Chinese Generals Summoning System

Chapter 44: The Second Checkpoint (Part 2)

Upon hearing the agonized scream from behind, You Tong stopped in his tracks and quickly glanced back, just in time to see the fallen soldier struck dead by an arrow. He immediately shouted, “Fill the gap! Keep moving forward!” Although the death of one soldier had turned the others’ faces pale, as soon as You Tong gave the order, a shield-bearing soldier immediately took the spot by the wooden ladder and, carrying it, continued the charge toward the second checkpoint of Weihu Fort. Their recent string of victories had boosted these soldiers’ morale, so the loss of a single comrade did not cause any panic. Moreover, after several days of training, they were well aware of the consequences of retreating without orders. Soon, Chen Hao and his men charged to the base of the stone wall at the second checkpoint. “Quick! Set up the wooden ladder!” Just as the soldiers were setting up the ladder, the bandits atop the stone wall began hurling rocks and rolling logs down at them. However, before some of the bandits could throw the rocks or roll the logs down, they were struck by arrows fired by Yue Yi and Gong Du. With a agonized scream, they collapsed on the rampart and fell silent. While Chen Hao and his men were charging just moments ago, Yue Yi and Gong Du had not stopped firing their arrows for a single moment; nearly half of the bandit archers on top of the pass had already been killed or wounded by their arrows. A wooden ladder was quickly set up and leaned against the stone wall of the pass. Chen Hao, holding an iron rod in one hand and bracing himself against the ladder with the other, scrambled swiftly up the stone wall. “Quick! Push the ladder away! Don’t let the imperial troops climb up!” Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fort, saw the wooden ladder being set up and immediately shouted at the bandits on top of the checkpoint’s stone wall. Two bandits wielding iron pitchforks immediately thrust them against the wooden ladder Chen Hao was climbing, intending to knock it over. However, the top two wooden stakes of the ladder were wedged firmly into the battlements, and no matter how hard the two bandits with the pitchforks strained, they couldn’t budge the ladder. “Throw stones! Smash them to death!” Wen Da, the second-in-command of Weihu Fortress, saw that they couldn’t push the upright wooden ladder over. As he shouted loudly, he drew his bow, preparing to shoot an arrow at Chen Hao, who was still climbing. But before Wen Da could release the arrow, he let out a blood-curdling scream. The bow and arrow in his hand fell directly over the stone wall of the checkpoint, and Wen Da stumbled backward a step. “Thud—” He fell backward onto the stone wall of the checkpoint, an arrow deeply embedded in his forehead. His eyes were wide open, as if he couldn’t believe he had met his end just like that. “Second-in-command! It’s over—the Second-in-command is done for!” one of the bandit leaders standing beside Wenda cried out in shock. Only then did the leader, Fan Chong, see that Wenda had been killed by an arrow. “Second Brother—smash it! Smash it to pieces!” The arrow that struck Wen Da had been fired by Le Yi. Both Le Yi and Gong Du had seen Chen Hao begin climbing the wooden ladder up the stone wall of the pass, so they immediately aimed their bows and arrows at Chen Hao above them. Not only was Wen Da killed by a single arrow, but several bandit foot soldiers who were holding stones to hurl at Chen Hao were also struck down by arrows fired by Le Yi and Gong Du. However, there were still numerous bandits on top of the stone wall, and some of them managed to hurl large boulders at Chen Hao as he was halfway up. But Chen Hao had been on constant guard against arrows, rolling logs, and falling rocks from above. Seeing a large boulder flying toward him,he tapped it with his iron rod in one hand, sending the boulder flying to the side, and continued climbing rapidly toward the top of the pass. Shortly after, Chen Hao used his iron rod to sweep another large rock aside, reaching the top of the wooden ladder. He then leaped onto the battlements of the fortress’s stone wall and, at the same time, swept his iron rod downward, sending two bandit henchmen hiding behind the battlements flying into the air,The two bandit henchmen, flying through the air and spitting blood, knocked over several other bandits standing nearby. “Kill—” Chen Hao roared, then leaped down from the crenelation and charged into the crowd of bandits atop the stone wall of the checkpoint, immediately unleashing a bloodbath. Not a single bandit on the stone wall of the checkpoint could withstand the force of Chen Hao’s single blow with his staff. Upon seeing Chen Hao scale the battlements, Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fortress, did not hesitate for a moment; he immediately turned and fled down the stone stairs of the checkpoint wall. Following Chen Hao, You Tong also scaled the stone wall of the checkpoint, and soon after, more soldiers climbed up one after another. Before long, Weihu Fort’s second checkpoint had completely fallen into Liu Ji’s hands. In the end, at Weihu Fort’s second checkpoint, a total of 79 bandits were killed—including the fort’s second-in-command, Wen Da—and 157 bandits who had voluntarily knelt to surrender were taken prisoner. Only Fan Chong, the leader of Weihu Fort, managed to escape to the third checkpoint with a small group of bandits. However, Liu Ji’s forces did suffer some casualties at the second checkpoint of Weihu Fortress: three soldiers were killed in action, and two others were wounded, though their injuries were not serious. Liu Ji first inspected the injuries of the two wounded soldiers, offered them a few words of encouragement, and then, in front of everyone, lavished praise on the generals and soldiers who had participated in the assault on the checkpoint, showering them with a flood of words of encouragement and commendation. After Liu Ji’s lengthy praise, Yue Yi immediately suggested, ““My Lord, we have captured two of Weihu Fortress’s checkpoints in succession, dealing another heavy blow to the remaining bandits there. At this point, there are likely fewer than a hundred bandits left inside Weihu Fortress. I suggest we press our advantage and capture the fortress’s final checkpoint to completely seize Weihu Fortress.” Hua Xiong also nodded and said, “My Lord, Le Yi speaks wisely. As for the final outpost of Weihu Fort, I, Hua Xiong, am willing to help you take it!” Although there were some casualties during the capture of Weihu Fortress’s second checkpoint, Liu Ji appeared extremely excited. Not only had he suddenly collected 82 Soul Points, but witnessing the spectacle of an ancient siege battle firsthand had his blood boiling—he could hardly wait to grab his sword and charge into the fray himself. Of course, this outpost at Weihu Fort was quite different from a full-scale city, but witnessing his own generals and soldiers charge up the enemy’s stone walls at close range and, after a fierce battle, capture the entire outpost filled Liu Ji with excitement. With another 82 Soul Points collected—including those from the 79 bandits killed and the 3 soldiers from Liu Ji’s forces who fell in battle—Liu Ji’s total Soul Points reached 295. With just 5 more Soul Points, Liu Ji would have three chances to summon third-tier generals. Liu Ji strongly agreed with the suggestions made by Yue Yi and Hua Xiong, so he ordered You Tong to lead one squad of soldiers to temporarily guard the second checkpoint of Weihu Fort,Two other wounded soldiers were also left at the second checkpoint, and 157 bandits were temporarily placed under You Tong’s custody. Liu Ji, Hua Xiong, Chen Hao, Yue Yi, Gong Du, and the remaining 75 soldiers continued their advance toward the third checkpoint of Weihu Fort.