Chapter 58 The First Battle
Huangsha City, night.
"I'm going to kill you!"
A hoarse roar split the sky.
This sound was like a signal, and torches lit up one after another, with flames shooting up into the sky and thick smoke billowing.
They left one dark shadow after another behind them, and the whistling wind made the scene a bit desolate.
Some people were trembling with fear at this scene.
"It's done!" The person who spoke had a happy look on his face.
“It’s done, we did it!!”
Layer upon layer of soldiers holding torches surrounded a man.
The man's hands were tied and he was pressed to the ground. His body was tightly wrapped with hemp ropes. His wrist bones were bleeding and he rolled on the ground covered in mud.
Nie Baocheng's eyes were red. He never expected that these soldiers under his command would rebel against him one day!
They actually captured his personal guards while he was in the tent and tied him up!
"Rebellion! Who ordered you to do this?!" Nie Baocheng roared.
Nie Baocheng's personal soldiers Hu Kangan and others were also tied up. As the saying goes, "A swarm of ants can kill an elephant." These soldiers, whom they usually looked down upon, beat them so hard that they had no power to fight back. They lay on the ground like dead fish.
"Untie the rope now. General, you can pretend that you don't know what happened today. Otherwise, none of you who were involved will be left alive!" Hu Kangan said with difficulty.
This sentence made the soldiers present have their hearts beating like drums. They didn't know whether they were excited or afraid, but it was more of an unprecedented intense emotion!
...
On the sixth day of April, the soldiers of Huangsha City rebelled. They captured the city commander and his personal guards and locked them up.
On the seventh day of April, soldiers led by Wan Heyu detained all members of Nie Baocheng's group. Nie Baocheng had no choice but to take out his military token.
Then... all the soldiers in the city surrendered to Yuan Kang!
...
"Puff--" Wang Qingyun spat out a mouthful of tea. Yuan Sheng dodged in disgust, put another teacup next to Yuan Kang and walked out.
"The military token of Huangsha City is in your hands?!"
Yuan Kang said "hmm".
Wang Qingyun gulped down his tea and wiped his mouth, his beard trembling. "You did this?"
Yuan Kang remained silent, saying, "If Nie Baocheng's military talisman wasn't in my hands today, the soldiers of the Great Zhou would truly be hopeless."
"Tell me, what's going on?" Wang Qingyun came forward with his hands clasped behind his chest.
When Yuan Kang was in Huangsha City, he ate and lived with the soldiers without any special treatment. There were clear rewards and punishments for the soldiers during training. In his place, as long as they didn't slack off, they could have a full meal every day.
Yuan Kang and his soldiers also planted a large area of elm trees outside the city. However, after Nie Baocheng returned to Huangsha City, he ordered all the trees planted by Yuan Kang to be uprooted. He also flogged several soldiers who had arrived before Yuan Kang on the day of his arrival and took back all the warm clothing Yuan Kang had distributed to the soldiers.
After Yuan Kang left, everything returned to normal. Their rations became brown rice soup as clear as water, and they no longer had any thicker clothes to cover themselves with on cold nights.
Since ancient times, whether they are ordinary people or soldiers, they have all had a great deal of patience and contentment with the status quo and a mentality of accepting what comes their way. Unless they are forced into a desperate situation, they will not think of resisting what is in front of them.
But someone made them experience a brief period of good times. No one died quietly during that period. After the soldiers were beaten back to their original state, they found that everything they used to be accustomed to was so unbearable. This was one of the reasons why the soldiers of Huangsha City decided to rebel against Nie Baocheng.
Nie Baocheng never thought that the soldiers, whom he regarded as animals to be slaughtered at will, would gather together and each of them could bite him to death with one bite.
...
Wang Qingyun remained silent for a long time after listening to this. After a while, he said, "Fortunately, I'm smart and followed you a long time ago."
"Yuan Kang, you are really a weirdo among weirdos." He sighed.
Yuan Kang lowered his eyes as he thought of what the emperor had described in his book. These were what a general should have done, but in the eyes of others, they had become targets of criticism. Was it their fault, or was it...
He didn't think about it anymore.
"Wan Heyu, I want him to be my deputy general," Yuan Kang said. "He's both brave and resourceful. He's a fellow soldier, yet the soldiers of Huangsha City are willing to obey his orders. This man must have something extraordinary about him."
"However, such a talent only appears once in a million people."
Wang Qingyun nodded, but before he could say anything, he saw Yuan Sheng rushing in.
Yuan Sheng panted and said, "General, there seems to be a large group of cavalry attacking near Huangsha City!"
...
The Rongdi people had indeed chosen the most opportune moment to attack. Nie Baocheng had been captured, Huangsha City was now without a commander, and their surrender to Yuan Kang had only happened yesterday! Everything hadn't been arranged yet, yet the Rongdi cavalry, as if they had foreseen something, attacked Huangsha City at this very moment!
"We've already sent people to the border town to look for General Yuan. Now all we have to do is prevent them from entering the city!"
A man with a calm face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing soldier's clothes, stood in front and spoke loudly.
With his comfort, the originally restless team gradually calmed down.
"Those who are smaller and more agile, come here! Go out of the city and set up the tripwires! Be quick!"
"All archers, head to the towers! Push the guard carts to the city gates. Battalion Three will go to the north gate to keep a close watch on the Rongdi invaders. Battalion Four will first get the civilians in the city to safety. The rest of you, follow me..."
Wan Heyu stood on a high place, his mind quickly recalling what he had learned from General Yuan in the past three months, forcing himself to calm down. In order to facilitate management, Yuan Kang divided the soldiers of Huangsha City into several battalions. The soldiers have become accustomed to such management. There are companies under the battalions. After three months of training, they have a full sense of belonging to their respective places.
Since when, the Turks and Rongdi people have become their nightmare. They can attack them on horseback as if they are in an empty land!
"Everyone, don't forget the training General Yuan gave us! General Yuan's men were able to repel them time and time again, so why can't we?"
"If we hold the city, maybe we can join Yuan's army!"
The last sentence made the soldiers excited! Are they afraid? Of course they were afraid! But fear didn't mean they didn't dare to go forward!
Wan Heyu and others went up to the city wall and saw yellow sand flying in the distance. It was obvious that a large number of enemies were coming, and small groups of cavalry also emerged from the places blocked by the earth mounds.
The Rongdi were not like the Turks; they seldom invaded the Central Plains from the grasslands. Wan Heyu had some vague guesses in his mind, but they disappeared too quickly for him to grasp.
Yuan Kang also trained them with bows and arrows. Wan Heyu had never touched a bow and arrow before. In the past, he only had rusted and almost unusable weapons in his hands...
The enemy is getting closer.
Wan Heyu went down one level and came to where the archer was.
Their abilities are not yet sufficient to play any role in long-range attacks. What they need to do is to try not to waste arrows, wait until the enemy comes closer and then shoot arrows when they are sure of their attack, or block the enemy when they are about to attack the city.
Wan Heyu could see the red velvet on the hat of the Rongdi man who was protected by a group of people, which represented his important position in the Rongdi army.
He took a deep breath, and it felt like a fire was burning in his chest. If he could shoot that man with an arrow, even if he couldn't hurt him, just touching him would boost morale and throw the enemy into disarray.
General Yuan once praised him for his talent in archery.
He pulled the bow and arrow. This was the first time he faced an enemy like this. Wan Heyu forced himself to calm down and steady his hands.
"call out--"
An arrow flew out.
...
It's off.
With just one glance, Wan Heyu knew the result with disappointment. With this arrow, the enemy would immediately become alert and provide tighter defense for the generals they were protecting.
No, wait!
Wan Heyu stared at the front closely. When the Rongdi man saw the arrow coming towards him, he seemed to want to dodge, but the direction he dodged hit the direction where the arrow was shot!
The arrow grazed his head lightly, causing no harm, but—
The red color fell to the ground along with the arrow.
He shot the red velvet off the top of the Rongdi general's hat!
This seemed to be a signal, and the originally low morale suddenly rose! His ears were filled with the voices of the soldiers.
At that moment, Wan Heyu was so excited that he wanted to tremble, but he was now facing another difficult choice.
In this situation, should he lead his soldiers out of the city to fight?
All the soldiers who left the city would probably not return alive. And the ones who bore the brunt of the enemy's attack were the ones in the front.
Only he can be the person at the front.
But if they don't leave the city, Wan Heyu doesn't know if they can wait for reinforcements from the border town to arrive.
...
"Is there anyone willing to go out of the city with me to fight?!"
He said so.
He was clearly just one of thousands of soldiers, but at this moment, he was like a real general.
...
"Someone is coming out." Rongdi deputy general Altai said to his companions.
He looked at the descendant of the Rongdi nobles in front of him who was almost shot off his hat by an arrow and was now shouting, and felt extremely contemptuous.
"Wuguha, you must behave like a commander!"
However, he sneered in his heart. No matter how arrogant Wuguha was when he came, he would be taken back as a corpse when he left.
He exchanged glances with Alxi, who was also the deputy general next to him. Taking over Huangsha City was true, and killing Wuguha in the chaos was also true.
They all agreed that the latter was more difficult because the team also included guards and spies sent by Wuguha's father to protect Wuguha.
Killing Wuguha was to force his father to go to war with the Rongdi king. Only then could they take advantage of the chaos to gain some benefits, such as...
"You didn't tell me it was so dangerous here!" Wuguha said angrily.
Arxi laughed and said, "Wuguha, you've probably been sleeping on a woman's belly in the tent for too long and have forgotten that we Rongdi men are all eagles on the grassland."
Wuguha pulled out the whip from his waist and hit him, but Alxi dodged it easily. He pulled the whip away, making Wuguha stagger twice, and Alxi laughed loudly.
"Prepare to attack."
They were already surprised enough that soldiers came out of Huangsha City to fight. According to the envoys from the Turks, in the past, these Central Plains people would flee in panic when they saw them. The only one they should be wary of was a general named Yuan Kang.
Altai drew out his dagger, kicked his horse's belly and rushed forward.
"Wait!" He suddenly realized something was wrong. There seemed to be something hidden under the hay in front of him...
However, a large group of people behind them had already caught up on horseback. Some of them stopped after hearing Altai's words, while the others rushed forward. The next second, the sharp tripwires cut their hooves, causing blood to bleed! The experienced cavalrymen immediately tightened their reins and changed direction to avoid stepping on more traps ahead.
The roars came one after another, and the Rongdi people who rushed to the front suddenly became chaotic!
“Damn it!”
Someone fell off his horse and was stepped on by the hooves of his companion's horse, making a wailing sound.
They completely underestimated the enemy. The Turkic envoy said that among this group of Central Plains people, except Yuan Kang, the rest of them would not be able to resist at all!
But now the cunning people from the Central Plains have set a trap!
...
“They’re really stuck.”
"This thing Xiao Liangzi and the others made is really useful!"
But now it was obvious that no one was happy. The few soldiers guarding on the city wall looked at their companions leaving the city, and their hearts sank again.
Most of the soldiers in Huangsha City have left the city...
The rest of the people... they could only use the time bought by their companions to carry stones and other things needed to defend the city to the city wall again and again. Their hands were already bleeding, but they seemed tireless.
...
They could kill one Rongdi person with two people or four people. As long as they could drag the battle until General Yuan brought his men, they would win.
Familiar faces fell one after another around me. Soldiers were trampled under the hooves of the Rongdi people's horses from time to time. Blood splattered everywhere. The sound of spears and blades cutting into flesh, shouts...
Everything turned red. Wan Heyu seemed numb. He swung the knife in his hand again and again. The armor on his body was given to them by General Yuan at that time. After they rebelled, they took it back from Nie Baocheng and wore it on their bodies - but at this moment, it was stained red with blood.
The two brothers Altai and Alxi, as deputy generals, cursed and killed at the same time, and Rongdi soldiers kept falling off their horses in front of them.
"Crack..." Alxi felt a pain in his waist. He turned around and chopped down with a knife, hitting the opponent's right shoulder hard. Blood splashed on his eyelids. He didn't blink and chopped down again with force. The man twitched in pain, the strength in his hand loosened, and the knife fell to the ground.
Arxi smiled, but before he could even smile, the other man grabbed him tightly with his other intact arm, so strong that Arxi couldn't break free for a moment! The two men fought, and in the end, the other man was at a disadvantage.
But a few more people came from nowhere and they held Alxi tightly.
The soldier at the beginning seemed to be staring at him closely before he died...
There is blood of countless people on Alxi's body.
What happened to these Central Plains people? Could it be that the Turks had deceived them and that these were the subordinates of General Yuan Kang?
This was his last thought.
...
Wuguha had just been hacked off his horse, but Altai was still alive. He looked everywhere for his brother and found that he had been dead for a long time.
Altai roared and led the remaining Rongdi soldiers to kill all the Central Plains soldiers outside the city.
Hearing the sound of horse hooves behind him, Altai, exhausted, turned around.
Reinforcements from the Great Zhou have arrived.
"Retreat, retreat!" Altai didn't care about his face and shouted, taking the lead and rushing to the side where there were no soldiers from the Great Zhou.
Although there were still many Rongdi people behind him who could fight, he already had a bad feeling.
From then on, the winner was decided.
...
Blood flowed outside Huangsha City.
They could have fled without any weapons or armor, as they had done every time before, leaving themselves to be plundered by the enemy, but they didn't.
This time, the soldiers of Huangsha City didn't even have a commander.
Why is it different this time?
Unfortunately, their bodies were already cold and they could no longer give any answers.
...
The howling wind carried the smell of blood, as if saying—
We are people of the Great Zhou, and we are not cowards.
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