Chapter 174
Qingniu Mountain, Ha Ma Village.
Cheng Da Lei walked through the mountain stronghold, inspecting the defenses and logistics.
The real war is not as imagined, and the first confrontation with the Northern Barbarians has already exposed many problems. The physical strength and combat will of individual soldiers are fundamentally incomparable to those of the Northern Barbarian warriors. After all, Cheng Dalai only controls a group of mountain bandits, and it's not entirely inaccurate to call them a mob.
Give Cheng Da Lei a little more time, and it's not necessarily impossible for him to train them into an elite army that can conquer half the territory. In this era where the quality of soldiers is generally low, even with just two thousand men, they would be enough to sweep across half the land.
Unfortunately, there is no time.
What is called war, how can it possibly wait for you to be fully prepared before starting. If everything was really ready, you would have gone to fight others already.
Cheng Dali wore the official uniform bestowed by the King of Youzhou, with a large axe on his back and a precious sword at his waist. Three seals hung from his waist, clinking loudly.
He walked around in the stronghold dressed like this, always mentioning the Rong tribe's dregs, and saying that they must be exterminated.
The warriors of the mountain stronghold saw Cheng Da Lei in such a state, and although they felt he was somewhat arrogant, they couldn't help but think: perhaps the master really has a surefire way to win.
Everyone has fought against the Rong tribe before, and their fear has slightly decreased. In battle, everyone knows that the Rong tribe is not invincible, they are also flesh and blood, and a single crossbow arrow can knock them down.
Morale is accumulated in such a state.
As for whether he could defeat the Northern Barbarian tribe, Cheng Da Lei's heart was also racing with anxiety. He worked day and night, either discussing the next battle with Xu Shen Ji, Liu Bei, and Huang San Yuan, or inspecting the city defenses, all for the sake of winning.
Knock knock knock
The urgent war drum sounded, coming from the direction of the city gate, and instantly echoed throughout the valley.
"The Grand Master, the Rong tribe is attacking the city again."
"Here we go again!" Cheng Dairen was also speechless. It hadn't even been two days since their last confrontation, and now they were coming again. Did the Rong tribe have to be so diligent?
"Up on the city wall, up on the city wall." Cheng Da Lei shouted loudly, there was no other way, it was just a matter of resisting the enemy with force and covering up with earth when in trouble.
Moreover, Cheng Da Lei knew that the last time the Northern Barbarian Department didn't gain an advantage, and now they're rushing over again in such a hurry, they must have already gained a surefire way to win, or else, they think they can take down the Frog Mountain Stronghold.
The warriors of Hama Village climbed onto the city wall and saw a group of people rushing over from the direction of the Northern Barbarian Army's camp.
"Big boss, look quickly!"
Xu Shen's machine hand pointed remotely at the distance.
Cheng Dàléi had already seen that at the very front of the troops, it was not a Róng warrior, but... a civilian.
They were ordinary people of the empire, with old and young, male and female. Cheng Dalai saw the withered elderly as well as seven or eight year-old children.
They were tied together with hemp ropes, roughly numbering in the thousands. The Rong cavalrymen followed behind them, whipping them forward with their whips; anyone who dared to look back would be shot through the heart with an arrow.
Those who suffer, those who plead, and those who kneel down but cannot get up, all cannot escape the fate of being expelled.
They naturally know what the Rong people want them to do, but they also understand that their fate today is no different from that of pigs and dogs.
The curved knives of the Rong tribe behind them would not grant them pardon, so they could only move forward, hoping that the subjects of the empire ahead would bestow mercy upon them.
"Save us, save us."
"Let's go in, please."
All kinds of sounds intertwined together, echoing into a piece under the city wall.
"These beasts actually used refugees to storm the city!"
"What's going on, master?"
Cheng Dalai's hand pressed down on the hilt of his sword, and the veins at the corners of his eyes bulged out.
In fact, Cheng Dairen had three axes to grind, and the Rong tribe also had three axes to grind in battle. The first axe was to slaughter cities: surrender quickly, or we will slaughter your city, and many cities were breached by them in this way. The problem is that even if they really surrendered, they would still be slaughtered.
The second board axe is to use refugees to rush the city, using the flesh and blood of refugees to block the empire's strong bows and crossbows, causing the defending army to panic and taking advantage of the situation to break into the city.
The third board axe is a strong attack, relying on the soldiers' fearlessness of death, and few cities can withstand their strong attack.
These things, Cheng Dairen had already inquired about beforehand and wasn't unaware. But knowing is one thing, truly facing it is another matter altogether.
At this moment, thousands of refugees rushed over, already close to the killing range of the city's crossbow arrows, and Cheng Dalai could clearly see their faces.
Looking at their faces, looking into their eyes, do you have enough courage to kill them? Kill the same life as yours?
Cheng Darui didn't have the courage.
But some things aren't about having the courage to do them.
"Release the arrow." Cheng Dairen drew his sword and swung it heavily.
He cocked the crossbow, personally firing the first heavy bolt. He watched as the arrow shot out, watching as it pierced through a body. The terrified expression before death, wide open eyes, and blood gushing from the body.
Cheng Darui needs to see clearly, remember these things, although he doesn't want to remember them.
"Let go!"
"Let go!"
"Let go!"
Crossbow arrows are like rain, 300 steps can penetrate horse, the city head down crowded with people, a crossbow arrow can shoot through several people's body.
Beep, received fear value 999
Beep, received fear value 999
Beep, received fear value 999
……
Cheng Da Lei's fear value soared, the crossbow arrows shot from the city wall destroyed the last hope of the refugees, it was a desperate fear, some were so scared that they didn't dare to speak, while others shouted loudly, some held up their babies and cried out: Save the children, save my child!
Fear and hatred accumulated in Cheng Dairen, he did not say a word, gritted his teeth, and commanded the release of arrows.
The northern barbarians launched a charge.
This time is a strong attack. The northern barbarians thought they could take down the Hama Castle, so the momentum of the attack far exceeded last time.
The city head was breached several times, the city wall was smashed out of gaps by catapults, and the Frog Village was like a fishing village in a storm, in danger every day.
But perhaps it was because of the killing of refugees that the bandit village erupted with an unprecedented fighting spirit. The Rong tribe, who climbed up to the city gate using cloud ladders, were knocked down, and Xu Shenji led his men in repairing the city walls. A group of Rong tribesmen rushed to the city gate, just as they were about to break through the gate with heavy wooden beams, they were met with rolling logs and hot oil pouring down from above.
"Red Eyebrows, we've lost too many men, let's withdraw our troops." said Tu Men.
His eyebrows furrowed, he didn't want to retreat, after all the casualties they had suffered were already too great, but he could also see that the soldiers were crowded under the city wall, and what awaited them was massive death.
"Retreat..." Red Eyebrow's hand weakly fell down.
The second battle did not result in the capture of Hamao Village by the Red Eyebrows.
The city walls, bathed in the blood of war and sacrifice, exuded a murky scent. Under the city gate, a mountain of corpses piled up, with blood pooling into small streams that flowed towards the low-lying areas.
This battle made Cheng Dairen truly feel the cruelty of war, and with this battle, his fear value reached one million.
