Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5300 On Wuwen Ridge
Before dawn, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Fan Biao, the garrison commander of Wuwenling, woke up from a hangover by the urge to urinate. He rolled over and got out of bed, grabbed a straw hat and put it on his head. He swayed out the door and stood on a post, yawning as he relieved himself.

The Linyi army was stationed at the highest point of the entire Wuwenling Pass. The walls were built with rammed earth and stones to prevent surprise attacks, and the watchtowers were built with wood to provide a distant view. The area was only a few dozen acres, but it was densely packed with houses for the army to garrison, forming a stronghold guarding the mountain pass.

I let the water flow freely, and with blurry eyes, I looked around. A light drizzle drifted through the mountains and dense forests, the grass and leaves were wet with raindrops, and wisps of mist surrounded the area. Birds roosted there, but wild animals were nowhere to be seen.

Although the sky was overcast, a faint light had already appeared on the eastern horizon, and visibility was still somewhat good.

In the drizzle, birds that had been roosting in the dense forest on the hillside suddenly took flight and hovered in the air for a while instead of flying away.

Ok?
Fan Biao was startled. He stuffed the bird back into his pants, rubbed his eyes hard, and looked down into the dense forest on the hillside.

As shadowy figures appeared and disappeared, more and more birds perched on the branches flew into the air, circled for a moment, and then dispersed.

This is……

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Startled, Fan Biao shuddered, then screamed and ran back into the house to grab his leather armor and put it on. He then grabbed a gong and started banging it frantically at the door.

bang bang bang!
A series of urgent gong sounds rang out on the ridge, instantly waking the entire military camp.

"Get up! Get up! Something's wrong down the mountain!"

"It's probably Tang troops attacking the camp!"

"Could it be some wild beast? How could the Tang army arrive without any sign of it!"

"Stop talking nonsense! The captain has already sounded the gong. Head to the assembly point immediately!"

Thousands of people were awakened from their sleep, exclaiming, complaining, and cursing, but they dared not delay for a moment. They hastily put on their clothes, picked up their weapons, and gathered in the open space of the military camp.

Standing on the platform, Fan Biao didn't have time to explain the situation and directly ordered: "There is unusual noise on the hillside. It is probably the Tang army. Everyone, take your positions and guard the camp as usual. No one is allowed to leave the wall without permission!"

The Tang army was known for its fierce fighting force, with the saying that "one Han soldier could defeat five barbarians." This was based on the individual quality of the soldiers. On the battlefield, when the Tang army formed a battle formation, it meant that one soldier could fight ten or even a hundred, making them invincible!

Therefore, Fan Biao could only pray that the rainy weather would affect the Tang army's firearms. Otherwise, even if his troops were ten times stronger, he would immediately turn west and flee to Zhenla through the mountain pass, and would never confront the Tang army head-on.

The entire military camp was in chaos, with everyone rushing to their posts and standing ready for battle.

Although the Tang army has not yet shown up, the Lin-yi garrison is already terrified.

The only thing they could rely on was the advantageous position of this high and heavily fortified military camp; otherwise, if they had encountered each other in the open, they would have scattered like birds and beasts long ago…

Fan Biao donned his leather armor, picked up his steel sword, and watched the soldiers rushing haphazardly to their posts, feeling utterly uncertain.

He just couldn't understand why the Lin-yi soldiers and the Tang soldiers seemed so different on the battlefield.
……

In the dense forest, the Tang army moved slowly forward, wading through tree roots and vines. Everyone kept their mouths shut and tried not to make any noise. However, walking through the forest inevitably disturbed the birds perched on the treetops. When flocks of birds took flight and circled in the air, Li Jinxing knew that his operation could no longer be kept secret. He then ordered his troops to speed up and not worry about concealing their tracks.

As they emerged from the edge of the dense forest, they heard a great commotion and uproar from the Linyi military camp atop the earthen mound in front of them. Soldiers on the walls moved back and forth in a chaotic and panicked manner...

Li Jinxing raised his left hand, and the more than a thousand people behind him stopped in their tracks.

"This battle is difficult. Bows, crossbows, and firearms are all unusable. Only the new 'medicine packs' might be able to blow up the enemy's walls, but once inside, it will be close combat, and we will no longer have the weapon advantage we used to rely on! However, the importance of this battle is self-evident and everyone understands it."

He glanced around, rain streaming down his hood and obscuring his eyes, but his gaze remained fixed as he said in a deep voice, “Enough with the nonsense. Everyone, brace yourselves. Don’t be afraid of pain or death. I will charge into battle, and you will all follow me. Put aside life, death, honor, and disgrace. Take this military camp, defend this hilltop, help our army win, and uphold the might of our Great Tang!”

These words stirred the emotions of the Tang army, filling them with extraordinary excitement. They roared in unison, "Victory is certain! Victory is certain! Victory is certain!"

There was no longer any need for caution or concealment. More than a thousand people roared in unison, unleashing a tremendous force. The huge shouts converged into a sound wave that rolled and surged like thunder on the mountainside.

The soldiers of Linyi in the military camp turned pale with fright and trembled with fear.

How could a mere thousand or so Tang soldiers unleash such an earth-shattering momentum?

Is this the invincible Tang army?
Fan Biao leaned over the wall, trying to see towards the mountainside. He wiped his face, not knowing if it was rain or sweat obscuring his vision, and shouted, "Calm down! Calm down! They're about to launch an attack! Hold them off!"

Halfway up the mountain, Li Jinxing roared, "Shieldbearers, cover the demolition team, charge up!"

"Here!"

The heavy-armored demolition experts, in groups of three, each carrying a medicine bag wrapped in oilcloth, crouched low and rushed towards the military camp on the mountaintop under the cover of more than ten shield bearers.

Fan Biao, born into the royal family of Lin-yi and a relative of the former Lin-yi king Fan Zhenlong, had followed the Tang army in the campaign against the Zhenla Elephant Army and was a man of considerable insight. Upon seeing the Tang army's actions, he immediately realized that they intended to use firearms to destroy the walls.

Because it was raining, all the bows, crossbows and firearms failed, and he felt very lucky that the Tang army had firearms that were not afraid of rain.

He panicked, but the bowstring was wet from the rain and unusable. Moreover, the arrows made by the crude and inferior manufacturing technology of Linyi were not powerful enough to penetrate the Tang army's large shields and heavy armor. He could only shout loudly, "Get the rolling logs and stones ready! Smash them down with all your might when the enemy breaks through the city walls!"

The Tang soldiers, on the march, held their large shields above their heads, and from above they looked like giant mushrooms moving rapidly in the rain. In no time at all, they reached the foot of the wall...

"Smash!"

Fan Biao roared and threw a large rock off the wall first, followed closely by the others, and stones and giant logs rained down.

The Tang army's large shields were specially made. They were not only made of hardwood wrapped with iron, but also had grooves at the bottom where wooden sticks could be inserted as fulcrums. The shields were then assembled to form a whole, which could withstand the huge impact force from rolling logs and stones to the greatest extent.

Boom boom boom!
Tang Jun hid under the large shield, and a dense sound like raindrops rang out above his head. The shield trembled and swayed precariously, and the supporting wooden poles bent and broke. He had to use his body to hold up the shield to create space for the demolition team, and he endured the huge impact transmitted from the shield, which smashed his bones and tendons, causing him to vomit blood.

The demolition expert, disregarding the life and death of his comrade, quickly dug at the base of the wall with a steel shovel. The rammed earth was sticky and hard, and he was covered in sweat when he finally dug a gap large enough to hold the "medicine pack." He then stuffed the "medicine pack" into it, pulled out the fuse from under the tarpaulin covering it, blew on a tinderbox to light it, and confirmed that the fuse was burning rapidly with sparks before he carried his wounded comrade on his back and retreated in a flash.

Several large mushrooms rushed to the base of the wall to plant the "medicine packs," lit them, and then retreated together.

A few breaths later, three muffled booms were heard, and three plumes of black smoke rose from under the wall. It was as if a monster was trying to break out of the earth under the rammed earth wall, and it gave a powerful thrust. Then, the three sections of the wall, each more than ten feet long, cracked and broke from bottom to top, and finally collapsed with a bang.

Fan Biao, who was unable to dodge on the wall, was instantly buried under the ruins along with many soldiers.

"rush!"

Li Jinxing, clad in armor and wielding a broadsword, charged ahead towards the breach in the wall, followed closely by the rest of his soldiers, who roared as they charged.

Chaos reigned within the military camp. Fan Biao had vanished without a trace, leaving the soldiers bewildered and at a loss, like headless flies.

Li Jinxing was tall and had long legs and plenty of strength. He rushed to the gap in the collapsed wall and charged forward in one step. He raised his sword and cleaved an enemy soldier in two. He kicked another man away and dragged the blade across, seriously injuring two more. After a few more steps, he rushed into the village and was no match for any of his enemies.

Li Jingren followed closely behind, and the entire army was inspired by Li Jinxing's brave and invincible demeanor, their morale soared, and they poured into the village through the gap in the wall.

The garrison's command system completely collapsed. Without command, it was difficult to maintain unity. Some went forward to try to stop the Tang army from entering the camp, some sought cover nearby and put up a stubborn resistance, and some threw down their weapons and ran away...

Chaos reigned within the military camp. The Tang army charged into the camp, slowing their pace and proceeding cautiously. They split into groups of three and advanced inch by inch. Relying on their fierce fighting prowess, superior armor, and seamless teamwork, the defending troops could not stop them in the slightest.

Half an hour later, as Li Jinxing, who was leading the charge, wielded his sword, he suddenly felt a void before him and all the pressure vanish. In a flash, he realized that he had traversed the military camp and broken through the enemy lines, with many routed soldiers running wildly toward the western mountain pass...

Li Jinxing took a breath, stopped, and loudly ordered: "Clean up the battlefield, start a fire and cook, and get some rest. Enemy reinforcements may be arriving soon!"

The real battle has not yet begun.

Taking Wuwenling is not difficult; the difficulty lies in holding Wuwenling in the face of enemy reinforcements, and even more so in guarding against the possibility that Zhenla might send troops to attack from the other side of the mountain pass. Once caught between enemies on both sides, it will inevitably be a tough and arduous battle.

Especially since rainy days rendered the Tang army's most advanced bows, crossbows, and firearms ineffective, it's easy to imagine that fierce hand-to-hand combat would ensue.

"Here!"

Li Jinxing's bravery and decisiveness enabled him to quickly establish prestige, and the entire army responded to his orders with great enthusiasm.