Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 97: Falling Too Fast
Gongsun Ao led the cavalry to charge towards the outer city of Guishan City, and the Dayuan army inside the city was in a panic.

Some people are fighting desperately, some are trying to plug the gap, and naturally there are also people who are running for their lives.

The Han army suddenly attacked at dawn, which in itself caused great panic. Moreover, many people still couldn't figure out why there was an explosion before, which made them even more terrified.

Gongsun Ao seized the opportunity and ordered his cavalry to shoot arrows crazily. The Han army's arrows rained down, leaving absolutely no chance for the Dayuan people to block the gap.

Later, some infantrymen came in through the holes in the city wall. Although it was still difficult for a large group of troops to rush in at once, the chances increased when a small number of troops entered the city.

Huo Xian was in charge of the central army, excited and expectant, "It looks like we will capture the city today!"

Chen Ju said with great pride, "Lord, if it were me, we would be in Guishan City by the time of breakfast!"

Feng Dan was even more proud, and said, "My Lord, I have long wanted to enter the city! After the city is conquered, I hope you will show mercy and give me a beautiful bride!"

Chen Ju immediately cursed, "You useless thing, if you really bring a Hu woman back, I won't need your father-in-law, I will kill you right now!"

Feng Dan said unconvincedly, "Your Excellency also enjoyed those Western Region women before, why can't I enjoy them?"

Chen Ju said as a matter of course, "Can you compare with the Lord?"

"It's not like you're going to marry her, so why not?" Huo Xian smiled and stopped Chen Ju, saying, "As long as you don't marry a Hu woman, even if Uncle Feng wants to beat you, I will stop him!"

Zhao Congxiao and the others also followed suit with a silly smile, they believed that the Lord would not joke because the Lord had always been like this, he did not love money or beauties, and was willing to give them to his subordinates.

Huo Xian, who was in charge of the central army, suddenly laughed. The Han army entered the city and held it. Follow-up troops continued to pour in, and the Dayuan defenders began to disintegrate.

Facing the dense rain of arrows from the Han army, many Dayuan people who were confused about the situation had already died, including the outer city defender Jian Mi, a Dayuan noble who was shot to death before he could even put on his armor.

Gongsun Ao sent troops to report, "General, General Yu Cheng has entered the city and has seized the city gate! Please order the army to enter the city!"

Huo Xian said without hesitation, "Enter the city immediately, block the gaps in the city gates, and shoot the defeated Dayuan army!"

As soon as the messenger left, another messenger came to report, "General, we don't have enough arrows! The outer city has been breached, and the Dayuan defenders are retreating to the inner city. No soldiers are allowed to enter the inner city, General Yucheng is attacking them!"

This is what it means to be defeated like a landslide. When an army is defeated, it has no formation or resistance and will be continuously hunted down.

Now that the outer city was breached, the defenders naturally wanted to retreat to the inner city. However, the Han army was chasing too closely, and they were worried that the defeated army would disrupt the inner city defense, so they would never open the city gates.

When the outer city gate of Guishan City was opened, the main force of the Han army quickly poured in. The vanguard troops had already guarded the city walls, gates, and gaps, chasing and killing the defeated Dayuan troops who were driven to the inner city gate.

There was no mercy, even if many defeated Dayuan soldiers were crying and begging, the soldiers guarding the inner city would not open the gate. If the gate was opened, the inner city would be breached.

The Han army was even less likely to show mercy. Whether it was arrows or swords and spears, they all fired at the terrified Dayuan soldiers.

The city would be captured in just a matter of minutes. Huo Xian had a mask on his face, so no one could see his expression clearly.

"Keep killing!" Huo Xian said, "There's no point in keeping these people. If we don't kill them until they're scared, I'm afraid the situation will drag on!"

Chen Ju and the others also had ferocious and excited expressions, which were all military achievements. The Han army soldiers who were chasing the defeated army were even more so. In their eyes, the Dayuan people were just military achievements.

The smell of blood filled the air and the crying became quieter and quieter. The defenders in the inner city watched the defeated soldiers being slaughtered outside the city and were horrified. This Han army was too terrifying, even more terrifying than the Huns!
Gongsun Ao came over with a head in his hand, "General, this is the head of Jian Mi, the commander of Dayuan!"

"Okay!" Huo Xian said with a smile, "General Yu Cheng, how many heads do you think we can cut off in this battle?"

Gongsun Ao said proudly, "There are at least more than 10,000 of them. When these defenders were defeated, they couldn't even figure out why they died!"

The solid city wall was suddenly breached. Many Dayuan soldiers did not even understand the situation and fled with other soldiers. The number of them throwing away their armor and weapons was exaggerated because many of them did not have time to put on their armor.

"Leave some behind!" Seeing that it was almost done, Huo Xian said, "Let the defeated soldiers help clean up the corpses and retrieve some usable arrows."

Huo Xian immediately gave the order, "Tell General Ershi to quickly count the captured items and not to embezzle the food and supplies. I am too lazy to ask about the rest."

Soldiers fought for promotion and wealth, and sometimes Huo Xian required extremely strict military discipline. But at a moment like this, there was no need to deliberately emphasize that all captured items should be returned to the public.

As for burning, killing, looting, etc., it was not the case. This was only the outer city. Although there were a small number of residents, there were more soldiers guarding the city from Dayuan.

Huo Xian naturally chose to turn a blind eye to some things. He was not the only one who did this. Many generals would do the same. After the city was captured, they would be lenient with their men as long as they did not cause too much trouble.

The Han army was clearing the outer city, and the guards on the inner city walls were terrified. They could only watch the Han army cut off the heads or ears of their comrades, and the remaining comrades were driven to do menial work. The Dayuan nobles who were sleeping peacefully became even more panicked. Although the Han army had intensified its offensive before, many people thought they could hold on.

But suddenly we heard that the outer city had been breached, and of the 15,000 defenders there were less than 2,000 left, and some of them had been captured.

Fear and resentment were brewing at this moment. There were many different opinions on why the outer city was breached, but no one could guarantee whether the inner city could be defended.

The Dayuan nobles in Guishan City were nervous because the city was previously besieged by the Han army, but they felt they could hold on when they thought about the strength of the inner and outer cities.

The water supply was cut off and people were naturally panicked, but they could still overcome the problem by digging wells day and night. Moreover, for the nobles, their quality of life would not decline too much.

But things are different now. The Han army is now truly at the gates of the city. The outer city has been breached, and the inner city may be breached soon as well. At that time, let alone wealth and glory, it is hard to say whether one can even keep his life!

Huo Xian continued to clean up the outer city, and the morale of his soldiers was high.

Suddenly, someone came to report that Dayuan had sent an envoy.

A dozen Dayuan people came down from the inner city in a basket. Looking at the envoy team, Huo Xian was surprised.

The leader was a man who looked like he had an important status, holding a head on a tray, and followed by nearly ten women.

The envoy said clearly, "General, Wu Gua has killed the Han envoy. His crime is unforgivable. We have killed Wu Gua. Please withdraw your troops!"

Huo Xian thought that the Dayuan people might surrender quickly, but he did not expect that after the army broke through the outer city in the early morning, the Dayuan nobles in the inner city launched a rebellion at noon and sent envoys to surrender to the Han camp with Wu Gua's head.

But think about it, this is a moment of life and death, who would care about you, the King of Dayuan.

Dayuan was essentially a city-state, which was also a slavery system.

For King Wu Gua, it was simply that his strength was not enough to compete before, and now Wu Gua was bound to be killed, so if he took action first, he might be able to get a chance to survive.

Seeing that Huo Xian did not speak, the messenger continued, "If the general stops fighting, we will drive out the good horses for the Han army to choose from and provide them with food; if you do not stop fighting, we will kill all the good horses."

Huo Xian narrowed his eyes and asked, "Oh? Kill all the good horses in the city? Well, if you kill the good horses, I can kill all the people in the city. The good horses in the city are the horses of my Han army, how dare you kill them!"

The messenger was anxious and said, "General, the general said before that if the king is killed and the good horses are driven away, the army will retreat!"

"This is a different time!" Huo Xian said bluntly, "When our army first arrived, you killed this man and drove out the good horses, and I could still retreat. Now that I have conquered the city, you are surrendering by taking what I deserve. How can this be justified?"

Huo Xian was not shameless, but he felt it was natural. He had already captured the outer city, so of course he had to ask for more rewards.

The envoy was still unwilling to give up and asked, "General, if we take over the inner city, the Han army will suffer heavy casualties!"

"Sleep well tonight and don't get up. You might even hear some explosions." Huo Xian looked at the messenger with a smile and said, "When the city collapses, don't get up. It's better to be killed while sleeping than to be beheaded when you wake up in fear!"

After hearing the translation, the Dayuan envoy team turned pale and trembled. They had fewer and fewer bargaining chips in their hands.

Especially the reason why the general of the Han Dynasty clearly stated the destruction of the outer city was even more terrifying. No one knew whether the inner city of Guishan City could still be as solid as a rock after those strange explosions.

The messenger knelt down and begged, "I hope the general will show mercy and give the tens of thousands of people in the city a chance to live!"

Huo Xian said with a cold face, "Kangju is coming to help? You drive the Dayuan people to fight, and the good horses, craftsmen, and property in the city will all belong to our Tianhan. You will be responsible for the food and baggage of our Han army. Send 30,000 slaves to escort the baggage to the Pamir Mountains. King Yucheng is arrogant, and you want to kill him. Do you have any objection?"

Every price offered by Huo Xian would cost lives, but the people of Dayuan had no choice.

Huo Xian continued, "From now on, the ruler of Dayuan must send his son to Chang'an as a hostage! The king of Dayuan is not allowed to marry the Xiongnu!"

Dayuan is really finished.

After agreeing to the Han general's conditions, Dayuan would no longer have a foothold.

But if they don't agree, all the nobles and soldiers in the city will be destroyed in an instant.

Dayuan is nothing. He returned to his own city-state and was still a carefree little city lord. If things really don't work out, he can find a powerful one to surrender to and still survive.

You have to agree. You can’t refuse!
(End of this chapter)