A flash of light!
Saar charged forward on his warhorse, decapitating him in a single stroke. He then bent down, dismounted, raised the severed head, and shouted in the human language, "Now that your leader is dead, any resistance will be met with death!"
Now that their leader was dead and faced with Saar's fierce offensive, the village quickly and predictably chose to surrender.
Immediately, they began to clean up the battlefield. An adjutant stepped forward and reported, "Lord Saar! This time we captured a total of 752 prisoners, obtained a large amount of supplies and 100,000 copper coins from the village. As for casualties, we had 163 wounded and 7 dead."
Upon hearing this, Saar's face lit up with a hint of joy. With so many prisoners, they had already completed one-fifth of this month's mission. He immediately said, "Distribute all the supplies and money you've obtained. Send the medics to treat the wounded immediately, and carefully preserve the bodies of the fallen soldiers to take back with you!"
Now, the Great Qin is resorting to any means necessary to attack other mountain villages, and the soldiers are facing great risks. Therefore, Bai Qi gave them complete control over the spoils of war after conquering each village.
Furthermore, there are generous rewards for bringing prisoners back, and now the Great Qin fully implements a merit-based military system, where one person's military merit brings benefits to the whole family!
It can be said that the entire Great Qin is now filled with fighting spirit, much like a dangerous terrorist.
Meanwhile, Xiao Jian's team found an ordinary village of about 1,500 people at the foot of a small hill.
After observing for a while, Xiao Jian realized that so many people seemed difficult to deal with. Xiao Jian first ordered his men to capture a prisoner, and then used severe torture. With a steel whip studded with iron spikes, the skin was immediately torn open and blood flowed freely.
Finally, under torture, the prisoner confessed everything, and Xiao Jian got the information he wanted. Then, as if remembering something, he suddenly smiled, but the scar on his face made him look particularly ferocious.
This time, Xiao Jian brought not only regular troops but also a hundred assassins. Most of these assassins were Ratfolk, because Ratfolk are naturally agile and nimble, making them easily recognized professionally.
By this time, it was already dark. The villagers had finished their dinner and gone to bed early. The Ye Yue was dim and the light was faint. Under the cover of darkness, a hundred figures sneaked into the village from different directions.
This time, the assassins' mission was not assassination, but kidnapping. This was because the target was an important figure in the village, each with considerable strength and many protectors. Without a top-tier assassin, the attempt could easily alert the enemy.
So Xiao Jian turned his attention to a relatively easy target: their family members. Many of them were almost asleep and had no idea what was going on.
But then screams pierced the night sky, followed by shouts from the guards, "Enemy! Enemy! Enemy!"
This series of sounds threw the entire village into chaos. Then, a Great Han in armor, looking furious, arrived at the village entrance. He saw torches lit outside the village, and a large number of enemies had completely surrounded them. Most of them were humans, but there were also a few alien races.
What angered the Great Han the most was that there were more than twenty people in front of him, bound with ropes and kneeling on the ground. These people were all from his village, and each of them was a member of the village's upper class, including his five-year-old son.
Xiao Jian approached the group of twenty-odd men, a sinister smile on his face, and shouted, "My purpose is obvious, isn't it? Surrender quickly, and I won't mistreat you, and I'll let them go as well."
Upon hearing Xiao Jian's words, the Great Han roared angrily, "You despicable villain! If you want our village, just attack us directly! Why resort to such underhanded tactics? Our Small Slope Village will never surrender to you!"
"Hahaha..."
Xiao Jian laughed loudly and said disdainfully, "All's fair in war! Do you think every one of your enemies is a gentleman? I advise you to surrender now, or don't blame me for being ruthless."
The villagers listened to Xiao Jian's words, looked at the large number of ferocious enemies outside the village, and their families kneeling on the ground, their eyes filled with hesitation.
A little while later!
Upon seeing this, Xiao Jian's gaze turned cold. He turned and gestured to a soldier, who immediately dragged an old man in front of Xiao Jian.
"Are you sure you won't surrender?" Xiao Jian shouted coldly.
There was no reaction from within the village. Without hesitation, Xiao Jian raised his sword and beheaded the old man. Immediately, a heart-wrenching cry echoed through the village, "Father!"
A young man was about to rush out regardless of the consequences, but was forcibly pulled out by several people nearby.
Xiao Jian was no longer as polite as before. He raised his blood-stained sword, pointed it at the village, and shouted with a chilling murderous aura, "I'll give you some time to consider. Next time, I will kill them all and slaughter your entire village!"
The burly Great Han in the village had a grim face, and the faces of the men around him were also extremely ugly. They looked at the well-equipped enemy outside the village, and at their families who were crying out in fear because their elders had been killed. At the same time, the people in the village began to feel uneasy, because the enemy said they would slaughter their entire village.
A while later!
Seeing that there was still no reaction, Xiao Jian mounted his warhorse, raised his sword high, and shouted, "Ready!"
All soldiers moved in unison, archers and Ballista aimed at the village, and Xiao Jian planned a strong attack. At the same time, he ordered the more than seventy assassins who had been lying in ambush in the village to carry out assassinations in the chaos!
"Etc!"
Faced with this overwhelming and chilling atmosphere, the villagers finally chose to surrender. Although their village had 1,500 people, their military strength was at most half of that; the rest were women, the elderly, and children. On the other hand, Xiao Jian consisted entirely of strong soldiers, equipped with various powerful weapons. Their fate was likely to be complete slaughter.
Under pressure from multiple sides, the Great Han could only sigh, looking somewhat dejected, and led his men out of the village, laying down their weapons.
Seeing this, Xiao Jian felt relieved and accepted their surrender. The assassins lurking in the village also emerged from the shadows, which made the villagers feel a sense of lingering fear.
Afterwards, the spoils of war were tallied. This time, Xiao Jian's side suffered almost no losses, but gained 1,500 prisoners, countless supplies, and 160,000 copper coins. Although the methods were somewhat despicable and ruthless, Bai Qi now allows everything as long as you bring back a large number of prisoners.
The situation of the other teams is similar to that of Saar Xiao Jian's side. Now, the Great Qin has gone to extremes, and its bloody expansion by any means has made the Great Qin's development speed several times faster, but it is also exuding an increasingly strong bloody aura.
Meanwhile, turning their attention to the Lolan Ruins, Zhao Fu had just cleared out the Goblin outside and was heading inside.