Outside the city gate, a group of soldiers in plate armor slowly approached, their path blocked by another massive army.
Every soldier in this army wore iron armor and wielded sharp swords and long spears. Their leader, Xiao Lie, looked at the bandits before him, his eyes filled with confusion.
Without even a decent piece of equipment, these people dared to invade Giant Deer!
With bandits rising everywhere and the Great Shang in peril, his Xiao family, who had served as generals for generations, was determined to repay the court and the common people.
“But…” Countless refugees, starving, huddled at the base of Giant Deer City, yet the county magistrate refused to offer a single grain of rice to save them.
As a military official, his authority was inherently less than that of civil officials. Now, with a band of bandits attacking, what could be done for these citizens of Great Shang?
Clutching his long spear, he looked back at the county magistrate, who stood on the city wall, smiling at him. The magistrate had ordered him not to attack, only to defend. He must be planning to use the battle to deplete the refugees.
In the end, he, who received a salary to save the people, would be slandered, while the magistrate could then offer food to the already dwindling refugees, greatly increasing his reputation in the city.
While Xiao Lie was still pondering, the bandits had drawn closer. He noticed that most of them were infantry, wearing what looked like ridiculous plate armor, and surprisingly, only carrying a wooden shield and a hoe.
They didn't even have a proper weapon?
“Since that’s the case, a volley of arrows will kill them all, to avoid harming civilians during combat!” He waved his hand fiercely, and the army behind him immediately raised their bows, a thunderous sound echoing across the flat ground.
A dense rain of arrows poured down on the plate-armored army. Xiao Lie, who had expected the bandits to scatter at this sight, was surprised when a man in the bandit army shouted, “Form ranks!”
Instantly, everyone raised their wooden shields, forming neat ranks with their shields interlocked and connected, the entire army enveloped by a shield wall.
The arrows fell, and the seemingly fragile wooden shields actually blocked the assault of the arrows. Every arrow that struck a shield was deflected by its strangely curved surface.
The curvature seemed designed precisely for the downward trajectory of arrows; most arrows did not pierce the wooden shields but slid down to the soldiers' feet or the ground.
Even if an arrow pierced a wooden shield, it couldn't penetrate. After three volleys of arrows, only three people in the plate-armored army were injured, and they were injured because they had inadvertently stood in the wrong position during formation, creating a gap in their part of the ranks.
Seeing this, Xiao Lie could only curse, “Damn it!” before flipping onto his horse, grabbing his long spear, and roaring, “Charge!” He absolutely could not let these bandits get any closer to Giant Deer City.
The county magistrate on the city wall, seeing Xiao Lie disobey his instructions, angrily slammed the railing. Now, he could only hope this fellow could truly repel these bandits.
And none of them noticed a dark figure smiling among the bandits.
The first line of shield-bearers parted like automatic doors, revealing a group of soldiers riding green oxen charging out of the formation.
Each of them carried a long axe, and the leader moved so fast that he was just a blur.
Xiao Lie only felt a gust of strong wind blow across his cheek. When he regained his senses, the dark figure had already appeared before him.
He was completely enveloped by the shadow, cold sweat trickling down his face. In his more than twenty years of practicing martial arts, Xiao Lie had never felt such absolute pressure.
Looking up at this man, he was like a monster. He, a seven-foot man, barely reached his chest, and the other party was even sitting on a plow ox shorter than a horse.
When faced with danger, the human body instinctively protects itself, but Xiao Lie at this moment didn't even have the courage to raise his long spear and thrust it at this fellow.
At this moment, Xiao Lie's deputy, who was protecting him, charged forward on his horse. As his long spear was about to stab the man, he was unexpectedly caught by the man's single hand, breaking the spear. Then, with a forceful pull, both the horse and the man were grabbed by him.
The deputy felt himself floating in the air, and he no longer had the strength to grip his horse. Liquid dripped from between his legs, and he looked at the man with utter despair.
The man snorted coldly and casually grabbed Xiao Lie like a chick. Then, the man slowly spoke, “Disarm!”
This voice echoed in every soldier's ear. The charging soldiers instantly stopped in their tracks, and their horses actually knelt before the man.
Some new recruits, unable to bear the overwhelming pressure any longer, took off their armor and knelt on the ground.
As the sun set, everyone clearly saw the man's appearance in the fading light.
He looked like the son of a god; his colossal physique terrified every enemy. The county magistrate on the city wall would have fallen long ago if not for others supporting him.
Then, he spoke a second time, “Disarm. Those who disarm will not be killed.”
To take off his armor, to make himself like fish on a chopping block, as in the imperial court?
Xiao Lie's pupils trembled. Looking at the refugees in the corner of the wall, how would this monster treat them?
His trembling hand began to move, pulling out the sword from his waist and directly thrusting it at the man's neck. At the same time, some veteran soldiers in the army who were unwilling to disarm directly picked up their weapons and attacked.
Suddenly, the man was surrounded by everyone's swords and blades, and the soldiers who had charged with him were also in danger at this moment.
Just as Xiao Lie saw the tip of his sword about to pierce the monster's throat, he suddenly felt himself flying directly backward, and then countless soldiers were knocked to the ground by his impact.
Those few soldiers who tried to ambush were directly knocked down by the axe in the man's hand. None were killed, but none could stand up and move again.
The soldiers who had already knelt on the ground, seeing this scene, had only one thought: “He is a Primarch!”
“I'll say it again, all of you, disarm! Those who disarm will not be killed!” The man's voice was deep and carried an undeniable authority.
At this moment, no one had any thought of resistance. All of Xiao Lie's soldiers' knees went weak, and they knelt on the ground, dust flying as their armor was cast aside. Only Xiao Lie and a few old veterans still refused to take off their armor.
They lowered their heads, awaiting death. The man slowly walked up to them.
Xiao Lie's lips trembled. He suppressed a sob and looked up, asking, “I wish to know your esteemed name, so I may die without regret.”
“Qin Xia.” The man's gaze, like a torch, swept around, then his lips curled into a cold smile, “I didn't expect so many refugees beneath this Giant Deer City. General Xiao, I have long heard of your great name. The world says you are loyal and righteous, but can such a world and court still be maintained by a single word 'righteousness'?”
Qin Xia saw Xiao Lie's body already trembling. He grabbed the other's head with one hand, making him look at the refugees at the base of the city, “Look closely, how many people have frozen or starved to death at the foot of Great Shang's most prosperous city? And look closely at those wealthy merchants and high officials standing on the city wall.”
“Those people's luxurious clothes are worn once and then discarded, and a single bite of a delicacy is thrown away. Even so, they are unwilling to give charity to a single refugee!” Qin Xia’s voice slowly echoed in Xiao Lie’s ear.
It seemed to constantly stimulate his brain. Looking at those so-called colleagues on the city wall, and then at the refugees at the foot of the city wall, his long-held ideals of loyalty and serving the country were repeatedly challenged.
He threw his sword to the ground. Qin Xia leaned down to look at Xiao Lie, and Xiao Lie, looking at the fiery gaze in the other's eyes that seemed to want to cleanse everything, heard the man's last words: “General Xiao, with your great talent and strategy, why suffer the deception of treacherous officials and a false emperor? Why not join me and let this thousand-mile scorched earth be reborn with rice shoots?”
In his memory, his father's figure often had rice shoots behind him. He knew that only such days were truly good days!
Xiao Lie no longer remembered what happened next. He only stood up and shouted, “All soldiers, don your armor! Follow me to capture Giant Deer for General Qin!”
Afterward, the city gate was shattered by General Qin's punch, and the Iron-Armored Army and Plate-Armored Army charged into the city together. The county magistrate's head, who stood on the city wall, was personally cut off by him and hung at the city gate. He stood at the entrance of the county yamen, looking at the refugees brought into the city, and did what he had always wanted to do.
Open the granaries and distribute food!
Everyone shouted, “Long live General Qin!”
Meanwhile, Qin Xia sat in the Grand Tutor's chair in the yamen, rubbing his forehead as he looked at the sandbox before him.
Who would have thought that while turning on his computer, the computer would explode, sending him directly to ancient Dragon Country?
Wasn't he turning on his computer in London? Has the transmigration system become so absurd that it can even distinguish nationalities now?
Hearing the people outside shouting “Long live” to him, he knew there was a pile of problems ahead for him to solve.
Terra.
The Emperor looked at the prepared Great Crusade fleet. His first target was the planet Cthonia, the closest planet to the Solar System.
He could feel that he would find his first Primarch there!