Chapter 908 Interception
Chapter 908 Interception
The sound of the city wall collapsing woke everyone up.
In the ruins, many figures were groaning and squirming.
Someone had just stood up dazedly when he heard a loud sound of stepping on water coming towards him.
It was difficult to see clearly in the darkness. They could only vaguely see groups of dark figures rushing towards them in the heavy rain.
"Puff!" The miserable howls from being hit by axes continued to ring out.
Even heavy rain could not dispel the smell of blood in the air.
Some lights were lit in the streets.
Someone opened the window, looked outside, and immediately covered his throat, groaning. Slowly, his body fell limply, and a large pool of blood oozed out of the ground.
The soldiers outside the window didn't even look and continued to rush forward.
A faint sound of weapons clashing could be heard in the wind and rain, but it soon disappeared into thin air after a series of screams.
A moment later, another round of killing sounds rang out, even more violent than before.
The footsteps on the street became more and more hurried, as if people were rushing in that direction from all directions.
The shouting and screaming became more and more intense. In the dark night, countless people were scared to death and lay dead in the heavy rain.
"Kill the bandits!" Qin San led his men to a dilapidated government office, and the soldiers shouted in unison.
All the lights were out, the rain was pouring down, and it was pitch dark - pitch dark in the physical sense.
"Kill the bandits!" The soldiers shouted one after another, both to boost morale and to remind their comrades not to act recklessly.
A large group of people poured out of the government offices and crashed into the crowd of Jin army soldiers like a thick black shadow.
In this dark and rainy night, bows and crossbows are of no use. The only things that can be used are the swords and guns in hand and the endless courage.
The soldiers of both sides soon engaged in a battle, with screams and curses ringing in the ears.
Qin San pushed away the two swordsmen and shieldmen who were blocking him, took a step forward, and there seemed to be a figure flashing in front of him.
"Kill the thief!" he shouted.
The man did not respond and just fought with someone behind him.
Qin San's mind raced, he reached out and touched the man's back, but it was a fur coat. He no longer hesitated, and slashed with all his might.
Suotou screamed miserably.
With a clang, the steel knife fell to the ground. After stumbling two steps, he fell to the ground with a bang.
Qin San continued to move forward.
"Kill the thief!" he roared.
"Kill the bandits!" More than ten soldiers gathered around him and shouted in unison.
"Kill the bandit—ah!" The soldier on the opposite side responded to him with a scream, obviously being ambushed.
Qin San didn't hesitate any longer. He took two quick steps and chopped down with his knife at the place where the sound had just been made.
A muffled groan was heard in the darkness, followed by the sound of rapidly retreating footsteps.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew from the left front, occasionally mixed with the sound of splashing water, as if there was more than one person.
"Bang!" The guard with swordsman and shield beside Qin San subconsciously raised his large shield to block the fatal blow.
The spearmen stabbed into the darkness and missed.
Unwilling to give up, he stabbed again, and this time he finally hit someone.
"Kill the thieves!" A painful groan came from the darkness, and he said weakly, "They are one of us."
Qin San wiped the rain off his face.
At the beginning, the queue was very neat and it was easy to distinguish between friend and foe, but after getting here and fighting now, the enemy rushed in and the whole thing became completely messed up.
"Boom!" There was a loud thunder in the sky and the rain became heavier. Even people shouting in the distance could not be heard clearly.
And at the moment when the lightning flashed, the soldiers of both sides in front of the government office widened their eyes and looked around.
After the lightning died down, the battlefield suddenly accelerated.
Both sides jumped up and fought each other, and corpses fell to the ground one after another.
Blood mixed with rainwater and flowed everywhere, adding a strong bloody smell to the world.
As the battle reached its end, the sounds of killing became quieter and quieter.
The soldiers of Zuo Feilongwei were like blind people, groping in the dark.
When they touched the linen military uniform, they separated immediately.
When he touched the fur coat, he was stabbed on the head.
After half an hour, the battle seemed to be completely over, and there was no enemy still standing.
So the soldiers rushed in and broke into the government office.
As expected, fighting broke out again, but on a smaller scale than before.
On the other side of the battlefield, the north and west gates of the ancient city of Luo County were wide open, and the sound of hurried horse hooves could be heard from far away, indicating that the enemy was fleeing.
But how can we ride fast on horseback in such heavy rain?
As soon as we walked out of the city gate, there was a chaos of people and horses.
Some of the rope leaders anxiously checked the horses, but they could not see anything in the rainy night. Some of the rope leaders made a quick decision and abandoned their horses, disappearing into the dark night step by step.
The Jin army that entered the city did not pursue.
The darkness and heavy rain provided them with cover, but also caused them great trouble.
There is gain and loss in everything. It is impossible for you to get all the benefits.
When the sun rose from the eastern horizon on the first day of June, the thunderstorm night filled with chaos and killing had quietly passed.
There were two thousand people when they set out, but six or seven hundred fell behind in the darkness, and only more than one thousand three hundred people finally entered the city.
The fighting lasted a whole night, and seven or eight hundred people were beheaded, while more than three hundred of their own men were killed or wounded.
Qin San stood among the corpses and looked around.
He didn't want to investigate who died at the hands of the enemy and who was accidentally killed by his own people. It was meaningless.
The most important thing is that now that the city has been captured, they can rest here, recover their tired bodies and minds, dry their wet clothes, eat some hot soup and hot meals, so that they can fight again.
At noon, Jin Zheng arrived with a large army.
"March ten miles west in the afternoon, cut down trees and set up fences to block the enemy's return route," he ordered.
******
Helan Aitou could already see from afar the ancient city of Luo County and the Zhongling River flowing through the south of the city.
As the river meanders to this section, it has become an east-west flow, then makes a sharp turn in the southwest of Luo County, flowing southward, and finally turns west to merge with the Shutai River (Qingshui River) and into the Yellow River.
Perhaps because of the heavy rain, the water in Zhongling River was very powerful at this time. Many shallows were submerged, and a large amount of mud, sand, dead branches and leaves were carried down, looking extremely violent.
Perhaps this is why some people call this stretch of the river the Red River. The soil on both sides of the river is mostly red, which is very obvious when washed into the river. Even the ancient city of Luo County left over from the Han Dynasty is commonly known as the "Red City" because of the red soil used to build its walls.
The number of his troops was less than 4,000. In order to travel quickly, they were roughly divided into two parts, with half traveling on the east bank of Zhongling River and the other half on the west bank.
Dozens of miles to the south, more troops were coming, but not as many as before, because some of them were recruited from nearby mountain tribes.
As for Qiu Dunshi and the 9,000 people he had picked up, some of them followed him north, while several thousand others stayed among the tribes on both sides of the Tailuo River (Pianguan River) to rest.
On the one hand, it is to resist the offensive that the Jin army may launch from Kelan. They have been defeated once before, but there is no guarantee that they will come again.
Secondly, Qiu Dun thought that they could cross the river in batches, reach Hexi and then return to Shengle.
He said so, and he did so.
Helan Aitou wanted to be angry, but he couldn't because Qiu Dun obviously wanted to take the troops away and return to his family's pasture in Hexi.
This is a vivid portrayal of the monkeys scattering when the tree falls. Helan Aitou didn't want to fall out, so he agreed.
He took one last look at the south. The tribes that had provided them with supplies before were very obedient when the army passed by, but what about the future? Which side would they join?
Helan Aitou knew the answer in his heart, but he didn't want to say it and would rather lie to himself.
The army marched in an orderly manner.
The rain-soaked road was not suitable for galloping horses. Almost everyone got off their horses and walked dejectedly, holding the reins.
Some people are angry.
Did they lose a battle after going south? It seems not, but they were forced to retreat. Once they retreated, the situation was no longer under their control. Everyone knew that the Jin cavalry must have entered the mountains and were trying to track them down and kill them.
This ending is undoubtedly infuriating and even unacceptable.
So who caused all this? The answer is self-evident.
Some people looked sad.
It was forced together, and it has only been two years. You can say that you did not lose this battle, but it is a fact that you retreated in a big and embarrassing way. Doesn't this damage your prestige?
The Qiu Dun clan was no longer willing to obey orders. They wanted to go to their own pastures in Hexi and took away thousands of men and horses.
The Hedouling clan was defeated at Shanwu and most of them surrendered.
As for the Yiluo clan and other tribes that were protecting the retreat, they were also in a precarious situation under the current situation.
They really seemed to be on the verge of falling apart.
The most important thing now is to rush back to Shengle and see if we can give it a try. If not, we must retreat northward decisively, even if we cannot take a few people with us.
It doesn't matter if the strength is greatly reduced, there will be opportunities to win over those tribes to join them again in the future. Aitou just couldn't bear to give up the power he had gathered with great difficulty, so he did this.
Others seemed completely numb.
They seemed to no longer care. Originally, their determination to support Yihuai was not particularly firm, but if Yihuai continued to win, they would gradually become his staunch supporters.
But two years passed, and the war entered its third year. They were able to occasionally snatch some property and slaves, but when they calculated the total, they found that their expenses were far from enough to cover their income, which was nothing compared to the cost of the war.
Not to mention that they lost people, a lot of people.
What should they do? They just want the war to end, no matter who wins.
The army advanced in such a depressing atmosphere, as if the muddy ground had become a way for many people to vent their anger. They waded in the water angrily, cursing in their hearts.
Suddenly, the sound of "boom boom" drums shattered everyone's reverie.
The hundreds of men acting as the vanguard had already discovered the fortifications blocking the road ahead.
They didn't react at first, but when they saw the big flags of "Jin" and "General Jin of the Southern Army" flying high, they were stunned and felt cold all over.
The camp seemed to be not yet completely completed, but the trenches, earth walls and antlers had already been arranged.
Behind the earth wall was a simple wall made of large logs. Many people stood on the wall, armed with swords and guns, ready for battle.
How many soldiers did they bring? How did they come? Has the Yilou clan surrendered?
In an instant, countless questions flooded into the Xianbei people's minds, and their morale plummeted.
(End of this chapter)