Me and countless me.

Chapter 629 Sideways Push
"My goodness... these... these must be heavenly soldiers and generals?"

On the city wall of Xiangyang, an old soldier holding a moldy steamed bun stared dumbfounded at the scene, completely unable to believe that he was in reality.

Above him, the soldiers on the city wall were in an uproar, and even the supervising officers and the disciplinary team were in a panic, completely unable to believe that they were going to fight such an enemy.

At this moment, in front of Xiangyang City, soldiers who had not eaten enough for three months, only recently having been able to eat food eaten by insects and rats after Guo Jing was killed, stood in the most dangerous places, holding various broken weapons.

Meanwhile, the general's personal guards, dressed in full armor and armed with fine weapons, stood in relatively safe places, waiting for the most critical moment.

However, both the relatively elite guards who could fight the real Mongols head-on and the Song soldiers who were used as cannon fodder were completely silent at this moment.

The platform suspended in the air is filled with countless Chinese-style buildings, and even emits starlight. On the platform, the warriors wearing golden armor not only have glowing halos behind their heads, but their eyes under their visors also emit golden light.

The steam rising from their bodies clung to them in the sunlight, as if they were draped in a veil. Each of the twin hammers in their hands was almost the size of a human head. Their armor was exceptionally fine, clearly not just for show, and on each platform stood a golden-armored warrior, continuously beating a war drum.

On each of these platforms stood a golden-armored warrior, holding a nearly five-meter-long banner in one hand and a two-handed sword in the other, appearing exceptionally heroic.

Seeing the scene of heavenly soldiers descending, and hearing the thunderous war drums echoing down from the sky, even shaking the dust on the city walls, the Song soldiers could no longer think of any reason to resist.

The newly arrived commander of Xiangyang couldn't help but glance at the imperial edict in his hand, then at the group of golden-armored warriors in the sky. The edict fell to the ground, and he muttered to himself.

"Fight to the death...me?"

Good heavens, if we don't surrender now, will we be reborn as animals after we die?
Just as he was thinking, his lieutenant spoke up.

"Logically speaking, one should be loyal to the emperor even if one is paid for his food..."

But halfway through his sentence, his lieutenant couldn't finish his sentence, because unless everything in front of him was an illusion, there was no chance of fighting!

At this very moment, both their guards and soldiers knelt on the city wall and kowtowed to the rapidly approaching 'heavenly soldiers and generals'.

In fact, if Li Ke hadn't issued the challenge, they would have known that these were Li Ke's troops, otherwise they would have thought they were heavenly soldiers!
However, based on their current understanding, there is absolutely no other possibility than heavenly soldiers and generals!
So the adjutant didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was already very clear.

Upon hearing this, the new garrison commander of Xiangyang was filled with a multitude of wild thoughts. His eyes became vacant, and his hands unconsciously pressed against the city wall. He then asked his deputy commander from Jinling beside him.

"I say...didn't our emperor's ancestor claim to be the Jade Emperor? Do you think he could summon heavenly soldiers and generals to help us?"

The lieutenant gave an awkward yet polite smile.

"There should be some, but even if there are heavenly soldiers and generals, if they obey the Ministry of War's orders, they will likely have their pay and rations reduced... so they probably won't arrive quickly."

The next moment, he received a slap on the head.

"You know that, so why aren't you preparing to surrender?! Are you planning to die?!"

However, just as the Xiangyang city garrison surrendered without any psychological pressure, he saw these platforms begin to surround the entire Xiangyang city wall, and at the very front, two women stood beside a golden-armored general wearing a cloak.

He looked closely and was instantly shocked, for standing next to the golden-armored general were Huang Rong and Guo Fu!
On the city wall, Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi's heads were still hanging there!
Realizing this, he immediately shouted it out.

"Fire arrows! Fire arrows!! These are not heavenly soldiers and generals! They are demons! With His Majesty's protection, we fear no evil! Fire arrows! Shoot the arrows now!"

However, none of his soldiers listened to him. Only a few dozen guards fired a sparse volley of arrows. This was because most people in ancient times were superstitious, so those who had not witnessed Li Ke's outrageous behavior had long regarded the soldiers led by Li Ke as gods, which is why not many people responded.

Seeing this, the garrison commander knew that shouting was useless and he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands! He immediately took out his bow and arrow and aimed at the eyes of the golden-armored general!

The golden-armored general was none other than Li Ke. As he watched the rain of arrows hurtling towards him and Huang Rong, he suddenly waved his hand, and a strange wind swept through the heavens and earth. The arrows instantly reversed direction and flew back towards those who had shot them!

Screams of agony rose and fell, and Huang Rong and Guo Fu's eyes turned red as they looked at the heads of Huang Yaoshi and the others. They couldn't help but want to rush down and start a massacre, killing all the soldiers guarding Xiangyang City!
At this moment, they were too lazy to think about who was innocent and who was the perpetrator. They only wanted to kill all the Song soldiers in front of them, and even those Song soldiers who had just hidden away and had not assisted the perpetrators or helped them escape!
Li Ke naturally wouldn't let them go on a killing spree, but he also knew that this was the revenge they needed. So, looking at the Xiangyang garrison commander who had an arrow in his neck but was still alive, he extended his hand in full view of everyone.

The next moment, under the sweep of boundless true energy, the body of the Xiangyang garrison commander was suddenly sent flying, heading towards the platform. The heads of Huang Yaoshi and the others also flew up with him, for what he was about to do was somewhat shocking.

"Father! Your daughter is here! Your daughter will avenge you!"

Seeing Huang Yaoshi's head flying towards her, Huang Rong screamed and rushed forward to catch it. Meanwhile, Hong Qigong and the other Beggars' Sect leaders were caught on trays by the Imperial Guards behind Li Ke.

The newly arrived Xiangyang garrison commander, who was also the one who personally led the army to besiege them, was now terrified. After Huang Rong and Guo Fu placed Huang Yaoshi's head down, they each took out a dagger, gritted their teeth, and looked over with eyes full of hatred.

At this moment, he wanted to say that he had no choice but to do so. After all, in the court, if you don't advance, you have to retreat, and retreating means certain death. Moreover, even if it wasn't him, there were others. But now, what's the point of saying all this? Besides, it was indeed a series of actions he was about to take.

At this moment, all I feel is fear!

Amidst a series of shrill screams, the soldiers below Xiangyang City clearly saw their garrison commander being slowly dismembered by Huang Rong and Guo Fu with daggers. They were all terrified, their legs trembling, and some of the soldiers who had been besieging the Beggars' Clan even began to lose control of their bladders.

Upon seeing this, Li Ke reached out his hand.

"Let me sever this hatred, Cloud Rising... Frost Rising!"

Following his will, he began to guide the true energy of the entire Imperial Guard, using his own power to influence the celestial phenomena.

Thus, all the people of the Song Dynasty could clearly see that the weather began to change. The originally clear sky instantly became covered with dark clouds, and the wind began to howl, which shocked them even more!

Because it was the height of summer! But the person simply raised his hand, and instantly the sky became overcast, and even the temperature began to drop sharply!
But this was only momentary, because once the weather was warm enough, Li Ke pushed hard with both hands!
"Wind! Lightning strikes!"

Driven by the wind, the dark clouds in the sky collided rapidly. As snowflakes continued to fall, bursts of thunder suddenly flashed in the clouds, and then, guided by Li Ke, they crashed down on the city gate!

At that moment, Li Ke unleashed his true energy. His violent palm strike, accompanied by lightning, formed a giant handprint crackling with thunder in the air, which struck down directly on the officers of all ranks on the city wall, as well as their guards, under their horrified gazes!
"Rare..."

The lieutenant had barely uttered a single word when his head was instantly charred by boundless lightning, and then smashed into ashes by the powerful palm strike!

The officers and guards who had participated in the massacre of the Beggars' Sect members beside him were also instantly reduced to ashes by this palm strike. But this was not the end. Under the horrified gazes of the other Song soldiers, the city wall collapsed like building blocks before this lightning-streaked hand.
Bricks and stones shattered, the earth shook violently, and boundless lightning left a flashing white light on their retinas. When their eyes returned to normal, they saw that the once towering city gate and part of the city wall had completely disappeared without a trace.

Where the city gate once stood, only a huge handprint remained, while the guards and soldiers who had been there had completely vanished.

"My God... This is truly a god! It's truly a god! The Emperor killed General Guo! This has brought divine punishment!" An old soldier who had already knelt on the ground kowtowed violently, his eyes having lost most of their rationality. Because he had stood by and watched, his heart was now filled with fear. He simply did not believe that Huang Rong and Guo Fu would let go of those who had eaten General Guo's food in the past, but had stood by and watched when General Guo's family needed them.

Huang Rong and Guo Fu thought the same way, as did many others connected to the Beggars' Sect.

As a result, Xiangyang City descended into chaos. Soldiers attacked and killed each other, and countless people associated with the Beggars' Sect rushed out with various weapons. The remaining disciples of the Beggars' Sect were even more excited and rushed out into the streets, beating up the government troops who had been swaggering around for the past few days.

But finally, amidst the swirling snow, Huang Rong, who had already killed the newly arrived Xiangyang garrison commander with her daughter, had regained her senses. Seeing that most of the generals who had been chasing them had died in the thunder summoned by Li Ke, Huang Rong's hatred dissipated considerably.

She looked at her daughter, whose eyes were still filled with murderous intent, and gently tugged at her sleeve.

"At this moment, we have already avenged part of our revenge. As for the rest... it is more important to... to take care of my husband's great cause."

As Huang Rong finished speaking, she closed her eyes. She knew that the lower-ranking soldiers had no choice. If it weren't for Li Ke, she would have certainly gone on a killing spree and slaughtered them all. After all, in her heart, the civilians in Xiangyang who stood by and did nothing also deserved to die, and were to be torn to pieces!
At the very least, she would poison all the people in Xiangyang who stood idly by to vent her anger!

However, she knew that Li Ke did not like what she and her daughter were doing. Moreover, Li Ke had ambitions for the world, so how could she and her daughter hold him back?

"Yes, Mother, I understand. Our real enemies are those treacherous officials! And that false emperor of the Great Song Dynasty!"

At this moment, Guo Fu, whose heart was entirely focused on Li Ke, naturally did not think there was anything wrong with this. Although, like Huang Rong, she also felt that those who stood by and did nothing were guilty and should be killed in a thousand cuts.

However, her mindset was exactly the same as Huang Rong's; at this moment, she only wanted Li Ke's interests to be the most important thing!
They didn't even care whether Li Ke handed over the Song emperor to them or not. As long as it benefited Li Ke, Guo Fu felt she could accept it even if the Song emperor wasn't killed.

"Ah."

Huang Rong gripped the hand of her daughter who had fought alongside her, and at that moment, a gust of wind blew by, removing the mourning cloth from her head and revealing the low-cut palace dress underneath.

The outfit was prepared by Li Ke's people, and neither Huang Rong nor Guo Fu objected, after all, their status was different now.

However, at this moment, Huang Rong still stepped forward as the leader of the Beggars' Sect and the garrison commander of Xiangyang City.

"Everyone! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

With the Dog-Beating Stick in hand and the head of the Xiangyang city garrison commander in hand, Huang Rong instantly shattered the last bit of resistance from the Song army. In an instant, there was a sound of armor and weapons being thrown away, and Xiangyang city surrendered!

These Song soldiers were all incorporated into Li Ke's army. Although those officers who committed heinous crimes and directly participated in the siege of the Beggars' Gang were taken away for public trial, most of the Xiangyang garrison survived. Li Ke also recruited some scholars to fill his management system.

The problem is that these scholars are at high risk; if anyone becomes corrupt or lazy in their duties, they are immediately beheaded.

However, Li Ke had high expectations for the people's livelihood, so he planned to attack the next city a month later.

then--

"What? What did you say? From now on, everyone will have three meals a day, wear armor, and be able to eat an egg every two days, have meat once a week, and have unlimited stir-fried vegetables and tofu?"

The Song soldiers who had been incorporated into Li Ke's army, those Xiangjun soldiers who were considered worthless by the Song, Mongols, and Jin people, looked at the fried dough sticks, buns wrapped in fried vermicelli and tofu, salty steamed buns, various stir-fried vegetables, fried tofu, fried eggplant, and the military pay that was ten times more than what they had originally paid in their accounts, along with brand-new uniforms and armor. They suddenly felt that the false emperor of the Song Dynasty should have died long ago!

In their hearts, there was only one emperor, Li Ke!
But in Li Ke's view, this was already very rudimentary. There wasn't enough meat, but he didn't have any better solutions. After all, animal husbandry and livestock farming couldn't be accelerated. Although there was enough grain, livestock growth took time, and even the best chickens, the white-feathered chickens that modern people eat the most for their meat and egg production, hadn't been crossbred yet.

Therefore, tofu was the only option available.

However, for these people...

"If we don't do something, we will be letting down the Heavenly Emperor's great kindness."

After eating this kind of food for half a month, the group of veterans and surrendered officers pondered for a long time and felt that it was not good to just eat for free, so they decided to do something big!
They quietly gathered some men and approached Kublai Khan, who had been unable to contribute during the attack on Xiangyang and was now itching to do more.

After hearing their request, Kublai Khan quickly approached Li Ke.

"Your Majesty, I wish to capture a few prisoners to gather intelligence."

Kublai Khan looked at Li Ke, who was being assisted by Huang Rong, who was dressed in palace attire, in handling government affairs, and spoke cautiously.

After all, what he wanted to capture was the Emperor of the Song Dynasty and his ministers, who must have known a lot of information about the Song Dynasty!
At that moment, Li Ke was planning the livelihood of the people in Xiangyang City, so he nodded.

"Okay, go ahead, but don't go too far... Shall we use the Imperial Guard?"

Seeing his scheme succeed, Kublai Khan revealed a genuine smile. Lin'an wasn't too far away. But as for Li Ke's imperial guards…

If he really brought the Imperial Guards, what's the point of him fighting? The enemy would surrender immediately upon seeing that!

"I won't be going too far, so there's no need... no need to deploy the Imperial Guards."

Thinking of the scene in Xiangyang at that time, Kublai Khan quickly refused and made another small request.

"Can I recruit people to surrender?"

He wanted to clear the road before Li Ke realized what was happening, and he also needed to recruit some Song Dynasty generals. So he needed some discretionary authority. Otherwise, even if he couldn't defeat them all, Li Ke would find out.

Li Ke glanced at him, because he felt that Kublai Khan wanted to build up his power base in preparation for being granted the title of king. So he put down the documents in his hand, casually put his arm around Guo Fu, who was checking his documents for omissions, and guessed what Kublai Khan wanted to do, but still asked with a smile.

"Want to become the General Who Conquers the West? Sure, I'll allow you to recruit officials and generals!"

then--

"You mean to say that those second-rate local militia, those old, weak, and disabled, were able to directly contend with my Imperial Guards less than a month after being incorporated into the army by that traitor Li Ke? Under that traitor's leadership, they were invincible? And even surrounded me?!"

The false emperor of the Song Dynasty stared at the battle report, raised his head in a daze, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Aren't they a bunch of useless trash and lowly people? How come they're so strong?!"

(End of this chapter)