Chapter 38: Clearing the Way

"Charge forward in one breath!"

Although the city gates had been opened and most of the guards on the walls withdrawn, every arrow shot from above remained lethal to these Han soldiers, who wore only simple light leather armor and carried no shields.

How many loyal warriors would be lost on this road, illuminated brightly by fire basins? No one knew, yet the Han soldiers moved swiftly under their officers' commands. The disputes that had just transpired between them seemed to vanish like smoke, wiped clean from their faces. In their place, a burning flame of desire for victory blazed in every pair of eyes.

They were fearless. They charged. The Han army had arrived.

"For the Great Han!"
"For Bing Province!"
"For the Tunzhang!"
"Charge—"

—*Charge, charge, charge, charge your head!*

Su Yao, standing on the city wall with a bow slung over his shoulder and arrows on his back, disguised among the guards, watched his men suddenly howling as they rushed out of the darkness. His vision went black, and his shoulders slumped.

*Why are you all being so hot-blooded? Are you poisoned or something? The clothes you're wearing are fake, at least put on a half-hearted act! Are you really just throwing your lives away like this?*

Su Yao truly wished he could pull out a computer mouse right now, draw a box around them, and drag them back. If he could truly exert micromanagement, his choice would have been to keep the ambush hidden in the darkness, waiting until the enemy was close before slaughtering them to maximize panic in the fortress. Attacking the mind was superior to attacking the city; he wanted to operate with the lowest cost possible.

But, alas, this game was not one of those real-time strategy titles. Once the distance was too great, he couldn't even convey his favorite "all-army assault" command, let alone micromanage individual soldiers or squads.

*This is going to be a disaster.*

Sure enough, such reckless action immediately drew the attention of the barbarians on and below the walls. Lan Ya, the garrison commander, whose nerves were already taut, slammed his hand against the parapet.

"It’s a trap! Quickly, close the gates! Shoot them down! Don't let anyone get close!"

What was this "trap" Lan Ya spoke of? Why had he proactively opened the gates, lured the soldiers out, and then lived to regret it? This traces back to the new option Su Yao had devised after a bit of thinking.

Upon realizing he could no longer lift his blade—no, rather, upon realizing he needed to let his subordinates contribute their remaining value—Su Yao had to face the problem of how to open the gates. He certainly couldn't open them himself, so he had to find a way to use the enemy to achieve his goal.

Fortunately, he quickly thought of a method: utilizing the power of water and fire.

From the backstory, he already knew about the water source issues in Huanglu Fortress. He soon located several areas within the stronghold where water storage facilities were kept. Perhaps to prevent contamination or due to budget constraints, the cisterns in Huanglu were designed with both open masonry structures and enclosed wooden barrels.

After quietly damaging some of the storage devices to cause leaks, he snuck along the path and set a massive fire at the fortress's granary and supply depot.

The rest was simple. The guards, panicked by the fire, rushed to extinguish it, only to find the water supply insufficient. To prevent the flames from spreading, they had no choice but to head outside the walls to fetch water. Su Yao took advantage of the chaos, slipped onto the gatehouse, and, under the commander's orders, nocked his bow alongside his colleagues.

"General, these men... they look like our own people."

In the firelight, the Han soldiers dressed in barbarian clothing drew closer. They were fifty paces away, entering the range of a single arrow.

"It doesn't matter who they are; no one is allowed inside!" Lan Ya's will was firm, leaving no room for negotiation. Better to kill an innocent than let an intruder pass. "Archers, ready!"

At the exact moment he spoke, Su Yao let an arrow fly. *Swoosh.*

The fire basin toppled. As the flames were quickly extinguished, the Han soldiers were instantly swallowed by the darkness.

"What's happening?!" The barbarian soldiers were stunned.

"Hahahaha! Heaven aids us! The Great Han will surely win!" Cheng Lian, who had been bracing for the first volley of arrows in tense anticipation, burst into laughter. He and his comrades sprinted through the darkness, as happy as children.

"This is..."

Only Jin Fangyan, the "Eagle-Eyed" archer, could see through the night's firelight to what had just occurred. He strained his eyes in the direction the arrow had come from and recognized the heroic figure nocking the bow in the flickering light on the wall at a single glance.

"It's him?"

Su Yao's move served as a reminder to him. From then on, before Su Yao could act again, Jin Fangyan shot arrow after arrow, extinguishing the fire basins along the road to shield the advance of the troops with darkness.

"Gen-General, what should we do?"

"Fire at will!" Lan Ya gasped, his face ashen. Even under repeated blows, he still tried to issue commands with composure.

But it was useless. The sparse rain of arrows scattered into the vast darkness, causing almost no damage to the Han army.

"How much longer until the gate is closed?" Lan Ya asked, craning his neck outward.

The dozen or so soldiers who had gone out to fetch water were caught completely unprepared and were swallowed up by the incoming enemy without a single successful resistance. Their only contribution was that their torches provided some illumination for the wall, slightly increasing the accuracy of the archers' second volley.

"Don't worry, sir, it's closing now."

Yes, no matter how fast one ran on foot, it was impossible to cover such a long distance before the gate shut.

Huanglu Fortress was still safe... right?

Lan Ya frowned, sensing that things would not be so simple. Fire in the city, and suddenly people arriving from outside... how could there not be a follow-up?

"Royal Guard, follow me!" Lan Ya shouted.

"Are you planning to go to the gate?"

In the shadows, a bowstring glinted with cold light, aimed at the tall man in barbarian attire.

The person being aimed at was Su Yao?!

The one holding the bow was the other "Eagle-Eyed" archer at this post. He certainly hadn't missed the moment Su Yao shot out the fire basin. Realizing that this highly skilled mole was among them, he had immediately brought two guards to hunt him down, successfully locating him at the gate's mechanical controls.

The three corpses lying on the ground made the man's hostile identity clear. If he guessed correctly, this man was definitely trying to get to the gate to obstruct his comrades who were manually closing it.

"I don't care whose man you are, don't move."

The archer tilted his head and ordered his guards, "Take his weapon and bring him to General Lan."

Su Yao frowned. Although he couldn't understand the barbarian language, he clearly saw that this mini-boss’s eyes never left his right hand, which held the bow.

*Hoo—*

Su Yao took a deep breath. His combat instincts understood: the moment he moved, this archer would release his arrow.

Seconds ticked by. The guards approached Su Yao step by step, blades drawn.

*Hoo—*

Su Yao steadied his breathing, observing silently. These three were in a tight formation, clearly showing great coordination. They knew exactly which route would block Su Yao's movement without obstructing their leader's line of fire.

Ten steps. Eight steps. Five steps.

The soldiers were getting closer. Just as they were within reach and about to disarm him...

Su Yao moved!

With a flick of his left hand, the archer let out a miserable scream, clutching his eyes as he collapsed in agony.

"Small fry, why would I need a bow to kill you?"

It turned out he had simply thrown the arrow he was holding in his left hand, completing the kill with a projectile attack! Coincidentally, the path of the throw was exactly the gap the guards had left open.