Starting with a Wei Wu soldier

Chapter 179 Initial Victory

In the southern border region, two hundred li southeast of Wancheng, lies Shiling Pass.

This place is not the most dangerous pass in the southern border, but it guards a relatively gentle river valley passage leading north from the Jiangxia Plain, one of the several routes planned by the Southern Allied Forces for their northern expedition. The fortress is built against the mountain, and the walls are mostly constructed of local bluestone. It is not particularly tall, but after the emergency reinforcements by Chen Wei, the commander of the Star Army's vanguard, with the addition of several watchtowers and outer moats and antlers, it appears quite sturdy. In front of the pass is a gradually opening slope, and a few miles further on, the forests thin out, and the characteristics of the southern water network begin to appear on the plains.

The force responsible for attacking this location was a vanguard army of approximately 20,000 men, cobbled together from the remnants of powerful clans in Jiangdong and some imperial guards from Jiankang. Its commander, Zhu Huan, was the head of the Zhu clan of Jiangdong. He was confident in his strength and held the Xing army's reputation as "northern barbarians" in contempt. Ordered by the alliance leader Liu Kun and deputy leader Gu Yong, he led his troops northward to probe the strength of the Xing army's defenses and seize a foothold to pave the way for the main force.

It was late winter, early spring, and the damp chill of the south had not yet completely dissipated. On this day, the sky was overcast, and a thin mist shrouded the slopes before the pass. Zhu Huan, riding a tall horse, stood before his main force, gazing at the silent Shiling Pass in the distance, and sneered to his men, "The Xingjun are cowering, surely afraid of our might! This mere Shiling Pass has only a few thousand defenders; my twenty thousand elite troops can take it in one fell swoop! Order the vanguard of five thousand to probe the siege! Let those northern barbarians see the might of the men of Jiangdong!"

War drums thundered, and bugles wailed. Five thousand allied soldiers, pushing makeshift ladders and battering rams, surged toward Shiling Pass in a chaotic frenzy, driven by their generals. Their armor was not complete, and their weapons were a motley crew, but their sheer numbers and ferocious momentum made the fog seem to disperse.

On the rampart, Chen Wei stood with his hand on his sword, his face calm and composed. He was not wearing heavy armor, only a light leather armor that allowed for easy movement, and his sharp gaze swept over the approaching enemy troops. Beside him, several captains of the Divine Arm Battalion were quietly adjusting the firing angle of their crossbows, while behind the crenellations of the ramparts, archers and rolling logs and stones were already in position.

"Commander, the enemy has advanced three hundred paces... two hundred and fifty paces..." The adjutant beside him whispered the distance.

Chen Wei raised his hand, but did not give the order immediately. He was waiting, waiting for the enemy to get closer, waiting for their formation to become slightly scattered on the slope due to the charge, waiting for them to enter the most lethal killing range of the crossbow, and also the effective range of the ordinary crossbows on the wall.

"Two hundred paces!" The lieutenant's voice tightened slightly.

"Divine Arm Battalion," Chen Wei's voice was calm and even, "Target: the enemy's central flag-bearing general and dense formation. Free fire, three rounds."

"Yes, sir!"

A sickening creaking sound of mechanisms tightening echoed from the wall. The next moment—

"Buzz—!"

A dark mass of crossbow bolts, like a sudden swarm of deadly bees, whistled sharply through the air, swept down from above, covering a distance of two hundred paces in an instant, and plunged fiercely into the charging ranks of the allied forces!

"Pfft!" "Ah!" "Shield! Raise the shield!"

Screams, cries of alarm, and the dull thud of shields being pierced erupted suddenly! Many of the allied soldiers at the forefront didn't even see where the arrows came from before they were pierced by specially made armor-piercing heavy crossbow bolts and fell to the ground. Those who were clearly commanders or standard-bearers were especially targeted and fell in droves in an instant, halting the momentum of the charge.

"What kind of crossbow?! It can shoot this far?!" Zhu Huan, who was watching from the rear, changed his expression. He had heard that the Star Army's crossbows were powerful, but seeing their power and range with his own eyes still made him shudder.

Before the allied forces could fully react to this sudden attack, the ordinary archers on the ramparts began to unleash their power, and the rain of arrows became even denser. At the same time, logs and boulders thundered down the slope, inflicting secondary casualties on the chaotic enemy troops.

The first probing attack retreated in disarray after leaving behind nearly a thousand corpses and wounded soldiers.

Zhu Huan's face turned purple with shock and rage: "Outrageous! So what if the crossbows are powerful? Do you think they can stop my army? Issue the order! Second wave, ten thousand men at once! Shields in front, archers suppress! Siege ladders and wooden blocks, get closer! We will break through this pass today!"

After a brief respite, an even larger wave of attack surged forth once more. This time, the allied forces were more cautious; shield bearers held the front lines, attempting to deflect the arrows, while archers began hurling volleys at the walls in return. Their numerical advantage began to show; despite falling continuously under the precise volleys of crossbows and the wall's barrage of fire, the allied forces slowly but surely advanced towards the walls. Several siege ladders slammed heavily against the top, and battering rams began assaulting the not-so-thick gates.

A real hand-to-hand combat seems imminent.

Chen Wei's gaze remained calm. He glanced at a spot inside the pass, where Dian Xiong's elite heavy infantry, along with some elite swordsmen and shieldmen, were already fully armored and armed, standing silently in formation like tigers about to be released from their cages.

"Have Dian Xiong prepare," Chen Wei said to his deputy. "When half of the enemy has scaled the city walls, their strength is exhausted, and their formation is at its most chaotic, listen to my command and open the gates to launch a counterattack."

"yes!"

The battle intensified. On the ramparts, Star Army soldiers clashed with the Allied soldiers who had scaled the walls, swords flashing and blood flying. The defenders, taking advantage of the terrain and their superior steel blades (made using the steel-forging method), often managed to fight against multiple opponents, but the Allied forces were simply too numerous, and the ramparts were under siege in several places.

Zhu Huan watched from behind, gritting his teeth in frustration, yet also secretly excited, feeling that breaking through the barrier was imminent.

Just then, the seemingly crumbling gate of Shiling Pass suddenly burst open from the inside out!

It wasn't knocked open; it opened on its own!

Zhu Huan was taken aback.

The next moment, accompanied by a deafening roar, a towering figure burst out of the door first—it was Dian Xiong! He wielded an extended long broadsword, wore heavy armor, and resembled a ferocious humanoid beast. Behind him were the heavily infantry of the Trapped Camp advancing like a wall, as well as a large number of valiant Star Army elite soldiers!

"We are determined to fight to the death! We will fight to the death!" Nobuyuki's roar drowned out the clamor of the battlefield.

This well-rested and replenished force, like a red-hot iron plunged into butter, instantly routed the allied troops crowded near the gate! Dian Xiong wielded his long-handled broadsword, and wherever he passed, limbs and severed bodies flew, none surviving a single blow. The Trapped Camp advanced in formation, their heavy shields and sharp broadswords forming a wall of death, steadily pushing forward, relentlessly squeezing, cutting, and annihilating the astonished allied soldiers.

The pressure on the wall suddenly eased, greatly boosting the morale of the defenders, who then launched an even fiercer counterattack.

Zhu Huan, his eyes bloodshot with rage, hastily ordered his rear guard to press forward, attempting to plug the breach and stabilize their position. However, the narrow terrain in front of the pass limited the deployment of troops, and the routed soldiers at the front further disrupted their own formation. Even more fatally, just as the allied forces' attention was completely drawn to Dian Xiong's counterattack, the thunderous war drums and horns suddenly resounded from the mountains on both sides of Shiling Pass!

Zhang Heng's other detachment of the Star Army had already quietly maneuvered to the flank according to Chen Wei's plan, and now they suddenly attacked! Although the number of people was small, it was a mixture of well-rested and refreshed cavalry and elite infantry, like two sharp slashes, fiercely cutting into the chaotic flank of the allied forces!

Besieged on three sides, with the vanguard collapsing and the central army wavering, Zhu Huan, though unwilling, knew that the situation was hopeless.

"Retreat! Retreat now!" he roared in exasperation, and under the protection of his personal guards, he was the first to turn his horse around.

The defeat was swift and devastating. The 20,000-strong allied army, leaving behind more than 5,000 corpses and wounded, as well as a large amount of equipment and flags, retreated in disarray to the south, only managing to stop about 30 miles away.

Inside and outside Shiling Pass, the soldiers of the Star Army erupted in thunderous cheers. Bloodstains were still wet on the walls, but the battle flag bearing the character "Star" still flew high.

Chen Wei stood on the pass wall, gazing at the distant dust and smoke of the fleeing enemy. His face showed little joy. He simply said to the scribe beside him who was recording the battle results: "Record the battle losses in detail, treat the wounded, and repair the passes. Although the enemy has retreated, their main force remains. We cannot let our guard down. Quickly send the victory report to the King and also to the Regent in the capital."