Everyone thought that most of the people in the city were dead, and they just opened the city gate to carry out the bodies when they entered.
Who would have thought that what they thought were corpses could actually stand up and attack them with their bows and arrows, and return the fiercest attack.
"Brothers! Beat me hard!"
Nie Chen roared angrily, raised his repeating crossbow, and shot down a soldier who was climbing the city with one arrow.
On the top of the city, countless crossbow bolts and arrows, mixed with the heavy rain from the sky, were shot down mercilessly, turning every enemy soldier into a corpse.
The rain dripped down Liu Hu's helmet, fell on his face, and flowed onto the armor.
Liu Hu, who was riding on the horse, was cold and trembling all over, looking at everything in front of him in disbelief.
"Why were the enemy soldiers... not poisoned? Are all of them invulnerable to poison?"
Liu Hu muttered to himself.
A commander pulled Liu Hu's leg and said,
"Sir, our poison is not effective. It may be fake. The enemy's attack was too fierce. There is no sign of poisoning at all. The road is slippery in the rain and it is impossible to climb. Let the soldiers withdraw!"
Liu Hu nodded and immediately ordered Ming Jin to withdraw his troops.
He is not a pedantic and impulsive person. Although he is very angry and confused now, and regrets that he failed this time, he also knows that in adversity, preserving one's own strength is the most important thing.
He would not be like Ye Xing and others, who would be dominated by emotions and mindlessly let his subordinates die.
More than half of the former troops attacking the city were dead or wounded. When they heard the sound of gongs, everyone immediately ran back.
The ground was covered with mud, one foot deep and one foot shallow. The blood mixed with the rain dyed the earth black, and there were arrows and corpses blocking the road.
But these surviving soldiers couldn't control it anymore and had to run back even if they died.
When I came here before, my heart was so excited to grab the credit, but now when I run, my heart is so sad to survive.
Even though the arrows above their heads were still flying rapidly, harvesting their lives, they couldn't care less, they just wanted to escape.
On the top of the city, shocking cheers erupted again. Although this battle was short-lived, the number of enemy soldiers killed and wounded far exceeded the sum of the previous days.
Nie Chen looked at the corpse below and said with a smile,
"Most of the enemy troops attacking the city must have died, at least three thousand."
Wang Hao nodded and said,
"It's almost three thousand, and the total time from the start to the end is less than a quarter of an hour. It's quite good to have such a result.
The county guard was decisive and did not send any more troops to suppress him, but ordered the troops to withdraw. "
"Then tell me, can we take the opportunity to counterattack and defeat Liu Hu in one fell swoop?"
After listening to Nie Chen's words, Wang Hao shook his head and said,
"There are probably about 10,000 enemy troops now. Although we have 8,000 troops, 2,000 of them are new recruits without combat effectiveness. They are more than capable of defending the city. If we attack the enemy, we will suffer heavy casualties.
Moreover, it is still raining now, getting heavier and heavier. It is muddy and slippery outside the city, making it impossible to walk and even carry corpses.
In this case, how to attack them? They can resist us with the help of the village walls and bows and arrows alone. The muddy roads will also slow down our attack and retreat, which is extremely detrimental to our army.
What's more, we don't have cavalry anymore, and we have no advantages in plain combat other than weapons. "
Nie Chen nodded and said,
“Indeed, in this situation, it is impossible to fight at all. We have to wait until it stops raining and the noodles are dry in two days.
And with our current military strength, even if we are lucky enough to defeat Liu Hu, they can still retreat and escape. What I want to do is to completely annihilate Liu Hu and kill Liu Hu, not simply defeat him.
Contact Da Zhuang in the next two days to see how his recruitment of soldiers and horses is going, and whether he can cooperate with us inside and outside to attack the county guard's army from both sides. "
Weng Qiuchan said,
"It's only been two or three days. How could Brother Da Zhuang recruit soldiers and horses so quickly? Besides, the recruited soldiers are all peasant soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is not strong. If you want to have the combat effectiveness of ordinary soldiers, you need at least half Month to month of training is enough.
Let's go down first and take a look at the poisoning situation of the people. "
"Okay, I'll go right away."
After speaking, Nie Chen turned around and walked towards the bottom of the city wall. As he walked, he said to Weng Qiuchan,
"You go back to the county office first and change your clothes and wipe your hair. Don't get sick again after being soaked in the rain for so long."
"Don't worry, I'm not some frail young lady. I'll go find an umbrella and go see the people with you."
"Go back if I tell you. If you don't obey, I'll spank you. If you catch the cold, you have to ask Li Yuanjun to take care of you. She's not free now, she's busy."
"I know, I'll go back right now."
Weng Qiuchan rolled her eyes at him, and she knew that he was caring about her.
Nie Chen was wearing steel armor and a helmet, so he was not afraid of the rain. He first came to the medical team and saw several soldiers on his side lying down. Li Yuanjun was busy preparing medicine to treat them.
"Can you find out what kind of poison it is? Can it be easily detoxified?"
Nie Chen asked.
Li Yuanjun said without raising his head,
"You can't tell from the smoke alone, but you can tell based on the symptoms. They are not seriously poisoned, or if you ask them to cover their mouths and noses, it has a miraculous effect. They will be fine in one day. I am already preparing the prescription. Are you okay? Just go to the side and don’t get in the way here.”
"There are probably people in the city who have been poisoned. I will take people to inspect them. If there are people who are poisoned, I will take people to carry them over. When the time comes, you can go and get treatment as soon as possible."
"I know, I know, I won't give up on any patient. You hurry up and do the work. Don't bother me here."
Nie Chen turned around and muttered as he walked out,
"This damn girl has such a bad attitude. She treats me coldly every day. Sooner or later, I will push you down and spank you, and teach you a lesson..."
Boom!
Li Yuanjun casually grabbed a bag of herbs and threw it on Nie Chen's back, causing Nie Chen to run away.
After leaving the medical team, Nie Chen led the recruits through the streets, knocking on doors and asking if anyone had been poisoned.
When the common people saw him, they all burst into tears of gratitude and said,
"Thank you, Master Nie, for your concern. If you hadn't reminded us in time to cover our mouths and noses with wet towels, we would have died a long time ago. My whole family is fine now. It was you who saved us."
"The Gougi County Sheriff is really unkind and wants to kill all of us people. Fortunately, Master Nie is smart and saved us in time."
"Let me tell you, Master Nie, you should be the county magistrate. You really think that I love the people like my own son. We will rebel with you and kill the county guard who was killed that day."
"On the contrary, he won't rebel. Master Nie will take our Qingshui County out of the county's control. Didn't you see that there is a strong wind flag above the county seat? Master Nie will not rebel."
