Han Ji

Chapter 173 Jiangzhou City

Chapter 173 Jiangzhou City

Yan Gang roared back, "Enough nonsense! If you want to fight, then fight!"

He waved his hand, and the archers on the city wall fired their arrows.

Arrows rained down, striking the shields with a thud. Several Han soldiers fell, wounded by arrows, and were dragged back.

Guan Yu made a move.

He dismounted, removed his cloak, revealing only a blue robe and bronze armor. His Green Dragon Crescent Blade dragged behind him, its blade leaving shallow marks on the ground. His guards tried to follow, but he waved them away, saying, "Protect Mr. Jian."

"General!"

Guan Yu didn't turn around and strode forward.

The swordsmen and shieldmen automatically parted to make way. He walked to the front of the formation, a hundred paces from the city wall. Arrows whizzed past, but he didn't even blink.

"Yan Gang!" he roared, his voice like thunder, "Do you dare to descend from the city walls and fight!"

The city wall fell silent for a moment.

Yan Gang's face flushed red. He stared at the knife, at its imposing presence. This was no ordinary general.

"Shoot the arrows! Shoot him dead!" he roared.

The crossbowmen aimed, and the rain of arrows intensified. Guan Yu swung his sword, the blade flashing in a circle of blue light, deflecting the arrows and sending them clattering to the ground. He didn't stop, continuing forward.

Eighty steps, seventy steps.

The soldiers guarding the city walls were stunned. Some of them were so shaky they couldn't even draw their bows.

"General!" The lieutenant rushed up, his face covered in blood, "The wooden palisade on the east wall has been breached! The enemy has broken in!"

Yan Gang's mind went blank.

How many people?

"Three to five hundred! The leader is a big, fierce man!"

Yan Gang looked back at the north gate and saw that Guan Yu was within fifty paces, his sword tip pointing to the ground, looking up at him.

"General, let's retreat!" the lieutenant cried, "We can't hold out any longer!"

Yan Gang stared at Guan Yu, stared at the knife. Suddenly he laughed, a bitter laugh.

"Retreat? Where to retreat to? If Prime Minister Zhao returns and sees that I have lost Jiangzhou, he will also die."

He gripped his knife tightly, turned to the defending soldiers, and shouted, "Everyone, descend the city walls! Street fighting!"

Upon receiving the order, the defending soldiers, as if granted a pardon, rushed towards the city walls. The city gates were left wide open, not as a sign of surrender, but as a gesture to let men out to fight to the death.

Guan Yu saw this and narrowed his phoenix eyes.

"Shield Formation, advance!"

The sword-and-shield unit pressed forward, shields held high, spears thrusting out from the gaps. The defenders pouring out of the city gate crashed into the shield formation, swords slashing and spears piercing, blood splattering.

Guan Yu ignored the city gate. He walked to a siege ladder and pressed his hand on a bamboo pole.

"General!" the engineer captain cried out urgently, "This ladder is not sturdy, you can't..."

"7

Guan Yu stuck his sword into the ground, grabbed the sides of the ladder with both hands, and stepped up.

"Keep up."

He only said two words.

The siege ladder swayed precariously as it reached the top of the city wall, still three feet from the crenellations. A few scattered soldiers remained on the wall, throwing stones and pouring hot oil down. A boulders struck the middle of the ladder, splitting the bamboo with a creaking sound.

Guan Yu used both his hands and feet to climb upwards. His speed was slow, but steady. His green robe billowed in the wind like a flag.

Zhang Wu saw this from the east wall and became envious.

"Personnel guards! Follow me!"

He led fifty men and charged through the breached wooden fence. The garrison on the east wall was being moved towards the north gate when they were intercepted. Zhang Wu wielded a short halberd, stabbing indiscriminately at anyone he saw, specifically targeting the throat and heart.

On the city wall, Guan Yu climbed to the top. Reaching the crenellations, he exerted his strength and flipped himself up. Two guards raised their swords to strike, but he dodged to the side, elbowed one of them in the face, snatched the sword, and stabbed the other in the stomach.

I stepped firmly onto the city bricks.

His phoenix eyes swept across the scene. On the city wall, Yan Gang was directing his archers to turn and fire into the city, while Zhang Wu's men had already stormed into the streets and alleys.

Guan Yu walked over, sword in hand.

The footsteps were heavy, the armor plates rustling and scraping. A soldier turned around and saw him, his legs went weak with fear, and he couldn't even hold his sword.

Yan Gang turned around and saw that bluish figure, saw that knife. His throat went dry, he wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't obey him.

"Surrender, or die?" Guan Yu said, pointing the tip of his sword at the ground.

Yan Gang licked his lips. He suddenly remembered Zhao Zhi's words before he left: "If Jiangzhou is lost, Bajun will not be safe. If Bajun is lost, Dacheng will perish."

He gripped the knife tightly.

"kill!"

After roaring, he charged forward. His swordsmanship was excellent, clearly trained in the army; he executed a three-hit combo of slashing, parrying, and thrusting. Guan Yu took a half-step back, dodging the blade, and then used his broadsword to parry Yan Gang's attack, before slashing down with the momentum.

Yan Gang raised his knife to parry.

clang!

A deafening crash. Yan Gang's hand split open, and the knife flew from his grasp. He staggered backward, crashing into a pillar of the arrow tower. Looking down, he saw a tear in his breastplate, blood seeping out.

"So fast... the knife..." he murmured.

Guan Yu stepped forward and placed his sword against the man's neck.

"Tell the garrison to stop."

Yan Gang grinned, his mouth full of blood and foam: "It's not going to stop... Prime Minister Zhao... will be back soon... you..."

They all have to die.

""

A flash of light.

The head fell to the ground, rolled to the edge of the stack, and the eyes were still open.

Guan Yu carried the head to the edge of the city wall and raised it.

"The garrison commander is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

The sound rolled over the city walls and into the streets and alleys.

The sounds of fighting gradually subsided. The defenders saw the severed head and the blue-robed general on the city wall, dropped their weapons, and knelt down.

Zhang Wu, covered in blood, ran up the city wall: "General! The east wall and south gate are under control! Three hundred have been beheaded, and five hundred captured!"

Guan Yu nodded: "Inspect the treasury, appease the people, treat the wounded, and bury the dead."

,"yes!"

He turned to look west. The Yangtze River stretched out like a ribbon, and the setting sun cast a golden-red glow on its surface.

"Zhao Zhi..." he whispered, "It's time for him to come back."

The Jiangzhou treasury was located in the west of the city, next to the dock. The fire hadn't completely died down, and the smell of burning flesh mingled with the stench of blood. Jian Yong led his men to take inventory, and account books were scattered all over the floor.

"We still have 20,000 shi of grain," Li Hui reported. "Money... around 500,000. 300 bows, 5,000 arrows, and 200 sets of armor."

"Where's the boat?"

"Twelve were burned, and eight small ones are left. They can be repaired and used."

Jian Yong noted it down, then looked up at Guan Yu: "Yun Chang, we have suffered heavy casualties. Two hundred died and three hundred were wounded in the siege. Only fifteen thousand are still capable of fighting."

Guan Yu hummed in agreement.

He walked to the entrance of the treasury and looked out over the streets. Soldiers were collecting corpses, carrying them out one by one. The people hid in their homes, their terrified eyes peering through the cracks in their doors.

"Zhang Wu."

"exist."

"Take men to the streets and shout: 'Lord Liu has ordered that the people of Jiangzhou should return to their livelihoods. Tomorrow, the granaries will be opened and grain will be distributed, three liters of millet to each person.'"

Zhang Wu was taken aback: "Release grain? Our grain..."

""

"We can't eat the grain we've stolen with peace of mind." Guan Yu turned around and said, "Distribute it to win people's hearts."

95

"yes!"

Zhang Wu ran out. Soon, shouts rang out in the street, repeated over and over again.

Guan Yu returned to the treasury and said to Jian Yong, "Send a message to my elder brother: Jiangzhou has fallen. If Zhao Zhi returns to reinforce, he will surely take the land route. I will wait for him in Jiangzhou."

Jian Yong nodded, then hesitated, "Yun Chang, Zhao Zhi has three thousand men, while we only have fifteen thousand..."

"Enough." Guan Yu raised his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, running his fingers along the blade. "For defending the city, I'll wait for him to attack. For open battle, I'll find him to fight."

He paused, a cold glint flashing in his phoenix eyes.

"This man can use the common people to defend the city, but he is ruthless. He cannot be allowed to live."

Dusk fell completely.

The banners bearing the character "Liu" have been raised atop the city walls of Jiangzhou. The embers of the fire illuminate the banners, which flutter in the wind.

In the distance, on the Yangtze River, the last ray of golden light sank to the bottom of the water.

Night has fallen.

Zhao Zhi returned to his army on the 18th day of the third month, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM).

When the scouts arrived, Guan Yu was drinking porridge on the north gate tower of Jiangzhou. The porridge was leftover from the previous night, which he had reheated and sprinkled with salt.

He drank slowly, sip by sip, his eyes fixed on the official road to the north.

"How many people?" he asked.

"Around three thousand," the scout panted. "All infantry, armored. Thirty li from the city."