Chapter Twenty-Five: The Eyes of the World Upon Them (7)

Dozens of Jin soldiers charged forward once more.

"Li Xiao of Shuzhou is here! You barbarian curs, do you dare to block my path?" Li Xiao shouted, his voice piercing through the wind and snow amidst the chaos.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Several arrows cut through the air, instantly felling two men.

The dozen Jin cavalrymen had never seen such a fierce and desperate charge; they never expected this bedraggled group of Song soldiers to dare assault their main formation head-on. Caught off guard, their lines were instantly torn asunder by the thunderous might of Li Xiao’s spear.

His spear danced like a silver dragon rising from the sea, carving a bloody path. Wherever the tip pointed, enemies were swept from their horses.

The hundred remaining riders behind him, like a levee bursting under the pressure of a flood, followed in his wake. With Li Xiao as their spearhead, they punched through the thin defensive line and crashed directly into the clamorous, chaotic rear of the Jin's Yisheng Army, which was tasked with the siege.

Chaos! Absolute, unmitigated chaos!

The soldiers of the Yisheng Army, who had been dully carrying ladders and pushing siege engines under the lash of their officers' whips, were suddenly struck by the deafening thunder of hooves and war cries. Looking back, they were paralyzed with terror. They saw a band of ferocious, hell-born cavalrymen charging toward them, the man in the lead brandishing a spear still dripping with blood.

The momentum was like that of a vengeful ghost.

"Enemy attack! Cavalry assault on the camp!"
"It’s the Jin... no, it’s the Song! The Song army is here!"
"Run! We can't hold them!"

Some of the Yisheng soldiers recognized the Song banners, and their already frayed nerves shattered instantly. Their panicked screams drowned out the din of the siege. Having suffered under the constant threat of death, their psychological defenses collapsed entirely under this sudden onslaught.

Who had the heart to continue the siege?

Like a swarm of hornets whose hive had been smashed, they abandoned their equipment, wailing for their parents, and fled in every direction. The northern side of the siege perimeter fell into an uncontrollable sea of chaos; men shoved and trampled one another in a scene of absolute madness.

Jiagu Wulibu arrived with his Jurchen cavalry, and seeing the Yisheng Army breaking, he roared in fury. They collided head-on with the torrent of retreating men. Like a tidal wave, the fleeing soldiers swept everything before them, slamming into the pursuing Jurchen knights. Wulibu hacked down a few Han soldiers blocking his path, but he could not carve a straight line through the crush.

"Get out of the way, you Nikan!"

Jiagu Wulibu, consumed by rage, slashed at the fleeing soldiers, "Kill! Kill your way through! Don't let those southern savages escape!" The Jurchen knights were forced to hack a bloody path, their pursuit severely hampered.

Li Xiao seized the chance to switch to a fresh horse. He pointed his spear toward the Jin central command camp: "Drive them into the Jin doghouse!"

The men understood instantly. The remaining Song cavalry ceased their slaughter of the stragglers and, like shepherds, began waving their weapons and shouting, driving the larger, mindless mass of fleeing soldiers toward the Jin central command camp located just behind the siege lines.

Geng Shouzhong, hiding behind a pile of corpses, watched in stunned silence. He tried to command his remaining men to intercept, but his voice was hoarse and no one listened.

The shadow of death had long since snapped the last thread of resolve in these soldiers. The fear of being sent to their deaths day after day, the humiliation of being treated as less than human by the Jin—everything exploded under the impact of the charging horses.

At that moment, they had only one thought: escape! To get as far as possible from Taiyuan, from the Jin, and from this slaughterhouse! Who cared about that man Geng anymore?

Even though Geng Shouzhong screamed until his throat tore and even drew his sword to cut down two deserters, he could not stop the collapsing flood. In his desperation, he was shocked to find that even his trusted confidants had taken advantage of the chaos to steal his spare horse and flee without a backward glance.

A more violent storm swept through the Jin camp.

At this moment, Wanyan Yinshuke, situated in the central camp, received an urgent report.

He rushed out of the command tent only to see a vast, dark mass of people—his own Han army—rushing toward the camp gate like headless flies. They were wailing and shoving, having lost all formation and reason, pouring into the camp gate like a burst dam.

"Hold the camp!" Xieli roared, drawing his blade in front of the central tent. The Jin soldiers scrambled to form ranks, but they were scattered by the stampeding Yisheng soldiers.

The Han soldiers had lost their minds; the obstacles and caltrops at the gate were trampled instantly. The surging torrent of deserters poured into the camp, overturning tents and crushing campfires.

Many Jurchen soldiers, who had been resting in their tents and just beginning to arm themselves, rushed out, only to be met by the stampeding, screaming deserters. Unable to distinguish friend from foe, and seeing figures running everywhere in the dark, they panicked and instinctively drew their swords to kill.

"Ah! Don't kill me! I'm one of your own!"
"The Jin dogs are killing everyone! Run!"

The shrieks, curses, clashing of weapons, and the sound of trampling merged together, and the level of chaos spiked exponentially. Panic spread through the camp like a plague, beginning to affect the Jurchen troops in the neighboring camps as well.

Just as this extreme chaos reached its peak, Li Xiao, Yuan Zhenhai, Lu Feng-Hu, Sun Yi, and the other blood-drenched cavalrymen cut through the water like sharp blades. Riding their horses, stepping over the heads and gaps of the fleeing soldiers, they ferociously charged into the heart of the Jin camp!

A true bloodbath erupted within the chaotic encampment.

Yuan Zhenhai’s broadsword split a Jin soldier’s helmet, splashing red and white across his face, but he just grinned and swung back with another blow. Sun Yi’s cavalry formed small squads, specifically targeting isolated Jin soldiers; the paths between the tents were soon piled with corpses.

They were like cold water poured into a pan of hot oil, exploding in the core of the Jin camp. Everywhere they went, they stirred up a storm of blood and gore. The roars of Jurchen soldiers, the desperate screams of the Song, the wailing of the dying, the fierce clashing of weapons, and the neighing of horses converged above the Jin camp into a bloody, cruel symphony.

"There! Surround them! Kill them!" Amidst the chaos, Wanyan Yinshuke’s armor and his bodyguards betrayed his position.

"Capture the leader to break the army!" A piercing light ignited in Li Xiao’s eyes; it was their only path to survival. He spurred his horse and pointed his spear directly at Yinshuke, "Follow me! Capture that Jin general!"

*Roar!*

The remaining Song soldiers let out a final, furious cry, launching a desperate charge against Yinshuke’s bodyguard unit, regardless of the cost.

"Kill him!" Yinshuke ordered coldly.

His bodyguards were true Jurchen elites! Equipped with heavy iron maces and sharp, long-handled battle-axes, they charged forward howling. The maces smashed toward Li Xiao’s horse with a dull whistle, and the axes swung viciously at his body.

*Clang!*

Li Xiao danced his spear, the shaft colliding violently with the heavy maces and axes, sending sparks flying.

Every parry numbed his arms. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger had long since split, and blood stained the spear shaft. He fought to parry a heavy axe blow and used his backhand to stab a mace-wielding guard, but an axe blade whistled in from the other side!

He barely managed to lean to the side, and the cold axe edge grazed his breastplate, leaving a harsh screech and a deep dent.

It was a peak showdown of strength and skill, and even more, a battle of will! Like a lone boat in a raging sea, he was hemmed in by a forest of axes and maces, trapped in constant peril.

Yuan Zhenhai, Lu Feng-Hu, and the others were also locked in bitter combat, pinned down by elites who outnumbered them several times over. Men fell every second. Looking around, the number of Song soldiers who had breached the core area was dwindling, like candles about to be extinguished in a gale.

"Charge in!" Jiagu Wulibu arrived, his morning star swinging with such force that several Song cavalrymen were instantly turned into pulp.

Jin reinforcements from the neighboring camps arrived one after another. They formed shield walls, cutting down the fleeing Yisheng soldiers in swathes, and the encirclement slowly tightened.

"Haha! A cornered beast! Hack them into meat paste!"

"You sons of bitches! I’ll die with you!" Lu Feng-Hu’s horse was shot down, so he abandoned it to fight on foot, whirling his broadsword like a windmill and hacking down the Jin soldiers before him.

But the Jin soldiers grew more numerous. The Song cavalry fell one by one. Li Xiao’s hand was torn, and blood flowed down the shaft of his spear.

The enemy surged like a tide, iron maces and long-handled axes striking in turns, forcing him to retreat.

In the distance, a violent explosion sounded, followed by fire shooting into the sky. Dozens of clay pots tore through the air, smashing into the Jin ranks.

*Crack! Crack!*

The sound of shattering pottery!

A pungent, thick stench, redolent of sulfur and grease, instantly filled the air. Black, viscous liquid splashed everywhere, coating tents, soldiers, and the ground.

Fire-tipped arrows followed in quick succession, and the oil erupted into a raging inferno.

Flames shot toward the heavens! The tongues of fire hungrily licked everything coated in the incendiary oil. Tents turned into giant torches, burning fiercely! Jurchen soldiers soaked in the black oil instantly became screaming, rolling balls of fire!

The flames were like maggots on a bone, impossible to extinguish! They rolled on the ground in agony, frantically rushing toward their comrades in search of help, only to spread more fire to those around them!

"Ah! Save me!"
"Fire! Fire!"

The Jin soldiers screamed and rolled on the ground. Human torches ran wild through the camp, and the encampment fell into even greater chaos.

"A good opportunity!" Li Xiao’s eyes lit up. He thrust his spear, tossing a Jin soldier into the fire.

Yuan Zhenhai seized the moment to hack a gap: "Charge out!" The men followed, fighting toward the brightest part of the fire, spear shadows and blade light weaving through the flames.

Wanyan Yinshuke’s roars, the screams of the Jin soldiers, and the crackling of burning oil combined into a chaotic and tragic war song.

Li Xiao looked back. There were fewer than thirty Song soldiers left, but he tightened his grip on his spear even further. As long as he had a single breath left, he would make this fire burn even brighter.