"No, no."
Hearing this, Song Tianli denied.
Although Song Tianli had already realized that he had been used, he could not admit it at this time. Once he admitted it, he would become a sinner of the family and would no longer have a foothold.
"It was done by the Second Master."
The guard who had been called to confront suddenly pointed out Song Tianli.
Hearing this, Song Tianli's face darkened and he looked at the guard gloomily. The guard did not show any weakness and actually threw caution to the wind. It was obvious that the humiliating treatment he had received in the morning made the guard take it to heart.
Old Master Song was not a fool, he already believed seventy to eighty percent. He looked up at the tied up old master of the Ruan family and said lightly, "Keep the criminal, the rest will be executed on the spot."
The army outside the city had already begun to attack the city, and the moat was about to be filled up.
The guards on the city wall had suffered heavy losses under the attack of the catapults. Once the enemy crossed the moat, Tianshuang County would immediately fall.
The people of the Song family hurriedly packed up their belongings and under the escort of two hundred guards, they quietly left Tianshuang County through the secret passage in the city.
The location of the secret passage was extremely hidden. Even if the enemy attacked Tianshuang County, they would not be able to find it in a short time. Therefore, the people of the Song family still had enough time to evacuate.
Before they left, the rations in the city were all burnt to a crisp by a huge fire.
Originally, Song Wen did not have such a plan. Burning the provisions, the army would naturally go from house to house to collect food, and in the end, the people in the city would be the ones who suffered.
Old Master Song's heart became much more ruthless. Without hesitation, he directly ordered the fire. In his opinion, if he could delay the enemy for a while, he would delay for a while.
As for the life and death of the people in the city, it was not within his scope of consideration.
Before noon, Tianshuang County was breached by the allied army.
The members of the [Southern Alliance], surrounded by the army, walked into Tianshuang County with their heads held high.
The only flaw was that there were no people on both sides of the street to welcome them. On the wide street, there was not even a shadow of a ghost. Only the occasional puddle of blood could be seen, that was left behind by the local ruffians.
He Fo rode a big horse and walked at the front of the team with a signature smile on his face.
With the victory of the first battle, he, the Alliance Master, was already half at ease. The next step was to seek out the main army of Shanhai City and have a decisive battle. As long as they managed to repel the Shanhai City's army, the [Southern Alliance] would be the overlord of the Southern Ridge Province, and no one would be able to shake them.
Buddha He was already thinking about the beautiful future of the Alliance.
In the future, the alliance would develop closer cooperation, and it would be best if they could form a city-state union, exchanging what they needed economically and cooperating in military operations.
In this way, Lingnan Province would be indestructible.
Ruan Ping followed closely behind, his expression a mixture of joy and worry.
There was no doubt that Ruan Ping had contributed greatly to the battle at Tianshuang County. For the sake of victory, the Ruan Clan had paid a heavy price. It was a dangerous move to have the Old Master of the Ruan family personally act as bait.
In the game, even if the old man was killed, he could still reincarnate. For a casual player like him, there was basically no loss. The key was that he would not be able to live with his pride.
Especially for the elderly, death was a very taboo. Even in the game, no one wanted to go to the Reincarnation Hall, not to mention the Old Master of the Ruan family who was highly respected.
The moment the city was breached, Ruan Ping immediately sent people to search for the old man's whereabouts.
The news that he received made him shiver.
According to the report from the guards, the Old Master of the Ruan family's NPC followers had all been killed, and their corpses were hung in the square outside the Lord's Mansion.
The only one who escaped this calamity was the steward who had made a great contribution.
Could it be that the Old Master was really killed?
How ruthless. No matter what, the two families had been friends for decades.
While Ruan Ping was worried, Buddha He's expression suddenly became ugly.
After the army entered the city, they immediately took down the Lord's Mansion, the treasury, the storehouse, and the granary. The information that was sent back made the [Southern Alliance] members' hearts bleed.
The Lord's Mansion was empty, and the Song Family seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Not a single copper coin was left in the treasury, only a pile of scrap metal was left in the storehouse, and the granary was completely burned down.
In the entire Tian Shuang county, other than the citizens of the city, there was nothing left.
"Bastard!" Buddha He cursed, "They must not have gone far, chase them!"
"Yes!"
Immediately after, the three thousand cavalry rushed out of the city and disappeared into the wilderness.
The [Southern Alliance] members looked at each other, they knew that to find them in the wilderness was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Right now, they could only do their best, and leave the rest to fate.
The joy of victory was immediately diluted.
The alliance still wanted to use Tian Shuang county as a stronghold, and wait for an opportunity to go south to seek a war with Shanhai City, but now they had to face the problem of food shortage. Without a choice, Buddha He could only order to gather as much food as possible in the city, while urging the lords of Zhaoqing county to transport batches of food to Tian Shuang county.
Two hundred thousand soldiers, including the war horses, would consume four to five hundred thousand units of food in a day. If there were not millions of units of food, the army would not dare to move at all.
Teleportation formations could not transport food, and during the war, even the Super Trading Platform was closed to them. If they wanted food, they could only transport it through manpower.
And to transport millions of units of food, just the labor required was no less than two hundred thousand people. The first to bear the brunt were naturally the citizens of Tian Shuang county.
The pitiful citizens, not only were their food reserves plundered by the bandits, but they also had to transport food for the army, they were extremely unlucky.
Buddha He was still alright, as a disciple of an aristocratic family, he had some manners. The other lords were not so easy to deal with, they were filled with hostility, and committed all sorts of crimes in the city.
The entire Tian Shuang county was groaning under the hooves of the alliance army.
Due to the burden of food, the alliance army had no choice but to rest in Tian Shuang county.
It was this unforeseen event that bought precious time for Shanhai City to deal with the sudden change in the war situation.
It had to be said, the older the ginger, the spicier it was, compared to the Song Family's old man, Song Wen was still too inexperienced. Mercy was a good thing, but it depended on the time.
At the crucial moment, one had to be ruthless.
To the lords, especially the Sovereign King, being ruthless was undoubtedly a virtue.
Zhaoqing county, Cangcheng county.
August 9th, the hummingbird released by the Black Snake Guards successfully flew to the command center, bringing the latest battle report.
In charge of the command center was the central army led by Bai Qi, including Mu Guiying's fourth division, and Song Wu's Tianshuang county city guard division.
The left army was led by Luo Shixin's second division.
The right army was led by Han Xin, the first division of the Tao Leopard Army. Zhang Han was at the rear, in charge of reorganizing the prisoners of war and selecting the elites to form the second division of the Tao Leopard Army.
After reading the report, Bai Qi's eyebrows twitched.
Bai Qi had predicted that the enemies would form an alliance in the middle and late stages of the war, but he did not expect the [Southern Alliance] to be so bold, daring to increase the number of soldiers by two hundred thousand in one go.
As a result, the originally peaceful battle of Zhaoqing had turned into a war that surpassed the battle of Leizhou, requiring Shanhai City to go all out.
And this was not what the Marquis wanted.
During this period of time, Shanhai City was focused on preparing for the Zhengming Assembly, expanding its influence in the cultural field. Qiongzhou County and Leizhou County were still digesting the news and were not ready for such a huge battle.
However, now that the battle had developed to this point, Shanhai City had no choice but to join in.
Strategic retreat?
There was no such thing as retreat in Shanhai City's dictionary.
Immediately, Bai Qi gave orders to the Left and Right Armies, requesting them to pull back their defensive lines and move closer to the center of the army with the cities that they had captured.
The three armies had to be able to support each other at any time to prevent the enemy from breaking them apart.
At the same time, Bai Qi sent a letter to the military office, suggesting for the Leizhou County Guard Division to reinforce the battlefield at Zhaoqing. If possible, it would be best to transfer one or two field divisions to assist in the battle.
Bai Qi's attitude was clear. If you want to fight, then fight.
Upon receiving Bai Qi's letter, Du Ruhui immediately ordered for the Leizhou County Guard Division to depart for Zhaoqing County and rendezvous with the central army led by Bai Qi.
When the Southern Border Protectorate was established, Ouyang Shuo had given the military office the authority to mobilize the local garrison troops. In the field army, brigade-level troops did not need to ask for his permission. The Military Affairs Office could mobilize them on their own.
As for the mobilization of the field divisions, he did not have the authority to make the decision, so he could only ask the Marquis.
At this time, Ouyang Shuo was meeting with Zhang Yi in the Southern Border Protectorate. According to Wei Ran, this representative of the School of Vertical and Horizontal had the intention of becoming an official in Shanhai City.
Thus, after the Jackdaw Poison in his body was cured, Ouyang Shuo took the time to meet with Zhang Yi.
In the study, the two were chatting happily.
It was clear that Ouyang Shuo had left a good impression on Zhang Yi.
Ouyang Shuo could basically conclude that Zhang Yi was about to become an official in Shanhai City. Thus, the mission of [Hundred Schools of Thought Contend] was about to be completed.
At this time, a guard came to report.
"Reporting to the Marquis, Division Chief Du is outside, requesting to see you. He says that he has urgent military news to report."
Ouyang Shuo furrowed his brows.
Seeing this, Zhang Yi tactfully stood up and took his leave. Although there were some things that had not been said, it was more or less the same. After all, as an outsider who had yet to become an official, it was naturally not good for him to participate in important matters of the military.
Ouyang Shuo personally saw Zhang Yi to the door before receiving Du Ruhui.
A sliver of unease flashed through his heart. It had to be known that Du Ruhui was an extremely steady person. If the situation was not urgent, she would never disturb his meeting with a guest.
Especially today, when he was meeting with an important guest.
"Marquis, please forgive me for my intrusion!"
Ouyang Shuo waved his hand. "Keming, there's no need to be like this. Speak, what's the matter?"
Hearing this, Du Ruhui respectfully handed Bai Qi's letter to Ouyang Shuo.
Ouyang Shuo took it and read it, not saying anything for a while.
"A storm is brewing!" (To be continued.)
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