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

When Han Dashan's first war drum rang out, the Black Mountain Army outside the north gate of Golden City had already pushed their ladders and rushed within three hundred paces.

"Release the arrows!"

The soldiers on the city wall shouted themselves hoarse.

The bowstrings twanged, and a rain of arrows fell. The front ranks of the Black Mountain Army fell in droves, but those behind immediately stepped over the corpses and charged forward.

All four sides are attacking.

The Black Mountain Army at the North Gate numbered 250,000, the Red Blade Army at the East Gate numbered 250,000, the combined forces of Bailu, Haidong, and Baiyue at the South Gate numbered 250,000, and the Iron Ridge, Hedong, and Qinglong forces at the West Gate formed a rearguard of 250,000.

There was no feint attack.

Han Dashan and Zhou Laodao have really gone mad this time.

Huo Qingluan saw it very clearly.

They didn't want to take the city of gold in one fell swoop; they wanted to launch a fierce attack from all sides, tearing apart her veterans, archers, siege weapons, medical camp, and militia.

If even one wall fails, the millions of displaced people in the city will explode.

It won't be a destroyed city then.

It's like the sky is falling.

"Rolling logs at the North Gate".

She spoke.

The messenger immediately waved the flag.

The next moment, a large log came crashing down from the city wall, knocking the Black Mountain soldiers on the ladders over, both men and ladders.

The screams pierced the city wall, and a new recruit turned pale as he heard them, his spear trembling in his hand.

An old soldier next to him slapped his helmet.

"What are you looking at? Are you waiting for him to climb up and chop your mother up?"

The recruit's lips were pale, but he still put the tip of his rifle back on the barricade.

His name was Chen Gou'er, a refugee who fled from Qingzhou.

I was assigned leather armor yesterday, and today I'm on the city wall.

The military officer told him that he would also be credited for defending the city and killing the enemy.

He believes.

But when he actually saw the crowd of people surging upwards, his legs still went weak.

The land is life.

But the enemy's knife was real too.

Chen Gou'er gritted his teeth, with only one sentence left in his mind.

Don't run.

If you run away, you'll lose your fields, and you might not even survive.

A Black Mountain soldier climbed up a ladder, his face covered in blood, and began to curse.

"New Martial Arts Dog -"

Before he could finish cursing, Chen Gou'er thrust his spear forward.

The spearhead missed its mark, not hitting the throat, but instead lodging in the man's shoulder.

The other man screamed and grabbed the gun barrel with terrifying strength, dragging Chen Gou'er toward the edge of the barricade.

It’s over.

Chen Gou'er's mind went blank for a moment.

An old soldier next to him chopped off the Black Mountain soldier's wrist with a slash and then kicked him over.

"Draw your gun!"

Chen Gou'er suddenly pulled the gun back, blood splattered on his face, and the heat made him want to vomit.

The old soldier grinned.

"Remember this, this is called 'one merit edge'."

Chen Gou'er was panting like a broken bellows, his hands were shaking even more violently, but his eyes lit up.

So it turns out enemies can die too.

It's not made of iron.

On the city wall, Huo Qingluan saw this scene, but her brows did not relax.

The fact that the new army can kill people is a good thing.

But they are still too inexperienced.

For every enemy killed, an old soldier would stand by and deliver the finishing blow, block a blow, and curse.

If this continues, the veterans will be exhausted.

This is exactly what Han Dashan wants.

"Urgent report from the East Gate!"

The scout rolled up the city wall, his knees hitting the stone steps. He got up and shouted.

"The Red Blade Army has scaled the wall! Old Dao Zhou is personally overseeing the battle; the East Gate is requesting reinforcements!"

Huo Qingluan stopped her finger on the array diagram.

The East Gate opened faster than she had anticipated.

Zhou Laodao is indeed a mad dog.

He didn't wait for the Black Mountain Army to grind the north gate first; he directly used veterans of the Red Blade Army to fill the wall.

Huo Qingluan did not scold.

Scolding is useless.

"Transfer 3,000 troops from the North Gate reserve to the East Gate."

The garrison commander's expression changed.

"Madam, the pressure is greatest at the North Gate!"

"I am here at the North Gate."

Huo Qingluan looked up.

"If the east gate falls, it will be useless to defend the north gate."

The defending general gritted his teeth.

"Yes, sir!"

After the three thousand veteran soldiers were withdrawn, the situation at the north gate immediately became critical.

When the Black Mountain Army saw the flags on the city wall change, the drumbeats suddenly quickened.

Han Dashan rode on his horse, his fat face hidden under his helmet, and flicked his whip.

"Charge! She's mobilizing troops! Golden City can't hold out!"

Within the ranks of the Black Mountain Army, the supervising officers drew their swords and charged forward.

"Those who retreat will be executed!"

The young men who had been forcibly conscripted ran forward crying, some even holding their shields upside down.

But with knives pointed at them from behind and arrows raining down from the city walls in front, they had no way out.

That's the most disgusting part.

Huo Qingluan looked at the people who had been driven over, her face growing even colder.

These people may not all want to risk their lives for Han Dashan.

But once they reached the base of the wall, they could only be considered enemies.

She cannot be soft-hearted. If she is, those new soldiers on the city walls who want to take land to survive will die.

"Oil".

"fall!"

The scalding hot oil was poured down, and screams erupted instantly beneath the wall.

The torches were dropped, flames leaped up, and the ladder and the corpses burned together.

Under the city.

The Black Mountain Army's siege ladders were erected again.

East Gate.

Old Zhou himself stood on a siege engine, and the Red Blade Army's red flag had already been planted halfway up the wall.

"Press it upwards!"

His voice wasn't loud, but all the veterans of the Red Blade Army could hear it.

These people had fought him for grain, killed officials, and massacred cities; they were the least afraid of death.

The new military merit system could drive the poor crazy, and Zhou Laodao's Red Knife Army was no pushover either.

"The first to reach the summit will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver!"

Someone yelled.

The Red Blade Army soldiers roared and charged forward.

The defenders on the city wall were slashed and forced to retreat three steps. A new army gunman was held by the Red Blade Army's gun barrel, and the next moment he was slashed on the neck.

Blood splattered onto the face of Lu Cheng'an, a scion of a prominent family, who was standing nearby.

Lu Chengan was stunned for a moment.

He joined the army because his family's old noble rank was about to be demoted.

He was good at riding and shooting, and had read military books. He felt that even if he went to the battlefield, he should be better than the refugees.

But when he actually stood on the city wall, he realized that military strategy books could not stop a sword.

People don't follow any rules when they die.

Even if a knife is slashing into your neck, it won't slow down just because your surname is Lu.

A Red Blade soldier scaled the city wall and swung his sword at him.

Lu Cheng'an raised his sword to block, but his wrist went numb from the impact, and he crashed into the wall.

A refugee gunman rushed over and plunged his spear into the waist of a Red Knife Army soldier.

The refugee himself was also slashed in the shoulder by the Red Blade Army before he died; half of his armor split open, and blood gushed out.

Lu Cheng'an gritted his teeth, got up, and thrust his sword into the enemy's throat.

The refugee gunman glanced at him, wincing in pain.

"Young master of a noble family, you owe me a life."

Lu Cheng'an was panting.

"I'll pay it back later."

Don't look back.

The vagrant grabbed the gun again and cursed, "Give it back now!"

Lu Cheng'an suddenly smiled.

His smile looked worse than his tears.

"OK."

He picked up the enemy's shield and, together with the refugee, pushed back the ramparts.

City walls are really strange things.

Before they came up, the aristocratic families and the refugees were separated by a ditch.

Once the enemy climbed up, everyone had only one thing left to do.

Don't let him put it on the wall.

The south gate was also bombed.

The Bailu Army, carrying the banners of the former Wei imperial family, had archers from the Haidong Army providing support from behind, while the Baiyue Army carried rattan shields and hooks to the city walls.

Even worse, they drove a group of people they had coerced along the way to walk ahead.

Those people cried and ran down the city walls.

"Open the door!"

"We are ordinary people!"

"Didn't Xinwu offer us a way out? Help us!"

The militiamen on the city wall turned pale.

Someone raised a stone in their hand and then put it down.

The deputy general guarding the south gate had veins throbbing on his forehead.

"The lady has ordered that anyone within twenty paces of the city gate be shot!"

The officers' voices were hoarse.

"They are ordinary people!"

The lieutenant grabbed him by the collar.

"Behind them are millions of ordinary people!"

The officer's lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

The arrow was released.

The people in the front row who were driven away fell down, and the Baiyue soldiers behind them immediately trampled over the corpses and rushed forward.

Many of the new soldiers on the city wall had red eyes.

They've seen dead people before, but shooting such people with their own hands is too much for them to bear.

When Huo Qingluan arrived at the South Gate, she saw an archer throw his bow on the ground and kneel down crying.

"I can't shoot anymore... They're not rebel soldiers..."

Huo Qingluan walked over, picked up his bow, and put it back in his hand.

"If you don't shoot, the Baiyue soldiers behind them will climb up."

The archer looked up, his face streaked with tears.

Huo Qingluan looked at him, her voice not softening.

"This debt is owed to Han Dashan and Zhou Laodao. If you want to avenge them, live until after the war and exchange the rebel king's head for land."

The archer's fingers trembled, but he finally managed to put the bowstring back on.

Huo Qingluan turned around.

Another arrow fell behind her.

Is she feeling uncomfortable?

Of course it's uncomfortable.

But she couldn't let this discomfort override her judgment.

The Golden City is not just her personal arena of good and evil; it is the gateway to the new Wu Dynasty.

The door broke, and the people inside didn't even have a chance to cry.

The Tieling army at the West Gate is the most troublesome.

Qin Lie's men advanced silently, their shield formations advancing, their crossbows and bows alternating, and their siege engines pushing forward inch by inch.

This is neither the brutal killing of Han Dashan nor the mad dog-like pounce of Zhou Laodao.

This is a man who knows how to fight.

Huo Qingluan stood on the west gate tower, looking at the formation of the Tieling army, her fingers slowly tightening.

Qin Lie did not come in person, but the generals he sent were very reliable.

It's so stable it's annoying.