Chapter 178 – Killing Device (2)
Translated by Gamer
“Retreating already?” Liu Mang opened his eyes wider as if he could not believe it. Sun Ce withdrew so easily? Weren’t they planning to behead him with that 10,000 soldiers today? Liu Mang also knows that those 10,000 soldiers were not Sun Ce’s main army. Sun Ce’s main army is the Danyang troops.
If it was the usual Sun Ce, he will definitely charge even when the sky is dark. If not, Sun Ce would be having a meeting to send out those that have not made an appearance. Who knew they end up retreating?
There is still enough time to attack the city. The next day reinforcements will be here. Are they not scared? In the plains, cavalries are the kings. Even more so if its Bing Province Heavy Cavalry. If they arrive, Wan Cheng will be safe.
“Perhaps a bluff?” Liu Mang knitted his eyebrows. Currently he is defending the walls. If he was the one attacking the walls instead then he would think it is an ambush. However, it is impossible for Liu Mang to go out of the city as well. The gates have been sealed. There is no other way to leave the city unless he can fly.
No matter how he thinks he is still unable to understand. Liu Mang laments the fact that Chen Gong is not here. If only Chen Gong were here, then Liu Mang does not need to think so hard. Chen Gong will be able to figure out Sun Ce’s plans.
Forget it. Liu Mang shook his head. He was tired from fighting and commanding to make sure the Black Flag Army can show their true potential. It does not matter what stratagem Sun Ce comes up with. Liu Mang is stuck here and can only fight directly. Since Sun Ce has left, it is the perfect time for the soldiers to rest.
“Sun Ce has retreated!” Huang Zhong stood at his side. Liu Mang is not afraid if Sun Ce sends out any strong generals because Huang Zhong will be able to deal with them. Without Huang Zhong, the battle will be even more dangerous as even the elite soldiers will not be able to keep up.
Once the card has been played it will be difficult for the enemy to forget it. Huang Zhong has mostly been standing there. Liu Mang has shown the Urban Army, the Black Flag Army, and even Huang Xu’s skills with the bow. Only Huang Zhong did not shoot yet.
“Everyone rest! Divide into groups and stay under the city wall. Prepare the food!” Liu Mang commanded. At night, battles seldom occur. Even trying to sneakily sneak into the city is difficult. The city may not be big but the walls are at least 10 meters high. Even if the enemy climbs in, the visibility is too low for combat.
A quarter of the remaining soldiers keep watch while the rest go down to rest. They rotate their hours to keep the walls safe.
Hearing they could rest, the soldiers sighed in relief. A lot of soldiers just sat on down on the spot as they were too tired. The remaining defenders require the stamina to remain and fend off any attackers. Liu Mang has no reserve troops and can only rely on this less than 3,000 Black Army troops and the hundreds of Urban troops.
The casualties for the day is as follows. The Black Army lost about 400 men and the Urban Army lost about 300 men. The defending troops once again shrunk by a large percentage. The soldiers ignored the bloody ground and corpses as they lie down to sleep. One by one they stopped moving and started snoring. They slept while wearing armor and holding their blades.
“No! All of you get up! If you want to sleep, eat first then sleep!” Liu Mang cannot allow the soldiers to sleep like this. It may almost be summer but the night is still extremely cold. To makes things worse, the floor is wet with blood and the bodies of the soldiers are wet with sweat. If they do not eat hot food, they would not have strength the next day.
“Little lord, they are already tired, let them sleep.” Xu Sheng went to Liu Mang’s side. Xu Sheng was also very tired. The sword that he is holding has been exchanged a few times. The amount of people he has killed easily reached the hundreds.
“How can they sleep on the ground? They will catch a cold!” Without listening to Xu Sheng, he pulled up a soldier from the ground. The Black Flag soldier had 2 cuts on his near his left chest. Liu Mang noted that if those 2 cuts were connected, his arm would have fallen off. His wound has not healed and blood can be seen flowing out. The injured soldier could not feel the pain as he lie down to rest.
“Don’t sleep on the floor then sleep where!?” Xu Sheng is unable to understand. Ever since they were soldiers they have been treating the ground as their bed and the sky as their ceiling. As long as they are lying down on a surface they will be able to sleep.
“Of course at the tower!” Like every city, Wan Cheng City also has a large tower. The tower is generally a living space for generals and also a place to lookout for enemies and survey the area. Wan Cheng was part of Lujiang and Sun Ce had an office here.
“In the tower?!” Xu Sheng was dumbfounded as he looked at Liu Mang. The tower is set aside for the general so it would be Liu Mang’s resting place. Naturally, soldiers are not allowed to enter. Even if they had permission to enter, the soldiers right now will only dirty the floor with blood.
“In the tower! Sleeping here will definitely be cold!” Liu Mang said commandingly. He pulled up the Black Flag soldier and bandaged his wound. He then helped the soldier to the tower to rest.
“General! This is the tower!” The Black Flag soldier hesitated. The tower was a general’s living space and he was just a soldier. How can he live in such luxury? Not to mention, he was just a humble slave.
“Why can’t you sleep in the tower? Is the tower dirtier than the floors outside?” Liu Mang was unable to prepare them beds. Although there are no beds in the tower, at the very least it is warmer than outdoors.
“But, but!” The soldier stammered. The hard face that would not blink in battle is starting to crack. “General! Sleeping here is just fine. If we sleep in the tower it will get dirty.” The soldiers were reluctant to go in.
“Dirty the floor?!” Liu Mang choked. These guys! All of soldiers are starting to wake up and had the same expression of being afraid to dirty the tower. Despite Liu Mang asking them to go, they refused to. Because they were dirty? In order to protect Wan Cheng. In order to protect everything inside Wan Cheng. They fought to the last breath and spilled every single drop of blood. They should be the cities benefactors and saviors. What do you mean clean and dirty? If it is not because of his inability at the time, he would have even prepared beds for them!
“This is an order!” Since they will not enter the tower, he decided to force an order.
“General!” The soldiers looked to Xu Sheng for help and expect him to say a few words. He used to be a servant of the Zhou family. Zhou Cheng takes them out for expedition but refuses to even let them enter the hall. The heavy armor makes them sweat and will dirty the floor. When the floor is dirty, the culprit will die a thousand deaths.
“Why are guys looking at? Little lord asks you to go in you better go in!” Xu Sheng now no longer understands what kind of person this Liu Mang is.
“Yes!” The Black Flag Army replied in unison and went into the tower bitterly. They entered carefully in fear of dirtying the floor and losing their lives.
“Wait!” Liu Mang’s heart ached as he watched the soldiers walk in carefully. Elites or not, are they not people? Why do you need to carefully walk into a hall?
“General!” The soldiers stopped in joy. They hoped Liu Mang changed his opinion.
“Go and eat first! After meal only go and sleep!” If you do not eat, how will you have the energy to fight Sun Ce’s Army or go on night patrol.
“Oh!” Listening to the words of Liu Mang they took out their food. It was black and yellow. The fight made their food contaminated with blood. “General. Is there any water?”
“What do you want to do?”
“Eat! Eat then sleep!”
“Eat this?” Liu Mang frowned. In the hands of the Black Flag Army is hard bread. For him this bread is a luxury. The bread is made out of floor, a bit of vegetables and herbs, and a bit of rice.
Liu Mang knows this is called rations. Even the Lu Bu’s army has eaten this before. However, the Lu Bu’s Army only eat this while travelling but Wan Cheng City is not lacking food supplies. They have already long prepared hot food. Liu Mang has asked the help from the common people to help cook the food. They originally had 8,000 soldiers. Now even after adding the Black Flag Army, they had less than 4,000. More than enough food is prepared.
“Go down and eat the prepared food. After eating only sleep!” Liu Mang was not stingy with the food given. These soldiers may die at any time and are precious.
Refused them hot food and send them to war after they nibble cold bread!
“Zhou Cheng made you all eat this?!” Liu Mang took Xu Sheng to the side and asked.
“Yes!” Xu Sheng nodded. “Little Lor- I mean, Zhou Cheng said that food is limited and even if we capture Wan Cheng we can only get awards.”
“Bullshit!” Liu mang roared furiously surprising the soldiers nearby. The amount of food in Wan Cheng is too much. Lujiang is a land with good food production and they had good harvest last year. Even when you say Lu Bu plundered all the food stores, it was a bluff. Lu Bu actually could not find the food stores. Even the slaughter was a bluff. Secretly, a few useful people were spared while the others beheaded.
Just by seizing the assets of the slaughtered nobles, Lu Bu’s Army came out two times stronger. How can Zhou Cheng not have food? That guy is just reluctant to spend money. 3,000 people eating bread and 3,000 people eating corn are two completely different things.
Even eating bread is preferable to eating rations. This Zhou family really want to run the horse while starving it.
“Xu Sheng, you go down to eat and drink then rest up for tomorrow! Tomorrow the city depends on you!” Liu Mang does not need to care about Zhou Cheng or the other dead people anymore. The Black Flag Army now belongs to him. “As long as I, Liu Mang, am here, I will absolutely not let you eat little!”
“Thank you Little Lord!” Xu Sheng is now confused. In the end what kind of person is Liu Mang? One moment he is a nice and honest person, next moment he is a demon who can kill thousands without batting an eye. He thousands of soldiers that surrendered were beheaded easily.
You can say he is a bad person but he really only looks ruthless to his enemies. He shows compassion and genuine care for his own soldiers. Where can you find a general that cares about whether his soldiers have a good rest or not? For most generals, his soldiers are just stepping stones for his future. The soldiers are just a number that you can buy with money. This concept are even more reinforced in nobles whose only interest is profits.