The North Gate
Something slid across his forehead. Zhou Kou wiped his face and looked down. His palm was stained red. But he no longer had the time to care about this. Arrows came hurrying from afar, with irresistible force.
With great difficulty, he swung his sword to deflect them. At the same time, he uncontrollably knelt on the ground.
He was so exhausted!
As Zhou Kou had expected, Shang Mozheng's target was indeed the North Gate.
On the very night when the South Gate was attacked, the North Gate was suddenly assailed by the troops led by Yang Li. If Zhou Kou hadn't made preparations in advance, the North Gate would have fallen into the enemy's hands by now.
Even so, facing 80,000 enemy soldiers, their defense was extremely difficult. Several times during the battle, Yang Li almost succeeded.
For this reason, Zhou Kou directly cast aside his identity as the marshal and rushed onto the city wall to fight side by side with the soldiers. Many were inspired by his actions, and the morale of the army immediately soared, repelling Yang Li's attack all at once.
However, this was by no means a long - term solution. A momentary boost in morale could only bring them partial victory. To completely repel the 80,000 enemy troops with their 40,000 men, they had to come up with another plan.
"Marshal, n... not good! A report from the front says that the West Gate... the West Gate has been breached by the enemy!"
"What did you say?"
Zhou Kou caught his breath with difficulty and almost fell to the ground. "How many men can be transferred from the North Gate?"
"Reporting to the marshal, there are none left..."
The junior soldier cried with a long face. Tears mixed with the blood on his face and dropped. After several days of fighting, almost half of their 40,000 men at the North Gate had sacrificed. The remaining were either seriously injured or barely holding on.
Behind them was their homeland. They had nowhere to retreat!
Zhou Kou knew that there were heavy casualties at the North Gate, but he didn't expect it to be this serious. His blood - shot eyes were almost overflowing with blood - tears. He propped himself up against the wall and stood up, gasping for breath. "Who says there are none? I can still fight!"
The next moment, another arrow whizzed past his ear, and Zhou Kou had to bend down again.
Since just now, the rebels at the North Gate had stopped their large - scale attacks on the city. Compared with defending the city, the casualties of the attackers were greater. But their population base was large. Even though they had suffered heavy losses, they still had an advantage in numbers.
But Yang Li was also reluctant to make such senseless sacrifices. So he constantly sent people to shoot cold arrows secretly, attempting to put psychological pressure on the defenders in the city. After all, no one could predict who would be the next to be hit by an arrow.
The more this was the case, the less Zhou Kou dared to leave this place.
He was now the backbone of the defenders at the North Gate. If he left, the soldiers here might collapse.
But what about the West Gate...
"Report!"
Another junior soldier crouched down and trotted to Zhou Kou's side. His face was full of joy. "Marshal, the rebels at the West Gate have been repelled!"
"What did you say? Is this news true?"
A great wave of joy hit him. Zhou Kou couldn't help but grasp the junior soldier's shoulders. His expression was a bit dazed. "Do you know who repelled the rebels at the West Gate?"
"It's His Majesty!"
The West Gate
"Thud"
The long sword pierced into the enemy's body. The splashed blood stained Shang Luoze's face. It was still a bit warm. He seemed not to notice at all. Expressionlessly, he pulled the sword out of the enemy's body. This time, even his golden armor was dyed red.
"Your Majesty, all the rebels who broke in from the West Gate have been executed!"
"Okay!"
Shang Luoze responded expressionlessly, as if everything in front of him was under his control. But actually, his heart was filled with a lingering sense of fear.
If he hadn't listened to Prime Minister Lu's advice and hadn't led the imperial guards to the West Gate in time, would Shang Mozheng have already led the rebels into the city by now?
The young emperor didn't dare to think further. He could only continue to keep a straight face. "Wang Tongfu, order people to clean up the battlefield. From now on, the West Gate will be under your and your Feathered Forest Guards' responsibility."
Although he wasn't very good at military strategy, Shang Luoze knew that the retreat of the rebels at the West Gate was only temporary. They had to be prepared for the enemy's next attack.
"But Your Majesty, your safety..."
"If the capital is lost, what's the use of my safety?"
Shang Luoze couldn't help but shout. It wasn't his fault that he lost control of his emotions. There were 30,000 enemies at the West Gate, but the defenders were only 10,000. That's why the gate was breached.
Although they had retaken it now, if the city gate was breached again, could they retake it?
To be honest, Shang Luoze could hardly see any hope of victory. But he couldn't show this kind of emotion. He was the emperor of the Great Qi. The people in the city and the soldiers defending the city all believed in him and were willing to stay in the capital.
So he couldn't give up. Even if everyone in the city thought they would lose this battle, he couldn't give up!
After calming down his emotions a little and suppressing his anger back into his heart, Shang Luoze continued, "I have the Jinyu Guards by my side. You don't need to worry. The most important thing now is only one thing, which is to defend the city!"
The East Gate
Compared with the fierce battles at the South, West, and North Gates, the East Gate was calm. 30,000 rebels were stationed five miles away, but they remained motionless for a long time.
The nerves of the soldiers at the East Gate had relaxed from their initial tension. When Lu Wenhan arrived at the East Gate with his servants, he saw a group of slack defenders.
After learning about the specific situation, he immediately saw the enemy's intention. They were trying to lull them into a false sense of security and then attack them by surprise.
"Where is the general in charge of the East Gate now?"
......
Tens of thousands of people were running in an orderly manner on the official road, raising layer upon layer of dust. It seemed that even the earth was trembling. Shang Luoshu and Lu Yinxi were riding at the front. Their faces were both filled with joy.
At this speed, they would be able to reach the capital smoothly in a few days and relieve the crisis in the capital. Such good news was indeed heart - warming.
"Luoshu, General Feng directly transferred 50,000 men from the border. Will there be any problems on the South Chu side?"
Lu Yinxi couldn't help but ask.
The troops behind them were originally the men that Feng Zheng had taken to the border to resist South Chu. Now they were following them to the capital.
"Don't worry, Xi'er. Even if 50,000 men were guarding the border, South Chu wouldn't dare to march northward casually."
During his convalescence in Longxi, Shang Luoshu had thoroughly understood Shang Mozheng's schemes during that period. The so - called abnormal movement of South Chu back then was actually a ploy to transfer General Feng away.
Now it was wishful thinking for South Chu to attack the Great Qi. After learning from Feng Zheng that South Chu's vitality had not yet recovered, Shang Luoshu had the idea of borrowing troops to return to the capital.
Coincidentally, General Feng also had this intention. So they calculated the time, and the two groups of people met on the way and then returned to the capital together.
At the same time, Fang Qinhu had already led the 30,000 men that Shang Luoshu had hidden in Jizhou and rushed to the capital from the east first.
Since he didn't know the specific situation on Shang Mozheng's side, he didn't dare to act rashly for a while. He could only set up a camp ten miles away from the East Gate and then send scouts to inquire.
What he didn't know was that while he was setting up the camp, a battle had already broken out at the East Gate!