The Three Kingdoms: Rise of the Western Liang Cavalry

Dianwu's eyes were bloodshot, and he drew his large bow to its fullest extent, each arrow precisely piercing the throat of a supervising captain.

The Qin family's private soldiers around him silently carried out orders, loading and firing, their movements mechanical and efficient, as if they were not facing living people, but a rising tide that had to be contained.

Li Jue and Guo Si's tactics were simple and brutal; they aimed to use human lives to wear down the arrows and the stamina of the defenders at Meiwu.

They firmly believed that this fortress, built by Dong Zhuo with all the wealth in the world, would eventually be overwhelmed by endless corpses.

However, they were wrong.

Inside the fortified village, in a pavilion with the window half-open, Cai Wenji, supporting her father leaning on the railing, silently watched the tragic scene below the city.

Her face was as pale as paper, and her hands, which should have been playing the zither and painting, were now tightly gripping her sleeves.

The wind blew in from the window, carrying a strong smell of blood that made her want to vomit.

"Beasts...they are beasts..."

Cai Yong trembled all over. This great Confucian scholar, who had spent his life with classical texts, had never seen such blatant and ugly evil.

What he saw was not military strategy or tactics, but the darkest abyss of human nature.

Cai Wenji remained silent, her gaze sweeping over the hellish landscape and landing on the tall, pine-like figure atop the city wall.

The firelight outlined his resolute profile, and the large banner bearing the character "Qin" behind him fluttered in the blood-red wind.

She watched him calmly issue commands, and watched his soldiers methodically unleash their death.

She suddenly realized that the biggest difference between Qin Lie and Li Jue and Guo Si was not in their benevolence, but in their "purpose".

People like Li Jue and Guo Si killed to vent their desires, to plunder, and to satisfy their bestial nature.

Qin Lie's killings, though cold and ruthless, were like a doctor scraping the bone to remove poison.

There was no enjoyment in his eyes, only a heavy, resolute sense of having to do it.

He is ending another aimless massacre with a more efficient killing spree.

This may not be benevolent, but in this chaotic and crumbling world, it is the only path to "life".

The offensive lasted from dawn to dusk, and then spread from dusk into the night.

The corpses piled up below the city walls, almost reaching their height.

The Li-Guo allied forces suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, most of whom were cannon fodder they used, yet they couldn't even touch the walls of Meiwu.

As night fell again, the exhausted allied forces finally sounded the retreat, leaving behind a scene of devastation and groans echoing in the cold wind.

Inside the fortified village, everything remained orderly.

The wounded soldiers were quickly carried off the city wall and sent to the medical officer for treatment.

The cooks delivered steaming hot meat soup and wheat porridge to every soldier guarding the city.

Qin Lie personally inspected the city's defenses, patting each soldier on the shoulder. He didn't say much, but it was enough to make these men, who had just experienced a bloody battle, feel a warmth from the bottom of their hearts.

"Captain, we've used up 30% of our arrows, and a lot of logs and rocks as well."

Chen Wu followed behind, his voice tinged with worry.

"It's alright."

Qin Lie did not stop.

"Grand Tutor Dong moved half the wealth of the world into this place. Not to mention arrows, there's enough gold juice for them to drink for a month."

"I'm not worried about supplies."

He stopped and looked out at the endless, lifeless camps outside the city.

"What I'm worried about is the plague."

In the following days, the battle reached a strange stalemate.

Li Jue and Guo Si seemed to be terrified by the heavy losses on the first day, and instead of attacking, they surrounded the city, attempting to trap Qin Lie inside.

However, what they witnessed was not the collapse of the city, but the collapse of their own camp.

Tens of thousands of troops were stationed beside mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Their drinking water was contaminated, and the rotting corpses emitted deadly miasma in the warm early summer breeze.

An epidemic began to break out in the army. At first, it was just a few cases of diarrhea and high fever, but it quickly spread, and hundreds and thousands of soldiers died painfully in their tents every day.

Morale plummeted at a visible rate.

The more devastating blow came from behind them.

"Report! General, last night one of our grain transport convoys was attacked on the south bank of the Wei River. All three hundred guards were wiped out, and five hundred bushels of grain were burned to ashes!"

"Report! General Li, a batch of grain supplies that our army collected in Wugong County was burned by an unidentified cavalry force. They came and went like the wind, and our scouts couldn't catch up with them at all!"

The series of bad news made the atmosphere in Li Jue's command tent so oppressive that it seemed to freeze.

Qin Lie's cavalry, the real Xiliang Iron Cavalry, broke into smaller units, like a pack of hungry wolves hunting in the night, appearing and disappearing unpredictably and tearing at their long and fragile supply lines.

They did not seek to kill the enemy, but only to destroy their supplies.

Every attack was precisely aimed at the vital points of the Li-Guo allied forces.

"Qin Lie! That damned brat!"

Guo Si slammed his fist on the table, making the wine cups jump.

"He's trying to starve us to death!"

Li Jue's face was so gloomy it could drip water. He remained silent for a long time, a trace of resentment and humiliation flashing in his eyes, which finally turned into a decisive action.

"We can't wait any longer."

"Send someone to talk to him."

He looked at Guo Si.

"Tell him that as long as he is willing to submit, I will jointly recommend him to be appointed as General of Chariots and Cavalry, so that he can share power with us in governing the country."

"He can choose any gold, silver and beautiful women in Chang'an."

"Isn't this exactly what Qin Lie wants?"

Half a day later, a confidant of Li Jue, holding a staff, was slowly pulled up onto the city wall of Meiwu in a basket.

Inside the council hall of the fortified village, the envoy met Qin Lie.

He forced himself to remain calm, adopting a condescending attitude, and listed Li Jue's conditions one by one, his words filled with charity and arrogance.

Qin Lie listened quietly, his face expressionless.

Dianwu and Zhang Heng, who were standing beside him, were already visibly furious, their fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Qin Lie finally spoke only after the envoy finished speaking, took a sip of tea served by a maid, cleared his throat, and prepared to say something threatening.

"General of Chariots and Cavalry?"

He repeated it softly, as if savoring an interesting word.

The envoy thought he was interested and quickly nodded.

"Excellent! Captain Qin, this is..."

"All the soldiers under my command are from Liangzhou."

Qin Lie's voice remained calm, yet it carried an undeniable power.

"Their fathers and brothers had followed Grand Tutor Dong in his campaigns across the land, pacifying the Western Qiang and defending the frontier for the Han Dynasty."

"They are the bravest warriors in the world."

"But now, in the eyes of the people, the three words 'Xiliang Army' have become synonymous with brutality, plunder, and bringing disaster to the country and its people."

He stood up and walked step by step to the envoy. His deep eyes were like two cold, deep pools, causing the envoy to involuntarily take a step back.

"Who was it that allowed their troops to plunder Chang'an, burn down the palaces, and turn the centuries-old imperial capital into a hellish place?"

"Who is it that treats human life like dirt, driving the people to attack the city, only to have them die tragically under the arrows of their own people?"

"Who trampled the glory of the Xiliang Army underfoot, using the blood of their comrades and the tears of the people to buy their own power and personal desires?"

Every word Qin Lie spoke was like a heavy hammer blow, striking the envoy's heart.

His face was deathly pale, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.