At five in the morning, the sky was still a hazy gray-black. The formerly silent city of Si’an Prefecture was suddenly filled with the resounding call of low horns, one after another.
The refugees captured at the various city gates, already delirious with sickness, some even in a coma, were jolted awake by the sound.
Had the enemy attacked again?
After all, they were all too familiar with this sound. Whenever the horns had sounded in the city before, their relatives on the streets, whom they had been detained from, would be immediately slaughtered or brutally tortured right before their eyes! They truly did not wish to experience such a thing again!
After the horns sounded, torches lit up every corner of the city in a very short time. The prefectural city instantly became brightly lit, with only the dim, yellow firelight illuminating the walls and streets, casting the entire city in an ethereal glow…
These mottled traces seemed to foretell the city’s future direction and mourn its fated end.
The soldiers under Xu Zhipeng’s command climbed out of their warm beds one by one. Some were not even properly dressed, their clothes askew. Others wore someone else’s clothes, pulling and tugging at each other. In short, many areas fell into chaos.
Perhaps it was due to the long stalemate between the two sides, and the people from Huaxia City had been inactive for nearly a month since the previous rescue plans all failed.
Thus, the guards and soldiers in the prefectural city had gradually relaxed their vigilance. Moreover, starting a few days prior, many people in the city had contracted influenza. Consequently, when they slept at night, they had to remove their clothes before sleeping.
After about ten minutes, most of the city’s military force had been assembled. Several deputy generals scoured the courtyard inside and out, only finding the two concubines on the bed; Xu Zhipeng, the commanding general, was nowhere to be seen.
At this moment, the patrol tower reported that the enemy forces were attacking from three sides, the closest being only one kilometer away. The deputy generals could only order others to continue searching for Xu Zhipeng, while they, divided into groups, dispersed to the various city gates to prepare for the enemy!
As the Huaxia City army arrived at the various city gates of Si’an Prefecture, heartbreaking cries filled the air. There were the despairing cries of the elderly, the sobbing of children out of fear, and the sorrowful weeping of women…
For a time, the entire Si’an Prefecture seemed to have become a living hell!
One deputy general led five thousand troops, quickly heading towards the East City Gate. This was the largest city gate, and also the main city gate of Si’an Prefecture.
In a small street next to the city gate, the deputy general turned his head towards the end of the street and shouted at those guarding the numerous wooden cages. “Listen to my orders, everyone! Bring all the people in the cages to the front… Quickly!”
After he finished shouting, the people inside the cages trembled and hid further in, while the soldiers guarding the wooden cages stood there as if they hadn’t heard his orders.
This situation was not confined to the East City Gate. After the deputy generals at the other two city gates issued the same orders, those people remained motionless, completely ignoring them.
“Damn it! You dare to disobey military orders! I’ll cut you down first…” One deputy general, with a fiery temper, felt ignored and became furious on the spot.
He galloped forward on his horse, swung the heavy saber in his hand, weighing dozens of kilograms, and slashed at the people guarding the cages. kanδん
The guards of the refugees stood there motionlessly. The deputy general thought they were intimidated by his aura and felt a sense of pride. If he didn’t show them some color, they wouldn’t know who they were messing with!
Just as the saber was about to fall on one of them, with such force and weight, it would surely result in a severed head.
“Clang…” A sharp collision sound echoed, the sound of the saber striking the stone ground with great force.
The person who should have been hacked to pieces, however, inexplicably dodged the oncoming saber with a strange twist of his body.
“Ah…!” The hot-tempered deputy general, due to inertia, was dragged by the saber and rolled off his horse, landing heavily on the ground.
Before he could get up for another strike, he felt something flying towards his neck from behind. The hot-tempered deputy general turned his head to look behind him, his pupils suddenly contracting. In the next second, his head rolled into the middle of the street like a ball.
“You are not our soldiers, you are enemy forces who have infiltrated!” The other deputy generals, seeing this, finally understood.
If these people with such excellent skills were their subordinates, they would have known about it. Moreover, with such skills, they wouldn’t have been assigned to guard prisoners. kanδん
Seeing this, the soldiers of the Great Yu Dynasty’s side began to lose morale. Most of them had been conscripted, and before that, they were ordinary civilians who were afraid to even kill a chicken. After killing people on the battlefield, they had suffered nightmares for a long time.
“Deputy General Lin… They killed Deputy General Lin…”
“First the general disappeared, and now Deputy General Lin has been beheaded. What should we do?”
“Let’s run! I want to go home… I’m only seventeen, I don’t want to die, not yet…”
Seeing that their morale was already wavering, the other two deputy generals first exchanged glances, then spurred their horses forward, raising their weapons and slashing at those people!
“Dong dong dong…” The might of their charge was matched only by the misery of their outcome.
A moment later, the heads of the deputy generals were all gathered in the center of the street, neatly arranged, not a single one missing.
Leng Ren, carrying four bloody heads, flew to a high point on the city gate and hung up their heads for all to see.
He channeled his inner energy and shouted to the thousands of people below. “Xu Zhipeng has been captured alive by our general, and your deputy generals are dead. If you are willing to lay down your weapons and surrender to Huaxia City, you will be spared!”
These soldiers were already leaderless, and most of them were new recruits who were already filled with fear of war. Now, surrendering meant being spared and not having to kill or loot. Naturally, these people would not refuse.
Thus, one person threw down his weapon first. With one leading the way, then the second, the third, the fourth… By the end, they were eagerly throwing their weapons far away as if they were holding hot potatoes.
Seeing the soldiers surrendering one by one, the refugees who had been held captive to restrain the Huaxia City army first sobbed softly, and then all began to wail loudly.
For more than three months, they had been confined in cages like livestock, frequently subjected to torture, and even at risk of being killed arbitrarily at any moment.
Now, they were finally saved!
“Why haven’t Deputy General Lin and the others come yet?”
“Yeah! Who knows what they’re doing over there!”
“Who knows? There’s been such a big commotion this time, will it really lead to a fight?”
“I don’t think so. This kind of situation has happened several times before. Every time General Xu ordered the killing of a few refugees, the people on the other side would immediately shrink back in fear! I don’t think this time will be any different…”
“They’re not scared. They’re worried about these people’s lives! Honestly, I’m a bit envious of these refugees. At least someone cares about their lives. It’s not like us. Once the enemy attacks, we’ll be the first to die. The people on the other side won’t give up their attack because of our deaths! If I had to choose, I’d rather be Huaxia…”
A few soldiers guarding the gates of Si’an Prefecture were chatting when one of them reached out and tightly covered the mouth of another. His eyes darted around nervously, fearing that their words might be overheard.
“Hurry up and shut your mouth! Are these words something you can just say casually? If someone overhears you and reports it to Deputy General Lin, and you’re charged with being a spy or a traitor, you’ll be in deep trouble! It’s likely that not only you, but your family, your clan, and even your entire village could be implicated by you!”
After hearing that person’s words, the others stopped chatting and dispersed again, continuing to monitor the still crying old and infirm women and children. They were still waiting for the main army to arrive and join them, so they could defend against the enemy attack as before.
However, after waiting for nearly the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the sky had already begun to lighten. The deputy generals who had long since gone to the back street had not arrived.
The soldiers guarding the gate were about to send someone to inquire when they saw several figures in black moving towards the city gate. From a distance, it looked like they were carrying something in their hands.
Before they could get a clear look, the figures in black flew through the air. As they approached, they threw the things in their hands into the soldiers’ chests.
The people standing in front instinctively reached out to catch them. When they saw the round objects in their arms, they all screamed loudly, and soon, they were gagging.
The sharp screams of the soldiers startled the old and infirm women and children who were still crying. They all looked up, and when they saw the dirty heads rolling on the ground, their cries grew even louder.
They all thought that these heads belonged to their murdered relatives. In their subconscious, every time the enemy attacked, the general defending the city would kill their relatives to threaten the enemy.
This sounded incredibly ironic: the general of their own country using the lives of the common people who came to seek refuge to threaten the enemy army. What was even more laughable was that this tactic actually worked.
And it was repeatedly effective!
As everyone was still trying to figure out what was happening, one of the black-clad figures stepped forward and spoke loudly.
“Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me. Deputy Generals Lin, Hong, Wang, and Zhang have all been beheaded by us. The commander of Si’an Prefecture, Xu Zhipeng, has also been captured by our army. Our army will now enter the city to take over. We hope that everyone will not offer any futile resistance to avoid unnecessary casualties.”
The moment the words fell, there was a long silence. Seeing the disbelieving expressions on everyone’s faces, the figures in black spoke loudly again.
“Citizens, there is no need to stand here in the cold wind. Please follow us into the city to be resettled. Shortly, our people will come to distribute food and winter clothing to everyone. If anyone feels unwell, they can report it to us, and we will send military doctors to treat them.”
As soon as these words were spoken, hushed discussions erupted. Had they heard correctly? Not only were these people not going to kill them, but they were also going to provide them with food and winter clothing?
Could it be that they had some ulterior motive? Or was it simply that they did this to lure everyone into the city and then kill them all at once?
The heavy city gates slowly opened, and soldiers in armor, with neat and orderly steps, marched into the prefectural city.
The old and infirm women and children who had been held back at the city gates, seeing so many people entering, fearfully cowered in the corners, not daring to even breathe loudly.
They were all refugees fleeing from other places, and therefore had no place to stay in Si’an Prefecture.
After a short while, two more teams arrived and led the more than a thousand people into the city to the prepared vacant rooms, instructing them to wait there and not to wander around under any circumstances!
Having moved into clean rooms, received tangible food, and been draped in thick clothes, even after all of this had truly happened, these people had not yet recovered from their shock.
They couldn’t help but wonder in their hearts if these people from Huaxia City were truly the enemy invaders.
At the time, they had blamed the people of Huaxia City more than once for the deaths of their relatives. Even though the Huaxia City army had dared not to launch a direct assault due to their concern for these people, they still harbored deep hatred!
But now, they had rescued so many people…
Thus, the Huaxia City army took over the entire Si’an Prefecture without losing a single soldier. The Great Yu Dynasty’s army only lost a few deputy generals who resisted and refused to surrender.
Both sides were surprised by this outcome. Amidst their surprise, they also felt satisfied. This should have been the most peaceful war in history, with casualties on both sides reduced to an unprecedented low.
Today was the fourth day since Huo Qiyuan and his men took over Si’an Prefecture. Since morning, people responsible for various temporary resettlement points had been coming to report.
Recently, many people in the city had reported that their family members were ill. And those reporting also had persistent coughs themselves.
Leng Ren felt that this matter was rather serious.
They immediately sent people to inspect, and the diagnosis was that it was caused by a cold, and this cold was aggressive and highly contagious.
The most important thing now was to immediately implement a series of effective measures. Otherwise, it was feared that the entire population of the city would suffer!