Unexpectedly, not long after the deputy general left, the city gate creaked open, and a group of Crimson Soul Army soldiers rushed out. Du Hong recognized the leader as Qi Lei, the guerrilla general who had stood up for the enemy many times.
He had barely come out when he rushed over here: "General, quick, quick, send the army forward! The rebels in the city are putting up fierce resistance, we can't hold them off any longer."
Du Hong squinted at him, his gaze full of scrutiny.
"How many people are on the other side, and who is leading the troops?" Du Hong asked.
Qi Lei didn't hide anything: "There are probably forty or fifty thousand men. It was too dark for me to see very clearly, but there are definitely no fewer than forty thousand. The commander is a man surnamed Xiao, whom I have never met before."
Normally, the Crimson Soul Army wouldn't be afraid of such a small force, but since Yue Zhengfei's defeat, the Crimson Soul Army has suffered heavy losses, with less than 30,000 remaining. Otherwise, the imperial court wouldn't have allowed Liu Wei to bring his main force here.
Du Hong was naturally aware of this: "I didn't expect that Luo Xi, who only controls such a small county, would have so many troops in such a short time."
His eyes kept flashing, as if he was weighing something.
"Lord Du!" Qi Lei cried out anxiously, "What are you still worried about? Our families are in your hands. Do you think we would rebel?"
"If we don't send in a large army soon, all the efforts our soldiers have just made will have been in vain. This is a good opportunity to take Tongning County. We won't have such a good opportunity next time."
Seeing his anxious yet composed expression, Liu Wei was already somewhat convinced: "Lord Du, speed is of the essence in war, we..."
Du Hong stared at Qi Lei for a long while before saying, "You better not be lying to me, or none of your family members will survive."
Qi Lei lowered his eyes: "We just want our family to be well. If we lied to you, how could they possibly survive?"
Du Hong glanced at him, then called over his personal guards to inquire about the hostages' situation before nodding to Liu Wei: "General Liu, you lead the main force forward. I'll leave some men outside the city to provide support, just in case."
"Old fox!" Qi Lei cursed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he had no choice but to follow Liu Wei to the army.
In the main camp, the deputy general had already made all the soldiers ready. Seeing Liu Wei approach, he excitedly asked, "General, shall we set off now?"
Everyone else looked over as well, their eyes filled with a desire for meritorious service.
Seeing his soldiers' enthusiasm, Liu Wei didn't waste any words and raised his sword: "Let's go!"
"yes!"
A single word burst forth from the mouths of the densely packed soldiers, soaring straight into the sky, startling the little birds that were sleeping soundly in the nearby withered yellow woods, which fluttered and flew everywhere.
"General Qi, let's go. Lead the way," Liu Wei said to Qi Lei.
"Your subordinate obeys." Qi Lei cupped his hands in greeting, then was the first to mount his warhorse and gallop towards Tongning County.
The walls of Tongning County were now almost entirely occupied by the soldiers of the Crimson Soul Army, with only a few enemy soldiers still putting up a stubborn resistance.
Inside the city, however, the sounds of battle still shook the heavens; just by listening to the clash of swords, one could tell that a fierce battle was still raging inside.
Liu Wei's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly cracked his whip, speeding up and leading his soldiers through the city gate like lightning.
As soon as he entered, he saw the Crimson Soul Army fighting with the soldiers of Tongning County. The enemy soldiers were fully armed, and their weapons and armor were no less than those of the imperial army. They were also very brave and did not look like bandits at all.
"No wonder you were no match for them," Liu Wei said to Qi Lei, then picked up his weapon and charged toward the enemy general who looked the most valiant.
Seeing this, the other soldiers also roared and searched for their own targets, preparing to unleash a massacre.
But at this moment, the soldiers from both sides who were fighting each other suddenly stopped fighting and retreated. Even the corpses lying on the ground stood up and ran no slower than the others.
Liu Wei: "..."
There was something else he didn't understand: "Qi Lei, you actually betrayed us."
Qi Lei didn't say a word, but instead organized people to retreat at an even faster speed.
Seeing their actions, Liu Wei panicked and said, "Quickly retreat towards the city gate."
However, it was too late. A hail of arrows, carrying a strong smell of burning oil, rained down on them from all sides. If the guards hadn't quickly blocked them with their shields, Liu Wei would probably have been killed on the spot.
On the city wall, Luo Xi, along with Yin Li and Chu Zhe, quietly watched the miserable state of the imperial army, and no one uttered a sound.
A short while later, Qi Lei came up. He immediately went to Luo Xi and apologized: "Boss, I'm sorry, I failed to invite Du Hong in."
"It's alright, I didn't expect to wipe them all out in one go anyway." Rosie didn't care at all.
If Du Hongzhen is really that careless, then she should really be worried.
Not far away, Du Hong also noticed something was wrong and quickly led the soldiers outside the city towards the city gate to prepare to provide support. However, they ran into Xia Zhong, who was preparing to block the rear of the imperial army, and the two sides started fighting.
With no soldiers blocking their retreat, the imperial army trapped in the city quickly fled out of the city.
That won't do.
Loxi quickly ordered the soldiers on the city wall to pour oil, thunderstones, and rolling logs towards the city gate, and immediately, there were more screams and cries of agony.
The battle lasted all night before it ended. By then, there were no more living imperial soldiers in the city. Corpses covered the entire city gate, and the air was filled with a strong stench of blood.
"Reporting, Chief." At this moment, a soldier ran towards Luo Xi: "Enemy generals Liu Wei and Du Hong are leading the remaining troops to flee towards the prefectural city. General Xiao sent me to ask the Chief whether we should pursue them while we are ahead."
Liu Wei was still alive! Without hesitation, Luo Xi shouted, "Chase him!"
After she finished speaking, she asked Chu Zhe and Yin Li to handle the remaining matters in Tongning County, and then she went with Xiao Yi and Xia Zhong to pursue and capture them.
No one knows what these two ate to grow up like that, their escape speed was ridiculously fast, and they only caught up with them when they reached the city gate of Nanyue Prefecture.
Whether they had arrived at their own territory or not, Du Hong and his team stopped.
Although these people managed to escape here, they were in a very sorry state. They were all disarmed, with their hair and clothes in disarray, their faces covered in dust and sweat, and their numbers had dwindled to only about 20,000.
Du Hong staggered out, supported by someone. There was a pool of blood seeping from his clothes around his waist, indicating that he had suffered a serious injury. Liu Wei was nowhere to be seen.
If Luo Xigang wasn't mistaken, the person who was carried inside as soon as the city gates opened should be the commander-in-chief, Liu Wei.
So he was injured and unconscious, how could he still run so fast?
Tsk tsk, it would be better if he just died from the illness.
Du Hongcai stepped out and stared intently at Qi Lei: "What a Crimson Soul Army! I underestimated you."
He clutched the wound on his waist, wishing he could pounce on them and devour all the soldiers of the Crimson Soul Army in one bite.
"However, don't forget that all the families of the Crimson Soul Army are still in my hands. It seems you don't intend to let them live?"
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