World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 678: Three Three Six: Zhi Wei Doomsday! The final strangulation!_3

Chapter 678: Three Three Six: Zhi Wei Doomsday! The final strangulation!_3

Not only that, but many soldiers began to desert!

They couldn’t stand the torment any longer, some diving straight into the Tianshui River, intending to swim across and escape.

However, on the opposite bank was Yan Yan’s force of eight thousand.

These soldiers either drowned in the river or were shot to death with a barrage of arrows before they even reached the shore.

Since they couldn’t escape across the river, they fled towards the mountains on either side.

At first, a few dozen, a few hundred escaped, but as time passed, more and more fled.

Duke Zhi Wei’s hair had turned half-white, caught between half-consciousness and waking, often sitting up abruptly and asking, "How much time has passed? How much longer until Tuling Tuo arrives?"

Sometimes, although less than half an hour had gone by, it felt to him as though a whole day had already passed.

In response to the soldiers starting to desert, he hardened his heart and dispatched his most trusted samurai to guard every mountain pass, immediately executing any deserter on sight.

Then he would murmur repeatedly to himself, "Hold on for a few more days, just a few more days, and the Tuling Tuo Army will arrive!"

In the meantime, Duke Zhi Wei sent carrier pigeons to Baiyun County, requesting the provincial city’s troops attack Yan Yan’s forces across the river.

Baiyun County complied, quickly rallying two to three thousand men.

However, this time Duke Zhi Wei had raised an army of a hundred and fifty thousand, completely draining the Southeast Province of its combat troops, leaving only second-tier forces, the rejects and the weak.

The two to three thousand from Baiyun County were obliterated within less than half an hour by Yan Yan’s thousand cavalry, screaming in terror, fleeing without a trace.

...

Suo Lun’s shameless bombardment had now entered its fourth day!

At this moment, Tuling Tuo’s army of two hundred thousand was still more than eight hundred miles away from Tianlang Pass, roughly six days’ march.

Duke Zhi Wei was constantly counting the time, six days, six days, six days!

Just survive six more days and this hellish existence would be over!

But as time slipped away, Duke Zhi Wei’s heart grew colder and colder, a sense of despair spreading throughout his body.

He now regretted not so much his hasty decision to attack Fenglei Fort Defense Line, but rather his regret for not falling back to Baiyun County City after the defeat.

That way, although completely defeated, he might have still lived.

If he could not even save his own life, what was the point of being a king? His judgement had been clouded by benefit; why did he decide to stay and continue the siege on the Fenglei Fort Defense Line?

He had truly backed himself into a corner of death!

Though over fifty thousand troops remained at his command, they had not slept in days and nights, even swaying on their feet, let alone having the energy to fight.

...

The second half of the night of the fourth day’s bombardment!

Suddenly, Suo Lun dispatched all fourteen of his griffins, this time dropping giant powder kegs, each weighing hundreds of pounds.

This time, he didn’t venture deep into Zhi Wei’s camp, but instead bombed the camp’s perimeter.

The wooden walls, barricades, trenches, and cheval de frise were all subjected to a ferocious bombardment!

This attack went on for three hours, hurling close to a hundred thousand pounds of gunpowder, followed by another nearly hundred thousand pounds of flaming oil.

When dawn broke, the bombardment ceased!

Looking at Zhi Wei’s camp defenses, they were completely annihilated, reduced to flat land.

Everyone knew, the final decisive battle had arrived!

Because the continuous bombing had stopped.

For four days and nights, explosions had never ceased. But now, it had finally fallen silent!

Zhi Wei was engulfed in utter unease; he knew Suo Lun was about to give him the final noose.

This was the silence before death!

"Assemble the army, gather the cavalry..." Zhi Wei ordered loudly!

Suo Lun’s final attack was coming, the last slaughter was upon them!

But...

The entire camp was strewn with soldiers laying about, all asleep, beyond waking!

Having not slept for several days and nights, in this rare silence, once they fell asleep, not even the King of Heaven could rouse them!

The officers kicked and punched, desperately trying to wake the sleeping soldiers.

...

Meanwhile!

Inside the Fenglei Fort Defense Line, Suo Lun’s side had already rested and reorganized, preparing their twenty-five thousand cavalry for the final rally.

Among them were twenty thousand from Rouran City and five thousand from Tianshui City!

These past days, this cavalry had retreated ten to twenty miles back, unaffected by the explosions; they had rested well and were now eager for battle, like famished beasts ready to pounce from their cages.

Suo Lun stood at the highest point of the castle, looking over the vast and dense ranks of fierce cavalry!

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Several strongmen simultaneously cranked the winches.

The gates of the Fenglei Fort Defense Line, which had remained unopened, slowly began to open.

The massive doors were over two feet thick, covered in thick iron sheathing, and weighed tens of thousands of pounds.

Once the two massive doors opened, it was like a demon opening its maw!

"Charge! Exterminate Zhi Wei’s entire army, kill Zhi Wei!" roared Suo Lun!

The war drums sounded thunderously!

Twenty-five thousand cavalry surged out of the Fenglei Fort Defense Line like a tidal wave, charging towards Zhi Wei’s camp.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom..."

Twenty-five thousand cavalry attacking Zhi Wei’s fifty thousand, yet they came like towering waves, like tigers freed from their cages!

Going in for the final slaughter of Zhi Wei!

...

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