As noon approached, the soldiers, having eaten and drunk their fill, once again lined up outside the city of Kucha.
"Launch the stone!!"
Under Xie Zhiyu's watchful gaze, thirty catapults once again launched a fierce bombardment on the walls of the Kucha capital.
The thunderous sound of stones hitting the city walls constantly shocked the soldiers guarding the city.
All the defending soldiers hid far away, watching the constantly shaking city walls, as if they were experiencing the same thing, their eyes filled with fear and despair.
"boom!!"
After two hours of bombardment, a section of the wall, cracked and about twenty meters long, collapsed with a roar before the eyes of everyone inside and outside the city.
"Roar! Victory is certain!!"
The moment the wall collapsed, the soldiers of the garrison outside the city burst into cheers.
Conversely, the faces of the defending soldiers inside the city were also filled with utter despair.
The bombardment continued, and the remaining walls began to collapse one after another.
With the end of the final bombardment, a huge gap about 300 meters wide had appeared in the city wall of Kucha.
Through the dust rising from the gap, the soldiers on both sides could vaguely see each other's figures.
Xie Zhiyu slowly drew his long sword from his waist and pointed it at the defending soldiers inside the city.
"By my order, once the dust has settled, the army shall march directly into the city."
The first to enter the city will be promoted three ranks, rewarded with a thousand gold pieces, and can choose ten beautiful women from within the city!
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The messenger excitedly agreed and was about to ride away when Xie Zhiyu called him back.
"Also, tell the brothers that after entering the city, they are only allowed to kill those who resist with weapons. Those who surrender and the rest of the civilians must not be killed indiscriminately. Anyone who disobeys this order will be punished according to military law!"
When giving the order, Xie Zhiyu's expression was unusually serious.
It wasn't that he suddenly became kind and moral, but rather that he knew he could no longer wantonly burn, kill, and plunder as he had in the past.
If a tribe wants to grow and prosper here, it is certainly not enough to rely on the small number of herders under its command. Therefore, it is necessary to leave these people from the Western Regions behind and let them use their own produce to support their tribe.
"Understood!"
The messenger nodded heavily, then rode away.
Soon, the order was relayed, and upon hearing the promised reward, all the soldiers were overjoyed. They gripped their weapons tightly and stared excitedly at the gap in front of them.
About half an hour later, the dust gradually settled, and through the huge gap, the scene inside the capital of Kucha was fully visible to Xie Zhiyu.
"Kill them!"
"Charge!!"
As the dust settled, without waiting for Xie Zhiyu's order, the soldiers who had been waiting for a long time roared with excitement and rushed towards the huge gap with all their might.
Seeing the surging enemy army, the soldiers defending the city were all terrified.
Just as Xie Zhi had anticipated, with the collapse of the city walls, the psychological defenses of these defending soldiers were completely shattered.
No matter how much the officers urged and cursed them, they refused to take a single step forward to stop the charging enemy.
Soon, a burly man from the subordinate army camp was the first to cross the gap and rush into the city.
Looking at the defending soldiers in the distance, the burly man gripped his weapon and shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed! If you know what's good for you, why don't you throw away your weapons?"
Those who surrender will not be killed!
As the burly man finished speaking, the soldiers following behind him shouted in unison.
Upon hearing the shouts of the soldiers under their command, the garrison soldiers couldn't help but change their expressions.
A Kucha soldier looked hesitantly at his companion beside him.
"What should we do? Should we surrender?"
"Let's surrender. Look at these enemy soldiers, they have the same faces as us, they probably won't slaughter us!"
Seeing the enemy troops charging towards them, the comrade who was asked the question gave an uncertain reply.
"Clang!"
No sooner had the man finished speaking than the sound of a weapon falling to the ground reached his ears.
Turning his head, he saw that the soldier who had asked the question earlier had dropped his weapon and knelt on the ground.
"Depend on……"
Cursing inwardly, the man immediately dropped his weapon.
Seeing that someone was taking the lead, the other soldiers around him followed suit.
When the Xiongnu soldiers rushed up to them, most of the garrison soldiers had already knelt down. The rest either didn't react in time or wanted to wait and see.
The soldiers only glanced at the defenders who had already knelt and surrendered before rushing to kill those who were still holding weapons.
"kill!!"
The burly man who was the first to climb up, holding a Han-style longsword, spotted an officer, roared, and leaped high into the air, swinging his sword fiercely at the officer's neck.
The officer opened his eyes and immediately raised his knife to block.
With a clang, the Kucha officer's scimitar snapped in two, while the burly man's longsword, undiminished in its momentum, struck the officer's neck.
With a "plop," the Kucha officer's head flew high into the air, and blood gushed out.
"Kill them!"
At the same time, the remaining soldiers of the garrison also rushed over, relying on the armor and weapons provided to them by the Han army, and launched a one-sided massacre of the Kucha soldiers who had not yet knelt down.
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and shouts of killing and cries of agony rose and fell.
Those Kucha soldiers who had knelt down first looked at the heads of their comrades rolling down in front of them, and while they were terrified, they couldn't help but feel secretly relieved, and lowered their heads even further.
"I surrender, please don't kill me!!"
Seeing that the soldiers of the subordinate army had indeed let go of their comrades who had knelt down to surrender, the Kucha soldiers who were hiding behind them immediately gave up watching, threw down their weapons, and knelt down as well.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The King of Kucha and his entourage have all escaped!"
As soon as Xie Zhi entered the city, a leader ran over anxiously.
"What?"
Xie Zhiyu was slightly taken aback: "Where did they run from?"
The leader replied, "According to inquiries, this morning, before dawn, a caravan left through the west gate, and the King of Kucha and his entourage should have been mixed in with the caravan."
"Before dawn this morning?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Zhiyu looked up at the sun, which was almost setting below the horizon, and frowned.
In his view, the King of Kucha and his entourage would do everything in their power to escape this place in order to survive.
After a whole day of running, they had covered at least two hundred miles.
It was already nearing dusk, and the cavalry could no longer give chase. By tomorrow, the King of Kucha and his men would probably have vanished without a trace.
Thinking of this, Xie Zhiyu shook his head helplessly: "Never mind them. Immediately send someone to inform Chou Chan that the King of Kucha and his nobles have abandoned the soldiers and civilians of Kucha and fled alone. Tell him to persuade those soldiers to surrender and advance south of Wusun as a deterrent!"
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