Chapter 603 - 602: Farm Woman 31
Tan You nodded. "That’s exactly right. Now that cities like Yunzhou State officially belong to the Beirong, this is the best time for us to make our move. Even if the imperial court wanted to suppress us, they would have no legitimate reason to do so."
Everyone nodded and dispersed to make their preparations for battle.
The peace talks ended, and the delegation returned to the capital. Meanwhile, the Beirong sounded the horns for a full-scale invasion. They had already occupied Youzhou State, and Lin State fell to them as a matter of course. Their first target was Yunzhou State.
An Wen was now a Scout in the guard unit, tasked with keeping a constant watch on the Beirong’s movements. Around noon that day, he rushed to report to Tan You, "My Lady, the Beirong are attacking."
Tan You had, of course, already seen the alert from her Beauty System, but she didn’t want to dampen An Wen’s enthusiasm. She set down her book. "I know. Go inform Yue Shu. It’s time for us to act."
Yue Shu had built an excellent relationship with Yuan Cheng over the past few days. As a result, when Tan You and her group ascended the city wall, they faced no obstructions.
Seeing Tan You approach, Yue Shu took half a step back. "My Lady, you’re here."
Tan You acknowledged him. "What are General Yuan’s plans?"
This was the first time Yuan Cheng had met Tan You, but that didn’t mean he knew nothing about her. Now that she had questioned him directly, Yuan Cheng said in a grave voice, "The gates of Yunzhou State cannot be opened."
"Less than one in ten of the people in Lin State and Youzhou State survived, all at the hands of the Beirong. Even if we die fighting on these walls, the gates of Yunzhou State must not be opened."
Tan You was very satisfied with Yuan Cheng’s answer. "We will all survive. As for them, their time was up long ago."
She took a deep breath. "These men have certainly seen their share of bloodshed. I can smell the reek of gore even from this far away."
Yuan Cheng gave Tan You a baffled look. ’Does she have the nose of a hound? How can she smell that? I can’t smell a thing.’
Yue Shu patted Yuan Cheng’s shoulder. "You’ll get used to it. My Lady’s senses are extraordinary."
Despite his words, Yue Shu’s grip on his bow never slackened. The three of them stood on the city wall, watching the Beirong gradually approach Yunzhou State.
An Wen and Chen Xi ran up the wall. "My Lady, the catapults have been moved into position, and the gunpowder is ready."
Yuan Cheng looked at Tan You with curiosity. ’What’s gunpowder?’
Tan You glanced to the side. "In an age of cold steel, it’s time to show everyone the destructive power of hot weapons. We won’t use the gunpowder just yet. We’ll wait until they begin their all-out assault."
’That’s our trump card; how can we play it so easily? Besides, soldiers can’t truly grow without being forged in the crucible of battle.’
As the Beirong army drew closer, Tan You’s gaze locked onto their warhorses. "Now that’s a tempting sight."
Yang Youchang, standing on Tan You’s other side, said, "Soon, they’ll all be yours, My Lady."
Tan You looked at Yang Youchang. "How are the preparations outside?"
Yang Youchang gestured with his arm. "Just as you commanded. We’ve set up five lines of tripwires outside the walls. We’ve also placed traps on both flanks, and the decapitation locks are installed."
Yuan Cheng was completely bewildered. "Brother Yue, what’s a ’decapitation lock’?"
The corner of Yue Shu’s mouth twitched. "You’ll see in a moment. I guarantee it’s something special. My Lady spent a long time perfecting the final design."
Yuan Cheng suppressed his doubts. This Brother Yue had been consistently friendly with him for some time, and before, he hadn’t quite understood why. But now, after seeing Tan You, he was beginning to understand her intentions.
’But... a woman as our leader?’
’Can she really succeed?’
’Can she really win the battle that’s about to unfold?’
As Yuan Cheng’s mind raced, the Beirong army drew ever closer to the walls. The cavalry led the charge, their scimitars held high and their advance ferocious. Yuan Cheng could even see the dark red bloodstains on the cloth wrapped around their hilts.
He was about to signal the archers to fire when it happened. It was unclear what the Beirong had triggered, but five lines of tripwires suddenly sprang up. The Beirong riders had no time to react, and the vanguard tumbled from their horses in unison.
The tripwires appeared so suddenly that the cavalrymen following behind couldn’t react, forced to let their warhorses trample over their fallen comrades. In that single moment, they lost over a hundred riders.
And it seemed the casualty count was still rising. After all, a panicked horse on a battlefield could inflict far more carnage than a man.
Yue Shu frowned as he watched. "The results are a bit less than we estimated."
Tan You said softly, "Tripwires are nothing new. We were just banking on the element of surprise. Perhaps the Beirong never expected anyone would actually dare to oppose them."
"It won’t be so easy from now on. Is everything in place outside the city?"
Yang Youchang replied in a low voice, "Everything is in place. You can rest assured, My Lady."
Outside the city, the Beirong forces had indeed been caught off guard by the tripwires. Once they recovered, they swiftly cut through the ropes.
This spurred the riders behind them to charge forward with even greater ferocity, vowing to wash away their recent humiliation and fury. Just as their charge reached full speed and they were about to reach the city walls, dozens of flexible steel wires suddenly snapped taut on both sides of the main road.
The cavalrymen were the first to suffer. At a full gallop, they were the first to hit the steel wires. The result of such high-speed impact was undeniably gruesome and cruel.
They felt only a sudden coldness at their necks, followed by a sharp pain. Their horses galloped on for a good distance before those behind them realized their riders had been beheaded. It wasn’t just the cavalry; even the infantrymen following them fell one after another to the decapitation locks.
A chill ran down Yuan Cheng’s spine as he watched. Seeing the Beirong soldiers run headlong into the steel wires one after another, he couldn’t help but rub his arms. "No wonder they’re called ’decapitation locks.’ How formidable."
It is said that an army’s spirit is highest at the first drum, wanes at the second, and is exhausted by the third. After suffering two consecutive, devastating blows, the Beirong army’s arrogant fervor inevitably diminished.
Tuoba Lian, mounted on his warhorse, frowned as he watched the repeated setbacks up ahead. He never expected that after their string of victories since breaking into Youzhou State, they would now run into a tough nut to crack like Yunzhou State.
"Men, charge! With me!" He raised his scimitar, lowered his body, and spurred his warhorse to lead the charge himself.
If they weren’t on opposing sides, Tan You might have admired Tuoba Lian’s bravery and martial prowess. But as things stood, she could only send him to his death.
She fixed her gaze on Tuoba Lian and gestured for Yue Shu to look. "See that one in the black armor with the metal breastplate? Can you capture him alive? If not, then just find a way to kill him."
She did indeed have the cheat-like ability of superhuman strength, but leading an army in battle was not her specialty. Her presence on the wall was primarily to command the field and bolster morale; for tactics, she relied mainly on Yue Shu.