With a theoretical foundation as a safeguard, I no longer felt panicked. After freezing the main gate, I ran over a hundred meters along the city wall, knocked out a few lone city guards, donned their armor, and took their spears, positioning myself as a sentry to observe every move at the south gate.
Before long, the rebel army surged from the north gate. Discovering the gate frozen shut, they began ramming it like a bull. After a prolonged effort with no success, they diverted a group of soldiers to the rear exit, which was largely blocked. The main force continued its attempts to breach the gate, also in vain. The rebel commander was growing anxious. Since San Yin Hall City was situated on a peninsula, its east and west flanks were open to the sea, with no gates. This large city had only two gates, north and south. They couldn't bypass the north gate, so their only option was the south.
With no other recourse, the commander sent men to the city walls. Numerous soldiers were lowered using ropes. However, horses could not be lowered. Ordinary rebel soldiers simply could not match the speed of the Xuan Jia soldiers, who had shed their armor and were escaping lightly equipped. This was not a concern.
Finally, after ten minutes of intense effort, the rebels began piling firewood beneath the city gate and dousing it with lamp oil. They lit it, and as the flames grew, the entire gate ignited. After ten minutes of burning, the city gate was finally breached. It took another five minutes to extinguish the fire and clear the debris. After nearly half an hour of commotion, the rebel cavalry finally charged out of the city. The infantry scouts sent ahead reported that the enemy had entered Long Yu Xue Shan.
The rebel commander (not Long Que, but a woman) ordered her entire army to pursue, determined to annihilate the Xuan Jia soldiers!
Seeing that the situation was under control, I activated Swift Wind Art and arrived at Long Yu Xue Shan to rendezvous with Xiao Yan Wang and others.
There was no entrance to the snow mountain. By the time I arrived, the rebel vanguard was only five hundred meters from the base of the mountain, desperately trying to catch up. The Xuan Jia soldiers' rearguard was still below the mountain, not yet fully ascended.
I urged them to hurry, warning that it would be troublesome if the cavalry arrived. At least they had muskets and arrows, and on the open snow mountain, losses would be inevitable.
Fortunately, the several hundred warriors with horseshoes tied to their feet were responsible for the rear guard. Most of them still had their horseshoes on, supporting each other as they climbed the mountain before the cavalry arrived.
On this side of the mountain lay a vast snowfield dotted with many tall, dense, unknown trees, forming a massive snow forest. All the trees were sharp pyramids, like Gothic castles, covering the sky. The forest was relatively dark.
As per my instructions, the Xuan Jia soldiers, with white cloths tied to their left arms, entered the snow forest. If they kept walking straight for about thirty li, they would emerge. Their direction was not fixed, so the rebels wouldn't know their exact route out of the snow mountain. Xiao Yan Wang's planned direction was a thirty-degree turn to the left. It was predicted that beyond the snowfield, they would encounter a mountainous region called "Feng Mao." This mountainous area had no soil and no ghost tribe inhabitants. After traversing that mountainous terrain for about a hundred li, they could completely escape the rebel encirclement. If they could also ambush a rebel detachment, they could obtain cavalry and then return to the areas controlled by the imperial army.
In essence, the main group needed to travel approximately seventy kilometers, taking at least ten hours, and that was theoretically. In reality, traversing both snowfields and mountainous terrain would slow them down. Emerging within twenty hours would be considered a great success.
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Fortunately, before descending the mountain, through two successful operations, they had looted a considerable amount of military provisions, allowing everyone to receive some replenishment. This should be enough to last until they broke out of the encirclement.
I had no such problem. Traversing this area would take only a few minutes. Therefore, I brought Xie Bi'an and a few other capable individuals to stay on the summit of the snow mountain to cover the rear.
About ten minutes later, the main rebel cavalry arrived at the foot of the mountain. It was unclear if they were aware of the presence of the Jing tribe within the snow mountain, or if they were relying on their superior numbers and fearlessness. They actually began abandoning their horses and climbing the mountain. Not all of them ascended; the climbing contingent numbered about seven to eight thousand soldiers. They had also learned to use their horseshoes for anti-slip technology, and their ascent was not slow.
"This way, we might get caught," Xie Bi'an said worriedly.
"Do you know any of the Jing tribe here?" I asked.
Xie Bi'an shook his head, "No."