The Three Kingdoms: Rise of the Western Liang Cavalry

Legend has it that the Xiliang army was like wild beasts released from their cages, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.

But this army before them was like a precise surgical scalpel, cutting away the most stinking rotten flesh from this decaying city.

"Thank you... thank you so much, Captain Qin, for saving my life."

Cai Wenji bowed gracefully, her voice clear and cold like jade striking each other, carrying an indescribable sorrow.

"But my father is old, and there are still lost servants and family members in the family, I don't know..."

"Don't worry, young lady."

Qin Lie immediately understood and turned to a captain of his personal guards.

"You will lead a team to escort Cai Zhonglang and the young lady. If you encounter any members of the Cai family along the way, bring them back as well."

"The rest of you, follow me and continue the cleanup!"

Without any hesitation, he remounted his horse and turned his gaze once again to the Vermilion Bird Avenue shrouded in firelight and darkness.

That figure stood straight as a spear, and in the flickering firelight, Cai Wenji vaguely saw a mountain, a mountain that could support a small world for civilization and tradition in this chaotic world.

The night grew deeper and deeper.

The cries and screams within Chang'an gradually subsided, replaced by a more intense clashing of weapons and the orderly footsteps of Qin Lie's soldiers.

Zhang Heng's rear guard had already entered the city. Instead of participating in the pursuit, they quickly took over the various government treasuries, built barricades at several main intersections, set up large pots, and cooked the captured grain into hot porridge, which was then distributed to the surviving civilians who had come out of their hiding places.

A bowl of hot porridge may be insignificant in times of peace, but at this moment, it is more precious than gold.

Those emaciated, listless people, holding bowls of hot porridge that warmed their very core, watched the Xiliang soldiers silently distributing food and driving away stray soldiers. Many of them knelt down and wept bitterly.

They couldn't tell the difference between these soldiers and the previous ones. All they knew was that these people hadn't robbed them, hadn't killed their families, and had even given them food to keep them alive.

Inside the central command tent, the brazier was burning brightly.

Qin Lie frowned as he looked at the simplified map of Chang'an on the sand table.

Generals Chen Wu, Dian Wu, and Zhang Heng stood on either side, their expressions solemn.

"Captain, the south and west of the city have been basically cleared. More than 3,000 mutinous soldiers have been killed and nearly 2,000 defeated soldiers have been gathered."

"The treasuries and granaries in all locations are under control, but..."

Chen Wu stepped forward and said in a deep voice.

"However, the main forces of Li Jue and Guo Si have already assembled twenty miles outside the city. Scouts report that their strength is no less than forty thousand, and they are marching back with great momentum!"

"forty thousand?"

Dianwu's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

"What are we afraid of! With our eight thousand iron cavalry, we might just be able to hold our own!"

"Let them see who the real Xiliang army is!"

"We can't fight."

Qin Lie's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced everyone's discussion.

He raised his head and glanced at the generals.

"What is our purpose in entering the city?"

"It's about saving lives, it's about washing away the stain on our Xiliang army."

"Now, we have achieved most of our objective."

"The walls of Chang'an are dilapidated and leaky. We are outnumbered and outgunned. Fighting 40,000 troops in the city streets would be suicide."

"Moreover, there are tens of thousands of terrified civilians in the city. Once the war starts, they will inevitably become cannon fodder."

"So... we're just leaving like this?"

Zhang Heng was somewhat unwilling; he had just regained a sliver of dignity as a soldier from the grateful eyes of the people.

"Leave, but don't run away."

Qin Lie's finger struck a point heavily on the west side of Chang'an City on the sand table.

"Retreat to Mei'wu!"

"Meiwu?"

All the generals were taken aback.

"good."

A glint of light flashed in Qin Lie's eyes.

"Meiwu is a fortress built by Grand Tutor Dong at great expense. Its walls are high and thick, comparable to those of a county city. Inside, money and grain are piled up like mountains, enough for our army to use for several years."

"We took the rescued civilians and the captured supplies and retreated to Meiwu, where we held our position based on its strategic location."

"Li Jue and Guo Si have come from afar, but they are now mopping up their troops under a fortified city. If this continues for too long, they will become complacent."

"At that time, the initiative will be in our hands."

"Chang'an is a tomb of heroes, but not our foundation."

"Our roots are in Liangzhou!"

His words were like a wake-up call, calming all the hot-blooded generals down.

They finally understood that Qin Lie's gaze had long since passed beyond the dilapidated city of Chang'an and was directed towards a much more distant place.

The order was quickly relayed.

As dawn broke, when Li Jue and Guo Si's army, fueled by overwhelming rage, stormed to the walls of Chang'an, they found the city almost completely empty.

Qin Lie's army had completed its withdrawal. They took with them thousands of officials' families and ordinary people who were willing to follow, as well as all the gold, silver and grain that could be taken from the treasury. Like the tide that came and went overnight, they left everything behind.

All that remained was a devastated, empty city, and eight large characters written in blood on its walls: "Those who slaughter the people are traitors to the nation!"

"Qin Lie, you scoundrel! How dare you bully me like this!"

Enraged, Li Jue flew into a rage on his horse and chopped the flagpole beside him in two with a single stroke.

Guo Si's face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

"Chase!"

"He's carrying so much baggage, he can't go far!"

"Chase him to Mei'wu and tear him to pieces!"

However, when their army actually arrived at the walls of Meiwu, everyone gasped in shock.

The legendary "Long Live Fortress" is now heavily fortified, with banners waving atop its watchtowers.

Qin Lie's soldiers were in high spirits, their bows strung and swords drawn, coldly looking down at them below the city.

The siege broke out instantly.

The Li-Guo allied forces, as if possessed, drove the civilians and surrendered soldiers they had coerced, surging towards the fortified walls of the fortress like a turbid tide.

That was not a war, but a massacre, a mad ritual that used human lives as fuel in an attempt to burn down the fortified city.

Driven ahead by spears were the civilians they had just abducted from Chang'an, and the surrendered soldiers who had laid down their weapons.

Their eyes held no will to fight, only fear of the blades behind them and despair at the rain of arrows ahead.

"Release the arrows!"

On the city wall, Qin Lie's voice was completely calm, as cold as the bluestone on the Meiwu city wall soaked with night dew.

He didn't even look at the innocent people falling in droves under the rain of arrows; his gaze pierced through the tragic curtain of flesh and blood, fixed firmly on the Li-Guo army formation overseeing the battle from the rear.

This is not cruelty; it is a surgically precise cut.

To save this city, to save the world, we cannot have the slightest pity for the rotting body.

Arrows rained down like locusts, whistling sharply, turning the area below the city into a scene of carnage.

The rolling logs and boulders rained down relentlessly, each blow accompanied by a bloody, agonizing scream.