Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2346 The Half-Month Siege is About to Succeed, Undercurrents Rise Within Kaifeng City
Zhao Kuangyin fought to the death with his coffin, which halted the collapse of the Song army's morale.

However, Xue Rengui and Li Jing remained indifferent to this.

Zhao Kuangyin's trick could fool the ordinary soldiers, but it couldn't fool the middle and upper echelons of the Song Dynasty.

The next day, Xue Rengui and Li Jing began to plan the attack on the city.

"Attack!" Xue Rengui commanded, waving his flag.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Within the Han army camp, hundreds of cowhide war drums sounded simultaneously, their sound waves like a tangible impact, crashing heavily against the walls of Kaifeng, forming a silent standoff with the black lacquered coffin still placed atop the city wall.

The first wave of attack was a rain of arrows and stones that blotted out the sky like locusts.

Huge stone projectiles, accompanied by a chilling whistle, rained down on the same section of the city wall.

The rammed earth and bricks cracked and collapsed with a loud bang, and smoke and dust shot into the sky, attempting to forcibly tear a breach in the solid city defenses.

At the same time, hundreds of trench bridge siege vehicles, under the cover of shield bearers, rushed toward the moat and quickly erected a passage.

Countless Han infantrymen carrying siege ladders surged across the moat and bridge, charging toward the city walls like ants bursting their banks, their battle cries deafening.

"Release the arrows! Roll logs and smash stones, smash them for me!" Zhao Kuangyin stood on the city tower, his voice calm as iron, his long sword pointing down at the city.

"Ding! Zhao Kuangyin's Longwu skill effect two has been activated. When facing situations involving command, administration, and strategy, the corresponding attributes can temporarily increase by 1 to 3 points."

Zhao Kuangyin's leadership has increased by 3, his base leadership was 100, and his current leadership has risen to 103.

"Ding! Zhao Kuangyin's Longwu skill effect three is activated. When the two armies are in battle, the martial strength of the entire army increases by 1. If he personally participates in the battle, the martial strength of the entire army increases by another 1."

The current total military strength is increased by 2, Zhao Kuangyin's military strength is increased by 2, the base military strength is 104, equipment is increased by 2, the Martial King is increased by 3, and the current military strength has increased to 111.

Jing Si's martial prowess increases by 2, base martial prowess is 105, equipment increases by 2, martial god increases by 4, and current martial prowess increases to 113.

Gao Huaide's combat strength +2...

......"

The defenders unleashed astonishing fighting power, raining down arrows like a storm, while logs and stones thundered down the slopes of the city wall, each one creating a bloodbath amidst the dense Han army ranks.

The Han soldiers who were hit broke their bones and fell from the ladder with screams, but the people behind them immediately took their place without hesitation, stepping on the corpse of their comrade Shang Wen to continue climbing upwards.

The city wall instantly turned into a meat grinder. As soon as the Han soldiers showed their heads, they were pierced by the defenders' spears and hacked down with swords and axes, their corpses falling like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

But the Han army was simply too large, and all of them were battle-hardened elites, extremely fierce.

Every now and then, valiant Han soldiers would successfully leap onto the city wall, immediately brandishing their heavy weapons and hacking wildly, trying to expand their foothold.

However, they were often overwhelmed by the Song army on the city wall as soon as they got on the wall, thanks to their numerical superiority.

In particular, Zhao Kuangyin ordered Jing Si to break up his Crane Control Army into smaller units of 100 men each, which were then distributed across different areas of the city wall.

If any breach appeared and a number of Han soldiers managed to scale the city walls, they would be immediately ordered to fight the fire. Under these circumstances, even if the Han army suffered heavy casualties, they still had no chance of truly gaining a foothold on the city walls.

Moreover, although Zhao Kuangyin stored a large amount of oil in the city, he did not use it extensively on the first day.

Unless the whereabouts of Han generals are discovered, especially generals like Yang Jian, Zhao Yun, and Deng Jiugong, Zhao Kuangyin will not order his soldiers to use large quantities of oil for scattering.

Even if we can't burn these Han generals alive, we should at least force them back and prevent them from climbing the city walls.

Xue Rengui and Li Jing launched this high-intensity offensive for more than half a month, but they still had not yet captured Kaifeng.

However, it was clear that under this relentless onslaught, Kaifeng was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

With the current troop strength at Zhao Kuangyin's disposal, especially considering that he had to keep the Panshan heavy infantry as a reserve force, his forces were still too strained to defend a large city like Kaifeng.

Xue Rengui and Li Jing were confident that they could conquer the city in at most another half month!

Most importantly, they did not believe that the opening of Kaifeng City at this time was still peaceful.

Just as Xue Rengui and Li Jing had predicted, Kaifeng was already rife with undercurrents at this time.

With the Song Dynasty on the verge of collapse, and Zhao Kuangyin having already made arrangements for the future of his brothers and children, it was inevitable that some people would be unsettled.

………………

As another day of battle came to an end, dusk finally fell. The once bustling streets and alleys of Kaifeng were now deathly silent, with only the heavy footsteps of the night patrol soldiers and the faint cries of wounded soldiers coming from the direction of the city wall in the distance, reminding people that the city was on the verge of destruction.

In a secluded underground chamber within a grand mansion, a few oil lamps flickered, illuminating several faces that appeared bewildered yet also somewhat ruthless.

“General Zhang, Brother Wanqi, the Han army’s offensive is overwhelming. Although His Majesty is fighting to the death with his coffin, the city will likely fall within ten days.” A middle-aged man dressed in the robes of a third-rank civil official lowered his voice, his tone filled with despair.

"His Majesty has already arranged for the Second Prince and the Crown Prince to flee to Da Wu, which clearly shows... clearly shows that he intends to abandon us! Are we really going to perish with this doomed ship?"

The speaker was Shi Miyuan, the Imperial Censor of the Song Dynasty. Sitting opposite him were Zhang Jun, the general in charge of part of the imperial city's defenses, and Wan Qixie, the prefect of Kaifeng, who was known for his cunning and ruthlessness.

These three people were all hidden characters in a random card summoning event.

Among them, Shi Miyuan and Wan Qixie, like Tong Guan and Cai Jing before them, had long had direct business dealings with Luo Wang.

However, Chen Pingping saw that these two people were useful, so he didn't expose them like he would the others, treating them as expendable pawns.

Now, they are being forced to help the Han Dynasty persuade a group of surrenderers, especially those with military power.

Zhang Jun was directly targeted by these two people.

Zhang Jun's face was grim, and he said with deep concern, "Outside the city are Xue Rengui and Li Jing's 400,000 fierce troops. Although the city has ample food supplies and the morale of the army has been temporarily stabilized by His Majesty, but..."

"Alas, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that without outside reinforcements, we can't hold out."

"However, contacting the Han army is too risky. Without absolute certainty, it could lead to the extermination of our entire clan!"