Chapter 189 - Counterattack (2) (1/2)
Chapter 189 Counterattack (2)
Translated by Gamer
3 out of the 4 siege towers have been destroyed. The remaining one is no longer a threat. Although there are hundreds of people, they were all frightened of Huang Zhong. Huang Zhong has already shot down two siege towers and killed thousands of soldiers. What would happen if he were to shoot another arrow? The remaining soldiers on the wall panicked. They stopped shooting arrows. If they were to continue to shoot arrows they would only provoke the enemy to attack.
Without the siege tower to obstruct them, the citizens of Wan Cheng continued to put out the fire.
“Phew!” Huang Zhong breathed a sigh of relief. If there is no threat from the siege towers, these people will not become casualties.
“Did you really think you have saved the citizens?” Sun Ce’s tone became colder again. The Death like bow is no longer there. Sun Ce is no longer pa.s.sively guarding himself anymore. However, the humiliation made Sun Ce very unhappy.
“My siege tower being destroyed so the citizens are no longer courting death. Is that it?” Sun Ce saw Huang Zhong’s expression telling him to continue talking. “Did you truly think you have saved them?!”
Sun Ce’s face turned tyrannical. “Stop daydreaming! I have said it before! The day this city falls is the day the citizens will be slaughtered! Don’t think any of the citizens you saved will live! I will block all the exits like your Prince of Shu! I will go from door to door! I will dig 3 feet into the ground! I will drag every Wan Cheng citizen out to slaughter! I want them to pay! I want them to pay the price of helping you!”
“You swine! Do you not fear people calling you a murderer! Do you not fear leaving behind an infamous name!” Huang Zhong opened his eyes in anger. Sun Ce’s words were too venomous. Wan Cheng was a big city. He is the Lujiang local government. If Sun Ce did what he said he would, the corpses would pile up like a mountain. Thousands of citizens would die a violent death. Even Cao Cao has never did atrocities like this when he attacked Xuzhou. He only slaughtered a few small cities which would total to a few thousand citizens. Also, the ma.s.sacre only last for a day.
The total number of people who survived was not small. Now Sun Ce declared that he will personally go door to door and even dig 3 feet into the ground just to kill them?
“Infamy? Butcher?” Sun Ce laughed and pointed his spear at Huang Zhong. “Your lord, Lu Bu Lu Fengxian Was he bothered that people called him ‘Slave of Three Surnames’? Your Prince of Shu, Liu Mang is already known as a butcher! Was he bothered about it? Since they were not bothered about it, did you think I, Sun Ce would be bothered?”
Huang Zhong was silenced about Liu Mang and Lu Bu’s infamy. That is because last time, they did not have territory and was not worried about wearing shoes. If you dare me, I would dare to fight you. This was Lu Bu’s way of life. However, Sun Ce is the lord of Jiangdong. Was he not afraid that his citien’s feelings will sway?
“There’s more!” Sun Ce started to talk again. “The winners are the kings. The losers are the bandits. When I capture Wan Cheng, I will say your Lu Bu’s Army destroyed the city. When the citizens stood up to welcome you, your Prince of Shu decided to execute all of them. After all, His Royal Highness already have the t.i.tle of butcher. n.o.body would know the truth!”
This Sun Ce was truly sinister. Not only does he intend to ma.s.sacre the city. In order to remove the hatred placed on him, he planned to fabricate a story to frame Lu Bu’s Army. At that time, Lu Bu’s Army would change into something that provokes everyone to throw rocks. Even Liu Mang’s Prince of Shu t.i.tle would be useless. Even now, the Lu Bu’s Army is already having trouble holding this city. A leader who would ma.s.sacre its inhabitants after capturing the city will only invite riots and rebellion. At that time, Lu Bu’s Army will be too busy fighting rebels compared to their enemies.
“Humph! That only if you managed to capture Wan Cheng! Even capturing Wan Cheng is just a wish for you!” Huang Zhong groaned. Sun Ce said that he will ma.s.sacre the city after capturing Wan Cheng. In other words, as long as the city is not captured, then everything Sun Ce said would be nothing but daydream.
“Is that so!? Do you think the Wan Cheng defenders would be able to stop me!? Do you think you, in that state, would be able to stop me!?” Sun Ce has fought until the defenders, including the 3,000 Black Flag soldiers were all exhausted and depleted. Most of the remaining soldiers have also wasted most of their energy trying to douse the fire. Besides that, the soldiers have also seen the citizens being attacked. As a result, a lot of soldiers rushed out to save the lives of the citizens and ended up dying. To make things worse, Sun Ce brought his main army of 30,000. The remaining 20,000 may be marines but until now, he still had 10,000 soldiers in reserve. If the 10,000 soldiers were also included, then Wan Cheng would really fall.
As for Huang Zhong, after shooting two iron arrows, his body is in terrible state. Not to mention Sun Ce, even Tais.h.i.+ Ci would be able to defeat him right now.
“Surrender! I will give you one chance! Staying in Lu Bu’s Army will not yield any benefits. If you join Sun Ce’s Army, you will have a chance to make use of your talents. You will not be a deputy general like in Lu Bu’s Army!” Huang Zhong is a general that is able to lead soldiers similar to a commander-in-chief. However, Huang Zhong is just a guardian of Wan Cheng City right now. The main leader of Wan Cheng is Liu Mang. Therefore, Sun Ce thought that Huang Zhong is just a deputy general.
A person with such martial skill being made a deputy general is a big waste. This Liu Mang really does not know how to value talent. If so, might as well give it to Sun Ce!
“It is still daytime right now. Sun Ce, you should stop daydreaming!” Huang Zhong criticized. “I, Huang Zhong, can surrender to anyone except a small-time butcher like you, Sun Ce!” Wanting to ma.s.sacre people and then frame others. To Huang Zhong, Sun Ce is not just a butcher but a villain.
(TL: Raws said ‘villain/small man’ and butcher, which is like saying villain twice. What he means is that Sun Ce was willing to frame others making him a shameless half-hearted villain unwilling to shoulder blame.)
“Haha!” Sun Ce was not angry. “A few days ago, one of Lu Bu’s officer said the exact same thing. I am sure you have seen the results! How was it? Did you like the gift?”
“Sun Ce!” Huang Zhong gritted his teeth. How can he not know what Sun Ce was talking about! The person he was talking about was Su Fei! Both Huang Zhong and Su Fei have surrendered to Lu Bu. Although he has not worked together with Su Fei much, he and Su Fei had good friends.h.i.+p and were very close. When Su Fei died, Huang Zhong was upset at himself. If he did not exist, Su Fei would not have surrendered to Lu Bu. He may still be leading the Jiangxia troops instead of being turned into human swine. When he dies, he would have died with his corpse intact. Su Fei used to call Huang Zhong, ‘old general’. Now Sun Ce has made Huang Zhong remember his voice.
“You will not die peacefully!” Huang Zhong spat.
“Good! I like that you speak truthfully! I, Sun Ce, have killed a lot of people but I have never once killed someone who has reached the peak of refinement! I do not know whether your blood will be sweet!” Sun Ce’s eyes grew cold again. If he did not surrender, then he can go and die. Things that he could not get, others can stop dreaming.
“Pa.s.s out my orders! All units eliminate Lu Bu’s Army!” Sun Ce shouted. There were still Danyang troops on the walls. Although the amount of Danyang soldiers that got burned to death was a lot, the remaining survivors is enough to destroy Lu Bu’s Army.
“Whoever kills one soldier will be rewarded with 10 gold! Kill an officer, reward 50 gold! Kill a general, reward 100 gold, promotion to captain, one mansion and 10 women!” As Sun Ce was the one who used a fire attack and burned both armies indiscriminately, he knew that the army will have some complaints. However, Sun Ce still believed his soldiers will still help him for high rewards. One head for 10 gold. 10 gold is enough to support a medium sized household for 10 years. Killing a senior officer will even earn them a promotion and allow them to command soldiers. Sun Ce would even give them the lands from the n.o.bles.