Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 42: The Iron Rod Smashing the Door

After Fan Chong, the First-in-Command of Weihu Fort, and Wen Da, the Second-in-Command, returned to the fort’s Assembly Hall, Fan Chong said to Wen Da, “I plan to pay the men from Yanwang Ridge to deal with this government army.” Wen Da gave a wry smile and said, “Big Brother, the moment you said down at the foot of the mountain that you wouldn’t let this government army off the hook, I knew you were planning to enlist the help of the Yanwang Ridge bandits. But those lords at Yanwang Ridge are simply too greedy—we won’t be able to secure their forces for this mission without at least 20,000 or 30,000 taels of silver!” Yanwang Ridge was the largest and most powerful bandit stronghold in the entire mountainous region straddling the border between Yongzhou and Qianzhou. Although Weihu Fort was reputed to be one of the top strongholds within a hundred-li radius, its overall strength paled in comparison to Yanwang Ridge—it was like a minor sorcerer next to a great one. Upon hearing the figure of 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver, Fan Chong’s face twitched involuntarily. After all, 20,000 to 30,000 taels was no small sum for Weihu Fort. Still, Fan Chong gritted his teeth and said, “20,000 taels! As long as Yanwang Ridge can wipe out this government army, we at Weihu Fort will hand over 20,000 taels of silver to Yanwang Ridge! Our Fourth Brother is still in the hands of the government army—we must rescue him. Moreover, if our Third Brother is still alive, he may have been captured by the government army as well, and we must rescue him too!” Wen Da nodded and said, “Since you’ve made the decision, Brother, I’ll head to Yanwang Ridge as soon as possible—preferably taking the 20,000 taels of silver with me.” Fan Chong and Wen Da had just sent men to retrieve 20,000 taels of silver from Weihu Fort’s treasury when they received a report from the first checkpoint at the foot of the fort: the government troops had already reached the outskirts of the checkpoint. Chief Fan Chong immediately exclaimed in shock and anger to Second-in-Command Wen Da, “This government army actually intends to wipe out our Weihu Fortress completely! We have fewer than 400 men left in the entire fortress—what are we to do?” Wen Da pondered for a moment and said, “Big Brother, no government troops have been spotted on the back mountain yet. Let’s send a few trusted men immediately to Yanwang Ridge to request reinforcements. If Yanwang Ridge comes to our rescue this time, Weihu Fortress will give them… 40,000 taels of silver! We brothers will lead the men and, using the strategic terrain of Weihu Fort’s three checkpoints, hold off this government force for now!” “Agreed! Let’s do as you say, Second Brother! As long as Yanwang Ridge sends troops this time, Weihu Fort is willing to present them with 40,000 taels of silver!” Liu Ji led his men to the foot of Weihu Fortress but did not launch an immediate attack. Instead, he selected an open area at the base of the mountain and first set up a makeshift camp. Afterward, Liu Ji left Cheng Yi,Han Tao, and a squad of soldiers to guard the camp and oversee the 468 captured bandits and 68 auxiliary troops. The sisters Lin Xiya and Lin Xiwen also remained in the camp. To capture the three checkpoints of Weihu Fortress, Liu Ji also ordered the construction of 10 makeshift wooden ladders, each over five meters long. Following Liu Ji’s instructions, two wooden stakes—each over one chi long and about as thick as a calf—were attached to the top of each ladder. Subsequently, Liu Ji, accompanied by Hua Xiong, Chen Hao,Yue Yi, You Tong, Liu Pi, and Gong Du—along with two squadrons of soldiers—to a point about three hundred paces from Weihu Fortress’s first checkpoint. This checkpoint was situated between two rugged peaks, with a stone wall at least four meters high built from stacked stones. The wall had only one very sturdy wooden gate, which was tightly shut at that moment; the only way to pass between the two peaks was along this central path. “My lord, let me go!” Chen Hao said eagerly, his eyes fixed on the first checkpoint of Weihu Fort. “All right! Chen Hao, I’ll give you three shí of soldiers. Be very careful! The moment you hear the gong, you must retreat immediately!” “Hehe, My Lord, just watch me!” Chen Hao said with a goofy grin. Liu Ji still had some reservations about Chen Hao—after all, the man was a bit single-minded—so he turned to You Tong and said, “You Tong, go with Chen Hao to storm the checkpoint. You must be extra careful!” “Yes, my lord!” Chen Hao and You Tong quickly set off with 30 soldiers, carrying four wooden ladders, and charged toward the first checkpoint of Weihu Fort. Thanks to their previous spoils, all 30 soldiers were clad in armor—eight wore iron armor, while the remaining 22 wore leather armor—and each was equipped with a shield. When they were about a hundred paces from the checkpoint, Chen Hao suddenly said to You Tong, “Brother You Tong, you and the soldiers wait here for a moment. I’ll go smash that wooden gate open!” Without waiting for You Tong to reply, Chen Hao grabbed his iron club and sprinted toward the checkpoint’s wooden gate. This startled You Tong—the gate looked incredibly sturdy at first glance. What on earth was Chen Hao thinking? Without hesitation, You Tong bellowed at the 30 soldiers, “Charge alongside Military Commander Chen! Whoever is the first to scale the outpost will be credited with the primary merit!” “Fire! Shoot them dead!” Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fort, saw Chen Hao and his men charging toward them and immediately shouted to the dozen or so bandit archers stationed atop the checkpoint. Wen Da, the second-in-command who had also arrived at Weihu Fort’s first checkpoint, shouted just as loudly, “Get the rolling logs and boulders ready! As soon as the imperial troops get close, smash them to pieces for this fort leader!” Fan Chong and Wen Da then saw an exceptionally burly imperial army commander, clad in full plate armor, charging toward them at breakneck speed. The arrows fired at him by the bandit archers were almost all deflected aside by his iron staff, barely slowing his pace at all. Finally, an arrow struck the commander’s shoulder, only to ricochet off his iron armor. “Quick! Grab some rocks—smash him to death!” Seeing that Chen Hao had already approached the wooden gate of the checkpoint, Wen Da shouted urgently to the bandits around him. At the same time, Wen Da picked up a large rock weighing several dozen jin and hurled it at Chen Hao. Fan Chong also picked up a stone weighing several dozen jin and hurled it at Chen Hao. “Die!” Chen Hao ran to the base of the checkpoint’s stone wall. Seeing several large stones hurtling toward him, he showed not the slightest sign of panic. With a few swift swings of his iron rod, he deflected all the stones aimed at him. Then, taking advantage of a lull when no stones were falling from above, he let out a loud roar, swung his iron rod in a wide arc, and smashed it viciously against the thick wooden gate of the checkpoint. With a “BOOM—,” the checkpoint’s wooden door was instantly smashed to pieces by Chen Hao’s iron rod. “Oh no! The door’s been smashed open! Let’s get out of here!” “Is that even human? He smashed through such a thick wooden door!” “Let’s get out of here! We can’t hold this position anymore!” Once the wooden gate was smashed open, the bandits on the stone wall of the checkpoint immediately fell into chaos. Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fortress, and Wen Da, the second-in-command, exchanged glances and saw deep fear in each other’s eyes. Without a word, they both sprinted down the stone steps along the checkpoint wall, fleeing as fast as they could toward the rear. After Chen Hao smashed open the wooden gate, he took a single bound and charged behind the stone wall of the checkpoint. There, dozens of bandits were staring in terror at Chen Hao, who looked like a demon god. These bandits were the reserve force for the first checkpoint, ready to rush in and provide backup should the situation on top of the stone wall become critical. “Oh my God! It’s a monster!” “Run!” The moment they saw Chen Hao, dozens of bandits immediately turned and fled. They had been utterly terrified by him—such a thick wooden door had been smashed open in an instant. Facing such a formidable warrior, not running would be tantamount to courting death. Chen Hao couldn’t care less whether they were scared out of their wits or not; he swung his iron club and gave chase. As anyone would know, Chen Hao was incredibly fast, and before long, several straggling bandits had their skulls smashed by him. “Grandpa, spare our lives! Grandpa, please spare us!” Realizing they couldn’t outrun Chen Hao, some of the bandits dropped to their knees. To the relief of those kneeling bandits, Chen Hao didn’t attack them but continued chasing after the others who were fleeing. When You Tong saw Chen Hao smash open the wooden gate of the checkpoint with a single blow of his staff, he couldn’t help but swallow hard. He waved his hand and shouted to the 30 soldiers, “Throw away the wooden ladders—charge in!”