The World is Shocked 136. Jiangxia

On the road after the heavy rain, Ye Li rode her horse in front of the army, her eyebrows furrowed and she was silent in thought. Nan Hou and others followed her and asked curiously, "What's wrong with the princess?" Ye Li shook her head and said, "Nothing, I'm a little worried about the situation in Xinyang." Nan Hou raised his eyebrows in confusion. The fall of Xinyang City was a foregone conclusion. What else was there to worry about? Ye Li frowned and looked at the roadside. Because she was not walking on the official road, there were people fleeing from the northwest everywhere along the way. Seeing these people dragging their families and their miserable appearance, Ye Li felt mixed emotions in her heart. In fact, the war is so one-sided now, mostly because of the open and secret struggles in the court. If they had prepared earlier and sent reinforcements in time, it would not have come to this. In any era, the people are always the most hurt in the war. Ye Li vaguely remembered a sentence taught by her teacher in her previous life - when the country prospers, the people suffer. When the country perishes, the people suffer.

"Princess." Zhuo Jing rode up from behind and rode half a horse's length behind Ye Li and whispered.

Ye Li pulled the reins a little and slowed down, looking sideways at Zhuo Jing. Zhuo Jing said in a deep voice: "Just received news that Xinyang was breached."

Ye Li nodded, looking normal. The loss of Xinyang was something everyone expected. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "How is the Yuan army?"

"The Yuan army has already led their men back to Jiangxia. But..." Zhuo Jing hesitated for a moment, "I just received news. The Xiling army... massacred Xinyang City!"

"What?!" Ye Li's face darkened, and her originally gentle eyebrows were instantly covered with a layer of murderous cold frost. The Nanhou who was closest to them also heard Zhuo Jing's words. The reins in his hand shook and quickly stabilized. He just stared at Zhuo Jing without saying anything. Zhuo Jing whispered: "After the Xiling army entered the city, they clashed with the people in the city. Later, the general Zheng Bian who led the attack on the city ordered the massacre of Xinyang."

"What does the King of Xiling Zhennan mean?"

"King Zhennan didn't get to the front line, and by the time he gave the order to stop it, it was too late. In Xinyang... at least two-thirds of the people died..." Zhuo Jing's voice was a little hoarse. This was the first time that a city was massacred since the founding of the Great Chu. This was unacceptable to many soldiers.

Ye Li sneered, pulled up the reins and galloped forward. Nan Hou was stunned for a moment, looking at Zhuo Jing with some confusion. Zhuo Jing hesitated for a moment and followed. Ye Li did not go far, but stopped by the roadside and looked at the fleeing people passing by in silence. Zhuo Jing whispered, "Princess." Ye Li looked back at him, playing with the whip in one hand, and said, "Someone once told me that letting ordinary people experience war in person is a shame for soldiers and the country."

Zhuo Jing advised: "This is not the princess's fault."

Ye Li shook her head and laughed coldly, "Zheng Bian, huh... His head has been fixed to the palace of the Dingguo Prince. I want his head to commemorate the heroic spirits of the people of Xinyang City!"

"I understand. I guarantee that within ten days, the heads of Zheng Bian will be hung on the walls of Xinyang City!"

Seven days later, when the King of Zhennan had already marched to Jiangxia, Lei Tengfeng, who stayed behind in Xinyang, sent someone to deliver a secret letter. Zheng Bian, who also stayed behind in Xinyang, was killed in his room, but his head was hung on the top of the city wall of Xinyang. Next to his head was a Chinese character "Ding" with a flying dragon and a running phoenix. It clearly showed that the murderer was the Dingguo Palace. After receiving Lei Tengfeng's secret letter, the King of Zhennan looked gloomy. After thinking for a moment, he wrote back a letter to Lei Tengfeng and then ordered to speed up the attack on Jiangxia.

Jiangxia is a small city, only about 200 miles away from Xinyang. The city is less than one-third the size of Xinyang, and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. However, Xiling spent as much manpower to conquer this small city as it did to conquer several cities before. The Xiling army, which had been unstoppable and seemed invincible, finally saw the true strength of the Chu army in front of this small city. King Zhennan, who had not been on the battlefield even when conquering a big city like Xinyang, stood behind the army this time, standing on the hill and watching the soldiers of the two armies fighting to the death under the city. Looking at the warriors in black on the city walls, they seemed to be tireless and kept knocking down the enemies who tried to climb up the city walls.

"Your Majesty, I didn't expect that a small city of 50,000 people would be so difficult to deal with. Should we think of a solution?" The general standing behind him asked in a low voice, looking at the black figure on the tower with a look full of frustration and shadow. This is the mark that the Mohist Army has deeply engraved in the hearts of every enemy with countless blood and lives over the past hundred years.

The King of Zhennan sighed and said, "Fortunately, the Emperor of Great Chu does not trust the Prince Dingguo's Palace very much."

None of the generals behind him asked why, because they were also celebrating. If the ruler and his subjects knew each other and trusted each other, why would there be any worries about injustice in the world?

"Keep attacking day and night and intensify the attack. We must capture Jiangxia before the reinforcements from Prince Ding's Mansion arrive!" Prince Zhennan said in a stern voice.

"I obey your orders!"

Far away on the city wall, the gray-haired veteran General Yuan Pei stared at the enemy troops below the city, who seemed to never retreat, with his sword-like brows furrowed. His eyes, which had seen through the world, were full of red bloodshot and fatigue, but his back was straight, and his eyes staring at the city were full of determination to live and die with Jiangxia.

"General Yuan." Leng Qingyu came hurriedly. Less than a month had passed since the expedition, and Leng Qingyu's cold and indifferent young face was already full of sorrow and frustration. Yuan Pei looked at him, shook his head, and sighed softly, "General Leng, is there something wrong?"

Leng Qingyu glanced at the flags fluttering in the distance, frowned and said, "General Yuan, if we stay in the city like this, I'm afraid it will be a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers."

Yuan Pei said: "General Leng, don't worry. The morale of the Mohist army will never be suppressed because of these few days. Everyone knows that our army has no strength to fight against Xiling now. Holding on and waiting for help is the only thing we can do now." Leng Qingyu glanced at the soldiers defending the city, and his eyes darkened. Yuan Pei was right. What was really hit was not the morale of the Mohist army, but the morale of the less than 10,000 soldiers defending the city he brought out from Xinyang City. After this great defeat, these remnants of soldiers had already completely collapsed. The uninterrupted attacks of the Xiling soldiers in the past few days made them like a frightened bird. If this continues, these things will be in chaos before Jiangxia is broken.

"This is a battlefield, and my mission is to protect Jiangxia. General Leng, a momentary dispute of arrogance will not bring any benefits to the current situation. The soldiers of Xiling are not weaklings. Once a few tens of thousands of us enter an army of hundreds of thousands, it will be no different from water entering the sea. We can only be swallowed by them." Yuan Pei said earnestly. Leng Qingyu remained silent. It was not that he did not understand what Yuan Pei said, but that he really could not stand the current predicament. He ended up in such a situation for the first time in his life when he led an army. In fact, the victory or failure of this war has nothing to do with him. It can be predicted that in the near future, even if it is not the emperor's punishment, it must be a lifetime of idleness. He will never have the opportunity to lead troops to war again in this life. Attack the city, defend the city.

The fighters of both sides fought tirelessly day and night, and the corpses piled up like a hill and the blood flowed like a river under the city tower. The corpses of their own people and the corpses of the enemy had long been indistinguishable. Everyone seemed to be fighting only on instinct. Then, Jiangxia had only 50,000 troops, including those who died in the battle to support Xinyang. In fact, the number of people was less than 40,000, and even if the remnants of the defeated soldiers who withdrew from Xinyang were included, there were less than 50,000 people. However, their enemies had more than 200,000 elite soldiers. These soldiers were all trained by the King of Zhennan with countless efforts in the past ten years, and they were also the elite among the elite. The number of soldiers defending Jiangxia City is getting smaller and smaller, and every time it seems that the city gate will be breached in the next moment, but time passes moment by moment, and the flags hanging on the city walls are still those of the Great Chu and Mohist Army.

Behind the Xiling army, King Zhennan stared at the closed city gate in the distance with a solemn expression.

"Your Majesty, they can't hold on any longer."

King Zhennan said nothing, but his eyes were full of respect for the enemy. They had been attacking fiercely for five days and twelve hours. With only tens of thousands of troops, even he himself could not guarantee that he could hold on until now. This was not something that the commander could do with wisdom and ability alone, but also required the unparalleled faith and determination of the entire army. After a while, King Zhennan said in a deep voice: "Continue! Conquer Jiangxia in one hour!"

After more than an hour, the gate of Jiangxia City finally fell down slowly and heavily. On the tower, Yuan Pei, covered in blood, threw away his battle robe, glanced at the warriors on the tower, and shouted: "Kill them!"

All the soldiers were furious. It was a shame for the Mohist army to have their city trampled by the enemy. They must wash away this shame with the blood of the enemy. All the soldiers rushed towards the enemy closest to them regardless of everything. Fighting was everywhere on the city towers, at the city gates, and on the streets.

Leng Qingyu stood at a corner of the street, watching the fighting in front of him with his eyes red as if they were about to bleed. Behind him was a group of defeated soldiers. They had escaped from Xinyang and were no longer able to fight, and no one asked them to pick up their weapons again. Leng Qingyu looked back at them and said in a deep voice: "Did you see? They are soldiers of the Great Chu just like you! The same city was broken, what did they do, and what did we do? It was my incompetence that I failed to defend Xinyang, you guys can take care of yourself!" After that, he drew his sword and rushed out.

The remaining soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. After a long while, one of them grabbed the knife in his hand and rushed out. Then another one, and another one...

A group of soldiers completely different from the black Mohist Army rushed out from the corner of the street and rushed towards the enemy troops pouring in from the city gate. The Xiling soldiers were blocked from entering the city, which further aroused their beastly nature. They howled and rushed towards every soldier of the Great Chu. In an instant, blood flowed onto the street.

“Boom boom—”

The earth-shaking sound came from far away and approached, and everyone could not help but be stunned. The surviving soldiers of the Mohist Army showed ecstasy and anger on their faces, "Black Cloud Cavalry! Black Cloud Cavalry is coming! Reinforcements are coming!"

On the wide street, a crowd of people rushed over with great momentum and fierce murderous aura. A man in red, who was leading the crowd, rode his horse and galloped over. His clear voice was full of murderous intent, "Block the city gates, and don't let any of the bandits who entered the city out. Left and right wings, go up to the city wall!"

"yes!"