Chapter 102: Operation to Reclaim Chang'an (4)
In front of the southern gate of Chang’an Fortress, the catapult bombardment against the fortress walls continued even at this very moment.
Adjutant Kwak Cheol approached and said, “General, as you ordered, we have equipped the infantrymen who are swift in light movement with shields and placed them at the front.”
“Since Adjutant Han Baek’s cavalry has been excluded, we must win this with our infantry. Prepare the archers so they can provide covering fire the moment the charge begins.”
“Understood.”
Jang-yang watched the top of the wall with sweaty palms. He was worried about the children held hostage.
Just then, a general of the Hui Dynasty shouted from atop the watchtower, “If you do not withdraw your forces, we will begin executing these children one by one starting now!!!”
Jang-yang’s face contorted with rage. His heart was tearing apart, but he could not show any weakness. If he hesitated even for a moment, it was obvious that their atrocities would only worsen.
He gestured to an officer who was good with words. Receiving the command, the officer stepped forward and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Go ahead and try!!! Your cruel antics will only make us stronger!!!”
“This child dies because of you!!! Do you not regret this?!”
“Shut up and just do it, you bastard!!!”
The Hui general hesitated. Just as the officer had said, there was a risk that the enemy would only harbor more venom and their will to fight would soar. However, since he had drawn his sword, he had to cut something. He could not take back the words he had spoken in front of his subordinates.
He strode toward one of the nearby children. His sharp blade gleamed with cold killing intent as he moved to strike.
Those watching from below clenched their fists, trembling with fury.
But then, something strange happened. The general who had been swinging his sword suddenly froze in place, as if turned to ice.
While everyone was bewildered, Jang-yang said quietly, “The time has come. Prepare to charge.”
“Pardon…?”
Adjutant Kwak Cheol squinted and looked closely at the top of the wall. A dark figure was standing behind the Hui general like a ghost. Specifically, the figure was gripping the back of the general’s neck.
“It’s Adjutant So-mu.”
Crack!
A dull impact echoed all the way to where they stood. Simultaneously, the Hui general plummeted from the top of the wall, screaming frantically.
“Aaaaah!!!”
Thud!
That was the signal. Members of the Wolf Fang Squad, clad in black armor, began to appear on the wall one after another. There were about fifty of them.
The Wolf Fang Squad members dashed across the battlements, ruthlessly cutting down the enemy soldiers. Their target was the children hanging as hostages. Unless they were an elite unit like the Salatai, stopping the Wolf Fang Squad was an impossible task. Only a select few could stand against them for even a brief moment.
The remaining members of the squad were surely opening the gates below.
‘You have all worked hard,’ Jang-yang thought, nodding toward the top of the wall. He then mounted his horse and shouted, “All units, prepare for battle!!!”
The elite soldiers gripping their shields stepped to the front, adopting a charging stance. Sword and spear infantry lined up behind them, and the archers pulled their arrows, ready to cover them.
Everyone waited tensely for Jang-yang’s signal. The gates showed no sign of opening yet. Although the Wolf Fang Squad was fighting well on the walls, it seemed the situation behind the gates was not easy. Everyone silently rooted for the Wolf Fang Squad.
Meanwhile, So-mu was cutting down the enemy on the wall without hesitation. Over a hundred soldiers had already fallen by his hand alone. Looking like a yaksha, no enemy soldier dared to approach him.
As he ran, So-mu suddenly came to a halt. He had heard a familiar voice from below.
“Leader!”
It was Il-gwang’s voice, calling out to him urgently.
‘Was there a Flower Realm expert left in the fortress?’
Without hesitation, So-mu leaped down into the fortress.
Tap!
Landing on the ground, he dashed like lightning toward the gate. A few soldiers tried to block his path, but they stood no chance.
Slash! Splat!
After cutting down about twenty soldiers, he arrived in front of the gate. The situation did not look good.
Around twenty squad members were arrayed in a sword formation against a single general wielding a long spear. The rest of the squad members were busy fending off the enemy soldiers crowding around them. Several squad members looked injured, though none seemed to have lost their lives.
“Everyone, fall back!!!”
The sword formation dissolved as the squad members retreated to a distance. In that gap, So-mu lunged forward.
His blade, bathed in moonlight, emitted a blue flash as it sliced toward his opponent. The spear tip of the Hui general also emitted a dark current of energy to clash against him.
Clang!
Having exchanged a blow, they backed away and faced each other from a distance of three zhang. The Hui general muttered in surprise, “Now I see why General Temur was defeated. I heard there was someone in Hanzhong with ghostly sword skills.”
“Are you the commander here? You don’t seem to be a general from the Jin Dynasty.”
The martial arts this man displayed was close to demonic arts. It was definitely not the Flower Realm, but rather the Extreme Demon Realm. If so, he must be one of the figures from the Spirit Cult who had usurped the Jin Dynasty.
“You have sharp eyes. I am Jeok-un. State your name.”
So-mu pointed his sword diagonally downward and sent a transmission to Il-gwang.
—Don’t worry about this guy. Open the gate first.
Seeing Il-gwang nod, So-mu spoke quietly.
“Leader of the Wolf Fang Squad. Chungmu Guard Commander So-mu.”
The moment he finished speaking, his figure shot forward like an arrow. He did not have the luxury of wasting time.
The second form of the Talhon Sword Technique: Lightning Trace.
His entire body was enveloped in a bright light as he swept past Jeok-un like a bolt of lightning.
Boom!!!
Along with a sound that shook the ground, Jeok-un was forced backward.
“Ugh!”
He had barely managed to block it, but the attack was so powerful that it nearly shattered his stance. His eyes widened in shock.
‘The Profound Realm?’
He was only certain after directly clashing with the form. He had heard reports that the man was at the Flower Realm, but this was far beyond that level. Otherwise, how could he have been pushed back so easily?
So-mu’s onslaught did not stop.
Flash!
Vanishing from his spot, he was suddenly behind Jeok-un, unleashing another flash of light. Startled, Jeok-un quickly executed a footwork technique to slide away while swinging his spear behind him.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
Every time they clashed, his stance grew more unstable, and a painful sensation of his qi and blood being twisted washed over him. But the real attack was only beginning. The blue flash wrapped around him as if swallowing the crimson energy.
Clang! Clang! Boom!
Sparks flew in all directions as loud explosions echoed. A few nearby generals tried to move to rescue Jeok-un.
“Risk your lives to save the General!!!”
But the Wolf Fang Squad members were not about to let them pass.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Led by Cheong-hae and Hyeonjeong, a dozen squad members advanced to meet the generals. The other members worked frantically to push back the soldiers swarming from all sides.
In that opening, Il-gwang led four squad members and approached the gate.
The gate of Chang’an Fortress was a double structure. It was called an enceinte, where there was another gate within the gate, and archers were stationed between them to pour down a vertical shower of arrows. If one approached blindly, even a peak expert could not avoid being turned into a pincushion. Fortunately, the squad members who had scaled the wall earlier had already occupied the enceinte above.
The Hui soldiers rushed down like a swarm of ants to reclaim the enceinte. The squad members fending them off with frantic swings of their swords grew desperate.
“Hurry!!!”
“Faster!!!”
Creak!!!
The gate slowly began to open, revealing the interior of the enceinte. Around a hundred soldiers were waiting there as well.
Running at the front, Il-gwang sheathed his sword at his waist. Soon, a cold energy like a crimson flame enveloped his hands.
The ultimate martial art of the Demonic Cult: Annihilation Explosive Fist. This was the first time it was being used in real combat.
“Haaap!!!”
His house-sized fist slammed mercilessly into the abdomen of the leading soldier.
Crack!!!
Killed instantly by a single blow, the soldier was sent flying backward through the air. Five soldiers behind him were knocked to the ground by the flying corpse.
Il-gwang continued to charge toward the gate. He threw punches left and right, his crimson fist qi striking the chests of the approaching soldiers.
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
The four collapsing soldiers had clear fist marks embedded in their dented armor. It was a power comparable to Shaolin’s Hundred-Step Divine Fist.
The four squad members following behind shouted, “Brother, leave this to us and open the gate!”
“Hurry!”
Il-gwang ignored the soldiers and strode toward the gate, shouting back, “I know, so stop nagging me!!!”
The officers watching this from the walls grew desperate. They realized that they could not stop the gate from being opened at this rate.
“First to third regiments, get down there!!!”
Thousands of soldiers began pouring down from the walls.
As the situation reached this point, the Wolf Fang Squad members near the gate grew anxious. Their leader was no longer here, having pursued the fleeing Hui commander.
One of the Wolf Fang Squad members shouted, “Everyone, gather at the gate!”
They intended to back against the inner gate and hold out. Pushing the wounded members inside, around thirty squad members formed a semicircle.
“Just hold out until the enceinte gate opens!!!”
Countless soldiers rushed toward the Wolf Fang Squad members like a swarm of bees. Though it was a terrifying sight, the soldiers did not back down and lunged desperately. They also knew that if they failed to stop the gate from opening, it would be the end of them.
Slash! Splat! Stab!
The squad members swung their swords like madmen, their expressions dark. Their internal energy was slowly depleting, and their sword qi was beginning to fade.
They had run all the way from the west gate and engaged in continuous combat. As time passed, their legs grew weak, and the swords in their hands felt as heavy as a thousand catties.
Another member shouted, “Brother Il-gwang, hurry!!!”
At that moment, a familiar voice answered from somewhere inside the enceinte, “Shut up and move to the sides!!!”
It was Il-gwang’s voice.
Right then, a thunderous roar from behind rattled the ears of the Wolf Fang Squad members. The gate had finally opened, and the main force of their allies had arrived.
“Waaaah!!!”
“Charge!!!”
“Aaaaah!!!”
The Hanzhong soldiers had been waiting for this exact moment. There was no fear in their eyes, only burning rage.
The Wolf Fang Squad members quickly picked up their wounded comrades and stepped aside. Faced with such overwhelming momentum, the Hui soldiers hesitated and shrank back.
Mounted on his horse, General Jang-yang pointed his sword forward and roared, “Leave none of them alive!!!”
Adjutant Jin Rip and Adjutant Kwak Cheol charged at the front, emitting sword qi. Having learned the ultimate martial arts of the Demonic Cult, their martial prowess was incomparable to before.
Slash! Stab!
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
Behind them, the elite Hanzhong troops charged, swinging their swords mercilessly. The Hui officers tried their best to salvage the situation, but it was futile. Above all, since their commander was nowhere to be seen, there was no way to raise the morale of the soldiers.
The battlefield expanded past the gate. As battles erupted everywhere, Adjutant Jin Rip led a portion of the troops to the top of the wall, aiming to occupy the high ground and station archers.
The Hui soldiers on the wall were in disarray and did not dare to resist. Since the Wolf Fang Squad had already occupied the area around the enceinte, they had no way to hold out.
“Wipe them all out!!!”
Slash! Stab!
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
With the walls retaken, their archers were quickly stationed.
“Fire!!!”
Having undergone rigorous training, the Hanzhong archers were highly skilled. Their arrows flew true, piercing the armor of the Hui soldiers.
Thud! Thud!
There was no stopping the fierce onslaught from both above and below. As time passed, the Hui soldiers fell into utter panic.
When the tide of battle completely turned, Jang-yang called Adjutant Kwak Cheol and said, “Take one thousand spearmen to the east gate and wait.”
“Yes, General!”
This was to cut off the enemy’s path of retreat in advance.
After a quarter of an hour had passed, the leader of the Wolf Fang Squad, who had left the battlefield, reappeared. Standing tall on the fortress wall, he held the severed head of Commander Jeok-un in his right hand.