Chapter 89: The Battle of the Mosaic

A few days later, Chen Mu arrived at the capital of the Realm of the Dead, Mosaic.

On the march, the casualties in Chen Mu’s army had been few. He now had four thousand five hundred invincible flying troops, two thousand five hundred unruly flying troops, and two thousand reserve soldiers who had not yet been committed to battle.

The nine-thousand-strong army camped outside Mosaic and, after assembling its trebuchets and siege towers, began the assault.

The Dead Realm garrison inside the city had evidently received reports from the front. Knowing that taking the field offered them no advantage, they chose to defend the city to the death.

They had also made extensive preparations for defense.

They had poured water over the outer walls, and for three miles beyond the city there now lay a sheet of ice, presenting the Great Xia army with considerable difficulty and forcing them to cut through the frozen ground as they advanced.

The same was true of the city gates. Everything was encased in ice, and breaking through them would be extremely hard. But the Dead Realm army could no longer venture out of the city.

In this battle, the Great Xia army first used trebuchets, and what they hurled was still ice. Once it struck the ground, the shattered fragments caused lethal spray damage.

It was easy to gather and easy to use. Firebombs, by contrast, were far less effective in this weather and were easily extinguished, for here there was no shortage of snow and ice.

The Dead Realm troops had no such long-range weapons and could only retreat temporarily from the battlements.

Then the Great Xia siege towers and ladders went up as well. With the walls suppressed by the trebuchets, the ladders were raised with ease, while the siege towers loosed crossbow bolts over the wall and into the rear ranks.

The Dead Realm’s rolling logs and falling stones were never even used; the Great Xia soldiers had already reached the top of the wall.

The trebuchets and siege towers then worked together to pin the enemy down behind the battlements. Seizing the chance, the Dead Realm troops climbed back up and tried to drive the Great Xia soldiers off the wall.

The Dead Realm soldiers in the capital were far better equipped. They wore light cuirasses coated with a layer of ice, which gave excellent protection against arrows and single-edged blades.

In their hands were standard-issue axes, and they were all skilled in their use.

Added to that, the Dead Realm soldiers were tall and powerfully built, so the battle soon became locked in a dead heat.

The finest troops under heaven, the invincible flying troops and the unruly flying troops, had at last met worthy opponents.

Seeing this, Chen Mu immediately gave the order to proceed with the second plan.

At once, the Great Xia troops outside the city climbed onto the wall, and then ordered those in front to crouch down and unleash a barrage of repeating crossbows on the Dead Realm soldiers.

However good the Dead Realm cuirasses were, they could protect only the torso, while the bolts from the repeating crossbows were like a winter gale, slipping through every gap and weakness.

The Dead Realm soldiers were swiftly driven back from the wall.

This time they did not come up again, and the Great Xia troops did not move either. They simply stood their ground on the battlements with their repeating crossbows in hand.

Meanwhile, other Great Xia soldiers reached the city gate, piled up dry grass and firewood, and set it alight.

This had been Chen Mu’s plan.

Even with trebuchets and siege towers suppressing the defenders, climbing the walls with ladders was slower than entering through the gate.

Once the Great Xia army had seized the walls, they could keep the pressure on the city from above. Then, after entering through the gate, they would be able to deploy in formation, rather than being trapped in an outnumbered fight.

The Dead Realm troops had already been forced completely back into the city, and so they had no idea what was happening at the gate. Even if they had known, they would have been powerless to stop it.

A strange stillness descended upon the battlefield.

Great Xia soldiers stood on the walls with repeating crossbows in hand; if the Dead Realm troops did not come up, they did not go down.

The trebuchets and siege towers outside also ceased their suppression, because the Dead Realm soldiers had already withdrawn beyond their range.

The Dead Realm army did not know what the Great Xia troops were doing, and so they dared not act rashly.

Only the fire outside the city gate roared on.

No one knew how long had passed before the snow and ice on the gate finally melted, and the ice piled behind it began to collapse.

The Dead Realm soldiers realized what was happening, but by then it was too late.

Chen Mu ordered the trebuchets and siege towers to resume fire, suppressing the city once more.

Some Dead Realm soldiers risked their lives and charged through the blockade, only to be ruthlessly cut down by the repeating crossbows.

At the same time, the Great Xia soldiers on the wall had already climbed down and were clearing away the ice blocking the gate.

A quarter of an hour later, the gates of Mosaic were opened.

Chen Mu led the Great Xia army through them.

He then gave the order again to halt the trebuchets and siege towers, and sent the soldiers inside surging forward.

The Dead Realm troops responded at once, and over a thousand archers climbed onto rooftops to return fire against the Great Xia army.

The Great Xia soldiers answered with their repeating crossbows, but the Dead Realm archers had plenty of cover, while the Great Xia troops were exposed on the main road and at a severe disadvantage.

Seeing that the losses would be too heavy, Chen Mu decisively led his men out of the city.

At the sight, the Dead Realm soldiers broke into wave after wave of cheering, as if they had won the battle.

Little did they know that Chen Mu had not yet brought out his true weapons.

As they cheered, they suddenly saw one fireball after another falling from the sky, screaming down onto the houses beside them, and even smashing directly onto their heads.

That stretch of buildings was instantly reduced to a sea of fire.

The Dead Realm soldiers cried out in agony and retreated.

Chen Mu then led his troops back into the city and began hurling torches, further fueling the blaze.

It seemed the Realm of the Dead had evacuated the common folk in advance; no one ran out from the houses.

Seeing this, Chen Mu slowly nodded. It appeared the king of the Dead Realm did care for his people. That meant there was room to talk.

He called Uri over and had him shout across the inferno to the Dead Realm forces on the other side.

He demanded that the Realm of the Dead surrender at once, or else Mosaic would be burned to the ground.

Uri shouted several times before a response finally came from the other side, saying they were willing to surrender and open negotiations.

Chen Mu was sensible enough to stop while he was ahead. He did not demand unconditional surrender, for if Mosaic were truly burned down, the remaining Dead Realm people would flee the city as well.

If Chen Mu were to pursue them, the cost would be enormous. He could not afford it, and there would be no benefit in it.

At Chen Mu’s instruction, Uri shouted the reply.

Then the soldiers cleared a space amid the fire, and the two sides began their talks there.

Chen Mu brought a hundred guards to the negotiating site. Behind him stood countless soldiers with repeating crossbows at the ready. If anything went wrong, Chen Mu would withdraw at once, and then they would unleash a storm of arrows.

The king of the Dead Realm also came with his most elite personal guard, each of them staring at Chen Mu and the others with eyes full of hatred.

Chen Mu said, “We in Great Xia have no wish to drive the Realm of the Dead to extinction. We have no prior enmity. We only hope that the Realm of the Dead will become a vassal state of Great Xia.”

The king of the Dead Realm looked puzzled. “You are powerful, but what exactly do you want? And what does ‘vassal state’ mean?”

Chen Mu explained it in detail.

A vassal state still retained its sovereignty. Great Xia would not interfere in its internal affairs; it would simply offer tribute year after year and acknowledge Great Xia as its suzerain.

In addition, if a neighboring country attacked the Realm of the Dead, it could seek aid from Great Xia, and Great Xia would do its utmost to help.