"Master, Bashku, who went to look for that Han boy, is back. He's waiting outside the tent."
A shout made Hwang Tae-gil look up from the map in front of the table. He grunted, and the personal guard beside him led a general of Jianzhou in from outside. He led the troops to Eherkulun and chose a place to set up camp outside the city.
'Bashku' was the name of a position in the Manchu language. He was an assistant in Niu Lu who was in charge of clerical affairs, salaries, and other general affairs. The person who came in knelt down and kowtowed, then repeated what he saw and heard in Zhou Qingfeng Fortress.
Hwang Tae-gil just listened quietly. When Bashku finished, he threw out a charcoal pencil and said in a deep voice, "Come, draw the small fortress you mentioned on the map."
Drawing, especially drawing maps, was an extremely important but extremely backward skill in ancient times. People often drew maps without the concept of scale, and the big and small distances were far from the actual situation. The map in front of Hwang Tae-gil was given to him by Da Shan when he sent someone to contact him. Otherwise, he would not have been able to figure out the terrain around Eherkulun.
Hwang Tae-gil arrived at Eherkulun with a few hundred soldiers and set up camp on the bank of a river west of the city. Eherkulun was intersected by three rivers, so his position was separated from Chu Ying and Zhou Qingfeng by a river. Because of the obstruction of the city and the river, he could not even directly see the fortress built by Zhou Qingfeng. He had to take a detour to send someone to contact him.
Bashku roughly marked the location of the fortress on the map based on his memory. Hwang Tae-gil immediately frowned. This fortress was really annoying. He could not directly attack it. If he attacked the city, it would be a threat from the side. Bashku said that there were a few hundred people in the fortress. Without using some troops and generals, there was no way to take it down.
"Have you seen that Han brat called Zhou Qingfeng?" Hwang Tae-gil asked.
The day before yesterday, Hercules was in chaos. Da Shan, the old fox, had sent someone to Willow River Fort to inform Hwang Tae-gil of the situation in the city, including the news that Zhou Qingfeng had already returned and taken control of the stronghold outside the city.
Hearing that Hercules was in chaos, Hwang Tae-gil hurriedly sent troops to take advantage of the situation. However, since Liuhe Fort had been burned down, it would take a lot of effort to transport the supplies midway. He could only bring five hundred soldiers to the frontlines of Eheculun, and that was the limit of the logistics supply. It was impossible for them to take down Eheculun, who was already under Chu Ying's control.
And the one who caused all these troubles was Zhou Qingfeng.
Bashku shook his head and said, "I only saw Dashan Beizi, I didn't see any Han boy. Dashan wants us to take down Chu Ying before we talk, but he's not willing to hand over Grand Concubine Abahai. It seems like he wants to use her as a hostage. "
"The barbarians here all think we're idiots." Hwang Tae-gil waved his hand and dismissed Bashku. After a while, Mangurtai walked in from outside the tent. His face was covered in dirt. He hurriedly asked, "Fifth Brother, how did your probe go?"
Mangurtai looked a little tired when he came in. He took off his helmet and threw it away, then sat down on a stool while panting with rage. A servant passed him a water bottle. He took a sip and spat it on the ground. The water was stained with dirty blood.
"I took a detour from the south, but I encountered a group of slaves who were willing to sacrifice their lives. More than two hundred of them charged at me. They didn't even have a complete set of weapons in their hands. They were just sending themselves to their deaths. I wiped them all out, and even let my earth dragons eat their fill. "
Mangurtai didn't mention the casualties on his side, but it was obvious that the situation wasn't good when they saw that he himself was injured. The more people there were in an army, the more powerful it was. Although a single slave was weak, more than two hundred slaves under the support of the army were ready to fight to the death. It was impossible for a general at Mangurtai's level to retreat without any injuries.
In this situation, Hwang Tae-gil said in a deep voice, "Fifth Brother, can you try a few more times?"
"Not today. Let's talk about it tomorrow." Mangurtai shook his head and said, "Tomorrow, I'll take more people and slowly exhaust Chu Ying to death."
"Chu Ying is our big brother. He has fought more battles than you and me combined. Before we left, Father Khan also told us not to underestimate the enemy. I don't think Chu Ying will be so stupid as to wait for us to exhaust him in the city. "Hwang Tae-gil shook his head." He will definitely find a way to make trouble for us. "
Mangurtai immediately shook his head and said, "Impossible. He can't be careless during the Blood Sacrifice. Now that there are countless vengeful spirits surrounding Chu Ying, would he have the time to make trouble for us? "
"What if he performs the Blood Sacrifice again and continuously raises his cultivation base by force?" Hwang Tae-gil said.
"The more the Blood Sacrifice, the stronger the Heavenly Punishment. Isn't he afraid of being struck by lightning?"
"Chu Ying is the strongest among us brothers. What if he withstands it?"
"This …" Mangku Ertai was at a loss for words. He was a little stunned.
Hwang Tae-gil continued, "Does Chu Ying still have a way out? If he doesn't gamble now, he won't be able to in a few days. There are still more than ten thousand people in the city who haven't escaped. I'm guessing that Chu Ying will definitely gamble until the end. He will perform the Blood Sacrifice again tonight and then rush out to fight with us. We have fewer people now, and we don't have a base in the wilderness. We will definitely lose. "
Hwang Tae-gil spoke with sincerity. Mangurtai couldn't help but be moved. This Fifth Bei Lei carefully thought about his elder brother's tyrannical personality. He really would stake everything on this gamble. He hurriedly said, "Then let's immediately retreat ten miles and avoid Chu Ying. That guy can't keep performing the Blood Sacrifice. He won't be able to hold on sooner or later. "
Manggu Ertai wasn't someone who would blindly fight head-on either. When it was time to retreat, he wouldn't hesitate.
However, Hwang Tae-gil shook his head and said, "There are too many slaves in the city. A few hundred a day will be enough for him to hold on until the end of the month. This year's weather is especially cold. The snow will definitely come earlier. If it drags on until November, we will have to retreat. If Chu Ying pursues us along the way, he might be able to rush into the heart of Jianzhou. At that time, even more people will be captured by him for the Blood Sacrifice. "
Mangurtai immediately frowned. He couldn't help but consider this possibility. In terms of viciousness on the battlefield, even he couldn't compare to that big brother of his. Chu Ying had fought for many years. His cultivation base was built from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. That guy really didn't care about killing people. Perhaps the wrath of the heavens wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
And for a barbarian, the more he killed, the faster he would grow. As long as he fought a few battles, Chu Ying might be able to develop a few generals by his side. Just like the Five Ministers by Nurhachi's side. Back then, they were all nobodies. They had followed Nurhachi and fought for their lives to become ministers.
Thinking about how terrifying it would be to lose control of the situation, even Mangurtai didn't dare to ignore it.
"Then, we …?"
"Take down this stronghold."
Hwang Tae-gil pointed at the stronghold built by Zhou Qingfeng. "This was built by that Han brat by Chu Ying's side called Zhou Qingfeng. But the two of them have fallen out now. I don't understand why that Han brat built this stronghold. But according to Da Shan, who has a secret relationship with us, this stronghold is quite sturdy. If we can take over this stronghold, we might be able to resist the crazy Chu Ying. "
When it came to war, having fortifications and not having fortifications were two completely different things. It was like having armor and not having armor. The strength of a person was completely different. If they stayed within the fortifications, the damage of arrows would be greatly reduced. The impact of the formation would also be greatly reduced. The reason why a formation was powerful was because it united the strength of the people. On the other hand, fortifications could be used to divide the formation.
A ditch, a pile of dirt, a wall, anything could be used to create problems for moving forward. If the military formation was not in order, a little to the east, a little to the west, once the distance widened, they would become scattered soldiers. But behind the fortifications, the formation of the formation could be easily arranged.
Hwang Tae-gil wanted to take over Zhou Qingfeng's stronghold and waste time with Chu Ying. He wanted to wear down his strength and prevent him from going berserk. In the end, he could slowly drag his opponent to death.
Mangurtai looked at the map on the table. After a while, he said, "This stronghold is hidden behind Eherkulun. It's either surrounded by trees or rivers. If we really want to fight, we'll have to put in some effort. But if I do it myself, it won't be difficult. Since you value this place so much, I'll take it tonight and kill that brat Zhou Qingfeng while I'm at it. "
"If Fifth Brother makes a move, it shouldn't take much effort to take over this stronghold. Da Shan might be a little slippery, but he's a fence-sitter. I believe that as long as Fifth Brother goes, he'll naturally be captured. He'll also have to hand over our Grand Concubine. "Hwang Tae-gil stared at the map for a while. What he wanted was the effect in front of him.
Mangurtai also felt that this was a small matter. The trouble in the future was how to continue fighting Chu Ying. When the two brothers were scheming to take over Zhou Qingfeng's seemingly insignificant stronghold, Zhou Qingfeng, who had a deep sense of crisis, had just made an extremely difficult decision. He forced Jia Gang to go to the city to see Chu Ying.
Jia Gang, the unlucky guy, was sitting in the city's council hall. He had come here with Zhou Qingfeng before. This time, he really regretted it. The council hall was big enough that it naturally became the place where Chu Ying carried out the blood sacrifice. The originally spacious floor was now covered with thick blood. From time to time, wisps of black gas would emerge from the blood. Those were the resentful souls of those who were unwilling to die.
Several wooden pillars were stained with blood. The blood was squirming, climbing, and spreading as if it had a life of its own. It was terrifying to look at. Because he was a ghost cultivator, Jia Gang was not at all unfamiliar with corpses and ghosts. But the scene of the blood sacrifice was far beyond his imagination. A few shamans were constantly casting spells. The raw material of the spell casting was the lives of the slaves.
Chu Ying was sitting high on the seat of honor in the council hall. The black gas emerging from the blood kept attacking him, but he sat still and took it calmly. Beside him, there were more than a dozen female True Nobles who were originally from Eherkulun. At this time, they were also enjoying the cultivation increase brought by the blood sacrifice with him. The strength of these people generally increased by two or three times. All of them were flushed red and their eyes were shining.
The second blood sacrifice came to an end. On the seat of honor, Chu Ying slightly opened his eyes and coldly glanced at Jia Gang. Jia Gang immediately felt as if he was electrocuted. His whole body trembled as he knelt down in front of Chu Ying.
Looking at Jia Gang's cowardly appearance, Chu Ying chuckled. A powerful spiritual power that looked down on the world and looked down on everyone was connected to Jia Gang's brain and directly transmitted a sentence. "Are you afraid?"
"Yes." How could Jia Gang not be afraid? He felt that Chu Ying's spiritual power was full of all kinds of impurities and filth. This should be the soul of an unjust death that had invaded Chu Ying's mind and gnawed at his thoughts and memories. Who knew how that guy could still control it? Ordinary people would have had a mental breakdown in this situation.
"It's good that you're afraid. If you're afraid, then send Abahai to me and be my obedient subordinate." Chu Ying's tone was relaxed, and he even kept smiling. But his laughter was sinister and his voice was erratic, as if it came from the underworld.
"Please know, Baylor Chu Ying, I'm just a messenger. Grand Concubine Abahai is not in my hands." Jia Gang was so scared he was about to cry. He hurriedly explained how one of his souls and one of his spirits had been taken away by Zhou Qingfeng. He even emphasized, "That brat Zhou told me to bring a message to Master Baylor."
"That brat again." Chu Ying couldn't help but say angrily, "What kind of damned idea did he come up with this time?"
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