xymnovel Chapter 31 Iron Pillar
Chapter 31 Iron Pillar
Ma Yongsheng devised a detailed battle plan: taking advantage of the dense fog, which obstructed the Qing army's vision and made command difficult, he would concentrate all his elite troops to launch a night attack on the Qing army's central camp, with the goal of capturing or severely damaging Hong Chengchou.
At the same time, organize a fleet of ships, fully loaded with the elderly, women, children, and important supplies, to sail down the river to Jiujiang—which is Jin Shenghuan's controlled area and can provide support.
"But Hong Chengchou's camp is heavily guarded. Even with a thick fog, it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven to break in," Instructor Sun frowned.
"So we need an inside man," Ma Yongsheng said. "Wang Pu's intelligence agent has successfully infiltrated the Qing army camp and bribed a low-ranking officer in charge of guarding the supplies. On the foggy night, they will create chaos and give us an opportunity."
"It's too risky!" Tie Zhu exclaimed anxiously. "Chief, you can't go yourself! What if..."
"I have to go," Ma Yongsheng interrupted him. "Only I can quickly locate Hong Chengchou in the chaos. Besides..." He touched the wound on his left arm, which throbbed slightly, "There are some scores that need to be settled."
He wasn't just talking about Hong Chengchou.
There are also the AI units lurking within the Qing army.
In recent days, through the secret reconnaissance of the special operations team, at least a dozen "abnormal entities" have been discovered mixed in with Qing army generals or personal guards.
They appear to be carrying out some kind of surveillance mission and are not directly involved in combat.
But Ma Yongsheng knew that once the battle situation changed decisively, these AI units would likely take action.
He wanted to strike first before that happened.
The next five days were the most difficult five days of the Battle of Wuchang.
The Qing army seemed to realize that the defenders were exhausted and launched an even more intense offensive.
On December 18, the Qing army finally used gunpowder to blast down a section of the city wall, and hundreds of Qing soldiers poured into the breach.
Ma Yongsheng personally led the reserve force to intercept the Qing army. After two hours of fierce fighting, they finally repelled the Qing troops, but he himself was stabbed twice and lost consciousness due to excessive blood loss.
When he woke up, he was lying on his bed in the back courtyard of the government office, with Chen Xiuying weeping beside him.
"Chief, you're finally awake!" Seeing him open his eyes, Chen Xiuying burst into tears of joy. "You were unconscious for a whole day and night, we were terrified!"
Ma Yongsheng tried to sit up, but felt weak all over.
Deep within my consciousness, an alarm is flashing:
Carrier damage: Moderate
Blood loss: Approximately 1500 ml
Recommendation: Rest immediately and replenish nutrients.
Warning: Continuing high-intensity activity may endanger your life.
But he had no choice.
"What day is it today?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
"It's December 19th." Chen Xiuying wiped away her tears. "Instructor Sun and General Tiezhu have been guarding outside all day. They said the Qing army has temporarily retreated, but the breach in the city wall hasn't been repaired yet. I'm afraid tomorrow..."
Help me up.
"Chief! You can't..."
"Help me up!" Ma Yongsheng emphasized.
With tears in her eyes, Chen Xiuying helped him sit up.
Ma Yongsheng felt a wave of dizziness, but he forced it down and called out to the door, "Tiezhu! Instructor Sun!"
The two hurried in and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Ma Yongsheng was awake, but they became worried again when they saw his pale face.
"Chief, you are badly injured and need to rest and recuperate..."
"There's no time." Ma Yongsheng waved his hand. "How's the repair of the breach in the city wall going?"
"We're repairing it, but we're short-handed and lack materials. It'll take at least two more days to fix it," Instructor Sun said gravely. "If the Qing army attacks again tomorrow, I'm afraid..."
"I can't wait until tomorrow." Ma Yongsheng looked out the window.
As night deepened, strangely, a faint white mist began to rise in the air.
It was very thin at first, but it became thicker and thicker.
"Fog...fog?" Tie Zhu asked in surprise.
"This isn't ordinary fog." A sharp glint flashed in Ma Yongsheng's eyes. "It's the fog we've been waiting for. Issue the order: proceed as planned, tonight at midnight."
"But Chieftain, your injuries..."
"I won't die." Ma Yongsheng struggled to get out of bed. "Get me a set of light armor, black one. Also, bring me 'that box'."
The "box" he mentioned was a specially made wooden box containing several weapons he had been secretly developing over the past few months:
A modified flintlock pistol, several trigger grenades, and a strange vest—stitched with thin iron plates and silk to protect against stray arrows and sword cuts, and more importantly, containing chemicals that release irritating smoke upon violent impact, which can be used for escape.
It's almost midnight.
On the walls of Wuchang, three thousand elite troops had assembled. This was all the resources the Xinghan Army could muster at the moment, including five hundred musketeers, two hundred cavalry (the horses were captured from the Qing army), and two thousand three hundred infantry. Each soldier carried only three days' worth of dry rations, traveling light.
Ma Yongsheng donned black light armor, a specially made vest on his back, and grenades and a pistol hung at his waist. His face was still pale, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.
"Brothers," he said, standing at the front of the ranks, his voice not loud, but clear enough to reach everyone's ears, "Tonight, we are going to do something big—strike at the heart of the enemy and capture Hong Chengchou!"
The soldiers listened intently, holding their breath.
"I know some people will think this is suicide. There are 35,000 Qing troops outside the city, and we only have 3,000. But I want to tell you: war is not about numbers, it's about who is more fearless and who is more intelligent!"
He pointed to the Qing army's campfires, faintly visible through the thick fog outside the city: "The Qing army thinks we're trapped, waiting to be slaughtered. They're wrong! Tonight's fog is a godsend! We will be like a sharp dagger, piercing the enemy's heart!"
"Success will lift the siege of Wuchang and reverse the situation in Hubei and Hunan! Defeat will only mean death! But even in death, we must die a glorious death, so that future generations will know that we, the sons of Han, would rather die than surrender!"
"Do you dare to follow me to my death?!"
"Dare! Dare! Dare!" The three thousand men roared, their voices echoing in the thick fog. Though not loud, they were filled with determination.
Ma Yongsheng mounted his horse: "Let's go!"
The city gates opened quietly, and three thousand elite troops surged out of Wuchang like a black torrent, disappearing into the thick fog.
The fog grew thicker and thicker, reducing visibility to less than ten steps.
This presented immense difficulties for the march, but it also perfectly concealed their movements. Following the route provided by their inside informant and the pre-placed markers, the troops moved swiftly through the fog, avoiding Qing army checkpoints, and heading straight for the central army camp.
An hour later, the outline of a continuous camp appeared in the distance.
More importantly, shouts of battle and flashes of light suddenly rang out from the camp—the inside agent had begun to move!
"Now!" Ma Yongsheng drew his sword and pointed it forward. "Charge!"
Three thousand men, like tigers released from their cages, charged towards the Qing army camp.
Before the Qing troops at the camp gate could react, they were mowed down by a volley of gunfire. The Xinghan Army quickly stormed in, advancing towards the central command tent in three columns as planned.
In the thick fog, the Qing army was completely thrown into chaos. Communication between camps was lost; they had no idea how many enemies were approaching or where they were. Many soldiers, barely venturing out of their tents, were felled by arrows or bullets flying through the fog. Worse still, spies had set fire to numerous grain piles and tents, the thick smoke mixing with the fog, creating even greater confusion.
Ma Yongsheng personally led his five hundred most elite men straight to Hong Chengchou's main camp.
Along the way, they encountered several ambushes, but they broke through them all quickly under Ma Yongsheng's accurate "prediction" and command. Ma Yongsheng himself was even more unstoppable. Despite being wounded, he fired his pistol in rapid succession and threw grenades, clearing a bloody path in an instant.
Finally, a huge camp appeared ahead, heavily guarded by soldiers—it was Hong Chengchou's central command tent!
"Kill!" Ma Yongsheng charged forward, taking the lead.
The main tent was guarded by Hong Chengchou's personal guard, five hundred men, all elite soldiers handpicked from the best. A fierce battle ensued between the two sides in front of the tent.
Ma Yongsheng quickly realized something was wrong—these personal guards were too strong. Not only were they highly skilled in martial arts, but more importantly, their teamwork was terrifyingly seamless, as if they shared the same consciousness. Moreover, several officers had vacant eyes and mechanical movements, completely unlike living people.
AI units! And not just one!
"Watch out! These are not ordinary people!" Ma Yongsheng shouted, simultaneously activating his full awareness and focusing all his energy on sensing the "abnormal signals" around him.
Sure enough, deep inside the tent, he sensed a powerful, non-human fluctuation of consciousness—far more powerful than any AI unit he had ever seen before!
"Hong Chengchou has an advanced AI by his side!" Ma Yongsheng's heart skipped a beat. "Its target... is me?"
Before they could think it through, the battle had already reached a fever pitch.
Although the Xinghan Army was fierce and brave, Hong Chengchou's personal guard was too elite, and coupled with the strange abilities of those AI units, they gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.
Worse still, the surrounding Qing troops were recovering from the chaos and began to encircle the central command tent.
If this drags on any longer, all three thousand people will perish here.
"We must finish this quickly!" Ma Yongsheng gritted his teeth and pulled out a fist-sized metal ball from his pocket—his last trump card, a "thunderbolt" made from all the remaining high-purity gunpowder and scrap iron, powerful enough to blast a small building down.
"Everyone back off!" he shouted, lighting the fuse and hurling the thunderbolt at the main tent.
"Protect the commander!" someone in the personal guard camp exclaimed.
Several AI units suddenly abandoned the fight and pounced on the thunderbolt like ghosts, seemingly trying to block it with their bodies. But they underestimated the thunderbolt's power—
"boom!!!"
A devastating explosion.
The shockwave blew everything within a twenty-step radius away.
The large tent was blown to pieces, and the tables, chairs, maps, and documents inside were reduced to fragments.
Dozens of Qing soldiers and Xinghan soldiers who were nearby were killed instantly by the bomb, and many more were stunned or injured by the shockwave.
Ma Yongsheng was also knocked down by the blast wave, and his ears were ringing.
He struggled to his feet and looked at the ruins of the large tent.
Amidst the smoke and dust, a figure staggered to his feet—it was Hong Chengchou! He hadn't died; his official hat had been blown off, and there were a few bloody marks on his face, but he didn't seem seriously injured. In front of him, two AI units had shielded him from most of the blast's force, now reduced to a twisted mixture of metal and flesh.
"Ma...Yong...Sheng!" Hong Chengchou's eyes were bloodshot, but his voice, unusually authoritative, carried a distinctly mechanical quality. "Is it...you...?"
Ma Yongsheng did not answer, but raised his gun and fired.
But Hong Chengchou's reaction was not human; he dodged it with a swift movement—he was also an AI unit, and clearly of a high level!
"Target confirmed: Anomalous consciousness entity, threat level: highest," Hong Chengchou announced mechanically. "Execute the elimination protocol."
Hong Chengchou moved, his speed exceeding human limits, and rushed straight at Ma Yongsheng.
Ma Yongsheng rolled on the ground and narrowly avoided it.
Hong Chengchou followed him closely, his fingers curling into claws as he grabbed Hong Chengchou's throat.
He was about to die on the spot—
"Watch out, Chief!" Tie Zhu's angry roar came from the side.
He lunged forward and shoved Ma Yongsheng aside with his body.
Hong Chengchou's claws were like metal, piercing into the iron pillar's chest and emerging through its back.
"Brother Tiezhu!" Ma Yongsheng's eyes widened in fury.
Tie Zhu grinned, blood gushing from his mouth: "Chang Sheng... run away quickly..." After saying that, he breathed his last.
"Ah—!" Ma Yongsheng roared like a wounded beast, lunging at Hong Chengchou without regard for anything else.
However, he was seriously injured and weak, and was no match for him.
After several rounds, he sustained several more wounds, his special vest was torn, and irritating smoke billowed out.
The smoke seemed to interfere with the sensors in Hong Chengchou's AI unit, causing it to sluggish.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Instructor Sun arrived with his men, unleashing a volley of gunfire that forced Hong Chengchou to retreat repeatedly.
"Chief! The Qing army has surrounded us! If we don't leave now, it will be too late!" Instructor Sun shouted.
Looking at Tie Zhu's corpse and then at the Qing troops who were reorganizing their defenses, Ma Yongsheng knew that tonight's plan had failed.
Hong Chengchou didn't die, and the advanced AI wasn't destroyed, but they suffered heavy losses, even Tie Zhu...
"Retreat!" he ordered through gritted teeth, "Take Tiezhu's body with you!"
The Xinghan Army began to fight and retreat simultaneously.
But the Qing army had already reacted and surrounded them from all sides.
Although the thick fog was still there, torches were everywhere, making it extremely difficult to break through.
They were about to be surrounded and annihilated—
Suddenly, chaos erupted in the rear of the Qing army!
Shouts of battle came from the northeast as an army broke through the Qing army's defenses and stormed in.
The flag was faintly visible in the torchlight, with the character "金" (gold) embroidered on it.
Jin Shenghuan! He actually came!
"Chief Ma! I'm late!" With a loud shout, a general in his forties with a full beard led his troops to the front.
Ma Yongsheng was both surprised and delighted: "General Jin! How could you...?"
"Jiujiang is only three hundred li from here. I rushed here day and night after receiving your letter!" Jin Shenghuan laughed. "I didn't expect to arrive just in time for this good show! Men, follow me and fight your way through to escort Chief Ma back to the city!"
The arrival of fresh troops instantly turned the tide of the battle.
The Qing army was already disoriented by the night attack, and now, attacked from both sides, they were even more confused.
Jin Shenghuan's 5,000 troops were all elite soldiers with extremely strong combat power, and they quickly tore open a gap.
With his remaining troops under Jin Shenghuan's cover, Ma Yongsheng successfully retreated back to Wuchang City.
Both sides suffered heavy losses that night.
The Qing army suffered more than 5,000 casualties, its central command tent was destroyed, many generals were killed in battle, and Hong Chengchou himself was slightly wounded.
Of the three thousand elite troops of the Xinghan Army, only twelve hundred returned. Tie Zhu was killed in battle, Instructor Sun was seriously wounded, and Ma Yongsheng himself was also injured.
However, they dealt a heavy blow to the Qing army, and more importantly, they received reinforcements from Jin Shenghuan.
Wuchang has been held for the time being.
But even bigger changes are happening.
Three days later, good news came from Sichuan: Kuizhou had been liberated! Taking advantage of the emptiness in northern Sichuan, the Sichuan anti-Qing army seized the gateway to the Three Gorges in one fell swoop, shocking the entire province!
Two days later, He Tengjiao from Hunan also raised an army in response, captured Yuezhou, and threatened Changsha.
The entire situation in the Hubei and Hunan campaign was transformed overnight.
Hong Chengchou faced a difficult choice: continue the siege of Wuchang, or divide his forces to deal with the threats from Sichuan and Hunan?
When Ma Yongsheng learned of this news while lying in his hospital bed, he simply closed his eyes slowly.
"Brother Tiezhu, did you see that...?" he murmured, "The chess piece is starting to come alive."