404.
The Battle of Hongdu (Nanchang).
A report flew to Yingtiān: Jin Yuliang's great host was moving on Nanchang.
Zhu Yuanzhang's army—already sent out to block Zhang Shicheng's westward drive—now faced a posture where they had to stop enemies on both sides at once.
Having to split their strength east and west was fatal.
Nanchang was the last iron wall of Jiangnan.
Zhu Wenzheng was defending it in person.
He was young, but cold-blooded, and his tactics closely resembled Zhu Yuanzhang's own.
On the walls, seasoned gunners from the Yangtze navy were emplaced.
Rapid-fire archers sat dense in ranks.
Elite troops trained to the chain of command held each section of the battlements.
Yun Dam watched the fortress for a long time, then said briefly.
"A frontal breach will be difficult."
"We must buy time— and draw Zhu Yuanzhang out."
Park Seong-jin asked,
"Calling the enemy and opening a gap?"
Yun Dam nodded.
"Yes."
"Zhu Wenzheng won't move from the city."
"Zhu Yuanzhang will move an army to save his nephew."
The baiting war began.
The next day, Jin Yuliang ordered a large advance toward the northwest side of the city.
Large and small assaults came in succession.
Dust never stopped rising along the walls.
Zhu Wenzheng remained calm.
He did not leave the fortress.
He spent time wearing the enemy down.
They hammered at multiple points day and night.
Jin Yuliang's troops attacked and withdrew in two shifts, then three.
Inside Nanchang, the Ming defenders lost sleep and their meals broke apart.
Zhu Wenzheng gave his order.
"Do not open the gates."
"Respond only at range."
He did not send a single soldier outside the walls.
The fighting continued every day.
Hundreds fell in a single day.
Yet Nanchang did not move.
After several days, Zhu Wenzheng's message reached Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Uncle."
"Jin Yuliang has brought his whole army and is clinging to Nanchang."
"It will be hard to hold for long."
Zhu Yuanzhang's hand trembled.
"Wenzheng is in danger."
"Mobilize everything."
That was the moment Yun Dam had been waiting for.
Zhu Yuanzhang chose to relieve Nanchang even at the cost of greatly thinning the eastern Yangtze defenses.
Relief forces led by Deng Yu, Zhao Bing, Liu Bowen, and other Ming pillars hurried south.
When that news reached Jin Yuliang's camp, tension spread among the generals.
"If they arrive, we'll have to abandon the siege."
Yun Dam smiled.
"Now the real battle begins."
"Everything until now was only theater."
The men seated around him swallowed hard and stared at his mouth.
"Nanchang was bait to hook Zhu Yuanzhang."
Zhu Wenzheng, despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered, did not choose surrender.
He chose desperate resistance.
His decision and steady command held the defenders' morale in place.
The walls were solid.
The defenses were meticulous.
He needed only one thing.
To endure until Zhu Yuanzhang's main army arrived.
Black cannon mouths lined up before the North Gate.
Smoke lay low in the sky over Nanchang.
Rows of heavy crossbows and field cannons were set in place.
Yun Dam lowered his hand.
"Light it."
—Fwoosh.
—KWAANG.
The first shell burst over the North Gate.
Earth and stone poured down like rain.
A cloud of smoke rose over the battlements.
Yun Dam said,
"Three days until Zhu Yuanzhang's relief arrives."
"That is all the time we have."
"The wall is shaking!" a report came up.
Yun Dam nodded.
"Shaking won't be enough."
"Make it collapse."
—KWAANG.
—DUDUDUDU.
When the third volley struck, the center of the wall caved in wide.
The defenders could no longer raise their heads.
Then a scout cavalryman came sprinting back, gasping.
"Report!"
"Zhu Yuanzhang's main banners are two days away from the south!"
Yun Dam's face hardened.
"Faster than expected."
He closed his eyes briefly, then said quietly,
"At this rate, the city will not open."
"Wenzheng will try to hold to the end."
He looked at Park Seong-jin.
"Captain Park Seong-jin."
Park Seong-jin stepped forward slowly, tightening the straps of his armor where blood had dried.
"Yes, sir."
Yun Dam's voice was low, without a tremor.
"Go over that wall first."
"Scatter their troops from inside and open the gate."
"Buy time for the host that will surge in."
"If even one man gets over, the fortress begins to move."
Park Seong-jin looked to the North Gate.
Stones looked chewed away by shells.
Between them was a gap.
Through dust he felt the qi of the city leaking outward.
He asked quietly,
"How many should I take?"
Yun Dam shook his head.
"You alone are enough."
A breath escaped among the Warrior Unit and the Goryeo officers.
But Park Seong-jin did not hesitate.
"Understood."
---*
While the bombardment paused, Park Seong-jin brushed dust from his clothes.
Song Yi-sul strode up behind him.
"Hey. You going to die? I'm going too."
Park Seong-jin gave a short smile.
"Hyung, stay here. If the safety line breaks, you have to lead the warriors in all at once.
Come in then."
Song Yi-sul grimaced and swallowed a curse.
"What a fool. Acting like you'll do it all alone. Fine. Do as you please."
Park Seong-jin looked up at the wall.
The collapsed section exposed the interior clearly.
As the wind brushed past, the qi inside the city flipped once.
Killing intent.
Fear.
Confusion.
And a gap.
Park Seong-jin drew a short breath.
"I'm going."
He planted his foot and leapt.
"Th—there!" a soldier cried out.
Dust exploded under his feet.
In a single bound he caught the fissure halfway up the wall.
Second bound.
—Paat.
His body cut through the air and vanished into the city.
Inside, chaos.
The defenders were already shaken loose by the tremors of bombardment.
The moment Park Seong-jin landed, every gaze snapped to him.
"Enemy! One man! Surround him!"
Spears thrust from three directions.
In Park Seong-jin's eyes, the grain of movement split cleanly.
Within a single step he saw multiple openings.
He drew his sword late.
His body went in first.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Fingertips pressed the pressure points.
The spearmen crumpled one after another.
Cutting through soldiers who could barely stand, he headed for the gate.
"Don't let him open it! Stop him! He's going to the gate!"
A commander's shout tore the air.
Inside the gatehouse, Zhu Wenzheng's men formed up fast.
Shields and spears locked into a line and pushed forward.
"Hold! The outside cannonfire is the signal for relief! If we just hold the West Gate—"
Then, from outside, drums sounded.
A signal that Zhu Yuanzhang's relief had come close.
Hope flickered across the soldiers' faces.
Park Seong-jin read that minute wavering.
Now.
He drove into their ranks.
His movement was short and straight.
The sword traced a figure-eight arc that spread into the gate passage.
Five soldiers fell at once.
The shield line buckled in one shove.
A commander threw himself forward.
"I am General Wenzheng's man—"
Before the words finished, fingertips pressed the arm.
Thud.
The commander collapsed.
Park Seong-jin swept his blade sideways.
A silver wave, born at waist height, scoured the front.
The men blocking him split and fell.
Blood sprayed.
The formation scattered.
Park Seong-jin's foot stepped onto the crossbar of the gate.
He steadied his breath and removed the beam.
The gate trembled.
Outside, the cannon roared again.
—KWAANG.
The iron ring of the North Gate rang.
The crossbar dropped beneath his feet.
He pressed with his whole body.
"Open it. Push. Now."
Wood groaned.
The gate began to move inward.
In that instant, a roar burst from outside.
"He did it!"
"To the gate!"
Park Seong-jin poured in his last strength.
Bang.
Kkwa-gwang.
The gate opened halfway.
And the great host outside began to surge in like a flood.