Chapter 33: Earthquake in Yan Commandery

"General Chang, what is the meaning of this!"

Huang Family Fortress.

Huang Yu's son, Huang Gang, stood upon the fortress wall.

The Huang family's private soldiers brought news that the fortress was surrounded.

He had rushed over without time to wash or dress, and upon seeing the Prince's Personal Army general Chang Wei leading troops alongside the heads of the Dong, Yang, and Lv families, his heart instantly turned cold.

In his heart, he vaguely guessed that his father's actions had been exposed.

"Huang Yu planted spies in the Prince Mansion with the intent to rebel. By the order of His Highness, I have come to raid the Huang family. Open the fortress gates immediately, or you shall be treated as traitors."

Chang Wei kept his hand on his sword hilt and spoke in a loud voice.

Before setting out, the Yan Wang had already given him instructions.

Treat the Huang family with courtesy before resorting to force.

If the Huang family could be raided without wasting a single soldier, the core members imprisoned, and the remaining population and wealth confiscated, that would be best.

If the Huang family did not comply, then force would have to be used.

"My father has always been law-abiding; how could he plant spies in the Prince Mansion? There must be some misunderstanding. I hope His Highness and the General will investigate clearly." Huang Gang's heart skipped a beat.

Although he had been prepared, learning that the matter had been exposed still frightened him deeply.

Now that things had reached this point.

The Yan Wang had made such a grand display, he must have made up his mind to eliminate his Huang family.

If he opened the fortress gates, he feared the Huang family would never have a chance to recover.

It would be better to remain in a stalemate here, waiting for the support of the Zhang Family and the Du Family; perhaps then there would still be a glimmer of hope.

"So, you are not opening the gate." Chang Wei's eyes turned cold instantly.

Huang Gang did not speak, only silently watching below the wall.

"General Chang, since that is the case, let us take advantage of the fact that the Huang family has not yet finished preparing and attack the city immediately. If we wait until they are fully prepared, it will be even harder."

Dong Yuan saw the Huang family's private soldiers running back and forth on the fortress wall, seemingly moving arrows, stones, and other items, so he stepped forward to offer advice.

Chang Wei nodded. At present, the combined forces of the Prince Mansion and the three families were nearly five times that of the Huang family, enough to lay siege.

Moreover, when they came, they had already prepared Scaling Ladders and other equipment.

Originally, according to his own thoughts, he also wanted to attack the city quickly.

But with the Yan Wang's instructions, he had to comply.

So he shouted one last time: "Soldiers of the Huang family, His Highness the Yan Wang told me to tell you that the Huang family has committed many evils and bullied your wives and children; you should not throw your lives away for them."

"Lay down the swords in your hands. His Highness has said that after the Huang family is raided, he will tear up your indentures and return your land and freedom to you."

"..."

Chang Wei's shouting reached inside the fortress, and many of the Huang family's private soldiers felt their resolve waver.

They had long heard about what the Yan Wang had been doing during this time.

Farming the land of the Yan Prince Mansion not only required no indentures, but only a small amount of grain as tax.

To them, this was as comfortable as being an immortal.

The soldiers' expressions were noticed by Huang Gang.

He immediately raised his sword to threaten them: "Whoever dares to harbor disloyal thoughts will be executed without mercy!"

The private soldiers lowered their heads.

The officers of various ranks among the Huang family's private soldiers were all members of the Huang clan; this was the case for all the private soldiers of the Rich Clans in Yan Commandery.

Below the wall.

After a round of shouting, Chang Wei's throat was numb, and he could not help but cough several times.

But he carefully noticed that some of the Huang family's private soldiers looked dejected.

Clearly, this round of shouting had shaken the morale of the Huang family's private soldiers.

A sense of admiration rose in his heart.

The "psychological warfare" the Yan Wang spoke of was quite interesting.

Staring at Huang Gang, he continued: "Huang Gang, and the clansmen of the Huang family, listen well: His Highness also said that Huang Yu's crimes will not implicate others. Surrender the fortress and you may still live, but if you remain obsessed and unrepentant, it will be treated as treason!"

The Huang family descendants beside Huang Gang felt uneasy upon hearing this.

When the Yan Wang was insane, they naturally were not afraid of offending the Yan Prince Mansion.

But now, things were different.

Did they really have to resist to the death this time?

"General Chang, no need to say more.

Wait until the people from the Zhang Family and the Du Family arrive, then we shall discuss in detail whether my Huang family is guilty." Huang Gang sensed trouble and immediately brought up the Du Family and the Zhang Family.

Some Huang family descendants felt more at ease upon hearing this, and their gazes became firm again.

They thought that with the help of the Zhang Family and the Du Family, the Yan Wang would ultimately lose.

Chang Wei sneered; his goal had been achieved, as shaking part of their morale was enough.

The rest would have to rely on swords!

Moreover, after seeing the private soldiers of each family, he already had a calculation in his heart.

Whether it was the private soldiers of the Dong, Yang, and Lv families or the current Huang family private soldiers, to him, they were nothing but a rabble, intimidating only in numbers.

Not to mention that these private soldiers were a mix of old and young, and fine Armor and Weapons were mostly worn only by the core members of each family.

Most private soldiers had only broken, old weapons.

The morale of the private soldiers was not even as good as the Prince's Personal Army, which had only recently finished training.

From this, it was clear that the common people were not sincerely willing to throw their lives away for these Rich Clans of Yan Commandery, whether it was the Dong, Yang, and Lv families or the Huang family.

"Archers, prepare!" Chang Wei stopped delaying and gave the order in a loud voice.

The private soldiers of the three families immediately had their own archers step forward, drawing their Curved Bows and nocking their Arrows.

On the city wall, Huang Gang's complexion changed instantly, and he hurriedly hid behind the crenellations.

At the same time, the Huang Family's archers also drew their bows and nocked their arrows one after another.

"Fire!"

Chang Wei gave the order.

He had been on the battlefield before and had crossed swords with the Xiliang people, so he was no stranger to a real battlefield.

This kind of formation was nothing to him, so he commanded with ease.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

The Prince's Personal Army and the private soldiers of the three families held the numerical advantage.

The number of archers was nearly two thousand, almost five times that of the Huang Family.

Dense Arrow fire fell like raindrops onto the top of the Huang Family Fortress, and the Huang Family's private soldiers were immediately pressed down by the rain of arrows, unable to lift their heads.

At the same time, screams rang out continuously on the city wall.

"Scaling Ladders!"

Taking advantage of the momentum of the arrow rain, Chang Wei shouted.

At this moment, five squads of soldiers carrying Scaling Ladders charged straight to the foot of the Fortress.

The leading soldier had a sword hilt bitten in his mouth, his hands climbing toward the city wall as quickly as a monkey climbing a tree.

Chang Wei watched the young soldier.

This soldier was Chen Hu; ever since he joined the Prince's Personal Army, Chen Hu had trained very diligently.

This time, he had also requested to be the first to go up during the attack on the Huang Family.

Originally, he had wanted to let the private soldiers of the three families scale the wall, but after seeing their listless appearance, he gave up on that idea.

Even now, not even Yan Wang could guarantee that the Du Family and the Zhang Family would not send troops.

If the Huang Family Fortress could not be taken in time, they might be attacked from both front and back, which would be even more dangerous then.

Dong Yuan, Yang Cheng, and Lv Ran all felt a shock in their hearts as they watched the swift movements of the Prince's Personal Army.

The morale of these Prince's Personal Army soldiers was much stronger than theirs.

"Three taels of Silver is truly not given for nothing; these soldiers are really risking their lives," Dong Yuan thought sourly.

His own private soldiers received not a single cent of pay, and on top of that, their families still had to pay him eighty percent of their grain.

After the Prince's notice recruiting private soldiers came out, he had wanted to give his own private soldiers some benefits to stabilize their morale.

But in the end, he could not bring himself to do it.

Lv Ran and Yang Cheng nodded one after another; they could not help but admire the high morale of the Prince's Personal Army, as if this battle were being fought for the soldiers themselves.

While the three of them were sighing in admiration, more soldiers climbed onto the Scaling Ladders.

Meanwhile, the Huang Family soldiers were suppressed by the Arrows and were unable to fight back at all.

On the city wall, Huang Gang shouted and yelled, issuing orders.

The commanders among the Huang Family clansmen did not stop urging the soldiers to fight back.

But the soldiers clutched their heads and hid behind the crenellations, refusing to move at all.

"Go up, go up!" A Huang Family commander's eyes turned red with anxiety, and he slashed with his sword at a hiding soldier.

The soldier immediately fell into a pool of blood.

"Those who retreat die!" The commander continued toward the next soldier.

A Huang Family soldier stood up and glanced at the Prince's soldiers who were about to climb onto the city wall.

His heart hardened, and as the Huang Family commander swung his sword at him, he suddenly thrust the Long Spear in his hand into the commander's heart.

The commander looked at the Long Spear piercing his chest in disbelief and slowly fell.

The remaining Huang Family soldiers were stunned.

The soldier shouted: "Brothers, do we still want to continue being beasts of burden for the Huang Family? The Yan Prince Army is right below the city; surrender to Yan Wang and you will have your freedom, what are you waiting for!"

After finishing, he raised his Long Spear and thrust it at the next Huang Family clansman.

At that moment, the expressions of more than ten soldiers changed suddenly.

With someone taking the lead, they also gained courage and followed the first soldier to kill.

The city wall was suddenly in chaos.

At this time, Chen Hu climbed onto the city wall and leaped down.

"Kill!"

With a loud roar, he charged into the Huang Family soldiers.

Seeing the Prince's soldiers kill their way onto the city wall, more Huang Family private soldiers had no heart to fight anymore.

None of them were willing to risk their lives for the Huang Family that exploited them, and they threw down their Weapons one after another.

Only the Huang Family clansmen rushed forward to fight.

Chen Hu rushed over, ignoring the surrendering soldiers, slashed down a person who rushed up, and then killed toward the next.

More and more soldiers climbed onto the city wall and followed behind him, like a sharp blade tearing out a gap.

"Occupy the city gate!" Chen Hu shouted, and led the soldiers to charge toward the city gate.

At the same time, Huang Gang was already scared silly.

He could not imagine how it had turned out like this.

Were the measures of Yan Wang really so popular with the people?

He no longer had time to think.

Because a group of soldiers opened the city gates.

A dark mass of soldiers surged in through the city gates.

The Huang Family is finished!

……

Yancheng.

The news that the Huang Family Fortress had been captured spread rapidly throughout Yancheng at dawn.

The Rich Clans lingering in Yancheng were greatly alarmed.

Some vaguely understood that the era of the Zhang, Huang, and Du families ruling Yan Commandery was likely coming to an end.

Yan Prince Mansion.

The true master of Yan Commandery would soon take control of this land.

As Rich Clans of Yan Commandery, if they wanted to continue living in Yan Commandery, they had to learn how to get along with Yan Wang.

Zhang Family.

Upon learning the news, Du Ming scrambled into the Zhang Family.

Seeing Zhang Kang, he trembled for a long time before he could speak, "Commandery Governor Zhang, the Huang Family Fortress has been captured by Yan Wang, quickly... quickly raise your troops!"