Chapter 1 The Strongest Assault

Li Mingtao was leading the strongest force from the entire battalion, even the entire regiment, for this assault. The men carrying and pushing the siege ladders were the most renowned strongmen in the camp. At Li Mingtao's command, they moved with astonishing speed, as if the siege ladders they bore on their shoulders, weighing over eight hundred *jin* (approximately 960 pounds) with the two stabilizing poles, were weightless, inflatable leather rafts. The hundred-pace distance was overcome in an instant. By the time they reached the base of the city walls, ready to erect the ladders, the Northern Liao soldiers on the ramparts were cowering with their heads in their hands, shields raised to fend off waves of dense arrows.

Within this group, Song Xiaoer was the most skilled. As soon as the ladder reached the city wall, he leaped onto it and shouted, "Toss me up! The rest follow!"

Song Xiaoer had already discarded everything extraneous. Even the leather pouch containing a day's rations and some first-aid supplies, standard issue for combat infantry, was flung to the ground. He carried only two off-hand blades. These were his most familiar and reliable weapons. He would hold out on the ramparts for at least a few breaths, drawing the enemy's attacks so that his comrades could follow, expand the occupied space on the wall, and allow more and more soldiers to climb up. Of course, he might fail. On the ladder, with no room to maneuver, he could be pierced by an enemy spear and fall to the ground, dying without a doubt. But at this moment, he felt no fear.

The strongmen carrying the ladder didn't hesitate when nearly two hundred *jin* (approximately 240 pounds) were suddenly added to the load. They raised the ladder and pushed it forcefully towards the city wall. With a burst of momentum, the weighted head of the ladder slammed against the ramparts with a loud bang. Despite the violent impact, Song Xiaoer instantly regained his senses. At that crucial moment, he clamped a thrusting spear under his ribs, snapped it in two, and then roared as he leaped down onto the ramparts, teeming with enemies. His off-hand blades became a whirlwind of light. He couldn't see how many enemies were below, his combat movements were purely instinctive.

Spears rained down on Song Xiaoer. Though quick, he still took a blow to the calf. He roared, throwing himself at the enemy with a savage ferocity, as if he had no intention of dodging their attacks. Instead, he plunged headfirst into the thickest concentration of soldiers.

"Brace the supports, quick!" Li Mingtao didn't have time to worry about Song Xiaoer, his most trusted subordinate and a potential officer, who was in danger of being crushed into mincemeat by enemies dozens of times his number. Instead, he roared orders to deploy the supports. It wasn't that he didn't value Song Xiaoer, who had actually worked as a waiter in a restaurant for years before joining the Blood Kirin Army and revealing his fighting talent. His strongest warriors were already on the ladder. None waited for the supports to be deployed, cherishing every second and every inch of space that Song Xiaoer had won for them. If Li Mingtao's plan was flawed, if the supports failed to prevent the ladder from being toppled, then the seven men currently on it might die. Four of them were descendants of third-rank court officials or generals of deputy-general rank or higher. But now, they were just ordinary soldiers under his command, expendable in this first wave of attack.

With the longbowmen's ranged suppression suddenly gone, the enemy's counterattack from the city walls was fierce. The heavy infantrymen opened their shields for the combat infantry, doing their best to protect them from the arrows raining down from above, deflecting the rolling logs and stones. The heavy impact, even after being mitigated by the thick, double-layered shock-absorbing shields, still made the heavy infantrymen wince in pain. But they remained silent within their heavy armor. From the moment they joined this army, the heavy infantry had been instilled with one belief: the only thing that can hurt us is our own fear. Even in death, they would not retreat a single step without orders.

The ladder wasn't toppled. In Song Xiaoer's mad rush, he had broken through a dozen spear thrusts on his own. He had also taken at least three spear wounds, and a gash had been cut into his shoulder by a broadsword. But he held on. Just as he was despairingly watching a spear thrust towards his eye, the gleaming point rapidly growing larger, a flash of silver light intervened, and the spear was snapped in two.焦磬 (Jiao Qing), the son of Jiao Yuqing, the battalion commander of the Fourth Cavalry Regiment of the Southern Army stationed on the border between Dongping and Chunnan, the second warrior in this group to climb the city wall, had arrived in time to rescue him. Jiao Qing didn't use his personal weapon, but instead, carried a heavy infantry's two-handed broadsword onto the ramparts. He swung the sword, instantly clearing a few feet of space on the wall. Soon, that space was filled with his own men, forming a small semicircle and hacking outwards, like an expanding hedgehog.

Li Mingtao saw that these men had successfully scaled the wall and that the ladder hadn't been toppled despite the enemy's efforts. He shouted "Good!" His eyes were filled with murderous intent, and the last trace of hesitation vanished. He slung the hand crossbow behind him and entered the corridor formed by the shields of the heavy infantrymen, drawing his long saber. Enemy arrows rained down on his head, the clanging sounds jarring his nerves. In that brief time, as he passed through the corridor and queued up to the ladder, Li Mingtao felt that not being able to see the full scope of the battlefield was even more nerve-wracking. Each sound of a heavy object hitting the ground was a reminder of a life lost, perhaps a comrade, perhaps an enemy. The unknown only amplified the fear. Then, as he emerged from the corridor and saw the ladder leading straight to the city wall, it was as if he was seeing a beam of light from heaven, guiding him upwards, upwards…

Perhaps this was a warrior's destiny, a warrior's happiness. In that instant, Li Mingtao felt no fear, hesitation, or tension, only overflowing murderous intent and absolute confidence.

Once on the same level, once able to face the enemy directly, once the numerical disadvantage was gradually reduced, the Blood Kirin Army's light infantry's superior combat abilities and equipment advantages were fully unleashed. Even though the city wall was crowded, and the light infantry couldn't fully deploy and engage the enemy all at once, they used their folding crossbows to support the warriors in front, picking off enemies left and right. Those who had free hands, or those who had brought short bows, targeted enemy archers further away, picking them off one by one. The advantage grew little by little, snowballing.

Zou Shuangwen, watching the battle on the ramparts through his binoculars, exhaled a long breath. The first attack going this well already exceeded his expectations. In the first attack, thanks to the Blood Kirin Army's tightly coordinated military branches, especially the longbowmen and light infantry attacking the city wall almost simultaneously, the light infantry were able to deploy the siege ladders and launch a rapid assault while the enemy was cowering to avoid the arrows, creating an excellent effect. Only a few ladders were toppled. Li Mingtao's team also didn't disappoint him. They launched a fierce attack and scaled the wall with minimal losses. Moreover, they had gained a foothold and were difficult to dislodge, expanding their advantage to both sides.

"The heavy infantry is preparing to ascend," the staff officer prompted. Zou Shuangwen nodded and said, "Once they're up, we'll have completely secured it."

After Li Mingtao's team had all reached the city wall, the heavy infantrymen put away their shields and stepped onto the ladders one by one. Due to the weight of their armor, only two heavy infantrymen could be on a ladder at the same time. The ascent was extremely slow, but once they were up, all that mattered was that they held their ground. Right now, the only forces in the world with well-developed tactics against heavy infantry were the Blood Kirin Army and the Northern Frontier Pacification Commission's armies. And those tactics mostly relied on ranged attacks and fire oil bombs.

"Notify the heavy ordnance battalion to attack the city gates!" Zou Shuangwen wasn't relaxed by the relatively advantageous initial struggle on the city walls. He was thinking about how to kill the opponent with one blow, leaving nothing to chance. "Suspend fire oil bomb launches for two rounds."

"Yes!" The staff officer waved his hand, and the signal officer blew the prepared horn. Upon hearing the signal, the warriors of the longbow battalion, who had been standing by two hundred paces from the city walls, quickly made way, revealing the heavy battering ram behind them. Then, they began an even more intense barrage and suppression on the enemy forces near the city gates than before. Several heavy ordnance battalion warriors wearing heavy infantry armor jumped out from the ranks, carrying sections of wooden track and laying them in front of the ram, all the way to the city gates. Then they quickly ran back. The heavy battering ram started up, moving slowly but steadily forward on the lubricated tracks. The ram didn't rely on manpower, but instead, on internal spring and gear assemblies that stored power. The ram was covered with thick copper plating, so the enemy had no way to stop it from advancing. In less than ten minutes, the ram had entered the gatehouse, wedged into the enemy's blind spot. Even if the enemy could attack, what could they do? The enemies looked at each other, unsure of how to deal with this metallic monster that hid the Blood Kirin warriors within.

After the copper cone at the front of the ram struck the city gate, a small opening appeared at the rear of the ram, and a stream of air gushed out, emitting an air-raid siren-like sound that echoed across the entire battlefield.

Upon hearing this sound, the faces of all the Blood Kirin warriors already on the ramparts changed drastically. They immediately scrambled to push away the enemies in front of them, retreating a few steps, or simply hiding behind the heavy infantrymen, holding their heads in their hands, and crouching down… Li Mingtao was already cursing Zou Shuangwen for being too insane, using this terrifying weapon even when they already had a significant advantage.

The alarm sounded for about twenty seconds. Then, a clattering sound came from inside the ram, and thick fire oil sprayed outwards from the copper cone. Next, a crisp "ding" came from inside the ram... the sound of the ignition device being triggered. Immediately afterwards, a deafening explosion, as if the heavens and earth had merged, rang out…

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Actually, I want to update regularly even more than you guys do, but my energy is limited, and I write slowly...

I can only guarantee that I definitely won't abandon the project, and that I won't start a new book until this one is finished. Of course, I admit that my credibility is poor, so there's nothing I can do if you don't believe me.