Chapter 175: Those Who Do Not Surrender Shall Be Executed Without Mercy

Guo Gui thought for a moment, then nodded in sullen anger.

"I originally wanted to extract the Goddess's whereabouts from these Beijiang Army soldiers, but I didn't expect them to not say a single word."

"Since these people are useless, it would be better to let them do something useful."

"Feed these Beijiang Army captives Talisman Water and turn them into the Tiansheng Army!"

Outside the city.

Xiao Moting stood at the entrance of the temporary command tent, holding Binoculars, gazing at the city walls ahead.

At this moment, Qin Zhan entered.

"Prince, a group of deserters from the Yuan Family Army has arrived, wishing to defect to you."

Xiao Moting looked up and saw dozens of Yuan Family Army soldiers huddled behind him, all sallow and emaciated, appearing terrified and uneasy.

He cast a glance at them.

These dozen or so people were all wearing the clothes of common soldiers, belonging to the lowest ranks of the Yuan Family Army.

Xiao Moting walked forward.

"You are soldiers of the Yuan Family Army; how did you escape?"

The dozens of deserters cowered into a group, and one of them gathered the courage to speak.

"In the middle of the night, we lowered ourselves from the city wall using long ropes."

"There isn't much grain left in the city; the officials have food and drink, but they only withhold the soldiers' rations. We can only eat one steamed bun a day now; if we stay trapped any longer, we will starve to death."

Xiao Moting asked in a deep voice, "Do you know any news about the Beijiang Army soldiers imprisoned in the city?"

"We know; they are locked in the deepest part of the Stone Prison and have been soaking in the Water Prison for over ten days."

"Prefect Guo wants to capture the Goddess to earn merit and promotion before General Yuan. He used torture to force the Beijiang Army soldiers in the prison to reveal the Goddess's whereabouts, and he whipped several of them to death."

"The captives all refused to confess, so Prefect Guo dragged out an old soldier with graying hair and executed him by slow slicing in public. He was sliced over three thousand times before he breathed his last... saying it was to kill the chicken to scare the monkey..."

Before the words were finished, a shrill cry came from the crowd.

"That's my dad, Dad!"

A dark-skinned middle-aged soldier fell to his knees, wailing in agony.

Among the Beijiang Army, there were many soldiers who were fathers and sons, or brothers.

Xiao Moting's expression was icy; this old soldier was the middle-aged soldier's father. He had worked diligently in the army for decades; although he hadn't achieved great merit, he hadn't committed any major mistakes either—he was an honest man.

In a few more months, this old soldier would have reached the age to retire and return to his fields, at which point he would have received a generous resettlement allowance to return home to grow crops in his old age.

But now, he had been sliced over three thousand times and died in the Water Prison, leaving no remains.

The surrounding Beijiang Army soldiers were filled with towering rage, their eyes turning red.

The crowd surrounded the dozens of deserters, glaring at them with fury.

The deserters were trembling with fear and hurriedly knelt down.

"Prince, spare our lives! We are villagers from nearby who were press-ganged into the Yuan Family Army. We usually just do manual labor in the army and have never harmed a single Beijiang Army soldier."

"We are all people of the Liang Kingdom; many in the Yuan Family Army don't want to fight you at all."

The surroundings were silent, and the wailing of the dark-skinned man echoed in the air.

Xiao Moting's icy eyes became dark and gloomy.

The soldiers all around looked quietly at Xiao Moting, waiting for his command.

Whether it was the Beijiang Army outside the city or the Yuan Family Army inside, soldiers on both sides did not want to fight.

When Guo Gui ordered them to fire arrows, many Yuan Family Army soldiers closed their eyes and shot their arrows toward the ground.

Because everyone was a subject of Daliang, no one wanted to kill their own compatriots.

Moreover, in battle, those who suffered the most casualties were the common soldiers. Most of them were powerless commoners; some became soldiers just to get a bite to eat, while others were press-ganged and forced into the Yuan Family Army.

Neither side wanted to fight; no one wanted to kill anyone else.

The crowd was very quiet, and all eyes were focused on Xiao Moting.

He was the Chief Commander; it was up to him to issue the orders.

To attack the city was to slaughter one's own kind.

To not attack the city meant the Beijiang Army soldiers would die.

The dense crowd was deathly silent.

Xiao Moting's eyes were cold and bright, like cold stars in the night sky.

He took a deep breath and pressed his right hand firmly against the hilt of his Long Sword.

"Pass down the order: tomorrow morning, assemble all forces and attack the city with full strength!"

"If anyone in the Yuan Family Army is willing to defect to the Beijiang Army, they shall be treated with favor!"

"If they are unwilling, then they are enemies. When the time comes for us to meet on the battlefield, show no mercy and kill them all!"

Xiao Moting issued the order.

He was the Beijiang War God who had grown up in mountains of corpses and seas of blood; he was no soft-hearted Bodhisattva and could not be benevolent to everyone.

Since they dared to harm his people, then no matter who the other party was, they had to be wiped out.

Among the surrounding Beijiang Army, some cheered, while others worried.

After all, they were all people of Daliang; some Beijiang Army soldiers had distant relatives in Yannan, and a small number even had friends and family serving in the Yannan Army.

If they started fighting, they feared hurting their own people.

Xiao Moting swept his cold gaze across them and shouted sternly.

"Once on the battlefield, they are enemies! Whoever is soft-hearted and refuses to kill the enemy will be executed on the spot according to military law, no need to report!"

The crowd roared in unison.

"Yes!"

News of the Beijiang Army attacking the city tomorrow spread throughout the city.

Five Drones, carrying Roast Chicken and loudspeakers, flew into Shiya City, playing Qin Zhan's recording over and over.

"Those who defect to the Beijiang Army shall drink wine and eat chicken, and be treated well!"

"Those who do not surrender shall be killed without mercy!"

The Yuan Family Army fell into chaos.

Some prepared for battle, while others quietly packed their belongings, preparing to defect to the Beijiang Army.

In the Taishou Mansion, Guo Gui was eating a steamed bun; upon hearing this news, he flew into a rage and slammed his chopsticks onto the table.

"Xiao Moting wants to attack the city?"

"Is Shiya City a place he can just break into?"

"Does he really think I'm afraid of him? He has one hundred thousand troops, and I have one hundred thousand in the city; we are evenly matched."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a military officer ran in in a panic.

"Prefect, the Beijiang Army is using iron birds to hang Roast Chicken and a strange object; that object keeps talking, telling everyone to surrender."

"Deserters have appeared in the city; over a thousand soldiers have already snuck out of the city to defect to the Beijiang Army."

Guo Gui was so angry he smashed his wine cup onto the ground.

"Cunning Xiao Moting, to think he has come to shake the morale of my army again."

"Pass on my order as Prefect: if anyone dares to defect to the Beijiang Army, execute them on the spot."

Guo Gui's order was passed down.

But it still could not stop the deserters.

The city lacked clothing and food; the soldiers could only eat one corn bun a day, and having to watch the Beijiang Army eat meat and fish every day, they had long been envious to the point of tears.

Now that the other side was about to attack the city, everyone's minds began to waver.

Look at the Prince of Northern Suppression; he treats his subordinates so well, eating and drinking just like the soldiers!

When his subordinates are captured, he brings an army of one hundred thousand to besiege the city!

When his subordinates suffer torture, he immediately prepares to storm the city; he says he will fight, and he fights, without any hesitation!

This is a wise master.

Since they are all Daliang troops anyway, they might as well be Xiao Moting's soldiers.

By the time it was dark, the Beijiang Army had already taken in over three thousand deserters who had fled the city.

To prevent spies from mixing in, Xiao Moting had all these deserters kept under guard.

"Prince, a small troop of soldiers took advantage of the chaos to leave the city; they don't look like deserters, they look like messengers."

Xiao Moting's handsome face was cold, and his thin, sharp-lined lips curled into a trace of mockery.

"Trying to leave the city to find Yuan Canghai for reinforcements?"

"Kill them for me, leave none alive!"