Chapter 33: Wit, Valor, and the Battle of the City Walls

"Fire arrows!"
"Everyone, prepare the gold juice!"

On the ramparts, Meng Tian calmly directed his soldiers to repel the enemy's successive waves of assaults. As the battle raged, the flowers of life withered one after another.

Those Xiongnu soldiers who fell while charging were one thing, but those on the scaling ladders suffered the worst fates. They were met with rolling logs and heavy stones, arrows and javelins, push-poles and wolf-tooth clubs, and even "gold juice"—boiling excrement—and incendiary oil.

If any Xiongnu soldier was lucky enough to reach the top of the wall, the Han infantry, already organized into dense phalanxes, waited with ease. They blocked the landing point, their long spears bristling like a forest of death. At this rate, the Xiongnu had no chance of breaching Yanmen Pass.

"Wanyan Loushi, this cannot go on; our men are suffering too many casualties. How about this: you hold Meng Tian here, and I will attempt an assault from another sector." Wanyan Yinshuke scanned the battlefield with tiger-like intensity, his expression grave as he spoke to Wanyan Loushi.

"Can you succeed?" Wanyan Loushi did not answer directly, but asked in return.

Wanyan Yinshuke was clearly confident. "Rest assured. With the Han generals tied up elsewhere, Meng Tian is the only major commander left inside the city. As long as you help me keep his attention occupied, I am quite certain I can break through."

"Very well. Then go with peace of mind; I will not let Meng Tian interfere with your mission," Wanyan Loushi replied solemnly.

...

"Wanyan Loushi’s 'Wisdom and Valor' skill has been activated.
Wisdom and Valor, Effect 1: When commanding troops, Intelligence +2, Command +1.
Effect 2: When conducting a siege, Command +1, and the morale of the troops under his command increases significantly.
Effect 3: When engaging an enemy, Martial Arts +5, with an additional +1 for every ten bouts, stackable up to five times.
Current status: Effects 1 and 2 are active. Wanyan Loushi’s base Intelligence of 91 rises to 93; his base Command of 98 rises to 100."

Li Xiang was once again struck with awe upon hearing the system's notification. Wanyan Loushi was truly a premier general of the Jin Dynasty, a figure who had made monumental contributions to its founding and growth. Although he had not yet scanned Loushi’s full four-dimensional stats, Li Xiang had a rough estimate based on the Intelligence and Command revealed. Regardless of his political acumen, his reputation for great wisdom and valor meant his martial prowess would surely not be low.

Furthermore, looking at the skills triggered, Li Xiang had never seen such a comprehensive ability since acquiring the system. Aside from politics, every other attribute received a boost, and significant ones at that. A two-point increase in Command and Intelligence, plus a ten-point boost in Martial Arts—even for a pure combat skill, ten points was formidable.

"System, scan Wanyan Loushi’s four-dimensional attributes."
"Ding! Wanyan Loushi: Command 98, Martial Arts 98, Intelligence 91, Politics 80."

As expected, the system confirmed Li Xiang's guess. The stats were close to what he had envisioned; Wanyan Loushi was indeed a formidable foe.

With the "Wisdom and Valor" skill active, Wanyan Loushi’s command rose to a perfect 100, matching Meng Tian’s command even without the latter’s skills active.

Meng Tian’s pressure intensified immediately. Moreover, to cover Wanyan Yinshuke, Loushi disregarded his own soldiers' lives, leaving Meng Tian with no room to maneuver, even after he activated his own skills under the heavy pressure.

"Ding! Meng Tian’s 'Frontier Defense' skill effects 1 and 2 are activated. Total army Martial Arts +2, Meng Tian’s Command +2 and +1. Meng Tian’s base Command is 100, currently rising to 103; base Martial Arts is 103, plus 1 from Qin Spear, bringing his current Martial Arts to 106."

Meanwhile, Wanyan Yinshuke had finally discovered a minor flaw in the defense of Yanmen Pass, far from Meng Tian. Though it was a tiny gap, for a renowned general like Yinshuke, it was more than enough.

To seize this hard-won opportunity and secure a decisive victory, Wanyan Yinshuke disregarded his own safety, leading the vanguard and charging first.

Inspired by Yinshuke's personal bravery, the Xiongnu soldiers' morale soared. Despite the heroic resistance of the Yanmen defenders, the Xiongnu successfully scaled the wall. Once atop, Yinshuke unleashed his prowess, quickly establishing a bridgehead for the assaulting forces.

When Wanyan Loushi learned that Yinshuke had successfully scaled the wall, he was overjoyed, though he regained his composure in an instant. He immediately ordered his soldiers to launch an even more frenzied assault, determined not to let Meng Tian interfere with Yinshuke’s progress.

Meng Tian was, of course, immediately informed of the breach.

He was caught in a painful dilemma. Knowing that Yinshuke had found a way to scale the wall in such a short time, it was clear that his ability was extraordinary.

Logically, Meng Tian should lead troops to repel Yinshuke immediately. However, through the recent engagements, he understood the strength of the Wanyan Loushi before him; if not for Loushi, he would have spotted Yinshuke’s plan much earlier.

If he left to deal with Yinshuke, the lack of his own command would allow Wanyan Loushi to break through in an instant. By then, repelling Yinshuke would be of no use.

After careful consideration, Meng Tian chose not to lead the counterattack himself, instead sending two of his lieutenants with five thousand men. He did not expect them to drive Yinshuke away, but only to contain the enemy’s momentum until his own main generals returned.

Having made his decision, Meng Tian steeled his heart and focused on repelling Wanyan Loushi’s assault.

The two lieutenants, Wang Gang and Wen Qi, arrived as ordered. Wang Gang was a scion of a branch of the Taiyuan Wang family, while Wen Qi was a commoner who had risen through the ranks by blood and steel on the frontier.

Neither was exceptionally brilliant, but they were steady and reliable—the reason Meng Tian chose them.

At first, they lived up to Meng Tian’s expectations, using their numbers and the advantage of the terrain to hold Yinshuke at bay.

But when Wanyan Yinshuke realized the situation was deadlocked, he took a risk, leading a small group of elites to pierce the Han lines, single-handedly carving a path to Wang Gang and Wen Qi.

With Wang Gang’s martial prowess barely over 70 and Wen Qi’s barely over 80, they were no match for Yinshuke.

Within ten bouts, Yinshuke drove his blade through Wang Gang’s chest, then decapitated Wen Qi in a single stroke.

With their leaders dead, the Han troops lost their ability to threaten Yinshuke. Suddenly, the situation at Yanmen Pass began to deteriorate.

Just as Wanyan Yinshuke believed victory was within his grasp, the main Han relief force finally returned.