weaving

Chapter 1387 Yan Xiaoliu, Eleven

The midday sun was particularly glaring.

Yan Xiaoliu had to squint his eyes. He looked at the starving people coming up in a line in the distance, but felt an unwavering determination in his heart.

After half a morning of fierce fighting, he had completely overcome his initial nervousness, and his original fear of the rebel army had long since vanished. He kept silently repeating the three words "eleven" in his mind—this was the number of starving civilians he had killed who charged into the fray.

The only thing that made him sad was his underwear, which was already soaked through!

Under the scorching sun, he was already covered in sweat despite wearing armor. The excessive exertion from repelling the starving civilians had left him feeling as if he were soaking in mud and sweat, a feeling that was incredibly uncomfortable.

"Sixth Brother, when I think of my father, I just can't bring myself to do it."

Yan Xiaoliu glared at the skinny man beside him and cursed, "You bastard, are you going to wait for him to come closer and kill you instead of killing him?"

"You little brat, who doesn't want to live anymore? What are you muttering about over there?"

The officer's angry shouts and curses carried from afar, startling Yan Xiaoliu and the skinny man so much that they trembled and broke out in a cold sweat. They both felt a wave of comfort, but dared not make a sound.

Just then, the voice of the officer who had been cursing earlier came again: "Everyone, get your act together! Don't underestimate that little thief over there. If you don't kill him, see if he'll kill you when he gets close."

"Stop your damn nonsense! This is a battlefield. If you don't kill the enemy, the enemy will kill you. Don't try to act like a saint here. Anyone who doesn't fight bravely against the enemy... I'll be the first to kill him!"

You know what? After his speech, the soldiers in the team were even more spirited than before.

"Yan Xiaoliu, second class, step forward."

Yan Xiaoliu was taken aback when he heard the voice, but it did not affect his reaction speed. He stepped out of the line with high spirits and stood at the front of the line.

"You bunch of bastards, take a good look at this! This is the guy who killed the most thieves in our team today!"

The squad leader looked at Yan Xiaoliu and asked him loudly, "Yan Xiaoliu, how many thieves did you kill?"

"Eleven!"

"Okay, okay, very good."

The squad leader said "good" three times in a row, then looked at the soldiers in the squad and shouted: "Yan Xiaoliu is holding a knife to kill thieves, and you are holding fire pokers?"

He turned sideways and pointed to the starving people in the distance, loudly encouraging them: "The bandits are coming again! Don't be fooled by the old and weak in front. If you don't drive them back, what will you do when the old bandits take the opportunity to rush up from behind and fight them to the death?"

"Listen up, all of you! When I give the order, kill the traitors!"

“Your guy killed more thieves than Yan Xiaoliu. Let’s go to the captain ourselves and ask for credit for him. I’ll treat him to drinks and meat later!”

The squad leader's words were meant to inspire the soldiers to fight bravely against the bandits, but Yan Xiaoliu felt uneasy hearing them. He secretly resolved, "No matter what, I must protect the squad's reputation for being number one in killing bandits!"

"Tom!"

A blast of the signal cannon startled everyone.

The team leader immediately shouted, "Yan Xiaoliu, return to the team!"

"All personnel, listen up! Organize your weapons and prepare for battle... Pay attention to commands..."

The squad leader shouted orders while keeping a close eye on the changes in the flags and signals from the battalion commander's side, afraid that he might miss a crucial opportunity.

The soldiers raised their weapons, both long and short, but all their eyes were fixed on the approaching bandit army and starving civilians.

Just as the squad leader finished reading the flag order, a messenger rushed over and shouted, "Military order: All troops, form ranks, drive back the bandits in front of you, immediately form columns, and make way for the musketeers to go up and kill the bandits."

"Second squad, receive the order." Although the squad leader didn't understand why he had to make way for the musketeers, he still reflexively shouted the order without daring to delay for a moment. The messenger didn't linger either and immediately jogged towards the next squad.

"Why did they switch to musketeers?" the skinny man grumbled again.

"Have you had enough of living? Are you looking for death?"

The officer's shout made him tremble, and he clenched his teeth, afraid to utter another sound.

The officer didn't even glance at him; instead, he suddenly waved his gun flag and shouted, "Prepare for battle!"

"Thump!" The second blast of the horn came.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The sound of war drums also rang out at this moment.

The squad leader immediately strode over to the third-ranked officer of his squad and stood in position, holding his rifle flag diagonally forward, and shouted: "Attention, everyone! Listen to my command!"

"Thump!" Three blasts of the horn sounded.

"Dong dong dong... dong dong dong..." The stirring sound of war drums came one after another.

"Forward, all troops! Kill the enemy!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

…………

The rebel army kept threatening the starving people to charge the Yongyi Army's formation, although it seemed to have little effect so far.

Fortunately, there were no fewer than 100,000 starving people trapped here, and their deaths were not a pity. Keeping them alive would only be a waste of food. This was already a consensus among the generals of the rebel army.

However, with each wave of starving people forced to go up, heavy casualties were suffered, with the worst group suffering nearly half casualties, which greatly damaged the morale of the starving people.

It's only been five rounds, and they've already started to rebel!
Although their resistance seemed so weak and powerless in the eyes of the bandit soldiers in the rear, it was a very ominous sign, but they did not pay enough attention to it.

Moreover, there were instances of starving civilians surrendering in the front-line combat zones.

Many starving people, upon reaching the front of the Yongyi Army's ranks, immediately dropped their sticks, knelt on the ground with their hands raised, and some even lay prostrate on the ground, too weak to even kneel.

Even though the bandit soldiers who were bringing up the rear would use arrows to kill the surrendered starving people, as more and more starving people surrendered, the bandit soldiers' shooting gradually lost its original deterrent effect.

"The Grand Marshal has ordered that after one round of charging, there will be food upon returning to camp, and there will be no more charging today." Dozens of bandits rode back and forth on their warhorses, shouting words of encouragement to the starving people.

However, despite these pronouncements, those who lagged behind or hesitated to move forward still faced the fate of being hacked and shot, with screams frequently emanating from the starving crowd.

Every time a scream rang out, the starving people around would shudder and hurriedly take a few steps forward with all their might, lest they be spotted by the bandits and suffer the same fate as the starving people who had just died under their blades.

In their view, the government troops on the other side did not seem as ferocious as before!
At most, it's just death, what else can happen?

If you don't charge forward, you'll die instantly.

If you rush in and surrender, you might not necessarily die!

"Father, don't do anything foolish when you go up there. Drop this damned stick and throw it away."

"That's right, they can't even swing a stick, so how can they kill government soldiers? They might as well surrender."

"Either we die in the hands of bandits or in the hands of government troops, it's either death or death, so what's there to be afraid of!"