The next morning, a force of over two thousand set off.
Before leaving, they smashed the kilns they had built, leaving only the brick houses to the surviving civilians.
Such technical skills were not to be given to anyone, not even harmless civilians.
Along the way, they saw nothing but corpses strewn across the fields. They learned that during the government troops' campaign against the Yellow Turbans, all the food had been collected, leading to the starvation of the people. This resulted in scenes of people reduced to skin and bones, with corpses littering the fields.
If the bodies were not buried or burned, prolonged exposure to the sun could easily cause a plague.
War, plague, cold, and hunger led to a sharp decline in the population of the Eastern Han Dynasty, ultimately making it vulnerable to foreign invasion and leaving them defenseless.
"Gather all the corpses by the roadside into a pile and burn them. Leaving them like this will cause a plague."
Lu Ming couldn't stand this behavior. You can't truly understand this situation without going outside.
It was similar in Xiliang, only not as extreme. Even the rebels knew to protect and preserve some resources for production and logistics, avoiding depleting resources for fishing or burning forests for hunting.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion was different. The Yellow Turbans rallied displaced people, and government troops forcibly requisitioned provisions. The wealthy ate their fill, the rich remained rich, while the poor suffered even more.
This delay of one day meant that when Lu Ming arrived at Anyi City three days later, it had already fallen.
The city was ablaze with flames, and the sounds of chaos filled the air.
There were excited shouts of battle, and cries for mercy. Outside the city walls lay the corpses of defending soldiers and fallen rebels.
Standing outside the city, Lu Ming didn't rush in, but instead observed with narrowed eyes.
The city had at least three thousand soldiers. How had those rebels managed to capture it?
Even if the city gates fell, the Yang and Jin families wouldn't fall so quickly.
Their residences were built in the form of fortresses on both sides, complete with towers. These towers served as lookout points and vantage points for archers, providing effective countermeasures against any enemy troops.
Furthermore, they had ample supplies inside, so they were completely unafraid of any threat.
Soon, scouts lying in wait arrived and reported the situation to Lu Ming.
It turned out that three days earlier, the Yellow Turban army had sent men to infiltrate and capture the city gates. Subsequently, the Yellow Turban soldiers outside swarmed into the city and began a chaotic massacre.
The county soldiers fought desperately, but to little avail. The county commandant was killed in action. The two powerful families held their fortified position, allowing the bandits to plunder and pillage the civilians. For three days, the bandits attacked the fortified position while burning, killing, and looting; the city was a scene of utter hell.
Unarmed civilians encountering ruthless bandits—the fate was predictable.
Though somewhat heartbreaking, this was reality, this was the chaos of war.
Inside the city, Hu Cai continued to direct the bandits' assault. He moved the ballistae from the city gate and unleashed a barrage of fire at the Jin family's fortified position.
The sturdy wooden door was riddled with bullets and on the verge of collapse. The ground before them was littered with corpses and dark red, dried blood.
Legs and severed limbs, broken weapons and armor.
"Damn it, give it one more push, and the gate will be down! Break through this fortress, and I'll give everyone a reward! Your women, they're all yours! Men, kill!" Hu Cai was adept at creating atmosphere, inciting and inspiring his soldiers' fighting spirit.
His own martial arts skills were mediocre; he relied on his superior insight and tactics compared to other Yellow Turban leaders.
"Brother Hu, two days of this relentless assault have resulted in too many casualties. Shouldn't we find an opportunity, or perhaps try a different approach?" Li Le muttered to himself. This kind of aggressive assault was severely depleting the soldiers' strength and morale; he estimated that by tomorrow, a large number of soldiers would be weary of fighting.
"Li Le, are you scared? We're practically rebelling. How can we deter the court if we don't kill these two powerful families?" Hu Cai looked at Li Le with suspicion, subtly reaching for the broadsword at his waist.
"Brother, your Jin family's fortress is already on the verge of collapse. Just a little more effort and we'll take it! Then the food, weapons, and armor inside will all be ours! Soldiers in iron armor, hmph, then we won't be afraid of the government troops!"
"We can only fight for one more day. If we keep fighting like this, all our men will be wiped out, and then we won't survive." Li Le didn't want to lose everything. What's the point of having no soldiers?
"Today we'll smash their turtle shell!" Hu Cai roared, ordering people to light fires and throw torches inside.
The prepared siege hammers were also pounding heavily on the fortress gates, one blow, two blows, each one causing the ground to tremble violently.
Even the most fortified bunker couldn't withstand such an onslaught, and the Yellow Turban army seemed to have gone mad, charging recklessly.
The guards inside the bunker weren't government soldiers, and their willpower wasn't as strong. After two days of fierce fighting, and with the main gate on the verge of collapse, they were already contemplating escape.
Jin Kui sat in his study, feeling a sense of unease for the first time.
He was getting impatient; if things continued like this, the fortress wouldn't hold.
Upon learning that Hu Cai was attacking him, he immediately thought of the bandit soldier who had been killed, beheaded, and hung on the city gate—Hu Long, brought by Lu Ming, who had cooperated with him but was betrayed and killed!
There must be some connection between them and Hu Cai; otherwise, Hu Cai wouldn't harbor such deep hatred for the Jin family. Just as he was about to leave, a deafening roar erupted!
The gates of the fortress were smashed open, and bandits stormed in, yelling and screaming. The screams of the maids and the screech of swords cutting through flesh made him feel dizzy.
Sometime later, Hu Cai had already dragged in his broadsword, clutching a disoriented head in his hand—Jin Kui's son!
"You are Jin Kui!"
"I am indeed Jin Kui! How dare you attack an official of the imperial court! This is a crime punishable by the extermination of your entire family! Retreat now and compensate for your losses, and I can spare your life. Otherwise, when the army arrives to quell the rebellion, you will all be trampled into mincemeat!"
Jin Kui, seeing his son's tragic death, was filled with rage, his eyes bloodshot!
However, he restrained himself, forcibly suppressing his fury.
His son could be reborn, but his own life was gone. The Jin family would decline, never to rise again!
Without the support of a high-ranking official, any future advancement would be impossible; the family line would be severed, and they would simply fade into obscurity!