usatvline Chapter 104 Another City Acquired!
Chapter 104 Another City Acquired!
His movements were crisp and clean, without any fancy moves.
The halberd in his hands was like a living snake; with each thrust, jab, sweep, and slash, it took a life. Blood splattered on the gray city bricks, quickly forming shallow pools of blood.
The Taiping soldiers behind him surged forward, unleashing a barrage of swords and spears.
The city gate was narrow, and the two sides were squeezed together, with no room to maneuver. In such a narrow encounter, only the brave would prevail.
"Taiping Army! Victory!"
With a roar, Liu Lu stabbed a soldier in the abdomen. The soldier screamed and collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach as his intestines spilled out of the wound.
The Taiping soldiers were bloodthirsty. Some were pierced in the shoulder by spears, but they gritted their teeth and refused to back down. They swung their swords back and cut off the spear shafts of their opponents, then rushed forward and smashed their sword hilts into their opponents' heads.
Once, twice, three times.
His skull shattered, and red and white substances splattered all over his face.
Wu Hong, mounted on his horse, was trapped in the middle of the city gate, unable to move forward or backward. Looking at the scene of carnage before him, his face turned ashen, and his legs trembled uncontrollably.
At that moment, a soldier was cut down and fell to the ground. Before dying, he grabbed Wu Hong's reins, his eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing. Wu Hong screamed and fell off his horse, collapsing to the ground with a wet patch on his crotch.
Li Sheng ignored him.
The defenders inside the city gate were cut down in large numbers, and the rest began to retreat. But there were still more defenders outside the city gate trying to rush in and block the breach. Those advancing and those retreating were crowded together, trampling each other, and chaos ensued.
"kill!"
Li Sheng took the lead and charged out of the city gate.
Outside the city gate, the defending officers were desperately trying to organize their men to retake the gate, but the Taiping army's offensive was too fierce.
The two hundred men that Li Sheng brought were all carefully selected veterans who had fought their way from Siyang Township. What kind of fierce battles hadn't they seen? At this moment, everyone was eager to fight, each one brave and fierce, with flashing swords and deafening battle cries.
After Li Sheng broke through the city gate, he did not linger on the spot, but led a dozen or so personal guards to rush straight to the city wall along the horse path.
On the city wall, the defenders were still shooting arrows and throwing stones, but their attention was mostly drawn to the battle at the city gate, leaving their flanks vulnerable.
As Li Sheng charged onto the ramp, he bumped into two guards who were carrying a pot of boiling molten gold downhill, preparing to pour it towards the city gate. The stuff reeked of excrement; if poured on someone, they would be severely injured, if not killed.
Before Li Sheng could think, he pierced the chest of a guard with his halberd. The soldier screamed and the pot in his hand overturned, splashing the scalding hot liquid all over his companions.
Another garrison soldier was scalded and rolled on the ground, letting out inhuman screams.
Li Sheng kicked aside the corpse blocking his way and rushed up the city wall in three quick steps.
On the city wall, the defenders panicked when they saw people rushing up. Several archers hurriedly dropped their bows and arrows, drew their swords, and charged forward.
Li Sheng discarded his halberd, which was already somewhat dull, and drew his ring-pommel sword to meet the attack.
The first strike deflects the opponent's weapon.
The second cut slit the other man's throat.
All in one go.
Blood gushed from his carotid artery, splattering all over Li Sheng's face. He didn't bother to wipe it away, turned around and slashed down another soldier who rushed at him.
The city wall was narrow, not much better than a city gate. Li Sheng stood alone on the edge of the crenellation, with the horse path behind him and a group of guards in front of him trying to push him off.
Come one, cut one down.
Come on, two come, kill them both.
It has the implication that "one man can hold the pass against ten thousand."
His ring-pommel sword was chipped, so he picked up a sword that the guards had dropped and continued hacking.
The guards behind him followed one after another, and several of them stood back to back in a circle, guarding the horse pass and opening a passage for the brothers who would climb the city walls later.
The defenders on the city wall were terrified by Li Sheng's attack.
One man, with a knife, blocked the city wall, and no one dared to go forward.
The captain was shouting "Charge!" at the top of his lungs from behind, but the soldiers' legs were trembling, and no one wanted to be the one to die.
Finally, Liu Lu led the second group of men to storm the city wall.
"General! The brothers are coming up!"
Li Sheng nodded, wiped the blood from his face, and pointed towards the city gate.
"Charge over there! Take the city wall!"
"promise!"
With the addition of fresh troops, the battle on the city walls quickly turned into a one-sided massacre.
The Taiping soldiers fought with increasing ferocity, while the defending army suffered a crushing defeat.
Li Sheng led his men all the way to the city wall. The defending captain tried to put up a last stand, but Liu Lu pierced him through with a spear, and his body fell from the city wall.
"banner!"
Li Sheng shouted.
A soldier took a Taiping Army flag off his back; it had been prepared beforehand.
The flag was apricot-yellow and bore the words "Peace and Prosperity".
The flags unfurled in the morning breeze, fluttering in the wind.
Li Sheng personally planted the flag at the highest point of the city tower.
Outside the city, among the infantry rushing to the city, some saw the apricot-yellow flag rising on the city wall and immediately burst into thunderous cheers.
"The city walls have been captured!"
"The general has succeeded! Brothers, charge!"
More than a thousand infantrymen quickened their pace and surged toward the city gate.
The procession surged into Siwu County like a tidal wave.
Inside the city, the sounds of gongs, shouts, and footsteps mingled together, spreading in all directions from the city gates.
"The Taiping army enters the city! They will not disturb the people! They will not take any property! They will not rape any women!"
"Surrender and you will not be killed! Those who resist will die!"
Each battalion, according to their pre-arranged roles, quickly took control of key locations throughout the city.
Granaries, armories, county government offices, city gates—not one was missing.
There was sporadic resistance, but it was quickly suppressed.
Half an hour later, the town of Siwu was basically at peace.
……
The back hall of the county government office.
Wang Qian sat at his desk, listening to the shouts of battle outside, his face ashen.
A pot of wine sat before him, and the wine cups were already filled.
The curtain at the door was lifted, and a captain covered in blood stumbled in.
"Magistrate! The city gates have fallen! The bandits have entered the city! The brothers can't stop them!"
Wang Qian picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Where is Wu Hong?
"Magistrate Wu... Magistrate Wu surrendered to the bandits! He was the one who led the bandits into the city!"
Wang Qian gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"That's true. The Wu family is in the south. If he really wanted to escape, he should have run south. What kind of nonsense is it to run north? How come I didn't think of that?"
He sighed deeply and stood up.
"Pass down the order: surrender."
"Magistrate!"
"It's gone down."
Wang Qian waved his hand, his voice sounding old.
"We've lost Xiapi and Xiaxiang, and I can't hold onto Siwu County. If we surrender, at least we'll lose fewer lives."
The captain gritted his teeth, turned around, and ran out to relay the order.
Wang Qian sat back down in his chair, poured himself another glass of wine, and slowly sipped it.
Outside, the sound of gongs rang out.
"The magistrate has ordered! All troops to cease resistance! Open the gates and surrender!"
Shouts rose and fell, gradually spreading throughout the city.
Li Sheng stopped his horse at the entrance of the county government office. Upon hearing the shout, he reined in his horse.
Siwu County, take it!