Sweep Yuan

Chapter 63 Blood and Fire Temper New Blades on the City Walls
In the passageway of the west city wall, Shao Si cleaved off half of Lei Bantou's shoulder with a single stroke, then kicked him hard, sending him flying backward and crashing into a large cauldron of scalding broth. The scalding broth scalded the nearby guards, causing them to scream in agony.

Lei Dutou had treated Song Sanyang well, and seeing his tragic death, Song Sanyang, consumed by rage, drew his knife and charged forward, only to be grabbed by Li Song, who pulled him to the wall and, in a low voice, shouted:
"Don't you want to live? Everyone else is running away, but you insist on walking up there to be slaughtered?"

"I didn't—"

Song Sanyang then realized that in less than ten breaths, the ruthless bandits had worked together to clear a section of the city wall about five or six feet long, and bandits were still climbing up the ladder beside them.

Li Song wasn't the only one on the city wall who saw the situation clearly; several defenders who didn't want to die immediately turned and fled.

stab
"what--"

"Anyone who retreats beyond this line will be killed without mercy!"

Gao Jing killed two people in succession, his body covered in blood and his face contorted in a ferocious expression, which frightened the crowd so much that they dared not retreat any further.

"Your families are inside the city, where can you retreat to?! This treacherous bandit has gone mad today, and there's a 90% chance he'll massacre the entire city. If you don't want your families to die a tragic death, then come with me to kill this bandit!"

"Kill!"

Clang—Click—

After a series of fierce battles, Shao Si's long sword was full of nicks and could no longer bear the weight. Finally, after blocking Gao County Magistrate's powerful splitting strike, it broke with a thud, and a drop of blood dripped from his forehead.

"Good—knife!"

"Fourth brother! I'm going to kill you!"

"Fourth brother!"

As soon as Shao Rong climbed the city wall, he witnessed Shao Si's burly body fall to the ground with a thud. He drew his sword and rushed forward, joining forces with his third brother, Shao Zhao, to attack Gao Jingyi.

Besides the two sides locked in fierce combat, County Magistrate Gao was also accompanied by five or six guards. However, they were all terrified by the Shao brothers' frenzied fighting style, where they risked their lives at the cost of their lives.

Before long, Shao Zhao was stabbed several times, his leather armor soaked in blood, but he killed three guards and, in the melee, severed Gao Jingyi's left arm with a single blow.

When Deng Shunxing, who had been running wildly, reached the west gate tower, he saw Gao Jingyi's severed arm gushing blood, and as he staggered, Shao Rong seized the opportunity to behead him with a single blow.

Finished!

Despite their haste, it was too late. With the county magistrate dead, the garrison was terrified, and several of them immediately turned and fled.

Deng Shunxing no longer dared to dream of how to defeat the rebel army, but instead quickly began to plan how to deal with the changing situation.

"Hero! Hero!"

The speaker was none other than the Darughachi of Hong County, Linchi Hudu. His green official robe was stained with blood, his eyes were unfocused, and the fat on his face trembled with fear. His whole body exuded the word "fear".

This Tartar official shouted slogans loudly, but never had any intention of dying for the city; he only climbed the city walls to supervise the battle in order to gain fame.

Unexpectedly, the enemy's attack was too fierce and suddenly they attacked. In a panic, he ordered the county magistrate to cover his breakout. However, Gao Jingyi was not good enough and was blocked by the enemy, almost getting trapped in the enemy's formation.

When Lin Chihu returned, he was left with only four guards. They were in a panic when they saw that Deng Shunxing and his group were all very powerful and imposing. They grasped at this as if it were a lifeline and quickly offered him official positions and promises.

"Kill! Kill the bandits! I, the official, will guarantee you will be appointed as the militia commander!"

Screw you, militia commander!
The city is about to fall. You're just giving Grandpa an empty title and expecting us brothers to risk our lives for you?

Besides, even if we repel the bandits' attack, so what? Gao Jingyi has already been cut into three pieces. Am I supposed to follow in the county magistrate's footsteps and have my whole family killed after the Red Turban Army breaks through the city?

Deng Shunxing gripped the gun tightly and loosely, then loosened and tightened again. He once wanted to stab this fat pig to death as a pledge of loyalty, but when he thought that doing so would completely cut off his escape route and that he would only be a traitor for the rest of his life, he couldn't make up his mind.

At this moment, the rebel army received reinforcements on the south city wall and charged up again. It was no longer possible to retreat. The ramp leading up the west city wall was on the north side, so they would have to fight their way down to get down the city wall.

Deng Shunxing's thoughts raced through his mind in an instant, but ultimately settled on a single word:
"go!"

"Hero, brave warrior—"

Lin Chihu stretched out his right hand, but dared not pull Deng Shunxing, whose face was extremely pale. He also did not have the courage to break through with this group of people, so he could only watch helplessly as the group's backs disappeared into the distance.

The city wall has limited space, so only a portion of the troops can be deployed. The reserve force inside the city is dispatched by the clerk Feng Yu, who has just reinforced the south and is now reinforcing the west.

After killing Gao Jingyi, the Shao brothers intended to drive away the defeated soldiers and fight their way down the ramparts to the city wall. Suddenly, they saw a group of guards coming aggressively, with an exceptionally imposing leader. They quickly called for their comrades to form a battle formation.

Deng Shunxing had no intention of fighting Shao Rong and his men head-on. When he saw the three-by-three formation of long and short weapons, which was extremely similar to the ferocious bandit formation of the South City Wall, he felt his scalp tingle.

As soon as the two sides engaged, they quickly separated, only slightly shifting their positions.

Shao Rong and others moved south along the outer edge of the city wall, while Deng Shunxing and others moved north along the inner edge of the city wall.

Shao Rong suspected that Deng Shunxing was trying to outflank him because of his superior numbers, while Deng Shunxing was worried that the former would fight him recklessly, so neither dared to make any big moves so as not to provoke the other party.

The two sides moved slowly and strangely, maintaining a standoff, while the battlefield situation continued to change rapidly.

Outside the city, Shishan issued the order for a general attack. The war drums sounded again, and the shouts of battle shook the heavens. One after another, soldiers of the "Red Heart Battalion" climbed the city walls. A tall man carrying a longbow jumped onto the city wall and quickly drew his bow and nocked an arrow. His target was none other than Deng Shunxing—Fu Youde, who had displayed his archery skills in this siege.

Boom——

"Brother—" Meng Ping suddenly turned to the side, taking the arrow for Deng Shunxing.

"Go!" Li Song, who had been lying in a pool of blood pretending to be dead for a long time, saw that his chance had finally come. He shouted to Song Sanyang, then immediately got up and quickly crawled into the group of young men behind Deng Shunxing.

"Kill—" Shao Rong didn't need Fu Youde's reminder again and immediately thrust his spear at Deng Shunxing.

Meng Ping slammed his shoulder into Deng Shunxing, and in the process, grabbed the spearhead that Shao Rong was thrusting at him. His chest caved in instantly, and a mouthful of blood gushed out.

"Hurry up—go!"

Watching Deng Shunxing flee in tears, collapsing along with the newly arrived defenders, Fu Youdela lowered his half-drawn bowstring, kicked up the spear Li Song had discarded, turned, and headed straight for the city gate tower.

—There is also the largest fish in this battle.

Like a tiger among sheep, amidst the flurry of spear thrusts, none could withstand its attack.

Watching helplessly as the four guards fell to the ground one after another, Lin Chihu felt as if he had seen a god of death. His face turned pale, and he retreated repeatedly.

"No, don't kill me."

goo-dong-

Lin Chihu tripped over his own heel and fell hard onto the open money box. With a crash, the lid fell off, knocking off his official hat and revealing his bald head.

The army was defeated like a mountain!
As soon as Sun Xun led the vanguard of the Fourth Infantry Battalion onto the city wall, the defending troops were infected by the panicked escape of Deng Shunxing and others, and they rushed to flee for their lives, sweeping down the ramparts along with the civilians.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
In the chaos, people were constantly being pushed off the city wall, and the speed at which they "left the city" was even faster than that of Deng Shunxing.

Below the city, Han Tieyi, assigned by County Magistrate Cao Shixian, was leading a dozen laborers carrying freshly steamed buns, originally intending to go up the city to reward the troops. Upon seeing this scene, the laborers looked at each other in bewilderment, and when someone shouted, they all dropped their baskets and ran away.

On the city wall, Shao Rong finally killed all the enemies in front of him. Exhausted, he shook off the bloodstains on his arms and wanted to sit down and catch his breath, but Fu Youde had already gone to the city tower. The sound of metal clashing could be heard from the north city wall, which had been feigning no attack since the start of the battle.

"Gentlemen, please grit your teeth and hold on, follow me down to open the city gate!"

Shao Rong didn't want to risk his life only to have Chang Tietou steal the credit for the final victory in capturing the city. He mustered his strength and was about to step forward when a familiar yet unusually weak voice came from behind him.

"Old Sixth Brother"

"Third Brother!"

Shao Rong turned around abruptly and realized that his third brother, Shao Zhao, was already covered in blood and was now swaying precariously.

"Third Brother! Third Brother, don't scare me!"

With his fourth brother dead and his third brother on the verge of collapse, Shao Rong suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart. He wondered if it was worth risking his two brothers' lives for military merit. Overwhelmed with grief, the six-foot-tall strong man embraced his brother and wept bitterly.

"I didn't see any fatal wounds. Your brother is probably just exhausted. He can probably still be saved."

Upon hearing the sound, Shao Rong looked up. Sun Xun had somehow climbed onto the city wall and was checking on his third brother's injuries. Shao Rong quickly turned over and was about to kneel down to beg him to save his brother, but Sun Xun stopped him.

“We only have a little knowledge of basic bandaging and immobilization, which may delay your brother’s recovery. The doctors in the city should be able to do it. Zeng Xing’s army is about to storm the city. We should open the city gates quickly to welcome them in. There should still be time.”

"Then let's go quickly!"

When Shi Shan saw Fu Youde leap out of the shield wagon and head straight for the ladder, he decisively issued the order for a general attack and made clear the discipline for entering the city to Zhou Shier and others, and arranged the tasks of each unit after entering the city.

At this time, the main force had moved to the west gate and was waiting for the gate to open.

Inside the city, Li Song was lucky; he managed to escape unscathed in the final melee.

However, there were too many people on the horse track, and everyone was rushing to escape. Li Song was accidentally pushed off the track. Fortunately, he had already run down a short distance, so the fall was not too serious. Just as he was about to get up, he saw a familiar figure on the ground.

Song Sanyang couldn't keep up with Li Song. In the chaos of battle, he was pierced through the abdomen by a spear and fell from the city wall, breaking his leg. His intestines were spilling out, but he still refused to close his eyes. His bloody left hand stretched out, as if trying to grab something.

"Brother Song, I am Brother Li Er. What do you want?"

Although human life is less valuable than grass in chaotic times, Li and Song had spent a long time together, and Li Song felt sorry for his own kind. He was no longer in a hurry to escape and went up to Song Sanyang to ask for his last words.

"conceal--"

Li Song turned his head and looked in the direction Song Sanyang was reaching out. Two baskets of white steamed buns were scattered on the ground, still steaming.

"Steamed bun?"

"So hungry!"

(End of this chapter)