Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1144 Guan Ping Takes Action
Peng Ying looked very respectful and was the first to raise his glass.

"We are humble people from Xichuan, serving our country with all our heart and loyalty. Liu He is a traitor, forcing our master to establish himself as emperor. Heaven and earth cannot tolerate this. But people like Zhang Song and Fa Zheng have seized the land of Sichuan and Shu, selling out their master for fame. We have no choice but to do this. Now the general has descended from the sky with unfathomable divine power. It is truly a blessing for the people of Xichuan. I would like to offer a toast to the general and wish him great success."

The other officials also raised their glasses.

Wei Yan was very proud, and immediately raised his glass: "You are all pillars of the court, and you have no choice but to surrender to the false emperor in Luoyang. As long as you can wholeheartedly assist me after today, march to Chengdu and seize Xichuan, then I will return to the emperor and reward you handsomely. However..."

His tone changed, and his expression became a bit fierce and threatening.

"If someone pretends to obey but actually disobeys, and acts in rebellion... Humph, my lord's army has arrived in Nanzheng, and will soon conquer the city. When the army enters Sichuan, we will slaughter everyone!"

When everyone heard this, they felt a chill on their necks and cold sweat broke out all over their bodies. They promised one after another that they would write letters to contact officials in the surrounding counties and surrender together, and would never dare to have any disloyalty.

Seeing them like this, Wei Yan put on a smile again.

Soon, a general came running in from outside and came to Wei Yan to report: "General, I have led people to search dozens of houses inside and outside the county government and the surrounding areas, and there is nothing unusual."

Wei Yan nodded, waved his hand to signal him to go down, and then picked up the wine glass again.

"Don't be surprised, everyone. That villain Liu He is very cunning. There is no guarantee that he will not ambush some thieves in the city, and then harm you and me."

Peng Ying and others naturally did not dare to say anything. Instead, they praised Wei Yan for his cautious actions, saying that it was no wonder that he was valued and that they would rely on him for support in the future.

Afterwards, Peng Ying clapped his hands and ordered the servants to bring wine and food.

Of course, these dishes and wine had already been tested by Wei Yan's men to be non-toxic when they were still in the kitchen.

For a while, the hall was filled with the sound of toasts and joy.

At the same time, at the city gate, two generals under Wei Yan came out with dozens of civilians.

The two men shouted to the more than 1,000 soldiers left outside the city by Wei Yan: "Brothers, the general has already negotiated with the county magistrate and specially prepared wine and food to reward us. After everyone has eaten and drunk enough, go into the city to change guards, and then let the brothers in the city come out to eat!"

Immediately, the civilians pushed carts loaded with buckets of food to the soldiers.

These soldiers had gone through untold hardships and walked in the mountains for more than twenty days. They were already exhausted. When they smelled the fragrance of the rice, their eyes lit up immediately. They rushed over and started to serve the rice as if they were snatching something. Some of them even threw away their bowls and grabbed a handful of rice with their hands and stuffed it into their mouths first. They didn't look like soldiers at all, but more like refugees and bandits who had been hungry for several days.

One of the soldiers, while wolfing down his food, asked the general who had just called out, "We have come a long way to attack the city. If it is according to the usual practice, we should at least let our brothers go into the city to get some gold and silver, and get a few women to have fun with. At the very least, we should open the treasury and distribute some money and goods to everyone. I wonder what the general has ordered?"

As soon as he said this, the other soldiers who were still eating raised their heads and looked at the general. It was obvious that they were also very concerned about this matter.

Why did everyone come here from afar and through so much hardship? It was all for money, women, promotion and wealth. After finally capturing the city, with the great achievement just around the corner, everyone wanted to have some fun. This was a common practice during sieges in the past, otherwise it would damage morale.

The general also showed a lewd smile: "Hehe, how could the general forget about this? Don't worry, the general has asked the county magistrate to do it. Tonight, our brothers can have a good time, with wine, meat, money and women. Let's enjoy ourselves and set off again tomorrow morning!"

When the soldiers heard this, they were all delighted and shouted "General Wei is mighty" again and again.

The 1,500 to 1,600 men quickly finished their meal, and under the command of the generals, they put on their armor, lined up neatly, and walked towards the city. The soldiers on the city wall had also lined up again, preparing to relieve them at the city gate.

After the generals of both sides saluted, the soldiers who were originally outside the city divided into several groups and went up the city wall from different directions. The soldiers who were originally on the city wall went outside the city. Then, the laborers packed up the food buckets and carts and prepared to return to the city, while another group of laborers pushed new food out of the city.

The soldiers who had just arrived outside the city took off their armor, dropped their weapons, and sat on the ground, waiting for their meals.

The two groups of laborers walked towards each other and soon came in front of each other. At this time, one person from each group suddenly raised his head and winked at the other.

Afterwards, the two men took the lead and kicked over the cart. It turned out that the board under the cart had two layers with a layer in the middle. After being kicked, the layer cracked, revealing a number of swords in the middle!
Soon after, the rest of the laborers followed suit. Almost in the blink of an eye, these nearly one hundred laborers pulled out their weapons from the interlayer of the cart.

Such a sudden change shocked the more than 1,000 soldiers who were completely relaxed and resting and preparing for dinner, so much that they were unable to react for a moment.

However, these nearly one hundred civilians moved extremely quickly. They held swords in one hand and tore open the sleeves of the other hand, revealing sleeve arrows on their arms. Thousands of crossbow arrows were shot at the soldiers in unison.

Amid the wailing and screams of many soldiers, several Jingzhou soldiers and generals finally came to their senses, hurriedly picked up their weapons again, and shouted loudly.

"There's an ambush, there's an ambush!"

"Quick, pick up your weapons and kill them all!"

However, after shooting a wave of people, these civilians did not linger in the battle, but quickly retreated back into the city. Afterwards, the more than 1,000 people outside the city watched helplessly as the city gate was closed.

But even so, they were not in a hurry. After all, they still had their soldiers guarding the city wall, and the enemy only had dozens of people, so there was nothing to worry about.

However, what they did not see was that almost at the same time as the laborers closed the city gates, the citizens in some houses and shops near the city wall, who had been trembling with fear, suddenly changed their attitude, took out bows and crossbows, swords and knives from the corners of the houses, and ran up to the city tower in groups with very agile movements.
"Sui Su Su Su..."

Accompanied by a volley of bows and crossbows, the Jingzhou soldiers on the city wall were caught off guard and quickly shot down hundreds of them.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack! There's an ambush!"

The other soldiers immediately raised their weapons and prepared to charge forward. However, before they could take two steps, they suddenly felt severe abdominal pain and were in so much pain that they could not move at all.

The crossbows on the opposite side also stopped. A man walked out, looked at them and sneered.

"Don't worry, it's not poison, it's just some croton seeds. It will just cause diarrhea, but it won't kill you. But if you still refuse to surrender, our knives can kill you."

At this moment, these Jingzhou soldiers had no other ideas except finding a toilet. They no longer had the slightest desire to resist and dropped their weapons in surrender. The few who resisted stubbornly were quickly killed.

The man waved his hand at the soldiers behind him and said, "Take their weapons, then take them down the tower, and find a place for them to have a good fight."

After he finished speaking, he pursed his lips in annoyance: "Wei Yan is really cautious and eats in batches, which makes us have to spend more time thinking."

A man beside him laughed and said, "Hey, these so-called Jiangdong elites, in our eyes, there is no big difference between a thousand people and a hundred people, they can't delay the general's business."

"That's right." The general gave orders to several of his subordinates: "Each of you will bring thirty archers, separate to the left and right, with one person standing every two steps, facing the outside of the city, and listen to my orders."

He came to the city wall and shouted to the Jingzhou soldiers below: "The city gate has been captured by our army. If you are willing to surrender, drop your weapons and squat on the hillside fifty steps away. If you resist, I will kill you without mercy."

Although the Jingzhou soldiers outside the city saw rows of bows and crossbows pointing at them on the city wall, the number did not seem to be large, only about two or three hundred people, so they were naturally dissatisfied.

"Brothers, we have come here with so much hardship, we must not give up halfway. Although the enemy has an ambush, they are short of manpower, so they have to use this method to ambush us. Let's charge into the city and make another contribution!"

Led by several generals, the more than 1,500 people once again raised their fighting spirit and rushed towards the city gate.

The Han army general on the city wall seemed to have foreseen this and waved his hand, and a row of bows and crossbows were instantly fired towards the city.

In a blink of an eye, hundreds of people were killed or injured, but at this time many Jingzhou soldiers had rushed to the city gate.

"Brothers, this city gate has long been in ruins. Listen to my command and break it open together!"

"One...two...three, hit!"

Just when they were working together to rush forward, the city gate opened by itself. The soldiers were unable to control their strength and fell forward one after another.

"Quick, stand up and rush to the city..."

The man stopped talking halfway. The Jingzhou soldiers behind him didn't know what was going on, so they pushed forward and shouted, "Why did you stop? Hurry up and go in. Let's all go up to the tower and take back the city gate."

However, when those who were shouting finally saw the situation ahead clearly, they were completely dumbfounded.

Inside the city gate, on the street about fifty or sixty steps ahead, there were rows of archers, standing ready with their crossbows pointed at them.

These Jingzhou soldiers had also witnessed the power of the Shenji Crossbow, which could fire ten arrows in a row with a range of eighty steps. Once it hit the target, it was enough to pierce the chest and penetrate the armor.

The leader of the archers shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed, otherwise they will be killed without mercy."

More than a thousand Jingzhou soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. They were unwilling to surrender. If they did not surrender, the archers on the city wall and in front of them would fire their bows and crossbows at the same time. Even if the thousand of them could break out, there would probably not be many left. What's more, since the enemy had set an ambush in advance, General Wei would probably not be spared. There were vast mountains and wilderness all around, so what could they do even if they broke out?

Before they could respond, they suddenly heard a series of very orderly footsteps outside the city behind them. These Jingzhou soldiers were all veterans. Just by listening to the sound, they knew that there were at least two or three thousand of them. Moreover, their footsteps were so orderly. They must be elite infantrymen wearing full armor and boots.

Sure enough, when they looked back, they saw a group of soldiers wearing dark red armor and holding swords, marching in a goose-shaped formation towards the city gate in an orderly manner.

The morale of the crowd was completely gone. They no longer had the slightest desire to resist and they dropped their weapons and surrendered.

(End of this chapter)