Chapter 66: Great Victory
Spring thunder rumbled as rain poured down like overturned buckets.
For this surprise attack, the Pingzhou army couldn’t bring scaling ladders or battering rams. Their only wall-climbing tool was the grappling hook.
The curtain of rain obscured vision. In the time it took the Tao County garrison soldiers at the corner of the city tower to blink, their necks were pierced by sharp arrows.
The clatter of armor as they fell drew the attention of guards at nearby battlements. Seeing their comrades struck down by arrows, they shouted in alarm, "Enemy attack!"
The next moment, the shouting guards also fell, arrows in their bodies, the scent of blood spreading through the rainy air.
Gleaming grappling hooks firmly latched onto the city wall battlements. In the cold rain, the sinew ropes tightened as men below climbed up, using the ropes and kicking against the wall.
The warning bronze bell hanging high at the corner of the tower was struck. The entire south gate erupted like boiling oil splashed with water, descending into chaos.
Garrison soldiers on the tower rushed forward, drawing blades to cut the ropes, but before their blades could fall, they too were pierced through the throat by arrows flying from within the rain.
Xiao Li led the elite troops in the vanguard. As he gripped the battlement with one hand and prepared to vault over, a gleaming long blade swept toward his head.
Clenching the rope with one arm, he kicked against the wall to lean back, evading the blade. Simultaneously, his Miao sword left its sheath with a metallic clang, blocking the opponent’s blade from retracting. With a forceful twist, he disarmed his foe, then swung down, blood splattering.
Xiao Li leaped down from the battlement, shaking the blood from his blade. Countless elite soldiers followed him through the breached gap, swarming up the ropes. He roared, "Kill!"
Raising his Miao sword, he engaged once more with the garrison troops flooding in from the flanking arrow towers like locusts and ants.
Tan Yi waited below with the main force, providing cover for Xiao Li and the others with arrows.
The night offered them the perfect shield. While the garrison on the tower couldn’t see them, they used the tower’s lights to repel wave after wave of soldiers trying to sever the grappling hook ropes.
Watching Xiao Li successfully scale the tower, Tan Yi’s anxiously suspended heart finally eased slightly.
His personal guard exclaimed excitedly, "Commandant Xiao has torn open a breach at the corner of the tower!Tan Yi immediately signaled the second team to advance: "Quickly!" Hoist the rope ladders!"
Xiao Li and the first wave of elites cleared a large section of the tower. The subsequent elites carried rope ladders, which they secured to the battlements after climbing up, allowing ordinary soldiers below to ascend.
The two forces clashed fiercely across the tower.
Xiao Li led over twenty elites, fighting their way down from the tower. Rope ladders alone couldn’t admit all of Pingzhou’s troops into the city—they had to breach the main gate.
Torrential rain poured down, washing the stone steps of the inner tower’s wings into a bloody stream.
Xiao Li kicked away the corpse of the last obstructing guard. Rainwater streamed over his fierce brows and eyes as he coldly locked gazes with the young general seated high on his horse below at the inner gate.
Tao County’s four gates were each fortified with a walled city. Had they attacked head-on from the gate, archers on the four arrow towers could have riddled the invading troops with arrows like beehives. But Xiao Li’s team had assaulted from the tower, having already cleared out a round of archers from the arrow towers.The reinforcements rushing to support the city walls were locked in combat with the Pingzhou troops scaling the rope ladders, leaving no one to attend to the barbican.
Within the barbican, this duel now unfolded with no hope of external aid.
They had only a quarter of an hour.
Many troops had been diverted from the southern gate, allowing them to breach the walls so easily. Once reinforcements arrived from the southern gate in a quarter of an hour, breaking through would become far more difficult.
Yet the overwhelming numerical disadvantage placed Xiao Li and his men at a severe disadvantage.
Someone roared first—before anyone realized it, cold blades were already clashing in the chilling rain.
Mud splattered under black boots as blood dripped with the rain, blooming like flowers in the murky water.
Xiao Li hacked at a horse’s legs, sending the young general tumbling from its back. Before he could rise, a flurry of blades descended toward his head.
The young general rolled frantically in the mud, finally seizing a moment to fling a handful of muddy water into Xiao Li’s face. He then leveraged his spear to leap up, aiming a kick at Xiao Li’s chest.
Blinded by the mud, Xiao Li jerked his head aside and raised an arm to block. After taking two fierce kicks, he seized the young general’s leg and hurled him sideways.
The young general’s head struck the city wall with a sickening thud. Dazed and disoriented, he struggled to rise.
Xiao Li lifted his blade and pressed onward toward the gate.
The massive gate was barred by two thick, rounded beams, each as wide as a large bowl. Even a battering ram would struggle to break through in a short time.
On ordinary days, several soldiers were needed to lift and slot these beams into the gate’s grooves.
After cutting down the guards at the gate, Xiao Li tried to remove one beam, but it was too heavy. As he prepared to summon his strength, he abruptly dodged—a vicious slash from behind sank deep into the gate.
He kicked away the young general, who was already bleeding from the nose and mouth, then swung his blade diagonally across the man’s chest.
Soaked armor clung tightly to Xiao Li’s powerful frame. Breathing like a wolf, he lifted the blood-soaked young general and roared at the guards surging toward the gate, “Your general is dead! Flee if you value your lives!”
Pine-resin torches flanking the gate’s passage cast a stark light down the lengthy tunnel.
The young general’s death shattered the morale of the southern gate’s defenders. Many dropped their weapons and fled.
Most of the elite troops who had fought alongside Xiao Li lay dead. He rallied the survivors: “Form teams of three! Clear the gate area! Remove the beams!”
Working together, they soon lifted the first beam.
But through the pounding rain, the thunder of hoofbeats from the inner city’s main road grew unmistakably clear.
The fleeing Tao County defenders, as if seeing hope rekindled, cried out in exhilaration, “Reinforcements! Our reinforcements are here!”
The Pingzhou soldiers, unnerved by the urgent drumming of hooves, faltered. The heavy beam, lifted only moments before, slipped from their grasp and crashed back into its groove.
Xiao Li barked coldly, “Keep removing the beams! Our main force is outside the city. This is our only path to survival!”
Gritting their teeth, the Pingzhou troops suppressed their fear, rallied, and heaved at the beam once more, even chanting in unison through clenched jaws.Xiao Li led the remaining Pingzhou soldiers to block the city gate tunnel, holding off the suicidal counterattacks of Tao County's garrison troops outside the passage to buy time for the soldiers opening the gate behind them.
But the numerical disparity was simply too great. Bolstered by the reinforcements like a shot of confidence, Tao County's defenders fought with exceptional ferocity, showing no signs of retreat.
Pingzhou soldiers fighting alongside Xiao Li fell one by one, yet the city gate remained unopened. Seeing the reinforcements about to breach the outer enclosure, he hacked down several foot soldiers and turned to roar: "Why hasn't the gate been opened?"
The soldiers removing the gate bar were drenched in cold sweat, despair evident in their voices: "The wooden bar fell earlier and got jammed in the gate slot!"
Xiao Li yanked his Miao blade from a dead soldier's chest, cursed violently, and strode toward the gate.
The reinforcement commander had already galloped into the outer enclosure on his warhorse, his bell-like voice reverberating off the surrounding walls: "Cease your insolence, rebels!"
The soldiers lifting the gate bar—whether from fear or exhaustion—were pale-faced, their hands and feet trembling uncontrollably.
Xiao Li shoved them aside and delivered two savage kicks to the jammed bar. The heavy gate groaned as the wooden beam—thicker where it had fallen into the slot—finally loosened.
He single-handedly lifted one end and barked: "Lift it down!"
The Pingzhou soldiers at the other end glimpsed hope again and jointly raised the opposite end.
The mounted reinforcement commander had already charged to the tunnel entrance, swinging his crescent long blade: "Die, rebel!"
Xiao Li simply used the removed gate beam as a weapon, swinging it horizontally at the commander.
The commander's eyes widened in shock—he'd never seen such Herculean strength.
His warhorse's momentum made evasion impossible, forcing him to roll off the saddle to avoid the blow.
The beam struck the warhorse with a dull thud, the animal whinnying as it collapsed. Xiao Li snatched up his Miao blade and charged the commander. When their blades clashed, he pressed his other hand against the back of his sword, forcing the commander backward while shouting to his soldiers without turning: "Open the gate!"
Astonished by Xiao Li's valor, the soldiers regained some morale amid their terror and desperately pulled the gates open, screaming outward: "Attack the city—"
Tan Yi outside had heard the reinforcement's hoofbeats, his heart sinking instantly.
Their soldiers' ascent via rope ladders from the battlements was painfully slow—nowhere matching the garrison's rate of reinforcing the walls. With several ladders already cut or burned, sending aid to Xiao Li's group had become nearly impossible.
Now with southern gate reinforcements arriving, the battle had clearly tilted entirely toward Tao County.
Just imagining how he'd explain Xiao Li's death to Chen Wei and the princess made his face turn ashen.
But then—the gate that had stood as immovable as the wall itself amid the storm suddenly cracked open, revealing their soldiers screaming for the assault.
Tan Yi felt as if struck by lightning; this must be what rebirth from death felt like.
He'd already spurred his horse forward before remembering to bellow: "Attack the city!"Without the two wooden door bolts, they could have broken through the city gates from the outside, let alone now that the defenders inside had risked their lives to pry the gates open a crack.
The Pingzhou troops, surging like a tide through the city gates, eventually clashed with the reinforcements from the southern gate of Tao Commandery in the barbican.
These reinforcements, hastily recalled from the western gate after it came under attack, had not even reached their destination when news arrived of the southern gate’s assault. Thus, they hurriedly turned back.
Exhausted from their frantic back-and-forth, they were no match for the well-rested Pingzhou troops, who had been waiting outside the southern gate for the right moment. Outnumbered and outmatched, the southern gate was swiftly and completely secured by Pingzhou forces.
When Tan Yi found Xiao Li, the latter was leaning on his blade, panting in a pool of blood. At his feet lay an old general who seemed to have lost all strength to rise, spitting blood as he gasped, "Kill me! Give me a swift end!"
Tan Yi took a closer look, recognized the old man, and clapped Xiao Li on the shoulder with a laugh. "Brother Xiao, it seems you’ll claim the top merit tonight—not only breaching the southern gate but capturing a key general of Tao Commandery alive!"
He gestured for his subordinates to bind the old man. The general, filled with bitterness, cried, "You’ve already slain my son! I will not suffer this humiliation!"
He grabbed a fallen blade beside him to slit his own throat, but Xiao Li kicked it away.
Xiao Li glanced at the old man, his lazy tone tinged with a faint, cold weariness. "If your son was guarding this southern gate, he’s likely still alive. Though you’ve betrayed your former lord, the Princess is benevolent and generous. She has expressly ordered that after capturing Tao Commandery, we must not harm a single hair on any civilian and should spare the lives of you traitors wherever possible."
Stunned by these words, the old general allowed himself to be bound and led away.
Tan Yi seized the moment to offer praise: "The Princess is truly compassionate and wise, with a heart for all under heaven."
Xiao Li responded with a faint smile.
Having spent enough time with Li Xun and the others, he had not only improved in military strategy but also learned to think one step further—to decipher the hidden meanings in their words.
Wen Yu had chosen to attack Tao Commandery at this time for two reasons. First, Xinzhou, in its attempt to win over Yizhou and Tao Commandery, had exposed its backing by Wei Qishan.
The plan he had previously proposed to her could now be put into action: Yizhou would discover that "Xinzhou" had hijacked Pei Song’s cargo ships and framed them, with firsthand testimony from the Xu family’s merchant convoy. Meanwhile, Pingzhou was busy attacking Tao Commandery, clearly unable to have been involved. Thus, the blame would fall squarely on Xinzhou.
While they assaulted Tao Commandery, Xinzhou would be facing Yizhou’s accusations. When Tao Commandery pleaded for aid, Xinzhou would be powerless to respond—any attempt to send troops would give Yizhou the perfect opportunity to strike them in the back, whether out of justice or self-interest.
Second, this rainy night raid gave them the advantage of timing. Whether they succeeded or not tonight, it was their best chance to take Tao Commandery.
Wen Yu’s decision to spare the traitorous generals was not mere soft-heartedness. Tao Commandery would serve as Pingzhou’s northern defensive line. To secure their loyalty after submission, a balance of mercy and authority was far more effective than brute force.
Blood feuds are the hardest grudges to resolve. Killing too many of Tao Commandery’s officials and generals would only harm Pingzhou’s interests.
In restoring Great Liang, Wen Yu needed to cultivate a reputation for benevolence and generosity even more than Pei Song did.When he mounted his horse, Xiao Li finally felt a sliver of joy after tonight's bloody conflict—he was beginning to grasp what Wen Yu was thinking.
The thunder had not ceased all night. In Wen Yu's chamber, the bright candle burned until dawn. She sat leaning on her hand before the low table, listening to the rustling downpour outside. Clad in thin white robes, her unadorned black hair cascaded obediently down her back as she raised a hand to trim the nearly spent candlewick.
The rain showed no sign of relenting, yet daybreak was approaching.
Zhao Bai hurried in from the outer chamber, holding a battle report, his typically impassive face betraying unconcealed excitement: "Princess, we have achieved a great victory at Tao County!"
The trimmed wick fell onto the table. Wen Yu gazed calmly at the charred fragment and said, "The Southern Chen envoy should be arriving in Pingzhou soon as well."
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