Chapter Fifty-One: Another Wave of Attack

Hearing Yang Xi’s reasoning, Gao Shi’s expression darkened as well. After a long sigh, he turned and left.

What Yang Xi said made perfect sense. In the end, abandoning Han Tongguan and retreating to Sui Tongguan—a fortress ten times more formidable—was the only option their current forces allowed. Under the rebels’ relentless assault, Han Tongguan was bound to fall; it was only a matter of time. Even if they threw every man stationed at Tongguan into its defense, the outcome wouldn’t change. The ten thousand battered soldiers who survived the disaster at Lingbao simply could not withstand the rebel attack holding only Han Tongguan.

Over the past months, Han Tongguan had endured countless battles. Both the fortress and its other defensive structures were now severely damaged, with no time for repairs; its defensive capacity was greatly diminished. No matter who took command, it was impossible to treat it as the final bastion and mount a last stand.

Had Han Tongguan been properly repaired, perhaps there would have been a theoretical chance. But to hold the natural barrier of Tongguan, they had to rely on the treacherous Forbidden Ravine, the twelve linked fortresses as guardians, and Sui Tongguan itself—fortified by mountains far more perilous than those around Han Tongguan. As long as there were enough troops and weapons within Sui Tongguan, even waves of hundreds of thousands of rebels would not breach its defenses.

Sui Tongguan was the last redoubt for their ten thousand battered survivors, the ground they could most rely on. All they could do was dig in and await reinforcements, fighting to the last man. Only if reinforcements arrived in an unbroken stream could they hope to hold more key points, slow the rebels’ advance, or even inflict heavy losses upon them.

When Gao Shi had previously offered his counsel during Geshu Han’s deployment, he had opposed the withdrawal from Han Tongguan and the twelve linked fortresses. In the end, his advice went unheeded. Though he ultimately agreed with Geshu Han’s decision to abandon Han Tongguan and concentrate on defending Sui Tongguan, he still disagreed with giving up the twelve fortresses.

Now, atop each of those twelve massive beacon towers, there were about one hundred and twenty soldiers stationed. These men, together with the defenders on Sui Tongguan’s ramparts, would resist the rebels who had to cross the Forbidden Ravine to launch an assault on the city, doing all they could to inflict maximum casualties. The natural barrier of the Forbidden Ravine, which Han Tongguan lacked, was itself worth the strength of tens of thousands of soldiers. Unfortunately, many unburned corpses still lay within the ravine, slightly diminishing its defensive effectiveness.

Gao Shi could only hope Heaven would show favor to them.

Watching Gao Shi’s retreating figure, Yang Xi let out a heavy sigh as well. Only now did he truly understand the pain of having to choose between two irreconcilable desires.

Han Tongguan truly was a superb stronghold for resisting the rebel advance, even in its ruined state. But with so few men under his command—broken soldiers at that—Yang Xi dared not divide his forces. If he dispatched men to Han Tongguan and they were devoured by the rebels, there would be no hope of defending Sui Tongguan. If he sent more troops to Han Tongguan and it still fell, the blow to the remaining soldiers’ morale would be indescribable. Many might break and flee again, some commanders might abandon all hope of holding out, perhaps even deserting like Huoba Guiren. With no idea when reinforcements would arrive, Yang Xi dared not gamble.

He also had other worries. The road from Sui Tongguan to Han Tongguan was a mountain path, difficult to traverse and impossible to move quickly. Yang Xi constantly worried whether the men at Han Tongguan could retreat safely.

If, during their withdrawal, they were discovered by the rebels and pursued, it would be a real challenge to get their own men safely into the fortress while keeping the rebels out. Letting in only two thousand or so, with the help of the soldiers on the twelve linked fortresses for cover and a supporting force, might be feasible. Any more, and the difficulty would multiply—unless they were willing to abandon some.

Yang Xi fully understood why, after their defeat, Geshu Han abandoned Han Tongguan and concentrated his remaining strength at Sui Tongguan.

When would reinforcements finally arrive?

Damn Geshu Han, stripping all the troops from the vicinity of Tongguan for his campaign—if only he’d left some behind!

If not for the few small ambushes hastily set up, and the fact that Li Fude and Pang Zhong used Han Tongguan as a point of resistance to slow the rebels, the enemy would probably already be at the gates of Sui Tongguan, furiously assaulting it. Yang Xi had no idea how long these battered remnants could hold if the rebels did attack his current position—whether they could endure until reinforcements came.

As Yang Xi was lost in these thoughts, the rebels launched another assault, larger than the last.

Yang Xi observed every attack intently. He saw the number of rebels storming the city slowly increase—from a few hundred at the start to over a thousand now, with fresh troops constantly feeding into the assault. The next wave would follow right behind the last, making it a continuous attack rather than separate waves. Clearly, the rebels wanted to capture Han Tongguan before nightfall.

Everyone knew there was a world of difference between an assault before dusk and one after. The attackers never relished storming a fortress under the cover of darkness. If they failed to take Han Tongguan by nightfall, they would have to wait until morning to try again. Night attacks were possible, of course, but the terrain around Tongguan was so treacherous that even moving about was difficult, let alone mounting an assault—casualties would be much higher. Both sides understood this. In the past few months, the rebels had only tried one or two night attacks at the very beginning, then quickly abandoned the effort. The walls of Tongguan were near impossible to scale; sending elite troops to sneak in at night was out of the question.

As the sun sank halfway behind the mountains, Yang Xi realized this must be the rebels’ final assault of the day. If they held on, it would be a victory, at least buying them another night.

In that one night, reinforcements could cover several dozen—perhaps even a hundred—miles.

Yang Xi immediately sent orders: Li Fude and Pang Zhong must hold the line at all costs. If they could withstand the rebel assault until night fell, the attacks would cease, and that would be the time to attempt a withdrawal.

Even as Yang Xi’s messenger raced toward Han Tongguan, the rebels began their desperate, almost suicidal assault.

At both the southern and eastern gates, at least two thousand rebel soldiers in each direction surged toward the city walls like a tide. Shield-bearers covered one another, striving to get their ladders onto the ramparts. As the rebels pushed forward, arrows rained down from the walls, accompanied by countless screams of agony as many rebels were struck and fell, wounded or dead.

But the rebels’ attack did not falter. Under the shouted commands of their officers, the soldiers charged forward in wave after wave, some taking advantage of the terrain to shoot arrows up at the defenders.

In the blood-red light of sunset, a brutal battle raged on, humanity nowhere to be found.