Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1230 Looking at the City to Stop Starvation

They had heard this noise many times before and knew it was the artillery bombardment by the Zhenxi Army. Although they were somewhat panicked, their hunger immediately overcame their fear, and they continued to search for food that they could eat, regardless of the consequences.

Unexpectedly, in just a moment, flames soared into the sky throughout the small county town, and the enormous impact of the explosion blew away the nearby pirates.

They didn't know where to hide. With such indiscriminate attacks, the landing point of the shells was unpredictable, so they could only haphazardly search for slightly sturdier buildings to take cover.

The pirates who were close to the city gate had no choice but to abandon their search for food and turn to flee out of the city.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the leader of the 15,000 men immediately ordered the entire force to withdraw from the city.

At this point, the orders could no longer reach every soldier, so they could only retreat to the nearest city gate with their guards.

The bombardment continued, and the pirate soldiers scattered and fled, with countless figures rushing out from the four city gates.

The pirates, still in shock after escaping the city, turned around and looked at the flames rising from the city and the deafening explosions, secretly glad that they had run away quickly.

Before the initial sense of calm had even subsided, they were horrified to discover that dust and smoke were rising from the distant wilderness.

A soldier shouted, "Enemy cavalry! Enemy cavalry are charging!"

The leader of the army immediately shouted to his men to form a battle formation and meet the enemy.

Since they were cavalry, fleeing was the worst possible strategy; their only option was to form ranks and cooperate to defend against enemy cavalry charges.

However, these soldiers who escaped from the city were not under any command and had long since broken away from their own units, making it impossible for them to quickly form an effective defensive formation.

In the chaos, the Zhenxi Army's cavalry had already revealed a clear formation, with warhorses galloping, hooves thundering, and swords and spears gleaming.

The pirates, who had been traveling all day on empty stomachs and had just experienced the baptism of cannon fire, were still in shock when they saw the imposing war cavalry.

Everyone wore expressions of despair; they had never fought such a frustrating battle before.

The soldiers stationed south of the city saw the Mi River rippling with waves in the distance. Ignoring their leader's shouts and curses, they turned and ran towards the riverbank.

Unable to form an effective defensive formation, all the pirate soldiers who escaped the city had no choice but to give up resistance and turn to run away.

Despair spread throughout the scattered ranks of soldiers. No one cared about anyone else; survival depended on who could run the fastest.

Thousands of warhorses roared in; these were the Zhenxi Army warhorses that had pursued them from the main camp under the city of Ganqing Prefecture. Their target was clear, and their momentum was high.

Facing the scattered pirate soldiers, they advanced with unstoppable momentum, sweeping all before them.

Thousands of war cavalry circled Yingjianxia County, chasing down the fleeing pirate soldiers.

The entire process is smooth, without any hesitation or sluggishness.

Only the pirate leader, riding a warhorse and accompanied by a hundred or so guards, had already fled far away.

Tokugawa Iemochi personally led a force of 15,000 men from the northern route, departing from the castle of Ganqing Prefecture and entering the wilderness.

This wilderness is very vast, containing only a few towns and villages, which have long been desolate and uninhabited.

Tokugawa Iemochi knew that this place was nearly 600 li away from Funing City, and there would be no place in between for them to plunder.

They could only hunt wild animals to fill their stomachs while marching, and they also had hundreds of warhorses to alleviate their hunger.

Tokugawa Iemochi kept encouraging his soldiers, pointing towards Funing Castle and loudly telling them that there was an abundance of food there, and that the main force of the Zhenxi Army had already been left behind, so there wouldn't be many troops inside the castle.

With an army of 15,000, taking Fuling City would be effortless.

At that time, steaming hot food will fill everyone's bowl, and everyone can eat as much as they want.

He had this information spread to all the units to boost the morale of the soldiers, assuring them that as long as they sped up their march, food awaited them ahead.

For the soldiers now, food is their only hope; all thoughts of gold and silver have vanished from their minds.

This most primal and urgent desire burned in the hearts of every soldier.

Driven by their fear of food, they disregarded their exhaustion and, with sheer willpower, moved their numb legs.

The vast wilderness stretched endlessly, as if the road before us had no end.

Three days later, the majestic city walls of Funing finally came into view from afar.

The pirate soldiers were all disheveled in armor, emaciated, and their eyes held only a sliver of longing for food.

Over the past three days, they have stuffed tree bark, weeds, plant roots, and anything else they could eat into their mouths.

Many soldiers discarded their armor, and the looted gold and silver were scattered all over the ground.

All that remained of him was the weapon in his hand, which he stubbornly carried on his shoulder.

This is the only thing that guarantees our livelihood; if we lose it, we might not be able to eat even if we have food.

Apart from Tokugawa Iemochi and a dozen or so high-ranking officers and their warhorses, the remaining hundreds of warhorses were stuffed into the bellies of the soldiers.

Of the 15,000 men in the army, less than 12,000 made it to the city of Fuling.

More than three thousand people were left behind in the wilderness.

This was also the most tragic battle ever commanded by Tokugawa Iemochi.

He gazed at the towering city walls in the distance, lamenting in his heart that if he could not capture the city, all his men, including himself, would become lonely ghosts in the wilderness.

However, he firmly believed that Atsumi Yukinosuke had already killed Lin Feng, and the Zhenxi Army was now leaderless.

This can be seen from the fact that they marched westward without encountering any obstacles.

With the Zhenxi Army losing unified command, taking Fuling City would be a piece of cake.

The towering city of Fuling appeared to the pirates as a giant steamed bun, a delicacy they could devour whole.

Tokugawa Iemochi ordered all soldiers to speed up their march and try to capture Funei Castle before nightfall.

Everyone will be in the city, enjoying delicious hot meals and a good night's sleep.

The distant city of Funing ignited the last vestiges of patriotic fervor in the pirate soldiers. With chapped lips and hoarse shouts, they charged toward the city.

Lin Feng stood on the city wall of Fu Ning, his hand resting on the battlements, quietly watching the dark shadows moving forward in the distant wilderness.

Tens of thousands of pirates, dragging their heavy steps, gradually approached the city.

Pei Qiyin stood beside Lin Feng with a smile on her face.

"Your Highness, judging from their appearance, they must be exhausted."

Ye Liangcai laughed and said, "I'm guessing they must be starving."

Qiao Jushan finally spoke, in a muffled voice.

"In my opinion, they are a bunch of hungry ghosts who crawled out of hell. They might even come up and take a bite out of the city wall."

"Hahaha..."

The crowd on the city wall found his words amusing and burst into laughter.

Encouraged, Qiao Jushan then asked Lin Feng for instructions.

"Boss, let me lead some men out of the city and charge in; the pirates will surely be routed."

Lin Feng shook his head: "There's no need. Let them come up and gnaw on the city wall. With such a high wall, as soon as they find someone defending it, they will despair. Their hungry bodies and spirits will collapse, and they won't be able to hold on for long."

Pei Qiyin nodded in agreement: "Yes, if we can win a battle without firing a single shot, why cause further casualties?"

As they talked, they watched the pirate horde outside the city draw ever closer.