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Chapter 537: Setting the City on Fire (Part 1)

Blood was spurting, limbs were flying, and the sound of steel sabers cutting through human bodies was blood curdling. The heart rending screams of the dying pierced the ears and traumatized the mind.

Those miserable screams could even be clearly heard outside the city.

Ren Baqian was sitting next to the empress outside the carriage and enjoying the night wind as well as the distant whiff of blood.

“Sing a song for me!” the empress suddenly said.

“I know how to sing ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star!\'” Ren Baqian’s spirit was uplifted.

The ears of the little lolita, Tong Lan, pricked up as soon as she heard this phrase.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star…

Tong Lan gnashed her teeth. She had beaten up her schoolmates before because no one knew this song.

“You sing, I will listen!” The empress raised her head to look at the night sky.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky…” Ren Baqian sang softly.

The empress didn’t feel that the song was childish. In fact, she felt a warmth that was similar to when she was in her mother’s arms listening to her ballads. It was so long ago that she couldn’t recall it, but hearing this song brought back the memories from deep inside her.

“When the war is settled, I will go to the mountains to take a look,” the empress said.

Ren Baqian stopped singing and asked, “The Sixty Thousand Mountains?”

The empress nodded her head.

“Why do you suddenly have this idea?”

“I have heard that my mother’s tomb is in the mountains. She does not know what I look like now.” The empress was rarely so emotional.

“I will accompany you when the time comes. However, if we want the war to end, we need to defeat Great Xia,” Ren Baqian said.

“Didn’t you plot something with that man from Great Xia?” the empress asked.

“I have told you before, once Great Xia is in turmoil, we will be stable and secure. Furthermore, we can do a lot of things with 100 million taels of silver,” Ren Baqian said.

The empress nodded and didn’t say anything.

“Actually, we do not need to wait until the war has ended. As long as we have radio stations, we can govern from anywhere.” Ren Baqian laughed.

“We can’t use them here!” the empress said.

“Uh…” Ren Baqian opened his mouth wide. It was unexpected that an area as large as Tianjing Basin was so strange that radio waves couldn’t propagate.

At this time, a few figures crossed the city and flew quickly to the place where Ren Baqian and the empress were located.

Zuo Leng landed in front of Ren Baqian and the empress, then reported loudly, “Sir Ren, I have urgent news!”

“Speak!”

“Sir, this news is from Phoenix Knife’s Hu Cheng.”

Ren Baqian immediately remembered this person who was mentioned by Zuo Leng two days ago and recalled that he was an officer who worked under Tie Zihe. Ren Baqian wondered what the news was about.

“The rebels want to set the city on fire!” Zuo Leng exclaimed in an ice-cold tone. He was initially shocked when he received this news, but then became very angry because he had been born and bred in Tianjing Basin. Although neither parties could be blamed for using any means in battle, he didn’t expect the rebels to be so ruthless.

“What are they going to do?” Ren Baqian became serious.

“According to the message left by Hu Cheng, the rebels have placed fuel in many locations and are waiting for our army to advance deep into the city before setting the fuel on fire. I have already checked and found oil cans as well as firewood in many places. They are mostly placed in some corners or in courtyards and are hard to detect if one didn’t know beforehand.”

“Sir, the houses in Youxin City are mostly made of wood. Once the fire is started, it will be hard to control. Not only will our soldiers suffer serious casualties, but even the commoners in Youxin City will find it hard to escape.”

The oil cans here were filled with animal fat.

“Didn’t the commoners evacuate earlier?” Ren Baqian was rather surprised.

“No. Otherwise, I would have instantly noticed that something was wrong when entering the city.”

“They are really ruthless and cruel!” Ren Baqian suddenly laughed gloomily. “Desperate dogs will jump over a wall, whereas these rebels are going to sacrifice more than 100,000 commoners. They have really gone crazy.”

“Sir, what should we do?” Zhou Leng asked.

“Order the men from the Rearguard Commandery to remove the oil cans from both sides of the main road and to pile the firewood in one place with someone guarding it to ensure the safety of the army when they leave. After that, treat the main road as an axis and look for oil cans on both sides,” Ren Baqian ordered firmly.

During such a fire, most people would not be burned to death, but would die from suffocation due to smoke inhalation.

Those that weren’t burned could also die from inhaling carbon monoxide or from the lack of oxygen.

Without oil, it would be very difficult to quickly start a big fire with firewood alone. Therefore, the rebels’ plan could be considered a failure.

“Understood!”

“Your Majesty, what do you think?” Ren Baqian turned his head to ask.

“Notify the winged cavalry to block the other three city gates to keep the rebels inside the city,” the empress said coldly. The original plan was to reduce their own casualty rate by leaving two gates for the rebels to escape through. Then, they would chase after the fleeing rebels.

The empress had changed her mind now.

“Your Majesty, I am afraid they will not burn down the city in this case, but will fight to the death, causing our casualty rate to be higher in the end. It might be better to wait for them to start the fire before blocking the three gates,” Ren Baqian said gloomily. “You reap what you sow. Initially, I didn’t plan on taking this step, but since they want to set fire to the city, they cannot blame anyone else. I will let them be destroyed along with Youxin City.”

“Sir, the commoners of the city…” Although the name, Zuo Leng, meant coldness, he was actually a kind soul. Immediately, he was inspired by Ren Baqian’s words.

“Inform Protector General Xi to reduce the intensity of the attack and to delay while waiting for the majority of the oil cans in the southern part of the city to be removed before escalating the assault. As for the commoners, get people to lead them from the other three city gates and let them flee south. As for the number of commoners that are able to escape, it will depend on their own fate.”

Zuo Leng was grateful when he heard of this arrangement.

He didn’t expect the three major factions, who were born and bred here, to come up with this plan of burning the city and letting the commoners die in a sea of fire in order to prevent the aboriginals from discovering the plot. Ren Baqian had always given him the impression of being a ruthless superior, but had given the commoners a lifeline.

Although there would inevitably be many casualties, numerous people would also survive.

“Tell Protector General Xi about what I have said and monitor the movements of the rebels from a vantage point. If they start the fire and discover that the three other gates are blocked, most of them may think of breaking through the south gate and should be immediately intercepted. As for you people, after leading the citizens to the south gate to escape, go around and slaughter the small groups of rebels in the city.”

“Understood, Sir,” Zuo Leng said. He expressed regret over the matter.

“Go. Think of a way to contact Hu Cheng and tell him to leave.” Ren Baqian turned to the empress and said, “Your Majesty, although we can let the rebels stay, it’s a pity that we cannot keep their leaders.”