#422 - Only one can be saved
“.”
“Young master, that’s about the situation.”
“Currently, the military spirit of Da Feng is scattered. Although they have the will to resist, they no longer have the ability.”
“In my opinion, I estimate they will be defeated in no more than half a month.”
Inside the study, Chu Xianping had finished explaining the latest situation.
Wei Changtian, who hadn't even finished his meal, was frowning, not saying a word throughout the entire process.
The situation on Da Feng's side was clear, but it was unknown how the Li family would choose.
Fight to the death?
Or endure and survive?
Unlike Zhu Tianhong, in Wei Changtian's view, the Li family really only had these two options.
As for continuing to retreat westward or begging for peace, these were merely different forms of the above two choices.
“Has Li Wutong replied yet?”
Raising his head, Wei Changtian asked softly, “Have the scouts gathered any news about her?”
“Reporting, young master, Princess Wuping has not replied.”
Chu Xianping answered truthfully, “I have sent three secret reports to the princess today, but have not received a response.”
“However, according to the scouts, the princess is currently safe and sound, and nothing unexpected has happened.”
“.”
The person is fine, but there's no reply...
Li Wutong's actions greatly puzzled Wei Changtian, and he didn't know if she hadn't received the information, or had received it but deliberately didn't reply.
Could it be that Li Qi's serious injury and coma had left her with no time to attend to these matters?
Thinking of Li Qi, Wei Changtian couldn't help but think of that mysterious second-rank expert.
Now that he had more detailed information, he had a rough guess as to the person's identity.
If there were no surprises, it should be Bai Youheng.
After all, Ning Yongnian used the “Yuanzhou City Massacre” to wipe out 500,000 Da Feng elites in one fell swoop, and as another important figure in this matter, Bai Youheng would naturally not gain nothing.
The benefits he received were probably no less than Ning Yongnian's.
Although there was no conclusive evidence, Wei Changtian always felt that his guess was correct.
From the sixth rank to the second rank, breaking through four major realms overnight, this sounded incredible, of course.
But if it was at the cost of three million lives... then it seemed nothing was impossible.
“Young master, what should we do next?”
On the other side, Chu Xianping asked solemnly, “There are still some Tongzhou Association generals in the Da Ning army. If we secretly engage in some small actions, perhaps we can delay the situation for a while longer.”
“It’s useless.”
Wei Changtian shook his head, “If we can't reverse the outcome, what's the point of delaying it for a few more days?”
In the latter's eyes, what happened to Da Feng wasn't that important. He might help a little within his capabilities, but he would never pay too much for it.
Especially in the current situation, which was almost irreversible.
In the end, the only person Wei Changtian truly cared about and had the ability to “save” was Li Wutong.
“Continue to send messages to Li Wutong.”
As if confirming Chu Xianping's guess, Wei Changtian slowly said, “Until she replies.”
“Yes.”
Chu Xianping nodded, immediately took out a mother-child jade with special markings from his bosom, urging his inner force to heat it continuously.
Wei Changtian then got up and walked to the window, looking up at the night sky.
The stars were twinkling, and the diagonal Milky Way was like a light gauze ribbon, hanging alone at the top of the sky.
Fengyuan City, West City Wall.
“Kill!!!”
“Ah!! Help!!”
“Damn you! Get down!!”
“Where are the people?! Top up! Top up!!”
“Ning family lackeys!! Go to hell, grandpa!!”
“Boom!!!”
“.”
Unlike battles on the plains where both sides deployed their formations, siege warfare never had too many tactics to speak of.
There was no need for interweaving encirclements, no tactical depth, and no formations or strategies.
In most cases, the outcome of a siege warfare depended solely on the number of people and the combat power of both sides.
I use human lives to attack the city, you use human lives to defend the city.
It was that simple.
As for the offensive and defensive strategies mentioned in Sun Tzu's Art of War in the previous life, such as “Empty City Stratagem”, “Surround him if you are ten times stronger, attack him if you are five times stronger”, they were not applicable in the world of cultivation.
The enormous increase in the personal martial power of soldiers made many powerful city defense weapons in the previous life useless, and also made the difference between the advantages and disadvantages of the attacking and defending sides no longer obvious.
Things like boiling oil, rolling stones, nail boards, and the like had basically no lethality to martial artists.
Even the attacking side didn't need siege ladders. The city wall, which was more than ten zhang high, could be climbed by hand in just a few breaths.
This was also why Da Ning, with only 100,000 more people than Da Feng, dared to directly attack the city with all its strength.
“Ding ding ding!”
Protecting Li Wutong, Zhu Tianhong waved his sleeve to deflect several arrows flying towards the former.
Unlike Li Qi, who had “grandly” boosted morale two days ago, Li Wutong had secretly climbed the city wall this time, so there was no chance of being attacked again.
These white feather arrows were just the “indiscriminate fire coverage” of the Da Ning army under the city wall.
“Princess...”
Zhu Tianhong cautiously observed the surrounding situation, while advising in a deep voice, “The city wall is too dangerous, let's go back.”
“.”
Taking a deep breath, Li Wutong didn't answer.
She just stared at the battlefield not far away, watching the soldiers who were roaring and falling down, the splashing blood and rubble, and the “Feng” character flag fluttering in the air, her body trembling slightly.
This was a scene she had never seen before.
Although Li Wutong had grown up in the military since she was a child, and had even gone to Yuanzhou with the army, she had never seen the scene of war so closely.
“Thump!”
A severed hand suddenly flew over from nowhere, landing right in front of her.
Li Wutong stared blankly at the severed palm, watching the fingers that seemed to be still curling up, her heart suddenly contracting.
She didn't know why she was so painful, but she knew it was definitely not because of fear.
“Hand! My hand!!”
A man in Da Feng military uniform staggered over, kneeling on the ground to pick up the severed hand.
As long as it was treated in time, this hand could still be reattached.
“God bless! I found it!”
The soldier seemed a little happy that his “lost and found” palm, ignoring the still bleeding empty wrist, picked up the severed hand and wanted to go down the city wall to find the military doctor for treatment.
But just as he raised his head, he met Li Wutong's dazed eyes.
“You, you are...”
In an instant, the soldier's eyes suddenly widened, “You are Princess Wuping!”
“Yes.”
Li Wutong nodded almost subconsciously, and her action made the soldier excited like he had been injected with chicken blood.
“Princess! The city wall is dangerous, what are you doing here!”
“Just rest assured! We will never let the Da Ning dogs step on the city wall!”
“We will also send them all to see King Yama! To avenge the brothers who died in Yuanzhou City!”
“.”
The high-pitched shouts were a little chaotic, but they showed the soldier's extremely excited mood at the moment.
This also made Li Wutong suddenly feel a little relieved, and the haze in her heart dissipated a lot.
“I have a hemostatic pill here, take it first to stop the bleeding.”
She smiled, shook a small bottle out of her sleeve, and wanted to hand it to the soldier to stop the bleeding.
But in the next second, an arrow suddenly pierced through the soldier's chest from behind without warning.
“Puchi!”
The arrowhead, full of blood, drilled out of the armor, and also froze the expression on the soldier's face.
The latter couldn't say another word, just stared at Li Wutong, and then swayed and fell heavily to the ground.
“Crack!”
The small bottle containing the hemostatic pill slipped from his hand and shattered.
Li Wutong ran over in a panic, biting her lip tightly, reaching out to test the soldier's breath.
But besides the warm blood, she didn't feel anything else.
“Why, why...”
When a man's life dissipated in front of her eyes, the same thing was happening hundreds or thousands of times on this battlefield.
“Princess...”
Zhu Tianhong sighed and walked over, seeming to want to comfort Li Wutong a few words.
However, before he could speak, he saw the latter suddenly pick up her long skirt, and then rushed to the outer side of the city wall at all costs.
ps: That, a notification, I feel like I'm too salty, so I'll start trying to update three times a day from today, temporarily for a month, to see if my body can handle it, and whether there will be any changes in the results.
The update time is approximately 8 pm, 10 pm, and 12 am.
