Chapter 182
Chapter 186 Reinforcements
Translated by Gamer
The fire burned a few thousand people to death. Even if they did not die, they would definitely be scarred. A few people steeled themselves and tried to stamped out the flames. When that did not work, they took their sabre and tried to cut their way down.
Chu Zhongtian and his division rushed out of the sea of flames. Half of his hair was already burned and dropped the floor. His eyebrows were gone. Fortunately for him, he did not have much injury. The Chu division was only responsible for a small part of the walls. There rushed to that place that has less fire. There are also people who helped by trying to keep the fire from spreading.
However, there is a serious problem. Although that part of the wall is isolated from the fire, there is not enough s.p.a.ce to fit the thousands of soldiers trying to avoid the fire.
"Now what!" Zuo Ren Jie also followed Chu Zhongtian rush out. He did not expect the Chu division to actually had a way out. Looking closely at the broken jars, Zuo Ren Jie has seen that it was not filled with kerosene but black water. With one look he can see that the Chu division have problems. If he had found out about this one day ago, he would have reported it to the military advisor Lu Su or the general Sun Ce. However now there is no need. Because without Chu Zhongtian, they would all be seeing their ancestors.
"How would I know!" Chu Zhongtian is also anxious. There is only small segment of the wall that is not on fire. It can fit less than three thousand people. What about the others? In the sea of fire there is at least another 5,000 people. They would probably pull out their knives and start killing each other.
The arrows shooting from the top of the siege tower did not stop and some was even shooting at Chu Zhongtian’s location. Because there is no kerosene, there is no fire. However, arrows can still kill people. About a hundred soldiers died from the volley.
"Do we really need to fight?" The soldiers did not have it easy. It is hard because they just escaped the fire only to face with this choice.
Xu Sheng and Tais.h.i.+ Ci were still fighting. Xu Sheng could not kill Tais.h.i.+ Ci. Tais.h.i.+ Ci also could not kill Xu Sheng. The long spear and the halberd continued to clash. Despite being surrounded by fire, the duel did not stop.
Huang Zhong and Sun Ce are in a similar condition. Huang Zhong is trying to cut open Sun Ce. However, Sun Ce is focusing on defense while waiting for Huang Zhong to give an opening.
As for Liu Mang, he can only defend against Dong Xi. Although both he and Dong Xi are second rate generals, Dong Xi has a large body. He has the innate talent and is also stronger in terms of body refinement.
Liu Mang wanted to kill him in 1 strike but he was not successful.
"Can’t go on like this!" Liu Mang could see from the corner of his eyes. There is a section on the walls that is not on fire but he does not know how much longer will it stay that way. Even if there is no fierce kerosene, the fire will still spread if the wind blows in that direction. At this time, the walls of Wan Cheng have already become an oven. It does not matter if it was the Sun Ce’s Army or the Lu Bu’s Army. Anyone on the walls can stop thinking of surviving.
Unfortunately, Liu Mang is powerless to do anything. Among the three of them, only Huang Zhong has the ability to destroy the siege towers but he is stalled by Sun Ce. Xu Sheng and Tais.h.i.+ Ci cannot break their deadlock. He himself is struggling to stay alive.
And so they would die on the walls! Like all the soldiers that burned to death in front of his eyes! Liu Mang cannot do it, he will not die on the walls! Liu Mang’s grip on the s.h.i.+eldblade that was loosened, once again tightened its grip.
"But what can I do?!" Liu Mang mumbled powerlessly.
"Reinforcements. If there were reinforcements, they could extinguish the fires and save the soldiers." But Liu Mang knows that this is merely a wish. There are no more soldiers including those that climbed up the walls. Even if the Wolf Cavalry arrived, they would not be in time.
"Do you want to die like this! Are you willing!" Liu Mang’s eyes gradually became bloodshot. Dong Xi could not afford to give Liu Mang a chance to catch his breath continuously bombard him with strikes from his two maces.
As the giant s.h.i.+eld was made of alloys, he did not need to worry about the s.h.i.+eld being broken. That being said, the s.h.i.+eldblade has lost its shape. You can only see from the corner that this s.h.i.+eldblade was weapon.
At the spot with less
"How should I know! I can’t think of anything!" Now, the simplest answer would be to take out a knife and start killing the other survivors. He could not attack the Lu Bu’s Army or else he does not need to meet with the Third Master anymore. He also knows the Sun Ce’s Army is feeling bitter about it. Just a little while ago they all helped each other when the other person fell down trying to escape the fire.
Not just Chu Zhongtian. Even the Lu Bu’s Army and Sun Ce’s Army could not take this choice. Perhaps one of the person they would fight is their savior. Although they are from the wilderness and lack culture, the one thing they have is that they are extremely loyal. It is impossible for them to betray their benefactors.
"f.u.c.k. If we can’t run, let’s die together!" Chu Zhongtian cursed Sun Ce. Cursed the order of command and the soldiers on the siege tower. If it were not for them, they would not be suffering here.
"Hahaha, Yeah! Let’s all die together!" Just now, Zuo Ren Jie was also saved by someone. He stumbled on a corpse while trying to escape. If it were not for one of Lu Bu’s soldiers, he would have been contaminated with fierce kerosene in the sea of flames.
Just when everyone fell into despair, they all heard loud sounds. The sound came from inside Wan Cheng City. It sounded like footsteps and screaming.
"This is!?" Liu Mang, Xu Sheng, and Huang Zhong were surprised. The sound seemed to come from Wan Cheng City. Did the enemy break into Wan Cheng? If the enemy army was pouring in like this, then the battle was already over.
Sun Ce and Tais.h.i.+ Ci also felt something strange. There can absolutely be no reinforcements from inside Wan Cheng. If Liu Mang had reserves, then he would have used them earlier.
Did we break into the city? Sun Ce frowned. No. To enter the city, they must go through the city gate pa.s.sage. However, the pa.s.sage has already been blocked by Liu Mang. It would be impossible to send messages and clearing it would at least take half a day. Sun Ce’s original plan involves using the ladder to climb in and capture Wan Cheng. He only plans to clear the blockade after the Wolf Cavalry’s counterattack. Because he has no tools, not only will clearing the blockade be a waste of time but it will only open a pa.s.sageway for Lu Bu’s cavalry to rush in.
In that moment, everyone understood what happened. Liu Mang’s face turned from a happy expression into a sad expression. Sun Ce’s face showed shock before turning into a murderous face.
"Charge! Help General Liu defend the city!"
"Protect Wan Cheng! Do not let Sun Ce’s Army capture Wan Cheng!"
"Drive away Sun Ce’s Army!" Loud shouting can be heard followed by figures running to the walls. They had no armor. In their hands were not s.h.i.+elds but long forks, a few axes and sickles. Some of them even held rolling pins and brooms! These were the citizens of Wan Cheng City. They rushed to the walls.
"Put out the fire!" One robust man shouted as he took a piece of cloth to hit the flame. Both the young and old women and children carried buckets filled with clear water. They took the water from the wells near their houses and were drenched in sweat. The citizens carried the water from the inner part of the city, to the walls at the outer part of the city, and then climb up the walls that are quite high to put out the fire. These actions show how much effort they are exerting to save Wan Cheng.
If it was just the healthy and strong men, then it would be fine. They are able to persevere. However, the Wan Cheng n.o.bles have already cut off the heads of most of the healthy men for merits. Now the city has less than a thousand strong people. The rest are either old or sick.
The citizens went up the city walls and put down their buckets of water. They scooped the water and pour it over the flames. The spreading of the flames immediately slow down.
"How!" Liu Mang really did not think that the Wan Cheng citizens would help Lu Bu’s Army defend the city. There were at least 10,000 people trying to help and were followed by those gathering at the back of the crowd. All of these people are Wan Cheng City’s common citizens.
Wan Cheng had a total of 30,000 citizens. Excluding the 10,000 citizens staying in the n.o.bles mansion, the city have 20,000. At night, the riot disaster almost killed the whole city and thousands of families are dead. Now looking at the citizens trying to defend Wan Cheng, there are at least 10,000 people in the city or more.
Everyone went to the flames regardless of age or gender. Although their strength is not much, they cooperated to bring buckets of water onto the walls. Dousing the fires on the wall cleared some s.p.a.ce and both armies no longer need to kill each other for s.p.a.ce. The Chu division also have more s.p.a.ce to accommodate the soldiers.
"The common people!? How!?" Lu Su’s brow furrowed. He really did not expect that the citizens in Wan Cheng would appear. Didn’t Liu Mang ma.s.sacre 10,000 common people in Wan Cheng? He is a ruthless butcher. Someone like that should have been feared and hated. The citizens should be trying to defeat Liu Mang, not help him.
Citizens helping their master is not a new situation, for example, Wan Cheng’s previous master Lu Kang. That was the true feelings of the citizens in Wan Cheng. His rule was unfortunately during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. During this time, he had saved the common citizens in Lujiang. (TL: Somewhere in the same province.)
As a result, the people of Lujiang were very grateful to Lu Kang and wished him a long life. This is because Lu Kang helped them avoid the war and helped them live in peace.
When Sun Ce attacked Lu Kang at Wan Cheng City, Lu Kang only had 4,000 defenders. However, the citizens helped Lu Kang and the defense lasted for two years! Finally, when Lu Kang perished in Wan Cheng, Sun Ce also felt very tired.
Lu Kang was loved by the people so it is reasonable. However, Liu Mang is a ruthless butcher so he is unable to understand how the people decide to defend him.
In fact, Lu Su did not know, the common citizens beheaded by Liu Mang did not come from the inner city but those that lived under the leaders.h.i.+p of the n.o.bles. Rather than common citizens, the proper word would be servants and accomplices. They entered the city to bring chaos and received the hatred of a lot of citizens. Many families were also destroyed. This is the reason Liu Mang was determined to behead all the people who were involved in the riot.
If it was just like this, then their loyalty would only extend to Liu Mang. They would not help Lu Bu’s Army on the walls. After all, they have been occupied by Sun Ce for a few years and there are even some people from Jiangdong that migrated here. Their feelings for Sun Ce is deeper compared to their feelings for Lu Bu. The reason they went to the walls was because of Sun Ce’s words
When the city is captured, the army will be rewarded with 3 days of indulgence. Sun Ce used these words to increase the morale of his soldiers but has completely earned the hatred of the citizens in Wan Cheng city.
If the city falls, their lives will not be spared. In that case, rather than wait for the city to be captured, they might as well die helping to defend the city. At the very least their loved ones may still have hope.