"You disloyal bastards!" one of the leaders reached out to stop them, saying, "The priest has entered the abode of the gods, do you want to go to purgatory?"
The deserter cleaved him in two with a single blow, gritting his teeth as he said, "This place is already hell. Is there anything more terrifying than this slaughterhouse? If you want to live, open the gates and leave quickly. The Peace Army said that those who surrender and flee will be spared!"
The defenders of the western city listened intently, and sure enough, the Peace Army was shouting loudly, their cries of "Those who surrender or flee will be spared death!" were deafening. The defeated soldiers from the other three gates arrived one after another, and in an instant, the western city defenders, who still had the strength to fight, became the target of their own men's attack.
"Open the city gates, or our own people will start killing each other!" Another leader had no choice but to order the city gates to be opened. As soon as the city gates opened, the defeated soldiers rushed out, trampling each other. Several wounded soldiers collapsed due to exhaustion. At first, they cried out for help, but as more people stepped over them, they became silent.
Within an hour of the start of the attack, the Peace Army successfully stormed Ningwang City, capturing its first base on Chen territory. In this battle, the Peace Army suffered no more than 500 casualties, killed more than 3,000 enemy soldiers, and captured more than 2,000. The rest of the Lianfa army fled in fear. In terms of the siege, the Peace Army achieved a remarkable result at a very low cost.
But Li Jun felt a little heavy-hearted. Most of the casualties of the Peace Army were caused by the attacks of the Lotus Sect's scattered soldiers after entering the city. These scattered soldiers of the Lotus Sect did not care about death at all. Although they only accounted for a small number of people in the Lotus Army, if there were 50,000 such soldiers who were not afraid of death, then even the Peace Army would find it difficult to win.
"Reporting to the commander, the remaining grain in the city has long been transported away by the rebels, and the people in the city are suffering from hunger and cold." The deputy general gave Li Jun a concise overview of the situation in Ningwang City. What they had captured was merely an empty city with no supplies but 20,000 starving households. These 20,000 starving households were a major burden for the Peace Army. If they were not dealt with properly, and these people were willing to take risks for survival, the Peace Army would likely face serious trouble.
"That's strange," Meng Yuan said in surprise. "We arrived in such a hurry, there's no reason why they should have had time to move the grain."
“I asked the citizens, and they said that a month ago, when Lianfazong captured Ningwang City, the city's soldiers, under the pretext of preventing supplies to the enemy, burned or transported most of the grain. After Lianfazong entered the city, all the grain in the city was transported by them from Huaien Granary in Huaien City. The people are already clamoring to ask us if we will feed them.” The deputy general looked somewhat puzzled. They had appeared as an army to relieve the people's distress, but they were facing such a situation, which left him completely baffled.
Li Jun also felt quite embarrassed. The people called soldiers burned and looted the grain, while the people called traitors and rebels controlled the food rations of 20,000 households. Now, he somewhat understood why there were such fearless warriors within the Lotus Dharma Sect.
Moreover, food shortages will inevitably cause trouble for the peacekeeping forces, which is the immediate problem to be solved.
"Shang Huaiyi, you will lead two thousand men back to Huichang and be in charge of supervising the transport of grain. The grain must be delivered as soon as possible, or things will change," Li Jun had no choice but to give the order. Then he asked the quartermaster, "How long will the army's grain reserves last?"
The quartermaster was very familiar with this and said, "The commander said before the march that the first battle should be a surprise attack, so he only brought ten days' worth of rations."
"Give half to the people." In fact, he already knew this, he was just confirming it. Li Jun gave the order decisively, but a complicated smile appeared on his face. "Remember, let the people see that we have a surplus of grain, that we have plenty of grain. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" The quartermaster understood Li Jun's meaning. If the people of Ningwang City learned that the Peace Army was short of food, they would become restless. Although Lianfazong had already been defeated and fled, it was hard to guarantee that no one in the city was colluding with them. If they knew that the Peace Army was short of food, they would definitely hold their ground and not come out. At that time, it would be extremely difficult for the Peace Army to break through the enemy's large food-stockpiling city in a short period of time.
Li Jun stood before the military map, a spoil of war that Sima Hui had seized from Leiming City—a priceless treasure to Li Jun. He examined it closely for a while, muttering, "Huai'en City..."
Before him lay Huai'en City, controlled by the rebel army of the Lianfa Sect; Yuanding City, only two days away from Huai'en; and Baoshan City. These three cities were mutually supportive. If he rashly attacked any one of them, he would inevitably be attacked from both sides by the reinforcements of the other two cities. If he attacked all three cities at the same time, it would mean that the attacker must have sufficient troops.
The situation in these three cities is unknown. Although Zhao Xian and Wang Erlei had sent people to contact the homeless children in Chen, the famine had dealt a heavy blow to him. Ordinary people were already lacking food and clothing, let alone these homeless children.
We must quickly ascertain the situation in these three cities. We can learn some things from the prisoners and the common people, though not detailed enough, it's basically sufficient. Li Jun pondered for a while, then asked, "Where is Wang Erlei?"
"I went out for a stroll," Lanqiao said.
"Who was the highest-ranking leader of the Lianfa Sect rebels captured during the siege?" Li Jun asked.
“It’s a priest,” Lan Qiao said with a smile, though the title seemed somewhat inappropriate to him. “Bring that priest here!”
The one brought up was the very same priest who had assumed Li Jun would lead the attack from the west gate. He was bound hand and foot, yet still wore an expression of defiance. His uneven eyes stared arrogantly at Li Jun. The Peace Army soldiers who brought him up ordered him to kneel, but he refused to yield. Enraged, one of the Peace Army soldiers kicked him in the back of the knee. His knee loosened, but he immediately straightened up, showing remarkable stubbornness.
"No, no." Li Jun could tell at a glance that this chief priest was an arrogant person. If he were forced to kneel, he would never tell the truth even if he were beaten to death. Therefore, gentleness can overcome strength, and falsehood can overcome truth. Li Jun put on a gentle smile and said, "If the chief priest does not wish to kneel, please do not be rude."
The chief priest was surprised to see that the general of the Peace Army was relatively calm, and the arrogance in his eyes lessened considerably. Li Jun continued, "Men, untie the chief priest and offer him a seat."
The peacekeeping soldier escorting them immediately untied the ropes, while another grabbed a chair. The priest, without any hesitation, sat down casually, thinking to himself, "I'm not afraid of death, so what tricks are you going to play?"
"Where is the immortal abode of the Master of Ceremonies?" Li Jun asked aimlessly.
"None of your business!" The chief priest adopted an attitude of not cooperating under any circumstances, seemingly certain that Li Jun would not do anything to him.
“It seems you’re not entirely convinced, Master. Well, that’s true. Our army outnumbered the defenders several times over, and the defenders were weak and untrained. Of course they would be defeated. It’s definitely not your fault, Master.” Li Jun offered a small consolation to the Master.
The chief priest's demeanor indeed softened, and the arrogance on his face lessened. The art of speaking differently to different people, and the principle of winning hearts and minds, proved Li Jun's wisdom once again.
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Section 3
The north wind began to howl again. Although the sky was still clear, this wind signaled that another blizzard was coming.