Chapter 146: Battle of Anqing 2
Zuo Liangyu organized another 10,000 troops, and Huang Shu and Zhang Yu led the supervision team to drive back the 10,000-man death squad. This time the speed of advancement finally increased, and the top of Anqing City could already be seen.
Zhou Shuai and Wan Shan's traps weren't everywhere, just densely packed, placed along essential routes. But people often let down their guard when victory seemed imminent. Just when these death squads thought they'd escaped, their feet slipped, and they knew something was amiss. Just as they were about to flee, flames erupted and explosions resounded through the air. Limbs and flesh flew everywhere, leaving Huang Shu and Zhang Yu stunned. They hadn't expected this!
At this moment, the 10,000-man death squad immediately went into a frenzy. They all ran back, even if they were shot to death by the supervising team, they would still run back without hesitation, because they believed that instead of not knowing how they would die, it would be better to run towards the arrows and have a chance of survival.
At this time, there were only about 8,000 people left in the death squad. More than 8,000 unarmed soldiers could only be slaughtered in front of the supervision team. When everyone was slaughtered, Zuo Liangyu no longer dared to summon the death squad. Because if he rushed the death squad again, the soldiers in the army would kill him and his son first!
The generals began to think of a solution, and finally Huang Shu came up with an idea: "General! In the Song Dynasty, there was a system called iron-clad linked horses. We can use this method. Find some donkeys and mules and tie them together with iron rings. We can light firecrackers behind them, and these animals will run forward. Wouldn't that open up a bloody path for us?"
Upon hearing this, Zuo Liangyu and Zuo Menggeng both nodded in agreement, agreeing that this was a very good method. The other generals also nodded in agreement, though with a hint of heartache. In troubled times, human lives were actually less valuable than those of animals.
Zuo Liangyu said, "Okay! Let's do it this way!"
"I'll arrange it right away!" said Huang Shu.
Huang Shu's plan brought misfortune to the people of the surrounding towns and villages. Anyone with livestock was seized by the Left Army soldiers. Those who refused to comply were killed along with their entire families. Some wealthy families not only surrendered their livestock but were also exploited by the Left Army soldiers.
"What are you doing? How can we farm without our cows? They are our lifeblood!" A villager grabbed the hand of a soldier from the Left Army, who was holding his own cow. This was their most precious possession!
The soldier looked at him with cold eyes and said, "Let go! If you don't let me go, I'll make you see the King of Hell!"
The peasant refused to let go and tugged at his hand. The soldier immediately drew his knife and stabbed the peasant in the neck. With a "puff," the knife pierced the peasant's shoulder. Blood splattered everywhere, and the peasant immediately let go and fell to the ground. At this moment, a peasant woman ran out of the house, yelling and throwing herself at the peasant! The soldier handed the cow to another soldier and walked over with a wicked smile. He saw that the peasant woman was quite pretty, and immediately had evil thoughts.
He immediately raised his foot and kicked the woman, kicking her off the man. Then he pounced on the woman like a hungry wolf. How could the village woman resist the brutality of this soldier? Her clothes were torn apart in a few seconds, and the village woman struggled with all her strength, but it was useless.
After the soldier from the left wing had satisfied his lust on the woman, he pulled up his pants and left. The woman immediately went to check on her husband, only to find he was already dead. She slowly walked to the well, straightened her clothes, smoothed her hair, and then jumped in.
This happened to many families. The left wing of the army spent a day gathering 10,000 animals, which they then had chained up. The first few rows were armored horses, followed by armored donkeys, then armored oxen, and then armored mules. It was a complete armored ragtag army!
After the preparations were complete, someone tied firecrackers to the animals' tails and lit them! The animals were frightened by the sound of the firecrackers and began to run towards Anqing City.
You know what? Huang Shu's method really works. These animals don't have that much thought; they just keep running when they're scared. Even if they're injured, they keep running until they can't run anymore, or until their companions are killed and they're the only one left, and they can't pull anymore!
This immediately disrupted the strategy of General Zhou and Wan Shan. Their original plan was to wait for the left wing to suffer heavy losses. They would then seize the opportunity and attack, crushing the left wing in one fell swoop. However, they never expected that the enemy would use such a simple trick to defeat their ruse and then march unimpeded to the gates of Anqing. An army of 700,000 to 800,000 men surrounded Anqing, effectively trapping Zhao Xiaofei's Ke Nan army within the city.
Inside the Anqing government office, Zhao Xiaofei, General Zhou, and Wanshan were discussing their battle plan. Sprinkling sulfuric acid wouldn't be very effective at this point, as there were too many people. They needed to come up with a new plan! How could they suddenly render 700,000 or 800,000 people ineffective?
The answer was simple: poison gas bombs plus a toxic sulfuric acid rain! First, fire a few waves of poison gas bombs, then use drones to spread sulfuric acid rain. Or even use drones to drop napalm bombs and give the left side a good burn. And all this had to happen at night. Even with night vision goggles, it was still quite challenging. Especially Zhao Xiaofei, who would have to spend a lot of time operating the drone. After all, his skills were the best!
So at night, Zhao Xiaofei arranged for drones to take off and begin spraying sulfuric acid rain over the Zuobu military camp. This time, almost all the sulfuric acid originally intended for defending the city was spread out, not a single bucket left.
Then, for unknown reasons, many people on the left side began to cough uncontrollably. Some even started coughing up blood!
At midnight, Zhou Shuai and Wan Shan began throwing homemade poison gas bombs. These bombs were easy to make: a mixture of 84 disinfectant and toilet cleaner was sprayed into the air. Using 84 disinfectant and toilet cleaner together creates a reduction reaction, producing chlorine. Chlorine is a highly toxic gas that, when inhaled, can infect the respiratory tract and lungs, leading to bronchitis and pulmonary edema. Excessive inhalation can cause cardiac arrest.
Then, for unknown reasons, the Zuo army began to suffer casualties again, and many people died without making a sound. At this time, the medical officer came to the marshal's tent and told the Zuo family father and son what he had found.
But they were also confused. What on earth was going on? How could their soldiers suddenly become sick overnight? Someone must be playing tricks! So they immediately sent people to investigate to see if someone had poisoned them. However, after several searches, they still couldn't find the cause.
However, just as they were searching, even the medical officer had died. His death was inexplicable, and Zuo Liangyu suddenly had a foreboding premonition. Zhao Xiaofei might launch a night raid soon! His army was in danger!
So Zuo Liangyu ordered all the soldiers not to sleep and to be ready to wait for the attack of the Kenan Army at any time.
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