A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

The captain was stunned.

"Throw it over the wall?"

Huo Qingluan glanced at him.

"His Majesty's military order to me is to defend Pingyang."

She pressed her fingertips against the seams of the city wall bricks, her voice very soft.

"My order to myself was to leave Chen Mao behind."

The captain's throat moved, but he dared not ask any more questions.

Half an hour later, the Red Knife Army climbed up the third battlement of the west wall.

The new military forces began their retreat.

It's not a random withdrawal.

They retreated in stages, with crossbowmen going first, shield bearers following behind, and spearmen blocking the narrow ladders. They dragged the first few groups of the Red Blade Army onto the city wall and hacked at them for a while before suddenly clearing the way.

Chen Mao's eyes lit up when he saw the Xinwu Army retreating from the city wall.

"She can't hold on any longer!"

The lieutenant was still somewhat uneasy.

"General, this retreat was too neat."

Chen Mao sneered.

"So what if it's all over? If 10,000 are guarding 30,000, and the first one dies, the second one will die too."

He was most afraid of Huo Qingluan holding out.

Holding out will only lead to attrition, and attrition will introduce unpredictable changes for Guiping.

But now the city wall has been breached.

The opportunity is here.

"Order the entire army to enter the city!"

"Press down the west, north, and south gates together! Don't let her close them again!"

The Red Knife Army surged into Pingyang like a tidal wave.

The west wall was lost first.

The north wall was also left empty.

The defenders on the south wall didn't even finish pushing the logs before abandoning half of the battlements and retreating into the inner city.

As Chen Mao rode his horse through the west gate, a smile finally appeared on his face.

"That's all there is to it."

The lieutenant looked at the empty street and still felt something was wrong.

"General, it's too quiet in the city."

Chen Mao saw it too.

The streets and alleys of Pingyang's outer city were fragmented by wooden fences, cart arrays, and barricades. There were no people on the main street, and all the doors and windows were sealed off. Only a few roads remained that led into the inner city.

But he quickly suppressed his unease.

That's not surprising.

It's understandable that the Xinwu Army, having just captured Pingyang, feared unrest among the surrendered soldiers and thus relocated the people and blocked the streets.

Wei Zhao was always steady in his work.

Being too cautious might actually give him an opening.

"Divide the troops."

Chen Mao drew his sword.

"Left wing, occupy the north gate; right wing, occupy the south gate; central army, follow me into the granary. First seize the granary, then the armory!"

The lieutenant whispered, "Should we search the residential areas on both sides first?"

Chen Mao glared at him.

"Search my ass! Huo Qingluan isn't dead yet, take the granary first!"

He's not stupid.

As long as the granary is in hand, Pingyang is half captured.

As for Huo Qingluan's ten thousand men, can they cause any trouble after retreating into the inner city?

Half an hour later, the vanguard of the Red Blade Army rushed to the outside of Pingyang Treasury.

The warehouse door was open.

There wasn't a single bag of grain inside.

Chen Mao's smile froze.

"Where's the grain?"

No one answered.

A captain rushed into the storeroom and ran out a moment later, his face pale.

"General, it's empty! Completely empty!"

Chen Mao's eyelid twitched.

It’s over.

This wasn't a temporary move.

It's already been emptied out.

He turned around abruptly.

A loud bang suddenly came from the direction of the North Gate in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, the sound rang out from the south gate as well.

It wasn't that the city gates were breached.

The gate has been lowered.

Chen Mao's last shred of hope was shattered by that sound.

"Back to the West Gate!"

He had just finished shouting when flames rose in the direction of the west gate.

On the city wall, the new military flag was raised again.

Huo Qingluan stood on the west gate tower, pressing the battle flag in her hand downwards.

"close the door."

boom!

The heavy gate collapsed.

Thirty thousand Red Blade soldiers were cut off outside the city of Pingyang.

Chen Mao finally understood.

Huo Qingluan was not incapable of holding on.

She let them in on purpose.

This woman never intended to compete with him for the city wall from the very beginning.

She ceded three sides of the city wall so that the Red Blade Army could spread into the outer city streets and alleys, forming sections like a snake.

Once a snake is in a cage, it's difficult for it to turn around.

"Huo Qingluan!"

Chen Mao looked up and roared.

There was no response from the city gate tower.

Only crossbow bolts.

The first wave of arrows fell from the city wall, the second wave shot out from the rooftops on both sides, and the third wave came through from behind the wooden fence at the street corner.

Just as the Red Blade Army was about to form a battle formation, the wooden planks beneath their feet suddenly collapsed.

A dozen or so people in the front row fell into the pit, armor and all, the bottom of which was full of sharpened wooden stakes. The screams had barely begun when those behind were hit by oil tankers.

The fire break fell.

The fire spread along the street ditch.

Chen Mao's horse was startled and reared up, almost throwing him off.

"Stay calm! Everyone stay calm!"

He swung his knife and slashed down a retreating taxi driver.

"She outnumbers us! If we can just break through one door, we can get out!"

The lieutenant's face turned deathly pale.

"General, the north gate is blocked! The south gate too! There are crossbow formations outside the west gate, and the east gate... the east gate is completely surrounded by chevaux-de-frise and wagon ramparts!"

Chen Mao gritted his teeth.

"Then let's tear it down!"

On the first day, the Red Blade Army demolished three streets and killed six thousand people.

Huo Qingluan did not engage in a direct confrontation with them.

She simply closed the doors, fired arrows, blocked the roads, and burned the carts. When the Red Knife Army gathered together, she used slingshots to smash them. When the Red Knife Army tried to disperse, she used a spear formation to block the alleyway.

Chen Mao became increasingly annoyed the more he fought.

He would rather face Liu Jingshuang's style of fighting, sword to sword and gun to gun.

At least there are people there.

Huo Qingluan is different.

She seemed to have dismantled the entire city into a chessboard, with every street, every door, and every broken-down car acting as a tool for her to kill.

The next day, the Red Blade Army began to seize water.

The well has been filled in.

The water tank was full of sand.

Several seemingly unsealed courtyards concealed crossbows and kerosene.

The Red Blade Army rushed in to find water, and every single one of them died.

Chen Mao's voice was already hoarse.

"Huo Qingluan! Come out and fight if you dare!"

No one cares about him.

On the city wall, Huo Qingluan looked at the Crimson Blade Army rushing around in the outer city, her fingertips slowly moving across the battle formation diagram.

She was tired too.

Thirty thousand Red Blade soldiers are not thirty thousand sheep. They're easy to imprison, but hard to devour.

With only 10,000 elite troops at his disposal, if Chen Mao were to seize a point and launch a fierce attack, he would still be torn apart.

So we can't rush it.

Chen Mao was anxious, but she couldn't be anxious.

The Red Blade Army is thirsty, but she cannot be thirsty.

As long as the formation remains and the gate is closed, these 30,000 people will simply rot in the city.

The captain asked in a low voice, "Madam, should we try to persuade them to surrender?"

Huo Qingluan shook her head.

"If Chen Mao doesn't die, we can't surrender."

This kind of general is bold, but also greedy for credit.

He led his troops to bypass Pingyang, intending to step over Wei Zhao to seize power.

Such a person will not bow down until their last breath.

Then let's see him off until his last breath.

By dawn on the third day, the Red Blade Army had less than 15,000 men left.

Chen Mao finally stopped looking for the granary and the government treasury.

He concentrated the last of his mobile troops and charged straight for the west gate.

This is the only way out.

This was also the path Huo Qingluan left for him.

The wooden fence inside the west gate was smashed layer by layer, and the Red Blade Army charged forward, stepping over the corpses.

Chen Mao, with disheveled hair, a broken arrow stuck in his shoulder, and three cuts on his blade, was still pushing forward.

"Charge out!"

"As long as we break through, we can survive!"

Beneath the West Gate tower, the New Martial Army's shield formation finally pressed forward head-on.

Huo Qingluan walked down from the city wall and stood behind the shield formation.

She is not good at one-on-one fights, nor does she like to show off her bravery.

But at this moment, she had to be here.

Because Chen Mao was going to die at Ximen.

When Chen Mao saw her, his eyes turned red.

"Huo Qingluan!"

He led his personal guards and rushed forward.

The shield array opened a slit.

Three rows of spears thrust out simultaneously.

Chen Mao's personal guards were all pinned down, but he managed to break two spears in half with his sword and charged into the shield formation.

Just half a step.

The iron netting above fell down, pressing down on his shoulders and back.

The axemen on both sides simultaneously chopped at his feet.

Chen Mao knelt on the ground, still staring intently at Huo Qingluan.

"You...don't dare to fight me head-on?"

Huo Qingluan looked at him calmly.

"I am the commander-in-chief."

She took a long spear from a soldier beside her.

"Not a member of the martial arts world."

The spear tip pierced downwards.

Chen Mao's throat was pierced, and the rest of his words were stuck in his blood.

The last breath of the Red Blade Army dissipated.

Some threw their knives, some knelt down, and some tried to escape into the alley, but were shot down by a row of crossbowmen on both sides.

By evening, the outer city of Pingyang had quieted down.

Of the 30,000 Red Blade soldiers, more than half were killed, and the rest were captured.

Chen Mao's body was dragged outside the West Gate, and the Red Blade Army's banner fell into the mud and was cut in half by the New Martial Army.

Huo Qingluan stood beneath the city gate, her fingers still pressing on the array diagram.

The captain rushed over to report, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Madam, the entire 30,000-strong Crimson Blade Army has been wiped out."

Huo Qingluan nodded.