20demayo Chapter 138 Legend
Chapter 138 Legend
When Xue Yunting left Longli, he made a great show of it, with his soldiers shouting towards Longli city in waves: "We'll come back after we finish fighting Kunzhou."
The scouts in Longli received news that Xue Yunting had taken 40,000 elite troops with him. The remaining incompetent soldiers were stationed about a mile outside Longli City. The Longli soldiers could see them from the city walls; indeed, there weren't many of them.
After observing the situation for several days, Deng Chang, the garrison commander of Longli, began to consider his options. This was a golden opportunity to resolve the crisis in Longli. Just as Deng Chang was planning his attack, news arrived that Dongyang had broken through the pass.
As a member of the alliance, Nan Yue was honored. To celebrate, Xu Sheng ordered a night of revelry.
A huge bonfire was lit at the encampment, its roar burning all night and illuminating half the sky. War drums became a joyful symphony, and soldiers sang and danced around the bonfire, the sounds of drums and songs shaking the heavens.
When the guards in Longli changed shifts in the middle of the night, they saw dozens of large flatbed carriages coming, and there came a group of graceful women dressed in light veils.
More firewood was added to the bonfire, illuminating the South Vietnamese soldiers' encampment as bright as day. Long Li is a wide basin, offering a panoramic view from the city walls.
Neither of the two shifts of soldiers moved, their eyes fixed on the scene. The women's light veils were barely visible; sometimes they danced around the bonfire, sometimes they embraced and fed wine to the soldiers…
The situation gradually spiraled out of control. Some soldiers embraced women and hid in the bushes and woods, while others rolled around the fire with women in their arms, acting like wild beasts without any attempt to conceal themselves.
The distance was neither too far nor too close. The soldiers in Longli saw the trees and grass swaying in the forest, saw men and women tearing at each other on the grass, and heard the screams and gasps of men and women, as clearly as if they were under the city wall.
The soldiers of Longli kept their eyes fixed on the distance, having no time to look down at the city walls. They gradually lost the ability to distinguish whether the sounds were what they heard or what they were thinking.
The Southern Vietnamese soldiers watched wildly all night, as did the Longli garrison. They watched the Southern Vietnamese soldiers come and go, cursing them as worse than beasts while drooling with envy, and began to fend for themselves.
At dawn, South Vietnamese soldiers and beautiful women lay sprawled on the ground. The guards at Longli were yawning and listless.
Deng Chang stood on the city wall and sneered: "What the scout said is true. The legendary disciple of Guigu, Prince Rui of Nanyue, is a frivolous and good-for-nothing who lives a life of extravagance with women on both sides in the army."
Deng Chang finally lost his patience and ordered the city gates to be opened to launch a preemptive attack.
Upon hearing the bugle call to charge, the soldiers stationed in the South Vietnamese territory picked up their weapons and began to flee for their lives. Those who were too slow to escape did not even have time to grab their weapons before they were killed by a hail of arrows.
The abandoned woman panicked and knelt on the ground, trembling. The guards from Longli, who had been envious all night, laughed loudly and rushed to pull the woman away to do their bidding.
In the distance, South Vietnamese soldiers fled; nearby, they screamed and groaned; beneath the horses' hooves, soldiers lay prone and motionless.
Deng Chang sensed something was wrong. He used his spear to lift the corpse, only to find it was a scarecrow dressed in armor.
Deng Chang was shocked. He killed the soldiers who were committing adultery at the scene and shouted, "Withdraw the troops!"
It was too late to retreat. Banners fluttered, war drums thundered, and South Vietnamese soldiers surrounded them from all directions.
A young voice pierced the air, echoing through the valley and reverberating in everyone's ears: "The city gates are open, Longli has fallen. Those who surrender live, those who fight die."
Hearing the sound, Deng Chang turned around and saw the head of a flag-guarding soldier rolling off the city wall. The South Vietnamese soldiers then replaced the Deng-character commander's flag with a wind dragon soldier's flag.
A young man in purple stood under the dragon flag, lightly waving a folding fan, looking down on all living beings.
The soldiers of Longli were at a loss, and some soldiers' legs went weak and they knelt down. Deng Chang thrust his spear at one of them, and he died on the spot.
Deng Chang shouted, "We eat the king's food, so we must be loyal to the king. We would rather fight than surrender, kill..."
Deng Chang took the lead and charged towards the South Vietnamese soldiers, trying to break through their defenses.
The wind dragon soldiers surrounded them, and the dragon soldiers did not move, so they did not move either, trying to break through the encirclement and kill them on the spot.
No matter which way Deng Chang tried to go, he was completely blocked off. Someone drew his sword and slashed off his horse's leg. Deng Chang dismounted to fight, but was stabbed multiple times and died.
Zhang Chi beheaded Deng Chang with a single stroke, held the head high, and shouted, "Kneel down, all of you!"
In the midst of a fierce battle, morale is paramount. The Longli soldiers, seeing their commander's bloodied head, slowly knelt down.
Xu Sheng flew over and stood on Shen Zhengzhang's shoulder: "Those who surrender and wish to return home will be rewarded with two strings of cash for travel expenses. Those who wish to achieve merit, gain official rank and honor their ancestors can follow the army to Nanyin Prefecture and will be rewarded with three strings of cash."
Surrender and you get a reward? This was unheard of, and the soldiers of Longli were filled with doubt and surprise.
The sound of carriages rang out, and the Wind Dragon soldiers made way for about ten feet of space. About a dozen flatbed carriages came in a row, each carrying several large boxes.
The soldiers unloaded boxes from the carriage and placed them on either side; when they opened them, they were full of money.
Xu Sheng leaped onto the carriage and sat down, one leg stretched out and the other bent at the knee, looking relaxed: "Give up money and lust!"
Zhang Chi and Shen Zheng smirked and stepped forward, one on each side, holding large swords like two door gods.
Xu Sheng waved his fan and said, "Take off your helmets and armor, put down your weapons. Those who know what's good for them will receive money."
Shen Zhengdao said, "Those who want to achieve great things and bring glory to their ancestors, go to the left and take three strings of cash."
Zhang Chi said, "If you want to go home to your wife, children, and a warm bed, go to the right and get two strings of cash."
Some of the bolder ones put down their bows and arrows, removed their long swords, took out their short swords, and took off their armor. Not daring to stand under the watchful eyes of the crowd, they crawled on their knees to the carriage, looked at the smiling Xu Sheng, then at the two door gods, and chose the right side.
With trembling hands, he took two strings of coins from the box, knelt and walked a few steps, then suddenly got up and ran forward for his life.
While the other soldiers were still in a daze, they heard shouts coming from afar: "Everyone, run! We really won't kill them!"
The soldiers from Longli rushed forward in a panic, and Shen Zheng swung his broadsword, knocking two soldiers unconscious with the back of the blade.
The first soldier ran back at some point and shouted, "Line up! Line up!"
The soldiers in Longli seemed to wake from a dream, and lined up cautiously to collect their money.
Xu Sheng waved to the soldier: "Why are you back?"
The soldier walked over and said, "General, my name is Zhang Fan, nicknamed Zhang Dadan. I would like to receive an extra string of cash."
Xu Sheng said, "Not enough?"
Zhang Fan said, "I want to follow the general and achieve great things."
Xu Sheng took out a piece of gold and handed it to him: "You pick a hundred men from the left and call the city's garrison to come out and collect the money. If one is missing, bring them your head. If you do a good job, you'll be promoted to centurion. Also, from now on, your name is no longer Zhang Fan or Zhang Dadan, but Jie Fan."
Zhang Fan didn't react. Xu Sheng's expression darkened slightly, his voice gentle yet stern: "Did you hear that?"
Zhang Fan was terrified: "I obey."
Zhang Chi turned to look at them.
Xu Sheng pointed at Zhang Chi: "Jie Fan, he is your kinsman Jie Qian. Five hundred years ago you were brothers, five hundred years later you are comrades, you will take care of each other from now on."
Zhang Fan dared not joke and obediently ordered his men to go. The city walls of Longli were densely packed with Southern Yue archers, ready for battle. The city gates and doors were closed, and every now and then a corpse could be seen.
Zhang Fan, leading the surrendered soldiers, banged gongs and waved three strings of cash around the city, shouting: "Brothers, come out and collect your money! Surrender and you'll be spared death and receive money. Go home and get two strings, join the army and get three strings..."
The news of Nan Yue breaking through Longli was even more shocking and legendary than Dongyang breaking through the pass. Xu Sheng had become a legend in the storiesteller's tales: "If he doesn't cry out, he'll be a sensation when he does; if he doesn't fly, he'll soar to the sky."