Chapter 429 : Enemy Soldiers Had Reached The City Walls (1)

きつねJanuary 18, 2023

Edited by Tenkä

The sky was grey and cloudy, and it looked like it was going to rain.

Xu Wu rushed in and reported, “Madam, the northern barbarians’ army has arrived near the city walls.” The ones they expected to come had finally arrived.

Yuxi looked at the sky and said, “It’s a little later than I thought.” According to her estimation, the northern barbarians’ army should have arrived two days ago, but she did not know why they only came today.

Xu Wu let out an ‘eh’ and asked, “What does Madam mean by that?”

Yuxi shook her head. She was just guessing and had no basis. “I’m just predicting their route, that’s all. By the way, how many men did the northern barbarians bring to attack the city this time?”

Xu Wu’s face was solemn as he replied, “The northern barbarians claim they have 150,000 troops but the exact number is still unclear. Madam, this will be a fierce battle. Madam, please listen to my advice. Why don’t you leave Yu City and go to Xinping City?”

Yuxi looked at Xu Wu, smiled a little, and asked, “The Xu family has tried to send people to kill me before. Do you think I will still have a life if I go to Xinping City? And once the enemy breaks into the city, do you think Xinping City can defend itself?” The area between Yu City and Xinping City was all flat land, without any barrier. Once the northern barbarians destroyed Yu City, they could march straight unchallenged into the neighbouring city, and Xinping City would be doomed.

Xu Wu looked at Yuxi’s big belly and looked torn. “Madam, why don’t we find a secret place for you to hide? Madam, this time, the commander of the northern barbarians is Agu, who is Sukhbaru’s biological older brother.” The rest of the words were left unsaid by Xu Wu.

Yuxi thought for a moment and said, “How can you defend this city if you are already like this before the battle starts? Stop thinking about all this nonsense. Just go out and gather some information. As soon as you find out anything, report back to me.”

When Xu Wu turned around, Yuxi suddenly stopped him and added, “Yu City is a city which is easy to defend and hard for any enemy to attack. Even if the northern barbarians have 100,000 troops and we only have 40,000 people, defending it for more than half a month won’t be a problem. But if there are enemy spies inside Yu City, it will be a different story.”

Xu Wu froze. “Does Madam mean to capture all the spies?”

Yuxi said, “It is important that the military food be protected. At this time, there is no need for us to be afraid of exposing our tails. Just give all the names of the spies we know to Fu Tianlei and let him take care of it.” Once the army rations were burned, not to mention half a month, they wouldn’t even last for five days. Therefore, the most urgent task was to purge Yu City of spies.

Xu Wu nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it now.” Huo Changqing did not go after these few spies because he wanted to catch a big fish by throwing a long line1. It was just that this was an extraordinary time and safety was paramount.

After giving the list to Fu Tianlei, Xu Wu said, “General Fu, if we don’t clean up the city from these spies, there will be unending troubles. In addition, we must heavily guard the military food. If something goes wrong, the consequences are unimaginable.” Xu Wu was not stupid. He told Fu Tianlei that this was all Huo Changqing’s idea and did not say it was Yuxi’s.

Fu Tianlei took the list given by Xu Wu and nodded. “Don’t worry. I won’t let any of these people get away.” Fu Tianlei didn’t bother to report to Qin Zhao and directly led his men to arrest these few spies. After his people captured them, they were tortured, and two finally confessed.

Fu Tianlei arrested all the people who were exposed by the spies and continued to torture them. At this time, it was better to make a wrongful arrest than to let any spy slip by. The operation was like digging out radishes2. Fu Tiangle’s people did unearth several spies lurking in Yu City and inside the army, and one of them had even bribed two officers who were not low ranking in the Qin family’s army.

There was no way Qin Zhao could not be aware of this matter when Fu Tianlei had made such a significant movement in dealing with the issue. However, he also knew that Fu Tianlei had done the right thing and that he was using extraordinary methods at an unusual time. For this reason, Qin Zhao had to suppress all the objections. The most important thing was to protect Yu City; nothing else mattered.

When it was dark, the northern barbarians stopped their attacks on Yu City’s gate.

Xu Wu told Yuxi what he had heard. “Madam, we have lost nearly three thousand men today.” This number of casualties was huge. But they could not help it. The northern barbarians’ army was fiercely attacking as if they were desperate.

Yuxi was silent for a moment before asking, “How many people were killed or injured on the northern barbarians’ side?”

Xu Wu answered, “The northern barbarians’ casualties are at least double ours. Despite this number of casualties, we won’t be able to hold out for ten days.”

There was nothing Yuxi could do about the war.

Who would have thought that the northern barbarians would send troops to sneak into Yu City at midnight? Fortunately, the Yu City’s army had been prepared and found out about it in time, or else there would have been irreparable consequences.

When Yuxi got the news the following day, she broke into cold sweats from the shock. “These northern barbarians are eager to break through Yu City as if they are short of provisions.” They could grab all the food inside the city if they could break into Yu City.

Xu Wu felt that Yuxi’s deduction made perfect sense. “I’ll have someone tell General Fu about this!”

Yuxi shook her head. “There is no need to tell Fu Tianlei. They are not stupid. How could they not think of this? And it will only be useless to do so. Reinforcements will not arrive for at least another half month. Until they reach here, we must defend Yu City.”

Xu Wu looked worried. “With such a fierce attack, we may not be able to protect the city that long.” The northern barbarians were trying to break down Yu City at any cost this time, and they would not be able to defend the city with such a small force.

Yuxi said calmly, “We must uphold it even if we can’t, or else we will repeat the same mistake as Tong City.”

After Xu Wu had gone out, Zijin asked Yuxi, “Madam, can there be any way to make these northern barbarians retreat?”

Yuxi glanced at Zijin and asked, “What can I do? This is war, unlike other daily things.” If it was something else, she could still think of a way. Now that the city was under siege, what ideas could she have? It was the border city’s soldiers whom she had to rely on right now.

Zijin was a little anxious. “Madam, what should we do then? We can’t just sit here and wait for the northern barbarians to come and kill us.” This inaction was no different from sitting and waiting to die.

Yuxi held her waist, looked toward the Great Wall, and said, “I am out of ideas, but I believe Yun Qing will have a way.”

Zijin responded dryly, “I hope so!”

At that moment, Yun Qing was hunkered down in a dense forest with Yu Cong and the others in their group. They had been hiding in the mountains all this time. Afraid of being discovered and attracting pursuers, the group did not dare to go hunting during the day and could only sneak out at night to hunt stealthily.

Yu Cong skinned one of the rabbits he had caught and gave half of it to Yun Qing, then said, “General, looking at the battle formation this time, it seems the northern barbarians’ army has mobilised no less than 100,000 men?” The enemy had wiped out the entire northern army, and they had to avenge this loss.

Yun Qing tore hard, biting off a piece of rabbit meat and chewing it vigorously. If an ordinary person saw him like this, he would have fainted from fear. “This time, Agu is determined to break into the city. There should be a bloody battle in Yu City at this moment.”

Yu Cong was a little worried and asked, “Daren3, can Qin Zhao’s men safeguard Yu City?” Once the city was broken into, it would be pointless for them to stay outside.

Yun Qing did not give a definite answer and only said, “Even if Qin Zhao is a good-for-nothing trash, he should be able to hold on for at least ten days or so. As long as we succeed here, Yu City can be saved.” It would take at least half a month for reinforcements to arrive, so it was impossible to rely on them. Now he only hoped to implement his plan smoothly so that it would be difficult for the northern barbarians not to withdraw their troops.T

/C

At this time, a guard behind him, Yuan Ying, asked, “General, what if Qin Zhao gives up the city and escapes?” His wife and children were all in Yu City! If Qin Zhao were to abandon the city and flee, his small humble family might have to die.

Yun Qing shook his head. “Qin Zhao will not do that.” If Qin Zhao abandoned the city, not only would he have to take the blame, but the Imperial Court would also search his residence and confiscate his possessions before exterminating nine generations of his family after the war. Qin Zhao was the younger generation of the Qin family, so there was no way he would not know the consequences of doing so. Therefore, Yun Qing was confident that Qin Zhao would not abandon the city and flee.

As Yun Qing had predicted, Qin Zhao had no intention of abandoning the city and was determined to live and die with Yu City. However, he did let Xu Shi leave with their children.

Within two days, Yu City’s army suffered more than 5,000 casualties. Qin Zhao’s confidence in defending Yu City was beginning to waver. On this day, he took time to return home to speak with Xu Shi. “Once the city defence is broken, Xinping City will no longer be safe. You should directly go to the provincial capital.” There were still many barriers from Xinping City to the provincial capital, and it would not be easy for the northern barbarians to fight their way to the provincial capital. Then again, they had spent so much effort attacking Yu City for the food. As long as they grabbed enough food items, they would retreat.

Xu Shi had already packed her belongings, but she did not dare to leave without Qin Zhao’s permission. Now that Qin Zhao had permitted her to go, Xu Shi let out a sigh of relief and urged, “General, come with us!” If the northern barbarians fought with such desperation, the city would be overrun in less than ten days. If her husband stayed in Yu City, he would be dead. She did not want to see him die like this.

Qin Zhao shook his head. “I am the defender of Yu City. I will live and die for the city.” If he abandoned the city and fled, not only would he die, but his wife and children would not be able to escape the punishment. If he were to die in battle, even though he would not receive any merit, at least his wife and children would not be implicated.

Xu Shi hugged Qin Zhao and cried, “Husband, you must live well. Nothing must happen to you……”

Qin Zhao’s heart was also sour as he stroked Xu Shi’s head and said softly, “If I die in battle, you must raise Huai-er and Jiao-er well.” He had liked Xu Shi back then. Otherwise, he would not have insisted on marrying her despite Marshal Qin’s disapproval. The two years when they first got married, they were very close as a couple. But later on, more and more things got caught up between the couple, and he was often angry with Xu Shi over the affairs of the Xu family, resulting in a growing cold war between them. But even if they were cold to each other, Xu Shi was still the mother of his children.

Xu Shi nodded her head repeatedly. “No, husband, you will be fine.” Seeing Qin Zhao looking at her, Xu Shi finally nodded. “Don’t worry. No matter the situation, I will raise Huai-er and Jiao-er and teach them to become useful people.”

Under cover of the night, Xu Shi left Yu City with a pair of children and several chests of gold and silver, escorted by a dozen guards.