The horrors inside the city were mirrored outside its walls.
Many civilians had attempted to flee, only to be hunted down and mercilessly slaughtered by the Xiongnu.
At this moment, the northern frontier of Yan had become nothing short of a living hell.
"Supreme General,"
"Up ahead is Wulin City,"
"It once had a population of over fifty thousand,"
"But it appears the Xiongnu have already taken it."
"However, they don't seem to have set up any defenses."
Riding at full speed with his army, Zhao Feng listened as Gongsun Guang reported.
"Enter the city."
Zhao Feng did not hesitate for a moment.
What mattered to him was whether there were any survivors inside.
Spurring his horse forward, Zhao Feng closed in on the city gates.
Perhaps the Xiongnu were too arrogant.
Perhaps they had never considered the Yan Kingdom a real threat.
Or perhaps, they never expected the Qin army to arrive.
The city gates were shut
But no one was guarding them.
It seemed the gates had been closed merely to prevent the city's inhabitants from escaping.
"Break it down."
As he reached the gates, Zhao Feng struck with his Overlord Spear.
The spearhead crashed into the heavy doors.
Boom!
The gates instantly shattered into pieces.
"One strike to break the gates..."
"If the Supreme General had attacked Ji City that day, no matter how strong its gates were, they wouldn't have been able to withstand a single blow from him."
Zhao Feng charged into the city.
And the sight before him
Even after countless battles
Even after killing more men than he could count
Still made his eyes burn red with fury.
The streets
Were covered with corpses.
Men, women, children.
All brutally slaughtered.
Women had been stripped naked, their bodies covered in blood.
Men had been mutilated, their hands and feet severed.
Even infants had been impaled on spears.
A scene of pure carnage.
The mere sight of it made one's skin crawl.
Zhao Feng was a warrior.
He fought on the battlefield, where wars were waged between nations.
There was no right or wrong only victory and defeat.
However, the Qin army had strict discipline.
The Qin King cared for his people and ordered that no harm be done to ordinary civilians.
The Qin army only killed those who rebelled against them or those who bore arms as soldiers.
Ordinary people were never to be harmed unless they picked up weapons against Qin.
But these Xiongnu
They were worse than beasts.
Far more savage than any wild animal.
"Qin warriors!"
"Kill!"
"Leave no invaders alive!"
Zhao Feng roared.
With a wave of his hand
"Kill!!"
Thousands of Qin cavalry stormed into the city, their overwhelming killing intent sweeping through every street.
"Spare us!"
"Please don't kill us!"
"We're just ordinary civilians!"
"That's my daughter please, no!"
"Have mercy…"
"Take all our money, just let us live!"
The people of the city begged desperately
But all that awaited them were blades, rape, and plunder.
The Xiongnu had no mercy.
They saw these innocent people as nothing more than livestock, devoid of humanity.
But then
Zhao Feng's order thundered through the city.
And the Qin cavalry charged in.
"Hmm? What's that shouting?"
"Must be your imagination. There's no army left to defend this northern border."
"Yeah, the Yan army is too busy dealing with Qin."
"Haha, must be nothing. Keep killing, keep looting!"
"These Yan women are incredible. So much better than the wives back home!"
"Agreed."
"This time, we should capture as many as we can. They'd make perfect slaves!"
"Hahaha! Enjoy yourselves! The king said we could do whatever we wanted this time. If we can't take it, we destroy it!"
The Xiongnu soldiers continued their madness, oblivious to the approaching danger.
Then
"Enemy attack!"
"It's the Qin army!"
"Form ranks! Qin is attacking!"
"Our ten thousand brothers were slaughtered!"
"The Wanfu Commander is dead! The Qin army is here!"
"Alert the city's commander! We must fight back!"
At that moment
A group of Xiongnu soldiers battered and bloodied, staggered into the city, screaming in panic.
Their desperate cries only earned puzzled looks from their comrades.
"Berhu'er, are you joking?"
"What Qin army?"
"The Qin forces are still fighting Yan there's no way they got here this fast."
"Even if they did, would they dare attack the mighty warriors of the Xiongnu?"
"Stop joking."
But then
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The thunder of hooves was followed by a storm of arrows.
Before the Xiongnu even realized what was happening
The deadly arrows pierced their bodies.
Some were still ravaging helpless women when an arrow pierced their throats.
And they collapsed, dead before they could even process it.
The women, frozen in shock, stood motionless, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
But they weren't the only ones.
All across the city, the surviving civilians were the same.
The invaders who had tormented them
Were suddenly being cut down before their very eyes.
"Leave No One Alive!"
"Kill every last one of them!"
Zhao Feng bellowed.
Charging forward
His Overlord Spear swept through the enemy ranks.
Several Xiongnu warriors were instantly reduced to bloodied corpses.
"Kill without mercy!"
Countless Qin cavalry clad in black armor charged forward, slaughtering these utterly damnable invaders.
Faced with this sudden and overwhelming onslaught, the foreign soldiers in the city were completely stunned.
Many of them had not even thought to run before they were cut down where they stood.
"Black robes, black armor!"
"The army of Qin!"
"The Qin army has come to save us!"
"We're saved..."
Watching the Qin soldiers rush past them, cutting down only the foreign invaders, the surviving townspeople were moved to tears. Each of them felt the overwhelming relief of surviving a catastrophe.
The black-armored cavalry swiftly advanced, slaughtering the invaders one by one.
The entire city was swept clean.
The thousands of foreign soldiers in the city barely lasted any time at all before they were reduced to cold, corpses.
"Reporting to the Grand General!"
"The enemy within the city has been completely purged!"
"This battle has resulted in nearly five thousand foreign invaders killed!" Zhang Han reported as he rode forward.
"Good."
Zhao Feng nodded, his gaze shifting toward the surviving townspeople.
Women who had been violated.
Parents who had lost their children.
Husbands and wives are torn apart by death.
Because of these vile invaders, those who had survived the massacre had suffered both humiliation and the loss of their loved ones.
The townspeople gathered around, looking at Zhao Feng and his soldiers with a mixture of anxiety and hope.
It seemed that deep down, they were still afraid that the Qin army would be no different from the invaders, that they too would bring cruelty and suffering.
Sensing their unease, Zhao Feng let out a quiet sigh and slowly dismounted from his horse.
Then, he did something no one expected.
"I'm sorry."
"We came too late."
With a tone of regret and sorrow, Zhao Feng bowed deeply to the surviving townspeople.
At that moment, shock rippled through the crowd.
"The Grand General, a man of such high status, is apologizing to commoners?"
"How is this possible?"
Everyone was utterly dumbfounded soldiers and civilians alike.
Even the surviving townspeople, though shaken, remained silent, too overwhelmed to respond.
"Yan has fallen."
"From this day forward, the people of Yan are all citizens of Great Qin. And as citizens of Qin, you will be under the protection of our mighty army."
"I swear, these invaders will pay for their crimes in blood!"
Zhao Feng's voice was firm, carrying unwavering resolve.
Then, he turned his gaze away from the townspeople and called out in a commanding tone.
"Zhang Han!"
"This subordinate is here!" Zhang Han responded loudly.
"Conquering one city at a time is too slow. If we continue at this pace, who knows how many more innocent people will be slaughtered before we drive out the invaders?"
"Pass down my orders."
"Our cavalry forces one hundred thousand strong will be divided into ten groups. Each will be led by a general and will push forward, driving the invaders out!"
"All forces are to regroup at Xiangping City!"
"I don't care how you accomplish it"
"But the result must be the complete extermination of these foreign scum!"
"Use whatever means necessary. So long as the invaders die, anything is permitted!" Zhao Feng declared coldly.
"This subordinate obeys!"
The generals answered in unison.
"Grand General!"
"Do you have a task for me?" Gongsun Guang asked in a loud voice.
"Your task is to stabilize the civilians."
"I will issue an order to allocate rations from the military to aid the people."
"And one more thing"
"If the invaders entered the city, it means there were traitors who helped them."
"Arrest all those who collaborated with the enemy!"
"Once we have crushed the invaders, we will deal with these traitors accordingly." Zhao Feng's voice was heavy with authority.
"This subordinate obeys!" Gongsun Guang immediately responded.
Xiangping City
If the smaller cities were hell on earth, then Xiangping, the first city to be conquered by the invaders, was the very heart of that hell.
The streets were littered with corpses.
The stench of blood was suffocating.
An eerie silence loomed over the city.
Aside from a few enemy soldiers patrolling the streets, there were no signs of life.
It was said that ghosts devour souls, but the actions of these invaders were far crueler than any ghostly legend.
Inside the former governor's palace
A group of women danced gracefully, their delicate movements accompanied by the sound of drums and flutes.
Several foreign generals watched with great amusement, indulging in their depraved pleasures.
"Hahaha!"
"These Yan women know how to entertain! Watching them dance is truly a delight!"
"Indeed!"
"They are far more enticing than the women of our tribes. So delicate and alluring!"
The foreign generals laughed as they drank, their eyes fixated on the dancers.
For the women, however, this was a performance of sheer terror one misstep could mean death.
Xiangping had once been home to over a hundred thousand people.
Now, the invaders had butchered nearly all of them.
Only a few thousand had managed to escape.
The men and children had been slaughtered without mercy.
Many of the women had survived, but countless others had been defiled and killed.
"When we return to our homeland, we must select the most beautiful ones as a tribute for our king!"
"And if we can capture Yan's princess, that would be even better!" one general said with a grin.
At that moment
"Report to General Wuwu!"
"An urgent message has just arrived!"
"The Qin army has launched an attack on our forces!"
"Our warriors have suffered devastating losses!"
A foreign soldier rushed in hurriedly, his face filled with fear as he reported.
"What?"
"The Qin army?"
Seated at the head of the hall, enjoying his wine, Wuwu's expression changed drastically.
"Yes, General."
"It is indeed the Qin army."
"We have lost nearly fifty thousand warriors to them."
"Furthermore, of the cities we seized from Yan more than a dozen have already been taken back by the Qin army. Now, only this city of Xiangping and one neighboring city remain under our control."
"The Qin army has split into multiple forces, retaking the cities we conquered in Yan. Our warriors couldn't hold them off and have retreated one after another."
The soldier spoke respectfully.
"Where is General Taqiong?"
Wuwu's face darkened as he asked urgently.
"General Taqiong is currently leading his troops in retreat," the soldier replied immediately.
"The Qin people… How dare they attack our tribe?"
"We were never their enemies! They were attacking Yan, to begin with, what do these Yan cities and their people have to do with them?"
"If anything"
"We were helping them!" Wuwu said in confusion.
The other foreign generals in the hall also looked bewildered.
Perhaps
This was something their people could never understand.
Although the Chinese of this era were divided into different states, they still shared the same national spirit and the unbreakable pride of the Huaxia people.
"Report!"
"General Wuwu!"
"General Taqiong is requesting reinforcements!"
"The Qin army is on the verge of catching up to him!"
"He is likely already locked in a fierce battle!"
"General, please send reinforcements immediately!"
An urgent messenger rushed into the hall, speaking breathlessly.
"What?"
"Taqiong was caught by the Qin army?"
"How many Qin soldiers are there?"
"Even after suffering some losses, Taqiong should still have around fifty or sixty thousand men, right?"
"Can the Qin cavalry stand against the warriors of Donghu?" Wuwu was still struggling to comprehend the situation.
"General!"
"The Qin army is overwhelmingly strong our warriors are completely no match for them!" The messenger's voice trembled as he spoke.
"General Wuwu!"
"There is no time to hesitate now we must send reinforcements immediately!"
"Since Qin dares to act so recklessly and declare war on our tribe"
"Then let's teach them a lesson by wiping out this Qin force!"
"Let them see the true power of our warriors!" one of the Donghu generals said proudly.
"That's right!"
"Qin is nothing to fear!"
"If they insist on making us their enemies, then we'll show them what we're capable of!"
"These ten or so cities in Yan are far too few we might as well keep marching south and seize Qin territory instead! Our nation will grow even stronger!"
"Annihilate the Qin army!"
"Yes, General!"
"Kill every last one of those Qin dogs!"
The Donghu generals shouted, their arrogance clear in their voices.
"Prepare the troops we march immediately to reinforce General Taqiong!"
"And after that, we continue south to seize more cities!"
Wuwu pondered for a moment before giving his orders in a commanding tone.
On the Open Plains
Thousands of Donghu cavalrymen were fleeing desperately toward Xiangping, their morale shattered.
As they retreated in panic
Behind them, a Qin force of twenty to thirty thousand soldiers was in relentless pursuit.
Arrows rained down from the sky like a storm, striking the fleeing warriors mercilessly.
One by one, the foreign soldiers fell from their horses, their bodies riddled with arrows as they died on the spot.
"General!"
"The Qin army refuses to let up!"
"What should we do?"
A commander turned to Taqiong, his face filled with alarm.
"Fools!"
"Are we, the proud warriors of Donghu, to flee in such disgrace?"
"We are not far from Xiangping now General Wuwu will surely arrive soon with reinforcements!"
"Pass down my order we stand and fight!"
"Slaughter these Qin dogs!"
Taqiong roared, immediately turning his horse around.
"Yes!"
"Kill every last Qin dog!"
"Kill them all!"
"Slaughter them!"
The Donghu commanders echoed his battle cries, halting their retreat.
They were preparing for a decisive battle against the Qin army.
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 375+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader