Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 142 Let’s Talk All Night

Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the soldiers of the Xiandeng camp pushed the battering rams and continued their attack under the rain of arrows and rolling logs.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The drums sounded loudly, and the wild beasts in the wilderness were awakened.

The military commander of the Lanqiu garrison leaned against the east wall and stared, muttering: "Have the Qingzhou army gone mad? They come to attack at night without even a torch, aren't they afraid that they will get into trouble along the way?"

By the time we could see the raised battering ram clearly, it was only ten feet away from the city wall.

The Liangzhou Army Sima's pupils trembled slightly, and he shouted: "Quickly bring small pieces of stone and smash those weapons for me. Don't let them get close to the city wall!"

"Hurry, hurry up!"

The sound of dense footsteps was heard on the city wall, and the soldiers from Liangzhou hurriedly brought stones. At this moment, shouts of killing suddenly arose from under the city.

Torches were also lit, illuminating the surrounding darkness.

Countless arrows shot through the air towards the city walls, making people afraid to approach the battlements.

"Puff puff..." Pieces of stone were thrown out with all their strength by the soldiers of Liangzhou. Some of them fell before they got close to the battering ram, while others hit the machine and it remained stable.

"Fuck him!" Jun Sima cursed when he saw it.

The people of Qingzhou actually reinforced their siege equipment. If stones didn't work, they had to use other things.

The military commander suddenly remembered the arrows fired by the Qingzhou army during the siege, and quickly pulled the officer next to him and ordered, "Hurry up and take someone to get some silk cloth, tie it to the arrowheads, light them on fire, and shoot them out to burn the enemy's weapons."

"This...this...I have never heard of this method being effective!" Although the military officer was panicked, he was also stunned.

"Oh, right, we need to use ointment, and the fire must be ignited with ointment so that it will continue to burn." The military commander clapped his hands and suddenly remembered that the arrows of the Qingzhou army contained something similar to fat.

"Yes!" The military officer hurriedly bowed and went down to prepare.

As soon as he finished speaking, a heavy sound was heard on the northern city wall, and the Qingzhou army's battering rams had already reached the city wall.

When the military commander heard the loud noise, he thought to himself, "It's over!"

A dozen soldiers from Liangzhou could not push the wooden pillar on top of the battering ram, nor could they cut it with swords, and the blades even left gaps.

Some people were about to push the bonfire next to them onto the battering ram, but they didn't know that the soldiers from the opposite side had already rushed up with long knives.

The leading soldier chopped down hard, directly cutting off the soldier's neck and arm, and blood gushed out instantly.

The Liangzhou army woke up and fought back with spears. The armored soldiers roared and charged into the enemy formation without fear. They swung their long swords left and right, cutting off limbs and arms wherever they passed.

He held three heads in his hands and attempted a sneak attack, and then he killed more than ten people in a row, but the blade couldn't bear the pressure and finally broke.

Zhang Fei quickly picked up the spear from the ground and angrily said, "I am Zhang Yide, how dare you, the Liangzhou thief, come forward and fight to the death with me?!"

Although there were dozens of bandits around at that moment, no one dared to take a step forward. Facing Zhang Fei, whose body was covered in blood and whose roar was loud, the soldiers could not help but feel their hair stand on end and a chill down their spines.

The soldiers who first arrived at the camp quickly rushed to the top of the city wall along the steps of the battering rams on the east and north sides. Soon, the Liangzhou soldiers engaged in close combat and blood flowed like a river. The screams of their fellow villagers were everywhere.

The military commander led his men with spears to fight back, but they were killed in an orderly manner by the soldiers who had first entered the camp. Seeing that their leader was dead, the morale of the Liangzhou bandits collapsed completely. In order to avoid being caught up and killed, some people jumped directly from the wall, and screamed miserably in an instant.

Someone followed suit and jumped, only the sound of heavy hammering was heard, no other sound. The people behind hurriedly stopped, but unfortunately they couldn't stand the shove, and a few more unlucky people fell down, and only one person screamed in pain.

Groups of defeated soldiers took off their armor and ran, trying to open the nearest south gate to escape from Lanqiu. The two city walls were completely occupied by the Qingzhou army. The city could no longer be defended. They had tried their best.

If they had not heard that the people of Qingzhou had no intention of letting go of the soldiers who had ravaged the people, they would have surrendered long ago.

Since we can't win and can't surrender, we might as well run away, run far away and never come to Hanoi County again.

Lanqiu City is extremely small. It appears to have three city gates from the outside, but in fact only the north and south gates are usable. The northern city wall has already collapsed, and running there would be tantamount to suicide.

Hundreds of people desperately tried to move the objects blocking the city gate, but they had only run two hundred steps when they ran into soldiers who were ready for battle, and were frightened out of their wits.

Seeing that the vanguard camp had already rushed into the city, Liu Bei ordered Camp A to split into three parts and block the city gates to prevent any defeated soldiers from escaping.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the south gate, he ran into the fleeing soldiers from Liangzhou. Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Kill them!"

After a while, the wormwood in the distance swayed in the wind, and the bandits nearby cried loudly, their voices were shrill.

In the wilderness of Hanoi where countless civilians were buried, the Liangzhou army put up a final, powerless resistance, with armor against unarmored, short weapons against long weapons.

The people were running too chaotically and it was difficult to chase them. Fortunately, the only dozens of guards left by Liu Bei were cavalry on horseback.

Soon it became inaudible. Liu Bei looked up at the fluttering red flag with the word "Liu" on the top of the Lanqiu City Wall and sighed lightly.

Raising a righteous army to comfort the people and punish the criminals can be considered a small revenge for the common people who died tragically in the capital.

In recent years, the Heluo area has been repeatedly ravaged and slaughtered by Dong Zhuo, his Liangzhou army and the Huns, turning the most prosperous place in the world into dilapidated ruins. The thriving wormwood is all grown on corpses and blood.

Without thirty years, I'm afraid there will be no recovery.

"Sir, the enemy troops in Lanqiu City have been almost completely killed. The three generals invite you to enter the city." The sergeant of the Xiandeng camp came to report.

"I won't go in. Now that the city has been captured, I feel relieved. Let Yide handle the rest."

Liu Bei said with a smile.

Piyuan and Xiuwu counties have not yet been captured. There may be another fierce battle tomorrow. I have to go back and discuss with my staff on how to attack the remaining cities. There is no time to waste in Luoyang.

He was also in a hurry to take over Xuzhou and had to "visit Tao Gongzu three times at his cottage". Mi Zhu sent a letter saying that Tao Gongzu was dying, but was still holding on for time for him. It was unknown how long he could hold on.

Once Tao Qian dies, Xuzhou will inevitably fall into chaos, and it will then take time to pacify the counties of Xuzhou.

Liu Bei said silently: "Zhang Yang, you have almost lost half of Henei County. Do you still feel safe sitting in Huai County?"

"When I reach Huai County, you will only have one-third of your territory left to mobilize. Even if I mobilize soldiers from an entire county, you will still not be able to defeat me."

Liu Bei could not guess what was in Zhang Yang's mind. Instead of dispatching manpower and financial resources to fight him when the territory was intact, he sat in the county city and watched Liu Xuande encroach on Henei County.

Indirectly sacrificed his life to slow down the other princes.

Liu Bei thought as he rode back to the camp and handed the reins to Dian Wei. He opened the tent and saw Xun You, Guo Jia, and Zhang Fan waiting for him. He couldn't help but smile and said, "You all look energetic and don't want to fall asleep. How about talking to me all night long?"

(End of this chapter)