Chapter 351: Defending the City (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling’s face darkened. “Father, no leader would be stupid enough to expose himself to the range of arrows.”
“The general has a four-picul© bow with a much longer range than what we’re using now…”
“Father.” Mu Yangling interrupted him and said seriously, “Even if you use yourself as bait, the other party will definitely not stand within 600 meters. Even if I pull the bow to its greatest extent, the range will only be about 400 meters. In the end, you’ll die in vain.”
Mu Shi’s face darkened slightly. He also knew this logic, but he couldn’t help but think that if they could shoot to death the other party’s leader, the siege might be resolved.
Wu Jin blinked and asked, “Does that mean that the heavier the bow, the longer the range?”
Mu Yangling nodded. “But ordinary bows weigh only 2.5 piculs each. The four-picul one in General’s hand is already very rare.”
Wu Jin asked excitedly, “Then how heavy a bow can you draw?”
Mu Yangling shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’m much stronger than ordinary people.” Mu Yangling pondered for a moment and said, “Eight piculs shouldn’t be a problem. And if I have an eight-picul bow, my father doesn’t need to do much luring. I should be able to shoot out a range of 700 meters.”
Wu Jin was a little disappointed. “Does that mean you’re unable to draw a ten-picul bow? Even if we attempt to make one now, we won’t be able to make an eight-picul bow in time.”
Mu Yangling’s eyes narrowed as she asked, “You have a ten-picul bow?”
“Not me, but one of my classmates. His grandfather specially asked someone to make a ten-picul bow 20 years ago and kept it at home.”
Mu Yangling became slightly excited. “Go and get it. I’ll give it a try. Maybe I can pull it open.”
There was also some hope in Mu Shi’s eyes.
“That bow is in my classmate’s hometown in Changju County. It’s already dark…” Wu Jin hesitated.
“You have to go even if it’s dark. Go and invite him over now. I’ll give you a warrant. With the warrant, you can order the guards to open the side door and enter the city. It’s best if you can get the bow back before dawn. By the way, I’ll assign ten more guards to you.”
Mu Yangling stuffed two buns into his hands and let him set off. “It’s cold on the way. Bring some charcoal. You can change horses when you pass by Mingshui County.”
Wu Jin could only look for his classmates with the two buns.
His classmate’s surname was Xu, and his name was Shoutu. In fact, he had a different name at first. When he was born, his grandfather gave him a pleasant name, Xu Jun. However, 20 years ago, when the Imperial Court fled south, in a fit of anger, his grandfather changed his name to Xu Shoutu when he was only three years old.
As for that ten-picul bow, it was made for Li Zhengye, the guardian of the pass at that time. It was to mock him for turning around and fleeing without firing a single arrow. At that time, when he was making the bow, his family only thought that he had made it for them to admire. Who knew that after spending two years building it, he intended to send it to Li Zhengye in Lin’an Prefecture?
Since everyone was scolding Li Zhengye at the time, everyone would know the meaning behind him sending this ten-picul bow over.
Even though the Xu family was rich, they were only considered famous in a small place like Changju County. Even in Xingzhou Prefecture, no one gave him any face, let alone the marshal of the army at that time, Li Zhengye.
An influential man like Li Zhengye could easily crush them with a flick of his fingers. So, the entire Xu family knelt on the ground. His son even stuffed the five-year-old Xu Shoutu into his grandfather’s arms and shouted, “Father, if you want to scold Li Zhengye, it’s fine even if you scold him on the streets. If you send this thing over, your grandson will be gone before he has the chance to guard the Great Zhou Dynasty!”
Therefore, Xu Shi could only hang the bow high in the central room so that every descendant could see it when they entered and left the house, to remind them of this humiliation to their country.
Wu Jin and Xu Shoutu were pals, so he had told him about this matter as a joke. However, Wu Jin felt that Grandpa Xu was an interesting person and remembered this matter.
Wu Jin ran into the academy and pulled out Xu Shoutu, who had just packed his luggage and was planning to go home the next day. They set off for Changju County that night.
On the other hand, Mu Yangling instructed someone to carry the boiling water up the city tower and get someone to water it along the city wall. Soon, the boiling water was used up.
Mu Yangling instructed her men to continue boiling water, but this time, there was no need to boil it completely. It only needed to be scalding hot. She even gathered all the water wheels in the city.
These water wheels were used by the government office to sprinkle water on the streets. There were only ten of them. Mu Yangling got someone to organize two teams of suicide squads and said, “Open the small door later. We’ll go out to sprinkle water, starting from the outside to the inside. Keep the commotion down. It’s already completely dark now. The Jin soldiers’ camp is 15 miles away from here, and their scouts won’t be very close to here, so they’re not likely to discover it. Of course, it’s still very dangerous. Once the other party attacks at night, we might not be able to make it back.”
Put in charge of guarding the city, it was impossible for Mu Shi to open the door for them.
In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Mu Yangling would go with them.
Mu Shi’s expression was a little ugly as he asked, “Ah Ling, why did you sprinkle hot water?”
“Father, do you remember that the river was covered in thick ice during one particularly cold winter? Cousin Lang dug up a very beautiful ice pillar by the river, and there was a flower inside. The flower must have fallen into the river before the water froze. In the end, because the temperature suddenly dropped, the ice on the river became very thick, freezing the flower inside.”
As the river water was clear, the flower could very obviously be seen. Of course, Mu Shi remembered it. At that time, Bowen liked it very much and even asked for it. However, Liu Lang also liked it very much. The children in the village even fought over this ice flower.
Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “…Then that night, I filled a cup with hot water and placed it outside. I even threw a flower inside. The next day, when I woke up, it froze into an ice flower. That year, it was especially cold… Yesterday was colder than the day before, and today is colder than yesterday. I’m guessing the cold wave has arrived. Therefore, the temperature should be even lower this morning. If the hot water is splashed on the ground, it will freeze. If the ground within 600 meters of the city wall freezes, how long of a delay do you think it can earn us?”
Mu Shi’s eyes lit up.
Mu Yangling sighed. If not for the fact that there was no other way, she wouldn’t have spent so much time and effort doing this. It was too tiring.
At night, Mu Yangling waited till almost everyone in the tents was asleep, and there was no movement from the Jin soldiers’ camp. Only then did she get her men to quietly open the small door and push the carts and waterwheels.
They could retreat as soon as the sluice of the water wheels was opened, for the water would automatically spill on the ground. A handcart could carry eight buckets of hot water. When they reached the 600-meters spot, two people would pull the cart, and one person on each side would splash the water on the ground.
Mu Yangling stood behind them and checked, trying her best not to miss anything.
It was obvious that this was the first time everyone was in such an unprotected state, so they were very afraid. At first, they were anxious and trembling, but when they saw that no enemy troops were coming, they eased up and gradually moved faster.
Because their lives were in danger, they moved very quickly. After three trips, they finished watering the ground within 600 meters of the city wall.
Mu Yangling ordered everyone to retreat.
The scouts of the Jin soldiers had been hiding in the mountains at the side, paying attention to the movements at Xingcheng Pass. However, the people who came out did not use lights. It was pitch-black and they were far away, so they did not notice. Coupled with the fact that it was cold at night, everyone was a little dazed.
Mu Yangling entered the house with a cold aura and drank a bowl of hot ginger tea before taking off her cold and wet clothes. She pulled the blanket over her and lay on the couch to sleep. Since tomorrow was going to be a tough battle, she had to rest well.
At this moment, Wu Jin and Xu Shoutu were escorted back to the Xu family by ten guards who were also freezing from the cold. The 12 of them were emitting cold air and were already completely dazed.
Wu Jin and Xu Shoutu sat in the carriage holding the heater. Even with the blanket draped over them, they were frozen silly. One could imagine how miserable the guards riding horses were. However, it wasn’t like they had never marched on such a cold day in the past, so they looked much better than the two young masters.
