Sudden Change

The people of Xiagu Castle were barely getting through each day in nerve-wracking tension.

Until just a few days ago, the atmosphere had been good.

Who was it that they had repelled? It was Zhang Ran. The terrifying adversary who had been writing a myth of ascension without a single defeat since stepping onto the battlefield at the age of 9.

These were not victories against barbarians or bandit groups. The names of those Zhang Ran had defeated were enough to overshadow the starlight in the sky with their fame.

Zhang He, Guo Huai, Xu Huang, Cao Hong, Cao Zhang… The brilliant military commanders boasted by Wei, which had the largest population, fell to her spear. There were even more than a few who became vengeful ghosts.

Xiagu Castle had repelled such a Zhang Ran not once, but twice. That fact gave the people of Xiagu Castle pride beyond simple joy of victory.

When Shang Cong arrived and Zhang Ran withdrew, it was the moment when that pride reached its peak. Look! Even that Zhang Ran couldn’t handle us and chose to retreat!

The morale that was already soaring with the arrival of Crown Prince Sun Deng now reached a point where it not only pierced the sky but even touched the sun.

Pride soon became confidence. As Zhang Ran withdrew and only about 10,000 troops were left surrounding Xiagu Castle, Zhou Huan slowly raised his offensive instincts.

If they started a siege with just 10,000 without knowing their place, he planned to tear through Xiagu Castle’s encirclement with defense and counterattack. But their purpose seemed to be only control through encirclement.

However, Zhou Huan did not remain idle. At the word that some unknown fellow was the commander, Zhou Huan boldly attempted a night raid.

Staying quiet until now to induce the enemy’s carelessness, then piercing the enemy camp like an awl. Zhou Huan was confident. However, Shang Cong was an owner of excellent command ability beyond Zhou Huan’s expectations.

Shang Cong calmly handled Zhou Huan’s surprise attack, quelling the soldiers’ confusion and quickly forming battle lines. And the Han army itself was not just ordinary conscripts. The central army was the successor of the Bayi troops, honed through a hundred battles following Liu Bei for a long time.

The fact that he returned safely to Xiagu Castle without suffering great damage even amidst Shang Cong and the central army’s counterattack showed Zhou Huan’s excellence. Indeed, as Zhou Huan boasted, his command was a notch above Shang Cong’s.

However, that alone was not enough to overturn the enemy’s numerical advantage of twice their size, the proficiency of the central army which could be called Han’s most elite unit, and the inferiority in both quantity and quality.

Anyway, since they had actually gone out of the castle and attacked, the morale of Xiagu Castle did not change much. It might be too much to call it even a half-victory, but they had attacked and returned safely in the end.

The problem arose after this.

Zhang Ran had returned.

With the 10,000 reinforcements coming to rescue Xiagu Castle completely annihilated, and the heads of Xu Sheng and Sun Sheng displayed.

At that moment, the Wu people in Xiagu Castle recalled. The fact that Zhang Ran, whom they had prided themselves on repelling, was a being who had written a history of terror by crushing numerous strong enemies until now.

Although they fell into a state of panic for a moment, the fact that Xiagu Castle was still showing signs of resistance without surrendering was entirely due to Sun Deng’s presence.

Because of the memories of victory that were possible thanks to Sun Deng’s arrival, and because Sun Deng himself, as the highest person, was taking the lead in preparing for the next defense. Even in the midst of fear, they were silently moving their bodies.

Chen Biao approached Sun Deng, who was still moving supplies for the defense.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Uncle, what is it? If you have nothing to do, help me move this.”

“Ships have appeared on the Yangtze River.”

“Ships?”

Did Sun Quan arrive with surprising military tactics, overturning everyone’s expectations?

Sun Deng, who had asked back with a glimmer of such hope, dismissed that hope upon seeing Chen Biao’s expression.

Chen Biao’s expression was dark.

“It is said to be a fleet captured from our country’s reinforcements by the enemy general Jiang Wei. With this, even the waterway that we might have barely broken through has been completely cut off.”

“…I see. Is that so.”

Chen Biao had persistently argued that at least Sun Deng should escape from Xiagu Castle while Zhang Ran was away.

Saying that with their reduced numbers, they could somehow open a way and escape through the Yangtze River waterway.

Shang Cong was also wary of this and thickly stationed troops towards the Yangtze, but there was still a possibility if they united with one mind to protect the Crown Prince.

However, Sun Deng refused this.

Whether he expected Zhang Ran to be defeated after leaving Xiagu behind, or expected Sun Quan to come to support while defending Xiagu, or whether he really wanted to keep faith with the people of Xiagu Castle.

Sun Deng remained in Xiagu Castle.

“Now we really have no choice but to fight to the death.”

Speaking as if half resigned, Chen Biao took over the load Sun Deng was carrying.

Chen Biao seemed to resent Sun Deng for dragging him to this desperate situation, yet also wanted to be with Sun Deng until the very end. Reading Chen Biao’s true feelings, Sun Deng quickly followed behind him.

“Let’s carry it together, Uncle.”

While climbing the castle walls with Chen Biao, Sun Deng asked:

“How is Chen Biao doing?”

Chen Biao, who had come to Xiagu with Sun Deng as one of the Four Friends of Eastern Wu along with Chen Biao.

He had joined the special attack force that went out of the castle with Zhou Huan. He was in charge of the vanguard and was wounded in Shang Cong’s counterattack. It wasn’t a serious injury to the point of life-threatening, but it was enough to need recovery and rest.

Chen Biao shrugged his shoulders and answered:

“Don’t worry. That guy Biao is fine. I just came from stopping him from saying he wanted to assist Your Highness right away.”

“Haha, he’s still the same.”

The two were chatting to shake off their worries and anxieties.

It had already been two days since Zhang Ran arrived, so they would soon start the siege.

The fatigue from field battles and marches might not have been fully resolved, but to utilize the shock from the annihilation of the reinforcements that Xiagu had been eagerly waiting for, it was about time to attack.

The soldiers, trembling with anxiety about when the enemy would attack, were moving mechanically according to orders but couldn’t hide the distress on their faces.

As Sun Deng went around Xiagu Castle and saw this, a light of determination rose on his face.

“Uncle, gather the people.”

At Sun Deng’s request, Chen Biao gathered as many people as possible in one place, except for the troops on guard duty including Zhou Huan and Chen Wu.

And standing on the podium looking down at them, Sun Deng held up a small piece of paper and shouted:

“My fellow soldiers, a letter has come from my royal father! The war in Huainan has ended! My royal father has not abandoned you, and is coming here with all his might! Just seven days and nights! If we endure for just seven days and nights, the 50,000 strong army led by my royal father will crush the enemy and rescue Xiagu!”

Seven days.

Sun Deng’s words that they only needed to endure that long reignited the soldiers’ morale as if pouring oil on dying embers.

In addition to the trust Sun Deng had built with the soldiers until now, at Sun Deng’s confident shout, the soldiers did not even dare to doubt and just cheered, scraping together their last remaining fighting spirit and will.

Yes. Weren’t they brave warriors who had already repelled the enemy several times?

Just 7 days. They could endure for 7 days no matter what.

Cheers filled Xiagu Castle.

Seeing Xiagu Castle, which had been depressed, return to how it was when Sun Deng first arrived, Chen Biao was moved but also instinctively sensed that this was their last gamble.

Sun Quan will come in 7 days? If that were true, would that Zhang Ran be sitting still in this Xiagu?

To begin with, even if the war on the Huainan front ended, it would take well over 7 days to come to Xiagu. And even if he came in 7 days by some method Chen Biao couldn’t imagine, would soldiers who had undergone such a forced march be in good condition?

If it were Zhang Ran, she would have gone out to intercept such exhausted enemies.

With Zhang Ran’s martial prowess, now almost comparable to the former Little Conqueror Sun Ce, and the Nanling Army’s combat power, it wasn’t impossible.

Therefore, Chen Biao was certain.

‘The Crown Prince’s words are a lie.’

Let’s say they endure for 7 days thanks to their desperate resolve. Then what after that?

But the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. What about the despair when the reinforcements they had been waiting for so eagerly don’t show even a hint of arrival?

At that point, it would be irreversible. No matter what move Sun Deng makes, it would be impossible to recover. It would be the end.

Sun Deng’s action was sacrificing the future for the present. It was nothing more than relying on the slim chance that some big change would come during the 7 days they were enduring.

The reason Chen Biao couldn’t stop Sun Deng despite knowing this was because there was no other option left. If they hadn’t taken such measures, Xiagu Castle would have fallen ridiculously easily the moment Zhang Ran began her attack, making all their resistance until now meaningless.

But even Chen Biao’s worries were a luxury.

As soon as the Nanling Army began their attack, Xiagu Castle was immediately driven to the brink of falling.

The Nanling Army, having restored their slightly shaken morale after annihilating the reinforcements, attacked with all their might to regain their reputation.

And above all, while Zhang Ran had been in the rear command post before, now she was at the front lines directly encouraging the Nanling Army.

Just as Sun Deng had resorted to desperate measures, Zhang Ran was now determined to bring down Xiagu Castle.

On just the second day of attacks, Xiagu Castle was once again pushed to its limits.

The walls were no longer just Wu’s, and the fear of the Nanling Army had reached its peak.

They managed to block it somehow this time, but words were openly circulating that they would inevitably give up the walls on the third day of attacks.

If this situation had been on the 5th or 6th day, they might have still held hope, but in the face of such an overwhelming difference in military strength, even the 7-day deadline was meaningless.

Just when it seemed like this was really the end.

The slim chance Sun Deng had prayed for happened.

The chance came not from Sun Quan, but from the opposite side, from Han’s Jingzhou.