Chapter 162: Offering Surrender

Jiang Xiaomu followed Xiong Kuohai up onto the city wall.

A short, stocky barbarian envoy with a face full of horizontal flesh stood at the city gate, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"People inside the city, listen! Our great General Tu Huai has already brought his troops to the city's gates!"

"Those who are sensible, quickly open the city gate and surrender!"

"Otherwise, when General Tu Huai's iron cavalry tramples Wangzhou City, it will be you..."

The envoy chattered on in gibberish, Jiang Xiaomu didn't understand a word, and impatiently poked his ears.

"What the hell is he saying?"

Jiang Xiaomu asked Xiong Kuohai.

Xiong Kuohai scratched his head.

"I didn't quite catch it either, it seems... seems like they want us to surrender."

"Saying something like... open the gates and surrender, enjoying endless wealth and glory."

Jiang Xiaomu gave a cold snort.

"Wealth and glory? This barbarian sure knows how to draw a pie."

"Boss, should I split him with one axe?"

Xiong Kuohai was eager to try, his giant axe flashing with cold light.

Jiang Xiaomu waved his hand.

"Not rush, let's see what other tricks he has."

Seeing no reaction from the people on the city wall, the barbarian envoy continued shouting.

This time he deliberately slowed his speech, speaking in broken Now we need to output lines: English, he said:

"You… quick… quick… surrender! Open… Wangzhou… city gate! Our… General Tu Huai… treats… prisoners well!"

"This barbarian's Now we need to output lines: English is so terrible," Jiang Xiaomu couldn't help but laugh.

"And yet he's shouting so loud."

Seeing Jiang Xiaomu and the others still unmoved, the envoy grew angry from embarrassment and began threatening.

"You… if you don't surrender… General Tu Huai will level Wangzhou City! Not even chickens or dogs will be spared!"

Jiang Xiaomu frowned as he listened; the barbarian envoy's speech was like constipation, each word popping out, making him annoyed.

"Xiong Kuohai, bring him up here!"

Jiang Xiaomu impatiently waved his hand.

Xiong Kuohai grinned, called a few soldiers, and hoisted the barbarian envoy up onto the city wall with a rope.

After being hoisted up, the envoy remained arrogant, pointing at Jiang Xiaomu's nose and cursing:

"You… lowly… Han people! How dare you… ignore… our… great General Tu Huai!!"

"Smack!"

A crisp slap cut off his shouting.

Jiang Xiaomu shook his hand, looking at the envoy with disdain.

"Your mouth really stinks, like you've eaten shit."

"Smack!"

Another slap.

"Speak human language!"

"Smack!"

"Speak properly!"

The envoy was slapped until he saw stars, his cheeks swollen like a pig's head, and his speech began to slur.

"You… you… dare… hit… me…"

"What's it to you if I hit you?" Jiang Xiaomu swung another slap.

"Today I'll teach you what rules are!"

After the beating, Jiang Xiaomu still felt unsatisfied and kicked the envoy hard in the belly, sending him flying.

"Throw him out, tell Tu Huai, we'll see each other on the city wall tomorrow!"

The barbarian envoy rolled and crawled back to the camp, crying to Tu Huai about what happened.

Tu Huai listened, his face turned dark as iron, his eyes flashing with cold light.

"What a Jiang Xiaomu! Dare to humiliate me like this! Pass the order: at the morning hour tomorrow, the army will attack the city!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The barbarian army's morale instantly surged, the shouts of killing shaking the heavens.

Jiang Xiaomu stood on the city wall, looking at the dense barbarian army below, a cold smile curling his lips.

"The good show is about to begin..."

Night fell, Jiang Xiaomu came to Lei Gong's little wooden hut.

"Lei Gong, are the things ready?"

Lei Gong rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Chief, everything is ready! I guarantee those barbarians will come and never return!"

Jiang Xiaomu nodded, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Tomorrow, let them taste the flavor of our 'secret weapon'!"

The next morning, as the sky just began to lighten, the thunderous war drums echoed throughout Wangzhou City.

The barbarian army surged like a tide, a dark mass stretching as far as the eye could see.

The defenders on the city wall stood in strict formation, the atmosphere tense to the extreme.

Tu Huai rode a tall horse, positioned before the formation, his battle sword pointing straight at Wangzhou City.

"Attack the city!"

With Tu Huai's command, the barbarian army began a frenzied assault.

Amid earth-shaking cries of slaughter, the barbarian army surged toward Wangzhou City like a black tide.

At the foot of the wall, countless barbarian soldiers bore crude ladders and pushed dilapidated siege wagons, shouting wildly.

"Here they come!"

Xiong Kuohai spoke in a deep, muffled voice, his rough large hand gripping the great axe tightly, knuckles whitening.

Jiang Xiaomu watched everything below the wall with a blank expression, his heart undisturbed.

The barbarians' siege tactic never changed: first a probing volley of arrows, then an infantry charge.

Sure enough, a swish of arrows tore through the air, and a sparse volley fell upon the city wall.

Most of these arrows were made from rough wooden shafts, their tips merely sharpened, giving them limited lethality.

"Hah, mere child's play."

Jiang Xiaomu gave a contemptuous smile.

As the arrow barrage ceased, the barbarian infantry began to howl and charge.

They bore ladders and pushed siege wagons, like a swarm of black ants surging thickly toward the wall.

"Within range!"

She Yan's voice sounded in Jiang Xiaomu's ear.

Jiang Xiaomu nodded slightly, giving She Yan a look.

She Yan understood instantly, raising the steel crossbow and shouting loudly:

"Rockets ready! Fire!"

"Whoosh!"

Hundreds of rockets trailed long flames, tearing through the sky like fiery red meteors, slamming hard into the barbarian army.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A series of deafening explosions rang out, instantly turning the area below the city into a sea of fire.

Lei Gong's specially made rockets had immense power; the blast's shockwave and shrapnel blew the surrounding barbarian soldiers apart, flesh and blood flying.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Screams rose and fell; the barbarian army was utterly dazed by this sudden strike.

Having never seen such a terrifying weapon, they were terrified out of their wits, fleeing in all directions.

Tu Huai sat on his tall horse, looking at this hellish scene before him, also wearing a bewildered expression.

He had thought Wangzhou City was just a small town easily taken, but he never expected to encounter such strong resistance.

"What sorcery is this?!"

Wuzhu likewise cried out in terror.

Before he could react, She Yan already ordered a second volley of arrows.

"Rockets! Fire!"

Again hundreds of rockets screamed forth, once more falling into the barbarian army.

Explosions and screams merged into one, turning the area below the city into a veritable hell on earth.

After two rounds of rockets, the barbarian army suffered heavy casualties and its morale collapsed completely.

They discarded helmets and armor, scrambling to flee backward; no matter how Wuzhu shouted, they could not stop the rout.

Jiang Xiaomu stood on the city wall, watching the barbarian army flee in disarray below.

The fleeing barbarian soldiers scattered like stray dogs, legs slipping with urine as they rushed backward, even scattering the reserve troops.

Wuzhu's face turned livid as he drew his saber and, without hesitation, cut down several fleeing soldiers.

"Anyone who dares retreat another step will meet this fate!"

"Deserters in battle, death!"

He roared hoarsely, the splattered blood smearing a ferocious mark across his face.

The barbarian soldiers already feared Wuzhu's brutality; now witnessing this bloody scene firsthand, they were terrified to the core.

Under the threat of death, they had no choice but to steel themselves and reorganize the attack.

"Damn it! These barbarians really aren't afraid to die!"

Xiong Kuohai spat, drew his bow, shot an arrow, and killed a barbarian soldier.