Novel Full Chapter 344: The Grain Is Gone, the Formation Is Broken, but Aren't There Still People?
Guo Xin looked at the tightly closed city gates, then glanced at Meng Hao beside him, his eyes seeming to say, “Xiao Mo promised to open the city gates wide at the hour of chen, where is it?”
Meng Hao’s expression was also somewhat embarrassed. He stepped forward and, with spiritual power enhancing his voice, shouted toward the city walls, “Frost Prince! The appointed time between you and I has arrived, why not come out and meet?”
Meng Hao’s voice echoed across the wilderness below the city walls.
After a moment, Li Jing walked up to the city walls and said to Meng Hao and the others, “My general suddenly fell ill with cold sickness yesterday and entrusted me to tell General Guo that to receive guests with a weak and sickly body would truly be discourteous. Please ask General Guo to wait another two days. Once my general recovers from his illness, he will personally open the city gates wide to meet the General, to apologize for this offense of neglect.”
Hearing Li Jing’s words, Guo Xin’s brows furrowed, his hands gripped the reins tightly, and his chest heaved violently with anger.
A Golden Core realm cultivator catching cold sickness?
What nonsense was Xiao Mo spouting?!
And he wanted to wait another two days!
I can wait another two days, but can Bichui City wait?
At this moment, how could Guo Xin not know that everything was merely Xiao Mo’s scheme?
Yanmen Pass had never intended to surrender from beginning to end.
He was merely using every means to delay time!
Guo Xin, furious to the extreme, said nothing more. He glared at Yanmen Pass like a wolf and waved his hand forcefully, “Entire army, attack the city! Fight Yanmen Pass to the death!”
The siege battle resumed and because less than eight days remained, and having been toyed with by Xiao Mo, the Zhei army generals were all extremely furious, so they attacked the city even more recklessly than before.
But on Xiao Mo’s side, with only eight days left until the thirty-day defense, dawn was right before their eyes. This glimmer of hope sustained the last breath of all the soldiers in the city. How could their will to defend the city be weaker than before?
Before long, the “sickly” Xiao Mo walked up to the city walls again, continuing to command the battle and fight the Zhei army.
Seeing Xiao Mo’s appearance, Guo Xin was so angry he wanted to personally climb the city and chop off Xiao Mo’s head.
In the following days, Guo Xin no longer cared about casualties.
If Yanmen Pass still didn’t fall and the remaining eleven southern cities were lost, the Zhei Kingdom would fall completely into a passive position. What did these casualties matter?
Guo Xin divided the five hundred thousand troops into five batches, attacking the city in rotation, giving Yanmen Pass not the slightest chance to catch their breath.
It was only due to Yanmen Pass’s terrain that couldn’t accommodate more troops attacking the city.
Otherwise, Guo Xin even wanted to request another five hundred thousand troops as reinforcement, drowning Xiao Mo with a million-strong army directly!
Under the Zhei Kingdom army’s offensive, Xiao Mo supervised the battle day and night, didn’t eat a single meal, and continuously deployed troops and coordinated defense rotations.
Fortunately, Xiao Mo had also recruited over ten thousand able-bodied men in Yanmen Pass.
Although these ten-thousand-plus men were Zhei Kingdom people, because the city lords of generations past were inhuman, and the Zhei Kingdom ruler imposed heavy taxes and levies, making the common people’s lives unbearable, while Xiao Mo these days distributed porridge daily and didn’t permit a single soldier to disturb the civilians, his righteous actions formed a stark contrast with the Zhei Kingdom.
They felt that rather than letting Yanmen Pass return to the Zhei Kingdom and continuing to live like livestock as before.
They might as well fight alongside General Xiao!
Moreover, if they truly helped General Xiao defend successfully, wouldn’t the Qin Kingdom’s rewards afterward be generous?
Additionally, to encourage the soldiers.
Xiao Mo had people draw “正” characters on the city walls every day.
These “正” characters recorded the days of defending the city, and each day that passed, another stroke would be drawn.
Many soldiers looked at the nearly six complete “正” characters and felt that if they held on just a bit longer, they could make it through.
When five days remained until the thirty days.
The grain in the city was nearly depleted.
Previously, the soldiers had been fighting on half-full stomachs, already difficult but now the daily food rations couldn’t even fill them halfway, not to mention the Zhei Kingdom’s offensive continued day and night.
There were several barren mountains within Yanmen Pass. The wild fruits, wild beasts, and fierce beasts on the barren mountains had all been killed clean, not even a mouse could be seen.
Even the tree leaves and grass roots on the mountains had been stripped bare, boiled soft and eaten.
Due to lack of grain, Xiao Mo would often seize opportunities to lead the Snow-Treading Dragon Cavalry out of the city to clash with enemy forces for a while, covering for soldiers to drag the corpses of warhorses that died on both sides back into the city.
Some Snow-Treading Dragon Cavalry soldiers ate the Snow-Treading Horses that died on the battlefield, eating while tears flowed, but even so, they had to chew hard and swallow quickly.
The porridge the common people in the city drank had long become thinner day by day, the little oil content that existed was long gone but they didn’t complain. They all knew how difficult the Northern Frontier army’s situation was. That they still had something to eat was already quite good.
In fact, according to past battles this tragic, when reaching this point, some generals no longer treated the common people in the city as human, but as food…
Yet this General Xiao still provided food to these people every day. Although very hungry, at least they wouldn’t die.
Even Li Jing, who had experienced numerous major battles, felt despair rising in his heart seeing this scene.
Only five days left but these five days were truly so long…
Could they really hold on through these final five days?
Another two days passed.
Only three days remained until the thirty-day defense.
At this time, the grain was completely exhausted.
Most critically, under the opponent’s fierce offensive, Yanmen Pass’s city protection formation was only one step away from shattering.
Once Yanmen Pass’s formation broke, it meant the opponent’s cultivators could launch attacks from the air.
If Xiao Mo continued defending within the city at this time, it would be no different from sitting and waiting for death.
On the deep night of the twenty-ninth day of defense.
In Yanmen Pass’s death prison, Xiao Mo came before a cell.
Xiao Mo, covered in dust and with blood staining his face, sat cross-legged on the ground, drinking strong liquor mouthful by mouthful.
Lian Li looked at Xiao Mo’s appearance. Although he looked extremely exhausted, those eyes remained as clear as lake water.
“Is that liquor so good to drink?” Lian Li asked.
“Not bad.” Xiao Mo nodded calmly. “Once in the underworld, there probably won’t be liquor to drink.”
Hearing Xiao Mo’s words, Lian Li, the former city lord of Mati City, froze slightly, “Yanmen Pass can’t hold on anymore?”
“The grain was finished eating long ago, the city protection formation has reached its limit. Continuing to defend has no meaning.” Xiao Mo finished eating a sweet potato, stood up, and took out keys to open the cell but even with the cell door open, Lian Li still stood inside looking at Xiao Mo, her expression showing not the slightest joy.
“You should go.”
Xiao Mo tossed the keys on the ground and turned to walk toward the prison exit.
“Xiao Mo! As you said, the grain is exhausted, the formation has broken, the soldiers are weary. Today the city will surely fall, how will you defend it?” Lian Li clenched her fists tightly and shouted at Xiao Mo’s retreating back.
“The grain is gone, the formation is broken, but aren’t there still people?”
Xiao Mo’s words came from behind him.
Xiao Mo walked out of the dungeon.
The dawn sun of the thirtieth day had already dyed the horizon red, like the soil of the endless wilderness below the city soaked in blood.