Volume One, Chapter Three: Gan Ning's Unmatched Might Shatters the Imperial Guards
Night blanketed the capital city in calm and stillness, every household shuttered and silent.
At the western gate, a vast sea of soldiers stood packed shoulder to shoulder, arrayed in orderly ranks.
On the city walls above, archers stood poised in neat rows of three to five, bows drawn and ready.
A soldier climbed atop the wall.
“General Xu Rong, the armored troops and archers are all in position. We await only the rebels’ arrival; they shall find no place to bury their dead.”
“Good. When the enemy appears, unleash a volley of arrows and charge with the entire army.”
“Yes, sir.”
Meanwhile, in the shadows surrounding the western gate, Gan Ning and tens of thousands of soldiers silently laid gunpowder in every corner.
At the eastern gate, Lu Yunduan and his troops stood ready, poised to strike as soon as the explosion at the western gate sounded—the signal to break through the eastern defenses.
Cao Xiu grew uneasy, gazing westward.
“General, though this plan is sound, if just a few dozen of them are discovered, all will be lost. I request permission to send reinforcements.”
Lu Yunduan remained calm and unperturbed, his expression steady as he replied lightly, “Uncle Cao, do not worry. This mission will be accomplished by Gan Ning. We need only wait for the explosion, then break through the eastern gate in the shortest time possible.”
Though Cao Xiu was not entirely reassured, he dared not disobey the general’s orders and refrained from rash action.
A faint smile touched Lu Yunduan’s lips. He trusted Gan Ning implicitly.
Who was Gan Ning? He was the famed commander who, with a hundred horsemen, had raided Cao’s camp and repelled an enemy army of four hundred thousand—the legendary “Brocade Banner Bandit.”
At midnight, the once tranquil western gate suddenly exploded into a blazing inferno, thunder rolling across the sky.
“Boom—”
A deafening blast tore through the night from the western gate, echoing throughout the capital.
Lu Yunduan’s heart quickened at the sound.
“Finally.”
He immediately issued orders.
“Soldiers, prepare your arms and horses. At my command, the entire army will charge.”
At the western gate—
“Report, General! The western gate is under fierce gunpowder assault; the city wall and surrounding structures have been shattered in an instant.”
Xu Rong let out a triumphant laugh, drawing his sword with righteous fervor.
“Good. I feared they might not show. Summon the guards from the other three gates—let us surround and crush them.”
“Yes, sir.”
A soldier fired a smoke bomb into the sky, which glowed red as it burst.
At the sight of the signal, troops from across the city dispatched reinforcements, even pulling half the forces from the eastern gate to aid the western front.
Back at the western gate—
“General Gan, the city’s forces are converging here. What are our orders now?”
Gan Ning drew his sword with fierce decisiveness.
“Soldiers, we are the veterans who raided Cao’s camp and repelled four hundred thousand enemies. What fear have weI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.