In peacetime, the moat was spanned by stone arch bridges or large wooden bridges.
To prevent enemies from crossing, all the stone and wooden bridges of Xichuan City had been demolished.
In any case, the moat could hold them back. Once the enemy withdrew, the bridges could simply be rebuilt.
During wartime, simple drawbridges were used.
These were the kind made of planks that could be raised or lowered with winches and ropes.
They were lightweight, but far from sturdy.
The fight for control was extremely fierce, and in the end the drawbridge was shattered.
Now Qing Xinyao was completely trapped on this side of the moat, unable to cross.
Hearing the uproar coming from the west, Qing Xinyao was nearly frantic with anxiety.
If Great Python Slope fell and Danzhu captured the Ninth Princess, even if Qing Xinyao held Xichuan City, he would still face certain death.
While sending men to notify the upstream sluice gates to close, he led his troops rushing towards the north city gate, hoping to circle around to Great Python Slope from there.
But either method would take considerable time.
Qing Xinyao had no idea if he could arrive in time and could only urge the troops desperately to quicken their pace.
Inside Xichuan City, after the recent siege and the noise that had continued all through last night, the people were already deeply uneasy.
Hearing the dense footsteps echoing through the streets, residents peeked out through door cracks.
“The soldiers are running so fast. Could the enemy be attacking the city again?”
“The enemy is at the west gate, yet the soldiers are heading east. Have the Tubo troops broken in?”
“The soldiers are fleeing. What will happen to us?”
The common people were extremely worried, yet dared not venture out to ask. They could only huddle at home, praying silently.
The entire city seemed shrouded in a layer of dark clouds, growing even more sombre and oppressive.
Qing Xinyao, burning with impatience, found the infantry too slow. He simply gathered all the cavalry in the city and led the mounted troops in a mad gallop, desperate to reinforce as quickly as possible.
Just as anxious as Qing Xinyao was Zhang Liang.
From the very start, the battle between the Black Armoured Team and the enemy had been white-hot.
The female soldiers had long exhausted their arrows, but they did not idle. They all unslung the cloth cases from their backs.
Inside each case were five steel tubes, each half a metre long. When locked together, they formed a two-and-a-half-metre long spear.
Wielding these spears, they thrust through the gaps over the male soldiers’ shoulders, assisting them in killing opponents.
Relying on the toughness of their black armour, the male soldiers ignored defence entirely. The triangular formations were like tanks bristling with spikes, charging recklessly through the enemy ranks.
Wherever they passed, corpses littered the ground.
But the Tubo soldiers outnumbered them ten to one, and with Danzhu’s do-or-die orders, their attacks were utterly frenzied.
No matter how many the escort masters killed, the enemies around them never diminished.
It seemed there were always more to slay.
If not for the willpower the escort masters had honed, they might already have collapsed.
Though the escort masters had undergone long training and now ate well, their physical condition far superior to ordinary folk, they were not made of iron.
Fighting from dusk until dawn, many showed signs of exhaustion, their attacks gradually slowing.
This was precisely the enemy’s plan.
They intended to use sheer numbers to exhaust the Black Armoured Team to death.
The Black Armoured Team functioned as a single unit. As long as one breach was opened, they could scatter the formation and pick off the escort masters one by one.
At that moment, Zhang Liang and the escort masters spotted the smoke pillars in the south.
Three red smoke pillars. That was the highest level alert.
It meant the enemy had launched a full assault, and Jin Feng had no confidence in holding Great Python Slope.
“Brothers, kill our way back!”
In a single instant, Zhang Liang made his decision.
The escort masters, who had already shown fatigue, suddenly surged with energy as if injected with stimulants. Their eyes reddened one by one.
They immediately changed direction, shifting their attack from north to south.
In truth, Zhang Liang and all the escort masters knew that when Jin Feng released the smoke pillars, it was not a call for them to return and rescue.
On the contrary, it was a warning not to come back.
Because if Great Python Slope fell and they knew nothing, charging blindly back might lead them straight into an enemy ambush.
But the escort masters could not care about that.
In their eyes, Jin Feng was the most important.
Before joining Xihe Bay, they could barely eat enough. Whole families often squeezed onto a single broken bed, enduring hunger.
Children, too hungry to sleep, cried night after night, cries that tore at the heart yet left them helpless.
They had no clothes to wear. Many children, even at eight or nine years old, ran about bare-bottomed.
On rainy days, their homes leaked.
After becoming escort masters, each received a sturdy brick house. They no longer worried about leaks.
The children never went hungry again and could even eat meat every day.
As for clothes, there was no need to mention it.
Xihe Bay’s largest enterprise was the textile mill. Anyone working for Jin Feng never lacked clothing.
Without Jin Feng, they would not have the lives they enjoyed today.
If Jin Feng were captured by Danzhu, everything in Xihe Bay would vanish like smoke.
Even if they took the north gate, what would be the point?
The escort masters saw the smoke pillars, and so did the Tubo commanders.
Though they did not understand what the pillars meant, the Tubo officer in charge knew that whatever the enemy intended, it was best to obstruct it.
Thus, the Tubo soldiers’ attacks grew even more frenzied than before.
If Jin Feng were here, he would surely recall zombie films from his previous life.
The Black Armoured Team now resembled a vehicle surrounded by countless zombies.
Seeing this could not continue, Zhang Liang frowned and shouted towards the rear: “A Pei, do it!”
Back when Qing Mulan recruited female soldiers in Xihe Bay, Xiao Yu was the first to sign up, and A Pei the second.
With strength rivalling any man’s and a fierce fighting style, she had risen fastest among the female soldiers.
The two hundred female soldiers on this mission were under her command.
At Zhang Liang’s order, A Pei immediately withdrew to the centre of the formation.
There, a group of female soldiers carried a crate. No matter how fierce the battle, they had not joined the fight.
Because both Zhang Liang and A Pei had solemnly instructed them: the contents of the crate could save lives and must not suffer any jolt.
When Zhang Liang ordered the formation to halt, A Pei carefully opened the crate.
Inside were also hand grenades.
Seeing Zhang Liang nod, A Pei took one, lit the fuse, and hurled it far into the enemy crowd.
After one flash bang attack, the commanding Tubo officer had vaguely grasped their nature.
Seeing A Pei throw another round object, his first thought was flash bang.
He shouted a warning: “Everyone, close your eyes quickly!”
The reason Tubo forces were so formidable, beyond physical stamina and fighting spirit, was their obedience to orders.
Hearing the officer’s reminder, many soldiers instinctively shut their eyes.
It must be said, this officer was quite clever.
If A Pei had thrown a flash bang, this time it might have been wasted.
Unfortunately, what A Pei threw was a hand grenade.
The scene that had unfolded at Great Python Slope now replayed here.
With a massive boom, a large swathe of Tubo soldiers was blasted away.
Then came flames shooting skyward and a shockwave sweeping all around.
In the dense crowd, centred on the explosion point, a blank area two zhang across appeared.
