Chapter 143 Allegiance
When Shen Yuexi saw the soldiers of the Western Rong Army marching out, he turned around without saying a word.
It's not that she was being pretentious. The scene of such a large group of shirtless men holding knives across from her was too shocking. She had never seen it before and couldn't bear such a huge impact for a while.
Don’t they know that they have crossbows?
He wears no armor and carries no shield. Is this because he looks down on the power of the crossbow, or is it because he has painted a talisman on his body that makes him invulnerable to swords and guns?
She had the craftsmen strengthen the crossbow arrows, and now the crossbow arrows are much more powerful than before.
"You're courting death," Qiu Liming raised his hands high and shouted, "Crossbowmen, prepare."
The wall could hold a thousand soldiers. Five hundred soldiers each carried a repeating crossbow loaded with ten reinforced bolts, and each was protected by a soldier wielding a sword and shield. A single round of firing would unleash five thousand bolts.
The soldiers of the Great Yan army placed their crossbows on the city walls and aimed at the Western Rong army formation that was slowly approaching from a distance.
"With the city walls protecting us, they can't get through," Qiu Liming confidently shouted to the soldiers. "A mere 5,000 enemy soldiers, unarmored and shieldless, will be wiped out with just two volleys of crossbows."
Hearing Qiu Liming's words, Shen Yuexi turned around abruptly.
"General Qiu, how many people did you say were on the other side?"
"Five thousand... five thousand." Qiu Liming repeated the number, as if he remembered something, and looked carefully at the opposite side.
In the biting wind, five thousand Western Rong soldiers lined up in neat lines and approached the city wall, but they looked like they had no intention of fighting. They neither shouted nor waved their swords, and marched silently.
When Qiu Liming saw the face of the general walking in front, Shen Yuexi exclaimed:
"It's Qiang Lin, they are the 5,000 captives from before!"
Behind the 5,000 Western Rong troops, several thousand more were lined up in two long, snake-like columns outside the main camp. All were armed with bows and arrows. The two armies were quite far away, but Shen Yuexi could see their arrows were already on their strings, ready to be fired.
From such a distance, those arrows couldn't even reach us. They were actually aiming their own arrows?
Her mind was racing.
The Xirong soldiers who were about to attack the city had no armor or shields. No one would joke about their own lives. It must be the opposing commander, Xiu Muye, who ordered them to do so.
The enemy clearly knew that there were repeating crossbows here, which was tantamount to asking these 5,000 soldiers to commit suicide.
Qiang Lin, mindful of his debt to them, refused to attack, and this was the only reason. However, he could not disobey military orders and had to lead these 5,000 soldiers into battle.
What should I do now?
Shen Yuexi didn't know what to do for a moment, watching the Xirong soldiers getting closer and closer.
These were the people she had tried so hard to save, and now they stood before her again. Killing them was easy; a single round of crossbow bolts would kill at least half of these defenseless soldiers.
If she didn't attack them, what would she do if they rushed over to attack the city? Behind her was Xiaogang Village, and the people there were also the people she had to protect.
"General, they are about to enter the crossbow range!" a sergeant in charge of lookout shouted loudly.
"Very good," Qiu Liming glanced at Shen Yuexi, who lowered her head, "Follow my orders."
"slow!"
Shen Yuexi raised her head and shouted.
The soldiers on the city wall turned to look at her.
Everyone admired this mistress immensely. The powerful crossbows they held in their hands were designed by Shen Yuexi. Even though she wasn't a general, the soldiers still valued her words.
"Don't shoot," Shen Yuexi said to Qiu Liming, "They don't want to fight us, they are forced to do so."
Qiu Liming did not respond.
As a veteran of many battles, he had already seen that the 5,000 Western Rong soldiers across from him had no murderous intent at all. Their steps were heavy, and their expressions were struggling.
It was Shen Yuexi who stopped Xiao Zhuo when these men were about to be killed. When they were about to starve to death, it was Shen Yuexi who brought food and fodder from the border to save them. Their lives were saved by Shen Yuexi, and they had no desire to turn their swords against their savior. But in the army, orders were as strong as a mountain, and the opposing commander must have ordered an attack. If Qiang Lin disobeyed orders, he would also die.
Are they really not going to attack?
"General," the sergeant in charge of the lookout shouted, "They are already within range. Give the order quickly."
"Don't shoot!" Shen Yuexi shook her head repeatedly.
As if hearing Shen Yuexi's voice, Qiang Lin, who was walking in front, raised his head and looked at Shen Yuexi.
The struggle in his eyes disappeared, replaced by determination.
Qiang Lin raised his sword high, pointed it downward, and plunged it into the ground. He knelt on one knee, raising his hands in the air.
"Princess, Qiang Lin will never attack his savior."
Behind him, the Western Rong soldiers followed Qiang Lin's example, plunged their swords into the ground, and knelt on one knee.
Hundreds of people, then thousands, until finally, five thousand Xirong soldiers were kneeling on the ground.
Shen Yuexi was speechless and raised her hands to cover her mouth.
The Yan soldiers on the city wall were also shocked by the scene before them. They had never seen the enemy refuse to fight in front of the battle line. The same was true for the Xirong army far away.
"I knew they would betray me."
Xiu Muye patted the shoulder of the captain next to him and said, "These people are too weak. You can't be like Qiang Lin. Don't give them the opportunity to pick up the knife."
The captain hesitated: "But they are our people..."
"The moment they lay down their swords, they are no longer our people," Xiu Muye impatiently pushed the captain away and waved to the army, "Shoot!"
The order was given, but there was no response. It was as if all the 7,000 Xirong soldiers had gone deaf.
Xiu Muye was furious and shouted, "Shoot!"
Thousands of feather arrows flew out from the bowstrings with a "whoosh".
"Run!" Shen Yuexi shouted with all her might when she saw the rain of arrows rising into the sky in the distance.
Before the Xirong soldiers kneeling on the ground could stand up, the feather arrows fell with a sharp sound of wind.
Hundreds of people fell in pools of blood.
Shen Yuexi's vision was blurry.
She seemed to be back in that dilapidated temple in the storm. That night, arrows rained down like rain, and the people in the temple had no way to escape. The screams and wails merged into one...
It was like hell on earth below the city wall.
No one would have thought that the people who were going to kill these Western Rong soldiers would actually be their own people.
"General Qiu, save them!" Shen Yuexi tugged at Qiu Liming's sleeve, "They can't die in vain like this."
In her opinion, those who lay down their weapons and refuse to fight are not cowards and should not die on the battlefield.
"Don't worry, mistress," Qiu Liming looked around and shouted to the soldiers, "Put down the ladder and let them climb up."
"General, this isn't a good idea," a sergeant said. "What if they're cheating?"
Qiu Liming shouted, "It doesn't matter. Let them come up. No weapons allowed. Anyone carrying weapons will be killed on the spot."
The soldiers followed orders, pulling ladders up from the inside of the wall and lowering them along the outer edge. A loud-voiced soldier shouted, "Climb up quickly if you want to live. Anyone carrying a weapon will be killed on the spot."
The Western Rong soldiers had no way to escape. When they saw a ladder being lowered in front of them, they immediately ran to the bottom of the city wall.
More than a thousand Xirong soldiers fled over the city wall, leaving behind them dead and wounded soldiers shot by arrows.
Qiang Lin calmly dodged waves of arrows under the city wall. He seemed to be well versed in dodging arrows. He did not climb up the ladder until he was the only one left and the safe Western Rong soldiers called out to him.
A feather arrow pierced his right arm, but he managed to escape with his life.
After reaching the city wall, Qiang Lin, ignoring the arrow in his arm, immediately knelt in front of Shen Yuexi, plucked a lock of hair from his uninjured hand, wrapped it around his finger, and raised it with a look of great piety.
Seeing this, the other Xirong soldiers also knelt down and pulled out their hair like him.
Shen Yuexi was confused and looked at Qiu Liming.
"This is a ritual of the Xirong people," Qiu Liming whispered to her. "The Xirong people believe that body hair is a gift from the gods. Only on the most solemn occasions can they cut their hair to make an oath."
"I've been saved three times. From now on, Qiang Lin will be the Crown Princess's pawn," Qiang Lin lowered his head. "I will allow you to drive me around until I die."
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