Chapter 243: Merit Without Fault, the Mutiny of Liu's Camp

"Up, all of you, charge up for me!"

Assistant Regional Commander Wang Shou waved his blade while hiding at the foot of the city wall, shouting again and again, but no matter how he shouted, he himself refused to take a single step forward.

Seeing him like this, the other soldiers already felt contempt in their hearts. And rightly so—when even the commanding general in charge of the attack was this afraid of death, what real effort could be expected from the troops below him?

Liu's force had been ordered out of the city to retake Pingdu Prefecture, but in truth they had no heavy siege equipment at all. Liu Liangzuo had never fought any major siege battles in ordinary times and hadn't paid this any mind, thinking that since the enemy was few in number, they could break in with ease. They built some crude scaling ladders and hastily began the assault.

Now that things had come to this, the shortcomings were plain to see.

Tens of thousands of government troops attacked the city, yet they had no way at all to break through the gates—they could only keep raising ladders and climbing up. Beyond that, there were no cannons or ranged weapons to speak of. Of course, that is, if those crude foot archers didn't count.

It wasn't that these soldiers weren't giving their all—it was that their situation was truly inferior to the enemy's.

The Dashun commander defending Pingdu Prefecture had formerly been nothing but a farmer, but at this critical moment he showed not the slightest trace of fear. He kept himself fixed on the city wall, and as for those Dashun soldiers, their armor and weapons were nothing special, but they were far better off than the government troops of Liu's force.

Not to mention Wang Shou, the commanding general of Liu's force—the junior officers were just the same. They shouted with gusto, but they themselves would never advance a single step. On the contrary, they were constantly watching the situation, ready at any moment to turn tail and run.

The government troops would be in the middle of climbing up when they'd suddenly hear a scream from above, followed by a "thud" as a body came tumbling down.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. The Dashun army had prepared plenty of rolling logs and hot oil on the city wall for defense. Besides having to dodge the bodies of their own falling comrades, the government troops also had to pray to heaven at all times that hot oil and rolling logs wouldn't suddenly come down on their heads.

The battlefield knows no mercy—the more one harbors such wishful thinking, the more one discovers the cruelty of things.

When the Dashun soldiers and commoners atop the wall poured down the hot oil, the soldiers climbing halfway up found they had only two choices. The first was to jump down directly—this way they could avoid the scalding oil overhead, but they would very likely break their legs.

But if you didn't choose that option, the consequences would be even worse.

Some people reacted quickly and jumped down at the first moment, after which they lay on the ground screaming in agony, clutching their legs and rolling around. But compared to those who came after, they were even the lucky ones—the rest could only be described as too miserable to behold.

Amidst the chorus of wailing, Liu's force made their final attack of the afternoon, which came to a hasty end just like that. No matter how Wang Shou and the officers tried to rally them, the soldiers hesitated and refused to advance.

The Dashun commander atop the city wall laughed heartily and said: "These government troops are too useless, aren't they? Tens of thousands of men can't beat our six thousand. With trash like this, they still think they can contend with our Dashing King for the realm?"

The Dashun official in charge of recruiting militia within the city was also somewhat bewildered, saying: "This Liu Liangzuo is known as Flowery Horse Liu. They say his horsemanship is passable and his subordinates have earned repeated battle merits. Those gentry all say he's rather formidable—could it be that the main force didn't come out to fight today?"

When Liu's government troops had charged up earlier, they had indeed given quite a few people a scare. The formation was genuinely impressive—a sea of people. The local Dashun officials had actually only taken up their posts a few days ago. Most of them had formerly been down-and-out xiucai from various places who, because the court wouldn't take them, had thrown in their lot with Li Chuang. They had never seen any grand spectacle before.

Seeing that formation earlier, quite a few officials had even collapsed to the ground on the spot. But later they discovered that the government troops were all thunder with no rain—they shouted boldly, but every time they attacked, the front ranks would just start taking casualties and the rear would collapse and scatter.

Yet this official also understood that the main reason they could hold the city, besides their soldiers daring to fight, was the support of the neighboring common people. When they saw the banner of Liu's force, every one of them looked as if they'd seen a mortal enemy. The militia who came up to help defend the walls numbered over ten thousand.

Of course, that was the reasoning—but it wasn't how things could be said aloud.

"It's still the General's valor that led the troops to repel those dog officials' army. When the Dashing King's eastern expedition army reaches Taiyuan, the General will surely be heavily promoted and rewarded."

Hearing this, the man also laughed heartily, waving his hand and saying it was only his duty.

At dusk, a dejected Wang Shou dragged his blade back, despair written all over his face.

What made him despair wasn't even the failure to win—it was the punishment Liu Liangzuo was about to mete out to him. Having followed this man surnamed Liu for so many years, Wang Shou knew all too well just how ruthless he could be toward his own subordinates.

Previously, that Assistant Regional Commander named Li Fang had been given twenty heavy strokes of the board for failing to take the city within an hour. He himself was only a mere Assistant Regional Commander as well, and he'd fought for an entire afternoon—not to mention the losses of men—just on the matter of time alone, this trip was bound to end badly.

He walked forward a few steps but was suddenly stopped by a household retainer. This retainer looked tense and said: "Assistant Regional Commander Wang, don't go any further—if you go, you'll lose your life!"

"What did you say?" Wang Shou's eyes flew wide at these words. He grabbed the retainer and demanded: "Tell me clearly, why would I lose my life?"

"Does the Assistant Regional Commander not know?" The retainer looked exasperated, pulling Wang Shou aside, and said: "General Liu is throwing a furious tantrum in his tent. He called you useless trash and said that when you return, he'll have you chopped to pieces and your head hung up to intimidate the entire army."

"Liu Liangzuo really said that!?" Wang Shou's face went pale with shock, pacing about in terror. "What do I do? My life is over, my life is over!"

"Assistant Regional Commander Wang, how about this." The retainer's eyes rolled, as if an idea had struck him, and he said: "That Li Fang took twenty army strokes—they say when he was carried back, he had more breath going out than coming in. Why don't we—"

At this point, the retainer made a throat-slitting gesture and sneered coldly.

"This, this, this..." Wang Shou was hesitant at first, but under the retainer's constant urging, a feeling of hatred suddenly rose in his heart.

Damn it all—he'd followed Flowery Horse Liu for so many years. Even without merit, he'd put in his share of toil. And this bastard surnamed Liu wanted to use him as a sacrificial banner over a single disagreement? Was that how you established authority?

"Fine, we'll do it your way. Where is Liu Fang's tent!"

Before long, Wang Shou, led by the retainer, arrived at the tent of Assistant Regional Commander Liu Fang. Liu Fang was lying propped against a table, sighing again and again. Seeing him arrive, he also sighed and said:

"You brat actually made it back safe and sound—the General didn't do anything to you?"

"Haha, who do you think I am? Even that Flowery Horse Liu wouldn't dare!" Wang Shou laughed loudly, boasting as he walked up to Liu Fang. Looking at the bloody mess on his back, he said with a pained expression:

"You and I are both cursed by fate. If I'd known this day would come, I should have joined Li Chuang back then, rather than suffer this humiliation here."

"Hey, brother, don't say that." Liu Fang quickly waved his hand, seeming somewhat afraid. "Following the court is still better than being a bandit."

Seeing his manner, Wang Shou's heart sank. His face betraying nothing, he nodded in agreement. The two chatted idly for a while longer, and then, catching Liu Fang off guard, Wang Shou suddenly struck. Several household retainers also came forward to help. Poor Liu Fang—his face full of disbelief, he didn't even let out a sound before being killed by his former brother-in-arms.

Immediately after, Wang Shou's household retainers ran out of the tent and lit a fire, shouting loudly:

"Assistant Regional Commander Liu had merit without fault, yet he was beaten to death! We will avenge him!"