TO ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY, I CULTIVATE USING QI LUCK

Chapter 1116: Chapter 452 The Fall of Zhao Chapter 1116: Chapter 452 The Fall of Zhao The blazing sun was so scorching that it made people uncomfortable.

Heatwaves blew in wave after wave, mixed with an extremely strong scent of blood.

Old Black Liu wiped the sweat off his forehead; his helmet had been heated to the point of burning, but he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about it.

Instead, he stared tensely into the distance at the billowing dust clouds rolling towards them.

“Is this the thirteenth Chu invader army that’s come?”

Next to him, his fellow townsman, Gao Shan Liu, nudged him in the arm with his elbow and asked aloud.

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“Yeah, the thirteenth,” Old Black Liu replied.

He swallowed hard, his throat dry and hot, but that discomfort was nothing compared to the agitation and fear in his heart.

“I heard that yesterday the camp stationed by the San Qing regiment outside the city was breached by the newly arrived Chu invader army.

Not a single person from the entire camp made it back.”

Gao Shan Liu’s voice was tinged with restlessness, “This is already the fourth camp that has been overrun.

At this rate, the Chu invaders will likely uproot all of the camps outside the city within half a month.

By then, Sheqiu City will have no outposts to shield it, and they’ll start attacking the city directly.

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The two of us, taking turns guarding the city, will have to face the Chu invaders head-on then.

Those are Chu invaders we’re talking about…”

In the past three years, the Chu army had launched three northern expeditions, each time seemingly invincible and undefeated.

Countries throughout the world had all suffered losses at the hands of the Chu army, to varying degrees.

Like their own Xu State, didn’t they suffer a disastrous defeat last year in Liang region, where they lost an entire army of a million in one fell swoop?

And so, under this prestigious reputation, the Chu army had built up an aura of invincibility.

Under this pressure, armies from other countries naturally felt a sense of intimidation and fear when facing the Chu army, putting them at an immediate disadvantage.

In the past half month, what was usually a siege by the Chu army turned into active preparations for an assault after the arrival of reinforcements.

The camps outside Sheqiu City that served as strategic points had also been successively eradicated.

The number of casualties among the Xu Army Soldiers during this period exceeded thirty thousand.

For a battlefront that only had a two hundred thousand strong force, this was a significant loss.

This, combined with the previous reputations attributed to the Chu army and the bloody realities they witnessed, resulted in Gao Shan Liu’s mentality of regarding the enemy as fearsome as a tiger.

“What can you do even if we face them?

Do you think about running away?” Old Black Liu’s voice also shook a little, but his view of the situation was very pragmatic, “The officers are right behind us, not following military orders… You know the fate of those people these days.

They are beheaded on the spot and then hung on the city wall for everyone to see.

Even if you wanted to escape, the Chu invaders have completely surrounded Sheqiu City.

No matter how much you want to save your own skin, you can’t escape.

You’ll either be killed by the Chu army or captured as prisoners and then forced to attack the city.

Either way, death is the only outcome.”

The methods the Chu army used on prisoners and defectors were well-known thanks to the constant publicity from other countries.

No one wanted to be cannon fodder.

Despite many low-level soldiers knowing that their lives were seen as worthless, merely pawns in the eyes of the privileged, it didn’t matter how they were viewed by those above them.

They still cherished their own lives.

If they fell into the hands of the Chu army, even if they surrendered, the chances of surviving were slim to none.

Rather than such an end, they might as well grit their teeth and defend the city, and fight with all they had.

Plus, with the demonization of the Chu army propagated by other countries, even low-rank soldiers like Old Black Liu, who had limited experience, couldn’t ignore the fates of those who had surrendered that they had witnessed in the past few days.

Once these two perspectives confirmed each other, the Xu Army Soldiers in the city felt an immediate boost in their resolve to resist.

This could only mean that using captives was a double-edged sword.

The advantage was it reduced casualties among the main forces of the Chu army, better preserving their strength.

The disadvantage, however, was manifesting before their eyes, as it made the will of their enemies to resist firmer.

But when choosing the lesser of two evils, reducing one’s own casualties was still somewhat more beneficial than considering the enemy’s will to resist.

So even up to now, Chu State hadn’t abandoned the use of expendable defectors.

“The general has arrived.”

Just then, another fellow townsman who had been quietly listening to the two of them spoke up softly.

The previously murmuring Old Black Liu and Gao Shan Liu instantly closed their mouths and looked towards the source of the sound.

They saw, in the distance atop the city wall, two burly generals clad in white armor, flanked by a dozen personal guards, starting their patrol along the city walls.

As for the purpose of the patrol.

One was to check for any lapses in defense.

The other was to catch those like Old Black Liu who spread rumors in secret and undermined the morale of the soldiers.

In the past few days, quite a few such unlucky souls were caught and made into examples by being hung from the city walls.

Both being low-ranking soldiers, they could grumble among themselves in private with little consequence, but they didn’t dare complain in front of the general—that was a death sentence.

As a result, Old Black Liu and the others quickly straightened up, their expressions solemn, their mouths tightly shut, portraying the image of silent and disciplined good soldiers.

The officers fancied precisely this kind of honest and composed soldier.

Having served for two years, Old Black Liu and the others had gradually come to understand what generals liked, knowing exactly how to perform.

Indeed.

When the two generals passed by them and saw an unmoving and composed scene, they nodded in satisfaction.

They even addressed Gao Shan Liu with a few words, offering consolation in a gentle voice amid his tense expression, before they floated away.

“Morale seems usable!”

Just after concluding the patrol of the city’s defenses, the chief commander within the city, Zhou Bangcai, couldn’t help but comment to a companion as they returned to their room in the city wall tower for a rest.

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