Chapter 176 - Choice (1/2)
Chapter 176 – Choice
Translated by Gamer
In the main camp of the Sun Ce’s Army, Tais.h.i.+ Ci and his soldiers have beheaded all the n.o.bles and their bodyguards.
Sun Ce ignored their protests. Even the Wu Clan who was Sun Ce’s relatives was not spared. They could only express disbelief when Sun Ce personally executed them.
Wiping off the blood from his sword Sun Ce asked in a cold voice. “Zijing, is everything ready?”
“Milord, everything is ready to go!” Lu Su held his hands together. He now sees Sun Ce in a different light and is ready to serve him dedicatedly. He now shows a mix of fear and wors.h.i.+p to Sun Ce.
To gain control of the troops Sun Ce is willing to kill his own kin. What if tomorrow he decides to kill Lu Su?
Now Lu Su believes Sun Ce is one of this generation’s hero but at the same time he wants to step back.
Now that the battle at Lujiang has ended, Lu Su is preparing to leave. Perhaps that someone has something that requires his service.
“Now let us get ready to begin!” Sun Ce stood up. He took the helmet from the bodyguard beside him and got ready to leave the camp.
“My lord your injury!” Tais.h.i.+ Ci hesitated. He understood the most the severity of Sun Ce’s injury. Even if Sun Ce has reached hyper-cla.s.s general, an injury is still an injury. It will not heal so quickly.
“Don’t worry Ziyi. I am fine!” Sun Ce understood his own injury. He knows that his injury will last for about 100 days however, time does not permit it. He must capture Wan Cheng by today. Even if it is not for revenge, withdrawing the troops safely is now also a problem.
Looking at Tais.h.i.+ Ci’s worried face, Sun Ce’s heart grew soft. “I have made up my mind. Don’t worry Ziyi, your lord has not brought you to glory conquering the world. How can I let myself get killed!”
Sun Ce naturally gave his reasoning. Sun Ce knows that a lord should not have charged ahead only to need to retreat.
Tais.h.i.+ Ci may be a military commander but he is not a representative of Sun Ce. How would he know what Sun Ce wants to do?
“Understood!” Tais.h.i.+ Ci nodded and left. He is not Lu Su. He is not a military strategist and there is nothing much for him to think about. All he needs to do is help his lord strike the enemy. He is impressed by Sun Ce. This is because Sun Ce is a top martial artist and also because Sun Ce forgave him for being his enemy last time.
Don’t mention about how many Sun Ce has killed. Even if Sun Ce and Liu Mang has killed thousands of people he still will not betray Sun Ce.
‘Dong Dong Dong’ The sound of drums started up again. Without the meddling of the n.o.ble clans, Sun Ce’s army became more orderly. There are about 5,000 Danyang soldiers and another 10,000 ordinary soldiers.
The soldiers prepared the swords and ladders. Besides that, accompanying the soldiers are battering rams. The rams were not used the day before because it would not reach the gates in time. Today’s campaign however, begins at noon and Sun Ce’s army needs it to play its strength.
“Battering rams!” Liu Mang looked at the 12 rams with his telescope. In addition to trying to scale the walls, there are hundreds or even thousands of soldiers pus.h.i.+ng the battering ram. The front end of the giant tree on the ram is made of metal. It is extremely strong and every blow can be a huge blow to the gates.
“Soldiers, March!” Sun Ce give a symbol that today they must break open the gates of Wancheng. “SHAA!”
“SHAA!” the five thousand Danyang soldiers shouted. They are the elites of Sun Ce’s army and most of the ladders were given to them. Now led by Tais.h.i.+ Ci, the Danyang soldiers are now exhibiting a scary force of will.
“A thousand steps, eight hundred steps, four hundred steps, three hundred steps.” The castle moat was already buried yesterday morning by the bodies of the soldiers. Sun Ce’s Army stops at the side of the river as the soldiers pa.s.sed by.
“Release the arrows!” Liu Mang fiercely commanded. From the walls, dozens of arrow was immediately fired. For the sake of luring more soldiers onto the walls, Liu Mang allowed the soldiers to climb after placing soldiers in the walls.
Now the same trick will not work twice. Sun Ce also knows that they have heavy infantry inside.
“Ah ah ah ah!” From the walls came out a lot of flying arrows. Liu Mang’s command was to randomly shoot arrows at the Wan Cheng soldiers without worrying about the leftover arrows. If you have a bow just keep shooting.
Screams of death echo all around. The soldiers that got shot are mostly normal soldiers. The Danyang soldiers are not getting shot. They continue to push forward using the people in front of them as s.h.i.+elds. Soon a row of dead soldiers filled the battlefield.
And so, up to about a thousand unlucky soldiers fell to the Liu Mang’s arrow volley.
Who cares if about a thousand soldiers die? Sun Ce has cavalries although they do not have elite soldiers. This is one of the reason Sun Ce wants Liu Mang and Lu Bu to join him. To survive in war you need elites. Having elites is half the war.
“Go up!” A battalion of common soldiers reached the front. These are the n.o.ble’s private soldiers.
The day before they are still commanded by their respective lords. All they care about is money. That is why the n.o.bles will not dispatch them so easily. The private soldiers were happily taking advantage because on the battlefield there are people to kill.
However at noon, the Sun Ce Army told them that their masters died on the walls. They are now serving under a Jiangdong commander. Now, scaling the city walls is becoming difficult.
All the private soldiers are now rus.h.i.+ng the walls in fury while holding their weapons like forks or shovels. When the ladders were placed, they started climbing the walls like worms.