Li Mufan's fury erupted upon hearing the news. "Zhang Tie, that loser! If we don't seize this opportunity now, when will we? The money warehouse in Dongshan City supposedly holds hundreds of thousands of gold coins, and he returns empty-handed?"
After a brief hesitation, he yelled, "Aqiang! Grab some bundles of sacks and take half your brothers to raid the money warehouse. Take as much as you can. Anyone who dares to stop us will be killed!"
"Yes!" Aqiang responded, rallying his men. Half of the soldiers in the Guards Battalion followed him as they dashed toward the money warehouse.
Once they were out of sight, Li Mufan cursed at the kneeling soldiers. "Get up! Go tell Liu Long and Zhang Tie to hurry up and grab whatever they can. We'll meet at the agreed location in half an hour!"
Thirty minutes later, a group of soldiers clad in sun-and-moon leather armor hurried to the city gate, only to find it tightly shut, the walls brimming with soldiers.
A young general leading the group shouted, "We are from General Murong's unit. The aliens in the city are rebelling. General Murong has ordered us to investigate outside the city. Open the gates quickly!"
The defender of the city, a tall middle-aged general in armor, replied with skepticism, "As the kingdom's number one master of the younger generation, isn't General Murong supposed to be guarding His Majesty in the royal city? Why are you here now?"
The young general countered, "His Majesty ordered my general to pursue the fugitives. On the way here, he saw the chaos in the city and sent us ahead to scout. Open the city gate quickly; we can't afford delays in the military plan!"
The defending general frowned, hesitating. "Do you have any proof?"
The young general produced a token with a wolf's head, tossing it onto the city wall. "Here's the certificate! Open the gate quickly!"
The city defender examined the token closely. Noting the fierce wolf's head and the name "Murong" engraved beneath, he nodded. "This is indeed General Murong's token. Wait a moment; I'll open the city!"
With a wave of his hand, a guard descended the wall to prepare the gate.
A moment later, with a creaking sound, the heavy city gate began to swing open. The defending general called out, "The gate is open! Everyone, hurry out of the city!"
Seeing this, the young general exchanged a few hushed words with a soldier beside him, who wore plain clothes and a hat. He gestured, and the group of about two hundred people began to trot toward the gate.
Suddenly, a twist of fate occurred.
The general guarding the city shouted, "Where are the archers? Fire arrows!"
Immediately, rows of archers stood up on the city wall, unleashing a rain of arrows upon the soldiers below.
But what the city defender didn't expect was that the bloated soldiers would react even faster.
As soon as the order was given, they scattered like startled birds, swiftly retreating to avoid the incoming barrage. Yet, some remained behind.
"Oh no, I anticipated this!" someone shouted from below the city wall. Quickly, the remaining soldiers drew iron bows from their waists, nocked arrows, and retaliated against the archers!
These were mid-level ordinary bows, powerful enough to penetrate armor, far superior to standard weapons.
With a crisp twang, a volley of arrows soared toward the city wall, resulting in immediate chaos. Screams erupted as at least fifty soldiers fell, struck down in that single exchange.