Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 183 Letter

The war must be fought no matter what. If you really spend the night in the wilderness, the mosquitoes alone can take your life.

There is a lot of water in the south of the Yangtze River, and where there is water, there must be mosquitoes.

Liu Daogui not only had to think about Xie Yan, but also about his subordinates.

The night is long and dreams are many. Qiu Wang is a local nobleman and knows the terrain here. If reinforcements arrive, it will be even more troublesome.

However, the soldiers were full of fighting spirit and, as before, they all hoped to make a fortune.

The Taiwanese soldiers under Xie Yan's command looked as if they had lost their parents and had no fighting spirit at all.

Throughout the journey, Xie Yan was completely focused on "making achievements" and didn't care about the lives of his soldiers at all. It's no wonder that the morale of the army was low and no one was willing to work for him.

"See that city up ahead? Take it down."

Liu Daogui didn't waste any words. He put on his armor, held a shield in his left hand and an axe in his right hand, and strode forward.

"Kill!" The morale of the soldiers among the invaders was high, and they roared suddenly, scaring Xie Yan so much that he almost fell off the bamboo sedan.

The other officers gave him strange looks.

Rocks fell like raindrops, and the defenders resisted very resolutely.

However, they were somewhat inexperienced, as the soldiers among the conquerors were all veterans. After two feint attacks, which consumed a lot of their physical strength, they suddenly launched a fierce attack from the northwest.

After fighting for half an hour, Liu Zun was the first to climb the city wall.

There was a huge gap between the young and strong men and the Northern Army. Although they were also wearing armor, they had no formation at all, and their long spears had no rules and they just stabbed randomly.

Tan Ji led the right wing and easily broke into the enemy group, firmly occupying the city wall.

The strength of the two sides is not at the same level at all.

A bandit leader shouted from the top of the city wall: "The imperial court is unjust, we would rather die than—"

Before he could utter the last word, a crossbow arrow was stuck in his throat. Gao Xun added another arrow to the crossbow. Wherever the arrow pointed, the thieves in that area took a few steps back.

They were all farmers who had just put down their hoes. If they had not been forced into a desperate situation, they would not have followed Sun En in rebelling.

The three counties of Dongwu rose up in response to the Tianshi Dao and were not real evil bandits.

The battle was over the moment the conquering soldiers reached the city.

Liu Daogui shouted, "The city has been breached. Those who surrender will be spared!"

The soldiers also shouted: "The city has been captured, those who surrender will be spared!"

With a clang, someone dropped his weapon and knelt on the ground.

Others also dropped their weapons one after another.

Even though some people in the city were resisting stubbornly, the situation was hopeless and they could not change it.

The city gate creaked open. Xie Yan and others outside the city were still stunned. The siege was over in just an hour and a half.

But they were stunned, but the Taiwanese soldiers under their command were not stunned. They shouted: "Enter the city!"

Then, bursts of laughter broke out.

In the blink of an eye, flames shot up into the sky in the city, and the screams of men and women were heard together.

But Xie Yan remained unmoved. Liu Daogui came down from the city walls to meet him, bowing and saying, "Lord Xie, when I captured the city, I promised them that those who surrendered would be spared. The people of the Three Wus and Eight Commanderies have mostly been coerced by the bandits. We should adopt a conciliatory approach, demonstrate the court's benevolence, and the bandits will naturally disintegrate."

Several officers and officials sneered.

Xie Yan waved his hand. "They are just a bunch of lowly people. We should suppress them with our power and break the courage of the Three Wu bandits. As a general, we must not be too soft-hearted."

Liu Daogui did not expect this result, but he could not break his promise. When he was about to persuade him again, he was suddenly stopped by Liu Huaishen.

Xie Yan's face was gloomy as he walked into the city surrounded by officers and officials.

"Why are you pulling me?" Liu Daogui wondered.

Liu Huaishen said, "Wuxing Prefect Xie Miao was General Wei's cousin, and Nankong Lord Xie Minghui was the direct descendant of the Xie family. Both were killed by the rioters. The Xie family suffered heavy casualties. How could they let this go?"

Liu Daogui suddenly understood.

Xie Yan claimed that he was doing it for the imperial court, but in private he was still seeking revenge for the Xie family.

But... these cities are going to suffer. These Northern Palace soldiers are no less skilled than the Hu people.

The Northern Army was composed of expatriates from the north, while the people in the city were authentic Jiangdong people. Even after eighty years, the two sides had never considered each other as their own people.

This is how the northern barbarians and southern raccoons came about.

So when he took action, he showed no mercy.

Liu Daogui walked through the streets, hearing only screams and seeing the bodies of stripped women...

"Join the army, we...why not..."

Zhao Liangzhi, Lin Zhouzi and other old soldiers looked envious.

But seeing that Liu Daogui looked unhappy, they all shut up.

Liu Huaishen appeased them, "Quickly seize the treasury and take the money and grain as you please. But one thing is, you must not harm the people. Don't forget, you were brought here by Lieutenant Liu."

"Leader!"

The soldiers then left happily.

The burning and killing continued until dark. The Northern Army had already been traveling for several days, and the burning, killing and looting required energy and physical strength, so most of them were tired.

Liu Daogui and his soldiers were stationed at the east gate.

Zhou Zheng brought over a few sheep, washed and skinned them, and roasted them over the fire. In the blink of an eye, the aroma filled the air. "Alas, this world... With this chaos, the Sima family is finished."

He is a genuine Wuxing Zhou.

Liu Huaishen cut off a piece of cooked meat and handed it to Liu Daogui, "Kindness is not good for commanding an army, Agui, don't take it to heart."

Liu Daogui was not kind, but rather inexplicably irritable and depressed, with a feeling of betrayal.

At this time, there was a commotion outside the city gate.

Immediately, soldiers lit torches and saw groups of common people, including the elderly, children, and women. They supported each other, opened their eyes wide, looked at the "Liu" flag on the top of the city wall, recognized it, and knelt down one after another.

During the daytime siege, many people took note of this flag.

So now I come to find Liu Daogui, this city is not big...

Once daybreak comes, these "royal soldiers" in the city will have enough energy and will continue to do evil.

"You are so brave!" Liu Zunli shouted.

"We are at our wit's end. Please, General, give us a chance to live."

The soft Wu dialect sounds even more miserable.

Everyone has compassion. The soldiers looked at Liu Daogui one after another, with an inexplicable look in their eyes.

After following Liu Daogui for so long, he was naturally affected. He was scrambling to deal with the Hu people, but found it difficult to deal with the people of Jiangzuo.

Liu Huaishen whispered, "General Wei will not let this go if we release these rioters without permission."

Indeed, Xie Yan's posture clearly showed that he intended to take the people in the city as targets for revenge.

"Let him go." Liu Daogui whispered.

Liu Huaishen asked, "Have you thought clearly about the consequences, Ah Gui?"

"If you don't tell me and I don't tell me, who will know? Even if General Wei knows, what can he do?" Liu Daogui was not easily frightened. He had captured the city by himself, and he had said it himself that those who surrender would not be killed.

It's pitch dark in here, so what if the investigation is carried out on me?
The 2,500 conquered soldiers are not just for show.

Liu Daogui was completely disappointed with these noble families and did not expect them to help him. He was able to get to this point thanks to the soldiers under him.

This chaos was originally caused by those people in Jiankang City.

Xie Yan was so despicable, let alone other gentry.

"Open the gate." Liu Zun led his soldiers to open the city gate.

Waves of miserable cries rang out in the night. After leaving the city, someone kowtowed three times to Liu Daogui.

(End of this chapter)