Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 378 Military Rations (Part 4)

"What?! The military rations have been stolen?!"

General Zhang, his face contorted with rage, slammed his fist on the table and rose to his feet. In his agitation, he aggravated his injury in his lower back, causing him to gasp in pain.

Zhou, the advisor, dared not raise his head and replied with a bitter face. Seeing that General Zhang's hair was standing on end and he was furious, the quick-thinking Zhou immediately called over the few unlucky guys who had escaped: "They were lucky to escape with their lives. General, you can question them carefully."

Upon being questioned, General Zhang became even more enraged. He immediately drew his sword and beheaded one of them, and the rest were dragged out and beheaded.

The following day, more than a hundred soldiers appeared on the open ground below the city gate of Bohai County.

They were all wearing Bohai Navy uniforms, covered in blood, looking disheveled, their hands bound behind their backs. They cried and begged their colleagues on the city gate to open it.

"Please, open the city gates and let us in."

"General Pei said he won't kill us, so please let us into the city!"

The Pei family army indeed showed no intention of sending troops today, remaining a thousand meters away from the city walls. Only the cries of the hundred-odd prisoners could be heard below the city gates.

The Bohai soldiers on the city gate were also stunned by the shouts, looking at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what to do.

"What are you standing there for! Shoot arrows! Kill these traitors!" a military officer roared angrily.

One soldier mustered his courage and said, "They were captured by the Pei family army, how did that make them traitors? They're all on our side. Let them in! At least give them a way out!"

These words moved the soldiers to tears, and for a moment, four or five of them spoke up in agreement.

The general grinned maliciously, pointed, and dragged out several of the daredevils. Before the horrified eyes of the soldiers, they were all beheaded: "Those who disobey orders, this is their fate! Now, all of you, draw your bows and shoot! Leave not a single one alive below the city!"

The soldiers numbly obeyed the order, drew their bows, and shot arrows.

The prisoners below the city were all bound together with a long rope. A volley of arrows felled a dozen or so. The rest tried to run, but they were tripped up by the corpses around them and couldn't move. One by one, they dodged in panic, screaming in agony, before falling into pools of blood, wounded by arrows.

In less than half an hour, all the prisoners were killed.

The Bohai soldiers on the city gate showed no joy or excitement; they were all numb and dejected.

The military general roared angrily, "What are you all looking so dejected for! Get yourselves together! When the Pei family army comes to attack the city, fight them to the death!"

Why?
why?
The soldiers were filled with indescribable indignation, and they gripped their weapons tightly, not daring to look at their general, lest their resentment spill over into their eyes.

“The soldiers of the Bohai Army are not ants, they are living, breathing people.” Pei Qinghe looked at the scene below the city from afar and sneered: “We have been besieging the city for more than a month, and they have been defending it with great difficulty. They have suffered many casualties and their morale is low. Now that we have taken away their military supplies, they are forced to shoot their comrades. They must be resentful and their morale is even more depressed.”

"We'll find out how effective this psychological tactic really is after today's fight."

Yang Hu, Li Chi, and others were invigorated and volunteered to go into battle.

General Lu, who was watching the battle, was also secretly amazed.

Pei Qinghe's psychological warfare tactic was truly shrewd and powerful! Not only were the young generals eager to try it, but even he, a veteran general who had led troops for many years, felt his blood boil.

Pei Qinghe selected the Guangning army to fight. Yang Hu was greatly encouraged and accepted the order with clasped hands.

The attacking side was ultimately an insubordinate force, and even with siege engines like cloud chariots to conceal their presence, they still suffered numerous casualties every day.

Today's siege went far more smoothly than usual. The Bohai soldiers on the city gates seemed to have lost their souls, their arrows whiffing weak and powerless.

When someone leaped from the chariot onto the city wall, the Bohai army soldiers not only didn't charge forward, but instead retreated. The supervising general killed several soldiers in succession, barely managing to stop the rout. Seeing that the city gate was about to fall, the general quickly sent men to request reinforcements. General Zhang sent three waves of reinforcements in succession before the city gate was finally defended.

After Pei's army withdrew, the wounded soldiers of the Bohai Navy were finally helped down from the city wall. They sat down slowly against the wall; those with minor injuries waited for the medics to treat them. Those with more serious injuries were basically left to die.

In Pei's army, everyone has a first-aid kit; if the medics are too busy, they can bandage each other for first aid. The Bohai Navy doesn't have such a luxury. Wound medicine is incredibly precious; how could General Zhang possibly provide first-aid kits to ordinary soldiers?

If a soldier dies, so be it. We can just conscript more soldiers later.

The military doctors prioritized the military officers, while the seriously wounded ordinary soldiers, waiting in vain for the doctors to arrive, died in agony.

Someone started crying.

"I don't want to fight, I want to go home." The dying wounded soldier cried out his last words before passing away.

The other wounded soldiers also began to cry.

The cries were incredibly infectious; soon, weeping filled the air below the city walls. To the uninformed, it would have seemed as if the city had fallen, or that General Zhang had been killed in battle!

General Zhang, who was on patrol, turned pale upon hearing the crying and swept his gaze coldly over the area. Zhou, the advisor, tensed up and gave a signal to a military officer. The officer immediately strode forward, drew his long sword, brandished it, and roared, "Shut up! Whoever's wailing, I'll kill him with one blow!"

The crying gradually subsided.

However, the atmosphere of despair and gloom, though intangible, was as real as it seemed, and it heavily enveloped everyone's hearts.

After General Zhang finished his inspection and left, the crying quietly began again.

……

"It sounds like someone is crying."

Emperor Jian'an, sitting listlessly on the dragon throne, suddenly let out a soft sigh.

It was nearly midnight, and everyone in the palace was asleep, all was quiet. The bright candlelight shone on Emperor Jian'an's slightly dazed and bewildered face.

For some reason, Eunuch Shen felt a chill run down his spine as he watched, and cautiously replied, "This servant did not hear any crying. Your Majesty, are you mistaken?"

Emperor Jian'an muttered to himself, "I was wrong. You're right, I was wrong from the very beginning."

He nervously twitched the muscles in his face, then burst into laughter: "I was wrong from the very beginning."

"I shouldn't have fled the capital back then, and I shouldn't have come to Bohai County to become this puppet emperor."

“Pei Qinghe has betrayed my feelings, and General Zhang is ambitious and has placed me under house arrest. I am now like a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.”

Emperor Jian'an's eyes were red, and his gaze was fixed, as if he were possessed.

Shen Gonggong felt a chill run down his spine.

Since being placed under house arrest, Emperor Jian'an has never left his study. He has become increasingly prone to talking to himself, suddenly bursting into tears or laughter…

Eunuch Shen stepped forward and whispered, "This servant knows that His Majesty is feeling aggrieved."

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to say this, we've come to this point. Perhaps we should fight with all our might; there might still be a chance for a turnaround."

(End of this chapter)