In the vanguard of the barbarian army, Jamut was listening to his scouts report, "General, our army's provisions should have arrived yesterday evening, but we still haven't seen any sign of them."
Zhamut's face was somewhat grim. After Li Ruochen's repeated sneak attacks, the army had naturally suffered some losses in food and supplies. As it stands, the army can only hold out for another two days at most.
Zhamut took out a map and said, "Quickly mark where you explored on the map."
The scout immediately drew a horizontal line on the map. This place was more than a hundred miles outside the border. Going any further would take even longer to make a round trip.
After taking another look, Liu Bai said, "I told you before that your arrangement of food and supplies would cause a serious shortage, but you didn't listen at all. Now you're in trouble."
Zhamut grabbed a wine glass and threw it at Liu Bai's feet, sending shards flying everywhere. "Shut up! Since you've already chosen to help me, why can't you help a little more? If you could just help me prepare some provisions, you'd be right here in Jiangyang City right now."
Liu Bai narrowed his eyes and said, "Hmph! You want to blame me for your own mistakes? I think your demeanor as a general is just so-so. I want to ask you, why should I help you so much, and what can you give me in return?"
Zhamut ignored Liu Bai and said, "Pass on my order to immediately send a small cavalry squad to see what happened. If they are delayed on the way, have the escorting officer beheaded."
No sooner had this wave subsided than another arose. A soldier rushed into the tent and said, "General, that Li fellow has launched another sneak attack. This time, nearly half of our supplies have been burned."
Zhamut was grinding his teeth to dust. Ever since the border was breached, life had become more and more difficult. How come he had never realized that Li Ruochen would be so troublesome?
"Everyone march at full speed. Ignore any of their sneak attacks. We must reach Qingyuan County as quickly as possible, or we'll be a lone army in the wilderness."
With Zhamut determined to advance, he began to abandon unimportant items, greatly increasing his speed. However, when he reached the Karez River, Zhamut lost a lot of things because a defensive line made of wood had appeared there.
This defensive line was incredibly rudimentary, barely even qualifying as a wooden city wall, yet it managed to hold off Jamut's current army, as this river would pose a significant challenge to them.
In addition, there had been a heavy rain the day before yesterday, and the soil on both sides of the river was still damp, making it impossible to set up a large catapult.
Even in his anger, Zhamut had to analyze the current battle situation. When he saw that only a few people on the city wall were wearing proper military uniforms, he immediately realized that most of them were just farmers who had been gathered there.
What good is it to have a slight advantage in terms of terrain against such a group of guys?
His army was still able to easily crush the enemy, so he immediately ordered one of his generals to lead 5,000 men to launch an attack. The water, which was just waist-deep, greatly hindered their advance.
However, this did not prevent them from forcibly crossing the ravine to the Long River. They couldn't just stand there on the wooden city wall and watch; they immediately ordered their men to start shooting arrows and throwing stones.
A new siege has begun, but no one knows how long it will last. After all, everything is too rudimentary, and if another heavy rain comes, they might not be able to hold on.
The barbarian soldiers were indeed incredibly powerful; even with arrows and stones in their way, a large number of them still managed to reach the edge of the city wall.
Lin Changhe drew his long-handled broadsword. "Everyone, your loved ones are behind you. Every moment you stay here is a chance for them to survive. And you will not be abandoned. Whether you can create a different life for yourselves will be decided here."
These words didn't improve things much. In the end, these people are still honest farmers, and it's too much to ask them to actually pick up a knife and fight on the battlefield.
More than these encouraging words, they were terrified. If they ran away, they might be punished by the soldiers when they returned. After all, deserters knew, even without being told, how terrible their fate would be.
The crude wooden city wall offered almost no assistance, yet the barbarian soldiers had already climbed it up using their hands and teeth, their blades biting into them.
Although the group of farmers, pieced together from scratch, were armed, they were all filled with immense fear as they looked at the enemy about to charge at them.
If this situation is to be changed, the only option is to rely on the five hundred elite troops under Lin Changhe's command. Just like hot oil meeting cold water, the situation is stirred up in a short time.
Having launched so many sneak attacks, these barbarian soldiers were filled with rage. Now that they finally had a chance for a direct confrontation, they were eager to vent their anger.
Lin Changhe and his men were at the forefront, while on the left and right were four thousand farmers who had been gathered. That's right, they were just ordinary farmers. After all, these people had no training whatsoever, and calling them militia was just nonsense.
However, everyone quickly realized that they had already done their best in a life-or-death struggle. Even if they didn't want to kill, what could they do? The excruciating pain of the steel blade piercing their bodies made them clearly understand that they would die even if they didn't resist.
People can only unleash all their power when they are in dire straits. Even the most wretched person will struggle as much as possible to survive.
On the simple city walls, scenes of blood and flesh flying everywhere could be seen. Every now and then, a person could be seen falling into the water and disappearing without a sound. Soon, the water of the entire Karez River was almost dyed red.
The first wave of attacks lasted for more than an hour before Lin Changhe finally drove them back. This was not because Lin Changhe worked hard enough, but because Li Ruochen led his men to the rear of the barbarian tribe after their sneak attack.
Then Li Ruochen went around in circles and secretly slipped back to the other side of the Kaner River. After all, the river wasn't very wide, and if they crossed one by one, they could get across.
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