Ling Zhang didn’t say anything in the knowledge that Tao Feng would undoubtedly take great offence if he laid this bare at this, given the circumstances.
No matter what, Tao Feng buckled at the knees but still decided to stay, which definitely made him deserve some credit.
“Enemies approach!” A soldier on guard yelled in a nervous voice, which brought all people’s attention onto the south.
Countless lighted torches as thick as huckleberries were getting closer and closer. Before long, people on the city wall felt that the wall was quaking. Hordes of troops and horses were charging towards Tanyang.
Tao Feng raised his hand, wiped the sweat off his forehead and, surprisingly, observed, “Fortunately, Zhang Chong withdrew his guards stationed in the city that day. Otherwise we would have had to face enemies from both inside and outside. Can you imagine how doomed we would have been if that’s the case?”
Ling Zhang fell speechless with embarrassment.
‘Doesn’t it worry him that this kind of words might undermine the morale of our soldiers?’ he wondered.
“Lord Tao, stay cool.”
Tao Feng gave an embarrassed smile, adjusted his clothes and put on a sulky face, which not only concealed his nervousness but also made him seem fairly dignified.
In the distance, large numbers of warhorses were closing in to the quake of the ground. The concentrated clatter of horses’ hoofs threw people into deepening tension, as if those horses were stamping on their hearts. The daunting momentum of the powerful army was also sending waves of fear over them.
Ling Zhang involuntarily clenched his fists again. When actually faced by this advancing army, he still felt some pressure.
Apart from the sounds of horses’ hoofs, there were also footsteps of infantry following in the wake of the cavalry. Sharp blades in their hands were reflecting torchlight, looking wicked.
All people at the city gate swallowed hard in nervousness, tightening their grip on their weapons.
They were all staring at the army closing in on them, their eyes fixed on the same spot.
They laid some traps there the night before. Apart from traps, there were also rows of sharpened tall stakes in front of the city gate.
Ling Zhang also couldn’t help gazing at that place. Those traps were simple and ingenious, which had been laid under Yuwen Tong’s instructions. Soon they would find out whether these traps were effective or not.
As if time had slowed down, all people had their hearts in their mouths, and they were even holding their breath involuntarily.
Meanwhile, soldiers of the Prefecture Guards had also caught sight of the southern city gate where there were lanterns ablaze everywhere. Four deputy commanders clenched their teeth and cursed in their mind.
“Commander, Tao Feng is there, along with that Ling Zhang of Ling family!”
“Sons of bitches. It seems that they have been in collusion all along!”
“I don’t see Yuwen Tong.”
Miraculously, the last remark sent others into silence. Everybody was secretly delighted.
None of them put it into words, but Yuwen Tong’s very existence was a great threat. They were aware that currently Yuwen Tong had no troops at his disposal, but however hard they tried to pretend to be indifferent, deep down there, they knew exactly how they actually felt. They were afraid — afraid to frontally engage Yuwen Tong.
“He must be hiding. Yuwen Tong is merely a man with unearned reputation,” someone stated his opinion first.
After this person took the lead, others immediately followed suit.
“That’s true. It turns out that we’ve been overestimating Yuwen Tong all the time.”
“What a shame. I thought that I would get to fight Yuwen Tong in open battle this time. This is so disappointing.”
Every deputy commander made a remark, but Zhang Chong kept silent. He just stared fixedly at the gate tower, eyes glinting with rage, killing intent and deep vigilance.
Seeing that Zhang Chong remained silent, the other four shut up.
They themselves were the only ones who knew whether they meant the words they just said or not.
“Commander, they are so bold as to wait for us on the gate tower. Is this by any chance a trap?” Bai Jun couldn’t help asking.
“Stop acting like a paranoid. In Tanyang, except for gate guards, those Yamen runners with average kung fu are the only ones who can fight. No matter how good at fighting they are, it doesn’t change the fact that they are vastly outnumbered,” observed Wang He after flicking an admonitory glance at him.
‘This guy’s such an idiot. What good could it possibly do to say this under the circumstances? It would only undermine the morale of our troops. No matter it is a trap or not, charging forward and is our only option!’ thought Wang He.
That admonitory glance Wang He gave him brought him into the realization that he should never have said that, so he hurriedly shut up.
They were closing in on the city gate, but surprisingly, people on the gate tower took no action. They just kept staring at them, which made others involuntarily fall suspicious.
‘Is this by any chance really a trap?’ they wondered.
But they knew very well how many troops the garrison of Tanyang had. ‘What could they possibly do?’
Zhang Chong also squinted his eyes. He stared at Tao Feng and Ling Zhang on the gate tower for a while, and then his eyes swept through others. “Keep your fucking eyes peeled!” he yelled.
“Yes, Marshal!”
Sensing that the enemies were slowing down, people on the gate tower had their hearts in their mouths. ‘Did they find out?’
Ling Zhang was also worried, but he kept his worry to himself.
Yuwen Tong, who had been on the rooftop observing the enemies, sneered. It surprised him that Zhang Chong was pretty cautious.
Unfortunately for him, he was cautious about the wrong thing. He fixed his eyes on the gate tower but failed to notice the trap beneath his feet.
The army was getting closer and closer.
Ling Zhang clenched his fists.
All of a sudden.
An alarmed neigh was heard.
The first horse suddenly knelt down to the ground, followed by the second one, the third, the fourth… In the blink of an eye, a great many horses were downed. Almost all horses of vanguards fell victim to the traps. With their horses down, the soldiers on horseback also fell over. Anguished screeches were heard constantly.
The moment these soldiers fell to the ground, their bodies were penetrated by something sharp. Great pain shot through their whole bodies and blood splashed all over the ground. The smell of blood instantly started spreading.
Though they had slowed down somewhat, their speed was still very fast. After the first row of cavalrymen were brought down to the ground, the second row, caught off guard, were also downed. It was not until the first three rows of cavalrymen were tripped consecutively that others managed to rein their horses in and halted.
“Traps! Watch out!” Bai Jun, who was among the vanguard and also nearly fell over, hurriedly raised the flag in his hand and let out a yell in fear.
“What are those things?!”
“I have no idea. It’s too dark!”
The army instantly stopped advancing. Zhang Chong’s face immediately went ferocious and twisted. “Dismount and check!”
Torches in hands, Bai Jun and some of his men hurriedly got off their horses, walked forward and started rooting round the thick grass, trying to find out exactly what it was that had cost them so many men before the battle began.
At the same time, Zhang Chong darted a piercing, murderous look at the southern city gate. Yuwen Tong was still nowhere to be seen, which filled Zhang Chong with rage. These traps were so well hidden that he could tell with half an eye that it was the work of highly experienced people. He couldn’t think of any people in Tanyang other than Yuwen Tong who was capable of doing this, but on an occasion like this, Yuwen Tong was absent, which Zhang Chong felt was an act done out of sheer scorn!
The more Zhang Chong thought about it, the angrier he went. He had the almost overwhelming desire to seize Yuwen Tong immediately and cut him to pieces.
While Zhang Chong was consumed with fury, Ling Zhang standing on the gate tower was greatly relieved. ‘It worked!’
Others were also very excitement. Though nobody was moving or talking, they could distinctly sense the delight in each other.
Tao Feng, in particular, rejoiced and his legs stopped trembling.
“Those traps worked. They are stopped as planned!” exclaimed Tao Feng in delight.
“Your Lordship, it won’t be long before they find those traps and remove them. We cannot let our guard down,” observed Ling Zhang.
Tao Feng replied, “I know.”
But the longer they held back the Prefecture Guards, the more time they would get to wait for the arrival of reinforcements.
As a result, Tao Feng secretly prayed that the enemies wouldn’t find those traps too soon.
Unfortunately, Zhang Chong’s men soon found out what had stopped their horses.
“I found them!” someone yelled.
Those were some weird nails sticking in the ground beneath thick grass. These nails had extremely pointed heads below which there were sharp barbs. Once horses stamped on them or people lay on them, the nails would penetrate horses’ hoofs or people’s bodies. If they pulled the nails out, the barbs would aggravate their wounds and speed up the bleeding.
Soldiers of the Prefecture Guards hurt different parts of their bodies when they fell down and hit those nails. Though they wouldn’t die, their wounds caused by those seemingly inconspicuous nails were rather serious. What they found more frightening was that these nails were everywhere. Removing them would take some doing, and they must be removed if the army was to advance.
“Zhang Chong, if you submit yourself to arrest, I’ll send a memorial to the throne to intercede with His Majesty, and maybe you’ll be spared!” While the Prefecture Guards were stopped, Tao Feng took advantage of this opportunity and let out a yell, trying to convince Zhang Chong to surrender.
“Rebellion is a felony punishable by deaths of all your family and relatives. Even the ones you serve have been imprisoned. For whom are you risking your life and limb doing this? Have you no concern for your wife, your children and your parents? If you don’t care for your own family, at least think about those at your command. Originally, they represented the just cause of defending this city, but now, because of your ulterior motive and wild ambition, they have ended up becoming traitorous rebels. You reduced them to inhumanity and injustice and also incriminated their family. Have you the faintest consideration for them?!”
Tao Feng’s voice was carried far away beyond the southern city gate by the night wind and heard by many soldiers of the Prefecture Guards. They silently looked at each other, manifest doubts and hesitation gleaming in their eyes.
“All those serving in the Prefecture Guards, are you really going to forsake your family? Are you really going to convert from honorable soldiers of the Prefecture Guards to rebels cast aside by all?!” Ling Zhang also yelled.
Since his meridians had been expanded with Yuwen Tong’s help, and he had also accumulated a small amount of internal energy in his Dantian, his voice was far more sonorous and traveled much further than that of Tao Feng. More than half of the soldiers of the Prefecture Guards heard him.
“Most of you are locals in Tanyang. Think about your parents, your wives, your children and your siblings. How can you bear to let them be executed because of your doings?!”
After hearing these remarks, more soldiers of the Prefecture Guards found themselves on the verge of deserting, their movements showing their dither.
Zhang Chong’s eyes squinted and swept through his men. Then he said in a cold tone of voice, “Anybody who dares to take a single step backward will immediately die at my hand! Those who remain loyal to me shall be rewarded with glory, splendor, wealth and rank more than you can imagine! You’ll have as many wives and children as you wish!”
A lot of soldiers who were in fear regained their determination after hearing Zhang Chong’s words.
“You really think Zhang Chong is capable of giving you what he just promised you? From this day on, he will be a traitorous rebel wanted by the whole country. Even he flees to the remotest corner of the world, he will still be hunted down. Never will he be able to find a single moment’s peace of mind. You are just pawns that he needs to defend himself against pursuers. Do you really believe Zhang Chong’s selfish ambition is worth dying for?!”
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