Li Ruochen put on the somewhat damaged armor again and stood up. "Fellow soldiers, generals die in a hundred battles, and brave soldiers return after ten years. I don't know how many of you will be able to return alive, but I ask you all to delay for a while longer."
A soldier with half his head covered in gauze shouted, "If the general doesn't retreat, we will fight to the death!"
A younger soldier said, “When I joined the army, I told the general that I missed home. The general gave me ten taels of silver to send home. Otherwise, my family might have starved to death long ago. Today, I am just returning my life to the general.”
"The general is a young lady from a noble family, yet she is willing to fight to the death for the people today. How dare we men retreat even a step?"
More than 600 people had stood up. Each of them had countless wounds on their bodies. Only the strongest willpower was what enabled them to stand up.
Each person was covered in black and red, stained with countless drops of blood. How many armies in the Great Gan Dynasty could rival them?
Li Ruochen felt a pang of heartache. If these people could be allowed to live, they might be able to add another iron army to the Great Gan army.
Now all of that has vanished. In this Northwest region, manpower is already extremely scarce, not to mention that those officials don't even care about this desolate place.
How much wealth can the entire Northwest region create?
Compared to those wealthy places, it's simply not worth mentioning.
Expecting those high and mighty gentlemen to care about this place is nothing short of a fool's dream and a joke.
Li Ruochen bowed to everyone, "Thank you all for being willing to die with me. But before we die, we must let these barbarians know how brave we are."
"War! War! Ten thousand battles!"
The cries from the depths of their souls intertwined, and Li Ruochen struck again.
Meanwhile, the soldier who had been sent back to report the news finally arrived in Qingyuan County. When he reached the city gate, the horse he was riding was already foaming at the mouth and convulsing on the ground, clearly beyond saving.
Upon seeing the border troops covered in blood, the soldiers guarding the city had a bad feeling.
The border soldier kept repeating the story of the breached border and the blood-written letter he was clutching tightly in his hand.
The soldiers guarding the city immediately reported the matter to Lin Changhe and Wang Mingyuan.
As the military commander and head of the civil service in Qingyuan County, Lin Changhe and Wang Mingyuan met immediately in the county government office. Wang Mingyuan was also looking at the blood-written letter.
After Wang Mingyuan finished reading, his expression became very serious. "Changhe, how many people can we mobilize now?"
Lin Changhe frowned. "You know this place well. Even if we empty our pockets, we only have five hundred people."
"Now you immediately send someone to Jiangyang City to inform them of this matter. They must send troops here no matter what."
Lin Changhe immediately summoned one of his personal guards and gave him instructions on the matter. He even specifically instructed him that if the other side did not intend to send troops, he could directly invoke the name of the Wang family.
As one of the eight great families, the Wang family naturally has a certain amount of influence, and no matter what the other party does, they will probably still give them some face.
Wang Mingyuan immediately took out a map, which stretched from the border all the way to Qingyuan County. "Li Ruochen should be stalling the enemy here right now, but she can't stall for long. She has too few people."
After taking a look, Lin Changhe said, "After passing this place, there are more than a hundred villages and four towns, with a total population of 50,000. It is impossible to evacuate them all."
Wang Mingyuan drew a line on the map with his finger, "We have to go even if it's 500 people! Changhe, you take the men now and gather everyone from the surrounding villages to set up a defensive line here."
"If this Karez River is used as a defensive line, it is probably not enough. The barbarian army, numbering in the tens of thousands, cannot hold them off for long."
Wang Mingyuan said earnestly, "I don't ask for much. I'll try to save as many people as I can, and I'll save as many as I can."
Lin Changhe laughed heartily, "You are an anomaly in your Wang family. If those old folks heard you say that, they might wonder where this descendant came from."
"Stop making sarcastic remarks. I can accept sacrifice and bloodshed, but some things are unnecessary."
Lin Changhe clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I can only buy myself three days at most. After three days, I must leave. Is that alright?"
Wang Mingyuan smiled slightly, "Three days is enough. After all, we've already done it, which is better than what others have done."
Lin Changhe immediately led his soldiers and all the county yamen runners to set off.
Along the way, they began recruiting strong laborers directly from various villages and towns. This time, there was no room for negotiation, and they were all forcibly conscripted. After all, the Karst River was less than ten meters wide and at most one meter deep.
To build a defensive line in the shortest possible time, all available people must be conscripted.
Wang Mingyuan also began visiting these families door-to-door in Qingyuan County.
Huang Wancai was the first to be targeted. When Wang Mingyuan came to his door, Huang Wancai was not surprised at all.
After all, the Huang family's spies were spread throughout Qingyuan County, so the news from the military had already been seen by others, and Wang Mingyuan did not intend to cover it up.
Inside the hall, Huang Wancai sat in the main seat. "Lord Wang, you didn't come here just to take advantage of me, did you?"
Wang Mingyuan said calmly, "I know your family is rolling in money, and if you don't offer some help, the others probably won't budge either."
"Since you have come to visit me in person today, I will naturally give you some face. I just don't know what you need from me, and I also want to know if I can help you."
Wang Mingyuan held up one finger. "I won't make things difficult for you. You just need to provide me with ten days' worth of food, and I don't want anything else."
Huang Wancai squinted and said, "According to your meaning, sir, there seems to be no limit to the number of people. Even if I were to supply the entire city, would I have to accept it against my will?"
Wang Mingyuan flicked his sleeve and said, "I don't want to pursue what you did before, but if you don't know what's good for you, I don't mind investigating it carefully."
Huang Wancai suddenly smiled and said, "Whatever Lord Wang says goes. Our Huang family agrees to this."
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