Chapter 109: The Last Gasp

While everyone was still cursing the enemy for being despicable, Zhao Fangye had already waved his hand and asked the military doctor who was treating the wounded to pack up his things and leave.

Straightening his shirt, Zhao Fangye looked at the people who were still resentful. His brows furrowed slightly. He interrupted their chattering: "Okay."

"How far is Yang Junliang's stationed troops from Jiacheng?" Standing up from his chair, Zhao Fangye walked to the table and looked down at the topographic map.

"Your Highness, General Yang's nearest army is only a hundred miles away from Jiacheng." Sikou Lanfeng answered standing aside.

Seeing Zhao Fangye stand up and look at the topographic map in front of him, the generals also gathered around the table.

"Your Highness, do you want to send troops to break out?" Feng Zhen spoke first, looking at the rear of Jiacheng.

"That's right." Zhao Fangye pressed his slender knuckles on the right rear of Jiacheng on the map: "Pass the order down, order Yang Junliang to lead the troops to attack Jiacheng at night."

"Yes!" The subordinate at the side immediately went down to pass on the message after receiving the order.

Looking up at everyone, Zhao Fangye said sternly: "If we want to enter the capital through Jiacheng, relying on Yang Junliang alone is not enough. As long as the people in the city are controlled by others, we will be hindered."

A small Jiacheng is not enough to stop them, but he cannot ignore the people of Jiacheng.

Those are human lives. If they really wanted to enter the city and kill innocent people indiscriminately. In the future, even if you sit on the throne, you won’t be able to stop the gossips.

Feng Zhen knew what he was worried about, and suddenly an idea came to his mind. He said to Zhao Fangye: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, leave this matter to me. I guarantee that the people will be safe after sunset tomorrow."

As one of the rebels who was incorporated into the army, Feng Zhen naturally knew how to unite the people and defeat them from within.

"In that case, let General Feng handle this matter." Zhao Fangye continued to issue orders: "At night tomorrow, the army must keep an eye on Jiacheng's movements. Once Yang Junliang's night attack is successful, attack Jiacheng immediately."

"yes!"

The crowd, who were originally worried about how to enter the city, suddenly felt at ease when they heard Zhao Fangye calmly issuing military orders one after another. Zhao Fangye was like a backbone, planning the overall situation.

In Jiacheng, rows and rows of people stood quietly outside the city gate. The people in this wall are all old, weak, women and children. There was fear on everyone's face.

The morning sun shone on each of their faces, but there was no sign of life at all. They were like scarecrows imprisoned on racks in the farmland, numb but helpless.

Everyone had shackles on their hands and feet, and each shackle was connected by a thick chain. The only way to get rid of the shackles is to use the key.

In this way, this group of people stood in a wall from morning to evening, as if they were afraid that they would starve to death. These human walls will be rotated back and forth in three batches.

The sun sets and night falls quietly.

The bleak autumn wind made the people living near the city wall shiver. Jiacheng under the night sky is far from as peaceful as it appears.

In the big tent, Zhao Fangye sat upright in an armchair, stroking a jade pendant in his hand. There was a dull pain in my shoulder. The stern face remained cold.

Sikou Lanfeng opened the tent and walked in. She was wearing silver armor and her hair was tied up high, which made her look particularly heroic and as if she was ready to go.

"How is the arrangement?" Zhao Fangye raised his eyes and looked at the person who came.

"Your Majesty, everything has been arranged according to your instructions. Now we are just waiting for news from General Feng."

At the same time, Feng Zhen led a team of agile men and sneaked into Jiacheng under the cover of night. Not long after, the city, which had been standing silently in the dark night, suddenly became chaotic.

The soldiers stationed at the front line watched as the civilians who were originally imprisoned under the city wall fled in all directions in an instant. Someone on the city wall waved a bright red flag and shouted, "Welcome Prince Ning into the city!"

The originally tightly closed door was slowly pushed open, and countless people poured out.

"Your Highness! General Feng succeeded!" Sikou Lanfeng exclaimed as he looked at the people fleeing in the distance.

Almost in an instant, Zhao Fangye's army, which had been ambushed long ago, mixed in with the people and rushed into the city at lightning speed.

When the officers defending the city saw that the situation was hopeless, they attempted to abandon the city and flee with the remaining troops, but unexpectedly another group of troops came from the rear and surrounded the remnants of the enemy inside Jiacheng.

The palace, late at night.

"Oh no, oh no!" The young eunuch ran to the emperor's bedroom in a panic, holding the military order from the front.

Before he could finish his next sentence, the eunuch beside the emperor kicked him to the ground.

The chief eunuch lowered his voice and looked at the person on the ground: "What are you shouting for? If you disturb His Majesty, I will see how many heads you have!!"

The kick was so powerful that the young eunuch gasped in pain. But he immediately stood up and knelt down, gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, I didn't mean to do that. It was just an emergency and I had to report it."

The chief eunuch disagreed. After all, the emperor had gradually become slack in government affairs in recent years. The affairs of state were all handled by those favorites in the imperial court. If there is anything, those adults will take care of it. How could they allow others to send news to the emperor?

What's more, the emperor had just summoned several new beauties in the first half of the night and he was in a deep sleep. Who would be so blind as to disturb them?

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. His Majesty has gone to bed. How dare you go up and bother him?"

The eunuch flicked his whisk and yawned nonchalantly, then waved at the person on the ground: "Why don't you get out of here?"

Seeing him like this, the young eunuch was really at a loss as to what to do. Pleading, "Sir, the military situation is really urgent. The rebels have broken through Jiacheng and are attacking the capital..."

"What?!" The chief eunuch was suddenly shocked: "You damned slave! Why didn't you tell me such a big thing earlier??!!"

After saying this, he did not dare to delay for a moment and hurried into the inner hall.

In a short while, the entire bedroom was brightly lit.

"Ahem! What did you say?!" The emperor threw the teacup in his hand at the kneeling man on the ground: "What is the Ministry of War for?! My 200,000-plus troops are not enough to encircle and suppress the rebels?"

"Ask the Minister of War to come see me!" The emperor stood up, furious. Pacing anxiously in the hall.

The young eunuch on the ground raised his head tremblingly: "Your Majesty...The Minister of War...The Minister of War committed suicide out of fear of punishment..."

The Chinese treasury was empty and there was no money or food to supply the soldiers on the front line. The Ministry of War really couldn't come up with money and food, but it didn't dare to disobey the emperor's order, so it had to scrape together money from everywhere to barely hold on.

All power in the court was controlled by a few powerful ministers trusted by the emperor, and memorials from the Ministry of War could never be presented to the emperor. Now, relying on conscripting men to resist the rebels is already a last-ditch effort.

The Minister of War was unable to bear the responsibility, so he had to commit suicide to atone for his crime so that his family would not be harmed.

"What?....."

After hearing this, the emperor suddenly stopped pacing and fell down like a leaf in the wind.

He was so oblivious to state affairs that he was unaware that things had come to this point.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!”