knife

Chapter 787: Surprised
March, the warm spring month, is the best time of the year.

For talented men and beautiful women, and wealthy families, it is the perfect time for spring outings and camping. The withered grass has just changed its clothes, and amidst the greenery, one can occasionally see scattered red or green flower buds. The early-blooming branches are covered with buds, and in a few more days, green leaves will cover the entire branch.

For farmers, however, it is the busy season, and everyone in the family has gone to the fields early to take care of them.

In the paddy field, the young couple, barefoot and with their trousers rolled up, held a handful of rice seedlings in their hands, arranging each seed of hope neatly and orderly in the field.

On the edge of the paddy field, a naked toddler was playing in the mud, his hands and face covered in mud. He would occasionally wave his paw and bark at the young couple working in the field. Behind the toddler, a large black dog was curled up against the child's back. Beside the dog, a tabby cat was tentatively reaching its paw into a hole. Inside the hole, a crab was waving its shell, trying to protect itself from being caught by the cat's sharp claws.

This is the most beautiful scenery in the world.

But the sound of rapid hooves broke the tranquility of the area, and the young couple straightened up, looking in surprise at the caravan rushing across the road.

The fluttering flags were not the Phoenix Banner of the Great Chu they were familiar with, and the enemy's attire was also different from the Great Chu soldiers they had seen before.

The two men stared blankly at the cavalry rushing past.

Suddenly, two sharp arrows flew past, hitting the young couple in the rice paddy squarely. They didn't even utter a sound before falling backward into the paddy.

And sharing the same fate are many farmers working in the rice paddies next to them.

One arrow flew towards the little child on the embankment, but another arrow, fired later, struck first, deflecting the first arrow and landing next to the tabby cat that was huddled below the embankment, only its head peeking out to observe the cavalry on the road. The little cat let out a strange cry and suddenly arched its body and jumped up.

The big black dog stood up, shielding the baby with its body, baring its teeth and whimpering at the galloping cavalry in the distance.

After a full half-cup of tea's time, the cavalry finally drove away, their hoofbeats barely audible. Yet, the dust still lingered, and in the rice paddies, crimson blood spread in circles in the water, slowly turning the entire field a dark red.

On the edge of the paddy field, a little baby, who had stood up unsteadily, cried out loudly, his little hands outstretched in front of him. A big black dog turned sideways to block the little baby, as if afraid that he would fall into the paddy field. Little tabby sat on the ground, looking sadly at the young couple who lay motionless in the field.

The world is no longer peaceful.

The baby's piercing cries echoed through the air.

On the third day of the third lunar month, snakes emerge from the mountains!
Chang Lei, the Duke of Wei and the garrison commander of the Eastern Capital of the Great Qin, led 5,000 iron cavalry in a surprise attack on Huaiyang County.

All previous intelligence indicated that Chang Lei had amassed tens of thousands of troops and was preparing to march on Nanyang again to attack Xiangyang, the southern gateway, while the main force of the eight garrisons in Jiangnan was concentrated in Liyang County, preparing to encircle and annihilate the tens of thousands of southwestern wolf soldiers led by Na Wei, the regent of Chu.

Huaiyang County was completely unprepared, and Chang Lei marched straight in, unstoppable, and charged towards the city of Huaiyang County.

Ningping County, Shijiazhuang.

The farmers who were harrowing and planting rice in the fields rushed out of the fields and ran wildly towards the manor. In the distance, dust rose and hooves thundered. The previous owner of Shijiazhuang had served as a high-ranking official in the imperial court. Over decades of continuous management, he had built his manor into a fortified small city. The tens of thousands of acres of land surrounding the manor were naturally his private property. The surrounding people were either his tenants, artisans who depended on the manor for their livelihood, or even a considerable number of servants directly belonging to the Shi family, who were slaves in name only.

Standing atop the wall, the current estate owner, Shi Yong, stared palely at the approaching cavalry.

The main force headed towards the county town along the main road, but a small group, consisting of no more than four or five hundred riders, broke away from the main force and galloped towards Shijiazhuang.

On the wall, several hundred Zhuang soldiers, led by the guards, were fully armed. The arrow towers at the four corners even had crossbows that should not have appeared in civilian life. With the military strength of Shijiazhuang, they would not care about a thousand or two thousand bandits if they attacked. But this group did not look like an ordinary army.
All eyes were fixed on Shi Yong, and without exception, everyone's expression was a mixture of apprehension and fear.

Hundreds of riders stood in formation a short distance from the manor, but the leading officer did not stop at all. He spurred his horse and galloped towards the manor. When he was about ten feet away from the wall, his horse nimbly turned, and the officer leaped off his horse and flew straight towards the city wall.

On the city wall, several soldiers, terrified, released their bows without thinking, and several arrows flew towards the officer with a whistling sound. This scene made Shi Yong even more terrified.

In mid-air, the officer drew his sword and casually swung it, severing the incoming arrow into several pieces that scattered in all directions. The officer himself landed on the battlement, straddling it, his long sword pointed directly at Shi Yong, and shouted sharply, "The Duke of Wei is giving you a chance: surrender or die?"

Shi Yong swallowed hard and bowed, saying, "The entire population of Shijiazhuang, numbering twelve thousand, is willing to serve the Duke of Wei with utmost loyalty!"

"Very good!" The officer smiled with satisfaction.

A day later, the family members and relatives of the Shi family lord and important households were taken hostage to the rear. Meanwhile, the lord, Shi Yong, organized a force of three thousand men, equipped with their own food and weapons, and followed the cavalry towards Huai'an County.

The same thing happened in various places in Huai'an Prefecture.

Under the threat of the steel blade, the local strongmen of each village and town organized their local able-bodied men to become the auxiliary army of Chang Lei's raiding cavalry.

When Chang Lei entered Huaiyang County, he only had five thousand elite cavalrymen, but when he arrived in Huaiyang County, he was followed by more than three-tenths of his auxiliary troops.

I dare not say how strong these auxiliary troops are, but for Huaiyang County at present, these tens of thousands of people are already a mountain pressing down on it.

There are only a few thousand county soldiers left in the city.

The key issue is these few thousand men; by the time Chang Lei's army was at the city gates, they were no longer reliable.

These soldiers all came from the county and were drawn from various villages and hamlets. Now, outside the city, there are many brothers and uncles of these soldiers. When the enemy begins to attack the city, these people will be able to defend the city seriously.

Therefore, when Chang Lei's banner arrived at the gates of Huaiyang, the governor of Huaiyang surrendered cleanly and decisively.

(End of this chapter)