Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law-Chapter 492: The Fall of the East City Gate

At the third watch of the night, all was silent.

The winter wind brushed against the surrounding forests, creating a rustling sound. In the military tents, the snoring of the soldiers of the Chen Army was thunderous, while the patrolling soldiers, blowing into the night wind, subconsciously tightened their sleeves and hugged their arms.

Outside the commander’s tent, Chen Mo gazed at the flickering lights on the distant city walls, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Footsteps approached from behind, and a cloak was draped over Chen Mo’s shoulders.

"It’s already midnight, what are you thinking about?" Xia Zhining, who had just woken up and found no one by her side, put on a cloak to come out and check, only to see Chen Mo in a single garment gazing at the distant Bing City in the cold wind.

"The weather is getting colder, it seems winter is coming early."

Chen Mo turned around, looking at the beautiful woman in casual clothes. He pulled her into his arms, gently holding her, and sheltered them both within the cloak, saying, "These days, I’ve observed the Jin Xia barbarians in the city, their morale seems a bit shaky. If we push a little harder, Bing City will surely fall."

In the cold wind, Xia Zhining also wrapped her arms around Chen Mo’s waist, facing towards his body, as if by not looking, the patrolling soldiers wouldn’t notice her.

During these past days, Xia Zhining also came to understand the suspense Chen Mo had previously sold her.

First, let the enemy army feel panic, think they have no way out, leading them to a desperate resistance. Then intentionally leave them a path to survival to shake their resolved will.

This strategy utilizes the human psyche’s desire to survive.

When the enemy garrison in the city sees no hope of escape, they will resist desperately. But if you leave them a path, their fighting spirit will crumble, and they will choose to flee.

"What if the enemy general sees through your plan?" Xia Zhining looked up at Chen Mo, her eyes flickering.

"This strategy is not difficult to see through. It all hinges on morale. As long as the opponents see no hope of victory, they won’t be able to hold Bing City." Chen Mo spoke confidently.

...

The eighth of November, the first year of Yong’an.

Chen Mo reduced the forces attacking the south and north city gates and redeployed them to attack the east city gate, launching a fierce assault on Bing City’s east city gate once again.

Dozens of catapults almost continuously launched stone bullets toward Bing City, suppressing the Jin Xia garrison on the city walls.

Cloud ladders were placed atop the east city gate walls, as the Divine Martial Guard soldiers, holding round shields in one hand and horizontal sabers in the other, climbed upwards.

Below the city walls, archers wielding longbows, crossbows, and divine arm crossbows shot upwards, providing cover.

If any Jin Xia garrison tried to drag stones or beating wood to throw down from the battlements, they would be immediately shot dead.

"Quickly push these cloud ladders down."

Gale, while ordering the men below to push down the cloud ladders leaning against the walls, stepped forward to personally push one of the ladders toward the Chen Army’s side.

The cloud ladder is not just a ladder but a carriage, an essential weapon for siege warfare, equipped with shields, winches, grappling hooks, and other devices, and it’s particularly heavy. Once firmly set, an ordinary soldier can’t push it down alone, requiring several strong men to do so together.

But Gale, being a Middle-Grade Martial Artist, had no difficulty pushing over a cloud ladder.

"Crack..."

Under Gale’s push, the mechanism of the cloud ladder carriage could not withstand the huge force and snapped, immediately crashing to the ground with a loud noise, followed by a chorus of screams.

Just as Gale was about to push another cloud ladder.

"Watch out..."

A sharp shout echoed from the side.

Tuoba Zhu swiftly slashed with his saber.

"Clang!"

"Dang!"

The sounds of two crisp impacts rang almost simultaneously.

"Gulp..."

Gale’s face turned pale, and he touched his head, now without its helmet, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed, cold sweat breaking out on his back.

"Dang!"

"Clang..."

Two more crisp metallic sounds followed in succession.

One was the sound of the helmet hitting the ground.

The other was the saber being jarred out and dropping to the ground.

Before Gale could react, Tuoba Zhu, who had arrived beside him, tackled him to the ground.

"Whoosh..."

An arrow flew past the spot where Gale had been standing, aiming for the center of his brow.

It turned out that when Gale was pushing the first cloud ladder, Tuoba Zhu, who had been observing from the shadows and never revealing his position, spotted through the Thousand-Mile Mirror that Chen Mo had already reached the moat, drawing his bow and aiming at Gale on the city wall.

Knowing the dreadful archery skills of Chen Mo, Tuoba Zhu’s face changed immediately, drawing his saber and dashing towards Gale.

As the arrow neared Gale, the slash of the saber happened to collide with it, causing the arrow intending for Gale’s brow to deviate slightly, shooting Gale’s helmet off.

The immense force of the arrow collision made Tuoba Zhu’s wrist numb, causing his five fingers to release, and the great saber slipped to the ground.

Tuoba Zhu reacted extremely quickly, tackling the standing Gale to the ground the moment the saber hit the earth.

"Prince, what just happened..."

Gale asked in a trembling voice, as he hadn’t quite recovered, but he understood he had just brushed against death’s door.

"You were targeted by Chen Mo. Tie Mutie, Kuimu, and Yelv Nuku, all died by his arrows. His archery is extraordinary, and once he targets you, it’s hard to escape." Tuoba Zhu said in a low voice.

Gale’s heart raced, filled with lingering fear and deep shock.

The moat is over eighty zhang away from the city wall.

Although he knew that powerful martial artists with special longbows could shoot arrows that far, the accuracy and power would degrade.

But the arrow just now seemed to knock the prince’s saber away.

...

By the moat, Chen Mo frowned, slightly disappointed. At this distance, it’s not within the Sun-Shooting Arrow’s locking range, so the accuracy relied entirely on his own archery and power.

"Send orders to make the Divine Brave Guard, Xianzhen Guard, and Jiangdong Army advance in succession. Today, Bing City must be taken." Chen Mo put down the strong bow and said to Sun Meng.

"Understood."

With the command relayed, the Chen Army by the moat proceeded over the pontoon bridge, advancing on Bing City.

Afternoon.

Bing City’s east gate was breached.

As the east city gate was forced open, the morale of the Chen Army soldiers surged as if they were injected with adrenaline, shouting loudly: "Brothers, the gate’s broken, charge and wipe out these barbarians."

Yet at this moment, an order came from above, instructing them not to pursue the enemies too closely after entering the city. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

...

In the city.

Almost shot in the morning, a terrified Gale dared not show his head on the city wall all day, instead hiding in the back to command.

Now, knowing the Chen Army had been breached inside.

Gale’s face changed abruptly; he knew that if they didn’t repel the incoming Chen Army, it might result in a rout, and the situation was extremely urgent.

Gale shouted loudly: "Don’t panic, we must hold off the Chen Army!"