The Xiliang soldiers, hearing Li Tianfu’s shouts, one by one became as if injected with stimulants, roaring as they courageously charged toward death, sworn to avenge their loved ones and capture the Great Zhou Emperor alive!
“Kill!”
“Kill——”
Looking out from Pingyang City toward the distance…
In the vast snowfall, thirty giant elephants slowly turned around. The elephant carrying the Tianfeng Nation general and the one Li Tianfu sat upon gradually steadied their steps. Because one eye had been wounded by arrows… and the accumulated snow underfoot was slippery, their movements were slow and unsteady.
Seeing the giant elephants turn around and inspired by Li Tianfu’s encouragement, the Xiliang soldiers roared as they continuously rushed out from both sides of the elephants at high speed, raising swords and spears to attack toward Pingyang City, as if blessed by the gods and no longer fearing death.
The Tianfeng Nation general bit the bone whistle at his lips, staring intently through the vast snow at the brilliant lights atop Pingyang City’s tower. His hand gripped the seat armrest tightly as he used the bone whistle to blow an extremely high-pitched tune.
The elephant trainers sitting at the necks of the giant elephants heard the whistle sound and looked toward their commanding general. The high-pitched whistle sounded again, and the trainers grabbed their escape ropes, making fists with one hand… roaring as they smashed open the hidden clasps of the heavy collars tightly wound around the elephants’ necks.
The collar clasps opened, and the heavy collars restraining the elephants fell to the ground amid the elephants’ trumpeting, hitting the earth with such force that it trembled. The elephants also began to charge madly toward Pingyang City.
The elephants ran faster and faster, nearly throwing Li Tianfu off. The trainer controlling Li Tianfu’s elephant, unable to communicate due to language barriers, said nothing and directly hoisted Li Tianfu onto his shoulder, grabbing the rope and sliding down from the increasingly fast-moving elephant. Li Tianfu heard only wind in her ears as she looked toward the ground… she could see only blurred images, the wind and snow striking her face painfully!
A nerve in Li Tianfu’s mind stretched taut. She widened her eyes, watching as they drew closer and closer to the ground, thinking the Tianfeng Nation trainer was going to jump down with her, and shouted loudly: “Too fast! We’ll be killed if we jump!”
The trainer couldn’t understand what Li Tianfu was saying. With one hand gripping the rope and both feet braced against the grooves in the elephant’s armor to steady himself, seeing that the cavalry had already caught up on horseback, he directly threw Li Tianfu down…
Li Tianfu’s eyes widened, seeing only wind and snow before her. She screamed, thinking she was going to die here, thinking Tianfeng Nation had gone mad and wanted to kill her too. But unexpectedly, a Tianfeng Nation cavalryman steadily caught Li Tianfu. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat.
Li Tianfu glanced at the cavalryman who caught her, then looked aside to see that the Tianfeng Nation elephant army general had also been caught by cavalry and was quickly reining in his horse. Seeing the giant elephants attacking toward Pingyang City, Li Tianfu, whose heart had not yet calmed from her narrow escape from death, couldn’t help but reveal an extremely mad smile. This time, with giant elephants clearing the way, Bai Qingyan would surely die!
Atop Pingyang City’s wall, Shen Kunyang saw the giant elephants turn around and charge toward Pingyang City. He gripped the sword at his waist tightly and walked steadily toward the ballista, shouting: “Ballistas prepare! Archers prepare!”
The ballista operators turned the winches, and three thick crossbow bolts had been properly positioned.
“Release!”
At Shen Kunyang’s command, the massive crossbow bolts mixed with the arrow rain shot straight into the dark sky, then in moments plunged rapidly from the heights toward the Xiliang and Tianfeng armies. The sharp arrows fell like rain, more than ten or twenty times faster than the falling snow, impossible to dodge. Screams mixed with the whistling of arrows echoed through the snowy night.
“Young Marshal Bai, you should leave! It’s not safe here with the city under attack!” Shen Kunyang was worried about Bai Qingyan’s condition.
But he saw Bai Qingyan standing beneath the swaying large lantern, her expression cold and stern, saying, “Uncle Shen, don’t worry. With A’Yu and General Cheng here… the city gates will never be breached!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Bai Qingyan turned to look at Shen Kunyang seriously: “Uncle Shen, have someone order snow to be piled inside the city gates and smooth it out to make it slippery… in case the elephant army truly enters the city!”
Having observed the battle from above for some time, Bai Qingyan noticed that although these elephant armies had steady steps when they arrived, once chaos erupted and the accumulated snow was trampled flat and firm, the giant elephants’ feet began to slip. As long as these massive beasts fell, what was there to worry about in defeating them?
With Bai Qingyan’s explanation, Shen Kunyang understood her meaning. His eyes brightened as he responded and turned to give orders.
“Your Majesty!” A general covered in sweat ran to Bai Qingyan and knelt on one knee. “Following Your Majesty’s instructions, we’ve had soldiers escort the civilians to the North Gate. The soldiers sent to collect hot peppers and Sichuan peppercorns from the city shops have also returned! However, when Fifth Young Master Bai led troops out of the city, he emptied the spice shops near the East Gate, so this subordinate spent some time collecting these peppers and peppercorns… they’re all now gathered below the city tower!”
Hearing this, Bai Qingyan looked up at the lantern swaying in the wind above. The wind was blowing toward the southwest, so the effect might not be optimal, but it was better than being helpless.
“Have someone light all the chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns and hang them outside the wall on the east side of the South Gate. The more smoke, the better!” Bai Qingyan instructed calmly. “Wear face coverings to avoid being choked!”
“Yes!”
“Spray water on the peppers and peppercorns and burn them together with dry firewood – that’ll create even more smoke!” Shen Kunyang grabbed the young general who had received orders and was about to run off.
“General Shen, rest assured, this subordinate understands!” The young general responded and ran downstairs.
The young general spoke quickly and loudly, ordering people to use iron chains to secure iron pots, spray the peppercorns with water, put them in the pots, and burn them together with firewood.
The soldiers at Pingyang City’s South Gate worked in orderly chaos, their movements very efficient – some carried pots, some poured oil, some lit fires!
They poured fire oil on the firewood in the pots and lit it, scattered the dampened peppercorns and chili peppers in, then carried them up to the city tower, choking themselves until they coughed, but not caring!
“Don’t scatter the peppercorns and chilies yet! Wait until you’re on the city tower! Quick! Quick! Quick! Quick! Quick, quick, quick!” The young general stood at the entrance to the city tower stairs, shouting hoarsely. Suddenly choked by the lit peppercorns and chilies, the flickering torches made his coughing face appear red. He covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth, suppressing his cough. Choked until the veins on his forehead bulged, he raised his hand to signal the soldiers to move faster, then moved the cloth aside and shouted: “Cover your mouths and noses with wet cloths! Quick!”
Some soldiers who didn’t have pots directly tied ropes around clay braziers used for warmth, grabbed dampened peppercorns and chilies, and charged up the city wall.
The young, brave soldiers covered their mouths and noses with damp cloth strips and rushed to the east side of the South Gate’s city wall. They scattered the peppercorns and chilies into the glowing fires of the pots or clay braziers, then lowered the clay braziers and pepper pots along the city wall to hang in the air. The other end of the rope was tied to spears, using the crenellations to secure the spears, freeing their hands to tie wet face coverings over the archers’ mouths and noses.
The giant elephants moved extremely fast. Even though Bai Qingyan stood atop the city wall, she could already feel the trembling beneath her feet… the thunderous roar like rolling thunder continuously approached.