What happened?
The defense of Nanming Prefecture has encountered its strongest calamity yet!
Unlike the previous calm, the living corpses in Nanming were now everywhere, incredibly reckless. In just one night, the corpses Nanming Prefecture were piled up like mountains, layer upon layer, even higher than the city walls. This spectacular sight shocked even the governor and others who had witnessed the chaotic war of yesteryear.
Especially the Provincial Governor, who had finally managed to build up some resistance these past few days, was once again overwhelmed by the scene before him. Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, and he couldn't even sleep peacefully.
"Your Excellency, what... what is this?"
The provincial governor found the most suitable person to question, Mu Hongqing, unusually showing signs of fatigue, patiently said, "Something terrible must have happened. These zombies are fighting desperately, even more so than during the first siege. It's practically suicidal. Even if they manage to breach the city walls, they'll deliberately seek death. You see, sir, several sections of the defense line collapsed yesterday, but those zombies on the city walls seemed to be deliberately waiting to be killed, barely making a move. I feel something is very wrong!"
"Isn't this a good thing?" the governor asked curiously. Although the zombies hadn't attacked the city for the past few months, their roaming presence was still a threat, like a blade hanging over their necks. They always felt that one day they would suddenly attack at any opportunity. Now, this suicidal suicide, wasn't it a good thing?
"This might not be a good thing!" Mu Hongqing shook his head. "I just haven't figured out the reason yet, but I have a feeling this is definitely not a good thing!"
The governor beside him nodded in agreement. He also sensed something was amiss. Judging from their previous encounters, the leader of these zombies was clearly intelligent and knew how to conserve his strength. Logically, he shouldn't have acted so irrationally.
But it happened anyway. Something unusual must be going on. I need to find out the reason as soon as possible. Intuitively, if this continues, something terrible is bound to happen!
Such suspicions didn't last long; the answer was soon revealed!
"Report!!"
Soon, a group of soldiers riding Dragon Horse charged in from afar. In the vast sea of living corpses, the knights were like a drop of water mixed in with the ocean. But this drop of water showed extremely strong combat power. They actually managed to fight their way through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood and reach the city wall!
"Cover us!!" the governor shouted urgently.
My inner unease suddenly reached its peak!
This cavalry unit was his most elite direct subordinate force, composed entirely of the sons of his own family's centurions and above, each Fourth Rank martial artist, making them top-tier elites even within the entire Black Dragon Guard!
But there are only about ten of these elite soldiers left!
He originally had two hundred men!!
If a dozen or so such teams can break in, you can imagine how strong a complete army must be. With two First Rank warriors leading the way, such a lineup would be enough to penetrate deep into the rear of the Kingdom of Guhuang.
But now, none of the lieutenants have returned; the leader is just an ordinary centurion!
"General, something terrible has happened!" The leading soldier had barely run over when he tumbled off his horse to the ground, his body a bloody mess. Although his eyes were not yet bloodshot, judging from the horrific wounds, he was beyond saving!
"Don't rush, speak slowly!" The general suppressed his anxiety and stepped forward to give her a breath of vital energy!
"New zombies have landed on the coastline, completely different from the previous ones. These new zombies are clad in the armor of the Black Dragon Guard and the Golden Dragon Guard, and their combat power is extremely strong. Especially the generals leading them, each of them is at the level of First Rank martial artist. Our men were wiped out in a single encounter!"
"If it weren't for General Lu Lan and her companion fighting desperately, and the fact that those newly arrived zombies weren't yet used to the scorching sun at the dock, we definitely wouldn't have made it back!"
"How so?"
The general was taken aback and looked at Mu Hongqing: "Didn't you say that as long as the number of zombies here isn't cleared out, there won't be any new ones?" His voice trailed off abruptly.
In an instant, both of their faces turned extremely pale; they understood!
So that's how the zombies die – they send the lower-level zombies to their deaths so that the more powerful ones can be delivered ashore!
"But why wasn't this done before?" the governor couldn't help but ask angrily.
Mu Hongqing lowered his head and thought for a few moments, then guessed, "It must be because it couldn't be before. The soldiers just reported that those newly arrived zombies were wearing the armor of the Golden Dragon Guard and the Black Dragon Guard. It's very likely that something happened to the outer perimeter supported by the imperial court!"
"How could this be?" The governor's first reaction was disbelief. The imperial court had mobilized such a large force this time, and the Duke of Qin was personally leading the expedition—how could anything have gone wrong?
But the situation before him left him no choice but to believe it, so he quickly asked the soldier from before, "Did you see clearly? How many of those living corpses wearing Black Dragon Guard armor and Golden Dragon Guard armor were there?"
"A lot!" the soldier gasped. "They're densely packed, you can't see the end of them. I estimate there are at least tens of thousands!"
"Tens of thousands!!" Both the governor and Mu Hongqing gasped in shock. Tens of thousands! This wasn't just an accident, it was a major one!
"But it seems they weren't fighting on the same front. From the moment we landed, the two sides were vying for control of the dock, and the fighting was extremely fierce. That's why we were able to escape!"
"Like this?" Mu Hongqing thought quickly and immediately called for a halt, "Stop! No more killing of the zombies! Retreat!!"
Mu Hongqing's magical shout reached almost every soldier's ears. All the soldiers were stunned when they heard it, but having experienced several months of fighting, even the ordinary soldiers reacted much better and quickly sheathed their weapons and retreated!
But as soon as they retreated, the zombies advanced, launching a frenzied attack. In the next instant, the front ranks were torn apart by flying flesh and blood. The soldiers were forced to fight back again, but once they resisted, the zombies stopped fighting!
They were even exposed to the scorching sun, their black mist dissipating, letting the sunlight shine on them. In recent days, these zombies had clearly become more resistant to sunlight, and they couldn't die easily!
The governor was terrified at the sight. In all his years in the military, this was the first time he had ever seen such a tactic, and he was momentarily stunned and at a loss for what to do!
If you fight, even more incredibly powerful zombies will come from the shore; if you don't fight, these zombies in front of you will kill you.
Anyone in this situation would be stumped on how to fight this battle. What are we going to do?
"General." Just as the governor was in a state of confusion, Mu Hongqing's sinister voice rang out. "Withdraw the troops!"
"What did you say?" The governor turned around in astonishment. This man, who usually valued civilian lives the most, what had he just said? Withdraw the troops?
"Where can we retreat to?" the governor roared. "Are you insane?"
"You can withdraw." Mu Hongqing's face turned more sinister than ever before. "Only by withdrawing can you live!!"
I'm really sorry for the short word count today, only two thousand words. My head is just spinning, I really can't stay up any longer. I'm going to take a break now. Please try not to stay up late these next few days. Wishing all readers good health and protection from all evil!