Chapter 215: Chapter 149: A Strategy to Win Hearts
Translator: 549690339
After changing his strategy and deciding on a siege, Lu Yuan lost interest in attacking cities in the following days.
The captured vanguard soldiers were fortunate.
They did not follow the footsteps of the previous batch of vanguard soldiers, most of whom died at the foot of the city walls.
Nonetheless, the captives did not have an easy time either.
After several attacks, the remaining seven thousand captives were organized to dig trenches, set up antler traps, and build low walls outside the city.
Lu Yuan intended to isolate Fu City completely from the outside world.
The actions of the soldiers outside the city were naturally noticed by the Seven Star Sect rebels inside.
Upon deducing the siege strategy of the government troops, they refused to sit and wait for death and organized a raiding party to disrupt the siege.
However, Lu Yuan was well-prepared for such raids.
The hundreds of rebels who left the city stumbled straight into the encirclement and were wiped out, with none returning.
After this failure, the rebels inside the city became cautious. They stood atop the city walls every day, watching the bustling construction outside, like ostriches.
They let the siege continue outside while they resolved to defend the city to the death, as there was no way to retreat now.
It made little difference whether they were besieged or not.
After confirming that the enemy soldiers had lost their courage, Lu Yuan stopped paying attention to them.
He left 3,000 vanguard soldiers, 3,000 volunteer soldiers, and 5,000 regular soldiers to continue building fortifications and besieging Fu City.
He personally led 4,000 vanguard soldiers and 5,000 regular soldiers, a total of 9,000 troops, to capture Linwu County south of Fu City.
This county was the only place in the entire Fu region that still flew the flag of rebellion and worshipped the Seven Star Sect, making them the most die-hard faction.
The reason for Linwu County’s steadfastness was reasonable, as it was the base of the Seven Star Sect.
The main base of the sect was located on Mount Yuanluo within Linwu County. From scholars and wealthy families to commoners in the county, almost everyone was interconnected with the Seven Star Sect.
Most households in the county were either disciples of the sect or peripheral forces or relatives of the sect, all of whom participated in the rebellion.
It was impossible for such a county-wide rebellious place to surrender to the court.
According to the information Lu Yuan had received in recent days, ordinary people in the county had already begun dispatching troops from every family and recruiting men from every household. The wealthy had provided funds and food.
At this point, they still persisted in gathering a force of thousands to defend and refused to surrender.
South of Linwu County was Yangshan Prefecture, which was the territory of the Miao Rebel Army.
Since Lu Yuan planned to besiege Fu City, he naturally had to guard against the Miao people from the north.
Therefore, it was necessary to capture the county town of Linwu and eradicate the peripheral forces of the Seven Star Sect to establish a defense line and resist the Miao people.
Of course, in addition to this goal, Lu Yuan personally led the troops here to try his luck at the sect’s main base to see what he could gain.
Though he knew it was unlikely, what if the sect’s martial arts, and the Divine Blood Variant like the Pure Water Xuan Niu, had not had a chance to be moved away and were still in the main base?
As long as he can seize any one of these, it would be a huge profit for him.
Thus, with the mindset of seizing whatever he could, Lu Yuan personally took a trip.
As soon as he entered the territory of Linwu County, Lu Yuan felt a difference.
The local people here did not fear and dread the military like the people in other places in Fu region.
There was fear and dread here, but it was accompanied by a hint of hostility and hatred.
Sometimes, as he led the troops through mountain trails, he would even encounter spontaneous attacks from the locals.
These guys hid in the mountains, ambushing and then running away without hesitation.
Although the continuous harassment on the way didn’t cause significant casualties, it was annoying enough.
What troubled Lu Yuan the most was that perhaps because many of the locals were Seven Star Sect disciples, many of the attackers were trained martial artists.
They were all skilled, and many had developed Inner Strength, were familiar with the local geography.
Even when Lu Yuan sent out his elite scouts with hunting backgrounds to pursue, they often didn’t fare well in the mountain forests, failing to catch them, and were even killed by those on the other side.
Upon experiencing these situations for this part of the journey, which was just over thirty miles long, they encountered no less than ten attacks, suffering more than a hundred casualties.
More seriously, the constant barrage of attacks severely impacted the military’s morale and spirit.
This was something he couldn’t tolerate.
Finally, after another ambush upon passing a mountain forest, Lu Yuan could no longer bear it.
He sent out his disciples to capture the attackers personally.
When a group of third-rate martial artists took action, the results were extraordinary.
Unlike the previous failures, most of the dozens of rebels involved in this attack were quickly killed, while the remaining were captured alive.
Upon interrogation, these people were found to be residents of nearby villages and towns, who had family members as disciples of the Seven Star Sect and had, hence, stepped forward to fight the invading army.
Almost all the commoners in Linwu County were involved in the resistance. Every household was a traitor, and there were no innocents..
