The city of Wuzhong is vast and expansive, with many parts nearly decayed and dilapidated.
When the previous vassal king took charge of the castle, he only used two parts of the five huge castles, and only the bottom three floors, leaving the rest to be destroyed and collapsed.
Decades have passed since then, and the Dongpan vanguard did not bring many servants with them, so they were naturally unable to take care of the large number of samurai and generals under Kato Hiroaki's command.
Therefore, in addition to looting and plundering, Dongpango's vanguard needs to recruit more people to serve as servants.
As a result, the massacre turned into enslavement, and more and more people were captured and taken into the city of Wuzhong.
It is said that Emperor Dongpango believed that he would win the war and planned to restore the former glory of Mujong Castle, making it his new residence once the war ended.
After training for a period of time, Zhao Zhilan began to be assigned tasks such as delivering messages, fetching water, and getting food. Sometimes she was also asked to serve the soldiers' meals in the barracks hall above the armory.
In addition, she was assigned a lot of cleaning and tidying work.
The ground floor of the building where she lived is now used as a storage room and granary, the two floors above it house some of the East Pango garrison, but the upper floors have been vacant for nearly a century.
Lord Kato ordered that they be made habitable.
This means countless floors need cleaning, countless windows need wiping, and countless broken chairs and beds need repairing.
The basement is inhabited by many rats... and it is said to be haunted, with the ghosts of people who died in Wuzhong City appearing there.
Speaking of rats, Zhao Zhilan felt like a sheep on the way there, but after arriving in Wuzhong City, she felt like she had become a rat.
Not only did she wear tattered, disheveled clothes, looking as gray and disheveled as a rat, but she also constantly sought survival like a rat in the cracks and dark holes of the city, always careful to avoid offending the powerful and influential people.
Sometimes she felt that everyone was like a rat trapped in a thick wall, even the Dongpango warriors and Gao Hui.
Although Gao Hui, who was in charge of translation, was of lowly status and extremely arrogant, he was almost as terrifying as the Dongpan warriors.
The Dongpan warrior kills as casually as swatting flies, but most of the time he doesn't care about flies.
But Gao Hui always knows where you are, what you're doing, and even what you're thinking. If you show even the slightest sign of resistance, he'll make you pay.
She lost track of how many days had passed; time seemed to have lost its meaning for Zhao Zhilan.
One morning, Gao Hui brought news that Lord Kato Hiroaki's main force was coming, and everyone needed to be alert and clean their rooms in advance to welcome His Majesty the Emperor's samurai.
At noon the next day, Kato Hiroaki's main force appeared.
Lord Kato Hiroaki of the East Pango wore a very strange helmet, which was extremely tall and long.
According to Gao Hui, this helmet is called a silver foil black hat.
In East Pango, the higher the crown of a helmet, the higher the social status.
But Zhao Zhilan felt that such a bulky helmet was of no practical value on the battlefield!
Perhaps they would be more easily discovered by the Great Xia soldiers and then beheaded!
The armor they wore was mostly made of hemp, wood, bamboo, and leather.
In addition, some high-ranking warriors wore armor with a large number of metal accessories.
Zhao Zhilan tried to count how many people there were, but she eventually gave up because there were just too many.
According to Gao Hui, the Dongpan Ge central army is said to number 300,000.
Although it's claimed, there are at least 120,000 to 130,000.
Now that we have occupied Wuzhong City, I really don't know how the Great Xia army will be able to conquer it!
That night, Zhao Zhilan was woken up from her sleep.
After all the trainees gathered together, Gao Hui announced, "Everyone, go and collect your weapons and equipment, and prepare for battle!"
This news caused an uproar instantly, considering they had only been training for about ten days!
Gao Hui was clearly not consulting them. "As warriors of the Emperor, our lives belong to the Emperor!" he shouted. "The demon Lin Mo's army is encamped just ten miles away and could launch an attack at any moment."
Everyone must be prepared to shed blood for the Emperor...
"Lin Mo..." Zhao Zhilan's heart trembled when she heard this name.
~~~
Three days later, in Wuzhong City.
Zhao Zhilan was relieved that the warriors of Dongpango lived on the other side of the city, so she didn't have to face them.
They began their evil deeds the very night they arrived.
Many women were sent to their residences, and Zhao Zhilan could hear their cries of agony from several streets away.
It is alleged that two young girls, unable to bear the situation, bit each other's arms in a moment of desperation.
The next morning, the Dongpan warriors hung them at the city gate to intimidate all the Daxia people.
The offending samurai was also punished because a dignified Dongpan warrior couldn't even subdue a woman and was bitten by a weak woman, which was a disgrace to the name of a samurai.
After the hanged man stopped kicking, Gao Hui ordered all the prisoners and new recruits to watch.
Zhao Zhilan then noticed how young the two girls were.
"Lin Mo...why haven't you sent troops to attack this place yet!" Zhao Zhilan thought to herself, "How much more suffering do you want the people of Jidong to endure?"
Her voice was very soft, and she tried her best not to let anyone hear it, but in the end, a prisoner overheard it.
The man stared at her with wide eyes and a smile appeared on his face.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Zhilan's heart trembled.
"Oh no!" she thought.
So she turned and left without looking back.
Zhao Zhilan was in a state of extreme fear all day.
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