The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 478: Resistance Before Death
A large army gathered under the city of Wu County. Cao Cao stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the cavalry in front of him. One man was riding three horses, and they were so mighty and majestic, which made people afraid.

Cao Cao looked at the big banner in front of him, it felt so familiar. His eyes fell on the young man under the banner, it was Qin Shou, the King of Tang. This reminded him of the scene when he first met Qin Shou.

"Mengde, long time no see."

Qin Shou rode his horse forward, pointed his whip at Cao Cao and shouted loudly.

"Qin Shou, you killed Wen Ruo."

Cao Cao replied in a deep voice.

"He is loyal to you, so you kill him." Qin Shou sighed, "Meng De, now my troops are at the gates of the city, what do you say? Do you want to resist to the end?"

Cao Cao stared at Qin Shou under the city, a complicated look flashing in his eyes. He slowly said, "Qin Shou, you and I have known each other for many years, fighting and killing each other. Is it finally time to decide the winner today?"

Qin Shou sneered: "Meng De, the world is divided, why do you insist on being stubborn? As long as you open the city and surrender, I will guarantee the safety of you and your family. I will also protect the life of your son."

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "I have fought all my life and never bowed to anyone. Even if I die in battle today, I will never surrender. I believe that if you and I were in the same position and I were to persuade you to surrender, you would answer me the same way."

Qin Shou frowned slightly, with a hint of regret in his tone: "Meng De, why are you doing this? Don't you care about the lives of your soldiers?"

He admitted that what Cao Cao said made sense, and if he were in this situation, he would never surrender.

Cao Cao's eyes were firm: "My soldiers, Cao Cao, are all iron-blooded men. They would rather die on the battlefield than live in disgrace." As a man who would rather let the world betray me than let the world betray me, how could you care about the life and death of others at this time?
Qin Shou was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed: "If that's the case, don't blame me for not remembering our friendship." He raised the Han Guang sword in his hand and shouted loudly: "All troops, listen to my order, attack the city!"

Following Qin Shou's order, tens of thousands of cavalrymen rushed towards the city wall of Wu County like a tide.

On the top of the city wall, Cao Cao drew his sword and shouted to encourage his soldiers: "All soldiers, listen to my order. We will defend the city to the death and never retreat!"

Suddenly, the city walls were filled with shouts of killing, arrows rained down, and blood stained the city walls red amidst the flashes of swords and sabers. Both sides attacked mainly with bows and arrows, and Qin Shou could not let the army attack the city like ants, as that would be a waste of the soldiers' lives.

Cao Cao personally commanded the defense of the city. His figure shuttled back and forth on the top of the city wall, boosting morale.

Even so, both sides suffered heavy casualties.

The battle lasted for two hours. Although Qin Shou's cavalry was brave, they were unable to break through the city due to Cao Cao's tenacious resistance. As night fell, Qin Shou had to order a withdrawal.

On the top of the city wall, Cao Cao looked at the retreating enemy and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that this was only a temporary victory and Qin Shou would never give up easily.

Qin Shou's attack today was just a tentative one. He wanted to tell the entire Wujun that the cavalry was coming.

According to Cao Cao's understanding of Qin Shou, the other side would not waste the lives of soldiers for no reason. Long-term siege and cutting off their food supplies were Qin Shou's favorite things to do.

Now that Kuaiji has been breached, the counties of Wujun are about to be lost. Relying solely on the food and grass of Wu County may not be able to sustain it for a longer period of time.

What worries Cao Cao even more is that he has no way to retreat. All of this is known clearly to the noble families in the city. Will these people still seriously assist and help him?
There are also soldiers in the army. Cao Cao's troops are now divided into two parts. One part is composed of his own troops and the private soldiers of powerful people, and the other part is composed of Shanyue people, with about 40,000 troops. It sounds like a lot, even more than Qin Shou's army, but even Cao Cao dare not guarantee the loyalty of these people.

But asking Cao Cao to surrender is not his character.

Qin Shou outside the city ordered the army to set up camp. On the one hand, he asked Cai Mao to lead the navy to move closer to him. On the other hand, he ordered Zhang Liao and Wei Yan to end the battle as soon as possible and encircle Wu County.

The wall of Moling City has collapsed by more than ten feet. Even a stone city cannot withstand such an attack. Every day, a large number of stones are sent out by thunder chariots and hit the wall of Moling hard.

Collapse was only a matter of time. Cao Ang and Lu Xun had no idea how much manpower and material resources they had spent, and how many people had sacrificed, before they could barely hold up the dangerous situation.

But both of them knew that the fall of Moling City was a matter of time.

That day, the two men went up to the city wall as usual to observe the situation of the Cavalry Army.

Suddenly they found some cavalry rushing into the camp, and then there was a cheer coming from the opposite camp, the sound reaching the sky, which made the two men feel uneasy.

After a while, Zhang Liao came galloping with his cavalry.

"Cao Ang, Lu Xun, the king has captured Kuaiji and is now leading the army to attack Wujun. Cao Cao is about to be defeated." Zhang Liao shouted loudly.

As if he was worried that the two men couldn't hear him, he asked the soldiers around him to shout together. The sound was carried onto the city wall, and Cao Ang could see fear on the faces of the soldiers with his own eyes.

Cao Ang and Lu Xun looked at each other and saw a solemn look in each other's eyes.

Lu Xun rolled his eyes, pointed his sword at Zhang Liao, and shouted angrily, "Zhang Liao, you cavalrymen claim to love the people, but you slaughtered the people in Kuaiji. From Moling to Kuaiji, Qin Shou slaughtered the people at every turn in order to hide his whereabouts. When he arrived at Kuaiji, he did not put down his sword for three days. Do you think I don't know?"

Zhang Liao's face changed slightly when he heard this, but he quickly regained his composure and responded loudly: "Lu Xun, stop slandering me! Your Majesty is a kind-hearted person, how could he do such a cruel thing? You are deliberately spreading rumors, you deserve to be killed!"

Lu Xun sneered, "Zhang Liao, do you think I would attack without a purpose? I have already sent people to sneak into Kuaiji and witnessed your atrocities with my own eyes. In order to deter the rebels, Qin Shou did not hesitate to slaughter innocent people. How is this behavior different from that of beasts?"

On the city wall, the soldiers who defended the city were all angry when they heard Lu Xun's words. Their originally low morale was actually rising at this moment.

Cao Ang also understood what Lu Xun meant and shouted, "Zhang Liao, Qin Shou has already issued an order to slaughter all the resistance in the city after the capture of Moling. You can't deceive the world."

Zhang Liao was furious.

He knew that the purpose of the two men's actions was to inspire the desperate will of the soldiers defending the city. In order to protect their families from being slaughtered, these people would definitely fight to the death.

Cao Ang seized the opportunity and shouted loudly: "Soldiers! Qin Shou is cruel and brutal, killing innocent people. If we let him capture Moling City, our families will be slaughtered by the enemy! For the sake of our loved ones, we must defend the city to the death!"

The defending soldiers were inspired and shouted: "We will defend the city to the death! We will defend the city to the death!"

(End of this chapter)