AMLFS Chapter 108
by VolareChapter 109: The End of Its Strength
While everyone was still angrily scolding the enemy for being despicable, Zhao Fangye had already waved his hand to signal the medical officers treating the wounded to pack up and retreat.
Straightening his upper garment, Zhao Fangye looked at the still indignant crowd. His brows furrowed slightly as he interrupted their noisy chatter, “Enough.”
“How far is Yang Junliang’s stationed army from Jia City?” Zhao Fangye rose from the chair, walked to the table, and looked down at the terrain map.
“Replying to Your Highness, General Yang’s closest army is only a hundred li away from Jia City,” General Sikou Lanfeng stood beside him and answered.
Seeing Zhao Fangye stand up and look at the terrain map in front of him, the generals also gathered around the table.
“Your Highness, do you want to send troops to break through?” Feng Zhen asked first, looking at the rear of Jia City.
“Correct.” Zhao Fangye’s slender fingers pressed on the map at the rear right of Jia City: “Pass down the order to have Yang Junliang lead troops to launch a night attack on Jia City from here.”
“Yes!” The subordinate beside him received the order and immediately went down to transmit the message.
Looking up at the crowd, Zhao Fangye’s expression was stern: “If we want to enter the capital through Jia City, relying solely on Yang Junliang is not enough. As long as the people in the city are controlled by others for a day, we will be obstructed for a day.”
A small Jia City was not enough to stop their advance, but he could not disregard the people of Jia City.
Those were all living lives, and if he were to indiscriminately kill innocent people in order to enter the city, even if he ascended the throne in the future, he would not be able to silence the masses.
Feng Zhen knew what he was worried about, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him. He said to Zhao Fangye, “Your Highness, don’t worry, leave this matter to me. I guarantee that the people will be safe and sound after sunset tomorrow.”
As a rebel army that had been incorporated, Feng Zhen naturally understood how to unite the strength of the people to defeat from within.
“In that case, this matter will be entrusted to General Feng,” Zhao Fangye continued to issue orders: “Tomorrow night, the main army should pay close attention to the movements in Jia City. Once Yang Junliang’s night attack succeeds, immediately attack Jia City.”
“Yes!”
The crowd, who had been troubled about how to enter the city, felt suddenly at ease listening to Zhao Fangye calmly issuing one military order after another. Zhao Fangye was like a backbone, strategizing and commanding.
Jia City, outside the city gate, rows and rows of human walls stood silently. These human walls were all made up of the old, weak, women, and children. Everyone’s face was filled with fear.
The morning sun shone on everyone’s face, but no vitality could be seen. They were like scarecrows imprisoned on racks in a field, numb but helpless.
Everyone’s hands and feet were shackled, and each shackle was connected by a thick chain. To get rid of the shackles, they could only be opened with a key.
In this way, this group of human walls stood from morning to evening. Seemingly afraid that they would starve to death, these human walls would rotate back and forth in three batches.
As the sun set in the west, night quietly descended.
The bleak autumn wind made the people shivering beside the city walls. The Jia City under the night was far from as calm as it looked.
In the main tent, Zhao Fangye sat upright on a circle chair, stroking a jade pendant in his hand. A faint stinging pain came from his shoulder. That stern face still looked indifferent.
Sikou Lanfeng lifted the tent flap and walked in, dressed in silver armor, with her hair tied high, making her look particularly heroic, looking every bit the part of someone ready to set out.
“How is the arrangement?” Zhao Fangye raised his eyes to look at the person who came.
“Reporting to Your Highness, everything has been arranged according to Your Highness’s instructions. Now we are just waiting for General Feng’s message.”
At the same time, Feng Zhen led a team of agile men and horses, under the cover of the night, and sneaked into Jia City. Before long, the city, which had been silently standing in the darkness, instantly became chaotic.
The soldiers stationed on the front line watched as the originally imprisoned people under the city walls instantly scattered and fled. On the city tower, someone waved a bright red flag and shouted, “Welcome Prince Zhao of the Ning district into the city!”
The originally closed city gate was slowly pushed open, and countless people poured out from inside.
“Your Highness! General Feng has succeeded!” Sikou Lanfeng exclaimed, looking at the fleeing people in the distance.
Almost in an instant, Zhao Fangye’s already ambushed army mixed with the people and rushed into the city with lightning speed.
The city defense officer saw that the situation was over and led the remaining troops in an attempt to abandon the city and flee, but unexpectedly another group of men and horses outflanked from the rear of Jia City, encircling all the remnants in Jia City.
Imperial Palace, late at night.
“It’s bad, it’s bad!” A small eunuch ran to the emperor’s bedroom, clutching the military orders from the front.
But before he could finish the next sentence, he was kicked to the ground by the chief eunuch beside the emperor.
The chief eunuch lowered his voice, looking at the person on the ground: “What are you shouting? If you disturb the Emperor, I’ll see how many heads you have!!”
This kick was not at all light, and the little eunuch gasped in pain. But he immediately endured the pain, got up, and knelt down properly: “Eunuch, this servant did not do it on purpose, it is just that the military situation is urgent and I have to report.”
The chief eunuch did not take it seriously, after all, in recent years, the emperor had gradually become lax in government affairs. The affairs of the court were all being taken care of by those favored officials in front of the Emperor. If anything happened, those adults would take care of it themselves, how could they allow others to send the news to the Emperor?
What’s more, in the first half of the night, the Emperor had just summoned a few newly arrived beauties and was now in the midst of a good dream, who would be so blind as to disturb him?
“Tell me tomorrow if there is anything, the Emperor has already rested. How many heads do you have to dare go up and disturb him?”
The chief eunuch flicked his whisk and yawned dismissively, waving his hand at the person on the ground: “Hurry up and get out?”
Seeing him like this, the little eunuch really had no choice. He pleaded, “Eunuch, the military situation is really urgent, the rebel army has broken through Jia City and is attacking the capital…”
“What?!” The chief eunuch was suddenly shocked: “You damned servant! Why didn’t you say such a big thing earlier??!!”
After speaking, he did not dare to delay for a moment and hurried into the inner hall.
Before long, the entire bedroom was brightly lit.
“Cough cough cough!! What did you say?!” The Emperor smashed the teacup in his hand to the ground towards the kneeling person: “What is the Ministry of War doing?! Are my 200,000 troops not enough to encircle and suppress the rebels?”
“Summon the Minister of War to come and see me!!” The Emperor stood up, furious. He paced anxiously in the hall.
The little eunuch on the ground trembled and raised his head: “Reporting to Your Majesty… the Minister of War… the Minister of War committed suicide out of fear of punishment…”
The national treasury was empty, and there was no money or food to supply the soldiers at the front. The Ministry of War really could not come up with money and food, but they did not dare to disobey the Emperor’s orders, so they had to scrape together money and barely support themselves.
The power in the court was all controlled by the few powerful ministers trusted by the Emperor, and the Ministry of War’s reports could not be presented to the Emperor at all. Now, relying on forcibly conscripting strong men to resist the rebel army was already the end of their strength.
The Minister of War was really unable to bear the responsibility, so he had no choice but to apologize with his death in order to prevent disaster from befalling his family.
“What?…”
After hearing this, the Emperor’s pacing figure suddenly stopped, and his body fell down like a leaf in the wind.
He ignored the affairs of the court and was deaf and blind, and did not know that things had reached such a point.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!”