Chapter 690: Mercy Does Not Handle Soldiers

The walker placed the wooden box in front of Xu Qi’an and turned to leave.

“Click!”

Xu Qi’an’s fingertips rested against the brass lock, and Qi Qi replaced the key, causing the lock’s tongue to pop open.

The moment the wooden box was opened, he caught the scent of antiseptic and anti-insect powder, and inside the box was a roll of animal skins.

If it was not deliberately made of animal skin, then the age of this map was definitely more than two thousand years. During the Confucian Sage Era, the carrier of books was bamboo slips, and the animal skin was even older than bamboo slips ……….. Xu Qi’an thought in his heart and unfolded the half-volume of beast skin.

It is only when unfolded that it can be seen that the volume has been torn down the center and is the left half of a complete map.

The map was drawn in a strange manner, strewn with twisted, irregular lines, somewhat similar to Xu Qi’an’s maps in her previous life.

There is no lettering other than the lines.

I remember when I used to study, the topographic map was also this kind of messy line ……….. Xu Qi’an looked at You Corpse and said:

“Has this map been decrypted?”

This volume of maps certainly can’t be the same as the topographical maps of a previous life.

Yo Corpse shook his head:

“My father has studied it and believes that the lines in the map, symbolizing this mountains and veins of the earth, can only be read by a warlock. And even for a warlock, it would be a needle in a haystack if he wanted to find the corresponding area in the continent of Kyushu.”

It was precisely because it was almost impossible to find, that was why he had traded it to Xu Qi’an painfully.

Anyway, staying in the Corpse Compass Ministry, the probability was that it would only be sealed forever, since this was the case, it might as well be used in exchange for that ancient corpse to be preserved in the ministry for a few days.

The thought of that perfect corpse made Yo Corpse’s heart beat faster and his blood boil.

Xu Qi’an’s ears twitched as she heard the moans of women deep in the courtyard suddenly become much louder and more intense.

He didn’t take it to heart, taking the coffin out of the ground book fragments on the spot, while putting away the wooden box containing half a scroll of maps.

“By the way, I advise you not to do strange things to it, lest you be tainted with karma. Though I think the karma on it has been completely removed.”

Xu Qi’an reminded with a smile.

“Yo Corpse” gave him a look with white pupils and said:

“In our Corpse Compass Ministry, there’s an old saying – those who can’t keep their desires, can’t make it.

“But all those who are expected to be of the fourth grade can resist the temptation of the instinctive compulsion. Although my clan has not banned this aspect, those who overstep the rules with corpses are all untalented dog talents.”

……… Xu Qi an s face slowly stiffened.

“You Corpse” didn’t notice his unusual face, fully concentrating on admiring the ancient corpse, and waved his hand:

“Go away and leave me alone.”

……….

Xu Qi’an returned to the Force Compulsion Department, the warm sun was high in the sky, the time was three minutes past the hour, he first went back to the house to meet Luo Yuheng.

The State Master sat cross-legged, spitting and practicing, watching him come in, opened her beautiful eyes, smiled sweetly, just like in the spring, in the flowers, love to laugh at the stunning beauty.

Oh, Xiao Xi ah …….. Xu Qi’an breathed a sigh of relief, Xiao Xi, like Xiao Ai, was a positive personality, always with a joyful face, without any negative emotions, and willing to go along with him during dual cultivation.

“The southern border is so nice, with its warm climate and birdsong, my heart is very happy.”

Luo Yu Heng said with a smile.

“It’s just that there are a lot of mosquitoes, and last night I helped the State Master swat mosquitoes, and my buttocks were red.”

Xu Qi’an laughed.

Luo Yu Heng glared at him, a little shy, but did not move to anger, still floating with joy.

Change into the “angry” personality, a sword will send me to the sky ……… Xu Qi’an then looked toward Xu Suoyin who was sleeping on the bed and asked:

“What’s Suzume doing back here sleeping.”

Luo Yu Heng said helplessly:

“She ran in not long after you left, saying she suspected Master Lina was trying to eat her and came over to you in fear, but you weren’t there.”

……… Xu Qi’an mused, “Did you find bite marks on your wrists?”

Luo Yu Heng nodded.

After the promotion of Suzume, the amount of meals obviously increased greatly, will come back to the capital, the aunt is going to cry ……….. Xu Qi’an didn’t know how to comment, so he could only pray for his aunt in his heart.

On the third day, the warriors of the Heart Compulsion, Corpse Compulsion, Force Compulsion, and Dark Compulsion Departments were assembled.

Among them, five hundred flying beast armies from the Heart Compulsion Department, four hundred warriors from the Force Compulsion Department, six hundred mature corpse controllers from the Corpse Compulsion Department, and eight hundred elites from the Shadow Department, totaling two thousand three hundred compulsion clansmen, plus one thousand walking corpse puppets with extremely strong combat power.

The vast procession of more than three thousand members left the southern border and headed for Qingzhou.

It’s worth mentioning that Lina’s older brother, Moxan, was also in the group that the Force Compass Ministry went out with.

As for Lina herself, she planned to consolidate the force compulsion and after absorbing the power of the Compassion God’s qi and blood, she would also go north to Qingzhou to participate in the war and sharpen her compulsion path.

The force compulsion ministry for the four hundred elite to go out to war, with both happy and worried mood, happy because, this group of people’s rations will be handed over to the big Feng in the future, the elders secretly commanded the young strong man who went out to war:

“Eat with vigor, and exhaust the granaries of the Middle Ages.”

The concern is that with the group gone, hunting manpower has become scarce, and the old men who used to just plow or simply not work, now have to roll up their sleeves and go into the mountains to hunt.

………….

Late Night!

Inside the military tent ten miles away from Songshan County, Zhuo Haoran sat at the conference table, in front of him was a copper basin with a freshly roasted leg of lamb.

He held the leg of lamb in his left hand, tearing at it with all his might, and the long knife in his right hand was stained with blood.

On either side of the conference table were silent generals.

A great battle had just ended, and the Yunzhou army under Zhuo Haoran’s command had repelled the Da Feng defenders who had attacked throughout the night, and such attacking battles had occurred from time to time in the past few days.

The generals stole a glance at Zhuo Haoran and didn’t dare to speak, the atmosphere in the military tent was frozen, only the sound of Zhuo Haoran tearing the leg of lamb.

The five-day deadline has long since passed, and Pine Mountain County still hasn’t been taken down.

Not only did they not take it down, but the Yunzhou Army’s side could be said to have suffered heavy losses.

Zhuo Haoran is a fierce general, personal battle force prima donna, the ability to lead troops is also outstanding, his strategy for the capture of Songshan County is that the first three days, the organization of stragglers and miscellaneous soldiers to consume each other’s artillery shells, crossbows and arrows.

As well as logs and kerosene and other armaments for defending the city.

During this period, masters were sent to mingle among the stragglers, waiting for the opportunity to mount the walls and destroy the artillery and bed crossbows.

This move has yielded excellent results.

On the third day of the siege, the defending army was left with only two artillery pieces and one bed crossbow, making it difficult to make a big impact, so they could only use logs and kerosene, as well as archers to fight against the attacking Yunzhou army.

Seeing this, Zhuo Haoran immediately dispatched the elite foot soldiers that had been dormant for three days to attack the city.

However, when the elite foot soldiers of Yunzhou Army rushed into the range of the artillery, the city suddenly burst into flurry of artillery fire, the bowstring thundered, and the ferocious fire strikes directly dumbfounded the elite foot soldiers.

After a fruitless attack on the city, they left seven or eight hundred men behind and made a hasty retreat.

That Xu New Year still had a number of artillery pieces and bed crossbows on hand, but held back from using them for the first three days, even though the defending army was killed and wounded in the process.

Just from the words “mercy is not in charge of the army”, Zhuo Haoran must admit, that guy is a qualified leader of the army.

The Great General said that the essence of war is victory at all costs.

When the frontal hard attack failed, Zhuo Haoran secretly divided his troops and had his elite generals launch an attack from the dangerous peaks in the south during the night, only to step on the traps roaming the mountains and the deep pits with sharp stakes stuck in them.

Except for the masters who were able to break through, the pawns suffered heavy losses.

Zhuo Haoran was concerned about the fact that it had not rained for most of the month in a row in Songshan County, the mountains were dry, and that Xu New Year would probably set the mountains on fire, so he again dismissed the intention of bypassing the treacherous peaks to raid the defending army.

On the fourth night, drums were suddenly beating at the top of the city, followed by the sound of horses’ hooves.

In the daytime, the attack on the city failed, and the exhausted Yunzhou army thought that the enemy attacked and led the army to meet the battle, only to find out that it was the enemy’s bluff and there was no attack at all.

After several times in a row, the Yunzhou army was stirred up and exhausted.

At dawn, the drums at the top of the city sounded again, but the Yunzhou rebels didn’t take it seriously, only symbolically sending scouts and a small portion of their men out of the camp to check the situation.

As a result, they encountered a thousand light cavalry charging, and the Yunzhou army suffered more than 2,000 dead and wounded.

Six thousand elites lost a third of their men.

On the fifth day, Zhuo Haoran forced an attack on the city despite the losses, and returned in defeat, losing both battles with the defending army.

But at night, the defenders once again repeated the same trick, stirring up the Yunzhou army.

Right now it was the seventh day, the four thousand men organized by the stragglers were dead or wounded, while the six thousand elite under Zhuo Haoran’s command only had three thousand men left.

On the side of the defending army, there were still nearly two thousand people.

Judging by the current comparison of numbers between the two sides, Pine Mountain County can’t be taken.

Zhuo Haoran swallowed the last bite of meat and coldly swept over the generals, saying:

“Let the generals get a good night’s sleep; there will be no more raids this night.

“Sleep well, and dawn breaks the city!”

His expression was calm and collected, and he spoke as if Dawn was sure to break through the city.

………….

Miao Youfang and Zhujun led 500 cavalrymen to rush through the city gates and return to the base camp.

“General Bamboo, Erlang has cooked oxen at the top of the city, go up and have a few drinks?”

Miao Youfang warmly invited.

Zhujun is a thin middle-aged man, silent, the only fourth rank in Songshan County, responsible for guarding the northern city gate.

It was because of him that Xu Erlang dared to let the cavalry attack the enemy camp, otherwise going there would be a death sentence.

He shook his head and faded:

“Have Lord Xu send it to the north city gate, and forget about drinking.”

Saying so, he took his men and galloped away furiously.

“Boring!”

Miao Youfang shook his head, rolled over and dismounted, and climbed up the steps to the top of the city.

An iron pot was set up on the horse path, and the soldiers were sitting around it eating meat.

They had happy smiles on their faces and were gorging on meat with great enthusiasm.

Miao Youfang looked at the excited faces of the soldiers and remembered the conversation he had with Xu Erlang in the daytime.

Xu Erlang forcibly requisitioned the cows, dogs, chickens and ducks of the people of the county to treat the generals defending the city, compensating them with a small amount of rice and grain.

Miao Youfang felt bad at first, thinking that this is not a disguised plunder of the people’s property.

But Xu Erlang tells him that in times of war, the interests of the soldiers must always come first, and the people second. The soldiers are exhausted from days of bloodshed, and eating meat will boost their morale.

As for the people, if they can’t hold the city, they’ll end up worse off.

Miao Youfang now felt that he did have a point.

He walked straight into the urn and saw Erlang Xu frowning as he scrutinized the map.

“Erlang, according to you, they should withdraw tomorrow.”

“It does if there are no reinforcements.”

Xu Erlang looked up:

“But I think reinforcements from the Cloud State rebels are coming soon.”

…………

PS: The average subscription is 98,000 now, so I’m asking for a wave of genuine subscriptions to help the beat writer to urge 100,000 Please big brothers.