The ten-plus days of captivity in the cavalry camp were the cruelest experience of Zhou Youda’s life.
Sleeping in the open air and going hungry need not be mentioned.
During those days, he watched his wives and concubines being dragged away by the cavalry time and again.
Sometimes they did not even bother to hide the most basic human decency, committing atrocities in broad daylight.
At first, some common people resisted, but every resister was subjected to cruel torture and killed by the cavalry.
They also forced other common people to watch the process. Anyone who refused would become the next one tied to the rack.
The enemy’s methods were too brutal. Being tied to the rack was truly more terrifying than death.
Gradually, the common people began to fear.
They became resigned to their fate.
They became obedient.
They became numb.
Zhou Youda endured those hellish days in this way, then was driven to the area below the city.
When he reached the moat, Zhou Youda looked up at the city walls over forty chi high. A trace of emotion finally appeared in his eyes.
But it was not hope. It was a deep, profound sorrow and despair.
Having studied books, Zhou Youda knew what was coming next.
“Listen to me, all of you! As long as you capture Xichuan city, you will be the first batch of submissive subjects. General Danzhu has said that the first three to climb the city walls will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver and granted the position of county lieutenant!”
The plateau people among the crowd shouted loudly. “Anyone who dares retreat or flee will have their entire family, young and old, as well as three people on their left and right, executed on the spot!”
One hand wielding the stick, the other offering a date. The reactions of the common people varied.
Most remained numb. Some inwardly cursed the plateau people. But a small number showed excitement.
The world never lacks ambitious people. After being captured, a few individuals, for their own benefit, actively defected to the plateau people and helped them persecute their own compatriots.
In their eyes, a county lieutenant was an incredibly high official, something they would not dare dream of even if beaten to death in normal times. Now, as long as they climbed the walls, they could obtain it. How could they not be tempted?
As for whether they would serve Da Kang or the plateau people as county lieutenant, it made no difference to them.
Zhou Youda noticed the person beside him clenching his fists with an expectant look. He could not help cursing inwardly, “Idiot!”
These people were blinded by greed. They had no idea of the dangers of siege warfare. Let alone the first three to reach the top of the walls, even the first thirty could not possibly survive.
“Your faces have all been branded with the mark of the Divine Light Immortal. The Divine Light Immortal will protect you!”
The plateau people continued shouting.
Zhou Youda touched the brand on his cheek, feeling even more despair.
The plateau people were still in the tribal era. Each tribe had its own deity.
The tribe of Ga Da Zanpu worshipped the Divine Light Immortal. It was said that when Ga Da’s father, still a herder, rose in rebellion, a seven-coloured divine light appeared in the valley behind him. His father succeeded and established his own tribe.
Afterwards, the tribe settled in that valley and began worshipping the Divine Light Immortal. Their totem was a circle with seven vertical lines below it.
The circle represented the sun and light. The seven lines represented the seven colours of the divine light.
By coincidence, that valley often experienced divine light, and Ga Da’s tribe grew increasingly powerful.
When Jin Feng first heard about this, he immediately burst out laughing.
It was clearly just a rainbow, yet it was treated as some Divine Light Immortal.
As for the valley frequently having divine light, it was probably due to its special location, making rainbows more likely to form.
But people in the tribal era knew nothing of this. They only knew the valley was often illuminated by divine light, and the tribe grew stronger.
What else could this be but the Divine Light Immortal manifesting?
Later, when Ga Da rose to power, before every battle he would capture a batch of enemy common people and brand their faces with a coin-sized totem using a red-hot iron.
With this totem, it meant they had once been captured by Ga Da’s tribe. Even if they returned to their own tribe, they would be ostracised.
So many branded people would fight desperately for Ga Da, hoping to avoid future bullying.
This further proved the Divine Light Immortal’s power from another angle.
Zhou Youda’s mind was in turmoil as he was driven forward by the plateau people along with the group.
On the city walls, Qing Xinyao did not feel good either.
The enemy was getting closer. Reason told him he had to issue the attack order.
But once he did, thousands of Da Kang common people would die in this battle.
“My lord, they are almost at the moat. You must give the order.”
The deputy general urged quietly.
The moat was a city’s first line of defence, no less important than the walls themselves.
But Danzhu was experienced in battle and had prepared countermeasures.
Xichuan city’s moat was fed by running water, with sluice gates upstream and downstream.
Every few years, during the agricultural off-season, the upstream gate would be closed, the water drained, and common people conscripted to maintain it.
Previously, those 10,000 cavalry, besides plundering the surroundings, had also seized those two gates.
Now the moat had been drained dry by the plateau cavalry. The enemy could charge directly to the base of the walls.
Qing Xinyao clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and spat out one word: “Fight!”
Dong dong dong!
The muffled drumbeats sounded.
Whoosh!
A heavy crossbow bolt whistled over the moat and embedded in the ground thirty zhang away.
It served as both a warning and ranging.
The plateau people ignored it completely. Instead, they beat their own war drums, frantically whipping the Da Kang common people, and charged forward.
On the walls, when the crowd crossed the warning line, the deputy general gritted his teeth and issued the attack order.
Dozens of heavy crossbows and stone throwers mounted on the walls launched simultaneously.
Arrows and stones whistled through the air.
The scene instantly became horrific!
Bursts of blood mist exploded in the dense crowd.
Some were pierced by heavy crossbows, others crushed or injured by stones.
Blood began to spread, soaking into the earth.
Screams rose one after another!
Many common people grew afraid and halted.
But in the next second, they were hacked down by the supervising plateau people behind them.
The common people could only lower their heads and continue charging forward.
…
The battle lasted over an hour.
The opposite bank of the moat resembled a hellish slaughterhouse.
Severed limbs and broken bodies lay everywhere.
There were those of Da Kang common people, as well as plateau people.
Some were injured by stones but not killed instantly, lying helplessly on the battlefield, howling in agony.
In the end, the plateau people failed to cross the moat.
But Danzhu showed no disappointment.
He knew it was delusional to think Xichuan prefecture could be taken in a single day.
There were plenty of Da Kang common people anyway. When this batch was used up, the cavalry could simply capture another.
Xichuan city was now completely surrounded, and the defenders’ supplies were limited.
Once those supplies ran out, the morale of the defending soldiers would likely be worn down.
That would be the time for a true assault.
The Ninth Princess and Jin Feng had been closely monitoring the situation at Xichuan prefectural city. As soon as the battle ended, they received the news.
“Sir, can we take action now?”
Qing Mulan held the battle report, her face full of anger.
The Ninth Princess’s expression remained calm, but her fists tightly clenched her sleeves.
They had long known this battle would be difficult, but they had not expected it to be so brutal from the very start.
Though they had not been at the scene, reading the descriptions in the report made the Ninth Princess and Qing Mulan feel a chill in their hearts.
