Chapter 176
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Xuzhou.
Wu Kai was struggling to resist Chen Wang’s besieging army.
Since Yuan Li’s departure, Chen Wang’s siege had become more ferocious. Especially after learning that Chen Xi had been captured by Yuan Li, Chen Wang vented all his anger on Xuzhou.
Wu Kai stationed half of his troops in Xiapi and the surrounding counties, taking only ten thousand men to the frontline to resist Chen Wang’s large army and rescue the civilians in the outer cities to the rear cities.
However, Xuzhou had just experienced a major disaster and was already extremely weakened. The outer cities lacked food and weapons and had no defensive strength.
Moreover, most of the city walls were made of earth, which became fragile after being soaked by floodwaters. Chen Wang’s army easily destroyed the city walls and entered the cities. Even if Wu Kai wanted to delay, he was powerless.
Within a month, Chen Wang’s army captured more than a dozen cities in Xuzhou. Wu Kai had to retreat continuously until he reached Suiling before he could catch his breath.
This was already his last stronghold. The rear was Xiapi, and the surrounding counties were garrisoned by soldiers from Youzhou. Xiang Hongyun had dispatched troops to reinforce the city walls. Even if Wu Kai died, he must protect this last line of defense and not lose Xuzhou.
Under this determination, they managed to hold on for a month, making it impossible for Chen Wang’s troops to make any progress.
In this stalemate, a call for Chen Wang’s subjugation by Yuan Li was delivered to Chen Wang.
In the main tent, Chen Wang sat on a chair, closing his eyes and listening to the counselor read the content of the call. He said calmly, “So, Yuan Le Jun is about to lead troops to Xuzhou.”
“Yes,” the counselor pondered, “the time it took for the call to reach us should be enough for Yuan Le Jun to arrive in the south.”
Chen Wang looked much older than a few years ago, with sunken cheeks and little color in his face. The wrinkles on his face were deep and added to his solemn and dignified appearance.
Since learning that Chen Xi was captured by Yuan Li, Chen Wang led the troops to attack Xuzhou personally despite his illness. Physicians used various medicines to support his body, and his spirit had improved somewhat in these days due to the suppressed anger.
After hearing the counselor’s words, Chen Wang’s expression remained unchanged. He sighed deeply, “Yuan Le Jun is coming back, but we haven’t taken down Xuzhou yet.”
The civil and military officials in the room were scared and sweating, all kneeling to apologize.
Chen Wang waved his hand, “In the current situation, it’s not your fault. If that scoundrel hadn’t been captured by Yuan Le Jun, Yuan Le Jun would have already been captured alive. I’ve warned that scoundrel several times, but a talentless person is still a talentless person. It’s his own fault that things have come to this. He deserved to die.”
The counselor beside him wiped the sweat from his forehead, “Lord…”
Chen Wang coughed and said calmly, “I had hoped for him to capture Yuan Le Jun alive, to give him a reputation of being brave and cunning. But as expected, he’s beyond my expectations. Even if I gave him more troops, he still wouldn’t be a match for Yuan Le Jun. Yuan Le Jun deserves to be called Duke Wen. If he were my son, I wouldn’t have to drag my sick body to lead you in attacking Xuzhou. I wouldn’t have to risk my reputation and take such a risk.”
He didn’t hide his admiration for Yuan Li. Since Chen Xi was captured by Yuan Li and Yuan Li successfully counterattacked to return to the north, Chen Wang’s subordinates often heard him praising Yuan Li.
Chen Wang really liked Yuan Li. Even when he sent the navy to besiege Yuan Li, he had specifically instructed his subordinates to capture Yuan Li alive. Chen Wang had said to those around him that if Yuan Li was captured alive, he would be treated with the finest clothes and dishes. If Yuan Li acknowledged him as his adoptive father, Chen Wang would be satisfied, even to the point of shedding tears of joy.
“Unfortunately, he must be against me after all,” Chen Wang sighed, and then his expression turned cold. He turned to ask the counselor, “Do you think Yuan Li killed Chen Xi?”
The counselor hesitated for a moment and said, “No news is good news. I think the young master is still alive.”
Chen Wang slowly opened his eyes, and though they were clouded, they showed flashes of brilliance. “As I thought, but I guess Yuan Le Jun didn’t just want to kill Chen Xi, he wanted Chen Xi’s death to have a greater impact.”
The counselor pondered, “You mean…”
Chen Wang said, “Yuan Le Jun probably intends to kill Chen Xi in front of me, to provoke me.”
The crowd exclaimed, and a military officer cursed, “Yuan Le Jun is truly cunning and ruthless!”
“How can Your Majesty’s frail body withstand such provocation!”
After they finished cursing, Chen Wang remained calm, “If Chen Xi is still alive, Yuan Le Jun must be thinking along these lines. You must work hard, no matter how mediocre and foolish that scoundrel is, he is still my son and my future successor. As long as he’s alive, we must find a way to rescue him from Yuan Le Jun’s hands. The method to save him is difficult, yet simple; it lies hidden within the city of Xiapi in Xuzhou.”
Someone had an idea, “You mean Ouyang Ting in Xiapi?”
“Yes,” Chen Wang said slowly, “since Yuan Le Jun has captured my son, I will capture his mentor. So, you must speed up your efforts and must… “
His old eyes swept over everyone, “must enter Xiapi and capture Ouyang Ting before Yuan Le Jun arrives.”
Everyone saluted, “Yes!”
Wu Kai suddenly felt that Chen Wang’s attacks became even more fierce.
He and Xiang Hongyun were discussing where their lord should go when a soldier hurriedly reported, “General, the enemy is using fire attacks!”
Wu Kai’s face darkened, and he hurriedly went out.
Outside the city walls, arrows soaked in fire and ignited materials were raining down, causing panic among the people, and thick smoke filled the air. In a short time, several places were set on fire.
Xiang Hongyun frowned, “I’ll lead people to protect the food and extinguish the fires. You lead the troops to counterattack the enemies launching the fire attack outside the city.”
Wu Kai nodded, and the two of them quickly went about their respective tasks.
However, it was difficult to counterattack and stop the enemy’s fire attack. Although it was said that defending a city was easier than attacking one, the attacking side had the initiative. When they encountered resistance, they retreated. When the people in the city gave up, they would launch an attack again. The defenders could only passively face various offensives. Wu Kai also used fire attacks and boiling oil to attack the enemy troops. This offensive and defensive battle lasted for three hours until the evening, when the signal to retreat was sounded.
Wu Kai was exhausted and looked down from the city wall. The fires within the city had been extinguished. The civilians were gathered together and injured soldiers were being carried to the infirmary for treatment.
He found Xiang Hongyun and asked, “Was the food and supplies set on fire?”
Xiang Hongyun looked relatively relaxed, “I was afraid they would use fire attacks, so I stored the food and supplies in a remote location and nothing was set on fire.”
Wu Kai breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good, as long as the food and supplies are safe.”
Xiang Hongyun asked, “What about the situation outside?”
“The enemy has already retreated,” Wu Kai said with a wry smile, “It should be over for today.”
Xiang Hongyun shook his head, “The closer our lord gets, the more frequent Chen Wang’s attacks will be. I’m afraid tonight won’t be so peaceful. Please be vigilant, brother Wu.”
Wu Kai’s expression became serious, and he responded firmly, “Rest assured. As long as I’m here, I won’t let them advance another step.”
Sure enough, as Xiang Hongyun had predicted, there was movement from the enemy during the night.
They didn’t launch another direct attack, but tens of thousands of soldiers outside the city beat drums and cursed loudly, creating all sorts of noise throughout the night, preventing the soldiers and civilians in the city from getting any sleep.
The next morning, everyone was tired, and the soldiers on the city walls struggled to stay alert.
In the following days, the enemy continued to create noise day and night with drums and gongs. Initially, it was bearable for a day or two, but after four or five days, the people inside the city were already on the verge of collapse, exhausted and mentally drained.
Xiang Hongyun tried various methods to block the noise, but they were not very effective. Later, he had a clever idea; he tore Yuan Li’s cotton coat and used the cotton inside to plug his ears, providing a way to counter the noise.
With the cotton plugs, the soldiers slowly regained their energy, and Wu Kai and Xiang Hongyun finally had the mental capacity to ponder the enemy’s intentions.
They then noticed movement from the earth beneath the city walls, but the disturbances were buried under the noise. Wu Kai realized that while the enemy tortured them with noise, Chen Wang was also digging tunnels to attack!
Wu Kai quickly poured hot water into the tunnel to block it just in time.
The continuous attacks left Wu Kai and Xiang Hongyun exhausted, counting the days until their lord’s reinforcements would arrive.
One day, while Wu Kai was on guard against the enemy’s possible new tactics, he saw the enemy use catapults to throw corpses of cattle, sheep, mice, and even human bodies and feces into the city.
Wu Kai watched the falling corpses with confusion and bewilderment.
These bodies were dead and posed no threat to them; they were even less effective than throwing large rocks. What exactly did Chen Wang hope to achieve with this?
He couldn’t figure it out and called for Xiang Hongyun. As soon as Xiang Hongyun arrived and saw the scene, his face changed drastically. He quickly rolled up his sleeves and covered his mouth and nose.
Wu Kai’s heart skipped a beat, “What’s wrong?”
“These corpses are all decomposed,” Xiang Hongyun said with his eyelids twitching, pulling Wu Kai back to a clean area. He looked grim and said, “Chen Wang wants to spread disease or plague in the city!”
“What?!” Wu Kai was shocked, and his face darkened, “Truly disgusting tactics.”
“There’s no time to lose. We must immediately pull these corpses out and burn them. Everyone who has come into contact with the corpses, both civilians and soldiers, must be gathered for observation. The city is short of food and medicinal materials, and if anyone shows symptoms…”
Xiang Hongyun and Wu Kai exchanged glances and said in a low voice, “We cannot treat them and can only kill them to prevent further spread.”
If they had the means, they would certainly try to save them. However, trapped in the city, not knowing life or death, and lacking food and medicinal supplies, they could only resort to killing as a solution.
Wu Kai nodded heavily, his heart heavy with the decision.
He ordered soldiers to cover their mouths and noses with cloth and gather the decomposed bodies together to be burned. The locations where the bodies had fallen were far and wide, and while searching for them, many civilians had already come into contact with the corpses.
Wu Kai housed these civilians separately in an estate and had the medical experts observe and diagnose them daily while using moxa and boiled water for disinfection.
During this period, Wu Kai prayed in his heart repeatedly that an epidemic would not occur, but reality was not as he hoped.
After a few days, the medical experts solemnly reported to Wu Kai and Xiang Hongyun, “Twenty-three people in the estate have started to experience fever and unconsciousness.”
Xiang Hongyun closed his eyes; there was no longer the presumption that these people had just caught a cold by chance.
If one or two people experienced fever and unconsciousness, it might be a common cold or fever, but twenty-three people… it could not possibly be a coincidence.
Wu Kai’s heart sank as well.
After a long pause, he forced his cracked lips open and said with difficulty, “…move them out and kill them, then burn the bodies.”
But the epidemic did not stop with the killing of those twenty-three people; more and more people began to experience fever, unconsciousness, and even vomiting and diarrhea. Not only the people in the estate showed symptoms, but also the civilians within the city.
Wu Kai and Xiang Hongyun were extremely busy; Wu Kai had to be on guard against Chen Wang’s forces. Within just a few days, Wu Kai felt overwhelmed and dizzy from all the work.
One day, as he descended from the city wall, he stumbled and almost fell.
Fortunately, a soldier by his side helped him up, “Sir, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Wu Kai replied.
After standing up straight, he shook his head and thanked the soldier before hurriedly going to find Xiang Hongyun.
Xiang Hongyun was discussing the plague situation with the medical experts, his brow furrowed tightly. When he saw Wu Kai coming, he wanted to call him over to discuss, but the words suddenly got stuck in his throat, and he exclaimed in shock, “Why is your face so red?”
Wu Kai looked puzzled.
Wu Kai had dark skin, so even if his face turned red, it wouldn’t be very noticeable. Although Xiang Hongyun’s eyesight was not good, they had spent a long time together, so he noticed something was wrong when Wu Kai came closer.
Seeing Wu Kai’s appearance, Xiang Hongyun’s heart tightened suddenly. “Medical experts, come and take a look at him!”
Wu Kai was about to decline, but he was pushed into a chair. As soon as he sat down, he felt his head become heavy and dizzy.
What was happening to him?
Could it be that…
Wu Kai thought of a possibility, and suddenly, his lips turned blue, and his face became deathly pale.
The medical expert carefully examined him, and his heart sank heavily. He furrowed his brows and stepped back to call another medical expert. After three experts had examined Wu Kai, they trembled and said to Xiang Hongyun, “Sir, Wu Sir’s symptoms… are indeed consistent with the early symptoms of those infected with the plague.”
Wu Kai felt like he had been hit on the head with a heavy stick, making his vision blurry with stars, and he couldn’t recover his senses.
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