Chapter 848 Seizing the City

Chapter 848 Seizing the City

Chapter 848 Seizing the City
On July 15th, the sky was dim.

The thick horse hooves fell to the ground, motionless.

There was a little dust on the ground, which swept and fluttered for a while before gradually rising.

The horse blinked, turned its head impatiently, and snorted.

On the horse's back, a figure stood in the glow of the sunset.

His face was calm and his eyes were determined.

At the age of thirty-seven, he is no longer young, and he has not yet accomplished many things.

But this is a time of chaos, and the broken mountains and rivers need people to clean up. The anxiety almost drains people's energy.

Some scholars were fed up with the grain collection and labor service, and they always complained that he was fighting all day long, either in the middle of a war or on the way to a war. Almost all the resources of the prime land of Yu and Yan were tilted into the war, leaving no room for anything else.

But they forgot that if this man did not fight all day long, the people of Yu and Yan states would become two-legged sheep, and the battle line would not move all the way north to the outside of the Great Wall.

If he hadn't been fighting wars all day long, the North would have been divided into several countries, and progress in civilization would have been impossible, and a drastic regression would have been very likely.

Each generation has its own mission.

In order to end the chaos, eliminate the threat, and avoid the tragedy of cannibalism, he tried all means, made many compromises, and postponed the reshaping of society.

He now needs prestige, he needs huge prestige to engulf the entire society, to make up for the huge defects in his background, and to make the scholars who control the social resources act according to his will, no matter whether those people respect him, love him, or despise him, look down on him, or hate him and curse him.

It doesn't matter.

He doesn't need their love or hate, as long as they are intimidated by his prestige and obey his orders.

The golden sunlight gradually rises.

He kicked the horse's belly and walked forward in a hurry.

The soldiers of the Silver Spear Left Camp placed their spears at their feet and checked various instruments skillfully.

Their expressions are calm, their movements are skillful, and full of rhythmic beauty.

The soldiers of the Yellow Head Army marched in neat steps and lined up towards the designated location.

After standing still, they stood solemnly in the wind, in complete silence.

The soldiers were already wearing helmets and armor, and they looked at the thieves shouting and screaming on the top of Pingcheng City as if nothing had happened, just like they were looking at animals or objects.

The servant soldiers were also lined up.

There are still 1,500 to 1,600 people behind Zhai Shu. They have been pardoned by the king, so they don't have to fight in this war anymore. They can just serve as auxiliary troops and do miscellaneous work.

A habitual act of trickery actually led to such serious consequences, and those who survived were still terrified. If they were to recruit soldiers again next time, they would not dare to do the same.

On the high platform at the rear, his son, his generals, his staff, his puppets and his prey were all watching him quietly.

Shao Xun dismounted and stood in front of the Luonan army formation.

"What's your name?" He looked at an officer wearing double-legged armor and asked.

"Feng Ba Chi."

"Oh? But when you attacked Ji County, you captured a beautiful girl from me?" Shao Xun thought about it and asked.

"That's right." Feng Bachi said with his head held high.

"Great!" Shao Xun praised, then pointed his whip at Pingcheng and asked, "Do you dare to make more money today?"

"Why not!" Feng Bachi said loudly.

Shao Xun laughed loudly, punched Feng Bachi's shoulder hard, then pulled him out, facing everyone, and asked, "Do you know this man?"

"I know!" A few people shouted sparsely at first.

Shao Xun asked again: "Do you know this person?"

"Recognize it!" the soldiers of Pingqiu Longxiang Mansion shouted in unison.

"General Feng got a beautiful wife in Ji County." Shao Xun said.

Everyone was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter.

Feng Bachi looked at everyone proudly. Who wouldn’t be thinking about Pingqiu and - uh, envying my wife?
"I like strong men the most, who can reach the city behind me first. Official titles and beautiful wives are nothing to worry about!" Shao Xun said with a smile, "There are none in Pingcheng, but there are plenty in Liang Palace and Ningshu Palace. Just ask me for them."

Everyone's eyes lit up after hearing this.

Feng Bashi’s ready-made example is there, who wouldn’t be envious?
He had a beautiful wife and family, and his household business was well managed, and he became visibly wealthy.

I was first appointed Sima of a separate department and then promoted to deputy general of a department, just like a member of a local powerful family.

The commander of the imperial army, Huang Zheng, gently pushed Feng Bachi.

Feng Ba Chi came to his senses and shouted, "Every day you all boast about how powerful you are, but now you are all silent? If we take over this bird city, those who have made contributions will be rewarded handsomely. When has the king ever broken his promise?"

When an officer of the imperial army heard this, he waved his hands and said, "Break Pingcheng!"

"Destroy Pingcheng!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Break Pingcheng!" The shouts became louder and louder, so much so that the soldiers from Luonan and Chenliu also started shouting.

Shao Xun laughed loudly, and when the noise gradually subsided, he came to the front of the Yellow Head Army.

Everyone looked at him.

When the flood hit, the King of Liang came to Hebei and saved their lives. In the eyes of the Yellow-headed Army, he was a god, and no one could compare to him.

Shao Xun looked at the man who was about 30 years old and asked, "Do you have any children?"

"I have been blessed by the King and have a wife and a son."

"How are you doing?"

"The family owns more than 30 acres of land, which provides enough food."

"Maybe carnivorous?"

The man licked his lips subconsciously and said, "I raise sheep, but I'm reluctant to eat them."

"How can a warrior live without meat?" Shao Xun said, "If we take Pingcheng, we will give two sheep to everyone."

The man's face was full of surprise.

Huang Zheng called twenty soldiers and shouted in unison: "If you take over Pingcheng, each person will be rewarded with two sheep."

"If you take over Pingcheng, each person will be rewarded with two sheep." Upon hearing this, the officers of the Yellow Head Army told the soldiers beside them one by one.

The atmosphere immediately became heated.

"Capture Pingcheng!" Thousands of soldiers shouted in unison.

Nothing is more effective than money and goods as an incentive. The soldiers risked their lives for this. Even the palace soldiers and the silver spear soldiers cheered after hearing this.

Shao Xun jumped on his horse and shouted, "We have survived the flood and the epidemic. What else can stop us? After hundreds of miles of expedition, wealth and fame are right before our eyes. Why not take them? Now - take this city for me!"

After saying this, he ordered the drums to be beaten and the army to march forward.

The morale of the Yellow Head Army had just been boosted, and the passion had not yet subsided. The soldiers took the lead and pushed the siege equipment to launch the first charge.

******
The defenders on the top of the city wall had been watching the situation below silently. Tens of thousands of people shouted in unison, and their morale was rising wave after wave, but their morale was gradually decreasing.

In the past two days, a large number of cattle, sheep and other livestock were captured by the Jin army. They passed through the outside of the city and were sent to the south in a mighty manner, all over the mountains and plains. Everyone could see it.

Afterwards, the herdsmen from various tribes who were captured in the wild were forced to attack the city. They were killing each other. How could their morale be boosted?
There were even many people in the city who were worried that their loved ones had been abducted by the Jin army and were missing, and morale was at its lowest level.

I don’t want to fight anymore. Many people don’t want to fight anymore.

Defending the city was an extreme mistake. They were not good at it to begin with, and it put their loved ones in danger. I don't know who came up with this idea.

The number of earthen platforms outside the city has increased to seven, and arrows are fired from them non-stop.

The ladder truck advanced little by little, seemingly slowly, but in fact it arrived at the foot of the city with great determination.

"Click!" The hook in front of the ladder firmly hooked the top of the wall.

The defenders woke up as if from a dream.

The chiefs shouted at people to push the car away.

In an instant, a denser rain of arrows fell from above their heads, causing these exposed Xianbei people to scream in pain.

The big shield was raised up, making continuous clanging sounds. The person holding the shield could even feel the huge pressure coming from the shield.

The chief himself raised the axe and chopped the hook with force, sparks flew everywhere.

"Whoosh!" Several crossbow arrows flew at the same time, causing horrific casualties among the dense crowd.

One of the bullets penetrated the shield directly, sending the man holding the shield and the two soldiers behind him flying.

One bullet hit the chest of the chieftain who was holding up his axe and chopping. The huge impact force pushed him backwards and wedged him deeply into the city wall.

"Clang!" The axe flew out of the chief's hand, blood gushed out of his mouth and nose. He stretched his hands forward with difficulty, and finally fell down dejectedly.

"Kill the bandits!" The soldiers of the Yellow Head Army moved through the belly of the ladder truck and climbed up one by one.

When the first person stuck his head out, he was immediately shot to the ground by an arrow.

The second man came forward holding a large shield, followed the horizontal ladder, and rushed directly to the top of the city wall at a rapid pace.

He was seen shouting and screaming, with veins bulging on his forehead. He no longer cared about anything and just held the shield in front of him. He quickly rushed into the crowd of enemy soldiers, creating a small chaos.

The third and fourth followed closely, followed by the fifth and sixth...

On the long ladder, the sound of arrows breaking through the air continued. Most of the people rushed forward and then fell headfirst to the ground, without any sound.

A man rushed to the top of the city wall, and was stabbed by a spear. In a hurry, he grabbed the spear, but the enemy soldier's hand loosened, and the man stumbled and fell down the city wall with a scream.

There was a man holding a sword and shield, and before he could stand firmly, several spears came at him. He blocked left and right, but was finally pushed down by the huge brute force.

Someone was about to kill the bandit, but his footing was unstable and he was hooked down by a hook that came out from nowhere. The screams gradually faded away and disappeared in the dense crowd.

There were also people holding up shields, but were knocked to their knees by swords and sticks.

"Bang!" The wooden shield shattered into pieces.

He laughed miserably and roared, "My life is returned to the king."

While shouting, he struggled to push forward. He was hit countless times on the head, shoulders, back, and legs, and finally blood was all over the ground.

More people rushed up.

Both sides were crowded on the top of the city wall, with almost no place to stand. They couldn't even swing the weapons in their hands. They could only glare at the sky, shout and chop, and stab with slightly clumsy and ridiculous movements.

The sound of sharp blades piercing flesh was constant.

The screams were almost drowned out by the man's passionate roar.

The blood quickly soaked the ground, then flowed down the wall, forming horrific blood curtains.

People from the city continued to rush up to provide reinforcements, and were horrified when they saw the mountains of corpses.

People kept getting on the ladder trucks below the city, climbing up hard, and then rushing to the top of the city along the ladders.

Looking from a distance, more than ten people fell from the south wall of Pingcheng almost every breath, both enemies and friends.

And with every passing breath, the number of people on the city wall was increasing.

In the crowded situation, both sides had lost all their strategies and were almost using their most primitive instincts to attack their opponents.

There were many scenes of two people hugging each other and rolling down.

In the melee, it was unclear whether the person being stabbed was the enemy or one of our own.

Everyone is crazy.

Unless you see it with your own eyes, you will never know how much strength a man can unleash at the moment of life and death.

If you don't see it with your own eyes, it's hard to believe that an honest farmer can bite the enemy with his teeth like a beast.

There is no time to regret, no time to be afraid, and no way to retreat.

"Kill the bandits!" Another wave of people rushed up.

These were soldiers wearing silver helmets and silver armor. They were good at using spears, but now each of them held a shield in their left hand and a sword in their right hand. They were so skilled that it seemed as if they had been practicing the art of sword and shield from the beginning.

The addition of new forces suddenly changed the situation on the city wall.

The battle line gradually moved back.

Most of the people who had fallen from the city walls were now rolling down along the horse paths and stairs.

Ji Shou, who was already fifty years old, took the lead. No one could stop him. He smashed the enemy with his thick wooden shield. It seemed as if there was infinite strength in his body. He pushed a large group of people directly onto the road.

It felt like someone had stabbed him in the calf, which made him even angrier. He grabbed a brazier nearby and covered the face of the person who stabbed him with it.

The stench of burnt flesh spread everywhere, and screams shook the earth. Ji Shou pretended not to hear anything, and kicked the enemy soldier down instantly. The hot charcoal flew in the wind, soaking the enemy soldiers who were rushing up and making them run away in panic.

"Swoosh!" An arrow came and hit the chest.

Ji Shou fell to his knees weakly.

The arrow was blocked by the iron armor and did not penetrate very deeply into the flesh, but he still felt his strength slowly draining away.

His comrades leaped past him, followed the horse path, and used the momentum to charge directly into the crowd of bandit soldiers.

Ji Shou leaned against the city wall, breathing heavily.

He thought of that year.

Hu Wu Fuzhi was reading the sacrificial text in the river. He was distributing meat to the boatmen in the temple when he saw his former little brother Zhao Huai.

Perhaps, from that moment on, he was destined to take this path.

But he did not regret it, because this was the right way and the only way out for lowly people like them.

"Haha! I'll lend you my head and send King Liang to Luoyang to be the emperor." He didn't know where the strength came from, he stood up with difficulty, picked up a spear from the side, and stumbled down the city.

His body was slow and his steps were crooked, but he kept moving forward.

(End of this chapter)