Many soldiers didn't even wear armor and fled directly towards the barracks.
By the time Wu Ling was woken up by the noise, more than half of the people had already disappeared without a trace, and those who remained could barely stand from drinking too much.
"What's going on?" Wu Ling was furious and yelled at Private advisor Tang, "What did you tell Qiu Village Chief? Why did he suddenly attack us?"
"Well..." Private advisor Tang was scared into a cold sweat, "He probably wanted to make the act look more realistic..."
"You call this an act?"
Wu Ling wished he could kick Private advisor Tang off the cliff.
Many tents were already on fire, not a single captain of hundred could be seen, the soldiers were like headless flies, and more than half had deserted at the first sign of battle...
This was no longer an army, just a horde of refugees!
When had his troops become so fragile?
"Get everyone together here! Any deserters will be executed without question!"
"Scout the situation immediately and find out what exactly happened!"
The general's momentum sobered up the surrounding soldiers.
They slowly started gathering the troops, hunching their backs, while some went to the outskirts to see what was going on.
Zhang County Captain pretended to clutch his stomach, looking extremely angry.
"Those damn Hong Shan Stockade dogs set up a trap for us, trying to wipe out my whole army! Brothers, let's fight back against them!"
Although usually lazy, they were after all hot-blooded young soldiers, stirred up by his words.
"What are you trying to do?"
"Don't act rashly, we haven't received any orders yet."
"Orders?" Zhang County Captain sneered, "The camp has been burned down, where are those captains of hundred, captains of thousand? Not even a shadow, they probably fled long ago!"
The few looked at each other, unwilling to believe it but it did seem to be the truth.
Zhang County Captain righteously proclaimed, "We are Wu Ling's soldiers, how can we let others take advantage of us? Brothers, we're Wu Ling's men, follow me and counterattack!"
Although usually slack, they were after all young hot-blooded soldiers, stirred up by his words to respond.
"How do you plan to counterattack then?"
"The enemy only set fires but didn't seem to come over, so their men must still be on the other side," Zhang County Captain said, "So we'll repay them in kind, an eye for an eye. Don't we have catapults? Let's use them against them!"
"We do have catapults, but nothing to fling..."
"I know where to find ammo," Zhang County Captain said, "I saw many fire oil bombs in the supply wagons."
Without their captains of hundred, the soldiers were like troops without commanders.
When encountering an emergency, they could judge the situation and respond accordingly.
Zhang County Captain led his company's soldiers, hunching over and pushing a dozen wagons of fire oil bombs to the already prepared catapults. Then, ignoring his still leaking stomach, he clumsily loaded the fire oil bombs and lit them up.
"Smash them good for me!"
Whoosh—
A huge fireball, like a blazing sun rising through the air, flew across the valley and smashed towards Hong Shan Stockade on the other side.
Boom—
The first fire oil bomb directly hit the stockade gate, exploding and setting the entire gate ablaze.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
One after another, the fire oil bombs streaked across the night sky, landing inside Hong Shan Stockade.
Wu Ling, who was still gathering troops in front of the tents, was completely dumbfounded.
"Who gave the order to attack? Stop it! Stop immediately!"
But Zhang County Captain's side moved extremely quickly. By the time people Wu Ling sent to stop them arrived, nearly all the fire oil bombs had been flung already.
Meanwhile inside Hong Shan Stockade, a huge blaze was rising, with many of the houses in the front half of the valley set alight by the fire oil.
Although there was little real damage, it was still infuriating.
"What is Wu Ling trying to do?" Qiu Village Chief watched the small fires gradually put out, but the fire in his heart grew bigger, "This is not how you act!"
"Village Chief, could that Wu fellow be using the act as cover to truly attack us?"
Hearing this, Qiu Village Chief's expression changed. That was not impossible.
Hong Shan Stockade and Wu Ling's relationship was based purely on mutual benefit, extremely unstable. Now the other side was openly attacking the stockade, it was very likely they were using the act as a cover for real action.
Just then, someone rushed over in panic, "Village Chief! The other side is using fire signals trying to send someone over, it should be Private advisor Tang."
Qiu Village Chief's brows furrowed. After thinking for a moment, he said heavily, "Let him come, I want to see what explanation he can give me!"
Private advisor Tang soon slid over on the cable line. Before his feet even touched the ground, he angrily said, "Qiu Village Chief, what is the meaning of this?"
"What do you mean what is the meaning of this?"
"You had people shoot arrows and set fires at our barracks in the dead of night, nearly burning down all our tents, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"What am I trying to do?" Qiu Village Chief angrily said, "You used catapults to fling fireballs and burned down so many of our buildings, I want to ask what you all are trying to do!"
"That's... that's because you made the first move!"
"Who knows if you did it yourself as an excuse to attack me?"
Unable to accuse the other side of wrongdoing, Private advisor Tang's eyes shifted as he realized something fishy was going on. He said, "How could we possibly attack you? There must be some deceit going on, we have to investigate this together."
But just then, screams suddenly rang out from deep inside the stockade. Someone ran over in a panic.
"What happened?" Qiu Village Chief cried out in shock.
"Village Chief, suddenly many people appeared in the back, from Xiao Wa Village and Qing Song Village! They surrounded the villagers and are demanding our unconditional surrender!"
Qiu Village Chief felt a buzzing in his head.
All their able-bodied men were gathered at the front, leaving only the old and weak behind, along with their families, now all held hostage. Who would dare resist now?
A few hundred people suddenly appearing inside the stockade, the secret passage must have been exposed. But only a limited few knew of that passage, how could it have leaked?
Private advisor Tang's calves turned to jelly in shock.
He knew Hong Shan Stockade was finished, but he absolutely could not go down with it!
So he turned and ran towards the cable line, jumping into the sliding basket to escape.
Qiu Village Chief wouldn't let him get away. He drew the long blade from his waist and severed the cable line in one swing.
"Ahhhhh—"
Private advisor Tang's shriek rang out, followed shortly by a loud thud, then silence.
"Qiu Village Chief," a group approached from the back now, led by Ma Village Chief, "long time no see."
"So it really was you?" Qiu Village Chief sneered, "Master Ma, you've won this round. But I just want to know, how did you find out about the secret passage into my Hong Shan Stockade?"
"That? Someone naturally told me about it."
"Who?"
