Conquering Myriad Worlds from the Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 983 Bloodbath at Xiangyang

Du Yu used their own methods against them.

This plunged Xiangyang into turmoil, and Ma Liang was greatly troubled.

The news spread like wildfire, and soon everyone inside and outside the city knew that the Jin army had defeated the Shamoke tribe.

Du Yu's statement was ingenious; it was neither about killing nor capturing, but about defeating.

Combined with the barbarian equipment shown by Du Yu, the story of Shamoke's defeat and forced escape is cleverly presented.

Especially since this news came just after Shamok had cut off the supply lines, it makes it all the more convincing.

Even though Shamoke still has some fighting force, the people inside Xiangyang have lost his support.

Du Yu did indeed send two legions to pursue and attack Shamoke.

They have no intention of giving Shamok any chance to breathe.

At this point, the Jin army suddenly discovered that there were actually many granaries around Xiangyang, and even some caves had large quantities of grain stored inside.

These were all grain storage points that Sima Yi and Pang Tong had arranged in advance, precisely for emergency use in critical moments.

Shamok fled along the grain storage points.

"This is the fifth grain storage site we've discovered!"

The Jin army officers sent to hunt down Shamoke stared at the burnt grain remnants on the ground, their faces extremely solemn.

They had never heard of such a thing before.

Without these things, Shamok would eventually be completely defeated by them due to hunger and exhaustion, and they might even have a chance to capture him.

But the current situation forces them to be cautious.

There are grain storage points here, but could there also be troop garrisons? Especially as they get closer and closer to Jiangdong, they might be ambushed. They themselves are not sure.

"How about we retreat to the front and set up camp there, just to make sure they don't have a chance to get back?"

Some cautious officers offered their own ideas.

"Commander Du's orders to us are to crush this legion, and ideally capture its commander..."

"Commander Du had no idea there were so many grain storage points along the way!"

"Do you really think that monster on the other side, if it can eat its fill, would be a match for us?"

The three legion commanders were arguing amongst themselves, unaware that Shamoke had already broken up into smaller groups, slipped past their location via mountain paths, and appeared behind them.

"Here's what we'll do: you two legions continue the pursuit, and I'll set up camp in the rear. That way, if any problems arise, we can look out for each other."

The three parties eventually reached a compromise.

Since we can't reach an agreement, let's go our separate ways.

The seasoned officers were only concerned with avoiding mistakes, while the younger officers craved victory and military achievements; the conflict between them was inherently irreconcilable.

If Shamok had no food supplies, the experienced officers would have been willing to hunt him down, but in this situation, he only wanted to play it safe.

However, they failed to notice that the barbarian army they were chasing had silently disappeared.

Shamoke led his men to ambush at the third grain depot, waiting for the veteran officers to return.

"Role reversed! Now I, the Barbarian King, am the hunter!"

Shamok stared at the approaching clouds in the distance, unable to suppress the smile on his lips.

If these officers were local soldiers from Jingzhou, they would never have made such a wrong choice. Unfortunately, they were not, so their understanding of the terrain was far inferior to that of Shamoke.

When the Jin army passed through the ambush point, Shamoke led his barbarians in a fierce attack. Relying on Shamoke's bravery, they directly cut off the central army. Then, an ambush force from both the front and rear attacked, and the battle was over in just one hour.

"Commendable courage, but lacking in ability!"

Shamoke twisted the old general's head off his head; everything was going according to plan.

This plan was a secret weapon left by Pang Tong, and Shamoke executed it very well, luring the enemy in step by step before revealing his true colors.

Not only do they have fangs, but they also have a deadly move.

"How long will it take to transform these prisoners into divine soldiers?" Shamoke asked the technical sergeant.

"It will take at least three hours!"

"Alright, release some of the prisoners and send them to inform the two legions ahead. After we've converted the demon soldiers, we'll ambush them ahead!"

This is also the fastest mass production technology currently possessed by Xinghan, capable of transforming prisoners into gods and demons in the shortest possible time.

This transformation is usually irreversible, so it is generally considered taboo by the Star River.

However, once it fell into Sima Yi's hands, he immediately passed it on to Ma Liang and others, so that they would have other options at critical moments.

On the other side, the city of Xiangyang was in turmoil and in dire straits.

However, thanks to the combined efforts of Ma Liang and Ma Su, the situation was stabilized.

Du Yu's three-day offensive plan was thwarted.

They failed to breach the city walls until the very end.

"The enemy has fewer than four people with internal energy separated from their physical bodies on the city walls, and they can't even guarantee that there are two people with internal energy separated from their physical bodies guarding each city gate. As a result, you can't break through?"

Du Yu looked at the officers and soldiers in front of him with a gloomy expression.

He was very dissatisfied with the result. He could accept that the enemy could hold out for three days, but he could not accept that their three days and three nights of relentless attacks had not even been able to breach the city once.

This is completely different from his plan.

This means that his plan was not carried out.

"I need an explanation!" Du Yu's words made the atmosphere in the tent grow increasingly tense.

"I hope Commander Du will investigate this carefully. Every time we storm the city walls, a squad of sharpshooters will focus their fire on us and try to kill us!" Chen Dai said, forcing himself to speak.

"We are all seriously injured and have not yet recovered. We hope that Commander Du will take this matter seriously!" Zhu Ming quickly echoed.

The five or six people in the tent who had released their internal energy all spoke up in agreement.

"A mere arrow wound, Zhu Ming, and you still haven't recovered after three days?"

Du Yu frowned. It would be one thing if it were just Zhu Ming and Chen Dai, but it was surprising that everyone else said the same thing.

"I hope Commander Du can see this clearly. The arrows from that archer squad were concentrated on the divine will. We were not injured physically, but rather by the divine will," Zhu Ming explained repeatedly.

Du Yu fell silent. He knew that Zhu Ming was referring to the Archery Camp, and he had also witnessed Zhu Ming's tragic fate of being pierced by thousands of arrows that day. He knew that Zhu Ming was not trying to shirk responsibility, so he stopped questioning him.

"It will take you a few more days to fully recover!" Du Yu asked, looking up after a moment's thought.

"One day!" "Two days!"

"One and a half days!"

Several different answers made Du Yu nod.

"I'm giving you three days. After three days, we'll launch a general offensive. All of you, charge! You must break into the city!"

"This time, those who retreat will be executed!"

Du Yu's cold words drew repeated agreement from the crowd.

"Pass on my military order: the army shall rest for one day, attack the city during the day tomorrow, and rest tonight!"

Three consecutive days of fierce attacks were a considerable burden for the Jin army, so Du Yu also needed to adjust the state of his troops.

After learning that the Jin army had not continued its attack on the city, Ma Liang breathed a sigh of relief; they had successfully passed the first hurdle.

After three days of continuous fierce attacks, the soldiers inside the city were indeed quite exhausted.

"Pass on my order: have Ma Su lead the reserve troops to replace the soldiers on the city wall, and withdraw all the frontline soldiers to get some rest!"

Ma Liang also began to let his soldiers rest, reward them, and give them prizes.

The war-torn city of Xiangyang experienced a rare period of peace.

It was just dawn on the fifth day.

The Jin army launched another attack on the city, but the intensity of the attack was far less than that of the previous three days.

“Brother, the Jin army outside the city is probably building up its strength. Should we reduce some of the garrison to deal with any emergencies? This would also allow the soldiers to take turns resting!” Ma Su suggested to Ma Liang.

"Yes, one-third of the troops at each city gate will be transferred to the reserve force to await unified deployment, and the rotation order on the city walls will be changed to three shifts!"

Ma Liang thought about it for a moment and felt that Ma Su's words made sense, so he continued to make arrangements according to Ma Su's suggestion.

"Has there been any reply from Jiangdong?" Ma Liang asked wearily; he had far too many things to take care of.

"There has been no response yet, but it should be within the next day or two. However, as far as I know, the situation in Jiangdong is not optimistic either, and they probably don't have the extra resources to support us!"

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate. No matter what, we must hold out for at least three months!" A ruthless glint flashed in Ma Liang's eyes.

"When necessary... the Han River..."

"Brother, you mustn't do that! You should ask Luoyang for help rather than do something so ruthless. Otherwise, you might not have a place to stand in the empire!" Ma Su hurriedly advised.

The Xinghan Empire originated from the Yellow Turban Rebellion and placed the greatest importance on its people.

It is understandable that wars against foreign powers affect ordinary people, but if Ma Liang were to deliberately divert the river to attack the lower reaches of the river, causing havoc to the entire Fanxiang region, he might be directly brought to trial by a military court.

After all, Jingzhou is now considered part of the territory under the rule of the Xinghan Empire.

"It was I who lost my mind!" Ma Liang was instantly brought to his senses by Ma Su's words.

He himself was also filled with lingering fear, never expecting that he would actually have the idea of ​​deliberately breaching the dike to divert floodwaters, which is a major taboo.

After all, this is different from fire attack, which in most cases does not affect ordinary people, but floods are different.

If this thing floods, the entire Fanxiang region will likely be in trouble.

"What are our losses?" Ma Liang completely abandoned the idea of ​​diverting the flood.

Water and fire are merciless. If he were to actually use them, he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences. After all, they haven't reached the point of desperation yet, and rashly diverting the floodwaters might not succeed.

"Currently, 3,671 people have been killed in action, and tens of thousands have been wounded, including more than 1,700 seriously wounded. The enemy's losses should be three times ours. However, a large number of civilian laborers have been mixed in with the enemy, so we do not know the exact number of casualties!"

"We have emergency medical services prepared here. Even if they do, they'll have to be dragged back. If they miss the best time for treatment, their mortality rate will definitely be higher than ours!"

Ma Liang forced himself to cheer up; this was the best news he had heard so far. They had thwarted the opponent's first wave of attack, and if they could hold out for the rest of the time, they would win.

"How is our work of conscripting laborers for transportation going?"

"Not many people responded, but we have enough manpower for now!" Ma Su explained the current situation, noting that they had only taken Jingzhou in a very short time.

"Promise a great reward, and pay it after the war. Recruit all those servants from the wealthy families in the city!" Ma Liang paused for a moment, then spoke decisively.

After that, things became much simpler. Ma Su ordered the mass arrest of servants in the city and made them directly involved in logistics and transportation.

They didn't expect these people to go to the battlefield, after all, sometimes bad teammates are more terrible than enemies.

The Jin army attacked for two consecutive days, but each day the attack was lukewarm.

"Commander Du, our army has suffered considerable losses in the past two days!"

The Jin army officers informed Du Yu of the casualties. In the past two days of low-intensity siege, their casualties had exceeded three thousand, while the casualties inside the city might not even be three hundred.

If the attack is not strong enough, the casualties of the attacking force will be far greater than those of the defending force.

At its peak, a ratio of one to ten is not a problem.

"I understand!" Du Yu's expression remained unchanged. The city he had built himself was naturally not easy to conquer, so he still didn't understand how Ma Long and his men had lost Xiangyang so easily.

"Pass on my orders: prepare food at dawn tomorrow, and launch the general offensive immediately after daybreak!"

"This time, anyone who retreats in the face of battle will be executed without mercy!"

Du Yu's icy words were like a cold wind, sending chills down the spines of everyone who heard the order.

"Boom!"

As dawn broke, the sound of war drums resounded, and an atmosphere of grim determination was unprecedented.

Both Ma Liang and Ma Su could feel the soaring momentum in the city.

“Brother, could it be…” Ma Su turned to look at Ma Liang and asked.

"It should be a general offensive!" Ma Liang nodded. "You take all the reserves and prepare for battle, ready to hold out through this wave!"

"If we can hold out for this moment, we will surely be able to drag it out!" Ma Su understood this principle.

The Jin army has already launched its second wave of strong attacks. If this wave fails, the morale of the enemy will be severely demoralized, and that will be their opportunity.

However, the offensive that Du Yu could call a general offensive far surpassed any previous one.

Compared to the past, when only a few or even dozens of people could rush up at a time, this time the Jin army relied on ladders, flying bridges, and the charge of generals using internal energy to advance, sending up hundreds of soldiers in one go. Afterwards, a continuous stream of soldiers rushed up the city wall under the protection of the soldiers in front.

Jin troops were scaling the city walls everywhere. Fu Tong was alone and unable to hold out. He was being overwhelmed by two soldiers who had lost their internal energy.

Even the Shooting Sound Battalion wasn't very effective this time. Each of them was wearing three layers of armor and carrying a large shield. Even with all their strength, the Shooting Sound Battalion could only severely injure one person. The rest rushed up the city wall and quickly cleared a blank area for the soldiers behind to climb up.

Zhu Ming, who had been riddled with arrows earlier, only made it to the city wall in the second wave. He escaped the concentrated fire of the Archery Battalion and began to demonstrate his abilities, fully unleashing his legion's talents.

The moment the soldiers under his command unleashed their weapons, they could create a pale, streak of light that lasted for more than a second, causing an explosive increase in the attack range and intensity of the Jin army soldiers.

(End of this chapter)