The World Online

Yet another sunset.

The only difference was that the sunset today was exceptionally devilish; the orange red sun and the blood red clouds created a suppressive feeling, covering the skies.

Looking out, the heavens and the earth were utterly red.

Moving and tragic.

The autumn breeze blew across, bringing along a low, whirring sound.

The bloody battle at the bottom of the Mulan Stronghold city wall had ended. The thick-armored mountain barbarian warriors rested on the city walls, as they gasped for air.

Knife marks and blood stains covered their armor.

Not far from them, the hole in the city wall had bodies littered around it. Some were mountain barbarians, but most of them were Taiping Country soldiers. Their yellow army uniforms were really eye catching on the battlefield.

In the intense battle in the afternoon, both sides gave it their all around this hole; neither party wanted to back off. The small hole was like a zone that prohibited all life. Whoever dared to walk in would be like someone walking into an abyss. Only the strongest warriors could struggle out of this venture.

There were many times that the Taiping Country troops had rushed through the hole, fearlessly attacking the stronghold. However, they were forced back time after time by Er’Lai and his mountain barbarian warriors.

The control over this small area changed five to six times in just an afternoon.

Every inch of land was smothered in the fresh blood of numerous warriors.

Many scattered blood stains covered the wall; it looked extremely cold and chilling under the sunset glow.

This was the most brutal battle since the war between the two sides had started.

Relying on the stubbornness of the mountain barbarian warriors, Shanhai had managed to defend the base. Not only that, Er’Lai had also captured a big fish—the deputy general of the south troops, Li Xiucheng.

As one of the pillars of Taiping Country, he was born from a poor family. When he was young, he would search for food with his parents, leading a exceedingly arduous life.

After joining the Taiping Country Army, his intelligence and bravery in battle let him quickly climb the ranks from a normal soldier to a young general. After the Tianjing chaos, Chen Yucheng, Li Shixian, and Li Xiucheng helped calm the situation and obtained victory of Jiangbei camp, Sanhe Dajie, Jiangnan camp. Hong Xiuquan then titled Li Xiucheng as King Zhong.

After Tianjing fell, Li Xiucheng was captured and killed.

Although Li Xiucheng looked gentle, he was a resolute and steely person on the inside. From the day he was born poor, he had paid a lot of attention to the pain and lives of the people, putting his efforts into promoting the people rather than earning titles and fame.

Li Xiucheng’s opponents, such as Zeng Guofan, said that he was crafty like a fox but also genuinely brave.

When he led the troops to attack the hole, he charged too far in front, and the soldiers were not able to guard him. As such, Er’Lai took the chance to injure and capture him.

His capture pushed the afternoon battle into a white-hot stage.

Seeing their general captured, Li Xiucheng’s forces went crazy, and they fearlessly launched wave after wave of attacks. They did not even care about their lives.

Even the strong mountain barbarians could not handle such a fierce and ferocious force. If it was not for Er’Lai being an absolute monster and raising the morale, the Taiping Country soldiers would have managed to charge in.

Even so, the mountain barbarian soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

A total of five hundred elite mountain barbarians were out to rest under the city wall, while the dead Taiping Country soldiers numbered in the thousands.

During this clash, no less than four thousand soldiers died at the hole.

At the end of the battle, just the corpses alone plugged up the hole. The Taiping Country soldiers had no choice but to clean them out time after time before they could launch their attacks.

When the sunset appeared, Li Xiucheng’s forces were utterly broken.

Even so, these bunch of men still wanted to charge forward. One could see how much Li Xiucheng meant to them, and he was definitely loved for them to act so crazy.

Finally, Yang Xiuqing personally gave the order to Li Xiucheng’s remaining troops to leave the battlefield.

……

”Boys, get up. The commander-in-chief has spoken. You have all done well and should be rewarded!” A coarse shout suddenly broke the quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

Of course, the one who had spoken was the general who contributed the most, Er’Lai.

This overbearing fiend had never known fear or exhaustion. After an afternoon of intense battle, the strong mountain barbarian warriors all laid on the ground in exhaustion.

On the other hand, this main general treated it like nothing had happened. After the battle, he immediately ran to Baiqi to ask for rewards.

When he returned this time, a pure smile was plastered on his face.

As he had left in a hurry, he had not cleaned up the blood on his face. His smile moved his facial muscles, along with all the dried up blood.

When the soldiers saw that, they all felt a chill.

Of course, the mountain barbarians respected their general, Er’Lai, from the bottom of their hearts.

Mountain barbarians were a race that respected the strong.

And Er’Lai was synonymous with strength.

During the battle in the afternoon, no less than a hundred people died under his double halberd. Needless to say, his shocking one shot had even captured the enemy general.

Such achievements made all the mountain barbarian warriors look on in awe.

Er’Lai was strong, and he even had a hint of selfishness and arrogance, but he would not look down on these warriors. As a result, the mountain barbarians treated him as one of their own.

Some of them even joked that mountain barbarian blood definitely coursed through his body.

If not, how could his personality and actions be so similar to them?

Even toward their Commander-in-Chief Baiqi, the mountain barbarians did not show as much respect.

However, this time, they were really too tired.

They were so tired that their brains had stopped working, and they just wanted to lie on the walls and have a good sleep.

When Er’Lai saw their reactions, he felt unhappy and shouted in his deafening voice, ”Hey, my boys, I’ve praised you all in front of the commander-in-chief. Why, after just one afternoon, you all don’t have the strength to reply?”

The soldiers could only roll their eyes toward their general’s mocking.

Seeing the way their general was still moving and shouting with so much energy, there was nothing the soldiers could say.

”Haha!”

Observing the scene, Er’Lai was delighted and laughed boisterously.

The current Er’lai was like a great devil, as he could still laugh so happily on the battlefield.

As he laughed, he remembered the important matter and announced, “The commander-in-chief has orders, the 1st and 2nd regiment are all given grade 6 rewards. All soldiers will upgrade 1 rank. At the same time, the commander-in-chief even said to increase your meals tonight and give you barbecued meat!”

This time, the mountain barbarian warriors regained their energies, and their eyes simultaneously lit up.