Chapter 744: Night Raid

She even poured a glass of wine for it.

Before the peregrine falcon could stretch its neck, He Lingchuan moved the glass away. "It's on a mission," he explained, "it can't drink alcohol."

The peregrine falcon rolled its eyes, clearly annoyed.

He Lingchuan grabbed a roasted chestnut, unafraid of the heat. He peeled it and offered it to Sun Fuling. "It's been ten days since I took office in Yuheng City," he said, "and in that time, the opposite bank hasn't bothered us. They're really showing respect."

The peregrine falcon dampened his spirits, saying, "Perhaps they don't know."

"With such large notice boards all over Yuheng City proclaiming my arrival as marshal, even if the common folk don't read them, surely the spies and informants do?"

He Lingchuan asked Sun Fuling, "Teacher, you're well-versed in both astronomy and geography. Can you help me check—" He pointed to the sky: "What's the weather like recently?"

Sun Fuling was Xu Shichu's favorite student, the dean of Shumin Academy. Predicting short-term weather patterns was easy for her.

After glancing at the sky, she said, "Don't let the high-hanging stars tonight deceive you. Within seven days... no, within five days, there will definitely be a blizzard with strong winds."

He Lingchuan pondered, "Within five days, then?"

Time flew by, and four days passed in the blink of an eye.

For these four days, the daytime skies were cloudless, and the nights were clear with a bright moon and sparse stars, showing no signs of abnormality.

He Lingchuan was still as busy as a top, but as he passed the outskirts of the city, he happened to see children from Yuheng Academy flying kites.

Kites of all models and shapes floated in the azure sky, a riot of colors. This included his impromptu doodle.

Sun Fuling had actually given away that awful kite. He wondered which poor child it had made cry.

"Tsk, Teacher Sun's mischievous streak."

Meanwhile, the construction in Yuheng City continued in full swing, without a moment's pause.

On the evening of the fifth day, a strong wind suddenly swept through the border. The gusts were powerful enough to send a frail young woman reeling.

Before anyone had time to gather their belongings, the snow began to fall thick and fast.

The world turned into a vast expanse of white, obscuring everything from view.

Every household sealed their doors and windows, and even the watchtowers along the Yin River had to lower their storm screens. Otherwise, the low temperatures combined with the relentless blizzard would freeze the tower guards into solid blocks of ice within two *kezhong* (approximately half an hour).

The blizzard continued until the latter half of the night before gradually subsiding.

With no other entertainment on such a snowy night, most residents inside and outside the city could only fall asleep early to the sound of the wind.

As midnight was drawing to a close, a soldier guarding the river forest was quietly dozing by a table when he suddenly heard a rustling sound.

On a snowy day, the sound of wind rustling through trees was common, so he didn't immediately find it unusual.

But after more than ten breaths, the soldier suddenly opened his eyes.

No, that's not right. With the doors and windows tightly shut, where could the sound of wind blowing through leaves come from?

He instinctively looked at the table and saw that all four branches of the Old Elm Tree Spirit were swaying on their own, with no wind.

His superiors had explained that if a branch moved, it indicated enemies approaching from that direction in the river forest.

But now, all four branches were moving, which meant, which meant—

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

He rushed out of the quiet room, let out a roar, and simultaneously rang the alarm bell.

On a snowy night, only the sound of the bell could cut through the strong wind.

Lights immediately illuminated the barracks behind, and countless people ran back and forth.

Just dozens of breaths later, wave after wave of enemies suddenly emerged from the riverside forest, launching an attack on the military camp.

They crossed the river under the cover of the blizzard, arriving silently, and their numbers actually exceeded two thousand!

It was known that previously, Jintao had driven "refugees" to harass the border, usually in groups of a dozen or a few dozen, who would then disperse to cause trouble.

This was the first time since Yuheng City came under Panlong City's jurisdiction that over two thousand people had been assembled for a blatant frontal assault!

The military camp had fewer than two hundred soldiers, which was usually sufficient. But now, facing a sneak attack by enemies ten times their number, they immediately panicked.

They didn't resist for long; they retreated before being surrounded by the enemy, practically abandoning their armor and weapons, and even failed to send out a warning signal.

The fall of this military camp was equivalent to Yuheng City losing its eyes.

The enemy force sent out a small contingent to pursue them, while the main force continued westward.

Villages normally seen as easy targets were now passed by without a glance.

Only after attacking the military camp did the troops light their torches to illuminate their path. Their objective was singular: Yuheng City.

This was not random looting, nor a simple raid.

Even if someone in the military camp managed to fire a signal arrow into the sky, the camp was only fifteen *li* (approximately 7.5 kilometers) from Yuheng City. With the enemy advancing at full speed and Yuheng City's defenses in disarray, how much preparation could they make before the enemy arrived?

Therefore, the key to Jintao's lightning strike this time was speed. They even split into three routes to avoid potential traps and ambushes along the way.

Less than two *kezhong* (half an hour) after the military camp was attacked, they were already at the city gates, having encountered almost no significant resistance along the way.

This further boosted their confidence.

After several months of expansion, Yuheng City's gates had been heightened and thickened, and over a dozen pieces of military equipment had been replaced. They looked dark and formidable, clearly not to be trifled with.

But as long as they reached the city walls quickly, these long-range weapons would be useless.

There was also a moat in front of the city gates, not as exaggerated as the one before Panlong City. It was over four *zhang* (more than thirteen meters) wide, with very low water levels in winter and a vertical drop of two *zhang* (over six meters).

The drawbridge over the moat had, of course, already been raised.

The bandit army would have to cross the moat to enter the true siege phase.

In contrast to their galloping warhorses, inside Yuheng City, every household was still shut tight against the blizzard, and there wasn't a single soul on the streets. Only two city gate guards remained, huddled in the gatehouse, trembling, while the rest had retreated to the nearby barracks, unwilling to brave the snow.

At the end of the street, two figures suddenly appeared. Using the buildings for cover, they crept towards the city gate and suddenly attacked the guards!

The howling north wind muffled the guards' cries.

Another four or five people darted out from a corner and collectively pushed the capstan that controlled the city gate!

Yuheng City's gate was different from Panlong City's: when raised, it served as the city gate, and when lowered, it became a drawbridge over the river. The raising and lowering of the drawbridge were controlled by a capstan located beside the gate inside the city.

Therefore, crossing the moat and breaching the city gate were one and the same for the bandit army.

Strong cities are often best breached from within, and they were well-versed in this tactic. Their main strategy now was to launch a coordinated attack from both inside and outside.

Furthermore, the entrance to the gate guards' barracks was on the wall. These few infiltrators threw a small, sticky object at the wall ladder's opening. This object grew rapidly upon exposure to wind, transforming in just three to five breaths into a monster nearly one *zhang* (approximately 3.3 meters) tall and three *chi* (approximately 1 meter) thick, completely sealing the ladder entrance!

This object was neither gold, jade, nor metal. It felt bouncy and smooth like fat to the touch, yet when struck, it was incredibly resilient. Ordinary knives and axes could not pierce it, no matter how much they hacked and chopped.

With this thing blocking the entrance, the city gate guards couldn't get down. They could only lie on the wall and shoot arrows downwards.