Chapter 446- Grain
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
"No, never."
When Song Tianli heard this accusation, he immediately denied association.
Song Tianli already knew that others had used him. However, he did not want to admit it. The moment he made an admission, he would become the guilty party in the family. He could never gain a foothold in the family again.
"It was all done by Second Elder."
The guard that was called suddenly pointed his finger at Song Tianli.
These words caused Song Tianli's face to turn black; he sent the guard a deathly stare. However, the guard did not back down and gave it his all. The humiliating experience in the morning had made this guard unhappy to the extreme.
Grandfather Song obviously was not a fool. He could tell what was happening, so he raised his head and looking at Grandfather Yuan. He calmly pronounced, "Leave the criminal, as for the rest, execute them."
The siege had started outside the city, and the enemy had almost leveled out the city protection river.
The soldiers on top of the city wall had suffered heavy casualties under the hefty hits of the trebuchets. The moment the enemy crossed the city protection river, Tianshuang County would fall.
Members of the Song Family hurriedly gathered their assets. Under the protection of two hundred guards, they left through the secret tunnel and exited Tianshuang County.
They had kept the location of the tunnel as a highly guarded secret. Even if the enemy took over the county, they would not find the tunnel in a short amount of time. Hence, their family had enough time to escape.
Before they left, they burned up all the grain in the city, leaving none of it behind.
Originally, Song Wen did not have such thoughts. Burning the grain would cause the troops to disturb the families and commoners. In the end, the ones hurt would be the people.
Grandfather Song was much more vicious; he did not hesitate and directly gave the order. In his eyes, it was enough as long as it delayed the enemy.
As for the lives of the commoners, it was not within his current considerations.
During noon, the alliance army successfully sieged Tianshuang County.
Members of the South Alliance Army raised their chests, as they walked into Tianshuang County.
The lacking part was that there were no civilians there to welcome them. The vast streets did not even have a single person. One could only see puddles of blood the scums and hooligans left behind.
Hefu rode on his horse at the front of the army; a wide smile hung on his face.
The first battle ending in victory had made him partially relieved. The next step was to search for the main force of Shanhai City and end them. As long as they successfully chase them away, South Alliance could solidify their positions as rulers of Lingnan Province. No one could shake their position.
Hefu was already imagining the future of South Alliance.
The future alliance would start a closer level of cooperation. It was best if they could build a combined city, linking their economies and armies.
With such actions, they could make Lingnan Province truly infallible.
Yuan Ping followed closely behind. He had a happy expression, but his expression also contained a hint of worry.
Undoubtedly, he carried the most credit for the Battle of Tianshuang County. To obtain victory, he had paid a weighty price. Using his own grandfather as bait was a risky move.
In the game, even if his grandfather was killed, he could be revived. As such, to a casual player like him, in game death did not mean anything. The key was that he would lose plenty of face.
Especially to old people, where death was something they all feared. Even in the game, no one expected to be killed and revived, much less someone like Yuan Ping's grandfather, who cared much about his face.
The moment they broke through, Yuan Ping sent people to search for his grandfather.
The news he received sent a shiver down his spine.
Based on the reports, all the NPC followers had been killed, their bodies hung on the square opposite of the Lord's Manor.
Only the butler that performed well had successfully escaped.
Don't tell me they really killed him?
Truly a vicious move. After all, their families had tens of years of relationships.
Yuan Ping grew more and more worried, while Hefu's face also started to change.
After they entered the city, they instantly took down the important structures like the Lord's Manor, the treasury, and the granary. The news they received made the members of South Alliance bleed deep inside.
There was no one in the Lord's Manor; it was like the Song Family had disappeared into thin air. There was not even a single copper in the treasury, and the storage only had a bunch of useless iron left. The granary, on the other hand, was burned. No grain was left.
The entire Tianshuang County did not have anything left but people.
"Bastard!" Hefu was furious, "They must be nearby; chase them!"
"Yes!"
Instantly, two thousand cavalry hurried out of the city and disappeared into the wilderness.
Members of South Alliance looked at one another. They were all clear that finding them in the wilderness was as difficult as ascending the heavens. Now, they could only try their best and hope for a miracle.
These events washed away the joys of victory.
The alliance army originally wanted to use this county as their base of operations to sweep down south to take on the Shanhai City Army. However, now they faced grain problems. Helplessly, Hefu could only order them to gather grain and ask the Lords in Zhaoqing to send grain over.
Two hundred thousand troops, including war horse, would use up four to five hundred thousand units of grain in just a day. Without millions of units of grain as logistical supply, the army would not even dare to act.
Teleportation formations could not transport grain. During wartime, even the Super Trading Platform was closed. To obtain grain, one could only manually transport it.
To transport tens of millions of units of grain, solely labourers, they would need around two hundred thousand people. They naturally threw this task to the commoners of Tianshuang County.
The poor commoners not only had their houses swept, they even had to help the army transport goods, such bad luck.
Hefu was still okay, as a son of a aristocratic family, he had some good upbringing. The other Lords were far worse; they just did as they wished in the city.
The entire Tianshuang County cried out under the alliance army.
However, due to the burden of grain, the alliance army had no choice but to prepare and gear up themselves in Tianshuang County.
This change in plan helped Shanhai City gain valuable time.
One had to mention that ginger was hotter the older it grew. Compared to his grandfather, Song Wen was too inexperienced. Mercy was good, but it depended on the situation.
At crucial moments, one needed to viciously act.
To Lords, especially to Lords, one had to take cold and merciless action.
Zhaoqing Prefecture, Cangcheng County.
8th month, 9th day, the Feng Bird the Black Snake Guards sent out had smoothly flown to the command unit and brought with it the newest intel.
In the main base was the middle troops that Baiqi led, including Mu Guiying's 4th division of the Dragon Legion, as well as the Tianshuang County's city protection division, which Song Wu led.
The left wing troops were Luo Shixin's 2nd division of the Dragon Legion.
On the right was Han Xin's 1st division of the Leopard Legion. Zhang Han was at the back, in charge of prisoners and choosing the elite to form the 2nd division.
After he read the new intel, Baiqi's eyebrows perked.
Baiqi had predicted that the enemy would form alliances in the middle and ending parts of the war to try and retaliate. However, he did not expect South Alliance to hold such attraction, able to send two hundred thousand troops.
With that, the originally easy and peaceful Battle of Zhaoqing would turn into a full-scale war that exceeded the Battle of Leizhou.
And this situation was not what the Lord desired.
During this period of time, Shanhai City was focused on the philosopher's debate to expand their cultural influence. Qiongzhou Prefecture and Leizhou Prefecture were still growing, and they were not ready for such a huge war.
Only now, matters had already developed to such a stage. They had to fight, even if they did not want to.
Strategic retreat?
In Shanhai City's dictionary, the word retreat did not exist.
Immediately, Baiqi ordered the left and right side troops to reduce their defence line. They would use the currently occupied territories as bases and keep close to the middle troops.
The three wings of the troops must be ready to assist one another.
At the same time, Baiqi sent a letter to the Military Affairs Department to suggest they move the Garrison Division in Leizhou Prefecture to assist. If they could, it was best to move another two divisions to help.
Baiqi's attitude was care. Since they wanted to fight, we would too.
After he received Baiqi's letter, Du Ruhui immediately ordered the Leizhou Garrison Division to move toward Zhaoqing Prefecture and meet up with the middle troops.
Earlier, when he had built the Nanjiang Governor-General House, he had given power to the Military Affairs Department to move the city protection forces. Amongst the army, regiment-level armies could be moved without his permission.
As for division level, as a director, he could not make the decision.
In the current Nanjiang Governor-General Manor, Ouyang Shuo was meeting Zhang Yi. Based on Wei Ran's words, this representative figure of the school of diplomats had the intentions of moving into Shanhai City.
Hence, after curing the poison in his body, Ouyang Shuo took some time to meet him.
In the reading room, both of them chatted happily.
It was obvious that in this first meeting, Ouyang Shuo had left a great impression on the other man.
Ouyang Shuo could basically say with certainty that Zhang Yi would move into Shanhai City. With that, he could complete the quest.
At this very moment, the guard reported,
"My Lord, Director Du requests to meet you. He says it's an emergency."
Ouyang Shuo frowned.
When Zhang Yi saw the situation, he stood up and bid Ouyang Shuo goodbye. Although there were some things that were not said clearly, it was nearly there. After all, outsiders should not interfere in military affairs.
Ouyang Shuo personally sent him out and received Du Ruhui.
In his heart, uneasiness rumbled. One must know that Du Ruhui was a very calm and composed person. If it was not a huge emergency, he would not disturb his Lord.
Especially today, when he was meeting such an important guest.
"Sorry Lord, I didn't mean to interrupt."
Ouyang Shuo waved him off, "There's no need to apologize for that. What happened?"
Du Ruhui took out the letter that Baiqi had sent, and he respectfully handed it to Ouyang Shuo.
When Ouyang Shuo read the news, he stayed silent for a long while.
"The rain has come!"