Chen Changsheng strongly agreed with County Captain Li’s analysis. However, since the enemy dared to attack the city, they definitely had more than one Martial Artist.
Because of this, Chen Changsheng felt a bit worried about his own strength.
While he was thinking, County Captain Li spoke again.
"Worthy nephew, I’ll go keep an eye on the south and east sides. You watch the north and west sides. They will do an Early Stage probe first, then inevitably join forces at one location to forcefully assault one side of the city wall."
"Chen Changsheng obeys!"
During wartime, Chen Changsheng did not dare to be careless, solemnly accepting the orders.
Looking up again, he discovered that beacon smoke had already risen from Wind Fighting Ridge in the north.
It was a distance of thirteen miles. With the Clan Leader’s Middle Stage True Qi Realm Cultivation, traveling at full speed alone would take a little over fifteen minutes at most.
As long as they could stall for about twenty minutes, even if the mountain roads were difficult to travel, the Clan Leader would definitely arrive in time. Chaoyang Town would then have three Martial Artists, a geographical advantage, and a troop advantage; they should be able to hold the defense.
As the enemy approached, Chen Changsheng spoke in a cold voice.
"All personnel on the North City Wall and West City Wall, hear my command!
"Shield bearers, prepare!
"Archers, prepare!
"Veterans to the front, recruits to the back!
"Draft half of the personnel from each Arrow Platform and converge at the positions directly corresponding to the enemy’s formation!
"Wait for my command!"
His voice was infused with True Qi. As soon as he spoke, everyone on the entire North City Wall and West City Wall heard him clearly!
Chen Changsheng had been here for over ten days. According to the orders issued by County Captain Li, in all of Chaoyang Town, Chen Changsheng’s commands ranked second only to County Captain Li’s.
Therefore, as soon as he spoke, the captains in charge of defending each section began to execute his orders one after another.
Even Chen Fusheng, who had always felt quite resistant toward Chen Changsheng in his heart, strictly followed Chen Changsheng’s orders at this time. He began shouting and organizing the new recruits from Chen Family Village to carry out the commands.
Ice shards splattered. Tender grass that had just emerged from the ground was crushed into green juice, while unfrozen soil turned into dust and swept into the air.
One by one, the Northern Barbarians, with ferocious faces, let out peculiar roars. Carrying a thirst for wealth and reeking of Evil Qi all over their bodies, they galloped over.
Ninety zhang. Eighty zhang.
On the undulating backs of their Warhorses, the Barbarians began to draw their bows and knock their arrows.
Up on the city tower, Chen Changsheng was also drawing his bow and knocking an arrow!
"SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH!"
Over three hundred arrows from the Northern Barbarians and Chen Changsheng’s arrow pierced through the air simultaneously.
But Chen Changsheng had not given the order to fire!
However, some Humans on the city wall lost their nerve. Their hands slipped, and arrows shot through the air.
"AH!"
...
Agonizing screams echoed endlessly. In the first round of exchanging fire, three Northern Barbarians died, all killed by Chen Changsheng’s Continuous Arrow.
On the city wall, thirteen Humans were dead or injured, all struck by stray arrows falling through the gaps in their Wooden Shields.
Seventy zhang. Sixty zhang.
The more than three hundred Northern Barbarians unleashed another volley, but during this process, Chen Changsheng had already fired six arrows.
Eighteen Humans fell on the city wall, while five Northern Barbarians died.
At fifty zhang, the Northern Barbarian Cavalry was drawing their bows and knocking their arrows.
Chen Changsheng finally spoke!
"Starting from the forty-nine-zhang mark and moving back, with a two-zhang interval, archers will execute three rounds of cyclic overlapping volleys!"
This was the new tactic he had trained them in over the past five days: continuous firepower coverage in a short period.
Most of the people on Chaoyang Town’s city walls were robust young men temporarily drafted into service. Their accuracy with a Bow and Arrow was poor, and they did not have the official soldiers’ Crossbow Arrows.
The best method was to first clearly mark the distances on the ground outside the city walls, and then continuously cover the marked areas with rapid-fire volleys in a short timeframe.
The six hundred young, robust new recruits temporarily assembled at the North Gate and West Gate, who knew how to shoot, crouched down according to their pre-arranged formations. Through the shifted Wooden Shields, they divided into three groups and began to shoot upward.
"SWISH SWISH SWISH!"
Each round saw one hundred arrows per city gate, totaling three hundred arrows over three rounds.
After each man finished shooting, he would knock another arrow and wait for the subsequent two rounds to finish before firing again.
The so-called three rounds of volleys did not mean stopping after three rounds.
Instead, it was a continuous cycle. When the other two groups were shooting, the first group was already prepared to shoot again.
Facts proved that the Archery Skill of the young recruits was very poor.
"AH!"
"AH!"
...
However, facts also proved that Chen Changsheng’s tactic was excellent!
The first round did not kill many Northern Barbarians, as they had Leather Armor, Cotton Armor, Wooden Shields, and Weapons to block with.
But when the first round ended, they assumed no more arrows would strike for the time being.
One after another, they hung up their shields and drew their bows and arrows.
Yet, the second round instantly descended. Without the protection of their shields, a chorus of agonizing screams erupted.
Just when they thought there surely wouldn’t be a third round, another shower of arrows rained down.
Actually, by the fourth round, the Northern Barbarians had reacted. They picked up their shields, held their Weapons to block, and focused entirely on dealing with the arrows.
On their path of advance, in just a short hundred breaths of time, over thirty of the more than three hundred Northern Barbarians outside the North Gate had died.
The continuous rain of arrows that followed left them no time to shoot. They could only passively endure the barrage, and more than a dozen additional Humans were shot to death.
This was especially true for Chen Changsheng’s arrows, which basically took one life per shot. Arrows infused with True Qi could not be blocked by swords, spears, or shields.
Outside the West Gate, things were slightly different. Without Chen Changsheng’s Life-taking Arrow, over a dozen fewer Northern Barbarian Cavalry died.
Among the Northern Barbarian Cavalry, the call to retreat rang out.
At thirty zhang from the city wall, the Northern Barbarian Cavalry suddenly scattered, turned their Warhorses around, and fled into the distance.
"Targets at thirty-three zhang, thirty-five zhang, and thirty-seven zhang, with a two-zhang interval, up to the sixty-zhang mark! Continue shooting!"
Chen Changsheng’s cold voice continued to ring out.
Facing the overlapping cyclic volleys, the Northern Barbarian Cavalry, who were fleeing with all their might after scattering, saw their casualties drastically reduced.
Basically, each round of shooting only killed three or four Humans at most.
Even so, by the time the enemies outside the North Gate fled past the two-hundred-zhang mark, less than two hundred and fifty of them remained.
Outside the West Gate, in the wilderness, there were over fifty grotesque Corpses. Some were relatively intact, some had their chests trampled by Warhorses, some had their heads crushed, some were torn to pieces, and some were turned into a meaty paste...
As the cavalry at the North Gate quickly circled toward the West Gate, Chen Changsheng spoke once more.
"Logistics team, transport the wounded and resupply materials. Draft ninety percent of the personnel and move toward the West Gate!"
Watching a group of robust women trembling as they carried stretchers up the city wall from within, while some of the young recruits on the wall began moving west, Chen Changsheng’s figure blurred as he executed a Flying Sweep, leaving the North Gate tower.
Holding his Waist Saber, regardless of the state of the Northern Barbarian Corpses on the ground, Chen Changsheng would press down near their heads and deliver a finishing blow.
Wisps of scarlet Qi Mechanism flowed along Chen Changsheng’s right hand, sinking into his mind and entering the cauldron.
A scorching sensation continuously appeared in his mind.
In the midst of his Flying Sweep, Chen Changsheng’s fingers constantly brushed past the dead Warhorses. Wisps of scarlet Qi Mechanism appeared once more, instantly rushing into his mind.
By the time the Northern Barbarian Cavalry from the North Gate merged with those outside the West Gate, Chen Changsheng had also arrived on the battlefield outside the West Gate.
The old rules!
Deliver finishing blows and touch the Warhorses!
Unfortunately, there were only forty-eight Northern Barbarian Corpses outside the West Gate, and only a little over ten dead Warhorses, both being over a dozen fewer than outside the North Gate.
Amidst the fury of the five hundred Northern Barbarian Cavalry and the dumbfounded stares of the young recruits on the city wall, Chen Changsheng swiftly finished delivering blows and touching the Warhorses. He then executed a Flying Sweep back to the top of the West Gate Tower.
In just a short moment, he harvested one hundred and seventy-one drops of Blood Essence. There might be more in the future. He even wanted to go deliver finishing blows outside the East Gate and South Gate right now. Unfortunately, the battle was urgent, and he couldn’t go!
He certainly wouldn’t let those Corpses slip away.