Li Dahua, a mother who felt emboldened by her husband's death, didn't think there was anything to fear. But when she saw that it was Chu Jinjin, she swallowed her curses and said unwillingly, "It's only natural for a daughter to cry for her father. Even the Emperor himself can't stop her."
She had heard it clearly: this woman disguised as a man, Chu Jinjin, was the imperial envoy.
I dare not curse.
“You’re right, that’s perfectly justified.” Chu Jinjin sneered, “But from the moment you threw Da Hua away, she was already dead, no longer your daughter.”
The debt of giving birth to a child is the greatest debt of gratitude in the world; for example, she was willing to risk everything to rescue her father from Black Eagle Mountain Village.
That's because the father deserves it.
Li Dahua was abandoned in the wilderness. If it weren't for her superhuman strength and the chance encounter with the people from the unregistered mountain village, she would probably have either starved to death or been eaten by a pack of wild animals.
At that moment, Li Dahua died.
Li Dahua nodded, still a little confused: "That's right, I almost starved to death."
Recalling the situation, she complained tearfully, "Husband, Da Hua was terrified. It was so dark, and there were wolves howling."
Chu Jinjin patted her arm to comfort her for a moment, then said calmly, "Take the person back to the mountain stronghold first."
The mother and son were no longer of any use to her, and driving them away would be tantamount to sending them to their deaths. She wasn't that cold-blooded, nor would she stand up for Li Dahua.
The two men had just displayed their might, and the soldiers seemed momentarily intimidated, standing at a distance with no intention of launching an attack.
They're probably thinking of other solutions.
The leader's attitude changed drastically, and he asked respectfully, "Lady Jinjin, what do you think we should do next?"
There was no way to be disrespectful. First, the chieftain treated her like a treasure, listening to no one but her. Second, of course, was the strength Chu Jinjin had demonstrated.
Over a hundred arrows struck, yet he remained unscathed. No one present could have done that. Despite the chieftain's prowess, it was brute force that made him unable to dodge.
Then there were those hidden weapons from before, one after another.
He now truly believed that Chu Jinjin had indeed dared to venture into Black Eagle Mountain Stronghold alone.
Looking at the soldiers covering the mountains and fields, Chu Jinjin sighed, "Try to delay until nightfall."
There's no other way.
She had initially thought the token would at least have some effect, but now it seemed the other party clearly wanted to silence her.
A token is either real or fake; if it's not recognized, then it's fake.
If the distance is nearby, it might be okay to ask Black Hawk Mountain Stronghold for help, but by the time the messenger arrives and you rush over, the body will probably be cold.
The chieftain was now confident: "With you and the chieftain here, it won't be so easy for the government troops to break through. Besides, our Black Household Stronghold isn't to be trifled with either."
Chu Jinjin nodded.
Indeed, the enemy has 30,000 men and our side has 8,000, but with her and Li Dahua added in, the government troops will definitely suffer heavy casualties. It all depends on whether the person behind them is willing to pay that price.
That being said, we should still prepare for both possibilities.
The second-in-command led his men to move the elderly, women, and children into the deep mountains. If the stronghold was truly destroyed, at least their loved ones could survive.
As the earliest leader of the stronghold, the chief was essentially a regent, handling all matters large and small on a daily basis. After accepting the reality that the government troops wanted to silence him, he personally arranged the preparations for the great battle—the stronghold's only advantage: its high ground.
We usually prepare a lot of rolling stones, but the more the better.
After lunch, the officers and soldiers finally launched their first probing attack.
More than a dozen catapults were lined up in a long row.
This was precisely what the bandits feared. Unlike government troops, catapults were heavy weapons. Due to the limited casting technology of the time, there were only a few in the entire county. The fact that they were using them against them showed that they were determined to win.
This was the first time Chu Jinjin had ever seen it.
After taking a closer look, it appears rough and simple.
It simply utilizes the lever principle; it's powerful, but its accuracy is questionable.
Even so, it's still something that counterfeiters can't resist.
The rolling boulders came hurtling towards them, and there was no other way but to dodge. Even Li Dahua, who was born with superhuman strength, couldn't withstand them.
The boulder fell, and the immense inertia caused the earth to tremble slightly.
The catapults that Chu Jinjin looked down upon were powerful weapons of war in this era. They didn't need to be very accurate; when two armies clashed, they could be thrown into a crowd at will, causing countless deaths and injuries.
The bandits didn't have similar weapons and didn't dare to engage in direct combat.
With a series of muffled, loud bangs, the mountain stronghold's gate and watchtower were quickly smashed to pieces.
The leader cursed as he led his men in retreat. This was the face of the stronghold, which he had personally built up bit by bit.
Li Dahua was a good family girl, and she was so angry that she screamed and yelled. If she hadn't been stopped, she would have gone and smashed the catapult.
The catapults thus advanced unimpeded all the way to the foot of the mountain stronghold, where they were forced to stop.
The stronghold was, of course, on the mountaintop. It wasn't high, but it wasn't low either. Catapults couldn't go up there, nor could they launch their projectiles that high.
This is also the last place to defend.
Several teams of soldiers carrying ladders quickly approached, while the giant crossbow carts creaked and groaned as they moved forward.
At the leader's command, large and small stones rolled down from the mountaintop, raising clouds of dust and countless rocks and pieces of wood along the way.
The most impressive one was Li Dahua. She was worth dozens of people. When it came to slightly larger stones, while the others pushed them, she could push them one by one like marbles, and she did it with great joy.
The era of cold weapons was not intense, but it was far more brutal.
For those who haven't experienced it, it doesn't seem that difficult. The rolling stones aren't bullets, and besides, the distance is so far.
The officers and soldiers immediately retreated, but it was too late. Several men carrying ladders were hit in the back and instantly became bloody and mangled, screaming in agony.
The fact that it can be called means it's still alive.
The other person was hit on the head, remained silent, twitched a few times on the ground, and was completely dead.
Chu Jinjin had witnessed far too many life-and-death situations.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, zombies besieged the city, and everywhere you looked there were corpses and flesh.
The officers and soldiers left behind more than ten corpses and fled.
Cheers erupted from the mountaintop; they had won the battle.
Just as expected, they were on the mountaintop, and the catapults were only halfway up the mountain. If they wanted to attack, they would have to find a way to move the catapults up little by little.
It's not something that can be done in a short time.
As for being surrounded, we're not afraid. The mountain stronghold has plenty of food stored up, enough to last a month.
But what happens after that?
Chu Jinjin came up with a feasible plan and discussed it with the leader: "If all these things are gone, can we hold on to them?"
The leader's eyes lit up, and he confidently patted his chest: "No problem."
Black Tiger Mountain Stronghold has grown to a scale sufficient to contend with government troops; if the government were confident, it would have acted long ago.
After saying that, he realized something and asked in shock, "Lord Jinjin, what do you want to do?"
Chu Jinjin's original plan was to sneak into the enemy camp at night, set fire to it, and assassinate them. Ideally, she would find the leader or kill all the managers.
But now it seems that siege engines are more important than killing people.
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