Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2339 Bloody Battle of Wen County, Yang Jian Charges into Battle
Just as Bai Qi captured Qiannan City in one battle, Xue Rengui and Li Jing's 300,000 troops were also engaged in a fierce battle with Zhao She's troops stationed in Wen County.

The setting sun, like blood, bathed the walls of Wen County in a crimson hue.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and gunpowder, mixed with the dying cries of wounded soldiers, creating a scene of utter devastation.

On the city wall, under Zhao She's strict orders, the Song army relied on the crenellations and parapets, using crossbows, rolling logs, and boulders to put up a desperate resistance.

Beneath the city wall, the corpses of Xue Rengui's Han soldiers piled up in layers, almost forming a new slope.

However, the soldiers who followed continued to tread on the remains of their comrades, like an ever-flowing crimson wave, crashing against the crumbling defense line wave after wave.

Xue Rengui stood on his horse beneath the central army banner, his face ashen.

He was not moved in the slightest by the heavy casualties. To become a good commander, the first hurdle is to learn to be ruthless when necessary.

One general's success is built on the bones of countless others. If one cannot be ruthless at crucial moments, one cannot become a great general. The title of a great general is earned by standing amidst countless fallen bones.

In ordinary times, you can love your soldiers like your own children, but in battle, especially in such a fierce siege, you must learn to treat your soldiers as just a string of numbers.

Xue Rengui's eyes were fixed on the "Zhao" banner on the city wall of Wen County. With the army of Zhao Song, it was impossible to defend too many cities at the same time. After capturing Wen County, his army could directly reach the Song capital Kaifeng, thus ending this war completely.

The war against Yan was fought by the Han Dynasty in just over half a year, and they completely conquered Yan. It was precisely because the war against Yan went much more smoothly than they had expected that they immediately launched the war against Song after this great battle.

The war against Song has been going on for almost a year and a half, and it's time to bring this great war to a complete end.

After this battle, almost all of the original Cang lands fell into the hands of the Han Dynasty.

"Order! Ballista Battalion, concentrate your fire and bombard the section of the city wall that was breached! Archers, fire upwards to suppress the enemy troops on the city wall and cover the advance of the battering rams!" Xue Rengui's voice was cold and firm.

For nearly a month, the fierce attack was launched, with hundreds of catapults and thousands of ballistae bombarding the enemy day and night, resulting in more than 30,000 casualties.

During this long period of time, the Han army did not come away empty-handed. A section of the city wall was completely destroyed by Xue Rengui's relentless bombardment day and night.

At Xue Rengui's command, the sound of the war drums suddenly became rapid and intense.

The vast majority of ballistae and catapults were concentrated together, emitting a tooth-grinding sound of string winding and whistling, as stones and giant crossbow bolts rained down on the city walls like locusts.

The section of wall, already damaged by months of relentless attacks, continued to crumble and crumble under the constant onslaught, with debris flying everywhere and the breach widening little by little.

The once-solid city wall, once breached, suddenly seemed incredibly fragile.

"Pass down the order: after the city falls, no rape or defilement is permitted, but looting is allowed for three days!" Xue Rengui coldly ordered.

During this month-long siege, a large number of troops had to be deployed. Of course, he couldn't use the elite Han troops with proper lineage. Most of the troops were reorganized from prisoners of war, or even prisoners were simply brought up directly.

With such heavy casualties, the morale of this force was clearly no longer sustainable. Xue Rengui's method was straightforward, direct, and even incredibly cruel: he made this promise outright.

Of course, this was also a common method used by most generals in the era of cold weapons, a way to motivate the entire army when a prolonged battle was not won.

Some of the more ruthless generals went beyond simply looting; they issued even more swift orders to massacre entire cities.

Although Guanzhong was Zhao Kuangyin's hometown, many of the Song army's prisoners of war came from Guanzhong.

But the Kansai region is vast, so naturally not many of the captured soldiers were locals.

Therefore, upon hearing Xue Rengui's order, they all let out howls and screams, and a new wave of attacks crashed against the Wenxian city wall with an even more resolute attitude, like a boiling tsunami.

Wenxian County, although not a mega-city, is not a small county town; it is considered a medium-sized county town.

Moreover, within this county town, there is a powerful clan, the ancestral home of the Sima clan, one of the original six great clans of Da Cang.

For a super-large family like the Sima family, although many branches are scattered outside, Wen County, their ancestral home, is definitely a very important part of them.

Anyone with a modicum of knowledge knows that if they could conquer this city and "take" a little something, they wouldn't have to worry about money for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine how excited these soldiers were.

Isn't this what soldiers fight for?
Encouraged by Xue Rengui's orders, the Han army, with its morale soaring, became the focus of the struggle around the breach in the city wall, which had already been partially destroyed.

Of course, this area has also been turned into a bloodbath, a hell within a hell.

The Han soldiers, shields in hand, climbed upwards with all their might, engaging in fierce combat with the Song soldiers surging in from both sides and above the breach.

The corpses piled up rapidly, almost blocking the gap again, and the next group continued their desperate charge up the slope paved with blood and flesh.

As a prince of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother, Zhao Kuangde, took the lead and personally stood behind the breach with his spear. His armor was already soaked in blood, and it was impossible to tell whether it was the enemy's or his own.

He commanded with all his might, and with each thrust of his spear, a Han soldier fell to the ground. He knew that this was the Achilles' heel of Wen County; if this place fell, the entire army would collapse.

"Hold on! Reinforcements are on their way! His Majesty is watching us from Kaifeng!" Zhao Kuangde's shouts sounded so weak amidst the chaos of the army, yet they managed to keep the defenders from collapsing.

"Yang Jian, Deng Jiugong, Gao Shun, lead the Trapped Camp and break through that breach!" Xue Rengui ordered in a cold voice.

The fierce battle between the two sides over that gap had reached its limit.

At this point, Xue Rengui finally decided to use these powerful generals and troops as the final straw that broke the camel's back.

He had been preparing for this moment for a month, gathering his strongest generals and elite troops, without ever using them, so that they could conserve their energy and be ready to open up the situation at their peak at the most critical time.