Chapter 937 - 779: Easy Targets

In the darkness, only the urgent sound of drums echoed atop the Jingjiang County city wall.

One by one, the Anti-Japanese Army gripped a chaotic assortment of weapons, from previously captured Japanese Swords, to Broadswords provided by the scholars, and even hoes and rakes.

Everyone instinctively clenched their weapons, as Zhou Chang said coldly from the wall: "Do not harbor any illusions; if the pirates climb up, everyone in the city will die. We are here to supervise; those who flee will die."

Outside the South City Gate, on the muddy flats, countless rangers wielding Japanese Swords drove hundreds of Ning Dynasty civilians, shaved with moon-shaped heads, forward carrying bamboo ladders at the forefront.

A translator shouted from the back of the crowd: "Charge! Once you reach the top of the city walls, you will be saved, or else you will all die!"

The Ning Dynasty civilians were driven to the foot of the wall, set up ladders, and began climbing the rammed earth city walls.

The Anti-Japanese Army raised stones to smash them, but looking down, the fire reflected the dirty and terrified faces, and for a moment, they couldn’t bring themselves to do it.

The civilians on the ladders shouted incoherently: "Fellow countrymen, don’t attack, we are not pirates! It was the pirates who shaved our heads, let us up!"

Someone echoed from below: "Yes, yes, we were captured by the pirates; we are of the same people!"

The Anti-Japanese Army listened to the chaotic voices below, puzzled for a moment, and looked at each other, unsure what to do. Some men climbed the ladders, and the Anti-Japanese Army instinctively reached out to pull them up.

After climbing onto the wall, a man cried with joy: "Thank you, thank you! We are from Jianhu County in Salt City, abducted here by the pirates!"

Seeing they were indeed their own people, the Anti-Japanese Army immediately pulled the civilians on the ladders onto the wall, but Zhou Chang was furious: "Who allowed you to pull them up!"

A member of the Anti-Japanese Army murmured: "These are all our own people..."

Zhou Chang strode forward and slapped the person’s face: "The pirates shaved their heads like that to disguise and climb the city!"

However, no sooner had the words left his mouth than four men among the group they saved suddenly drew short knives from their waists, slashing around, forcibly driving the Anti-Japanese Army back and carving out a space.

The four pirates seized Japanese Swords and strongly held the gap. The city wall pathway was stained red with blood, and the Anti-Japanese Army hesitated to move forward, and some simply started to retch.

Outside on the flats, the Japanese Chief with his Do-maru Armor saw his servants succeed in being the first to climb, and immediately gave a cold laugh, gesturing for his subordinate rangers to ascend the wall through the breach.

Amidst the panic of the Anti-Japanese Army, Zhou Chang pushed aside those in front and advanced wielding a sword.

A ranger slashed at him, but Zhou Chang parried upwards, and the blade clashed with the Japanese Sword, sparking brightly, as the ranger felt his blade dragged towards his own neck, and in an instant, blood splattered.

Zhou Chang kicked the ranger hard in the chest and turned to face the next one.

The ranger screeched, raising the Japanese Sword over his head and slashing down with all his might, but Zhou Chang moved with lightning speed, colliding with the ranger before he could bring down the blade.

Zhou Chang inserted his left foot behind the ranger’s knee and pressed with his shoulder, sending the ranger flying off the wall, crashing heavily to the ground. In just a few breaths’ time, two of the four climbing rangers were dead or injured.

Zhou Chang roared: "What are you standing around for? Kill!"

The Anti-Japanese Army saw Zhou Chang cut down his enemies with ease and finally rallied to encircle and attack the two remaining rangers.

Zhou Chang, seeing this, ceased to mind the two rangers and wiped the blood from his face, sealing the breach alone: "Hurl stones and logs down, not a single one is allowed on the wall, violators will be executed!"

Saying this, he gripped the end of a bamboo ladder intending to overturn it from the breach.

But as he looked down, he saw amidst the flickering flames, a line of elderly, women, and children on the ladder, gazing up at him with pleading eyes: "Sir, we are the Ning Dynasty people!"

"Sir!"

Zhou Chang hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to overturn the bamboo ladder with all his strength, a hand reached from the side, gripping his wrist.

Yuan Xing finally arrived, holding a long Wild Great Sword, and said in a deep voice: "Let them up; if the pirates can break through here tonight, I’ll take their name as my own!"

The moment Zhou Chang saw Yuan Xing, he exhaled a sigh of relief, then erupted in anger: "Where the hell were you earlier? I’m here alone, not daring to make a single mistake!"

He stepped aside to let the civilians on the ladders climb the wall and turned to order the Anti-Japanese Army: "Allow the civilians to climb the wall, make sure to check they can speak in the Han Family language before they ascend, if not, kill them without mercy!"

The Anti-Japanese Army felt as if they had been granted amnesty.

One of the Anti-Japanese Army loudly questioned a man on the ladder: "Where are you from?"

The man quickly replied: "I am from Suqian!"

Hearing this, the Anti-Japanese Army rejoiced and reached out their hands: "Come up quickly!"

Elsewhere, the Anti-Japanese Army asked a woman on the ladder: "What is your name?"

The woman hurriedly replied: "I am Huang Xi!"

The Anti-Japanese Army reached out: "Quick, get up here!"

Not far away, another member of the Anti-Japanese Army asked a middle-aged man on the ladder: "How old are you?"

The man answered, but it was incoherent: "Wo Xu Qian!"

The Anti-Japanese Army froze, then swung a rake at the man shouting: "Take him down!"

The iron teeth of the rake stabbed into the Wokou’s back, creating a bloody hole, and the Anti-Japanese Army casually flicked it aside, causing the Wokou to fall off the ladder.

For a moment, the city wall was filled with inquiries, from asking where one’s home was to their age, and then from eating meat dumplings to sweet dumplings, asking anything they wished to ask.

A Wokou with a grim expression climbed up the ladder, and when the Anti-Japanese Army began to speak, he remained silent, continuing to climb upwards without a word.

Seeing this, the Anti-Japanese Army immediately raised the hoe and angrily shouted, "Speak!"

The Wokou suddenly surged upwards, grabbing the hoe the Anti-Japanese Army was swinging, which startled the soldier into pulling back, inadvertently dragging the Wokou up onto the city wall.

The soldier frantically shouted, "It’s a servant, Executive Officer!"

The servant who had ascended the wall was about to start a massacre and cover for his comrades climbing up, but was interrupted by the sudden sound of hoofbeats from not far away.

He turned to see Yuan Xing, wielding a Wild Great Sword, riding swiftly along the battlements, and the Anti-Japanese Army tactically parted to make way, allowing Yuan Xing to charge directly towards the servant.

The servant snatched the hoe from the soldier to defend himself, but Yuan Xing only slightly curled his lips, galloping past the servant without pausing, and decapitated him with a single stroke.

Yuan Xing tightened the reins, blood dripping from the tip of the Wild Great Sword onto the wall, as he gazed far towards the mudflats outside the city at the Japanese Chief, whose expression was hidden in the shadows of the Do-maru Armor helmet, making it difficult to discern joy or anger.

Further away, sixty-nine tower ships were faintly visible on the Yangtze River.

...

...

On the mudflats, a Japanese Chief stood supporting a sword. His Do-maru Armor and scabbard were distinctly different from other chiefs, and upon closer inspection, both were adorned with chrysanthemum lacquer patterns.

Behind him stood hundreds of servants wielding Wild Great Swords.

The Japanese Chief watched as dozens of rangers and servants mingled among the laborers, only to be discovered one by one by the Anti-Japanese Army. Some were cut down on the ladders, and even those who leaped onto the walls found it futile.

He silently gazed towards the city wall, where the galloping, troubleshooting officer was clearly a Seeking Dao Realm Official, and such an official appearing on the defense side, without facing group charges, a hail of arrows, or being besieged by crowds, could become a decisive factor.

At this moment, a servant rode over, knelt before the Japanese Chief, and reported for a moment.

The Japanese Chief remained silent for a while, then slowly nodded.

The servant then mounted his horse again and galloped into the night.

The servant circled around to the north of Jingjiang County, where hundreds of rangers were hidden in the paddy fields, each lying silently, with heads poking out, a stick clenched between their teeth.

The leading Japanese Chief lay in the water as well, cloaked in Do-maru Armor, quietly observing the city wall.

On the northern wall of Jingjiang County, only a few scattered fire basins burned, with fewer Anti-Japanese Army soldiers compared to the other three sides, at least a hundred fewer.

The reporting servant returned, gesturing a hand blade towards the north wall. The Wokou hidden in the paddy field immediately rose, sending droplets falling back into the water and making sounds like rain.

The leading Japanese Chief drew a Wild Great Sword and led the charge towards the county, while hundreds of Wokou spat out the sticks in their mouths, clamped Japanese Swords between their teeth, and carried bamboo ladders closely behind.

The distance of one hundred steps was covered in an instant, and the Wokou set the ladders to climb upwards.

A young ranger followed the servant up the wall, and just as he thought the servant was about to successfully ascend, he heard the sound of bone-breaking above.

Looking up towards the end of the ladder, he saw the servant seemingly struck by a massive force at the city wall, tumbling backward.

The young ranger turned to watch the servant arc down heavily, coughing up blood before dying. He looked back up to the wall and saw a stout figure wearing a bamboo hat, sneering, "Thinking you could take us as easy pickings? Blind dogs!"

The young ranger hesitated to climb or retreat and only dared to nervously look around for the figure of his Japanese Chief.

Upon finding him, he was shocked to see the Japanese Chief climbing a ladder, a Wild Great Sword clamped between his teeth.

The end of the ladder was a handsome young man, calmly leaning on the wall, eyeing the Japanese Chief.

The Japanese Chief became wary, hesitating to climb.

The young man grew impatient, gripping the ladder with both hands, and lifted it along with the Japanese Chief and two rangers, hauling them onto the wall as though pulling up scallions.

This immense strength was like nothing the young ranger had ever witnessed, surpassing even that of the Matsubara Clan’s Great Wokou Leader.

The young ranger felt dread, unable to see the events on the wall but hearing the agonized wails of the Japanese Chief. Within five or six breaths, the cries ceased.

When he looked up again, the previously two-zhang tall wall seemed to suddenly tower majestically.

Jin Zhu glanced down at him, impatiently saying, "Are you coming up or not?"

The young ranger dared not climb, sliding back down the ladder.

Jin Zhu saw this, cursed, bent down to pick up prepared bricks from the wall’s parapet, and hurled them down one by one.

The whistling wind carried the bricks to strike the young ranger’s forehead, shattering both the bricks and his head.