Nightwatcher-Chapter 470: Siege

# 470. Siege

As the feeling of hatred gradually subsided, Xu Qi’an re-examined the battle and suddenly felt a chill down his spine, a cold dread rising in his heart.

With his reasoning ability, by the time he finished listening to Zhang Kaitai’s account, he had already reconstructed the entire battle in his mind.

At the heart of this war was the Warlock God.

Around the Warlock God, this great and deadly chess game unfolded.

Aiding the Yao and the barbarians was merely a surface-level excuse. What Wei Yuan truly sought was to deal with the Warlock God (for reasons unknown), while the late emperor and the Church of the Warlock God wanted to protect it.

Based on this, the Church of the Warlock God laid out its scheme:

The late emperor would sabotage things from behind the scenes. Once the army entered enemy territory, he would cut off their supplies and logistics, wearing down Wei Yuan’s forces and pushing the Great Feng’s troops into a bottomless abyss.

Afterwards, two third rank Masters of Wisdom, one first rank Great Warlock, and one second rank Transcending Tribulation daoist would make their move to finish things off. As long as Wei Yuan’s army was weakened enough, they were bound to strike.

Wei Yuan’s response was to massacre his way through cities, using war to sustain war. With no food or supply lines, he pushed straight into the heart of Yan, right up to the capital.

Then, he feigned an attack along the main road while secretly taking a sea route to strike at the enemy’s rear.

This suggested that Wei Yuan had anticipated the court’s betrayal. So from the start, he had prepared for a swift, decisive campaign, cutting off his own retreat, forgoing supplies, looting locally, and relying on war to fuel war, heading straight for the Church’s headquarters.

In the final decisive battle, Wei Yuan faced four top-tier experts. If he had only been a second rank martial artist, it would have been impossible to defeat them, let alone stake his life against the Warlock God.

Wei Yuan had taken this into account. He had a trump card, the Confucian Sage.

*Everyone thought this campaign was to support the Yao and the barbarians and maintain balance. Who would have thought there was a deeper purpose behind it... The Church of the Warlock God laid a trap, inviting Wei Yuan into the urn. But Duke Wei countered their scheme and summoned the Confucian Sage? Flattened their headquarters? The level of manoeuvring and calculation behind this... it sends chills down one’s spine...*

Xu Qi’an murmured internally.

He still had several doubts left unresolved. For instance, if Duke Wei had truly reached the Hedao realm, a terrifying figure on an inhuman level, why did he keep a low profile for so many years? Why announce to the world that he had no cultivation and was just an ordinary man?

And another, why did the late emperor collude with the Church of the Warlock God to kill Wei Yuan? Yes, a second rank minister was enough to make one feel uneasy, but was conspiring with a tiger truly a safe move?

Given Wei Yuan’s relationship with the empress, the late emperor could have used that as leverage to negotiate. Besides, the Jianzheng stood above all, watching from above. Keeping the overall situation stable shouldn’t have been difficult.

In contrast, willingly throwing the country’s soldiers and generals into the jaws of the enemy posed far greater risks.

A familiar phrase came to Xu Qi’an’s mind: *Why rebel, Your Majesty?*

This was the question now troubling him.

And finally, why did Wei Yuan, even at the cost of his own life, insist on storming the headquarters of the Church of the Warlock God?

*So it turns out I don’t even have the power to collect his body...* Xu Qi’an felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Amidst the surge of emotion, he took a deep breath. “Duke Wei... was hiding his strength all along?”

Zhang Kaitai gave a soft “mm,” gazing out blankly at the entrance of the command tent. He said slowly:

“After the battle at Shanhai Pass, Duke Wei had a private audience with His Majesty, then destroyed his own cultivation. We didn’t understand it at the time, and we still don’t now. Who would’ve thought Duke Wei had been secretly cultivating martial arts again? Though he died in battle, I still feel comforted.

“A clay pot cannot escape being broken at the well; a general cannot avoid dying on the battlefield. To die in battle as a peerless expert, I have no regrets where Duke Wei is concerned.” Ŗ𝘼ƝÓBÈʂ

Xu Qi’an asked again, “Aside from Yang Yan and Jiang Lyuzhong, you’re the only Gold Gong who survived. What are your plans?”

“Once a Nightwatcher, always a Nightwatcher.” Zhang Kaitai tilted his head, looking at him. “And you?”

There was only silence in reply.

Just then, a deputy general came running, face pale with urgency, and shouted, “Commander sir, the scouts report that Yan and Kang have gathered eighty thousand troops and are heading for Yuyang Pass. They’ll arrive in an hour at most.”

Zhang Kaitai’s expression changed. “Who is leading them?”

The deputy replied gravely, “The King of Yan, Nurhaci.”

Zhang Kaitai froze, falling silent for a moment, then issued orders:

“Call all centurions leading thousand men and up for a war council. Have every soldier man the walls. Have the militia immediately begin transporting siege defence equipment and supplies from the warehouses…”

He issued command after command smoothly and unhurriedly, but the grim look on his face betrayed the heavy burden on his heart.

Soon, a dozen or so armoured officers, sabres at their waists, entered the tent and cupped their fists to Xu Qi’an and Zhang Kaitai before taking their seats.

Having already learned that the allied forces of Yan and Kang were about to arrive at their doorstep, the officers were all stern-faced, refraining from exchanging pleasantries with Xu Qi’an.

Zhang Kaitai looked around at them all and said in a low voice, “The counterattack has come. Looks like the Church of the Warlock God means to fight us to the death.”

All present were seasoned officers with a keen sense for war. After retreating to Yuyang Pass, they had analysed the situation.

The Church had suffered a devastating defeat in this campaign, losing seven cities in succession. There was much that needed to be handled in the aftermath. Under such circumstances, the reasonable course of action would be to stabilise the front, repair the cities, and keep a close watch on the border.

To launch another war so soon could only mean that the Church intended to fight the Great Feng to the bitter end.

“We don’t have enough troops…”

“We don’t have enough supplies either. After Chen Ying killed those damned officials from the Ministry of Revenue, he found out that the grain had never been delivered in the first place. Those bastards deliberately kept us in the dark.”

“Colluding with the enemy, betraying the country, their whole clans should be executed. While our brothers die on the front, these dogs stab us in the back. Sons of bitches.”

Zhang Kaitai knocked on the table to steer the conversation back. “What we need to do now is hold Yuyang Pass and send an urgent report to the court, asking them to dispatch reinforcements immediately. But food is the problem, what we have in the storehouse won’t last until help arrives.”

One general pondered and said, “Yuzhou has always been a land of grain. The commoners there won’t be short on food. We can requisition supplies from them. We can’t trust those damned officials any more, we’ll send our own men.”

Zhang Kaitai frowned. “That’s not proper, and the people might not agree. If we force them, we’ll be accused of extortion, and the civil officials will have grounds to impeach us.”

“They will be willing.”

The local general spoke each word firmly: “The court may have forgotten that debt from forty years ago, but the people of the three provinces have not.”

With the issue of provisions settled for now, the officers moved on to discuss troop strength.

Each of them wore a troubled expression.

“With the speed at which the court mobilises, can our sixteen thousand men hold the line?”

The Church of the Warlock God was not like the barbarians. The barbarians relied purely on bodies to storm the walls, but the Church had siege weapons, some they made themselves, some secretly stolen from the Great Feng.

After their defeat at Shanhai Pass, the Church took stock of its failure and concluded that the Great Feng’s most fearsome asset was its heavy, lethal weaponry.

So they secretly colluded with the Great Feng officials, embezzled military gear, dismantled and studied it… Over the years, they had learned to manufacture many siege weapons of their own.

Including gunpowder.

However, without arcanists, the siege weapons, cannons, and repeating crossbows they produced were all mundane. The Great Feng’s were magical artefacts, incomparable in destructive power.

“We hold the line no matter what. The Church of the Warlock God is a paper tiger. If we repel them this time, we win. And even if we can’t, we’ll make them bleed. We’ll leave them crippled. Just like the Battle of Shanhai Pass, make sure they don’t recover for twenty years.”

“At worst, it’s just death.”

As he spoke, Zhang Kaitai’s deputy glanced at his superior and said gravely:

“That dog Chen Ying deserted the camp without authorisation. Now we’ve only got a handful of fourth rank experts left. It’s going to be hard to hold them off. If I remember right, Nurhaci is fourth rank, double fourth rank in both martial and warlock systems.”

That statement caused the assembled officers to frown deeply; the mood grew heavy.

*Thud thud...*

Xu Qi’an tapped the table to draw their attention and asked, “He’s trained in both martial and warlock paths? Who is this Nurhaci?”

To be honest, he’d seen and heard a lot by now, but people who trained in two cultivation systems were still rare.

He was a little surprised.

Cultivation was hard enough within a single system. Just surviving it took everything, who had the strength to train another on the side?

Zhang Kaitai answered his question: “The succession of kings in the Church of the Warlock God’s vassal states is different from ours in the Central Plains. In Yan, Jing, and Kang, state affairs are handled by ministers, while military power rests with the monarch. So every generation’s king is a battle-hardened veteran and a formidable warrior.

“Above both sits a third rank master from the Church of the Warlock God, who serves as National Teacher. The National Teacher doesn’t meddle in politics or the military, but holds the greatest authority in the state. Aside from being unable to depose or enthrone a king, he has final say and veto power in all matters. In truth, the monarch is more like the field marshal of the military.”

*No wonder. Jing’s monarch, Xiahou Yushu, was hailed as a general second only to Duke Wei. I’d been wondering, why is every emperor treating their crown like a side gig? Turns out it really *is* a side gig...*

Xu Qi’an nodded, suddenly grasping the theocratic hierarchy they operated under.

Zhang Kaitai went on:

“Nurhaci is the current King of Yan. He may not match Xiahou Yushu in strategic planning, but in personal combat, two Xiahou Yushus wouldn’t be enough to take him down. He’s not just peak fourth rank, he’s peak fourth rank in both systems.

“Before the campaign began, we were prepared to trade two or three fourth ranks just to take him out. But who would’ve thought…”

*Who would’ve thought we wouldn’t even take the Yan capital.*

Xu Qi’an swept a calm gaze over the officers. Their expressions were grim. Zhang Kaitai’s explanation seemed to have sapped their morale. He nodded and refrained from asking more.

Listening to a comrade describe the enemy’s strength was a severe blow to morale.

He had no experience in warfare, so he chose to stay quiet, half-closing his eyes in thought.

But his silence left a few of the generals, those who knew Silver Gong Xu was a master of strategy, quietly disappointed.

*A peak fourth rank from two systems… that’s going to be tough…* Xu Qi’an weighed things in his mind and realised he wasn’t capable of defeating such an opponent.

First of all, combining two systems’ methods could create a qualitative leap in power. Just like when he had borrowed Confucian spells to temporarily become a “jack of all trades” and singlehandedly suppressed Li Miaozhen and Chu Yuanzhen.

Back then, he had been two ranks below them.

Second, fourth ranks weren’t all equal. Someone like Li Miaozhen, who had just reached fourth rank half a year ago, would be outmatched by peak-level fourth ranks.

So a peak fourth rank in two systems? Below third rank, defeating one of those was almost impossible.

*My One Blade from Heaven and Earth paired with the Taiping Sabre can threaten a fourth rank expert, but only someone like Li Miaozhen, who’s on the weaker end. And even then, there’s no guarantee it’ll land. The Buddhist Lion’s Roar doesn’t work on warlocks who are adept at soul defences, if I can’t strike that blade, I’m done for…*

*Master Shenshu is still not awake, and you can’t wake someone who’s AFK, no matter how many times you shout ‘nmsl’...*

*The Confucian spellbook is powerful support, but I don’t have Righteous Qi to protect my body. If I push too hard, I’ll die before the enemy does. If I don’t push, I can’t kill a peak dual-system fourth rank…*

After carefully reviewing all his methods, Xu Qi’an felt somewhat discouraged.

Without any external buffs, facing a dual-system peak fourth rank as a fifth rank himself was pushing it; almost impossible.

Even if he teamed up with Li Miaozhen and Zhang Kaitai, the three of them together might be able to take on Nurhaci. But Yan and Kang’s armies were full of experts, and they had eighty thousand troops.

…

Outside Yuyang Pass.

The sky was a brilliant blue. Across the barren plains, dense ranks of soldiers advanced slowly: artillery first, followed by infantry and then cavalry, each unit in neat formation.

Ahead of the artillery were six massive siege towers, each pulled by twenty-eight mules. These towers were built by the Yan Kingdom from blueprints leaked by the Ministry of War.

They were retractable, able to rise up to seventy feet, enough to reach over most city walls. As for cities built into narrow passes, even if the height sufficed, the towers couldn’t be wheeled in.

That was why Wei Yuan hadn’t brought siege towers on his campaign, the passes in Yan were naturally fortified, making siege towers nearly useless.

In the cavalry ranks, Nurhaci rode a towering beast that looked like a horse but was covered in jet-black scales, with a single sharp horn protruding from its brow.

A single-horned scaled beast from Jing.

Nurhaci’s mount wasn’t an ordinary specimen either, it was the blood brother of Xiahou Yushu’s favourite steed, both offspring of a sentient beast kept at Jing’s royal stables.

“Brother Hongxiong, Yuyang Pass has fewer than twenty thousand defenders. What’s your estimate, how long will it take to take it?”

Nurhaci, grey at the temples and broad-shouldered, turned to the rider beside him.

It was a burly man in black armour with a long scar running vertically from brow to chin on his left cheek, which had also cost him an eye.

Hence he was one-eyed.

He held a similarly high status. Named Sugudu Hongxiong, "Red bear", he was the younger brother of the King of Kang.

The name suited him well.

This man was gifted with immense strength, back in the Refining Vitality realm, he’d once shattered a Refining Qi martial artist's bones with a single punch.

Throughout Kang, from court to the jianghu, his cultivation ranked in the top twenty.

Sugudu Hongxiong squinted, gazing at the towering walls of Yuyang Pass, and grinned. “Half a month at most.”

Nurhaci shook his head. “I say five days. In fact, if things go as I expect, three might be enough.”

Sugudu Hongxiong furrowed his brow and looked at him.

Nurhaci smiled. “Wei Yuan is dead. The Great Feng’s morale is low. Seeing our army of eighty thousand at their gates will strike another blow. Most of their high-ranking warriors have already died at Mount Jing City. Just a little Yuyang Pass, how many experts could they possibly have? And if they do… how many can they spare before we cut them down?”

Sugudu Hongxiong slowly nodded.

The towering man in his fifties went on:

“Besides, our troops are riding high. Wei Yuan died in our Church’s headquarters, the so-called God of War of the Great Feng, slain by our Church. From a different angle, isn’t that a huge morale booster?”

This assault on Yuyang Pass was ordered by the Church’s headquarters. The command relayed by Grand Warlock Irbu was simple: kill!

Kill them all!

Kill as many as you can, however many you can.

Recreate the thousand-li slaughter of forty years ago.

Nurhaci gazed at the Great Feng banner flapping atop the city walls, narrowed his eyes, and gave a low chuckle:

“Wei Yuan slaughtered the people of our Yan Kingdom and shook the fortune of our Church of the Warlock God. Now, it’s our turn to shake Great Feng’s fortune.”

Shaking a nation’s fortune was simple, it meant war, it meant killing.

A nation was made up of its people. The larger the population, the stronger its fortune. Between a small country of ten thousand and a vast one of tens of millions, it was clear which had the greater fortune.

The allied armies of Yan and Kang came to a halt. The sounds of marching, wheels turning, and armour clinking all vanished, leaving an eerie silence.

…

Xu Qi’an followed Zhang Kaitai and the other generals to the top of the wall and looked down from afar. The eighty thousand troops below were neatly arrayed, looking like chunks of tofu cut to precision.

They seemed as small as an ant colony, yet the dense, surging mass exuded a suffocating, oppressive pressure like a tide.

The soldiers on the wall wore solemn expressions, as if facing a great enemy.

Zhang Kaitai rested his hand on his sabre, looked solemnly at the army below, and said in a low voice:

“The Church of the Warlock God is different from the Yao and barbarians. The barbarians have nothing but cavalry. Fighting them head-on in the field, we lose more than we win. But at least they know their limits and rarely try to siege a city.

“But the Church of the Warlock God has cannons and ballistae, siege equipment, and infantry skilled in swarming assaults.”

Xu Qi’an suggested, “Didn’t you say Duke Wei cut through the Yan’s heartland? They already suffered heavy losses. And now they’re assembling more troops? Hah, how much strength can they really muster?

“Maybe their rear is now hollow. Could we sneak around and raid Yan’s capital?”

Zhang Kaitai shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Nurhaci isn’t a fool. He’ll have left just enough troops to hold the city and will have emptied the surrounding fields. We’ve only a limited number of cannons, we can’t afford a protracted siege.

“If our cannons run out and the city still stands, we’ll have lost both men and materiel. Even Duke Wei couldn’t take the capital quickly. How could we?

“If we target another city, the front line would stretch too far. The enemy could easily cut off our supplies. The men we send would be dying for nothing.”

Xu Qi’an slowly nodded.

Just then, he saw a rider step forward. With his sharp vision, he could vaguely make out a burly man, temples frosted with grey, eyes sharp as blades, emanating a fierce aura.

The beast under him was black-scaled, fierce and majestic.

*Nurhaci?* he guessed inwardly.

Then, along with Xu Qi’an, the defenders on the wall saw the monarch of Yan raise his sabre, turn his mount, and roar at his troops:

“Sons of Yan! Half a month ago, the Great Feng’s army invaded our land and butchered seven cities. Your parents and brothers were slain, your homes turned to ash. Have you forgotten this blood feud?”

The Yan’s army roared like thunder: “We have not!”

Nurhaci continued:

“This is our hatred, but it is not our shame. Half a month ago, Wei Yuan fell at Mount Jing City, slain by our Church of the Warlock God. He paid for his deeds with his life. The mighty god of war of the Great Feng, nothing more than that.

“The so-called military god that the Great Feng boasts of was easily slain by our Church and became a stepping stone for our fame across the land. Now, it’s time for the weaklings of the Great Feng to taste our wrath.

“We shall make the Great Feng understand: the territory of the Church of the Warlock God is not to be trespassed. Those who slay our people shall repay in blood!”

With every word, the morale of the Yan’s soldiers rose, their confidence swelling.

By the end, their spirit soared sky-high.

Kang’s troops were likewise stirred, burning with fighting will.

The speech was a resounding success, built on a solid foundation, Wei Yuan was indeed killed by the Church of the Warlock God!

In the half-month since the battle at Mount Jing City, the three nations of Yan, Kang, and Jing had wildly propagated the news that Wei Yuan died at the Church’s main altar. It fired up not only their people and soldiers, but even those from the jianghu.

Whether or not the Church’s propaganda was selective, a fact remained a fact.

Especially for Yan’s people, this news sent the whole nation into celebration.

The god of war of the Great Feng, who had made his name feared during the Battle of Shanhai Pass, was now just another corpse at the feet of the Church.

The people who once cursed their fate were now full of joy, the demoralised troops reignited with fighting spirit.

On the wall, Xu Qi’an’s expression darkened.

Nurhaci pointed his sabre toward Yuyang Pass and shouted: “Siege!”

With that command, battle broke out.

Two divisions of ten thousand infantry from Yan and Kang charged first, pushing three siege towers, carrying ladders over ten metres long, and hauling siege hammers weighing hundreds of pounds.

Behind them, archers, cannons, and ballistae opened fire in unison, covering the infantry advance.

On the wall, drums thundered and horns blared.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The cannons mounted on the battlements fired in sequence. One shell after another tore into the enemy ranks, sending blood and limbs flying.

*Twang! Twang! Twang!*

The ballistae released with crisp sounds. Bolts condensed with white light streaked through the air. Though not as destructive as the cannons, they had greater range and piercing power.

Thus, the ballistae targeted enemy artillery, other ballistae, and powerful enemy warriors.

No martial artist below sixth-rank Bronze Skin and Iron Bones could survive a hit from a magic weapon-grade ballista bolt.

Even a sixth-rank would be gravely wounded.

Aside from the cannons and ballistae, thousands of soldiers fired arrows down in volleys.

In the span of half a stick of incense, over a thousand infantrymen had died during the charge.

Shouts, screams, cannon blasts, and ballistae twangs mingled into a chaotic and bloody scene.

Only the siege towers could advance slowly.

They were massive, built of iron and wood, with a steel frame. Even taking several hits from cannon fire did little more than shake them or crack their surface. High-ranked warriors guarded them, shielding against artillery and ballista bolts.

Inside each siege tower were nearly a hundred elite warriors.

If they reached the wall, they could tear open a hole in the defensive line, relieving the pressure on the climbing troops.

As Xu Qi’an watched the assaulting infantry below, his gaze shifted and locked onto one siege tower nearing the wall.

The artillery crew hastily raised the cannon’s angle and aimed at it.

Several shots struck true but only caused it to tremble violently and crack, nothing that would destroy it.

“Taiping!”

Xu Qi’an gave a light slap to his lower back.

The Taiping Sabre let out a clear ring as it sprang from its sheath and whistled forward. The dark-gold blade light sliced cleanly through several key support beams like threads.

With a series of cracks, the siege tower collapsed in pieces.

The heavy iron compartments crashed down, crushing dozens of infantry below.

A peerless divine weapon, nothing could stand against it.

On the wall, Great Feng’s soldiers burst into loud cheers, shouting “Silver Gong Xu!” as their morale soared.

In the distance, within the cavalry camp, Nurhaci frowned, looked around, and asked:

“Who is that man?”