Chapter 351 Guanzhong (Part 4)

The linchong siege towers were clearly useless now. Gao Long returned to the commanders tent in a huff and ordered the craftsmen to hurry and build more ladder trucks. He believed that as long as they had enough ladder trucks, they could definitely break the city.

On the first day of the siege, although the results were brilliant, the casualties among the Xuanjia Army soldiers were not small.

In the end, leather armor was still inferior to iron armor; its defensive power was limited, only reducing damage rather than avoiding it entirely. Moreover, the Northern Liang Army had begun to equip blunt weapons, making the armor even less effective.

The main reason was that Gao Yuan did not want to crush the Northern Liang Army so thoroughly that they lost all hope of reaching the city walls. If that happened, who knew if Gao Long would give up the siege and retreat to his original garrison out of hopelessness?

The feeling of always seeing a glimmer of hope only for it to be repeatedly shattered was the most maddening. This was exactly what Gao Long would encounter next.

Every day, the siege managed to get soldiers onto the city walls via ladder trucks, but those who climbed up were quickly slaughtered by the officer squads organized by Gao Yuan.

The entire Mei County turned into a meat grinder. The ground, stained red with blood, emitted a nauseating metallic stench of rust at every moment.

Since the first day of the siege, Mu Qing and Chu Yue had been leading the Female Soldiers of the Yulin Guard to help the medical camp with various first-aid tasks. Carrying the wounded and the dead every day left them completely exhausted.

Seeing such a bloody scene for the first time, Chu Yue began to vomit violently as soon as she returned to the county office. By the end, there was nothing left in her stomach, and she could only lie there dry-heaving.

Feeling pained for her, Gao Yuan gently patted Chu Yue's back and said softly,

"If you really can't handle it, don't force yourself. Your body won't be able to take it if you keep vomiting like this."

Chu Yue shook her head weakly.

"No, since I followed you here, I cannot become a burden to you all."

Early the next morning, Chu Yue joined the medical camp's work once again. In addition to her busy tasks, she also helped coordinate personnel and city defense supplies; she was truly busy beyond measure.

When she returned to the county office that night, Chu Yue vomited again, just as violently as before. Finally, she only managed to drink some porridge before lying down and falling into a deep sleep.

After vomiting like this for three days, Chu Yue suddenly recovered. She could now face the bloody scenes with composure, and by noon, she could even eat peacefully in the wounded camp filled with the smell of blood.

Chu Yue's performance allowed Gao Yuan to clearly feel once again the stubbornness and strength contained within this young girl's small body. Even Mu Qing admired this.

The siege battle lasted for a full twelve days, and both sides were exhausted. At this moment, a change occurred.

Early in the morning, just as the sky was turning grey, a fast horse galloped into the Northern Liang Army camp, ignoring all military discipline as it sped directly to the entrance of the commanders tent.

The soldier flipped off his horse and rushed into the commanders tent, kneeling on one knee and shouting to Gao Long, who was eating breakfast,

"Re... Reporting to Your... Your Highness the Crown Prince, Jingyang has fallen!"

"What!"

Gao Long stood up in shock. Before he could even lose his temper, another messenger rushed into the commanders tent.

"Your Highness, Li Siye has captured Wugong!"

Next, messengers continuously rushed into the commanders tent to report one bad news after another to Gao Long: Xianyang had fallen, Chang'an was besieged and its food supply cut off, and Hu County, Lantian, and Gaoling had all fallen.

The succession of bad news left Gao Long completely stunned. He stood there dazed, unresponsive no matter how others called out to him.

It wasn't until Gao Bing, en own reason, and Gao Zi entered the commanders tent that Gao Long snapped back to his senses and informed them of the bad news he had received that morning.

"Now our army's grain is only enough for five days. I wonder where you all think we should go from here?"

Gao Bing's attitude was very firm.

"Your Highness, Chang'an is the Western Capital of our Great Liang. The foundation of Guanzhong must not be lost. This humble general believes the army should immediately withdraw to rescue Chang'an."

Gao Zi also agreed with Gao Bing's idea.

"Our army's provisions are currently insufficient. We should withdraw immediately and make further plans after we have reopened the supply lines."

en own reason did not speak. In his heart, he also favored an immediate withdrawal, but he saw the immense reluctance on Gao Long's face. He knew that if he spoke now, it would surely make Gao Long feel as though he were being forced into a corner.

Gao Long sat down, an internal struggle beginning in his heart as he mumbled incoherently under his breath.

Reason told him he must withdraw immediately; any slight delay could result in the entire army being wiped out here. However, he was very unwilling.

He knew that if he withdrew now, there was a high probability he could still save Chang'an and even recover most of the lost territory, but it was also destined to be a crushing defeat.

This great war had lasted from July until now, a full two months or more. He had already lost nearly thirty thousand troops, several county towns, and the loss of grain, supplies, and population was incalculable.

If he withdrew like this, heaven knew how his second brother would attack him. Would he even be able to keep his position as Crown Prince?

To take a step back, even if he withdrew now, would Gao Yuan be so honest as to let him leave peacefully?

Seeing that Gao Long was hesitating to make a decision, the three of them said nothing. They bowed and withdrew together.

Thus, on the thirteenth day, the siege battle came to an abrupt halt, giving the defenders a precious day of rest. However, Gao Yuan did not lower his guard and arranged for people to keep a constant watch.

Gao Yuan's arrangements soon bore fruit. By nightfall, someone came to report that there seemed to be movement in the enemy camp outside the city.

Gao Yuan immediately climbed out of his comfortable bed, put on his clothes, and rushed to the city walls.

Unfortunately, even with a telescope, nothing could be seen in the darkness of the early month night. However, significant movement could be clearly heard coming from the Northern Liang Army camp in the distance.

"Are they withdrawing?"

Gao Yuan muttered to himself. Xia Luqi, seeing his hesitation, spoke up immediately.

"My Lord, let This humble general take a few brothers to Scout out the situation."

Even though Gao Yuan was curious to the extreme, he firmly shook his head.

"The enemy's situation is unclear; we must not act rashly. We will wait until dawn."

That night, neither Gao Yuan nor Xia Luqi went back; they stayed directly in the gatehouse.

At dawn, they saw that the Northern Liang Army camp outside the city was indeed silent. Only then did Gao Yuan send some Scouts out of the city to investigate.

The report came back quickly: the Northern Liang Army had withdrawn. They had abandoned a large amount of supplies in the camp, indicating they had left in a great hurry.

Xia Luqi immediately couldn't hold back anymore.

"My Lord, let This humble general lead the troops to pursue them. We can definitely bite a piece of meat off them."

Gao Yuan still refused Xia Luqi's suggestion, shaking his head and instructing,

"Arrange for people to go and collect those supplies."

Gao Long had waited in ambush outside the city for half the day but never saw the pursuing army he had been expecting. The bait he had left behind was even eaten clean by Gao Yuan. He could only helplessly abandon his plan and lead his troops toward Chang'an.

Outside Chang'an, Gao Xianzhi had already received Gao Yuan's carrier pigeon message and immediately ordered all armies and county towns to prepare for battle.

Gao Long's army had very little grain left. As long as he relied on his strong fortifications to hold out for a few days, the Northern Liang Army, out of food, would be forced to abandon Chang'an and even the entire Guanzhong region.

Gao Yuan's goal was that simple. He had already annihilated enough of Northern Liang's effective forces. As long as he drove away Gao Long and occupied Guanzhong, he could say he had won a complete victory this time.

Unfortunately, the tree wants to be still but the wind won't stop. Just as Gao Yuan was looking at the captured supplies with satisfaction, preparing to go back and enjoy his comfort, a system notification sounded in his mind.

"ss-rank life segment overlords little notebook Exclusive Event: 'Brotherly Love' triggered..."

Gao Yuan spat out a string of curses. He didn't expect the system to jump out and stir up trouble at a time like this.