Reborn Before My Husband Ascends the Throne

Ye Silang had been secretly clicking his tongue in wonder.

Yan Xiao, who was most familiar with the Ye family, smiled and asked, "What do you think, Silang?"

Ye Silang said, "No wonder sixth sister insisted we come take a look."

Silang sighed and said, "My home is like dogs, and your home is like wolves."

Yan Xiao said, "Well, we don't have a choice. You all have a family, we don't."

Those with roots and family are like house dogs guarding their homes. Although they look imposing, they have a way out, so they are stable but not vicious.

The Pei Family Army has no roots, drifting to this place. If they retreat, it will be exile. So they fight fiercely despite being covered in scars, refusing to let go even when biting the enemy to death.

A soldier came with orders: "The chief orders General Yan to reinforce!"

Yan Xiao said, "Well I'm off."

Silang said, "Be careful."

Yan Xiao grinned and said, "You watch."

Yan Xiao's name means "laugh," and he did love to laugh. But when he went onto the battlefield, he was as fierce as a hungry wolf.

By the time the sun set in the west and the gong rang to withdraw troops, Yan Xiao came back carrying his blade: "Oh, you're still here?"

But Silang did not answer, staring intently at the military camp.

Yan Xiao followed his gaze to look.

The injured soldiers were treating their wounds. Some could handle it themselves, some had to help each other. There were also medics, who were only responsible for the seriously wounded.

Some were dragged back disemboweled, trailing...

The medics took a look, and only shook their heads.

These were all perfectly normal scenes. Yan Xiao asked, "What are you looking at?"

Silang looked at him and said hesitantly, "The damage is very heavy..."

Yan Xiao looked back and was a little confused: "It's fine, not that bad."

Suddenly realizing, he asked Silang, "Is it not like this when your family fights?"

Silang said, "It's never been this heavy before."

Yan Xiao didn't believe him, and asked for details. After inquiring, he realized the Ye Family Army's consistent fighting method in Tang Prefecture was simply -

Overwhelming force.

Yan Xiao was enviously unhappy: "Rich kid!"

That night at the headquarters tent meeting, he jealously told everyone about it.

The others: "Tsk!"

The adopted son who had gone to the Ye Family Army side today said: "That's right. They've started doing that today."

The first battle yesterday was exploratory, everyone had a rough idea, so today they went all out.

The others: "Tsk!"

On the other side, Ye Suijin heard what Silang said and responded, "What Yan Ling said is not wrong. We are indeed rich kids in our fighting methods."

"If I have greater numbers, I will deploy more people. If I have the advantage, I will press it. Since I have sufficient reserves, of course I will seek to minimize our losses in battle."

"But this is only for now, on our doorstep. In the future, I can't guarantee every fight will be like this."

"So, learn from the Pei family well."

"Learn what it is to be a lone army."

The frontal battlefield was a war of attrition. Wearing each other down in soldiers, weapons, armor, provisions. Also wearing down the generals, after fighting for four days, Yanchen City had lost four or five generals. On the fifth day, regardless of provocations from outside the city walls, they did not come out to engage anymore.

Ye Suijin said, "Report to Lord Pei, attack the city."

The heavy machinery was brought up.

The trebuchets fired first.

Since the city walls were high, relying solely on manpower, the power of bows and arrows was relatively weak. It was difficult for rockets to shoot deep into the city. The trebuchets hurled boulders as well as fireballs.

Huge shields provided cover as they advanced scaling ladders to the base of the city walls.

The city used ballistae, powerful weapons. The spear-like bolts could even pierce through the huge shields, nailing people to death.

Or they would strike the sides of the huge shields, and the tremendous impact would make the shield bearers lose grip, the shield flipping up and exposing the soldiers below. Arrows immediately rained down dense as a storm.

Men became like porcupines. The scaling ladder stopped halfway.

The next batch of men lifted huge shields again to press on.

If the scaling ladders could not be pushed to the base of the walls, people could not climb up the city walls to interfere with the archers above, then even if the battering rams broke through the city gates, the follow-up soldiers charging forward would still encounter rainforest-like arrow volleys suppressing them.

This was the first time the Ye family fought a siege battle.

Among the various types of combat, the siege was the type attackers least wanted to engage in.

Because the defenders naturally held the geographical advantage of higher ground. This exponentially increased the difficulty faced by the attackers.

All kinds of tactics had been practiced on the training grounds.

But as Zhou Junhua had admonished the young masters back then, training ground drills and actual battlefield combat were completely different things.

This was also the first time the Ye Family Army had faced such heavy casualties in battle.

Attrition.

For the first time, the Ye family deeply understood the meaning of this word.

Life was a consumable, this was probably the true face of war.

Compared to the past where they had easily and lightly captured Tang Prefecture with minimal injuries, it was like a game.

Yan Ling's words "rich kid" were not ridicule but statement of fact.

The atmosphere at the headquarters tent meeting that night was gloomy.

Ye Suijin said, "We haven't lost yet, just failed to capture the city in one day. And you're all like this already? Yan Ling was right indeed, a bunch of rich kids."

Tenth Son raised his head: "Bah! Hmph!"

Ye Suijin said, "Today you've learned that coddling soldiers is not just toward the enemy."

Everyone was lost in thought, mostly sighing.

Ye Suijin said, "If you don't want to fight then go back to being rich idlers. There's a huge pile of matters back home, every place needs people, it's not like there's no choice." I'm serious, think it through, you can come talk to me."

The meeting dispersed.

On the second day, the scaling ladders finally made it to the base of the city walls.

Stones rolled down from above, smashing heads and making blood flow, killing by shattering bones upon hitting the ground. Boiling water poured down, skin bursting and flesh splitting, agonized screams unceasing, also resulting in letting go and falling to death.

These were all conventional city defense methods, studied in military texts. When learning about them it didn't seem like anything.

But right before their eyes, it was unbearably miserable, hearts clenching tight.

The thumping war drums pounded at their hearts.

The roaring war cries of the charging men shattered eardrums.

Because once the war drums started one could not retreat. In front of the formation, the swordsmen and axemen had already cut down four or five people in these two days, all new recruits.

Ye Suijin had not blinked once.

On the fifth day, still unable to capture it after a long siege, Duan Jin and Tenth Son came together, wanting to take the vanguard.

Ye Suijin gazed at the two youths.

Coddling soldiers was not just toward the enemy, nor entirely toward their own side.

One still had to try their best to preserve everyone, but not like a mother hen brooding eggs, hiding them under her wings.

One had to let them fly out.

Ye Suijin said, "Good."

Although Duan Jin and Tenth Son were young, no one in the army did not recognize them.

One was Ye Suijin's younger brother, the other his inseparable personal guard.

For these two to lead troops in a charge greatly boosted morale.

Fourth Uncle Ye said, "Bah, so my lord wants to die without offspring?"

Fourth and Seventh Uncles also wanted to go up, but Ye Suijin held them back: "Let them go. They're agile."

The Ye family men were mostly tall and sturdy, the uncles had burly physiques, not as lithe and agile as the lean and lanky young masters.

The war drums thumped as another wave charged. Ye Suijin observed from a viewing platform set up high. The density of arrows, tumbling rocks and beams today was not as much as the previous few days.

Both sides were wearing down, not just their own.

The scaling ladders were placed, among the many stalwart figures Duan Jin and Tenth Son moved as quick and agile as monkeys, rapidly climbing upwards.

Beams were flung down.

Duan Jin shifted to the side to dodge, only holding on with both hands, body suspended in midair.

Below rang out cries of pain and anguish. The people below failed to evade and were smashed down by the beams.

With Duan Jin's body suspended, he glanced up to see a man at the top of the city wall leaning out from the crenellations, bow and arrow aimed right at him!

At the critical moment, he let go of one hand, twisting his body, and the arrow shot past barely grazing him as it flew downwards.

Duan Jin reached to his waist, flinging out a dagger that plunged straight into the archer's eye socket. Screams also rang out from atop the city wall as that man's face retreated and disappeared amidst the crenellations.

Seizing this opening, Duan Jin grabbed the ladder again, flexing his abdominal muscles to swing his body back onto the ladder, swiftly climbing upwards.

More enemies appeared atop the arrow slits, seeing him coming up, faces contorted ferociously as they hacked down with blades.

Duan Jin nimbly twisted his body to evade this slash. In a flash his own blade was unsheathed, rising diagonally upwards, stabbing straight into this man's throat.

He pushed up the corpse as he climbed the final few rungs, finally stepping atop the arrow slits!

Drawing his blade, blood sprayed out, half of Duan Jin's face was stained red.

Individual martial prowess could not decide the big picture, but it could indeed exert an advantage on a small localized battlefield.

Tenth Son had also ascended the city wall!

The battle to seize control of the city wall was engaged!

Ye Suijin immediately ordered: "Battering rams charge!"

Signal flags started waving, shield troops protected the battering rams as they surged forward.

Once someone made it up the wall, weakness in the wall's suppression meant more and more were able to climb up. Fighting broke out atop the city wall, and the battering rams charging forward encountered arrow volleys now scattered and sparse.

The men let out roaring battle cries as they charged the city gate, ramming it with the battering ram.

Again and again they slammed into the gate violently, the rebound sending shocks up their numb arms.

But in the heightened tension of battle, they barely felt the pain. Over and over they shouted and threw their strength against the gate.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Above and below the walls, the sounds of fighting, agonized screams, clanging weapons, falling bodies, wailing cries, rallying shouts, crashes and booms blended into a deafening cacophony.

The mind could no longer process all the sensory input.

Lost in the madness of slaughter, all they saw were the enemies right before their eyes.

Neither bursting brains nor severed limbs retained any meaning beyond shapeless targets.

Kill all who wear different colors!

With a resounding boom, the gate gave way!

The war drums beat a furious tempo!

As soon as the signal flags whipped into motion, Fourth Uncle, Third Son, and Fifth Son had already charged through the breach!

Horse hooves seemed to trample the very earth. Racing against time, the Ye Family Army stormed into Yanchen City!

Pei Ze watched the surge, his warrior's blood pumping hot. How he regretted that his role today was to observe rather than fight.

He worried over his own family's situation at the south gate.

Oh no, if they failed to take that gate, they'd lose face to the Ye Family Army.

The battle at the south gate raged just as fiercely.

Yan Xiao swept onto the ramparts, his slashing blade a whirlwind of death, like a demon.

"Smoke signals! Smoke signals!"

Cries of alarm rang out. The defenders' morale instantly crumbled.

Wolf smoke from the north gate signaled its fall. The north was requesting aid from the south.

But the south had no troops to spare.

In the brief moment they glanced at the smoke, Yan Xiao's flashing blade lopped off a head.

The Pei Family Army took control of the ramparts and threw open the gate from within.

Pei Ze led his forces storming into Yanchen City!