Battle Royale of the Sinners

October 14th. Evening.

Casualty report had been completed. From the initial 49,000 men, 33,000 men returned. The majority of the death was caused by the boiling water in the river and the arrows from the rebel army. The 3,000 men who were stranded on the other side were considered as dead by their comrades.

Five thousand men, who had crossed to the other side, managed to return to the south bank in one piece with some burnt skins. However, a thousand of them died from the shock of burning pain or organ failure on their way here.

Combined with the main army, 113,000 soldiers could still fight.

Although they had the numerical advantage in this battle, Zhu Jun did not feel well hearing the result. They came here with 150,000 men, yet one-fourth of their men and a grand general lost their lives before they could fight the enemies.

This result was nothing more than a humiliation to Zhu Jun.

The last general left a command to the visiting messenger before he excused himself to rest, "Cancel the night river crossing plan. Gather the boats back to the main army."

…

Meanwhile, at Liyang City.

Tong also gave an order to the garrison force in the city.

"Transport all siege weapons, the carts, and wagons to the riverside barricade."

The carts and wagons by Tong's order were the carriages of the dismembered heads of the civilians of Liyang City. This order gave Tong's messenger a chill running down his spine because he managed to guess what Tong was trying to do.

The lord of his was more sinister and vile than they had thought him to be.

'A sorcerer and a villain!' He thought. 'Yet, he treasures his allies and subordinates. It's rare.'

Before the messenger could leave and carry out his order, Tong stopped him.

"Wait, soldier. What's your name?"

The messenger was frozen in fear. He slowly turned around to answer, "X-X-Xu Huang, sir!"

A bitter smile revealed on Tong's face. He had a habit of checking the name of the person he conversed with because he might catch an unblossomed talent who was working in his army.

…

The person in front of him was Xu Huang, one of the five elite generals who served Cao Cao and his descendants alongside with Zhang He, Zhang Liao, Yu Jin, and Yue Jin in Tong's history timeline.

Formerly, he served in his local Commandery as a minor official, but he joined Yang Feng to participate in the anti-Yellow Turban Rebellion army to gain achievements in the year 184. He was later promoted as a Cavalry Commander as a reward for this deed.

In 192, he and Yang Feng served under Li Jue and Guo Si, who controlled the figurehead, Emperor Xian. However, in 195, they defected the two corrupted warlords and escorted the Emperor east to Luo Yang. Xu Huang attempted to persuade Yang Feng to surrender to Cao Cao, but Yang Feng declined the idea.

Xu Huang ultimately pledged allegiance to Cao Cao, who defeated Yang Feng in a battle in 196. From that point on, he was a pillar for Cao Family for three generations and left various deeds for the later generations to learn as an example.

His most glorious fight was the battle of Fancheng, Xiangyang Commandery in 219, where his friend, Guan Yu besieged his allies. Cao Cao ordered Xu Huang to lead a force to relieve Cao Ren from Guan Yu's encirclement, which Cao Ren was besieged for months without support.

During the confrontation, Xu Huang tricked Guan Yu by sending fake news that he would raid Guan Yu's main camp, making Guan Yu fortified his main camp instead of protecting his support bases. Xu Huang destroyed the support camps of Guan Yu afterward and drove away Liu Bei Army from the vicinity. During the crash with his friend, he even declared Guan Yu's bounty to his subordinates in front of Guan Yu himself. When Xu Huang was asked by Guan Yu why he did so, he answered, "This is an affair of the State!"

Despite his early days when he followed Yang Ping around, Xu Huang grew up to be a chivalrous, dutiful general who valued duty over self-interest. He was well respected by Cao Pi and Cao Rui in his life.

…

Such a famous general in his youth appeared in front of Tong once more. Tong could not help to praise his luck for this chance encounter.

"If I remember correctly, isn't your hometown is Hedong County, north of Hongnong Commandery? Why are you a soldier in my army?"

Xu Huang was surprised. He was indeed born in Hedong, the same hometown as Guan Yu.

"My Lord knew my hometown?"

Tong scratched his face in embarrassment. He blurted out something he should not have.

"Well, I have general knowledge about my subordinates. Say, answer my question first. When have you become my soldier?"

Xu Huang bowed and gave Tong a wry smile.

"I was part of Dong Zhuo's conscripted soldiers, my lord. His troops passed by my county and I was dragged along. Then, I was ordered to escort Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu family members to Julu City. When I got to Julu City, I was transferred to an infantry unit. Also, there's suddenly a mobilize order many days ago, and I ended up marching along with the troops and got here, my lord."

This time, it was Tong who gave Xu Huang a wry smile. This encounter was indeed pure luck which happened at the right time and the right place. Had Tong not checked this scout's name, this talent would have been buried forever.

'Dammit, the butterfly-effect is so chaotic. I can't refer the future events with my history knowledge anymore. Good thing that I've noticed this before it's too late.'

'Wait a minute. Xu Huang is a friend of Guan Yu! Can he recruit Guan Yu here before Liu Bei meet him!?'

Tong coughed and asked, "Do you know a person by the name [Guan Yu]? The guy with a red face and long beard."

Xu Huang was surprised again. "Y-Yes, I know him. He's from my hometown! B-But he murdered an official and fled the town a long time ago."

A wry smile on Tong's face turned into a bitter smile. This legendary figure still moved according to the historical timeline. Tong believed that he would eventually unite with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei as it was fated.

"Forget it. Well, I have another order for you. Once you've done carrying out my order, return to me. You'll be my aide from now on. Your stipend will be adjusted to a military commander standard as a promotion."

Xu Huang gulped. It was a windfall for him. If Tong were to promote him to such a position, he would not have to risk his life on the frontline.

Suddenly, he thought of something and shook his head. "I'm sorry, my lord. I think I haven't done something to deserve that. A sudden favoritism promotion will cause disharmony in the army. I can't accept it."

The face of Tong gloomed hearing the rejection. Xu Huang was right. Tong was indeed too hasty on his part as he was too excited and forgot about the logic of the army or psychology. Moreover, Xu Huang's personality was as the historian said.

However, Tong did not give up.

"Well, just do your job and come back. I'll have another assignment for you. Oh, don't forget to tell the soldiers who are in charge of the corpses. Tell them to cover their nose and mouth with wet clothes and wash their entire body with hot water after they have completed the tasks."

"Y-Yes, sir."

…

October 15th. 3 AM.

All preparation he ordered Xu Huang had been completed and everyone rested per Tong's order.

As for the young lord, he did not sleep again that night. His eyes focused on his radar map as he monitored Zhu Jun's every movement.

Even after seeing that Zhu Jun camped on the other side without making any mobilization, Tong did not let his guard down for a second. A part of him thought that Zhu Jun gave up crossing the river tonight, yet, Tong preserved and kept watch.

…

8 AM.

Zhu Jun still did not make any movement other than ordering his men to gather more logs to make rafts.

On the other hand, it was Tong who had a bad premonition. Zhu Jun was up to something he did not know. From the looks of it, Zhu Jun was in the middle of preparing a trump card, and it would be deadly.

"No matter what you're planning. I can still ruin you!"

"Push the trebuchets forward!"

Tong gave his order, and the soldiers pushed the trebuchets and the carriers of severed heads to the frontline.

"Test fire with your machine! Load 10 heads on the pouch. Fire at the direction across the river once you're ready."

The trebuchet squads had a chill running down their spine.

'Our Lord wants to throw corpses at the enemies?'

This evil order scared the trebuchet crews. They steeled themselves and carried out the order as they had no choice.

Three soldiers put the ten heads on the sling pouch while the rest of the crews adjusted the trebuchet and locked the lever, getting ready to fire.

"Loading is clear!"

"Lever is clear!"

"Lock is clear!"

Everything was ready.

"Fire!"

Strong crews pulled the rope, unlocking the long lever. The beams of the trebuchets rotated, and they swung the sling upward to the air, launching the contents on the pouch to the sky.

Because the heads were much lighter than stones, they flew across the river and landed 600 meters away. None of the heads managed to hit or damage any Zhu Jun's men, but Tong's objective had been achieved.

'It crossed, so it doesn't matter.' Tong thought.

"Reload and keep shooting! Ten heads for each set, shoot until you have nothing left to shoot!"

…

…

1 PM.

Zhu Jun managed to get off his bed as he had a severe headache from the stress. He had ordered the guards that nobody could visit him unless the enemies launched an attack on the camp. Therefore, he had a quiet and peaceful sleep for a night and half a day.

He took a deep breath to get some fresh air as he felt a bit better, and his mind was not as clouded as yesterday.

Alas, his good mood did not last long. The moment he got out of his tent, several soldiers bowed and gave their reports.

"My lord, the enemies are launching attacks from across the river."

Zhu Jun frowned as he had ordered his men that they should have woken him up if the enemies attacked the camp, yet these people did not wake him up.

"Why didn't you wake me up? What's the situation?"

"My lord, the attacks were just simple harassment. Nobody has been injured, or there has been any casualty."

"Then, what happened? If there's no casualty, why are you reporting me instead of handling it as you are trained?"

The soldiers gulped before they continued their reports.

"The rebels didn't fire a normal attack, my lord. They are shooting corpses to us."

"Corpse!?"

"Yes, my lord. We believed … that they are the heads of Liyang civilians."