Chapter 96: Outside the West City, News Beneath the Night Sky

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Eastern Jinyang City.

Beneath the city gate, the battering ram had been burned beyond recognition. Its beam had been reduced to a charred log and fallen to the ground, while the entire ram poured out thick clouds of smoke. On either side of the gate, siege ladders and tower carts had likewise been almost completely destroyed. Corpses lay scattered across the ground.

The siege had lasted for an entire day. At nightfall, the rebel army finally withdrew.

Within the passageway atop the wall, Fu Zihou watched the rebel forces retreating one after another beyond the city. He knew that today’s assault had merely been the beginning. From this day onward, such attacks would continue day after day until the war came to an end.

“Commandant, more than seventy people have died. Over twenty of them were soldiers; the rest were civilians who came to help. More than two hundred are wounded!”

Hu Jingyuan came before Fu Zihou and reported the figures.

Thanks to the soldiers’ and civilians’ high morale and fighting spirit, the defenders had maintained their momentum throughout the day. The rebel army had never managed to reach the top of the walls, and had been kept outside the city.

“More than seventy…”

When Fu Zihou heard Hu Jingyuan’s report, he felt little joy. Instead, he was filled with helplessness.

There was still a shortage of armor within the city. Some of what they had possessed had already been distributed among the able-bodied men. If the elderly, women, and children had also been protected by armor, perhaps the civilians who died today would have suffered injuries instead. Even if their wounds had been severe, they might still have had a chance to survive.

“Send men throughout the city to collect every sheet of paper they can find. Tomorrow, use it to make armor for all the civilians. And prepare water atop the walls…”

Fu Zihou issued his orders to Hu Jingyuan.

At that moment, Yin Tianzong also approached. He glanced at Hu Jingyuan and waited until Fu Zihou had finished speaking before reporting.

“Commandant! Of the firewood prepared atop the walls today, the three piles on the left have been completely exhausted and had to be replenished from within the city. The other locations have used up seven or eight parts out of ten. As for the elevated platforms…”

Yin Tianzong gave Fu Zihou a general account of all the supplies consumed in defending the city that day.

Hu Jingyuan was startled when he heard the report. The losses were far greater than they had expected. At this rate, the city’s reserves would soon be completely depleted, and they would have no choice but to dismantle the houses where the people lived.

There had not been many casualties within the city that day, and the rebels had not even managed to reach the walls. Yet this had been achieved almost entirely by consuming the city’s wooden beams.

A city was not some remote wilderness where timber could be gathered endlessly. Every beam used to support a tower cart or a siege ladder was one that could never be replaced once destroyed.

“How long do you think the siege equipment prepared by the rebel army outside can last?”

Fu Zihou looked toward the plain beyond the city. The light had gradually faded from the landscape. Apart from the dim white gleam along the mountain ridges, everything below them was already swallowed by darkness, and the rebel army could no longer be seen.

“If they have prepared the same quantity as they used today, the rebels can probably sustain themselves for at least a month.”

Yin Tianzong thought for a moment before offering his estimate.

“Since the rebels outside intend to attack Taiyuan Commandery, the supplies needed for the siege will surely last a month at minimum. They are more likely to have excess than to run short.”

Hu Jingyuan agreed with Yin Tianzong.

Looking at the towering mounds of earth beyond the city, Hu Jingyuan knew that, given the manpower of the rebel army, those heaps would grow higher with every passing day.

“I wonder when the reinforcements will arrive.”

Hu Jingyuan sighed.

There was no hope of assistance from Western Jinyang City. At present, it was not only Hu Jingyuan who awaited the Sui reinforcements. Yin Tianzong, the other soldiers defending the city, and even the civilians within Jinyang were all waiting for the Sui court to send an army to rescue them.

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Within the passageway atop the wall, Fu Zihou heard Hu Jingyuan’s words and saw Yin Tianzong and the other soldiers turn their eyes toward him.

“Jinyang is a vital stronghold in the north. They will arrive soon.”

Fu Zihou spoke softly.

For now, he dared not tell them that over the next several months, the Sui court would have no reinforcements capable of driving back the rebel army.

As he gazed southward, Fu Zihou could not help wondering: now that Zhen Zhai’er had led the rebel army against Jinyang ahead of schedule, when would the Sui court send its reinforcements?

Beneath the night sky, cold wind drifted through the darkness beside the scattered corpses.

With Cao Yong and Xiong Ruixiang holding torches to light the way, Fu Zihou finally found Qi Lingyang unconscious among the dead.

He crouched down and examined the blood on Qi Lingyang’s forehead. After feeling for his breath and confirming that he had not died from the fall, Fu Zihou ordered the soldiers to place Qi Lingyang across a horse’s back and carry him back into the city.

……………………

Western Jinyang City.

A rebel soldier lay beneath a patch of weeds, watching the walls of Western Jinyang City. Beneath the faint firelight atop the battlements, patrolmen occasionally passed by.

When a gust of wind swept over the ground, the soldier quietly adjusted the weeds over his head, covering himself more securely.

Ever since arriving in Jinyang and taking responsibility for observing the city’s every movement at night, all the other scouts had been killed one after another. He alone had remained unharmed. He had even slain several defenders of the western city, all thanks to the hidden pit he had dug beneath the weeds.

It sheltered him from the wind and concealed him perfectly. When dawn came, all he needed to do was pull some of the surrounding weeds back into place, and no one would discover him.

Because of this, his commandant had praised him several times in recent days and had promised that once the western city was captured, he would be promoted to a scout captain.

“Hm?”

Hearing what seemed to be footsteps, the rebel soldier immediately held his breath. It had to be the defenders inside the city, attempting to sneak out again.

He had already imagined himself attacking them from behind, killing the Sui soldiers, and earning another merit. Yet as he continued to think, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Why did the footsteps seem to have reached his side?

Had he been discovered?

Impossible!

He had dug this pit beneath the weeds and carefully erased every trace. There was no way anyone could have found it.

It must be…

As the rebel soldier pondered, he suddenly heard a voice.

“Kill him!”

Before he could think any further, a sharp pain struck his back. Another followed immediately after. Agony exploded across his head, leaving him unable even to cry out. Blow after blow rained down, until at last the rebel soldier lay beneath the weeds, eyes wide open and body motionless.

Perhaps, in the final moment before his life ended, he was still wondering how he had been discovered.

Why did that voice sound so familiar?

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In the darkness, the weeds swayed in the gentle breeze, as though they were cheering and awaiting the day when they would grow lush and tall.

Beneath the black night sky, on the walls of Western Jinyang City, a man with a bundle strapped to his back slid down to the ground on a rope with the help of several others. After untying the rope, he walked toward the outskirts of the city.

In the darkness, the man in silk garments arrived at the appointed place. As he surveyed the dim surroundings, he suddenly felt a cold blade pressed against his throat.

Under the veil of night, the man in silk could make out only several shadowy figures. He could not see their faces clearly.

He obediently handed over the money he was carrying.

“Did you bring the register of every general, commandant, captain, strategist, and other officer in the army commanded by Zhen Zhai’er across the river? And what is the situation at Eastern Jinyang City?”

The man in silk asked the questions. He was extremely tense, for everyone around him was a rebel, and he could not even see their faces. At present, the only thing he could rely on was the prospect of establishing an ongoing exchange with them.

He hoped they were clever men who would not be satisfied with merely taking this small sum of money.

“This is the register. Two days ago, Zhen Zhai’er ordered that once Eastern Jinyang City was captured, the entire city was to be massacred for five days. The army began attacking Eastern Jinyang City today, but failed to take it and suffered considerable casualties. They will certainly continue their assaults over the coming days. Eastern Jinyang City should not be able to hold out for long.”

After his subordinates confirmed that the bundle contained what it should, the leader handed the register to the man in silk and told him what had happened across the river.

“What? A massacre? Why would Zhen Zhai’er order such a thing? After capturing Eastern Jinyang City, why would he throw away the goodwill of its people? What benefit could that bring him?”

The man in silk questioned him urgently.

A massacre and a city’s being captured by rebels were entirely different matters. Not only had the man in silk never anticipated Zhen Zhai’er’s decision, but none of the officials, generals, or clans of Western Jinyang City had either.

“Why a massacre?”

Hearing the man’s question, the leader exchanged a glance with his subordinates in the darkness before turning back to him.

“Because of the commander defending Eastern Jinyang City. A few days ago, he not only used smoke to leave the city and thwart Zhen Zhai’er’s scheme, but also slew Tu Ye, one of Zhen Zhai’er’s great generals, outside the walls…”

The man’s tone was strange as he described everything that had happened in Western Jinyang City over the past several days.

Upon hearing this, the man in silk stood utterly stunned.

In the midst of battle, the enemy general had been slain before the armies, and the head of the rebel commander Tu Ye had been taken!

A night raid launched from the city had captured Xiang Yifeng, another rebel general!

Could this truly have been done by Eastern Jinyang City while surrounded by an army of more than a hundred thousand rebels?

The night wind swept across the plain.

It was not until long after the rebel men had departed that the man in silk finally came back to himself. He stared in disbelief toward the eastern city, then began breathing rapidly and hurried back toward the western city. He had to inform the officials, generals, and clansmen waiting within of what had happened.

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