Before Qian Lang and his men arrived, all their personnel had been assembled, and they were even equipped with a full set of gear.
If one were to speak only of their equipment, the items they wore were even superior to those worn by the soldiers currently fighting on the city walls.
Of course, regarding all of this, Han Mo could only choose to turn a blind eye for the moment.
After all, the origin of these items could be easily surmised. If his assumptions were correct, all these goods should have been bought from foreign merchants or directly from Li Yueyang.
In this era, ordinary citizens struggled to make ends meet, with many living on the brink of starvation year-round.
However, the guards and household retainers of these prominent families were quite different. Not only were their meals much better, but most of them should have also practiced martial arts for a period.
They underwent regular drills daily, making them a genuine fresh force in the current stalemate of the battlefield.
"Where did these guys come from?"
As soon as these men joined the fray, Han Shizhong, who had been suppressed by the rebels, felt a surge of surprise.
"These are the household retainers of the gentry in the city, sir has started mobilizing the citizens. General Han, sir requests that you absolutely must hold the city today!"
While Han Shizhong was still pondering, Jiang Yan hurried over to inform him.
"Excellent! Go back and tell sir that as long as I am here, these rebels will not enter the city!"
Han Shizhong said this while drawing his bow and nocking an arrow, shooting through the head of a rebel who had just climbed the city wall.
"Then I shall trouble you. Take care!"
Regardless of whether Han Mo was willing or not, mobilizing the populace to defend the city was already an unavoidable necessity.
The clamor of battle on the city walls was deafening, and within Mingzhou City, the able-bodied laborers began to be conscripted.
Although these men had not received professional training, defending a city was much simpler with the protection of the city walls.
As they joined the combat, Han Shizhong quickly began to adjust his combat strategy. The soldiers originally on the city walls were all collectively promoted.
For every two ordinary soldiers, three ordinary citizens were assigned behind them.
They were divided into teams of five, with each squad responsible for one battlement.
The two captains wielded spears and sword shields respectively, while the remaining civilian militia were tasked with throwing stones down at the enemy.
Although the casualties among the militia began to rise rapidly with this arrangement, the results were evident.
The troop strength on the city walls more than doubled instantly.
The speed of throwing stones also increased significantly. While some soldiers occasionally managed to jump onto the city walls, they were now firmly suppressed below.
This caused the rebels' hard-won morale to plummet once again.
Watching the soldiers who were on the verge of climbing the city walls being struck down one by one by the falling stones from above, Lü Shinang suddenly realized that bringing his troops to attack Mingzhou was a colossal mistake.
The city of Mingzhou, which he had expected to take with ease, had now become a thorny issue.
Yet, he was incredibly unwilling to retreat in such a manner.
After all, they had suffered too many casualties in their attempt to capture Mingzhou City. If they were to withdraw just like this, it was likely that his army would completely disband shortly after their retreat.
However, amidst his internal conflict, the sky finally darkened.
As dusk approached, a light rain began to fall from the sky.
It was already past the beginning of winter, and although Mingzhou's weather was not as cold as in the north, the feeling of being drenched after the rain made every attacking soldier feel extremely uncomfortable.
"General, allow the brothers to retreat and rest for a while..."
Looking at the dazed expressions of his soldiers, Lü Shinang could only nod helplessly.
"The rebels have retreated!"
"The rebels have retreated!"
"The rebels have retreated!"
Compared to the rebel soldiers who lacked clothing and food, the conditions for the Song army on the city walls were far better.
As soon as the rebels withdrew from the city walls, citizens from the city spontaneously carried large buckets of hot soup onto the walls.
In such weather, a sip of hot soup was truly a rare treat.
As time went on, the rain gradually intensified, pouring down in torrents. This not only made it difficult for the defending soldiers to bear but also made the muddy conditions brought by the heavy rain exceedingly miserable for the rebel troops.
"General, order that the 200 sheep they collected be slaughtered. Let the soldiers have a good feast tonight!"
Listening to the clamor of the rain outside, Han Mo took a deep breath and then directly ordered.
"Yes!"
"The moon is dark and the wind is high, and the rain pours down. Tonight is destined to be a night of bloodshed..."
After Jiang Yan retreated, Han Mo said slowly.
"Sir, you seem entirely different from others I know. At a time like this, shouldn't you be happy?"
After a period of silence, Shao Bowen suddenly spoke.
"Happy? What is there to be happy about? Sir, have you ever considered why these people are rebelling with the Manichaeism?"
After hearing Han Mo's words, Shao Bowen was suddenly stunned.
"It's nothing more than the inability to survive. Why can't they survive? Because corrupt officials and greedy bureaucrats oppress them too much. And we? We can only use the butcher's knife to resolve everything for our own benefit, our own future, and for the things we want to do. What is there to be happy about in such matters?"
As Han Mo spoke, a hint of self-mockery appeared on his face.
"Shao accepts your teachings!"
After a long silence, Shao Bowen bowed and saluted Han Mo once more.
"It's alright, nothing else matters now. After tonight, I, too, will be covered in blood. I only hope that such things will be fewer and fewer in the future. If blood must be shed, then let it be shed by those of foreign races!"
As he spoke his last words, Han Mo's expression regained its resolute determination.
He could not save the people outside. What he could do was to make their deaths more meaningful.
The glory of a successful general is built upon the bones of countless soldiers. Whether he wished it or not, at this very moment, he needed those corpses to carry him to the heavens...
"Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Han is here!"
Just as Shao Bowen was about to say something, Jiang Yan's voice was heard from outside again.
"Please invite him in!"