Yang Xin plunged straight into the water, which came over his head.
All attacks ceased immediately.
Everyone stared at the water’s surface.
Suddenly, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade rose from the water.
Immediately after, Yang Xin burst out and resumed his full-speed sprint. But after running five steps, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, with the blade trailing, flew out, shedding water, and transformed into a blue streak that smashed into the city wall. It hit a spot where the bricks had peeled due to disrepair. The sharp tail of the blade, relying on its 120-jin weight and over hundred-kilometer-per-hour initial speed, instantly buried itself in the rammed earth. Almost simultaneously, amid startled cries from the wall, Yang Xin, having reached the base of the wall, leaped up. He landed with one foot on the hilt, about two meters off the ground, then immediately leaped a second time, instantly bringing half his body above the battlements.
Six Long Spears stabbed at him from the opposite side.
Yang Xin, in mid-air, grabbed them all. The Jiannu instinctively pulled back. The next moment, he was pulled up onto the battlements. He then lunged forward, crashing right into a group of Jiannu. Before he could even get up, over a dozen different weapons smashed down on his back.
Yang Xin, on the ground, casually grabbed a leg beside him. As he rose, he swung the man like a dead dog in a wide arc. The Jiannu surrounding him were immediately swept off their feet. Amid a chorus of screams, he stood up fiercely and swung his human weapon forward in a diagonal strike. After just two swings, this “weapon” was no longer usable. He flung it into the surging crowd of Jiannu, then scooped up an injured one and unhesitatingly flung him out too. The Jiannu lying all over the ground became his ammunition, flying out one after another to both sides.
Chaos erupted on the wall.
He then sprinted forward, swinging both fists wildly, smashing everything in his path.
He advanced relentlessly, like a berserk silverback gorilla. In no time, he reached the top of the Barbican and immediately cut the ropes holding up the drawbridge over the Moat. By now, the fastest Mongol cavalry had arrived. They charged directly across the drawbridge over the Moat, while throwing grappling hooks upward. Taking advantage of the chaos on the Barbican, they quickly scaled the walls.
But the battle had just begun.
Jiannu reinforcements poured endlessly onto the main wall, engaging the ascending Mongol soldiers in bloody combat.
Yang Xin jumped straight down from the wall, then opened the Barbican’s gate. The cavalry outside surged in. But the main wall still blocked them. In fact, the main wall was now packed with countless Jiannu. The Mongol soldiers who charged into the Barbican had to face a dense rain of arrows. The Jiannu on the Barbican were still counterattacking. It must be said their combat prowess truly surpassed the Mongol soldiers. After Yang Xin went down, the counterattacking Jiannu even began compressing forward from both ends, gradually hacking down the Mongol soldiers who had scaled the Barbican.
“Without me, you can’t do anything!”
Yang Xin said, exasperated.
The Mongol commander who first charged into the Barbican snorted coldly.
But they really couldn’t. They were completely pinned down by the Jiannu’s sharp arrows in the Barbican gate tunnel. Outside lay the corpses of the earliest soldiers who had charged out and been shot dead. Dead bodies of Mongol soldiers who had scaled the wall above were also falling.
“Move aside!”
Yang Xin turned and shouted, not at all politely.
The Mongol soldiers quickly parted with awe. He strode out arrogantly. However, retrieving his Green Dragon Crescent Blade was clearly risky. That area was back under Jiannu control, exchanging fire with Mongol cavalry by the Moat. Going back there would lack the element of surprise, and while pulling out the blade, he could be buried by stones thrown from above. The man stood before the Barbican gate, looking to both sides. Behind and in front of him, all the Mongol cavalry watched him expectantly. Soon, his eyes fell on a huge rock by the Moat.
He walked straight over to it.
He pushed against the boulder to test it, finding it was only about three hundred jin.
He assumed a horse stance beside the rock, shook it forcefully a few times to loosen it from the soil, then wrapped his arms around it and roared as he lifted it. Under the worshipful gazes of the Mongol soldiers, he carried the thing straight back into the Barbican gate tunnel. Mongol soldiers lined the path on both sides; some even knelt down. They roared with words they favored, waving their fists, like orcs cheering for a troll in The Lord of the Rings. Carrying the giant rock, Yang Xin charged toward the opposite wall like the former. The moment he rushed out, a dense rain of arrows fell like a true storm from the opposite side. But most slammed into the rock. Under the stunned gazes of the Jiannu on the wall, Yang Xin dashed into the opposite gate tunnel in an instant.
He then raised the boulder to his side and slightly behind him.
The next moment, accompanied by his roar, this behemoth was flung like a shot put, powered by his strength, and smashed violently into the center of the iron-clad gate. With a tremendous crash and flying splinters, the double doors were blasted wide open.