Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3599: Rusty Blade Ant Collapse

The sun of a new day looks down upon the earth.

Luoyang City was like a piece of malt candy that had fallen to the ground, attracting countless humans like ants, running around it.

The sun stared blankly for a while, then felt tired, turned around, found a cloud, and lay down to rest.

A day of work is a day of not working. In this world, live one day at a time.

For humans, the sun is new every day, but conversely, for the sun, what humans do every day is old...

"Retreat to the inner city!"

A look of deep despair appeared on Man Chong's face.

The east gate of Luoyang City was broken!
This was not just a small fight at the South Gate, but real cavalrymen rushed in through the open city gate!
The black armored cavalry was like a torrent of steel, unstoppable and unstoppable.

This was no longer a situation that could be resisted by Man Chong's personal combat power or his elite subordinates. Therefore, seeing that he was powerless to save the situation, Man Chong could only order Xu Xili and other core Cao army soldiers and military academies to retreat to the inner city of the imperial palace.

Although the emperor was in Xu County, the original inner city of the Han Dynasty's capital was still solid and reliable.

The main halls inside the palace were damaged, but the city walls, which had been built for nearly two hundred years, could not be burned down by one or two fires.

The inner city of Luoyang was originally built with the intention of locking the inner gates to protect the emperor's safety in case of any problems. Therefore, in the layout of Luoyang City, it occupies a high place in the city. Coupled with the city walls that have been continuously repaired for hundreds of years, it has become the last refuge for the remnants of the defeated army such as Man Chong.

The narrow streets in the inner city and the wreckage of houses that Man Chong had deliberately arranged to be demolished made it difficult for Zhang Liao's soldiers to maneuver.

Zhang Liao's soldiers could chase those Cao army soldiers who had no idea what was happening along the streets like chasing rabbits, but they had no good way to deal with the scattered Cao army soldiers who retreated into the alleys or hid in the houses.

After all, Luoyang City was the original capital of the Han Dynasty. Although the emperor is now in Xu County, the inner city palace still has a certain symbolic significance. If it is forcibly attacked and destroyed, there may be some trouble.

This put some restrictions on Zhang Liao's attack and also allowed Man Chong to gain some time, which was rare.

However, there is only this little time left...

"Go up to the palace wall!"

"Hold that turret!"

"Lookout! Lookout!"

"The crossbow is loaded!"

"Get some stone to block the door!"

"Quick! Quick! Quick!"

Chaotic and fragmented orders were issued.

Man Chong barely maintained the last bit of order.

Man Chong's palms tightly grasped the arrowhead of the Vermillion Bird Gate. The moss in the cracks of the blue bricks was oozing juice between his fingers, mixed with blood, as if foreshadowing something...

Perhaps it was just like his final fate in Luoyang City?

The harder you try to hold it tighter, the more it will slip through your fingers?
He didn't know.

Man Chong listened and watched the chaos inside and outside Luoyang City, which was like the deepest nightmare.

why?
He looked at the smoke rising one after another in the outer city, and suddenly found that his armor was shaking slightly, perhaps because of the trembling of fear, or perhaps the palace wall under his feet seemed to be resonating with the war drums outside the city.

"Where is Xu Xianli?!"

After leaving the East Gate, Man Chong asked Xu Xili to handle the subsequent matters of the East Gate, but why was the East Gate breached by Zhang Liao?

Xu Xianli is really here.

Good people don't live long, but evil people live for thousands of years.

Flies, cockroaches and rats are always the first adapters to the environment, and even nuclear radiation cannot stop them from adapting to the new world.

Xu Xinli, with a face full of dirt and blood all over his body, knelt down in front of Man Chong and said, "My Lord! I... I almost didn't get to see you..."

"Tell me! What happened at the East Gate?!" Man Chong's voice was filled with anger.

Man Chong slammed the battlements of the palace wall, and a copper nail on his wrist armor suddenly broke off and rolled into the gap between the bricks of the palace wall.

Man Chong didn't care. Perhaps even if he saw it, he wouldn't have any good solution.

It’s just like when Man Chong faced people like Xu Xili.

Man Chong was a child of a poor family, so unlike other aristocratic families, he did not have numerous family members, relatives and friends to use. Therefore, he could only use people like Xu Lili as an extension of Man Chong's own power to control the troops.

But for officials like Xu Lili, the so-called laws and military orders are just tools for them to make things difficult for ordinary people and soldiers, gain their own benefits, and bully others by taking advantage of their power.

So Man Chong doesn’t know?

It's like he didn't notice that the copper nail on the wristband had fallen off?

No, Man Chong knew all this before...

However, Man Chong felt that as long as Xu Xinli was loyal to him, it didn't matter if he made minor mistakes occasionally.

After all, having subordinates without any leverage is a scary thing.

He also recorded the crimes of Xu Xili and others, such as corruption and bribery. He felt that if the army was in turmoil and the soldiers mutinied, these charges could be thrown out at any time, and Xu Xili's head could be used as a bargaining chip to appease the situation.

Is there anything wrong with this method?
But Man Chong never expected that the situation got out of control before he could use these prepared measures.

Xu Xianli kowtowed repeatedly.

The carefully maintained Xiezhi crown on Xu Xinli's head was askew, as if it were a broken horn.

After wearing long robes and crowns, Xu Xili and others did not become upper-class people with high-class Han aristocratic temperament as they had expected after entering the city and eating cabbages. On the contrary, because they spent all their time thinking about how to please their superiors and how to suppress their subordinates, Xu Xili and others spent almost all their energy on these aspects. As for any improvement in academics or laws...

"The East Gate is all Cao Junhou's fault!" Xu Xianli came up and passed the buck, "According to what I learned later... he and the traitor Wang Yun openly discussed at the city gate..."

"Where were you when the city was captured?" Man Chong asked.

Xu Xianli kowtowed, "I am putting out the fire in the city... I am really doing my best and being loyal to you..."

As Xu Xili kowtowed, the crooked Xiezhi crown on his head also trembled. After all, just like its owner, he could not support the graceful bearing of a son of a noble family.

Man Chong stared at the Xiezhi crown on Xu Tingli's head, and suddenly remembered that when he was recommended by the county as a filial and honest official, he was soaked by a sudden heavy rain on the first day of his appointment, and his robe was tilted, and his crown was also collapsed. The soaked hem of the hemp cloth was tightly attached to his spine, just like Xu Tingli now. At that time, the nobles and big families in the hall sat high in the hall, wearing brocade silk robes, and elegantly used the golden knife to pick up the case files he presented.

"Man Xiaolian, do you know what "law" means?" The voice of the son of the noble family was like cold rain, penetrating from Man Chong's back to his bones. "Law... in our hands, it is nothing but jerky to train dogs..."

Man Chong hated this statement very much at that time, because the young man from the noble family meant that Man Chong should be his dog without any worries.

And now, Man Chong lowered his head and looked at Xu Xili, and suddenly felt that time and space had changed. He became the son of the aristocratic family he hated, and a new dog was lying on the ground.

"Envoy! Envoy! The Hussars have appeared at the West Gate..."

The sudden shout disrupted Man Chong's thoughts.

The whistling sound of arrows also made Man Chong realize that now was not the time to argue with Xu Xili.

"Get up!" Man Chong ordered, "Let's not talk about the past for now! If we can't defend the inner city now, you and I will be crushed to pieces!"

"Yes, yes, little one..."

Before Xu Xili could finish, Man Chong ordered, "Tear down all the horse-mounting stones in the inner city and block the gate!" Xu Xili agreed.

"Go!"

Man Chong glanced at Xu Tingli and turned to head towards the Xique Gate.

"Yes, yes!"

Xu Xinli raised his head slightly and saw that Man Chong's battle robe swept across the parapet, bringing up some dark debris, perhaps broken dust, or perhaps solidified blood scabs, as if there was a pen in the dark, leaving a footnote.

……

……

The sun hung in the middle of the sky, emitting heat freely, as if it was applauding the battle in the imperial city of Luoyang City on the ground.

But Xu Xili didn't think it was a good thing at all.

From midnight yesterday until now, he has not slept a wink. Fear and panic can temporarily exempt him from the invasion of sleep, but it cannot reduce the accumulation of fatigue.

It was not until Xu Xinli stabbed the corpse with the ring-handled knife in his hand for the third time that he finally realized that he was a waste on the battlefield.

Because he didn't dare to stab a living person, he even chose the bodies of his fellow Cao soldiers as practice targets.

This cruel official, who used to be able to use torture instruments in various ways, now had his wrist spasming uncontrollably while holding the knife. The cold sweat secreted from his palm made the handle of the knife slippery, and it seemed difficult for him to even hold it tightly.

"You brat! Get out of the way! Don't block the way! !"

The saliva of the elite old soldiers of Cao's army guarding the city wall sprayed on Xu Xinli's face and also on his Xiezhi crown.

Xu Xinli hurriedly moved to the side, but his ankle was sprained by a crack in the bricks of the palace wall, causing him to fall to the ground with a grunt.

If it was before, he would definitely let the old soldier know the dignity of a law enforcement officer, but now...

He didn't know why he had become so clumsy. He could obviously use the red-hot iron to burn the deserter's back, and he could even elegantly avoid the flying sparks and broken skin while hearing the sizzling sound of the iron touching the flesh.

But now he felt that the sword in his hand was extremely stiff and was hindering him all the time.

Xu Xinli huddled against the parapet and was about to get up when suddenly a stray arrow flew past his ear and lodged itself in the parapet beside him.

He turned his head and stared at the arrow for a moment, and suddenly let out a sharp howl like a pig about to be castrated.

He was very familiar with this voice, he had heard it before.
But at that time, it was someone else who was screaming, and he liked to hear it, thinking that this kind of scream made him happy. There was a stubborn soldier who was caught by him, hung up and whipped until his spine was exposed, and then he screamed similarly...

He trembled and reached for his earlobe, but his hands were covered in blood. It turned out that the stray arrow had shattered the agate earring on his ear.

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, applying makeup was not only for women, but even male nobles wore thicker makeup on their faces than women. Whiter, more delicate and more feminine was the new fashion in the late Han Dynasty. Earrings, an ornament originally worn by women, naturally appeared on the ears of male nobles.

Just like there must be some abnormal behaviors of wild animals, birds and insects before an earthquake, strange creatures like sissy will definitely appear at the end of the feudal dynasty. In history, the four words "hens crowing at dawn" may only be said by fools, or people who want to make others fools, that it refers to chickens.

"Xu Xianli! Take the shield!"

The Cao army soldiers on the side kindly threw a shield to Xu Xinli.

Xu Xinli quickly reached out to catch it, but failed to catch it. The shield fell and hit his leg.

Fortunately, it was just an ordinary leather round shield, otherwise his leg would have been broken on the spot...

Xu Xili endured the pain and grabbed the shield.

but……

How do you use this thing?
Xu Xianli subconsciously assumed the interrogation posture he used in the past, with his left hand clenched as if holding a torture stick, and his right hand holding a knife with his fingers slanted as if holding a tattoo iron. This gesture, which could make the iron ruler spin like a flower in the torture chamber, caused his left and right hands to affect each other, and also made the shield unable to bear the force, and it fell out of his hand, rolling to the side and hitting the parapet, affecting the elite veterans of the Cao army who were shooting outwards from the parapet, and they immediately missed their shots, and the arrows shot somewhere unknown...

"You're a piece of trash! Get away from me!"

The elite veteran soldier of Cao's army yelled at Xu Xili in annoyance.

If it was yesterday, these Cao army veterans would have given Xu Xili some face, but now...

Xu Xinli's eyes widened, feeling that he had suffered a great insult!

How dare he call himself a waste?

Does this old soldier understand the Twelve Chapters of the Han Dynasty Law? Does he know the local laws of Yingchuan? Does he understand the interim regulations of Luoyang City? How dare he yell at me? Is there still the law of the king, the majesty of the emperor, the prestige of the prime minister, the dignity of the envoy, and his own prestige?
He didn't know that the ordinary people and soldiers "respected" him not because of his great ability or reputation, but because the ordinary people and soldiers still hoped to have a little order to ensure their stable lives.

In a place like this where one could die at any time, who would care about the "law"?
Life and death are the greatest "laws" in the world!
Xu Xianli felt insulted and was about to argue with the elite old soldier of Cao's army, but he heard the same shout in his ears, "You useless person! Get out of here!"

Xu Xianli turned around to look and saw Man Chong striding towards him.

"Ah, ah, nice to meet you, sir..."

Xu Xinli instinctively bent over and stuck out his buttocks, but was pushed away by Man Chong who came over. Then he saw hussars suddenly rushing up from the palace wall, with scarlet arcs flashing from the ring-handled swords in their hands.

Xu Xinli subconsciously wanted to touch the iron ruler at his waist, but found nothing. There was only some gold and silver hidden in his belt, which was hurting his ribs.

"Stop! Stop that Hussar!"

Xu Xianli's official tone broke, and he completely forgot that the person he was commanding was actually Man Chong. He smelled the familiar smell of urine, but this time it was coming from his crotch...

"Xu Xianli! Your knife!"

A short-sighted Cao army soldier actually took the ring-handled sword that Xu Tingli had dropped earlier and put it into Xu Tingli's hand.

Xu Xili was shaking all over as if he had grabbed a piece of red-hot iron. The Xiezhi crown on his head broke in half, and the jade halberd that originally hung on his waist was also broken into pieces, just like his courage at the moment...

After a moment, Xu Xili finally found his best skill and obeyed Man Chong's command, rolling and crawling to the side, oh, rolling to the side.

Man Chong, who was running around with elite Cao army soldiers to put out fires, didn't have much time to care about Xu Xianli. In fact, Man Chong had set up many traps and fortifications in the city. He even studied how to conduct street fighting if the city gates were breached, how to resist step by step in an orderly manner, and how to retreat to the inner city of the imperial city.

Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with the plan formulated by Man Chong, but Man Chong forgot one thing: whether it was a trap or fortifications, people were needed to play their role.

Wang Yun's surrender was a huge psychological blow to the ordinary Cao army soldiers in the city. After all, many of these ordinary Cao army soldiers in the city were like Wang Yun. They had gradually lost confidence in the war and the rule of the Cao family, felt disappointed, and had many complaints...

But what did Man Chong do?
He sent out police officers to control speech everywhere, strictly prohibit gatherings, and immediately punish anyone caught doing so.

Don't solve the problem, just solve the person who raised the problem.

Obviously, this approach did have a certain effect in a short period of time.

Being blocked, deleted, or modified does not mean that it no longer exists.

This was the fundamental reason why the situation in Luoyang City suddenly took a turn for the worse and the defense failed due to Man Chong's actions.

As for Man Chong, although he understood this, he was unwilling to believe it or face this problem.

Everything he had came from Cao's gift, just like everything Xu Xianli had came from Man Chong's gift. He was selectively deaf and blind. He understood the corruption, stench, and absurdity of the Shandong officialdom, and he hated the fact that the sons of the aristocracy did not treat ordinary people as human beings. But when it was Man Chong's turn to preside over everything inside and outside Luoyang City, Man Chong did the same thing and did not treat these Cao army soldiers as human beings...

He hated it before, and now he has become what he hates.

When he finally drove back the hussars who had rushed up the palace wall, he passed by a wounded soldier huddled behind the parapet exhausted, and heard the soldier muttering in Yanzhou dialect, "We can't win... It's over, it's over..."

There was a half-broken crossbow arrow stuck in the soldier's leg, and blood was gushing out, causing the soldier to lie down weakly.

Man Chong felt a surge of anger in his heart, and he suddenly swung his sword. When the cold light flashed, the soldier's head rolled down, and the surrounding soldiers looked at each other in shock.

"Anyone who dares to shake the morale of the army will be killed!" Man Chong gritted his teeth, staring at everything around him with bloodshot eyes, "I have ordered people to light the signal smoke! Look! As long as the signal smoke is lit, reinforcements will arrive soon!"