Chapter Fifty-Two At the Last Stake

  Pang Zhong has already shot three quivers of arrows, and the number of rebel soldiers he has killed is in the dozens. He can be said to be one of the top scorers among the city's defenders. His shots are accurate and not random, all aimed carefully before shooting.

  He used a heavy bow with great force, and anyone who was shot by him would either die or be seriously injured.

  He shot out dozens of arrows, still expending a lot of energy, but Pang Zhong had no intention of stopping the shooting, and immediately took over a new quiver of arrows from his personal guard to continue shooting.

  A rebel commander dressed in a general's uniform fell into Pang Zhong's sights, and he didn't hesitate to draw his bow and take aim.

  This general or commander of the middle rank is holding a shield, wielding a war knife to command his soldiers to charge forward fiercely. His head is almost hidden under the shield, and most other parts of his body are covered by bright armor, so there's hardly any arrow that can hurt him.

  Pang Zhong was very clear what kind of general could wear the Mingguang armor, at least a middle-ranking general or above had the qualifications to wear it. Looking at the situation in the city below, this middle-ranking general or general should be the commander-in-chief of the vanguard of this siege. In such weather, he would definitely wear thick and heavy Mingguang armor onto the battlefield. Pang Zhong knew that this person's role on the battlefield must be very important.

  If this person can be shot and killed, it will definitely disrupt the morale of this wave of rebel troops, and even make it possible for the rebel army to collapse immediately. However, shooting and killing this rebel general is still very difficult, with excellent defensive performance of the Ming Guang armor, unless using a bed crossbow to shoot, otherwise it's hard to penetrate, even three-stone bows are not possible.

  Pang Zhong used a two-stone-five bow. If he shot directly at the exposed parts, it would be difficult to injure this person.

  To shoot and kill this man, he had to wait for an opportunity. Pang Zhong drew his bow halfway, waiting for the rebel general to reveal a weakness.

  At this time, Pang Zhong's personal soldiers and other soldiers on the city wall were taking turns shooting arrows at the rebels below. The frequency and density of the arrow shots were also faster and denser than before. The number of rebel troops attacking the city was increasing, and if they continued to maintain their previous frequency and density, many rebel soldiers would be able to rush under the city wall, set up ladders to climb the city, and even form teams to shoot at the city head.

  However, at this time, Pang Zhong didn't care about these things. The shooting below the city was all commanded by his deputy general. He wanted to shoot and kill that rebel general with all his heart.

  He is waiting for the rebel general under the city to reveal a "weakness"!

  There is always a flaw in every perfect plan, and this saying is not wrong at all. Just as Pang Zhong was waiting with his bow drawn, the rebel commander who was leading the charge let out a loud shout and possibly due to the large movement or oversight, half of his head was exposed outside the shield.

  Pang Zhong reacted quickly and seized this possibly fleeting opportunity, drawing his bow to its full extent and shooting the arrow out.

  The arrow shot swiftly and directly towards the rebel general's head, about one hundred and fifty paces away. The rebel general did not expect to be targeted by Pang Zhong on the city wall, nor did he know that an arrow was flying rapidly towards him. He continued to command his soldiers to charge forward frantically, his body moving violently, until the sharp arrow approached, when he finally came to his senses under the desperate cries of his personal guards nearby.

  But it was too late, the arrow flew faster than the movement of his body and shot into the neck of this rebel leader. However, he was also very lucky, his body's almost instinctive twist allowed him to escape the pursuit of death god, not being shot in the most vital part.

  The arrow entered from under his neck and exited through the shoulder, without hitting any major blood vessels, but still leaving him severely injured.

  In a voice of anguished wailing, the rebel commander crashed to the ground, his bodyguards moving swiftly to raise their shields and block any further arrow fire with their bodies.

  Seeing this situation, Pang Zhong also knew that he couldn't shoot the rebel general to death, and he couldn't help but wave his hand in dissatisfaction with the bow in his hand.

  "This guy is really lucky!" Pang Zhong sighed and lamented with a sentence.

  However, he also knew that after being shot by such an arrow, the person would at least have to lie down for a long time to recover his health, and whether he could ride again in the future was unknown. For now, he didn't care about how this general would be rescued, but instead drew his bow and continued shooting towards the city below.

  However, such a sharp arrow still had a certain effect. The rebel army's attack on the city was temporarily without a commander because its leader was shot and wounded, and its momentum slightly weakened. The rebel army attacking the city slightly weakened due to the injury of its leader, but after this wounded general was covered and carried away, another general immediately took over command, who was the deputy general of the rebel army just now.

  The deputy general stood at the bow and arrow range of the city head, waving his war knife to command his soldiers to attack the city wall more fiercely. The follow-up rebels also continued to rush forward, seemingly not caring about the Tang army on the city head killing them with dense arrows.

  The arrows shot by the Tang army on the city wall became denser and more frequent, but the rebel troops rushing to the bottom of the city also increased.

  Many rebel soldiers were trampling on their companions' corpses and rushing down towards the city gate.

  Whether it was the east gate or the south gate, the number of rebel corpses piled up under the city wall was not small, but there was no sign of weakening in the rebel offensive.

  The Tang army officers on the city wall had almost exhausted their strength, and many soldiers were too weak to shoot arrows further. Even if they managed to shoot out arrows, the killing power was very small when they fell on the rebel army.

  There are several cloud ladders erected in the direction of the east and south gates of Hantong Pass, and there are also continuous arrows shooting towards the top of the city!

  As soon as the cloud ladder was erected, soldiers holding shields quickly climbed up.

  But the cloud ladder was soon pushed away by the defenders on the city wall, and in the midst of countless screams, the cloud ladder and the rebel soldiers on it fell backwards together, crushing a group of soldiers behind. However, the cloud ladders were still being set up one after another, and the rebel soldiers continued to climb up to the top of the city wall.

  However, these erected cloud ladders were soon all pushed down, and hundreds of soldiers who took turns to rest also rejoined the battle team under Peng Zhong's order.

  The addition of hundreds more made the Tang army's arrows even denser, and the number of rebel soldiers shot down also increased again.

  But the rebel offensive was relentless, and the city of Hantanguan was surrounded by dense waves of rebel soldiers both near and far.

  "Prepare hay, hot oil! Light the rockets!" Pang Zhong shouted loudly from the gate tower.

  Whether it was Pang Zhong or Li Fude, they both knew that the rebels were attacking the city with all their might, preparing to make a final assault on the head of Hantangguan when their strength was exhausted. Now is the time for their last gamble!

  As Pang Zhong's order was given, countless bundles of dry grass were thrown down from the city head, and bucket after bucket of hot oil was also poured down...