Chapter 104: Chapter 104: The Barbarian Tribe Moves Southl
Translator: 549690339
After Lu Chen hosted Xuanyuan Chen, Wenren Lie, and a group of generals at the Prince’s Mansion, he inquired about matters concerning the Great Yu Remnants.
After the war, Lu Chen planned to relocate all Great Yu Remnants to North City, as the construction of North City required a vast population.
With just the current population of North City, there was not enough support for his plans to build the city.
Although there were only five hundred thousand Great Yu Remnants, their relocation to North City would be a significant boost to the population.
North City was vast with sparse population; many wilderness areas were still empty. It wouldn’t be a problem to settle five hundred thousand people, even an additional three million could be accommodated.
At the welcome feast, listening to Lu Chen and the Black Cavalry generals discussing, Mu Changtian and the others finally understood why they knew nothing about Lu Chen training such a large cavalry force.
It turned out these Black Cavalry weren’t even in North City but were stationed much further in North Land, a place that even had a population of five hundred thousand.
North Land was home to Barbarian Tribes, and Great Sum’s army rarely ventured into North Land, so few knew that North Land actually harbored half a million Great Yu Remnants.
Mu Changtian and the others couldn’t help but admire Lu Chen, who not only found these five hundred thousand Great Yu Remnants but also subdued these fifty thousand Black Cavalry.
Indeed, Lu Chen was blessed by the gods; the allegiance of the Great Yu Remnants further convinced Mu Changtian and the others that Lu Chen truly was the Son of Destiny.
Now the loyalty of these generals and soldiers, who were not summoned by the system, toward Lu Chen had basically reached 100. The North Prince’s demonstrated strength and ambition genuinely made them see the possibility of unifying the world. They believed that by following the North Prince, one day they would become his honored subjects.
After the welcome banquet, Lu Chen immediately took the generals to his study and then began to plan the war against the Barbarian Tribes.
Several days later.
North City, Tianguang City.
A massive cavalry force surrounded Tianguang City. Mounted on his horse, Xiao Hongbo was spirited as he looked at the dilapidated city before him and proclaimed, “North City, I have arrived!”
“From now on, North City will be my land!”
If one could look from Tianguang City at that moment, just a short distance away, one would see a vast, endless sea of cavalry.
However, it was a pity that Tianguang City was now deserted, and no one could behold this magnificent scene.
Tianguang City was the closest city to North Land in North City, making it the first target for the Barbarian Tribe’s assault.
Currently, Xiao Hongbo’s three hundred thousand strong army had not split up and was all outside of Tianguang City.
Xiao Hongbo did not believe Tianguang City could withstand the iron cavalry of the Barbarian Tribe. He directly told the soldiers beside him, “Immediately call out to the Great Sum defenders of Tianguang City; as long as they surrender, the North Prince will not only spare their lives but will also let them join my army. In the future, they will share in wealth and honor with me!”
Before setting out, Yelv Nanyan had cautioned Xiao Hongbo that this military campaign should not always be about killing. Instead, they must try to reduce the local population’s fear of the Barbarian Tribe as much as possible.
The country they planned to establish would be difficult to build without the people of Great Sum. The Barbarian Tribe had always been nomadic tribes roaming the grasslands, with no experience in founding a nation. The people of Great Sum in North City were important to the Barbarian Tribe, so they must not overly aggravate the conflict between the people of Great Sum and the Barbarian Tribes.
Of course, if the defenders of North City chose to resist to the end, they would still face a bloody suppression.
At that moment, soldiers from the Barbarian Tribe rode up to Tianguang City and directly called out to the city’s defenders to surrender.
However, despite shouting with all their might, the soldiers received no response from the defenders of Tianguang City, and they did not even see any soldiers from the city appearing.
Seeing this, Xiao Hongbo couldn’t help but wonder if the soldiers of Tianguang City were planning to wait for their army to approach and then suddenly launch a surprise attack.
In past raids to the south for food and women, this was a tactic of the Great Sum defenders—act as though the city was uninhabited and when the Barbarian Tribe’s soldiers approached, they would unleash a barrage of arrows, often catching them off guard.
Xiao Hongbo then sent a few more soldiers to call out at the foot of Tianguang City, and this time they were to get even closer, already less than twenty meters from the city gates.
XXX
But still, no one replied; Tianguang City seemed truly devoid of defenders.
Xiao Hongbo furrowed his brow.
He did not believe that the people of Great Sum had directly abandoned Tianguang City; in his view, the soldiers of Tianguang City had hidden themselves, waiting for the Barbarian Army to draw near then launch a sudden attack.
At that thought, Xiao Hongbo felt a surge of anger.
These Great Sum people really were bent on defiance!
If they insisted on defending the city and refused to surrender, then death would be their only path.
Immediately after, Xiao Hongbo picked up his massive axe and yelled towards Tianguang City, “Attack!”
The next moment, a dozen soldiers carrying horns sounded their horns, and the blare echoed across the entire grassland.
Before long, the soldiers tasked with breaching the city used a siege vehicle to break through the gates of Tianguang City. For this operation to claim North City, the Sky Wolf King’s tribe had made ample preparations.
They hadn’t just brought an army of three hundred thousand cavalry; they were also fully equipped with siege machinery prepared in advance.
This time it wasn’t about plundering food or women, but a campaign of occupation, so having siege machinery was essential.
Xiao Hongbo was utterly baffled to see the gates of Tianguang City so easily breached by the Barbarian soldiers, who also stood dumbfounded.
Normally, it would take dozens of strikes from a siege vehicle to breach city gates, yet the gates of Tianguang City had been broken in an instant.
How was this possible?
Could it be that Tianguang City’s soldiers planned to let the Barbarian Cavalry enter the city, to then fight them to the death?
Considering this possibility, the Barbarian soldiers cautiously charged into Tianguang City.
Xiao Hongbo, mounted on his horse, stood amidst the great army, silently waiting for news from inside Tianguang City.
After a while, Xiao Pengthian emerged from Tianguang City on horseback, riding directly to Xiao Hongbo.
“My King! Tianguang City is empty!”
“There’s not only a lack of Great Sum’s defenders, but also not a single civilian has been found.”
Hearing this, Xiao Hongbo paused for a moment, then laughed loudly, “Hahaha, this king understands now. It must be the young North Prince, scared out of his wits at the news of my arrival, who hastily fled North City with all the civilians in tow!”
At this moment, Xiao Pengthian reminded him, “My King, the Queen ordered us to capture as many Great Sum civilians as possible when we took North City. If the civilians of Great Sum have all fled, we will have no one to work for us once we establish our nation.”
Upon hearing this, the smile on Xiao Hongbo’s face instantly froze, as he had forgotten about this detail.
Immediately, Xiao Hongbo ordered, “Xiao Pengthian, take a hundred thousand soldiers to Curve City in North City. Barbarian Iron, take fifty thousand soldiers to Desolate City.”
Xiao Pengthian and another Barbarian General responded immediately, “Yes, my King!”
Quickly, the Barbarians split into three groups and continued their advance southward.
However, they soon discovered that as they moved further south within North City, they encountered no Great Sum defenders and almost no civilians.
Even the few civilians they did capture were the old, weak, sick, and disabled who refused to leave North City.
This displeased Xiao Hongbo. He had marched south to conquer North City, seeking not only the land but also its people.
But now that the civilians had all fled, even if they took over North City, they did not know how they would run it.