C55 (1/2)
Ever since the incident with the carriage, the City Gate Officer s of the Tiger Running City had suffered from an illness that could not be seen once. Watermelon in particular was something that could not be seen at all. Originally, his family wanted to help him rest, but City Guard Du Mingfa forbade it. Now that there were more refugees, they needed experienced and capable people to take charge of the city gate's affairs. Furthermore, with the continuously transmitted intelligence of the Fire Phoenix Army, it seemed that this group of devils was really getting further and further away from the Tiger Running City, which was why the City Gate Officer finally agreed to it. He brought a group of soldiers along with him and guarded the city gate everyday, identifying the refugees one by one.
Early that morning, there were no fewer than a thousand people waiting outside the door. During this period of time, the Fire Phoenix Army had been rampaging like wildfire. The people in the surrounding villages and towns had all abandoned their crops and turned to the big city with its thick walls. However, with so many people coming, and with Du Mingfa's strict requirements, the matter with City Gate Officer was not as easy as he had imagined.
First of all, the priority among the refugees was the strong men and women who were guaranteed entry by the residents of the city. It was guaranteed that they would be able to prove their identity, that strong men would be allowed to enter the military and construction camps, and that strong women would be allowed to enter the medical and cookery camps.
Although their identities were a little suspicious, they could still guarantee the innocence of a large portion of people after careful investigation by the city gate guards. Even if one or two of them managed to sneak in, it wouldn't create much of a stir. Especially in the recent days, Du Mingfa had used a method that he thought was extremely smart, and that was to not let anyone out. Once you enter, you can make some contributions to the Tiger Running City; if you want to leave, it won't be that easy anymore. Unless one had the City Guard Token, no one was allowed to take even half a step out of the city! Those who dared to defy the order could be killed by the soldiers at the city gate!
The third type that could enter the city was the families of the strong men and women. However, these people weren't allowed to enter the city for nothing. They had to sit together with their families, and at the same time, they had to hand over enough food or cattle before being allowed to enter. Master Du had once said very clearly that Tiger Running City was a place of refuge for everyone, and not a good hall. For those who are unable to pay for their work, please prepare your own food.
His words made sense, but they were also ruthless. Some rich families in the countryside were still fine. They would hand over several bags of food, including cattle and sheep, in exchange for allowing their entire family to enter the city. The family wasn't rich, but those who had strong men and strong women entering the city could be considered to have hopes. They hoped that their family members would toil in the city for a few days and collect enough money to take them into the city.
The most miserable ones were those elderly people who had been displaced by their families, as well as those who were handicapped and seriously ill and unable to work. Some of them were kowtowing and crying, some were trying to coerce others, and some simply wanted to smash themselves to death on the city walls.
In the end, Lord Du gave in and ordered the soldiers to set up more than ten huge tents outside of the city for them to live in.
Looking at this from afar, Xiu'er's face was expressionless, but she couldn't help but ask in a soft voice, ”Is this what we did?”
Her words made it seem as if she was muttering to herself, but also asking questions. Fat Cui, who was at the side, didn't know how to reply, so beads of sweat were about to fall from her chubby face. But Xiu'er did not plan to let him answer, so she waved her hand lightly, ”General Cui, please.”
”Yes sir!” As if he had met with an amnesty, Fat Cui immediately rode his horse and rushed towards the Tiger Running City city gate.
Even in normal times, if a dozen people urged their horses to gallop, it would attract the attention of everyone, let alone at such a time. When Fat Cui's group appeared in the distance, there was an uproar at the city gate. The old ones called out 'baby' and the young ones called out 'mother', and those who had some strength wanted to risk their lives and run into the city. For a moment, the entire city was in chaos.
City Gate Officer sent people to inform the city walls that they were ready to fight. While forcing the soldiers to push the refugees out of the city gate, he wanted to raise the city gate to protect them. As for the refugees who had yet to enter the city, they could only pray for themselves.
Following the rumbling of the horses' hooves, the riders approached. They were afraid that they would attract the attention of the soldiers on the city wall, so they reined their reins and slowed down. The chubby officer in the lead shouted at the city gate, ”Don't shoot! Brothers, don't shoot! They were on the same side! They were all on the same side! We are from the Tiger Roar City! ”
Tiger Roar City?
These three words stirred up great waves in the hearts of many people. Most of the words connected to the two words ”Tiger Roar City” were words like ”Slaughtering City”, ”Corpse Mountain” and ”Blood Sea”. This caused all of the Tiger Roar City to become empty cities, and all the residences were devoid of people, as if they were ghost cities. The refugees would rather run for a few more days to reach the Tiger Running City, than to stay there.
The dozen or so people in front of them were clearly wearing the color of Moqiu Army, and their accents were unmistakable as well.
City Gate Officer turned his head and spoke a few words to the soldiers, then led the few guards and slowly walked out of the cave, standing around fifty to sixty feet away from the soldiers. City Gate Officer had a plan in mind. With this distance being within the firing range of the crossbows, if the opponent made a wrong move, he would be shot to death on the spot.
The one leading them was a chubby military officer, when he saw City Gate Officer leading his men out, he immediately dismounted and shouted to the rest, ”Brothers! Brothers! My name is Cui! It's an officer from the Tiger Roar City! These are my brothers! We are all from the Tiger Roar City! A few days ago, we were ordered to save Tiger Running City, but in the end we met with an ambush, and were beaten up! We all crawled out from a pile of dead people! ” The fat guy was on the verge of tears when he heard the shout. The soldiers behind him dismounted as well, each and every one of them whimpering as they lifted up their tattered robes to wipe their unclean faces.
At that time, he knew about Tiger Running City's request for help. However, because Tiger Roar City's reinforcements were defeated, the Tiger Roar City followed suit and fell. Only then did the other reinforcements turn to Tiger Roar City to besiege the Fire Phoenix Army. It was precisely because of this that the subsequent battle of Sunset Ditch took place. It could be said that the battle that had truly changed the situation in the southwest of Mo Qiu had begun from the moment Tiger Roar City had destroyed the reinforcements.
However, it was said that the battlefield at that time was extremely tragic. Many corpses were burnt to ashes, and most people assumed that this army should have been annihilated. They didn't expect that there would be more than ten survivors. Thinking about it this way, City Gate Officer felt a bit of guilt and gratitude in his heart. This was the same person who had fallen into a deathtrap because of saving his city back then.