Chapter 281
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Chapter 281: Divided Battlefield
The moment Li Kuo realized the left siege tower was under concentrated attack, he immediately responded by subtly shifting the entire formation’s center of gravity towards the right.
In other words, the soldiers maintaining the slow advance below would, at the moment the siege tower struck the city wall, use the right siege tower as a bridge to launch a massive charge!
However, as an experienced veteran general on the battlefield, Li Kuo clearly wouldn’t put all his forces into a single point.
Concentrating all forces to attack one point might sound formidable, but for the defending side, such a concentrated offensive was actually more convenient for their defense.
For instance, now, facing the incoming siege tower, Zhao Pan on the city wall unhesitatingly deployed 3 units of spearmen, ordering them to directly hold their spears and block the spot.
This ‘gate-blocking’ tactic immediately prevented the enemy from rushing up!
Thus, it was time for the scaling ladder units to play their role.
Accompanied by the renewed blast of the attack horn, the soldiers charged fiercely.
The scaling ladder units’ target was directly to the left city wall.
The purpose of this approach was to disperse the defending forces and simultaneously increase their chances of getting onto the wall.
As long as a group of soldiers could get up and open a breach, their opportunity would come.
This fighting style directly split the battle on Songhe City’s west wall into two parts.
On the left, three units of spearmen formed a spear formation, confronting the soldiers from the siege tower, with clearly distinct battle lines.
In comparison, the scene on the right was much more chaotic.
Large numbers of shield-axe soldiers and halberdiers ran back and forth on the city wall.
Some were pushing down incoming scaling ladders, while others were throwing down rolling stones and logs. Occasionally, one or two enemy soldiers successfully climbed up, immediately drawing a concentrated kill.
The second phase of the wall-top struggle had just begun, and both armies were caught in a stalemate of mutual attrition!
“The enemy’s defending general has some skill…”
Li Kuo gritted his teeth.
Unable to occupy Songhe City’s wall for a long time, and with even climbing onto the wall becoming extremely difficult, his face noticeably darkened even more than before.
“Where’s Jiang Wei? What exactly happened?”
“According to the plan, Jiang Wei should also have started attacking Songhe City’s east wall by now, but the defending forces on the enemy side show no signs of being split.”
“Could something have gone wrong?”
However, what Li Kuo didn’t know was that while he was thinking this, Jiang Wei on the other side had basically the exact same thoughts.
“Damn it! Why hasn’t Li Kuo captured Songhe City yet? Did something delay the siege time?”
“It couldn’t be that he still hasn’t taken it down by now, could it?”
“That shouldn’t be possible.”
“Considering the troops that were dispatched, the battlefield at Shangyuan City has at least 3,000 siege troops, plus two siege towers.”
“Even if Li Kuo’s siege strategy is slow, he should have taken it down by now…”
As his thoughts raced, he heard the clash of weapons.
A bronze battle axe fiercely struck his bronze long sword.
“This fellow, he’s truly troublesome!”
At this moment, maintaining a two-handed sword grip, the veins on Jiang Wei’s forehead and neck bulged exaggeratedly.
In the blink of an eye, he had already fought three more intense rounds.
Among the generals under Zhou Dongnan, Jiang Wei’s overall strength could rank among the top 3.
Both his leadership and bravery had reached 4-star levels.
According to Luo Ji’s standards, he could already be considered a first-rate general.
But when it came to individual combat strength, Guo Zhen, with 4-stars in both bravery and endurance, was clearly superior.
His fierce and aggressive fighting style almost constantly forced Jiang Wei into passive defense.
The bronze long sword in his hand even had several chips in it, causing Jiang Wei a pang of distress, this sword wasn’t cheap, and it had cost him a lot of money!
Gritting his teeth, amidst the clashing of weapons, he exchanged two more blows with the burly enemy general before him.
Jiang Wei’s gaze swept around.
In this ambush battle, as the ambushed party, they had already lost the initiative.
Moreover, their troop numbers were also inferior to the enemy’s.
After some fighting, not only he, but his soldiers were also nearly unable to hold on!
At this thought, Jiang Wei suddenly put force into his arms.
After forcefully pushing Guo Zhen back half a step, he delivered two more fierce pursuit attacks, then shouted loudly.
“All troops, retreat!!”
He could no longer fight here, continuing would only lead to certain death.
It was rational to retreat to Songshan City while he still had troops and reorganize.
“Leader, they are starting to retreat.”
Zhou Yi quickly said from the distant high ground, watching the battle closely.
Hearing this, Luo Ji calmly replied.
“A wise choice. If they continued, they would have been annihilated here.”
“Leader, how should we arrange our next moves?”
“Hmm—”
Facing this question, Luo Ji pondered for 2 seconds.
Although the general plan had already been determined, some detailed adjustments and arrangements still required a bit of thought.
Just as he was about to speak, the sound of horse hooves came from a distance.
Luo Ji’s gaze swept over, and he saw a soldier on a fast horse galloping towards his position.
The newcomer was a familiar face, but unfortunately, Luo Ji’s personal guards, all former wolf warriors from early days, possessed full loyalty.
To ensure Luo Ji’s safety, they were always unyielding.
Even if it were Luo Yong, the former commander, who dared to gallop over on a fast horse like that, each of them would have their hands on the hilt of their bronze battle swords!
The arriving soldier clearly understood the conduct of Luo Ji’s personal guards.
Far away, 20 meters out, he reined in his horse, then dismounted, rushed forward a few steps, and knelt on one knee before Luo Ji.
“Reconnaissance Team Seven leader, Zhang Ji, reporting to the Leader!”
As he spoke, Zhang Ji quickly presented a sealed parchment with both hands.
“This is a letter entrusted by Strategist Guo.”
“Guo Jia?”
A hint of surprise flashed in Luo Ji’s eyes.
He waved his hand, and a nearby guard immediately understood, swiftly took the letter, and delivered it to Luo Ji.
Luo Ji opened it and chuckled lightly.
“This kid Guo Jia is quite clever in his actions now…”
As he spoke, Luo Ji waved his hand.
“Issue the order, have Guo Zhen lead 700 troops to continue the pursuit.
“All remaining troops are to withdraw to Songhe City, placed under Zhao Pan’s command to assist in the defense!”
