Chapter 1628: The Siege Approaches

Chapter 1628: Chapter 1628: The Siege Approaches

"Alright." The Great General quickly agreed, instructing the Four-directions Vanguard General beside him: "Set up a circle of tents around those warriors with rotworms inside them, let them go in for treatment."

He then glanced at the Deputy General, Troop Commander, and personal soldiers nearby and warned: "Do not leak a single word, or your families will be devoured to death by rotworms."

"Understood." Everyone immediately responded, though their hearts were greatly shaken.

Initially, they were quite excited about the power of rotworms, capable of helping them kill the lowly citizens of Great Chu. But now that Rong soldiers were also being plagued by rotworms, they felt terrified... these things are not divine objects but ghostly entities!

Nevertheless, the Four-directions Vanguard General raised a small packet of powdered medicine in his hand and said: "Isn’t this Divine Medicine supposed to keep rotworms away? Why not use it to save our warriors?"

Is it because they can’t be saved, or does he believe the Divine Medicine is too precious to use for saving the warriors?

Tu Zhang’s face darkened, extremely displeased with the Four-directions Vanguard General’s inquiry, but if the matter wasn’t explained clearly, he feared he would face doubt. He could only suppress his temper and say: "This is Divine Medicine; the ingredients are rare sacred objects that the Great Wizard spent years collecting to make a batch of Divine Medicine. It must be reserved for the Heavenly Khan, tribal royals, nobles, and generals. I don’t have any extra Divine Medicine."

If there were extra Divine Medicine, they would not have suffered such severe casualties this time.

He further explained: "Moreover, this Divine Medicine can only be used externally to repel insects, making rotworms dare not approach but cannot be ingested. If ingested, the warriors will die even faster."

To put it bluntly, these Divine Medicines are toxic; they repel insects but cannot be consumed.

The Four-directions Vanguard General was shocked by his words, feeling quite angry: "Then why, when the Divine Medicine first came out, did the Great Wizard say..."

"Great General!" Another Four-directions Vanguard General Haopeng heard this and hurriedly interrupted, glanced at Jindu, and addressed Leimuqin: "Great General, we have many warriors wounded by weapons. I have already gathered them; please dispatch the witch doctors to heal their wounds."

Questioning the Great Wizard publicly, Jindu really has a death wish!

Leimuqin asked: "How many are injured?"

Haopeng: "Over a hundred, mostly shot by stray arrows."

Earlier, it was too chaotic; to shoot the running messenger wolves, Rong soldiers kept shooting arrows, accidentally injuring many of their own.

Leimuqin said: "The witch doctors are still busy; just bandage them with other Rong soldiers."

Rong soldiers have mingled on the battlefield since childhood, and can usually bandage common blade injuries.

"Understood." Haopeng responded and turned to leave.

Jindu realized Haopeng saved his life, and at that moment, he calmed down.

Leimuqin looked at him and said: "Go quickly to set up arrow tents and report the number of casualties within two hours!"

"Understood." Jindu hurried to execute the order.

Jindu didn’t want any more losses among the Rong soldiers, so he didn’t dispatch healthy Rong soldiers to set up arrow tents but instead had those whose bodies were invaded by rotworms but hadn’t developed symptoms do it.

The number of Rong soldiers with rotworms inside was quite large; within an hour, they had set up an entire circle of tents, numbering dozens.

Moo— Moo— Moo!

"The Great General orders, the army to retreat one mile and rebuild their camp!" A team of Rong soldiers blew cow horns, riding horses through the camp, issuing retreat orders to the army.

This camp has been ravaged by rotworms and must be rebuilt; otherwise, no one knows when rotworms will invade their bodies.

The Rong people’s speed in marching and building camps is extremely fast; it took less than two hours from the order to the completion of the new camp.

Leimuqin also instructed the Rong soldiers to dig a one-foot-wide trench surrounding the new camp, pour pine oil inside, and set it ablaze to prevent rotworms from the old camp from crawling over.

At this moment, Jindu arrived at the new camp to report the number of Rong soldiers poisoned and invaded by rotworms: "Three thousand six hundred warriors were poisoned to death; rotworms invaded the bodies of three thousand one hundred and forty-six."

Bam!

Leimuqin slammed the table in rage; his face was terrifyingly dark: "They dare to harm nearly seven thousand of my warriors! I will slaughter Xing’an Prefecture to avenge the warriors!"

Leimuqin was furious and immediately instructed Jindu: "Pass down the order, attack the city in the afternoon!"

Jindu shook his head upon hearing this, reminding: "Great General, there are experts inside Xing’an Prefecture who wield poison. If we attack immediately, we might be killed by the lowly citizens of Great Chu using poison arrows when we reach the city walls. We must prepare the antidote first."

Leimuqin realized his impulsiveness upon hearing this, but Xing’an Prefecture could not be spared!

"Order the Reconnoitre Soldiers to check the east and west routes, and the Vanguard Army on these routes must reach here before nightfall, even if it means death!" Leimuqin was impatient and issued a strict command.

Afterward, he left the camp, mounted his horse, and rushed to the old camp, instructing Tu Zhang: "Immediately develop an antidote against last night’s poison. I want the antidote within two days and the city stormed within three days, slaughter all lowly citizens of Xing’an Prefecture!"

Jindu was right; last night’s poison was too potent. A reckless assault, and the lowly citizens of Great Chu would simply shoot poison arrows from the city wall, causing massive casualties among their soldiers.

He is of the Royal Family and holds aspirations for the Heavenly Khan’s throne; personally leading troops into battle, if they suffer a pyrrhic victory, he would become a laughingstock of Da Rong, and have no face to enter the Royal Court in the future.

Tu Zhang was trying to figure out how to poison the rotworms inside the Rong soldiers, already busy enough. Upon hearing these words, his expression turned sour.

Yet Tu Zhang is a poison expert, knowing full well that instead of wasting time saving a bunch of dead people, he should spend time developing the antidote to last night’s poison and help the warriors storm the city.

"Understood." Tu Zhang responded respectfully.

Leimuqin heard this and breathed a sigh of relief, instructing Tu Zhang to focus entirely on making the antidote.

And from this moment onward, they officially abandoned those Rong soldiers plagued by rotworms.

More than three thousand Rong soldiers tormented by rotworms, dying one after another, tasted the bitterness suffered by the people of Xing’an Prefecture.

...

In the distance, on the city wall, General Liang observed the chaotic Rong army camp with excitement: "The Rong army camp is in chaos!"

Good, good, good!

The soldiers were also delighted, shouting atop the city wall, sweeping away the fear of being besieged by Rong soldiers and plagued by poisonous insects during this period.

Ms. Gao Lei was equally emotional, wiping her tears and saying: "Finally, there’s some retribution for those dead citizens."

She then said to General Liang: "The Rong people’s camp is in chaos, surely there will be peace for a few days. In these days, General Liang must quickly recruit able-bodied men from the city, arm them, and have them help defend the city."

General Liang nodded: "I understand; I will order the able-bodied men to help defend the city... at this point, the Rong people are likely to launch a large-scale attack. If the people inside want to survive, they’ll have to join in defending the city."

Ms. Gao Lei saw he wasn’t singing a different tune and nodded with contentment, saying: "Today I was impulsive, General Liang, please don’t be angry. I’m heading back now."

With these words, she didn’t linger and called Peng Wen and others to leave.

Three wolf trainers kneeled toward the direction of the Rong army camp, bowing fervently to the batch of dead messenger wolves.

Doctor Lu was eager to rush to the Rong army camp and see if the witch doctors would produce an antidote to save the Rong soldiers plagued by poisonous insects?

If he could get the antidote to kill the poisonous insects, they wouldn’t need to use the insect attractant in such a troublesome manner.