Luo Yao knew there was no way back. If he stopped his men now, he would die beneath their blades at once. That road filled with blood and betrayal was the only path to survival in this dead end.
He understood even more clearly that he had to act at once, without the slightest hesitation. Duke Schmidt and Karl's army was right up ahead! Once they learned that the "friendly troops" behind them had mutinied into rebels, with that army's strength and its commanders' decisiveness, they would surely strike back like thunder. If his starving, ammunition-starved remnants fought a field battle on open ground against an army even the Sauron feared, they probably would not last half a day.
Hesitation meant defeat.
The last trace of hesitation vanished from Luo Yao's eyes, replaced by cold resolve. After all, he was an officer who had dealt with the Sauron for many years, and a desperate, high-stakes plan quickly took shape.
"Shut up, all of you!" He swept his gaze over the crowd. "Storm Mario Fortress? Its walls are solid, and the defenders are fresh while they wait for us to exhaust ourselves. We couldn't fill the moat even if we threw lives into it! Even if we got lucky and broke in, how many brothers would die? And if we're held up for three or five days, once the army up ahead turns back and strikes, we'll be turtles in a jar, dead without a doubt!"
Fear of death made the frenzied crowd quiet a little.
"Then what do we do? Wait to die?"
Luo Yao sneered. "Wait to die? No. Hasn't that fat pig of a Count been warmly inviting us into the city all along? Hasn't he prepared wine and meat? Good! Then we'll turn his own scheme against