Starting with a Wei Wu soldier

Chapter 154 Surprise Attack on Longyou

The night wind of the Hexi Corridor, carrying Gobi Desert sand and the lingering chill of early spring, howled across the rolling hills and dried-up riverbeds. An army, almost blending into the night, was silently and swiftly marching westward along an ancient, rarely traveled road.

The horses' hooves were wrapped in thick cloth, and they moved swiftly with gags in their mouths. The wheels were also specially treated, producing only a low, muffled thud when they rolled over the gravel. Five thousand elite cavalry and two thousand crossbowmen from the Divine Arm Battalion, along with necessary supplies, moved like a dark iron torrent flowing close to the ground under Chen Wei's personal command. They avoided all major passes and known beacon tower routes, relying on a secret map that the Overwatch Department had painstakingly developed over several months, repeatedly verified and corrected by Li Shu and his men, as well as several guides who knew the area intimately and whose families' fates were inextricably linked to Starfire Fortress, traversing the desolate folds of the landscape.

Chen Wei rode a black warhorse, his face hidden beneath a helmet, only his eyes reflecting a calm and sharp light in the occasional glimmer of moonlight through the clouds. His mind replayed the instructions his lord and Jia Wen had given him before setting off, standing before the map.

"Longyou, the eastern gateway to Xiliang, though not as central as Guzang, is the key connecting Guanzhong and the heart of Liangzhou, and a crucial hub for Han Sui to stockpile grain and transport troops to support the eastern front." Jia Wen pressed his finger heavily on the location of Longyou City on the map. "The garrison commander here, Yang Qiu, is a confidant of Han Sui, but he is greedy, cruel, and unpopular with the army. More importantly, the city is not a monolithic entity. Our 'eyes' and 'ears' have been active there for a long time."

Chen Xing looked at Chen Wei and said, "The key to this battle lies in the word 'surprise.' Han Sui's attention has been drawn to Zhang Heng and the internal strife, so there must be some lapses in the defenses of Longyou. You must be quick, ruthless, and show the might of my Xinghuo Army! Taking Longyou will be like stabbing a knife in Han Sui's side, not only cutting off his supply lines and retreat on the eastern front, but also shaking the entire Xiliang region and making those who are wavering see the situation clearly! Someone will be there to meet you in the city. How you seize the opportunity is up to you."

"Understood, sir!" Chen Wei replied in a deep voice, feeling the heavy responsibility and trust on his shoulders.

At this moment, they were less than a hundred li from Longyou. Chen Wei raised his hand, and the entire army immediately came to a slow stop, like precision machinery receiving a command, silently disappearing into the shadow of a wide, dry riverbed. Scouts moved forward as silently as cats, and further away, the last batch of messengers from the Censorate, who had been lying in wait near Longyou, should have already set off to make a final confirmation with their contacts in the city.

On the walls of Longyou, the lights seemed sparser than usual. General Yang Qiu had just concluded a less-than-pleasant military meeting. Zhang Heng's disobedience, Cheng Yin's ambiguous attitude, and rumors of unusual activity by the Xinghuo Army on the border had increased the defensive pressure on Longyou. Han Sui had sent a series of strongly worded documents demanding heightened vigilance, a thorough inventory of supplies, and preparations to support other areas or repel any invasion.

This disrupted many of Yang Qiu's "businesses." His channels for privately reselling military rations and obsolete weaponry had recently become somewhat sluggish. What bothered him even more was that several of his less obedient captains, especially the one named Wang Zhuo, seemed to have heard some rumors, and their gazes towards him always carried a scrutinizing quality that made him uncomfortable.

"A bunch of ignorant fools!" Yang Qiu spat, downing his cup of cheap wine in one gulp. "Once the King has dealt with Zhang Heng, he'll deal with you all slowly!" He simply didn't believe that Xinghuo Fortress would launch a large-scale attack at this time. In his view, this internal turmoil in Xiliang was nothing more than a minor ailment. Xinghuo Fortress was far away, separated by Zhang Heng's territory; how could it possibly fly over?

However, he still routinely increased the number of people on the city wall and the frequency of patrols, but most of this increased burden fell on the shoulders of his subordinates whom he disliked. As for himself, under the protection of his trusted confidants, he returned to his relatively comfortable and safe mansion in the city, pondering how to quickly monetize the recently "disposed" batch of supplies.

At midnight, all was quiet. On a relatively secluded section of the city wall west of Longyou, a soldier on duty, clutching his spear, dozed off behind the crenellations. This section of the wall had fallen into disrepair over the years, its surface mottled, and the shadows cast long shadows. According to the shift rules, the change of guard would take another half an hour.

Suddenly, a few very faint sounds, like the hooting of owls, came from the shadows at the base of the wall. An old soldier who had been dozing on the city wall twitched his ears slightly and quietly opened his eyes. He slowly stood up, pretending to patrol, walked to that section of the city wall, and looked down.

In the darkness, some figures, almost blending into the night, could be vaguely seen, pressed against the wall. The leader raised his head, revealing a face smeared with cooking oil, but the old soldier recognized those eyes—it was the spy from the Inspectorate who had infiltrated the city three months ago as a fur merchant and gradually made contact with him, a frustrated old soldier at the city gate, codenamed "Grey Falcon."

The veteran made a few quick, subtle hand gestures, then pulled a sturdy rope from his pocket, securing one end firmly to the crenellation and letting the other end dangle silently. Simultaneously, similar ropes were lowered from two other crenellations not far apart. All of this was done within the blind spot of the watchtower at the corner of the city wall, avoiding the gaps in the regular patrols.

"Grey Falcon" was the first to scale the wall, moving with the agility of an ape. Immediately following, dozens of elite Starfire Army scouts and special agents, dressed in equally swift uniforms, quickly scaled the wall. Once atop the wall, they immediately split into three groups. One group, led by "Grey Falcon," swooped down towards the nearest watchtower; another group, led by a scout captain, crept towards the city gate; and the final group quickly secured that section of the wall and provided cover for the following groups.

Before the two guards inside the watchtower could react, their mouths and noses were covered, and sharp blades were slit across their throats. The guards at the city gate tower outnumbered the rest, but caught off guard by the surprise attack from the most elite troops of the Starfire Army, they were quickly eliminated, only managing a few short groans and thuds as they fell to the ground. Throughout the entire process, almost no sound was made that could alert the guards in the distance.

After gaining control of the west gate tower and a section of the nearby city wall, "Grey Falcon" quickly lit a specially made lantern with concentrated light and a specific color, and swayed it three times rhythmically towards the riverbed outside the city.

In the distance, Chen Wei, who had been staring intently at the direction of the Longyou city wall, saw the agreed-upon signal.

"The city gate is under control!" he shouted, his suppressed killing intent suddenly erupting. "First and second cavalry battalions, follow me and seize the gate! Divine Arm Battalion, take control of the high ground on the city wall and cover the area inside and outside the gate! All other units, proceed according to the pre-arranged plan to expand the gains! Be quick!"

"Here you go!"

The low, resounding responses coalesced into a chilling, oppressive current.

The once tranquil riverbed was suddenly filled with the rapid, yet not overly noisy, sounds of horses' hooves and footsteps. The elite Xinghuo Army, having been poised for battle, charged towards the wide-open western gate of Longyou like arrows released from a bow!

It wasn't until the cavalry surged to the vicinity of the city gate that the garrison in other areas of the city was alerted by the sudden tremor and the faint strange noises.

"Enemy attack?!"

"West Gate! What's going on at the West Gate?!"

The alarm gong rang out hastily, its shrill sound echoing through the night. The city of Longyou was instantly jolted awake, plunged into chaos.

When Yang Qiu was dragged out of bed by his personal guards, all he heard were screams, running, and increasingly clear shouts of battle and the sound of horses' hooves all over the street. In particular, the dense, teeth-grinding sound of crossbow bolts piercing the air was a terror he had never heard of before.

"What's going on?! Where did the enemy come from? Has Zhang Heng attacked? Or has Cheng Yin rebelled?" Yang Qiu was disheveled and panicked.

"General! It's the Starfire Army! They're flying the 'Star' flag! They've already entered the city! The west gate has fallen, and enemy cavalry are charging into the city! The crossbow bolts are too fierce; the brothers can't hold them off!" A captain with a bloodied face rushed in to report.

"The Spark Army?! What are they doing here?!" Yang Qiu was struck dumb, his mind blank. Wasn't the Spark Army still in the north, or confronting Chen Wei on the border? How could they have suddenly appeared in Longyou City like a divine army?

He rushed into the courtyard, attempting to organize a resistance, but found his own soldiers scattered and disorganized in the streets. In the darkness, the black-clad, black-armored cavalrymen, like demons from the underworld, fell with screams of agony in the blink of an eye. Even more terrifying were the crossbow bolts fired from the city walls and nearby high-rises, precise and deadly, often scattering the defenders just as they managed to muster any semblance of a counterattack.

That was the Divine Arm Crossbow! Although Yang Qiu had never seen it before, he had heard terrifying rumors about it. Now, witnessing its power with his own eyes, he was even more terrified.

"General! Enemy troops have appeared at the East Gate and South Gate! We are surrounded!" Another piece of bad news arrived.

Chen Wei always pursued complete victory in his military campaigns. The surprise attack and capture of the gate was only the first step. The follow-up troops had already been divided and, under the guidance of their accomplices inside the city, quickly infiltrated and seized other key locations and city gates, striving to completely divide, annihilate, or force the Longyou defenders to surrender.

"Hold on! Hold on for me!" Yang Qiu shouted hoarsely, but his voice sounded so pale and powerless in the face of the great chaos and panic. He saw that some of his trusted generals who he usually relied on had disappeared, while others looked bewildered and had shifty eyes.

Just then, flames and explosions suddenly shot into the sky from several granaries and armories in the city! The explosions were exceptionally loud, far from ordinary fires, and the ground trembled slightly.

"That's... gunpowder?" Yang Qiu's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground. The Starfire Army even had something like this? And they'd hidden so much of it in the city? If this fire started, the morale of the army would be completely destroyed!

In fact, this was the work of Li Shu's undercover agents. They not only opened the city gates at the crucial moment, but also, after the battle broke out, created chaos at many strategic points in the city according to their pre-arranged plan, setting fire to grain and weapons. In particular, the explosions were made with primitive gunpowder canisters secretly prepared by the Inspectorate's workshops, which were terrifying and greatly exacerbated the panic of the defending troops.

"General! We can't hold on! Our brothers have suffered heavy casualties and surrendered, many of them have surrendered!" The defeated soldiers kept pouring in.

"Wang Zhuo! Where is that bastard Wang Zhuo?!" Yang Qiu suddenly remembered the captain who always got along with him.

"Captain Wang... he, he led his troops in the north of the city... it seems... it seems there was no resistance, and... he even helped the Starfire Army maintain order..." the guard stammered as he reported.

"Wang Zhuo! You traitor! I should have killed you long ago!" Yang Qiu's eyes were bloodshot, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He finally realized that he had already fallen into a carefully woven net, from the inside out, from head to toe.

The tide is gone.

As Chen Wei rode his black horse, surrounded by his personal guards, he traversed the devastation and kneeling surrendered soldiers before arriving at the gates of the Longyou Prefectural Governor's residence. Dawn was nearly breaking. The fighting in the main areas of the city had largely subsided, with only scattered strongholds still being cleared out.

Yang Qiu, with his hands tied behind his back, was brought before Chen Wei. His face was ashen, and he was no longer the arrogant man he once was.

Chen Wei looked down at him, his voice cold and hard as iron: "You're Yang Qiu?"

"...Yes." Yang Qiu uttered the word with difficulty.

"Longyou has been conquered; are you willing to surrender?"

Yang Qiu trembled, looked up at Chen Wei's cold mask, then at the Starfire Army soldiers around him whose murderous intent had not subsided and whose eyes were sharp, and then considered his current situation and Han Sui's possible reaction. Finally, he lowered his head in dejection: "This sinful general... is willing to surrender."

Chen Wei nodded and said to his men, "Take them away and keep them under strict guard. Inventory the treasury, register the surrendered soldiers, and post notices to reassure the people. The Divine Arm Battalion will control all the high points in the city, the cavalry battalions will take turns on guard duty, and the other units will assist in maintaining order and treating the wounded. Anyone who loots or disturbs the peace will be dealt with according to military law!"

"Here you go!"

The orders were relayed smoothly and efficiently. The Xinghuo Army demonstrated exceptional discipline and efficiency, quickly taking over the defense and security of Longyou City.

As the first rays of dawn pierced the eastern clouds and illuminated the city walls of Longyou, the tattered "Han" banner had been discarded, replaced by a brand-new "Xing" banner fluttering in the morning breeze.

The surprise attack on Longyou was a success!

The news spread like wildfire, carried by the fleeing defeated soldiers and carrier pigeons intentionally released by the Censorate, reaching Guzang, Zhang Heng in Longxi, Cheng Yin in Jincheng, and every corner of Xiliang at an astonishing speed.

When Han Sui received the urgent report in Guzang, he was having breakfast. When he heard the words "Xinghuo Army", "Chen Wei", "Longyou has been lost", and "Yang Qiu has surrendered", the jade bowl in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter" and shattered, splashing soup all over himself.

His face turned deathly pale instantly, then flushed red. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word. Only his chest heaved violently, and his eyes were filled with disbelief and a bottomless fear.