Chapter 789

Guangzong City.

The cavalry that collapsed at Jieqiao gradually returned to the city in groups of three or five.

After a count, more than two thousand cavalry were killed, missing, or did not return.

The loss exceeded one-third.

However, this number was still within the range that Lu Zhi could accept.

The loss of two thousand cavalry did not damage the foundation of the main force of the army.

Now, Guangzong City has been recaptured by the Han army, and Zhang Jiao's escape route has been confirmed.

Although the direction of fleeing toward the Qingshui River is blocked by Jieqiao, this also has a drawback.

There are no cities within a hundred miles in the direction of Qinghe State.

Zhang Jiao leading over a hundred thousand believers, wanting to walk a hundred miles in one day, is simply wishful thinking.

In this way, Zhang Jiao can only still station troops in the wild.

Lu Zhi, sitting in the main hall of the County Magistrate's office, looked at the map in front of him, then raised his head to look at the deputy general beside him and said:

"Order the soldiers in the city to rest. Tomorrow morning, leave two thousand soldiers to guard Guangzong City, and the rest of the army will set off toward Qinghe State."

Having not slept all night yesterday, and having suffered a defeat, Lu Zhi went to the back residence to rest after issuing the orders.

Nightfall was approaching.

Lu Zhi, who had just woken up and was walking from the backyard to the front hall, rubbed his forehead slightly.

Outside the County Magistrate's office, bursts of noise reached Lu Zhi's ears.

Lu Zhi, while rubbing his forehead, looked up toward the direction outside the County Magistrate's office.

Lu Zhi, walking to the front of the main hall, looked at the personal guard standing to the side and asked with a frown: "What is going on? What are the soldiers outside arguing about?"

The personal guard, not knowing the situation, shook his head.

Lu Zhi, who was about to walk into the main hall, stopped and then walked toward the outside of the County Magistrate's office.

The further out he walked, the louder the noise coming from outside became.

"What is going on?" Lu Zhi asked the personal guard captain in front of the office gate.

The personal guard captain stepped forward and bowed, saying: "Reporting to the General, some soldiers reported that the water wells in the city have all been blocked, and only a few wells have not been blocked. The soldiers had some disputes because they were fighting over drawing water to cook."

The water wells were blocked?

Lu Zhi was slightly stunned.

"How were they blocked?"

Lu Zhi said with a frown: "Why not open them?"

The personal guard captain immediately shook his head and said: "I just went to look, those blocked water wells have already had stones thrown into them, and water can no longer be drawn."

"To draw water, one would need to move all those stones out, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive."

"It should be that those Huang Jin rebel soldiers blocked the wells when they retreated, fearing that they wanted to delay and waste our time."

Lu Zhi took a deep breath and nodded.

It seems that should be the case.

Judging from the battle at Jieqiao this morning, these Huang Jin rebel soldiers clearly had some prior preparations.

"Go, pass the order to the deputy generals of each camp to come for a meeting. Additionally, send some people to maintain order, and organize some people to see if they can open the wells."

"Do not let the soldiers fight each other because of this."

Lu Zhi waved his hand.

The personal guard captain immediately went to convey the order.

Before long, the deputy generals and captains of each army were all gathered in the main hall of the County Magistrate's office.

Lu Zhi, sitting in the main hall, began to arrange the pursuit mission for tomorrow morning.

Inside Guangzong City.

The situation of fighting for water sources continued from the start of cooking in the evening until dark.

Guangzong City originally had a population of thirty to forty thousand.

In daily life, they relied on water wells for water.

Basically, there was one well for every ten households.

And for powerful families and scholar clans, a single household had multiple wells.

At first, the soldiers entering the city did not discover anything unusual.

It was not until tens of thousands of troops had entered the city, and when they started preparing to light fires and cook in the evening, that some soldiers discovered it.

Most of the water wells in the city had been filled with stones.

Originally, there were about a thousand water wells in the city.

But now only a few dozen remained.

Tens of thousands of people needed to drink water and eat.

Thus, there were armed fights for water sources.

At this time, the forty thousand troops in the city did not come from one place; some were conscripted from Henei, some were from the Five Schools of the Northern Army in Luoyang, and some were commandery troops from Guanzhong.

In the scramble, no one would yield to anyone else.

This situation continued until nearly dark before it became a bit quieter.

As night fell, most soldiers chose to sleep in their clothes in the nearby civilian houses where they were stationed.

The commoners in Guangzong City had already been coerced into becoming Huang Jin when the Huang Jin Army entered the city.

All the civilian houses in the city were empty and deserted.

But in the corners of the city that the Han army ignored, figures dressed in black, hiding in every corner of the city, quietly began to act after night fell.

After nightfall, everything was silent.

The Han army soldiers guarding the city also began to rest their eyes, leaning against the battlements.

The city was not like the camp outside the city.

The Huang Jin rebel soldiers had all fled, and no one thought that the Huang Jin rebel soldiers would dare to return to attack Guangzong City, which had tens of thousands of Han troops.

Unless Zhang Jiao was stupid, or the Huang Jin rebel soldiers were all disregarding their lives.

Once the tense mood of being stationed in the camp outside the city surrounding Guangzong City was relaxed, the fatigue of many days surged into their bodies, and the soldiers stationed in the city slept even more soundly.

Suddenly, a sound full of terror broke the quiet night sky.

On the city wall of the East City, a soldier resting against the battlements got up, just unfastened his armor, and prepared to pee down the city wall, when a burnt, pungent smell entered his nasal cavity.

The soldier rubbed his sleepy eyes and glanced down the city wall.

Red firelight was dancing under the city wall.

The soldier at first thought someone was lighting a fire.

However, when the flame spread at an extremely fast speed,

and the black shadow that lit the fire quickly disappeared into the alleys of the civilian houses, the soldier on the city wall was stunned for a moment, then shouted in panic.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Someone set a fire!"

"Someone set a fire!"

The panicked shouts instantly resounded under the night sky.

At the same time, fires also started simultaneously in the West City, South City, and North City directions.

The speed at which the firelight spread, and the speed at which the fire spread, were both extremely fast.

In the blink of an eye, the fire engulfed all the city gates of Guangzong City.