Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 133 Breaking Huangyu City
On August 9th, under the scorching summer sun, a slight breeze stirred up a cloud of dust. Some of this murky air was dust kicked up by passing troops. At this time, the troops of Gu Shou Pass were marching south, preparing to rescue Huang Yucheng.

When this mobile force, composed of dragon-horse, jade-brave cavalry, and white jade lions, was halfway there, the dragon-descended general Yuwen Li, who was leading the force, encountered a messenger from the western dragons.

Yuwen Li, riding his dragon horse, immediately dismounted and knelt down upon seeing the phantom image of the dragon: "Grand Tutor!"

In her illusory form, Pu'e inquired about the situation in Bo County without any expression. After confirming that Huang Yucheng had been surrounded, she gave a clear order: "Return to Gushou Pass."

Pu'e issued this order based on Zhao Cheng's advice.

Two days ago, in their tent, Zhao Cheng said, "If the connection between Huangyucheng and Hucheng is still there, concentrate your forces in Huangyucheng as much as possible. If the connection between Huangyucheng and Hucheng has been severed, do not hesitate to concentrate all your forces at Gushou Pass."

Without a doubt, this decision was a drastic one, something no other lord in the Hao Kingdom could have done.

As for Pu'e, she wouldn't have adopted the suggestion if it hadn't been made by Zhao Cheng.

General Longyi was slightly taken aback when he heard Pu'e's order. If the scales of the dragon that carried the message were not from Pu'e and could not be faked, he would have thought it was a false message from the people of the Southern Yao region.

Yuwen Li looked up at Pu'e's illusory figure: "Where is Huang Yucheng?"—Beside the projection, the other Haotian people were also kneeling and waiting for orders.

Pu'e looked dejected: "You don't need to worry about that."

Yuwen Li finally received the order. When the dragon transformed back into scales, he carefully gathered them up, so that if the military commissioner Huang Yucheng escaped unscathed and later inquired about it, this would serve as his proof.

Yuwen Li ordered his subordinates to gather their troops and then looked towards the gathering malevolent aura in the south: "Has the situation truly come to this?"

…Scene change…

Pu'e, who was transforming into a dragon and rushing eastward high in the clouds, took a temporary rest on a cloud layer supported by a mountain peak.

Pu'e had already confirmed that her orders had been obtained by Yuwen Li of Gu Shouguan, and was also analyzing the situation in Bo County.

Because Zhao Cheng gave an "alarming" assessment of the deteriorating situation in Bohai, Pu'e couldn't help but feel apprehensive.
Pu'e muttered to herself, "Has the situation really come to this? Can a legendary general in this storyline reach this level?"

After resting on the mountaintop, Pu'e transformed into a bolt of lightning and sped towards Gushou Pass. This startled the herb gatherers at the foot of the mountain who had seen the dragon's shadow, causing them to crouch down and hide.

…clouds flowed beneath the dragon's claws…

Just as Wu Fei's forces had finished annihilating the Huang Yucheng and Sun Yong groups, handing over the prisoners, and preparing to gather their strength to head north and intercept the reinforcements from Gu Shou Pass, they suddenly heard news that the Dragon Descendant Legion was withdrawing from Gu Shou Pass. After confirming that his own troops couldn't catch up, Wu Fei let out a deep breath.

Ignoring his frustration at "getting away with the bait," Wu Fei pondered carefully, "It seems that person (Zhao Cheng) is coming soon."

According to Wu Fei's plan, if he annihilates the reinforcements at Gu Shou Pass, he can then take Gu Shou Pass after dealing with Huang Yucheng. In this way, he can directly restore the battle lines to what they were 25 years ago, thus rendering the Dragon Descendants' ten years of hard work futile, leaving them to go back to the north and suffer the cold.

However, the garrison at Gushou Pass had clearly sensed something was wrong, and their swift departure made Wu Feixin uneasy.

Wu Fei also made no hesitation, readjusting his strategy and deciding that he must quickly take Huangyucheng, then sweep through the entire Bo County and stabilize his base.

…The peacock carried Wufei away in a hurry…

During the five days that Sun Yong was intercepted, the work plan in Huang Yucheng did not stop. The sergeants began to carry out the civil engineering work step by step according to the theory taught by Wu Fei.

After Wu Fei led three thousand elite troops back to the siege site, he dispersed the elite troops to the rear camp to rest. He then entered the siege army's combat command post and immediately started the siege mode with almost no "cooldown".

As the flags waved, the various siege points around the city began to move.

Having obtained the city's defense map, Wu Fei selected the east and south sides as his primary attack points.

Wu Fei's calculation: "The east and south sides of Huangyu City happen to be the wealthy areas of the city. If the Hao Army in the city goes back and forth to provide support, they will either bypass this area or be tempted to 'buy a gun for free'."

The tunnels on the east side were dug starting 500 meters away, first dipping eastward and then westward. They moved forward little by little in a zigzag pattern. When they got close to 100 meters, they built multiple U-shaped tunnels and set up firing points in front of them, allowing muskets to fire at the city walls through the earthen mounds and suppress the crossbows on the city walls.

The crossbows fired from the Hao army's city walls were either blocked by the earthen pits, or the stone projectiles they launched bounced back and forth on the pit walls, making a few dents in the soil before disappearing; their artillery fire was like trying to pick earwax deep inside an ear canal with your fingers, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't reach it.

Then another tunnel was also cleverly approaching, aligning with the corner of the city. As the tunnel advanced to within 300 meters, a cannon was pushed into the tunnel. The tunnel was flanked by earthen walls, making it impossible for the cannon to turn, but the muzzle was raised in the tunnel, pointing directly at the corner wall of the city, where everyone standing was under the threat of cannon fire.

With a loud "bang," the cannons in the tunnel opened fire, and a small plume of smoke appeared. Hao Jun, standing on the eastern city wall, suddenly sensed the artillery fire from the northeast corner. An iron ball ricocheted out from the northeast corner of the wall, bouncing and leaping along the east wall from north to south. A row of crossbowmen who had been firing at each other on the ground had their legs sliced ​​off by this diagonally inserted "bowling ball."

These Hao soldiers originally felt very powerful, relying on the wall and exchanging fire with a small number of Yao soldiers' musketeers in the pit below. But now, iron balls keep protruding from the side of the city wall, and everyone has to keep an eye on the northeast corner when exchanging fire.

Meanwhile, on the east wall, Hao Junshao stared down at the blasted trench that was also approaching the corner of the wall.

This set of steps represents the tactics for capturing cities after the bastion era and before the advent of pure steel cannons.

Ten hours later, on the walls of Haojun City, groups of short-haired, pointed-eared barbarians, clearly from another world, scaled the walls and fired muskets and arrows, suppressing the Yao army's exchange of fire in the tunnels. Their fire hit the edges of the tunnels, sending up plumes of dust. But it was all in vain, as the explosive tunnels had already entered the blind spots of the city walls' observation posts.

Meanwhile, construction work was underway in the south, while in the west, encampments were set up to block the main road. As for the north, the area was surrounded on three sides but left one open. Even with this open road, the Hezhuji in the north had planted the "Wu" banner, meaning that the fleeing soldiers who were trying to break out would not receive any support and would instead encounter the government troops.

On August 17, the defenders of Huang Yucheng discovered the problem and could only watch helplessly as the tunnels beneath the city walls extended. Those on the city walls attempted to launch oil grenades to force the enemy outside to abandon their attempts to breach the walls. However, the oil was covered by soil and failed to ignite.

As for Hao Jun, he did try to fight outside the city, but the soldiers he sent out braved the gunfire to rush into the first tunnel, only to be choked by the "noise bombs" and forced to climb out, where they were then killed like target practice.

By the 18th, the only thing affecting the siege's progress was a rainstorm that caused water to accumulate in the tunnels, forcing them to drain the water first.

Finally, in the last twenty meters of the tunnel, it was excavated towards the city wall in the form of a tunnel. The defenders on the other side of the city wall used earthenware jars filled with water to listen to the progress of the tunnel's extension, preparing to intercept and kill it, but they did not see the invasion.

On August 22, with a deafening roar, the southern part of the city shook violently, and the entire city wall swayed like tofu before collapsing. It wasn't just one section of the wall that collapsed, but twenty-eight points that were detonated in succession, the shockwaves simultaneously sweeping across more than a hundred meters of the wall, causing its disintegration.

In this explosion, Gongshu Wang's mechanical skills came into play; he created a mechanical clock as a timing fuse.

Only in this way can all the explosives explode within 0.01 seconds, and the shock waves vibrate together to form the optimal blasting effect.

"The earth... the earth dragon has turned over!" As the city collapsed, the soldiers who survived crawled out from the rubble, their faces covered in dirt and dust, shouting wildly to vent their fear and panic.

However, what followed was the drumming attack of the East Market Army, which forced these people to run around on the city wall in a passive manner, trying to play their part. However, as the scattering of shrapnel swept across the city wall, they realized that they were "useless" and hurriedly fled down the city wall.

After ten days of eating and drinking, the vanguard troops selected by Wu Fei climbed up the broken section of the city wall in one go. Half an hour later, they planted flags on the city wall, with their own losses amounting to less than half a percent.

The most severe loss occurred when Hao Jun's sorcerer used "Earth Yin Magic" to ambush Yao Jun through a breach in the city wall.

Giant mud hands, each three zhang in diameter, slammed down on the ground, hurling themselves at the attacking troops. This magic caused the Eastern City Army to suffer the heaviest casualties in this battle. Thirty soldiers were swallowed up by the mud.

Wu Fei then located the spellcaster on the city wall, who was protected by four well-armored Heavenly Court Dragon Guards.

After sensing the magical fluctuations carrying a yin aura, the peacock also sensed the direction marked by Wu Fei's evil aura, and thus began to release a spell targeting a single enemy.

Just as the mage Haojun, also known as the military commissioner, was about to unleash his second wind and fire spell, he suddenly felt a gust of evil wind in the sky. Then, streaks of "earthy yellow light" emerged from the city wall beneath his feet. His feet were swallowed up by the bricks and tiles on the city wall, as if the city wall itself were quicksand. Meanwhile, the dragon guards beside him tried to grab him, but were quickly swallowed up by the quicksand. The city wall silently devoured these men.

…The city fell just like that… Huangyu City was breached. The streets were in chaos. Wu Fei's cavalry were on the streets maintaining discipline, whipping any troublemakers they encountered, tying them up with ropes and taking them away, and executing those who ignored warnings on the spot.

Among the unruly soldiers captured, Wu Fei led some officers to identify and separate the "first to charge" scoundrels.

Those who made their way up the city were to receive a lash from Wu Fei's personal guards as a lesson, but their share of the spoils would remain unaffected. As for the other troops who caused trouble, their merits would be at least halved, and in some cases, wiped out entirely. Meanwhile, the local thugs and ruffians who took advantage of the chaos were executed on the spot.

The streets of the city fell silent as whips and muskets crackled, but for the city's residents, this was not a benevolent policy of "pacifying the people."

Wu Fei told his squad leader: "We are all respectable people. Let's find a more civilized way to eat these prisoners of war."

Therefore, Wu Fei dispatched loud-voiced soldiers to announce throughout the city: Everyone in the city must gather in the square; anyone who fails to do so will be executed on the spot. (To the soldiers searching the city, Wu Fei also reminded them: You can execute them on the spot, but there is a reward for capturing them alive.)
Under these circumstances, the city's population quickly gathered in the open space, and the military police of the East Market Army prioritized separating all the women from the prisoners. Then, among the men, they also identified the short, sallow-faced boys. They made them remove their trousers to verify their identities, and unsurprisingly, a large number of high-quality women were also selected.

The younger ones were kept in centralized custody, some were distributed to the soldiers who had distinguished themselves in this battle, and the rest were sent to the rear to be cared for until the next battle when the soldiers would be paid. As for those who were not attractive enough and were too old, they were sent to the local militia to be sold by the clans in the village and distributed to the old bachelors in the village.

As for the men, they were to fill the salt fields and mines in eastern Bo County that had been taken over by the merchants who had accompanied the Eastern Market Army northward. These places needed cattle and horses. The current land reclamation efforts of the maintenance committee also needed "heroes" to dig irrigation ditches.

As for the land outside the city, Wu Fei looked at the records of various families in the household register and the jade tablets he found among them. He began recruiting members of the maintenance committee to participate in the land allocation.

Before the upheaval in Bo County, the aristocratic families who had pledged allegiance to the puppet emperor and those within the city were all one family. However, one had clung to the puppet emperor's coattails for ten years, while the members of the puppet government had held out until the arrival of the puppet emperor (Dongshi Army). Thus, this marked the beginning of the restoration of order.

…This matter concerning the aristocratic families will be handled separately…

Facing the kneeling family elders of the city who were trying to curry favor with him, Wu Fei smiled kindly: "Don't worry, everyone. I am not a murderer. As the Great Yaotian Army reclaiming this place, we need to restore production and collect taxes again."

Wu Fei had a different story in his mind: After the war, the means of production were redistributed. After each battle, those who were in power were suppressed and replaced by a new group of people in power.

Wu Fei sat on the high platform, facing the local tycoons in the wide square. He didn't personally shout out his policies to them. Instead, he clapped his hands and signaled his personal guards to take bamboo slips and read them aloud to the people.

The guards walked past the hundreds of prisoners and read from their script: "After paying the ransom, you may leave the city to seek refuge with your relatives." In the square, each family selected a few people to discuss the matter, and then sent a representative to Wu Fei to indicate their willingness to pay the ransom. Of course, because many families were "poor," they could only ransom the young boys.

Wu Fei focused intently on the prisoners, much like a homeroom teacher observing students discussing among themselves in class. As the prisoners clustered together, he could clearly discern which of the city's prominent families were the core members.

After the family was divided up, a twist occurred as servants and masters separated.

Suddenly, one of the men in the servant group shouted, "Sir, sir, I want to report that my cousin is rich."

These servants, slaves, and even some distant relatives were already desperate when they realized they wouldn't be pardoned. In those days, forced labor often meant going seven out of ten times. Therefore, they would absolutely not let go of any sliver of hope.

Wu Fei didn't ask for much ransom, just thirty taels of silver per person. This was something the servants simply couldn't afford. And this led to further complications.

Soon, these distant relatives abandoned the unity of the extended family, and the servants also abandoned their master-servant relationship. After all—if they really left like this, they would never see each other again, so they had to seize the opportunity to rekindle this "affection."

The army re-entered the city, and led by their guides, they unearthed vast quantities of gold and silver from wells, under trees, and within the city's bricks and tiles. These valuables were the proceeds of the powerful clans' hopes for a future resurgence; if extracted, they would be enough to pay the ransom for all their servants. However, they were reluctant to part with them, fearing that Wu Fei would seize them. But now—

"No matter how much you guard against it, it's hard to guard against a traitor within your own family!" an old clan chief cried out in anguish, before collapsing and dying.

On the outpost, these servants and members of the powerful clans achieved their own redemption, and Wu Fei kept his promise and granted them their freedom. As for these jovial people, they looked utterly embarrassed when they saw their former masters, whom they had just robbed. Although they were no longer forced into labor, their families had fallen apart.

The amount of gold and silver plundered was so great that even after redeeming the slaves and collateral relatives, there was still a large surplus.

Regarding this money, Wu Fei did not divide it among himself, but instead registered it in its entirety. He announced that it would still be allocated to the accounts of the whistleblowers, to help them buy shops in the city. — Everyone in the square whispered among themselves.

They quickly realized what this meant after a moment's thought. They had dug up the money just to gain their freedom, but now General Wu was taking the money and distributing the city's properties to them!
Of course, why was Wu Fei being so kind? Some of the collateral branches immediately realized that General Wu was trying to win people's hearts, and they could take advantage of his proximity. So, a particularly astute member of the collateral branch shouted, "My lord, I want to report! I want to report that Li Feikang colluded with the traitors of the false Hao Dynasty in the 24th year of the reign (ten years ago), selling materials for bows and armor. He is disloyal and unfilial to my Great Yao!"

Immediately, the whistleblower's family, dressed in fine clothes and clearly from a prominent family, began to loudly rebuke him: "You little brat, spouting nonsense!"

Wu Fei immediately waved his hand, and the soldiers restrained the man who was making the physical attack. Wu Fei: "Get him out of here!"

After the troublemakers were dragged away, Wu Fei met with the whistleblower and shook hands with him warmly. This made his attitude very clear: this was their chance to turn things around, as long as they dared to pledge their loyalty.

…Wu Fei: I don't understand your power struggles within the family; I just want to support my agent…

On September 1st, after experiencing the harrowing fall of the city, the unforgettable chaos, and the shameless accusations between the new heads of various families, they finally returned to their residences in the city. Before they could even sit down, they were greeted by Wu Fei's personal guards. The family heads, who had just taken a sip of water, nearly choked to death.

Wu Fei's personal guards demanded that everyone come to the banquet.

Among the Li Fei (surname) clan, a young man looked up at the carriages and horses sent by Yao Jun. At this moment, he was not as panicked as the others, and comforted his father, saying, "Father, if this general wanted to kill us, he didn't need to do this. If we seize the opportunity at this banquet, we may have a chance to turn things around."

The clan chief of Lifei said, "Let's hope so. I've heard that this general can extract oil from stones."

…on the other side…

Inside the restaurant, Wu Fei perused the account books. The gold and silver treasures unearthed by the families and servants of wealthy clans were far more than what the army had looted from the treasury. After all, during the month-long siege, every household had prepared to hide their wealth, but no matter how well they hid it, they hadn't expected it to be exposed by their own people.

A Beijing officer standing nearby asked Wu Fei, "Sir, why don't we just rob them directly? Why do we need to discuss it with them?"

Wu Fei reached out and tapped him on the head: "You're supposed to be from a prominent family in the capital, why don't you learn to be good? Why don't you just rob people and become a bandit?" The officer who was tapped on the head immediately fell silent, while the other officers nearby curled their lips and thought to themselves: You're much more ruthless than a bandit.

Wu Fei advised these good-for-nothing scoundrels: "You only see the wealth they've amassed, but you don't see how they amassed it. Directly stealing their wealth is like living off their savings, and the money will be spent like water in the war, it won't last long. But if we control these guys' lifelines, we can obtain a continuous stream of wealth."

…The Feast at Hongmen has begun…

At the banquet, Xuan Chong chuckled as he described their predicament to the clan leaders. He explained that they had risen to power by stepping on other members of their clan, and that the people below were not convinced. He worried that they might be overthrown by their own people in the future.

The clan leaders were embarrassed, but none of them made a statement.

Then, seeing that they wouldn't listen to reason, Xuan Chong began to reveal some shocking information: "It seems that you all harbor resentment. You won't continue to lead the rebels against my Great Yao after the false Hao attacks, will you?"

After he finished speaking, everyone broke out in a cold sweat and knelt down in front of the table.

So Wu Fei then gave them two options (actually, there was only one).

The first condition is that they be given some gold and silver, which will allow them to travel north to the Hao Kingdom.

Secondly, a "ticket shop" will be built in the city. Their family wealth will be stored in the ticket shop, and tickets will be issued for all goods entering and leaving the city. They will also serve as a supplier of supplies for the army.

After all the wealthy households exchanged bewildered glances, the young man, Li Feikeng, immediately stood up, stating that he had connections in buying and selling warhorses from the grasslands and was willing to serve the army. (This was, after all, his family's business.)
Wu Fei was overjoyed and immediately granted Li Fei the rank of captain to oversee the operation. He also provided him with funding.

The newly rich in Huangyu City had a breakthrough in their thinking: "Passively offering money before wasn't enough; we must actively continue to align ourselves with this General Wu!"

Faced with these "fools" who had survived the massacre, Wu Xiaoque's heart was touched, and she thought to herself, "If you want to call me master, you have to do it sincerely. That way I won't have the heart to bring my knife down. I'm the kindest; I won't slaughter any obedient livestock."

(End of this chapter)