Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 447: Chapter 447. The Merciful Approach

”Watch your mouth, major general. You are disrespecting our commander!” Lao Zen admonished Jiang Bo.

”Go back to school and teach students, old man. You are not suitable for the battlefield,” Jiang Bo returned.

The two stared at one another with hostility.

”Cut it out, you two. Your quarrel is unsightly. The enemies are watching us,” Prince Huang San rebuked. While their command base oversaw the main gate of Fuxiang City, the reverse was also true. The enemies atop the city wall were also observing them. ”I will let your disrespect slide this time, Major General Jiang Bo, but do not test my patience.”

”Hmph,” Jiang Bo harrumphed, but he was secretly astonished. He didn’t realize Huang San had the backbone to challenge him. Since the siege started, the prince remained in the command base while sending his herald to demand the insurgents inside Fuxiang City to surrender. He himself didn’t do much. This gave Jiang Bo the impression that the prince was an indecisive and incompetent leader.

The reason they didn’t storm into the city was because of a huge barrier protecting Fuxiang City. They were astounded by this barrier when they first arrived. The barrier was not weaker than the one protecting Golden Stone City. However, Fuxiang City shouldn’t have this barrier. The rebels added it after the uprising. To make matters worse, the rebels inside the city announced to them that if this barrier were broken using force, it would trigger a chain reaction that engulfed the entire city in a firestorm.

Huang San turned to Huang Zen and said, ”Nephew, I remained waiting because you must remember, that not everyone inside Fuxiang City is our enemy. On the contrary, most of them are our subjects, whom I believe have nothing to do with this uprising. They could be seen as hostages. If we use force and trigger the firestorm, the casualties will be enormous.”

”How the hell did they come onto such an advanced enchanted formation?” Huang Zen asked.

”I don’t know. It is probably because they have this barrier enchantment that they dare to carry out this uprising,” Huang San conjectured. ”Anyway, we will be slaughtering our people if we use force to enter. If that happens, it will benefit the rebels more than us. We will be seen as tyrants who disregard the civilians’ lives. This might become something the rebels can use to sway other cities from our control.”

”Your Highness, forgive my rudeness, but I disagree,” Jiang Bo uttered. While he still challenged Huang San, his tone was more polite this time.

”You may voice your opinion,” Huang San told him.

”The way I see it, this whole city is guilty of the uprising. There are no innocents. They should have fought the people responsible for the uprising but didn’t. Hence, they are also to blame and deserve to be cut down like the rebels. It is best to crush the entire city and make an example out of it. This will send a warning to the other settlements. This dread will prevent them from attempting a similar route. We must make the result so frightening that the thought of them defying the kingdom means complete destruction!”

Huang San shook his head. ”Major General, the reason people become rebels is because they have a grudge against the kingdom. If we do as you propose, we will just create more grudges. Should we massacre the whole population inside that city? Because if we don’t, the survivors will remember what we did, and these survivors might have family members among the slain. Even if we take the extreme path and massacre everyone, there is no guarantee the people in this city don’t have relatives in other settlements. Those relatives will carry the grudge and might join the rebels. We will only strengthen our enemies if we choose the violent path.”

”Hmph! If Your Highness asks me, I say there are rebels because we don’t intimidate the populace enough,” Jiang Bo said. ”We gave them too much freedom. We should have put them under tighter control and exerted harsh punishments on anyone who dared to disagree with us. That will put them in their place and prevent the rebels from forming in the first place.”

”We can discuss how best to rule this kingdom another time. For now, I’m the commander of this army. I choose not to go the massacre path, and that is what we do.”

Jiang Bo folded his arms unhappily but didn’t protest Huang San’s statement.

”Uncle, I agree with your merciful approach,” Huang Zen said. ”However, you can’t be serious about us just waiting here like this, can you? Even after cutting the city from all access, it still has enough resources to last for months. Are you going to have us wait that long?”

”I don’t think the Prime Minister will appreciate this army being kept away from the capital for that long,” Jiang Bo added.

”The major general is right. The situation in the capital is not well, to begin with. It needs the army here to re-establish order,” Huang Zen said.

Huang San understood that as well. Hence, his dilemma. He couldn’t help but compliment the rebels for picking such a time to cause this uprising. Maybe this was their response to him announcing his intention to eradicate them. They were challenging him.

Huang San clenched his fist. He could not lose. This could be considered the first major conflict between his force and the rebels. Winning or losing would greatly affect the morale of his regiment. It was crucial he won this conflict. However, he couldn’t think of achieving it without causing major collateral damage to the civilians. Was there truly no way to avoid harming the civilians?

”Let’s wait another week while we look at the situation,” Huang San said.

”After one week, will Your Highness take action?” Jiang Bo asked.

”That is for His Highness to decide,” Lao Zen answered.

Jiang Bo glared at Lao Zen in response.

”We will cross that bridge when it is time,” Huang San said. ”For now, let’s send the herald to announce our demands again.”

The herald was a single soldier who approached Fuxiang City. The soldiers on the wall ready their bows but didn’t fire. The herald stopped before the range those bows could reach. He brought out a talisman and activated it. The talisman amplified his voice, allowing everyone within Fuxiang City to hear his voice.

”City of Fuxiang! You have been surrounded by the great army of Echos. Open your gate and surrender now! We do not wish for bloodshed. Do this, and we will consider lighter punishments. Refuse, and we will have no choice but to use force. You have one week to comply!”

The herald repeated the announcement three times. He had done this every day since the siege first started. The last sentence of the announcement was added today, following Huang San’s statement to wait another week.

*

Above Fuxiang City’s main gate, a group of well-dressed people listened to the announcement. After it stopped, one of them asked the group’s leader, ”Do you think they will make good on that announcement?”

The group’s leader, who was also Fuxiang City’s mayor, answered, ”Whether they attack or delay, it doesn’t matter. We will still win.”

Fuxiang City’s mayor was known as Wang Xisheng, but his real name was Pan Xisheng. He was from the Pan Clan, one of the main clans that formed the Yellow Voice Rebels. He was Pan Lohuan’s nephew.

Pan Xisheng infiltrated Fuxiang City twenty years ago under disguise. He joined the city hall and slowly worked his way to the top. The rebels failed in their attempt to gain control of Qishurg City when their undercover Vice Mayor was exposed, but here, they succeeded.

After becoming mayor, Pan Xisheng used his authority to smuggle many rebels and replaced many key positions in the city hall with his people. They also spread their ideology to many people in this city, swaying them to build grudges against the kingdom. They helped those sympathetic to their cause and got rid of those who seemed stubbornly loyal to the kingdom. This was how they managed to bring the city to play along with their mutiny.

Around Pan Xisheng were ten such people. They were the clan heads of Fuxiang City’s ten major clans. Almost all ten clans rose to power due to Pan Xisheng’s aid, hence their loyalty. They were bribed, lied to, and intimidated into supporting this revolt.

They were lied to because Pan Xisheng made it sound like they had a chance to win. He told them the firestorm was only a bluff to buy time. He told them the rebels had forces on the way and would flank the kingdom army when they forcefully stormed into the city. He promised them that after the rebels toppled the kingdom, the rebels would share the glory and wealth with them.

They were intimidated because their youngest sons and daughters were on a collective study retreat organized by Pan Xisheng before the uprising started. Pan Xisheng told them their beloved sons and daughters were safe outside the city. He would keep those children safe but needed them to support this revolt.

These clans were unhappy with the kingdom, to begin with. This was the major factor Pan Xisheng chose to elevate these clans. Adding to the promise of wealth, glory, and using their children as hostages, the clan heads didn’t see a choice but to join the cause.

Little did they know, Pan Xisheng was ready to sacrifice them. The firestorm enchantment was real. The rebels found it in an ancient ruin. He was ready to trigger it to sacrifice the whole city, even himself, to taint the kingdom’s reputation. All this was to bring the rebels one step closer to their ultimate goal, which was to topple the Kingdom of Echos!