Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 255 The Emperor's Growth Plan
Except for Chu Shizhao, probably no one could have imagined that this battle would be so difficult.

It has only been a stick of incense since the Northern Di cavalry attacked, and there have been several emergency calls on the city walls.

If the defenders of Xueyuan Pass had not fought desperately and risked their lives to repel the Northern Di cavalry that rushed onto the city walls, Xueyuan Pass would probably have been lost by now.

In fact, before the deduction, Chu Shizhao didn't think that Xueyuan Pass could be defended to this extent.

He was very suspicious about how Zhu Mingyuan, who was ready to flee with a batch of weapons and equipment immediately after learning that the Northern Di cavalry had raided Xueyuan Pass, could lead such brave soldiers.

Zhao Wenguang's shout once again spread across the city walls: "Pour the golden juice!"

Following his order, dozens of pots of boiling golden juice that had been simmering for a whole incense stick of time were poured down from the top of the city wall.

The armor of the Northern Di cavalry can withstand swords, bows and crossbows, but it has no protection against these liquid things.

In order to increase the power of the golden juice, oil is added to it.

The hot oil and boiling water seeped into the gaps in the armor. The Northern Di cavalry, who had remained silent even when hit by arrows, finally could not bear it anymore and screamed in agony.

The area under the city walls where the gold juice was poured soon became empty.

The stench of feces, the smell of burnt skin, and all kinds of messy smells mixed together, making people want to vomit.

But it's not over yet.

Several torches were thrown down from the city wall.

He fell into the midst of the howling and screaming Northern Di cavalrymen who were being sucked into the golden soup.

With a roar, the flames rose to more than ten feet high, and the screams that had gradually subsided became louder again.

Many Beidi cavalrymen who were not so seriously injured rolled on the ground, trying to put out the flames on their bodies.

Unfortunately, what they didn't know was that the golden juice contained special kerosene, which was not so easy to extinguish.

Some rolled over and became motionless, while others howled and ran back in the direction they came from.

It seems that he hopes that his own people can help him put out the fire.

Murong Ze watched all this with a grim face.

The previous attacks on the cities of Da Zhou had required almost no effort.

This made him think about the situation.

It was not until today, when he personally witnessed the defense of Xueyuan Pass, that Murong Ze realized for the first time how difficult it was to capture a prepared city.

Are the defenders of Xueyuan Pass strong?
At least in Murong Ze's eyes, they were not a bit inferior to his Beidi cavalry.

However, relying on the tall city walls and various city defense weapons, they were able to inflict such huge losses on them.

"Anyone who takes even a step back will die!"

He saw a Northern Di cavalryman with his body on fire, howling miserably and running towards him.

Murong Ze suddenly took out a bow and arrow and shot the man to death in front of the formation.

"Attack with all your might, General. Let those despicable southern barbarians know that these despicable means are completely useless in the face of the bravery of our northern barbarian warriors."

"Northern Di will win!"

The morale of the Beidi cavalry, which had been somewhat low due to the damage they had suffered in the attack, roared in unison: "Long live the Beidi!"

Zhao Wenguang, who was on the city wall, saw that the pressure was getting less and less.

According to his experience, under normal circumstances, the commander of the attacking party would temporarily retreat and regroup at this time.

However, I didn't expect that the opposing commander would be so stubborn.

Not only did they not retreat, but they began to attack even more fiercely.

"Pay attention to defense and be careful of the enemy's arrows."

Sure enough, Murong Ze had just announced to continue the attack when a wave of arrows completely covered the city wall.

The defenders of Xueyuan Pass were unable to dodge and many casualties occurred immediately.

The Northern Di cavalry under the city immediately seized this opportunity and rushed desperately up the city wall along the ladders.

Li Batian anxiously commanded the defenders to resist.

"Stop them quickly!"

Everyone knew that once the Northern Di cavalry rushed up the city wall in large numbers, they would be no match for the cavalry from other places.

Only by firmly defending the city walls and making good use of their advantages can they hope to defend Xueyuan Pass.

"Wei Bing! Is the catapult not ready yet?" Zhao Wenguang shouted anxiously towards the bottom of the city wall.

Wei Bing, who was sweating profusely under the city wall, was pushing the catapult towards the city wall with his soldiers.

Originally, these catapults were placed near the city walls, and there were special soldiers responsible for operating them.

However, not long ago, Zhu Mingyuan suddenly moved all these catapults away in the name of maintenance.

The soldiers responsible for operating the catapults also suffered heavy casualties in the previous sneak attack by the Dark Night Cult.

Wei Bing had to use all his strength to move the catapult over.

However, since the soldiers operating the catapults suffered heavy casualties, how to control them was also a problem.

Fortunately, they are all veterans. Although they have not used these things themselves, they have seen how to use them.

After a flurry of activity, he finally managed to operate the catapult.

A dozen pebbles the size of a human head were loaded into the scoop.

Wei Bing roared, and pulled the release lever with all his strength. The launching arm rose instantly and threw the stone high into the air.

These stones flew over the city wall and smashed directly into the formation of the Northern Di cavalry.

The Northern Di cavalry that were directly hit by the stones were almost smashed into meat paste even with the protection of iron armor.

After the round stone hits the ground, it will continue to roll forward and bounce up.

Although no one was hit, many horses fell down neighing, and the cavalrymen on them were also thrown heavily to the ground.

The scene seemed very powerful, but in fact the attack of the catapult did not cause much damage.

After one round of fighting, only dozens of people were killed or injured.

Compared with the Northern Di army, it was just a drizzle.

However, on the battlefield, this unreasonable and unscrupulous means of attack can effectively undermine the morale of the enemy.

The trebuchet is very powerful, but its shortcomings are also quite obvious. It takes a very long time to fire it once.

But it doesn't matter.

Compared with the Northern Di, the Great Zhou could be said to be terrifyingly wealthy.

What is most lacking is a variety of war equipment.

While Wei Bing was working on the catapult, Zhao Wenguang also asked He Yundong to move all the crossbow carts out of the warehouse.

At this time, after a difficult journey, all the crossbow carts were finally moved to the battlements where they were specially placed.

"Fire!" With He Yundong's order, the crossbows on the city wall began to fire one after another.

The defenders' bows and arrows could not cause any effective damage to the Northern Di cavalry.

The ballista is different.

No matter how thick the armor is, it is no different from a piece of paper in front of the crossbow.

Because they were too confident in their own defense, the Beidi cavalry formed a very dense formation when attacking the city.

After suffering a loss at Jinzhi's hands, the Northern Di cavalry would disperse their troops and stay some distance away from the city walls when attacking.

Because they found that although the golden juice was extremely powerful, it was obviously impossible to spray it too far.

As long as they move a few steps away from the city wall, the golden juice will hardly fall on them.

Apart from the defenders dropping torches to start a fire after pouring the gold juice, there was really no other way to cause any effective damage.

The result of this was that many people were crowded together in places far away from the city walls.

Bows and arrows had no effect on them, but in front of the crossbows, these people were simply the perfect targets.

Many crossbow arrows even directly penetrated two or even three Northern Di cavalrymen.

Although the loading speed of the crossbow is not much better than that of the catapult.

However, the efficiency in killing the Northern Di cavalry was completely incomparable.

After only two rounds of shooting, the number of Northern Di cavalry under the city wall was visibly reduced.

In this situation, even if Murong Ze was furious, he would not stubbornly choose to continue attacking.

If he forced his soldiers to charge forward, they would only become targets for those terrifying crossbow carts.

"Sound the retreat!" Murong Ze had a dark face and gritted his teeth as he gave the order to retreat.

Zhao Wenguang was a little bit unbelievable when he saw the Northern Di cavalry retreating like a tide.

"They retreated. They actually retreated."

Zhao Wenguang, who had no experience in leading troops, completely forgot that he was now the commander-in-chief of the entire army. He raised his sword and shouted in ecstasy like an ordinary soldier.

Li Batian's big hand, like a cattail leaf fan, slapped Zhao Wenguang's body. The huge force made Zhao Wenguang feel as if the bones in his shoulders were about to break.

"You are quite capable, I may not be able to do a better job than you if I were to command you! You didn't bring shame to us humble generals!"

Huo Qinghuang's expression was cold: "Well done."

On the city wall, there was a sound of cheers.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not, but after the Northern Di cavalry completely retreated, the last ray of light in the sky disappeared into the distant mountains, and the earth was completely shrouded in darkness.

Zhao Wenguang couldn't suppress the ecstasy on his face: "After dark, it will be even less suitable for the Northern Di cavalry to attack. Your Highness, the Northern Di people are completely being led by the nose by you."

Li Batian said in disbelief: "Your Highness, is this also in your calculations?"

Chu Shizhao smiled slightly and didn't explain anything.

Of course, it was impossible for him to calculate so accurately. His original intention was just to delay time as much as possible so that the people and wounded soldiers in Xueyuan Pass could be transferred away.

It could only be a coincidence that the sun was setting when the Northern Di retreated.

"Zhao Wenguang, you did a great job. Without your command, we wouldn't have been able to stop the enemy's attack so easily."

The price paid for defending the city this time was far smaller than any of the times he had deduced.

Of course, this also has to do with the fact that he dragged on for enough time.

After a whole day of fighting wits and courage with the Northern Di cavalry, Chu Shizhao now wished he could find a place to have a good sleep.

Unfortunately, it's not time to rest yet.

At Hengyi, the operation to evacuate the people is still ongoing.

Chu Shizhao also didn't think that the Northern Di cavalry would wait obediently until daybreak before continuing their attack.

"Zhao Wenguang, Li Batian of Xueyuan Pass, I'll leave Xueyuan Pass to you."

Zhao Wenguang nodded heavily, and Li Batian laughed and said, "Your Highness, rest assured. As long as I, Li Batian, am still alive, the northern barbarians will never be able to reach the top of the city."

Entrusting Xueyuan Pass to the two of them, Chu Shizhao and Huo Qinghuang, under the cover of darkness, quietly left Xueyuan Pass with a hundred Ice Wolf Riders.

Their target was the Beidi camp under the city.

This move can be said to be very risky.

Once discovered by the Northern Di, even the powerful Ice Wolf Riders would probably be trampled into pieces due to the huge disparity in numbers.

Before leaving the gate of Xueyuan Pass, Chu Shizhao looked at Huo Qinghuang with burning eyes.

"This journey is full of dangers. If you don't want to, I won't force you."

There was no fluctuation on Huo Qinghuang's face.

"We are the young master's sharp sword, and we will always carry out the young master's will. No matter where the young master tells us to go, we will not hesitate at all."

Chu Shizhao sighed slightly: "You should know what I mean."

"If I'm not mistaken, your real young master is not me, but..." After hesitating for a while, Chu Shizhao decided to reveal his cards.

Although during the deduction, Huo Qinghuang never betrayed him.

But there are some things that Chu Shizhao feels Huo Qinghuang has the right to know.

"My so-called brother, am I right?"

Huo Qinghuang's face, which had remained unchanged for thousands of years, unexpectedly showed a touch of emotion.

This was the look that had never appeared on Huo Qinghuang's face when she calmly went to her death several times during Chu Shizhao's deduction.

It seems that person's identity is really important to Huo Qinghuang.

"It was you who woke us up, young master. Our loyalty will always belong to you, young master."

"Even if I kill that guy, you don't care?" Chu Shizhao asked with a smile.

Huo Qinghuang hesitated for a long time, as if he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Finally, she seemed to have made some kind of decision.

"Our loyalty belongs only to the young master!"

This answer is too vague, even a bit rogue.

Even in the darkness, Chu Shizhao seemed to be able to see two red clouds appearing on Huo Qinghuang's face.

However, for Chu Shizhao, this answer was enough.

"Hahaha! Let's go and weigh how much orange there is in these Northern Di cavalry!"

In the darkness, the Ice Wolf Cavalry slowly approached the Beidi camp.

It wasn't hard to find them, they were making a fire and cooking.

What surprised Chu Shizhao was that they had been lurking to within a mile of the Beidi camp, but they didn't even encounter a single scout.

This situation was too strange, and Chu Shizhao couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"Could it be that this is a strategy of the Northern Di people to lure the enemy? They want me to think that they are lax and it will be a great opportunity to launch a surprise attack on them?" Chu Shizhao couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Huo Qinghuang also shook his head in confusion. In this situation, even he didn't know what was going on.

If it were someone else, they would just have to take a gamble at this time.

After all, they have come here now. If they retreat at this time, their plan will be completely ruined.

However, Chu Shizhao did not have this worry.

Let the Ice Wolf Riders hide well to avoid being discovered by the enemy.

Chu Shizhao directly opened the [Emperor Growth Plan] and led the Ice Wolf Riders to charge at the seemingly defenseless Beidi camp.
(End of this chapter)