Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1211

Chapter 1211: Chapter 1205: Breaking the Siege

The citizens inside the city, in order to survive and have a bite to eat, begrudgingly became citizens of Zhou. He never thought that the people of Xiliang would genuinely assist the Zhou army in resisting Xiliang.

Moreover, the Xiliang army, after a long trek, did not bring siege engines like trebuchets, making their siege efforts inevitably strenuous.

Therefore, when the first wave of attacks began, the Zhou troops on the city walls methodically used bows and crossbows to shoot.

Bai Qingyan, seeing the fearless Xiliang troops charging towards Jiangzi City, shouted loudly, "Liu Pinggao! Order them to wrap jars filled with kerosene on the crossbow arrows, and light the arrows!"

"Yes!" Liu Pinggao received the order and instructed the soldiers to rush down the city walls and relay the command to the civilians.

Wei Zhong still wanted to protect Bai Qingyan behind him, but Bai Qingyan drew an arrow, aimed at the distance, and shot... never missing his target.

With Liu Pinggao’s order, the civilians below the battlements filled jars with kerosene, sealed them, and had nimble-footed citizens deliver them to the wall. The Zhou troops were not worried about their defenses lagging behind.

The front end of the crossbow arrows was wrapped with pottery jars filled with kerosene, and with a trail of fire, they whooshed into the Xiliang army, turning the place into a sea of fire.

Some of the kerosene jars broke in mid-air, spilling down and catching fire from the arrows, resembling fiery rain from the sky, causing the Xiliang soldiers to scream in agony.

A sliver of white appeared on the distant horizon, and the sky was about to brighten. But the Zhou’s assault was so fierce that the Xiliang soldiers near the walls of Jiangzi City had already become corpses.

Bai Qingyan moved with difficulty, sweat covering his head and body.

From afar, General Cui was shocked, clutching the handle of his chariot tightly as he watched the imposing defense of the Zhou military against the Xiliang siege!

Could the number of Zhou troops inside the city be more than he had guessed?!

Impossible! Before Bai Qingyan arrived, there were only enough troops to defend the city, and Bai Qingyan brought two thousand more, making a total of no more than five thousand!

Yet with simultaneous attacks on all four sides of the walls, such an attack speed and orderliness cannot be achieved with just a few thousand men!

But the siege had already begun, and if they couldn’t even breach Jiangzi City’s outer defenses, that would be a serious blow to Xiliang’s morale. Thus, they had to continue the assault.

Originally, General Cui only intended to feint an assault on Jiangzi City to lure the Yecheng Pass commander to send troops to their aid, setting an ambush to wipe out the Zhou soldiers of Yecheng Pass!

But now, seeing the increasingly intense counterattacks from Jiangzi’s ramparts, General Cui adjusted his strategy, since the Xiliang reinforcements had already set an ambush on the grain route to seize the Zhou food supplies!

Now, Xiliang’s morale was high, and their determination only grew with adversity, charged with an unyielding spirit to capture Jiangzi City. If he called the Xiliang soldiers back now, it would surely dent their morale.

After all, His Majesty was the Young General Bai of the Bai family army, surely he knew the benefit of a night raid before the Xiliang siege. His Majesty must have assessed the situation at both the armory and granary, fearing that a raid would provoke an early siege that Jiangzi City couldn’t withstand, yet he still acted impulsively.

Bai Qingyan breathed heavily, the Zhou army’s resistance waning, and the Xiliang forces had breached their range, already carrying ladders to the distant city walls.

It seemed that old Mr. Cui Shanzhong no longer intended to feign the siege. Once convinced that the supplies from Bailong City would be dispatched today, he wanted to seize Jiangzi City, capture her, the Emperor of Zhou, before Yecheng Pass’s commander Yang Wuce could bring reinforcements, and then ambush Yecheng’s relief troops, using her capture to seize Yecheng Pass.

"Your Majesty, Du Sanbao has already dug a tunnel. Let General Du lead the men to reopen it, and the Bai family guard will escort Your Majesty out first!" Wei Zhong stepped forward to suggest.

Du Sanbao nodded vigorously, "Your Majesty! Please leave the city first. Rest assured... Du Sanbao will defend Jiangzi City to the death! As long as the city stands, we live! If the city falls, we die!"

"It’s not time to take that step yet!" Bai Qingyan adjusted his breathing.

She knew that her presence was the morale of the Zhou soldiers. If she abandoned Jiangzi City and fled, the morale of the Zhou army would collapse!

The battle had raged all night, and it was just beginning.

Countless times, the Bai family army had been trapped in cities, but her grandfather, father, and uncle were able to lead the under-resourced Bai family army to hold out. What excuse did she have to retreat?