Chapter 59: Why Are These Soldiers So Precious in the Eyes of the Commander?

While the city guard troops were busy reorganizing the shattered lines atop the walls, outside the city, the engineer squads of the Seventh Reinforced Division labored in a frenzy. Under fierce artillery support, they swiftly dug a tunnel two meters deep underground, about a kilometer east of the city wall. Their mission was to reach the base of the wall and there lay massive explosive charges.

If these explosives were powerful enough and placed correctly, they could blow open a vast gap in the wall. This would render the other three sides of the city’s defenses useless against the advance of the Chengyun forces; instead, it would become an advantage, enabling them to surround and assault the defenders within.

In the frontline command post, Colonel Chen Shan of the Sixty-Fourth Infantry Brigade watched the battle atop Wangkou’s city wall with resolute eyes. Following his orders, the artillery unleashed a rhythmic, concentrated bombardment upon the eastern wall, especially its central section, to cover the engineers’ excavation.

The roar of explosions echoed without pause; shells fell in relentless waves, with each barrage overlapping the last, forming a web of suppressive fire. Under such intense firepower, any attempt to defend the wall was futile.

Chen Shan knew well that if the ground forces could seize the wall, the engineers' task would be completed ahead of schedule. Seeing the enemy powerless to retaliate, Colonel Chen’s face flickered with a hint of determination as he finally issued the attack order: “Frontline troops, prepare to storm the city!”

At his command, Colonel Wang Muzhi’s 211th Regiment sprang into action. About two kilometers outside Wangkou’s city wall, the regiment’s four infantry battalions rapidly deployed, forming assault lines that charged toward the wall.

They carried siege ladders, ropes, and other gear, rushing forward with irresistible momentum. Meanwhile, machine guns and artillery poured covering fire over their advance. Though many shells and bullets missed their mark, the barrage never ceased, raining down like a storm, its purpose not just to kill but to intimidate the enemy with overwhelming force.

Even a barrage that failed to hit its target was enough to instill fear in the defenders.

On the battlefield, amid the thunder of artillery and the shouts of soldiers, chaos and tension engulfed all. A complex emotion flashed in Chen Shan’s eyes; he knew every attack meant countless soldiers’ lives, but all sacrifices were necessary for ultimate victory. Smoke billowed across the sky, and on the ground—

With a soul-stirring war cry erupting below the battlefield, the commander atop the city wall glared bloodshot, brandishing his pistol and cursing at the trembling defenders: “What the hell are you waiting for? Open fire on the Chengyun army—now!” His voice was urgent and threatening.

“If you keep hiding like cowardly rats, I’ll have you executed by military law this instant!”

Under these harsh threats, the defenders, though terrified, tried to peer out and shoot at the attackers. But as soon as their heads appeared, they were struck down by the enemy’s intense bombardment; several fell lifeless in an instant. The scene was brutal—brothers-in-arms who had just shouldered rifles together were now reduced to bloody remains on the ground.

For many fresh recruits, this was a nightmarish sight; some screamed in terror, overwhelmed by the horror.

Meanwhile, the Chengyun Army’s 211th Infantry Regiment pressed their assault below the walls, steadily setting up long siege ladders against the fortifications. Among them, burly soldiers with faces written with determination and wildness climbed with the agility of leopards, swiftly and skillfully scaling toward the top.

Seeing one ladder after another being successfully positioned, the city’s commander erupted in fury, shouting, “Push those ladders down—quick, don’t let them climb up!” His voice cut sharply through the chaos. “Damn it, if you won’t shoot, can’t you at least push down a simple ladder? Push one down and I’ll reward you a hundred yuan!”

With his shouts and incentives, some soldiers mustered courage, grabbing long wooden poles and, working together, fiercely shoved the ladders off the wall.

The tension on the battlefield reached its peak; both sides fought desperately. As ladders were toppled, two brave climbers fell from a great height, prompting stretcher teams to rush them to the rear for medical aid.

Under Jiang Bai’s arrangements, the Seventh Reinforced Division had specially formed a medical unit to provide battlefield treatment. Yet with the defenders’ risky counterattacks, casualties in the 211th Regiment soared, and the battlefield devolved into a slaughterhouse, gunfire and combat echoing everywhere.

Anyone of fragile spirit could easily break down or lose their sanity in such hellish conditions, revealing the harshness of war.

Jiang Bai, though delegating command, was never far from the action.

He constantly adjusted tactics, watching every shift in the battle through the artillery binoculars. Each time he saw his troops fall under enemy fire or struggle atop the ladders only to plummet, waves of anguish surged within him.

The Seventh Reinforced Division’s heavy artillery and machine guns provided formidable support, but Wangkou’s sturdy walls demanded immense effort and sacrifice from the Chengyun soldiers. Some fell to the defenders’ steel blades; others died, pushed from the walls.

After half an hour of fierce combat, the main attacking 211th Regiment had lost more than four hundred men, while the defending forces had paid nearly a thousand lives.

Just as the 211th Regiment was about to breach the wall, a fierce counterattack from inside forced them back.

Jiang Bai’s brow furrowed, his gaze deep and troubled. As the battle intensified, he resolutely ordered, “Cease the attack—we cannot let our soldiers die in vain.”

Beside him, Chief of Staff Wang Xiao, anxious and unwilling to concede, protested, “General, we’ve fought so long. The enemy is barely holding on.”

But Jiang Bai’s face was set with unwavering resolve, his voice heavy amid the battlefield’s tumult.

“Give the Sixty-Fourth Brigade another half hour—the wall is almost ours!” Wang Xiao pleaded, his eyes shining with a refusal to give up.

Yet Jiang Bai’s expression grew ever more grave. He slowly shook his head, his tone firm and low: “To sacrifice more elite troops in a pointless war of attrition is a responsibility I cannot accept.”

Faced with Jiang Bai’s steadfast decision, Wang Xiao’s face betrayed confusion and incomprehension; he could not understand why these soldiers were so precious in their commander’s eyes.