The traitor brothers

By the fourth day, the shouting and cursing on the mountain had completely ceased; one could only see a few swaying figures standing guard from afar.

By the afternoon, even those few guards were no longer visible, but Gao Yuan was still in no rush to head up the mountain, intending to consolidate his position further.

On the mountain, Mǐnlái opened his waterskin, raised it reverently above his head with both hands, and shook it over his open mouth; unfortunately, not a single drop of water came out.

In just a few breaths, his eyes shifted from longing to hope, and then to despair. He understood that he was completely finished; unfortunately, he no longer even had the strength to lift his blade to end his own life.

Without water, they couldn't even swallow their dry rations. They hadn't just been thirsty for four days; they had also been starving for four days. How could they have any strength left?

Therefore, when Gao Yuan led his army to charge up the mountain, what he saw were withered, powerless bodies, their eyes filled with a desperate longing for water and food.

Once a bowl of fragrant rice soup went down, they seemed like balloons being inflated again; unfortunately, there was only that one bowl.

Finding that no one was coming to distribute a second bowl of rice soup, they could only hold the bowl up to their eyes again, sticking out their tongues to lick the tiny traces of food residue left on it.

By evening, the rice soup increased to two bowls. These men ate with such relish; even though there were hardly any grains of rice in the soup, it was a delicacy to them.

When they woke up after a sleep, with a bowl of rice porridge in their stomachs, these men were already weeping with gratitude toward Gao Yuan.

Just like that, the defensive line upon which Bayinnaung had pinned his high hopes completely collapsed in less than ten days.

Having annihilated this army, Gao Yuan marched back to surround Mobi City once again. However, this time he did not come empty-handed; he brought a gift for the defenders of Mobi City.

Stuffing Mǐnlái, who was tied up like a dumpling, into a sack, they placed it as a gift into the hanging basket lowered by the defenders. Zhao Meng couldn't help but shout,

"This is a grand gift carefully selected by my lord. I hope you will all give it some serious thought after receiving it."

Discovering that there was a living creature inside the sack, the garrison soldiers were startled and hurriedly summoned the defending general, Mǐndēng.

Mǐndēng came to the ramparts cursing and swearing. Seeing the terrified expressions on the soldiers' faces, he flew into a rage,

"It's just a sack! Look at how scared you are. Get out of here, you're all embarrassing me!"

"General, there's a living thing inside. Look, it's even moving!"

Mǐndēng glared, his bull-like eyes wide, and slapped the soldier who had spoken on the head,

"So what if it's a living thing? It's just a sack. Even if there were a tiger inside, so what? Are the weapons in your hands just for show?"

To prove that he was not afraid in the least, Mǐndēng took a deep breath, walked with long strides to the wriggling sack, and gathered his courage to untie the rope.

A fierce tiger did not jump out of the sack; instead, a familiar head was revealed.

"Big brother! You... aren't you in the capital?"

Seeing that it was his younger brother, Mǐnlái breathed a sigh of relief.

"The King sent me with troops to reinforce you, but I didn't expect..."

"Didn't expect what?"

Mǐnlái looked at his brother's curious gaze and really wanted to slap him across the face.

"Look at the state I'm in now; can't you see the outcome?"

Sighing again, he briefly recounted the story of his defeat and capture.

"These Han people are truly despicable and shameless. They didn't dare to fight head-on and actually cut off my water supply. It's a pity for my thousands of elite troops."

Mǐndēng now somewhat regretted letting his brother speak. Wouldn't this damage morale?

The city was already panic-stricken from being completely surrounded, and now that the reinforcements had been wiped out, this was a devastating blow to the confidence of the soldiers inside the city.

Just as Mǐndēng had feared, seeing the commander of the reinforcements delivered into the city like a piglet caused the garrison soldiers to start whispering among themselves in private.

"Have you heard? General Mǐndēng's brother has been captured."

"It's more than just a rumor; I saw it with my own eyes. He was tied up like a piglet and brought into the city."

"General Mǐnlái has been captured, but what about the reinforcements?"

"Sigh, don't mention it. They've all become prisoners of the Han, and they're working as laborers outside the city right now."

"Ah, then do you think we can still hold the city?"

"I don't think there's any hope. I heard the Han are extremely formidable at siege warfare; Kengtung was such a massive city, and it didn't even hold out for a day."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you? I heard the Han raised several monsters taller than the city walls, which climbed directly into the city."

Through hearsay, the legend that "the Han have raised giant monsters" soon spread throughout the city, and for a time, everyone felt endangered.

This situation drove Mǐndēng crazy. He sent people to investigate the source of the rumors and punished many soldiers, but it seemed to have no effect at all.

What Mǐndēng didn't expect was that dispelling the rumors would actually rely on Gao Yuan. More than ten days later, when the massive linchong siege tower appeared outside the city, the rumors collapsed on their own.

However, this did nothing to stabilize morale, because anyone could see that the huge monster was meant for siege warfare, and it seemed they were finished.

"Big... big brother, do you think we can still hold out?"

Looking at the massive linchong siege tower, Mǐndēng felt filled with fear and asked Mǐnlái, who was beside him, in a stammer.

"Second brother, why don't we surrender?"

"Surrender? Would the King spare us brothers? Would he spare our families?"

"Second brother, how long do you think we can last if we don't surrender? A day or two? How much longer can Toungoo hold out? Does our King even have a chance to return to Toungoo City?"

This sentence was like opening a floodgate, causing the despair in Mǐndēng's heart to surge. His hand, gripping the hilt of his sword, loosened and tightened, tightened and loosened.

Turning his head to look at the soldiers beside him, he didn't see even a sliver of fighting spirit; only fear.

Could an army like this still have any fighting capability? They would probably scatter the moment the Han climbed onto the ramparts.

Before he could make up his mind, the massive linchong siege tower began to move slowly, pulled by pack horses. The dozens of wooden wheels rolled, emitting a dull, rumbling sound.

Every single sound was like a drum mallet striking Mǐndēng's heart. His psychological defenses were collapsing inch by inch as the linchong siege tower slowly advanced.

Just as they were less than two hundred paces away, Mǐndēng finally broke down and shouted in despair,

"Surrender! We surrender!"

His Mandarin was not standard, but at this moment, it was shouted with utmost clarity and volume.

The battlefield instantly fell silent. Both sides were like they had been hit with a pause button; everyone's gaze was fixed on the figure who had shouted in despair.

Two quarters of an hour later, the gates of Mobi City slowly opened. The Toungoo soldiers, led by the two brothers Mǐnlái and Mǐndēng, walked out of the city, discarded their weapons, took off their heavy armor and threw it on the ground, and then knelt on both sides of the road.

Gao Yuan rode his warhorse, swaying gently, to stand before the two men. Looking down at them, he nodded with satisfaction,

"I am very gratified that you two generals can recognize the situation clearly. Very well, you may go down and rest. Once we breach Toungoo City, we will let you reunite with your families."

The two were overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly, saying in not-so-fluent Mandarin,

"Thank you, General! Thank you, General! We two brothers are willing to guide the army."

Gao Yuan was even more satisfied now and immediately began to paint a rosy picture for them,

"Good. As long as we take Toungoo City, you two will receive generous rewards, enough to guarantee you a life of comfort for the rest of your days."

"Thank you, General! Thank you, General!"

Mobi City was successfully captured. Gao Yuan did not linger long; he left a thousand men to garrison the city, sent word to notify Liu Rengui, and then rushed toward Toungoo City without stopping.

As long as he captured Toungoo City, his event mission would be considered complete, and the generous rewards were within his grasp.