Su Yuchi's Kill Order had done little good. Nearly a thousand refugees lay dead beneath the city gate, shot down by arrows, and their bodies had thoroughly inflamed the refugees' fury. They crossed the moat regardless of the danger, most of them elderly people, women, and children.
Faced with unarmed civilians, the soldiers all hesitated, lowering their bows one after another.
Su Yuchi roared, "Loose your arrows! I told you to loose your arrows! Don't you know the consequences of disobeying military orders?"
One soldier was the first to throw his bow to the ground. He folded his hands behind his back and shouted, "To hell with your military orders! Just kill me! Shooting our own people, slaughtering the elderly, women, and children-how does that make us any different from beasts? You talk about defending our homes and country, but who exactly are we defending?"
Su Yuchi snapped, "Arrest him!"
"Then arrest all of us! Brothers, even if we die, we can't do something so utterly devoid of conscience!" Soldier after soldier threw down his weapon.
Su Yuchi had never expected the situation to spiral out of control. The anger in his heart began turning to panic. Things were going badly. His soldiers were clearly deeply dissatisfied with his actions, and if he continued trying to cow them with force, he might provoke a mutiny.
Su Yuchi was, after all, a seasoned commander. Taking stock of the situation, he immediately realized that he had to change his approach. He nodded, turned without a word, and started down from the gate tower. Just then, an earth-shattering explosion rang out. The entire tower shook, smoke and dust billowed everywhere, and a huge hole was blasted through the thick city gate.
The violent tremor nearly knocked Su Yuchi to the ground. Bracing himself