I Became a Sugar Mama to an Ancient General during a Famine! - Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Zhan Chengyin’s Formidable Weapons

Zhan Chengyin commanded, “Chen Wu, Qin crossbows Squad, stand by. Prepare the composite bows!”

“Yes, General!”

Chen Wu departed to make the arrangements.

When the enemy reached the five-kilometer mark, they had entered the explosive range, though the bulk of their forces still remained behind. At three kilometers from the city wall, Zhan Chengyin spotted the Chu Kingdom general, Ling Xiaofeng.

Already past fifty, Ling Xiaofeng was the most renowned general of the Chu. He had risen to fame alongside Zhan Chengyin’s father, Zhan Tianyi. Throughout the six kingdoms, people spoke: “In the south stands Ling Xiaofeng, in the north stands Zhan Tianyi.” Many had yearned to witness a battle between them to determine who was superior. But fate intervened—Zhan Tianyi fell to barbarian forces, and their legendary confrontation never came to pass.

Ling Xiaofeng cut an imposing figure in his black armor, his face covered with a thick beard. Beside him stood his two sons, Ling Yunzhe and Ling Shichen, both around Zhan Chengyin’s age. Though they had seen battle since their teenage years, their martial prowess couldn’t match Zhan Chengyin’s, whose name already echoed across the realm.

Mounted on a tall warhorse beneath the city wall, Ling Xiaofeng’s voice boomed with authority, “Nephew, open the gates and surrender. How can your fifty thousand men hope to resist an army of three hundred and fifty thousand?”

“Surrender your water and provisions, and I guarantee your life!”

Zhan Chengyin stepped forward, his dark eyes cold as winter frost as he surveyed the Chu forces below. Their soldiers were gaunt, lips cracked from thirst, having gone without water for days.

His lips curved in a contemptuous smile. “Perhaps the Chu forces should surrender to Great Qi instead. I will ensure every soldier receives water and daily meals.”

“What say you, General Ling?”

Ling Xiaofeng’s eldest son, Ling Yunzhe, stepped forward, his voice thick with rage. “With your mere fifty thousand men, half of them untrained recruits, you dare challenge the mighty Chu army? We offer surrender as mercy—if we breach these walls today, you’ll die without a burial ground!”

Zhan Chengyin’s response was a cold smile and raised hand.

The Qin crossbows Squad took aim!

Below, Ling Xiaofeng’s command thundered: “Attack!”

War drums pounded their brutal rhythm as countless soldiers roared, “Charge!” They pushed forward dozens of battering rams toward the city gates.

Zhan Chengyin’s order cut through the air: “Release arrows!”

The sky darkened with countless arrows. Not just the Qin crossbows Squad, but all composite bowmen opened fire on the forces below. Though composite bows had a range of only 150 meters, the distance to the gates was barely fifty meters—perfect for deadly accuracy and continuous fire. The Qin crossbows Squad struck from afar while composite bows commanded the close range, decimating the first wave of attackers.

But the enemy’s numbers seemed endless.

As one group fell, another surged forward, then another… The siege pressed on relentlessly.

Two or three battering rams reached the city wall, with Chu soldiers scrambling up, seeking to claim merits. Their own archers provided covering fire, but Zhan Chengyin’s men wore complete armor with comprehensive protection. Even their helmets proved impervious to enemy arrows.

Five battering rams approached the wall, soldiers climbing up from two. Zhan Chengyin’s command rang out: “Pour the coal!”

Buckets of red-hot coal cascaded down onto the battering rams. Soldiers screamed as they fell, burned by the searing heat. The wooden rams erupted in flames.

Below, Ling Xiaofeng watched with rage-filled eyes. He hadn’t anticipated such tactical diversity from a smaller force. Long arrows and short arrows rained death in tandem, while burning coal turned siege equipment to ash.

Most infuriating was the enemy’s mysterious armor—soldiers clad in black, impervious to arrows. His forces’ shields splintered to pieces, yet not one enemy soldier fell.

Refusing to accept this reality, Ling Xiaofeng seized a heavy bow, targeting a soldier’s head.

Clang!

The arrow struck true, forcing the soldier back several steps—but he simply advanced again, drawing his composite bow to continue the fight. The helmet remained unmarred while Ling Xiaofeng’s arrowhead lay shattered.

More maddening still, their helmets bore black visors that protected their faces—no chance for a killing shot between the eyes. When Ling Xiaofeng aimed for the chest, another clang rang out as his heavy arrow snapped against the armor!

He had never encountered such formidable protective gear. This equipment alone tripled his enemy’s fighting capability.

While the Chu army failed to breach the walls, the Yong forces fared no better. Chen Kui, Chen Wu, and Bian Ziping faced eighty thousand Yong troops, led unexpectedly by the Yong monarch himself. He sat in his ornate carriage, drinking wine while watching the assault with casual interest, attended by two elegant palace women who poured his drinks.

His nonchalant air as he observed the clouds created a stark contrast with the brutal siege below. To him, the fortress seemed already captured, Zhan Chengyin as good as dead.

Then the Qin crossbows Squad struck his warhorse.

An arrow found one of his palace women, who collapsed, convulsing and spitting blood.

His face drained of color as he screamed, “Protect me! Quickly, protect me!”

Shields rose around him in desperate defense.

Sharp arrows pierced through, forcing him to use the fallen palace woman as a shield.

How had this happened? How did Zhan Chengyin possess such devastating weapons? He had been certain that two nations’ combined might—three hundred fifty thousand troops and dozens of battering rams—would easily overwhelm the walls. Instead, he had nearly perished himself.

Worse still, Chen Kui and Chen Wu had waited until the enemy forces reached the wall before unleashing their composite bows. These shorter-range weapons proved lethal in their accuracy—one arrow, one death. The Yong army’s inferior equipment meant their soldiers, when struck, simply fell as corpses from the walls.

Neither army could break through, and the dead piled higher beneath the walls. Both sides fought with mounting fury, their eyes blazing with battle rage.

At the battle’s crescendo, Chen Wu ordered explosives attached to the Qin Nu Squad’s arrows. They lit the fuses and fired into the enemy’s heart.

BOOM—the explosion sent countless Yong soldiers flying.

Several blasts erupted near the Yong monarch’s carriage. Without his wall of shields, he would have perished long ago. His carriage splintered to pieces, and the palace woman he used as shield died from the shrapnel.

But the true horror was yet to come. Chen Wu delivered his master stroke: “Light the explosives!”

Arrows tipped with burning oil streaked toward the buried charges.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion shook the earth to its foundations. The charges buried in a five-kilometer circle around the walls detonated in succession, launching countless soldiers skyward. This single devastating attack claimed tens of thousands from both armies.

Barbarians would have retreated, but Chu and Qi soldiers held firm without orders to withdraw. The corpses now stood higher than the gates themselves, yet still they pressed the attack.

With most coal expended, desperation set in.

Zhan Chengyin’s command cut through the chaos: “Mo Dao Squad, prepare!”

The Mo Dao Squad set aside their composite bows, drawing their long blades to defend against the battering rams. For each soldier who climbed up, one fell. For each pair that reached the top, two bodies tumbled down. No matter how many ascended, they couldn’t penetrate the Mo Dao Squad’s armor. Like an inexorable machine, when one defender fell, another instantly took his place.

From noon until nightfall, the battle raged on—a siege of unprecedented bloodshed and brutality.