Chapter 170: Might as Well Surrender

The ladders were covered with fierce bandits, especially after hearing the reward Luo Feng mentioned; they became even more valiant. The one at the very top was almost about to climb onto the battlements.

Luo Feng took the bow and arrow from the person beside him, aimed calmly, and fired a cold arrow. A soldier pushing the ladder was struck in the face and fell backward.

Luo Feng didn't stop there; instead, he continued to draw his bow. The next moment, the Squad Leader felt a fierce wind approaching and instinctively tilted his head. An arrow flew past his iron helmet, taking away a strand of red tassel.

"Die!" A soldier roared as he rushed over and chopped off the iron hook at the top of the ladder with a knife! The ladder slid violently, and several bandits on it fell down with screams.

But in this time gap, more ladders were set up. At least six or seven scaling ladders were firmly against the wall, and the bandits climbed up like apes.

The garrison's numerical disadvantage was instantly exposed, leaving them unable to attend to everything.

"Everyone! Fight on your own! Don't let a single thief get on the wall!" The Squad Leader's roar was hoarse. He swung his sword and hacked down a bandit who had just emerged from the battlements, warm blood spraying onto his face.

The city wall turned into a bloody meat grinder. The garrison used their high-ground advantage to stab with spears, hack with knives and axes, and smash with stones.

Bandits kept falling from the ladders, but new ones immediately filled their places. The garrison was also constantly losing men, falling one after another.

Basically, it took two or three bandits to trade for one garrison soldier. Yangguangzhai's losses were also heavy, but victory was only a matter of time.

Luo Feng had already reached the bottom of the city wall. There were too many people on the wall, and he didn't dare to shoot arrows for fear of hurting his own men.

Holding his spear in his right hand, Luo Feng quickly climbed the scaling ladder and rushed onto the city wall in no time.

The Squad Leader was covered in blood, unable to tell if it was his own or the enemy's. He was like a mad tiger, guarding a small section of the wall, with three or four thief corpses already lying at his feet.

Seeing this, Luo Feng didn't hesitate and immediately rushed forward with his spear, aiming a heavy blow at the opponent's head.

The Squad Leader reacted in time and immediately raised his sword to block. His wrist went numb, making him secretly marvel at the opponent's immense strength.

He retreated in a panic, taking a deep breath through the gap and looking around.

Now, there were fewer than a hundred garrison soldiers left standing, and all of them were wounded. In contrast, although the bandits had suffered heavier casualties, the follow-up troops were still endless.

Even more fatal was that the bandits under the city wall had started using logs to ram the city gate.

But the garrison couldn't even defeat the bandits on the wall, let alone spare men to guard the gate!

Boom!

With repeated impacts, the city gate finally collapsed under the unbearable pressure!

"The gate! The gate is broken!" someone shouted in despair.

The next moment, urgent cheers erupted from the bandit ranks, and the bandits who had been at the back rushed toward the city gate all at once.

Shouts were inspiring, and the attacks on the city wall became even more intense.

The garrison was attacked from above and below, unable to attend to both ends.

The Squad Leader's heart sank to the bottom. He knew Qingcheng was finished!

He glanced at the few dozen brothers left beside him; everyone's face was covered in blood, sweat, and despair.

"Brothers!" The Squad Leader raised his dulled sword, his voice somewhat helpless, "The Da Qian state has already abandoned us, and the Prefect is doing nothing. Might as well surrender!"

Hearing this, Luo Feng immediately seized the opportunity and shouted: "Surrender and you won't be killed!"

"Clang!"

The Squad Leader was the first to throw his weapon on the ground and sat down without any image, gasping for air!

"Clang! Clang!"

Seeing this, the garrison soldiers had no reason to persist and followed suit, placing their weapons on the ground.

Luo Feng held his spear high and shouted: "Stop! Remember the discipline of our Yangguangzhai. Violators will bear the consequences!"

The charging bandits stopped one after another, their eyes all focused on Luo Feng.

"Squad leaders, take your teams to clean up the battlefield! Take over the city defense! Do not harm the common people!"

"Yes!!"

The squad leaders followed orders one after another, sheathed their large knives at their waists, and headed outside the city to count the casualties.

Luo Feng wasn't idle either, saying to the person beside him: "Xiexiezi, go and tie them all up!"

Xiexiezi had been working with Luo Feng ever since coming to Jiangcheng. Although Luo Feng didn't understand the Chief's intention, he still kept him by his side at all times.

Even during the charge on the city just now, Xiexiezi was among the first batch of people to rush forward.

While tying the hands and feet of the garrison soldiers with rope, Xiexiezi kept his eyes on the bandits of Yangguangzhai.

He had cooperated with Yangguangzhai before; at that time, the bandits of Yangguangzhai were still like scattered sand, completely lacking the discipline they had now.

The events that happened at Menghuzhai had always weighed on his mind. He didn't hate the garrison for killing his father; from the moment they stepped onto the path of being bandits, their only outcome was killing or being killed.

But what he couldn't get over was that all of this could have been avoided. Why would the brothers who were obedient on weekdays fail at the critical moment?

Now seeing the difference between Yangguangzhai and Menghuzhai, he seemed to have suddenly realized something, yet he didn't understand the reason behind it!

Seeing the battle go smoothly from outside the city, Jiang Jinshi also breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was very confident, there were countless examples in history of the few defeating the many, and he was afraid that Yangguangzhai might capsize in the gutter!

By the time Jiang Jinshi walked slowly to the city gate, Yangguangzhai's casualties had already been counted.

"Chief, brothers... 109 died in battle, 61 were seriously injured," Luo Feng reported the battle situation to Jiang Jinshi proactively.

Jiang Jinshi cleared his throat and responded: "Huasheng, treat the brothers. Use the golden sore medicine; don't be stingy!"

There was no such thing as fighting without people dying or getting injured, so Jiang Jinshi had specially brought Huasheng along, as well as the golden sore medicine produced by the system.

"Yes!" Huasheng hurriedly stepped forward with the medicine box, "Give me a hand, carry all the wounded over! Be gentle!"

Then Jiang Jinshi looked at the brothers from all directions: "For the brothers who died in battle, each will receive a pension of 30 taels of silver. Not one will be missed; the squad leaders will personally deliver it later! And their families will be recorded in the register; they will be given priority for any good things in the future!"

Those who were still alive couldn't help but feel excited, and those who had been frightened by the war also began to get excited.

Thirty taels of silver!

You have to know that in the slave market, labor like them was only worth three or four taels of silver each. Now, risking their lives for Yangguangzhai could earn them much more.

Even if they died in battle, their families wouldn't have to worry about food and drink. Thirty taels of silver was enough for their families to live out their lives in peace.

Without waiting for everyone to continue discussing, Jiang Jinshi continued: "Yangguangzhai suffered quite a few casualties this time, and I am also very heartbroken. Here, I want to say a few more words to the brothers!"

"I hope everyone can follow me to eat and dress well, go out happily, and return home safely!"

"Therefore, do not slack off in your daily training. Sweat more in peacetime, and bleed less in wartime!"

Luo Feng responded appropriately: "It was our slackness during this period. From now on, we will all increase training and make up for all the rest we took during this time!"

"Good!" everyone responded in unison.

Jiang Jinshi raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and said to Luo Feng: "Squad Leader Luo just said that the first to scale the city wall would be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver. Let me see which brother is so valiant?" ===== CHAPTER 171 =====