Fight to the Death, Never Retreat

All the celebration came to an abrupt end at this moment.

On the walls of Yunji City, it was as if the heavens had pressed the pause button.

Even Ren Tianye found it somewhat unbelievable and asked, "What did you say?"

"General, another fifty thousand imperial guards are approaching. They are not far from our Yunji City and will be upon us in an instant!"

Ren Tianye immediately looked out into the distance. At the very edge of his vision, he could vaguely see dust billowing into the air, clearly indicating a large army charging toward them.

Charging at a breakneck pace.

This phenomenon was not only visible to Ren Tianye; many soldiers on the city wall could see it too. Some had already instinctively felt the sheer intimidation of a fifty-thousand-strong army.

Fifty thousand elite imperial guards!

Added to the twenty thousand already before them, that made a total of seventy thousand imperial guards!

This was an army comparable in number to the Chifeng Army. Even if their combat prowess was slightly inferior to the Chifeng Army, the difference would not be significant.

After all, they were the Great Yu imperial guards.

The very name implied that they were the most elite military force in the entire Great Yu Dynasty!

And so...

Seventy thousand imperial guards were besieging their Yunji City!

The soldiers, whose hearts had been burning with excitement just moments ago, felt as though a basin of cold water had been poured over them. Many even began to feel panic and anxiety.

They only had a little over seven thousand men, while the imperial guards numbered seventy thousand!

A staggering ten-to-one disparity in troop strength.

Could Yunji City hold them off?

Ren Tianye actually had the same fleeting doubt: could Yunji City hold them off?

Although Yunji City possessed a tremendous geographical advantage, had been fortified into an impregnable stronghold by Zhan Shubai, and boasted well-trained soldiers, the enemy still numbered seventy thousand!

Seventy thousand imperial guards!

Seventy thousand of the Great Yu Dynasty's most elite imperial guards!

Surrounded by mountains on three sides, Yunji City only had this single frontal wall, meaning they would have to face the seventy thousand imperial guards head-on!

Could their seven thousand men hold them off?

But soon, that sliver of panic and worry in Ren Tianye's heart was replaced by an overwhelmingly intense fury!

Just because of the domineering words and actions of the young duke, seventy thousand imperial guards were dispatched to attack the city. They were all expected to become collateral damage just so Young Duke Lu Jun could show off!

This female-oriented romance novel world was absurd to the extreme!

It left no way out for normal people!

Then they would fight to the bitter end!

At worst, it meant death!

Ren Tianye turned around, faced the majority of the soldiers on the city wall, and shouted loudly, "Everyone, have you seen clearly?"

"Have you seen the true face of the imperial court clearly?"

"Our Yunji City is still part of the imperial military sequence and nominally remains under the court's jurisdiction. Yet, they dare to brazenly besiege us with seventy thousand imperial guards."

"The imperial court does not care about your lives or mine at all."

"Is such a court still worth serving?"

Almost as soon as Ren Tianye's voice fell, an overwhelming roar resounded: "Not worth it!"

"Not worth it!"

"Not worth it!"

"Treacherous officials dominate the court, and the empress is foolish and blind. First, she executed seventy thousand men of the Chifeng Army, and now she wants to seize our Yunji City. The whole world is plunged into misery and suffering."

Ren Tianye's voice rang out again, pausing between each word: "Such a court is not worth it."

"But Yunji City is our home!"

"Without our home, not only will we have no way to survive, but our parents, siblings, and children will also be left with no way out!"

"Soldiers, are you willing to join this general..."

"And fight to the death without retreating!"

The people on the walls of Yunji City had already been inspired by Ren Tianye's words, driving away the fear in their hearts. The crowd surged with fierce passion.

The court was tyrannical, the empress was foolish, and treacherous officials were in power.

They were like meat on a chopping block.

Left to be slaughtered!

But they refused to accept this!

They wanted to live!

So they shouted together at the top of their lungs: "Fight to the death without retreating!"

"Fight to the death without retreating!"

"Fight to the death without retreating!"

"Good!" Ren Tianye shouted. "Then let's beat these arrogant imperial guards to death!"

He immediately issued an order: "Sun Xiang!"

"Subordinate is here!"

"Mobilize all the soldiers from the inner camp, along with the Eight Hundred Army, and bring everyone onto the city wall. This battle is a matter of life and death."

"Our city might fall, but..."

"We will never retreat!"

Sun Xiang accepted the order loudly: "Yes!"

He did not even bother going to the inner camp to mobilize the troops; instead, he directly ordered men to beat the war drums.

After three rounds of drumming, the rest of the soldiers in Yunji City surged up onto the walls. Each of them had fury burning in their eyes, holding sharp blades, swearing to live or die with Yunji City!

This was the advantage of Yunji City.

With only one city wall, there was no need to divide their forces. Aside from keeping a mobile reinforcement unit, everyone could just get on the wall and fight!

Just as they finished preparing, the fifty thousand imperial guards arrived at the base of the city wall.

Ren Tianye could visibly see that the morale of the twenty thousand imperial guards, whose initial assault had gone poorly, was rapidly soaring.

He instantly knew that the commander leading these fifty thousand imperial guards must be a highly prestigious general in the army.

And under the command of this general, the fifty thousand imperial guards launched an attack before they had even fully halted their march. The twenty thousand imperial guards who had just retreated also howled and charged forward once again.

This time, they brought siege equipment, and their offensive was even more ferocious.

Beneath Yunji City, which had been peaceful for mere moments, earth-shattering battle cries rang out once more.

The soldiers of Yunji City immediately launched the fiercest counterattack.

Heavy crossbows were set up, specifically targeting the gaps in the front lines of the imperial guards.

Trebuchets, positioned high above, hurled massive boulders and burning oil downwards.

Their targets were the dense clusters of imperial guards, as well as the pontoon bridges and battering rams they had constructed.

Rolling logs and stones, prepared in advance on the city walls, were also thrown down in droves.

Not only did they crush the imperial guards who charged close into a bloody pulp, but some of the rolling stones, aided by the terrain, continued to roll madly down the broad road outside Yunji City.

Yet despite such a tight and highly lethal defense, far too many among this seventy-thousand-strong imperial army were unafraid of death, charging recklessly forward.

Using the scaling ladders they had just brought, they climbed up frantically.

But Zhan Shubai's prior preparations were simply too abundant.

Boiling hot oil was poured directly down.

Followed by flaming arrows.

This caused massive fires to erupt against the city walls, turning the imperial guards into human torches as they tumbled off the scaling ladders.

Even so, there were still exceptionally brave imperial guards who managed to fight their way onto the city wall. However, the soldiers of Yunji City were truly well-trained.

Using halberds and hooked spears, they thrust and pulled.

They flipped over those imperial guards who were eager to claim the glory of being the first to scale the wall!

Sending them plummeting!

With such a coordinated series of maneuvers, the short-blade fighters hiding behind the battlements found themselves with little to do, because virtually no stragglers were lucky enough to make it onto the wall.

As a result, from the very beginning, the battle exhibited an unsurprising and extreme imbalance, with the soldiers of Yunji City holding an absolute advantage.

However, the imperial guards refused to give up.

Even though corpses were already piled up like mountains beneath Yunji City, the imperial guards continued to charge wave after wave.

Behind them stood the supervising military censors!

This continued for a full four hours. By the time the sky began to darken, the two sides were still locked in a stalemate. The imperial guards had failed to advance a single step, while the soldiers of Yunji City had also paid a heavy price!

At this time, torches were lit at the base of the city. Under the bright red glow of the firelight, a general in golden armor appeared proudly, surrounded by a crowd of men.

He pointed his riding crop, and soon the imperial guards' offensive slowed down.

He then ordered someone to shout: "This general has fought battles far and wide for so long, and I have never seen anyone dare to put up such stubborn resistance in front of me for this amount of time."

"Boy, you are the first."

"Very well, you have successfully enraged this general!"

"Now, I command you to crawl down here, bind yourself, and surrender outside the city gates! Escort my nephew out with the utmost respect, and I may consider leaving your corpse intact!"

"Otherwise... I will make sure that none of you in Yunji City die an easy death!"

...