People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 422: Rebellious People
Nightfall should have been a precious breathing time for the soldiers after the war ended, but the Yellow Turbans' increasingly violent attack rhythm made it difficult for the Wei soldiers defending the city to bear.

After dark, the soldiers were all exhausted and hungry. They would often muster up their last bit of energy to quickly finish their meals, then lie down and rest. Even the occasional clanging sounds nearby could not disturb their sleepiness.

While many soldiers were resting at night, in addition to the soldiers on duty maintaining basic defense, there was another group of people who were busy at night.

Teams of fully armed soldiers were seen whipping the laborers to carry supplies and dig earth to build walls. Under the light of the fire on both sides, one could see that the laborers were all tired. However, they could not rest like the soldiers, but could only work without sleep under the coercion of the soldiers.

There were even children in their teens and hunchbacked old men among the laborers. Many children could not help crying loudly due to the unbearable labor, but every time they did so they would be whipped by the officers. The old men would also suffer the same treatment when they trembled and cursed angrily.

As for the majority of young and strong civilians, they all glared at the officers. Feelings of anger and resentment continued to rise among the crowd, and this dangerous atmosphere soon made the officers realize that something was wrong.

But the officer was not afraid. Instead, he looked at the crowd with disdain and shouted coldly: "What? You want to rebel? You have seen clearly what happened to those who dared to cause trouble and resist in recent days. If you don't want to die, just listen to us honestly, otherwise don't blame us for serving you with swords!"

These words were like a bucket of cold water being poured down on them, instantly calming them all down.

After a month of fighting, the civilians and common people in the city could no longer bear the oppression of the Wei army. Under such a high-pressure environment, they had resisted many times, but each time they were suppressed by the Wei army.

When the civilians looked up, they could see more than a dozen heads hanging inside the city gate. Those were the leaders who organized the resistance in the past month. These heads were all reminding them of the consequences of resistance.

Although the civilians were numerous, they were just a group as weak as sheep under the threat of Wei army's weapons, at least that was the case when the Wei army could still withstand the attack of the Yellow Turbans.

High on the city wall, Xun Yu watched the civilians swallowing their anger and starting to work under the coercion of the officers, and he felt very worried.

Of course he could see that this was problematic, but it was also a helpless move for the Wei army. The Yellow Turbans' attack was like a fire that was getting more and more intense. If the Wei army wanted to hold on, they had to constantly use the people's manpower to assist in the defense of the city.

The more intense the war becomes, the more frantically the Wei army will force the people to work. Now, not only have a large number of houses in the city been demolished for city defense, but even children and the elderly have been forced to work. If this trend continues, soon even women will not be able to escape.

Xun Yu clearly felt the rising resentment of the people in the city.

"If this continues, it may not be good. The people are deeply resentful. Even if we can suppress it now, it will be even more terrible if it erupts in the future. I am worried that when the war goes against us, they may become the biggest hidden worry for our army."

"Our army has no choice. The people in the city are not obedient to begin with. If our army forces them to do labor, it will surely cause resentment among the people. In this case, we cannot let up our guard in the war, and we cannot care whether they complain more or less."

Cheng Yu, who was standing aside, was also watching everything that was happening in the city, but he was not moved at all.

If the people's strength had not been overdrawn like this, the city would have been captured ten days earlier, let alone a month. As for whether the people could bear it or how much resentment they had, that was not important. They were rebellious people who could not be naturalized anyway, and there was nothing to feel sorry for if they all died.

This is indeed the case. The Wei army has always suppressed the resistance of the people in the city with iron blood, and has killed thousands of civilians in the past month.

Therefore, even though they knew that such an approach would lead to a more terrible backlash from the people, they had no choice but to continue suppressing it. Xun Yu knew the reason, and at this time he could only shake his head and sigh.

The city of Jinyang is now like a clay pot with a tightly sealed lid. The water inside has boiled, but the fire underneath is growing stronger and stronger, and it seems that it will explode at any time. Even if the whole city is in turmoil tomorrow morning, Xun Yu will not be surprised at all.

After a moment of silence, Cheng Yu smiled faintly: "I have secretly ordered the generals in the army. If the situation on the battlefield is unfavorable, they must immediately clear out the civilians. At least, we must ensure that there is no accident in the city. Even if our army has to abandon the city in the end, we can withdraw calmly."

After hearing this, Xun Yu felt even more nervous and then stared at Cheng Yu closely.

At this moment, he had a strong urge to go to Cao Cao immediately to stop this, but he soon gave up.

After all, Cheng Yu was just the executor of this dirty work. No one needs to guess who was the one behind it. If he really went there, he would only be asking for trouble.

With mixed feelings, he looked down again. The old man was trembling as he carried the big log, the child was gritting his teeth as he moved the stones, and even the young and strong laborers were working hard under the whipping of the officers.

The city gate had been blown open by the Yellow Turbans a long time ago. The current situation was that the Yellow Turbans rushed in during the day to destroy the city defense structures inside the city gate, and at night the Wei army could only frantically squeeze the people's power to rebuild fortifications again. This cycle had been going on for more than ten days.

Being able to hold out until now is actually a very good record. In the past, facing an attack of this intensity by the Yellow Turbans, the Wei army would have collapsed long ago. But this time, the Wei army made all possible preparations and finally held on.

But it seemed that this was the only way. Cheng Yu had already spoken frankly about evacuation, and Xun Yu was even more clear about it. The Wei army had reached its limit after holding on until now.

The final outcome of this carefully prepared war seems to be less than satisfactory.

Although the Wei army had good combat power and supplies, unfortunately, this battle still lacked the most important element to defend an isolated city, that is, unity within the city. Now the war situation can still be maintained, so the Wei army still has enough strength to suppress the civilian riots, but if the situation is worse, that would be another matter.

The development of things was exactly as Xun Yu had judged. After the war lasted for another two days, he felt that the situation had reached a delicate critical point.

Cao Cao was also keenly aware of this, so when Xun Yu was standing on the city wall with Cao Cao, he heard Cao Cao sigh with regret and unwillingness.

"Wen Ruo, it seems that our army should abandon the city and retreat. It seems that we have lost again this time. Even if we try our best and plan all our thoughts, we are still no match for the Yellow Turbans."

Upon hearing this, Xun Yu could only look into the distance, speechless for a moment.

The lack of follow-up to this battle actually meant that the State of Wei had no chance of making a comeback.

(End of this chapter)