"Your Highness,"

Zhang Cheng looked at Prince Xin, Li Xin, beside him and asked, "The message has been delivered. I wonder if it has had any effect?"

"How about we bombard him with a few more thunderbolts?"

Zhang Cheng's eyes held a hint of anticipation; he couldn't wait to take over Dingli County.

No rush.

Li Xin shook his head slightly, gazing at Dingli County not far away, and said meaningfully, "Let the bullets fly for a while!"

"Bullets? What kind of bullets?"

Zhang Cheng was completely baffled, just like a monk who had no idea what was going on.

Li Xin smiled bitterly to himself and didn't offer any further explanation.

After lingering for a while outside Dingli County, the group returned to their camp to rest.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Divine Might Battalion and the Valiant Cavalry Battalion defended the area in shifts.

That night, Li Xin slept soundly.

Meanwhile, in Dingli County, countless people were unable to sleep at night.

A bandit leader lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Sometime later, the head of the household got out of bed, sat on the bed, and gazed at the dark night with bright eyes, sitting quietly.

I sat for a while, but I was still feeling a bit irritable.

He simply put on his clothes and went outside to walk around in the courtyard.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw what appeared to be a dozen or so dark figures in the distance, quietly making their way toward the village wall.

"Um?"

The bandit leader was stunned for a moment. Could it be an assassin?

Puzzled, the bandit leader quietly followed them without making a sound.

Before long, a dozen or so dark figures had arrived at a corner.

"Old Zhang, have you brought everything?"

"We brought everything, but we didn't have time to contact Shanhu... I wonder what Shanhu was thinking?"

"Never mind. Life and death are predestined, wealth and honor are determined by fate! Let's go!"

Immediately, a dozen or so people disappeared into the darkness, climbed over the wall at a weak point in its defenses, and headed into the mountains and forests.

The leader of the bandit gang was stunned. What were they trying to do?

Watching the dozen or so people disappear outside the village walls, the village leader was stunned for a moment before retracing his steps.

That night, the leader of the mountain stronghold did not sleep well.

The next morning, he heard news that the leaders of more than a dozen mountain strongholds in Laogua Ridge and Heifeng Mountain had fled the previous night.

For Dingli County, these dozen or so mountain strongholds only had a couple hundred bandits under their command; they were small strongholds and negligible.

However, this minor incident still caused a stir in Dingli County.

General Manager Zhao was somewhat angry. He gathered all the managers and said directly, "I heard that more than a dozen people ran away last night."

They were scared, cowardly, and wanted to surrender to the government troops!

hehe!

Don't assume that just because they surrendered to the government army, they would actually be able to survive.

Are government troops really that easy to talk to?

"Watch out, they might chop your heads off!"

After making those threats, General Manager Zhao calmly turned his head and continued, "Do any of you want to follow their example?"

rest assured!

I am still merciful. If you want to leave, I will not stop you. You can leave whenever you want, so why hide?

"Anyone who wants to leave can say so now, and I'll open the gate for you."

After hearing what General Manager Zhao said, everyone looked at each other but remained silent.

With no one taking the lead, no one moved.

After waiting for a long time and seeing that these people were unmoved, General Zhao continued, "Since none of you are leaving, then let's defend the city properly!"

Anyone who tries to escape again will be dealt with harshly once I catch them!

He made those harsh remarks.

However, it had no effect on these bandit leaders who lived on the edge of death.

That same night, more than a dozen bandit leaders fled from several different locations.

Some bandits even secretly slipped out of the city and joined the royal guards outside the city.

The leaders of the mountain strongholds who had left the city also surrendered to the royal guards, along with their respective strongholds.

In just a few days, thirty-four mountain strongholds, large and small, near the Dongning Mountains surrendered to Dongning City.

Li Xin also kept his promise to these people, forgiving their past transgressions and providing them with resettlement.

In addition, Li Xin also instructed these surrendered mountain bandits to continue shouting outside Dingli County.

When these people who escaped from Dingli County appeared outside the city walls, they still caused a stir.

The people on the stockade never expected that these people would actually defect to the government army.

Seeing that they were safe and sound, and seemed to be trusted by the government troops, made them waver.

After the speech, everyone wavered.

After finishing his speech, Mu Yunyan spurred his horse forward and shouted, "His Highness has ordered that we attack the city at noon tomorrow!"

Anyone who wishes to surrender should do so as soon as possible; otherwise, they will not be accepted!

The deadline was like a soul-destroying rune, sending a shiver down everyone's spine.

Originally, they were somewhat relieved that the government troops had not attacked the city during this period, and things seemed to have calmed down a bit.

The sudden order to attack the city really startled them.

Compared to each other, many counterfeit leaders became increasingly skeptical.

But Mr. Zhao's head was not feeling well.

"It's numb! It's numb!"

Inside the room, Mr. Zhao was completely unable to calm down.

Outside the city, the leaders of the mountain strongholds who had surrendered to the government troops were shouting.

Moreover, an order to attack the city was issued.

This undoubtedly tells them that the government troops will not hold those who surrender accountable.

If they don't surrender, then force will have to be used.

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