The moment he finished speaking, the western gate of Lulong Pass's main wall, facing the passage through the Laoha River Valley, slowly began to open.
Gudou Batu's eyes lit up, and the wild joy on his face could no longer be concealed. He abruptly swept out a hand and shouted, "So we weren't tricked after all! Brothers, charge in! Get in there now—kill!"
Seventy thousand Donghu cavalry thundered along the passage through the Laoha River Valley like a pack of starving wolves pouncing on prey. Hoofbeats shook the valley, and billowing dust blotted out the sky and sun.
Atop the walls, the Yan soldiers left behind pretended to panic, shouting things like "Defend!" and "Stay alert!" Their arrows flew without pause, yet they posed no real obstacle to the Donghu cavalry.
This feeble resistance not only failed to make the Donghu cavalry hesitate, but instead further stoked their madness and greed. They charged into the pass all the more recklessly.
Yet when Gudou Batu led the vanguard into Lulong Pass, the ecstatic look on his face instantly froze.
Huh?
No one?
This city of their sworn enemy, which had obstructed them for years and caused them repeated losses, was now defended so sparsely that even the Yan soldiers who had been firing arrows from the walls moments ago had vanished without a trace.
That completely threw Gudou Batu for a loop.
He even felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
He could understand weak defenses. He could understand insufficient troops. He could even understand traitors opening the gates for them. But what was this supposed to mean—there was no one in the fortress at all?
"General, what... what is going on? There isn't even a trace of a Yan soldier inside the fortress!"
The deputy general beside