nycdaug Chapter 416 Robbing Military Supplies
Chapter 416 Robbing Military Supplies
The setting sun bathed them in a golden glow, and with the rising dust, the entire army surged towards the Heavenly Holy Imperial City like waves of raging tides.
At the central command post, Emperor Beizun rode side by side with Sikong Jin, followed by Sikong Mo, Feng Yang, and others.
Hezhou City is not far from Tiansheng Imperial City. At this marching speed, they should arrive at the city gate of Tiansheng Imperial City on the evening of the fifth day. The army is traveling in a hurry, almost traveling through the night.
The army took the official road directly, which was very smooth. Because Emperor Tiansheng had concentrated his forces in the Tiansheng Imperial City, the journey was almost unimpeded. As the army passed by, they saw many refugees fleeing war and famine, most of whom had escaped from villages near the imperial city.
Everyone knows that the Great Zhou army is about to attack the Heavenly Saint Imperial City. Some patriots will organize demonstrations and protests, with banners bearing slogans such as—
Down with Emperor Bei Zun!
Down with the Great Zhou! Let the Great Zhou dogs go back to Dongzhou!
Severely punish the cruel and bloody executioners!
However, if Emperor Beizun were to see these things, he would surely be furious and order the arrest of the people, either subjecting them to severe punishment or beheading them. Emperor Beizun's cruelty and bloodshed terrified the people of Tiansheng, leaving them speechless with fear.
Fortunately, Lord Sikong intervened in time, preventing more people from losing their heads.
……
The army set off, and Emperor Beizun sent out several vanguard troops to scout ahead. Lord Sikong, who had been traveling for three days, found it quite tedious, so he volunteered to be the captain of one of the vanguard troops, leading more than three thousand men to clear the way.
Originally, Emperor Beizun was naturally unwilling, but when Lady Sikong lost her temper, even Emperor Beizun couldn't do anything about it, so he had no choice but to give in to her.
The warm afternoon sun cast golden rays across the ground, illuminating a vast expanse of lush green grass. Along the official road leading to the Heavenly Saint Imperial City, the verdant meadows were covered with a profusion of colorful wildflowers, and a faint, delicate floral fragrance wafted through the air, accompanied by the subtle scent of fresh grass. A cool breeze swept by, bringing a refreshing sensation.
At this moment, under a large tree on the grassy side beside the official road, the Minister of Works was leisurely sleeping in a hammock she had temporarily made, squinting at the sunlight pouring down from the tree, looking very content.
I just had a barbecue and drank some alcohol, and now I'm feeling drowsy—I just want to sleep after eating!
"grown ups!"
Just as Lord Sikong was drifting off to sleep, a hurried voice suddenly came from ahead, accompanied by the rapid sound of horses' hooves. Lord Sikong felt a gust of cold wind sweep past, and the horse neighed as the approaching soldiers reined in their horses.
"what happened?"
Lord Sikong opened his heavy eyelids and looked at the soldiers below with blurry eyes, asking a question.
The soldier quickly dismounted and clasped his hands in a fist salute to the Minister of Works, saying, "My lord, there seems to be a situation ahead! The brothers have found a lot of bloodstains on the ground ahead!"
"Bloodstains? Are you sure it's human blood?"
Lady Sikong squinted, her starry eyes still slightly misty. She raised her hand to rub her eyes and asked.
"Reporting to you, sir! We also found many messy hoofprints, which suggests there was some kind of battle ahead. Captain Wang has ordered the men to stay put and await your instructions."
Upon hearing this, Lord Sikong's starry eyes lit up slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he jumped out of the hammock, straightened his clothes, and strode forward.
"Go over and have a look!"
Led by the soldiers, the Grand Commandant quickly passed through the woods and arrived at the foot of a grassy slope ahead. Before he even got close, he discovered several corpses lying on the hillside.
All of them were Heavenly Saint soldiers who had been hacked to death. Looking at them, there was a dense mass of corpses, probably over a hundred, lying haphazardly. Their armor was broken, their weapons were carelessly discarded, and the blood from their wounds had dried. However, judging from the sun and the appearance of the corpses, the battle should not have ended too soon. After surveying the scene again, Lord Sikong noticed some fine white things scattered on the grass ahead.
He strode over, squatted down, picked it up, and examined it.
"It's rice!"
Before Lord Sikong could speak, the soldiers nearby exclaimed in surprise, and upon looking around, they found spilled rice in several places.
Lord Sikong threw down the rice in his hand, clapped his hands, stood up, his delicate brows slightly furrowed, glanced at the fallen corpses in front of him, and then said in a deep voice, "It should be the grain transport team from Tiansheng. Judging from the direction, they should be heading towards the imperial city. Should we take a detour?"
"Sir, there are quite a few of them!"
"Sir, there are still cart axles here. Who stole their provisions?"
The soldiers at the front shouted to Lord Sikong.
"Sir, there are axles here too! They're heading this way! What direction is that over there?"
"Sir, are they our allies? Judging from the wounds on these soldiers, the perpetrators must be well-trained. And these hoofprints suggest they were also part of a unit!"
The Minister of Works listened and glanced slightly in the direction the soldiers were pointing. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "In this weather, and judging by the axle of the cart, they shouldn't have gone far... Men, Captain Wang, you take two thousand men and stay put. Oh, bury those corpses! The rest of you, come with me to check ahead!"
After saying those few words, Lord Sikong quickly mounted his horse!
Seeing that the Minister of Works had ridden away in a hurry, the soldiers quickly divided up their tasks, some mounting their horses to follow, others digging pits to bury the corpses.
The thunderous sound of hooves echoed as the horses galloped across the lush green meadow. Scouts were sent ahead to explore the way, kicking up clouds of dust amidst the thunderous hoofprints. Lord Sikong took the lead, following the faint hoofprints and axle trails on the ground.
"Sir, there is a small, dense forest ahead. The hoofprints are messy, and the axle tracks are very clear. It seems they went in the northwest direction. They must have rested and cooked in the forest and left not long ago. Even the extinguished fire next to them is still smoking."
The scouts ahead quickly reported the situation.
Lord Sikong frowned slightly, glanced into the dense forest ahead, and nodded after a while. He could tell that this group was well-trained and not just ordinary bandits. But who could they be? How dare they openly rob the Heavenly Saint's military rations? They're simply courting death!