Chapter 355 Luring the Enemy

Wei Shao, his face pale, lay slumped on his horse. Hearing the sentry's shout, he pulled out his waist token from his robes and cried out in anguish, "I am the centurion stationed on the west side! Tonight, traitors attacked the camp, and the chiliarch was killed in action. I risked my life to escape and deliver this message!! Please inform the commander immediately!"

Hearing the heart-wrenching cries of the people below, the sentries knew that this matter could not be delayed. One of them quickly went down to report, while the other went down to have Wei Shao throw his waist token over.

Wei Shao tossed his waist token over and waited quietly for the person opposite to open the door.

After confirming the waist tag and Wei Shao's identity, the gate was hurriedly opened. A sentry rushed out and, seeing Wei Shao severely injured and listless, went to support him.

Wei Shao's vision went black and he collapsed. The sentry hurriedly caught him, carried him on his shoulder, and helped him toward the camp.

"Quickly, someone come to help! This centurion is seriously injured!! Medic! Medic!!"

As he spoke, he carried Wei Shao and quickly walked into the camp. Several soldiers came out one after another and hurriedly led the way to the army doctor's tent after seeing the two of them.

Wei Shao was carried all the way to the military doctor's tent. An old military doctor with gray hair took off his tattered armor, tore open his clothes, and frowned when he saw the several knife wounds on his body.

"The person who came to get medicine has a torn wound. The wound needs to be stitched up before the bleeding can be stopped."

As the apprentice, a military doctor, was speaking, he quickly handed over a needle and thread, as well as hemostatic medicine commonly used in the military.

The medic glanced at the two soldiers beside him: "Hold him down and don't let him move."

As he spoke, he picked up a needle and thread and a pair of pliers, soaked the needle in alcohol, and then heated the needle tip with a candle flame.

When the needle turned bright red, the medic soaked it in alcohol again. With a slight hissing sound, the medic took out the needle and threaded it with a string.

Squinting at the open wound on Wei Shao's waist and abdomen, he gently pierced the skin with the needle and repeated the process several times to suture Wei Shao's wound.

Wei Shao gritted his teeth, his forehead covered in cold sweat from the pain, but he didn't utter a sound.

After repeatedly stitching up the wounds on his body, the military doctor glanced at him gently and said, "Not very old, but quite a man."

He took the hemostatic medicine from the apprentice, cleaned the wound, and then sprinkled the medicine on it.

The moment the powder touched Wei Shao's wound, he shuddered in pain. Although the powders used in the army were fast-acting, most of them were made with ordinary ingredients. They could heal wounds, but most of them would cause some suffering.

Wei Shao felt a burning pain in his wound. The military doctor clapped his hands, had his apprentice bring a strip of cloth to wrap the wound, and then clapped his hands again.

"Okay, don't get it wet for the next few days. It should heal in about half a month."

After saying that, he packed up his medicine box.

Wei Shao finished dressing and clasped his hands in thanks to the military doctor: "Thank you, sir."

Just then, a commotion suddenly came from outside the tent. The military doctor looked curiously at Commander Zhang, who had just lifted the curtain and entered, and then quickly reacted by clasping his hands in salute.

Commander Zhang had just been informed that the western flank had been attacked by rebels from Xincheng, and he rushed over immediately.

Looking at the people bowing to him from inside the tent, Commander Zhang casually waved his hand: "No need for formalities. Where is the messenger who just delivered the message?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people next to Wei Shao quickly made way for him, revealing Wei Shao sitting on the bed tidying his clothes.

Wei Shao hurriedly got out of bed, straightened his clothes, and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Commander Zhang: "Commander, I am the messenger."

Commander Zhang saw the bloodstains on Wei Shao's body and the rags the medic had used to wipe them off scattered on the ground. He nodded slightly and asked, "You said there was a sneak attack on the west side. What about the others? How many escaped?"

Wei Shao smiled bitterly, standing on the ground with his head down and his fists clenched tightly, seemingly somewhat annoyed: "Reporting to the command, besides me, no one else should have run back."

Commander Zhang's face instantly darkened: "You mean that besides you, no one else escaped???"

Wei Shao sighed and nodded: "Yes, Commander. We arrived at the location you designated at dusk. Everyone was exhausted after traveling all day, and we had just rested at night when several thousand people suddenly attacked from the side. The attack was too sudden, and we were unable to organize a resistance in time. By the time the commander and I reacted, we had already lost more than half of our men. The commander tried to leave, but was killed by the rebels. I fought my way out of the camp and rushed here to report to you."

Commander Zhang hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the tattered armor next to Wei Shao and the several cuts on his clothes, he fell silent for a second, which didn't seem like he was lying.

Wounds don't lie, and in this way, it really does look like someone who has just been through a fierce battle.

"Approximately how many people attacked you?"

Commander Zhang stared intently at Wei Shao and asked.

Wei Shao remained silent for a while, seemingly pondering how many people there were in total.

After thinking for a while, he said uncertainly, "We were only focused on escaping along the way, and a thousand commanders were killed in the process, so we can't be sure how many there were in total, but there were definitely four thousand."

Commander Zhang nodded, his expression softening. If he could directly state the total number of enemy troops, he would have to reconsider.

Thinking of this, Commander Zhang reassured Wei Shao, "I understand. What's your name?"

Wei Shao clasped his hands in a respectful gesture and said, "My surname is Wei, my given name is Shao, and I am a centurion of the Wei family in Yingzhou."

Commander Zhang nodded: "You managed to fight your way out of the rebels' encirclement, Xiao Wei, right? You're quite good. Stay here and recover well. I'll have someone call you to come to my central camp later."

Wei Shao nodded, a hint of excitement on his face, as if he was genuinely thrilled by Commander Zhang's encouragement.

"Yes, Commander!"

After Commander Zhang finished asking for the information, he led his men back to his tent. Now that they knew the news, their next step was to counter-encircle the rebels.

He came here for military merit, so we absolutely cannot let him escape.

People had just arrived from the west today, which was the weakest point in the defenses. Presumably, the people in the new city had already escaped by now. With that in mind, Commander Zhang appointed several scouts.

"You are now rapidly approaching the new city. Go and investigate whether there are any traitors still in the new city! Go and return quickly."

The two people who were called upon quickly responded, went outside, mounted their horses, and galloped off towards the new city.

Commander Zhang then said, "Go and call the commanders over, and tell them we have something to discuss."

After he finished speaking, he pointed to another person: "Go and bring over a chair, and also call over the centurion who will be delivering the message tonight."

After everyone had left one after another, Commander Zhang stood beside the sand table and used a wooden stick to mark the area on the west side where Lin Changning and his group had broken through.