When a tall wild donkey appeared below the city, Luo Qing couldn't help but step in front of Chang Jianyi and use her abilities. She would not allow any enemy to harm Chang Jianyi, so no matter what attacks this wild donkey had, she would block them.
Chu Chaoyan also turned back and cautioned Chang Jianyi, saying, "You should retreat quickly. I'm not sure what this thing can do."
In Chu Chaoyan's opinion, the battle on the city wall had already reached a fever pitch. The sudden appearance of a five-meter-tall wild donkey from the mutated beasts must mean it possessed extraordinary skills, and they had to deal with it cautiously. Especially Chang Jianyi, who was pregnant, couldn't afford to have any accidents. If something happened to her, it would be difficult to explain to Shen Feng.
Chang Jianyi also knew that this was not the time to be brave. She quickly retreated a distance, leaving the battlefield to Chu Chaoyan and Luo Qing.
The other soldiers also fired at the wild donkey, but their bullets were lodged in its strong muscles. The wild donkey was already in a bad temper, and now being hit by many bullets, it felt waves of pain. Its temper flared up immediately, and it rushed to the bottom of the city wall. With a turn, it powerfully kicked its hind legs up.
"Thump, thump..." The wild donkey's hind legs repeatedly kicked against the city wall.
The city wall emitted dull thuds. Under the continuous attacks of the wild donkey, the bluestone city wall finally reacted, and a large piece of bluestone was kicked and shattered.
Chu Chaoyan saw this and immediately frowned, her expression becoming complicated. Looking at the wild donkey below the city, she said, "Is that all? I thought it had some formidable moves!"
Chu Chaoyan finally understood the classical Chinese essay she had studied in junior high school, titled "The Donkey of Qian." She realized what kind of feeling a tiger had when facing an unknown creature. It turned out to be such a simple tactic.
Chu Chaoyan couldn't understand what other skills a wild donkey possessed besides kicking. It rushed to the city wall, shouting and jumping. Perhaps this was the pride of a wild donkey. Moreover, this wild donkey came from the south, and it might have historical origins. After all, the south was the province of Qian.
"Bang," Chu Chaoyan aimed at the wild donkey's head and fired a shot, killing it on the spot. The wild donkey could no longer kick and instantly collapsed, dying.
Meanwhile, Chang Jianyi, who had retreated, was still unaware of what had happened. She couldn't see the situation below the city wall and asked from a distance, "So, how is the battle going?"
Luo Qing helplessly put away her solidified gas. She had thought the wild donkey would have some amazing skills, but it turned out to be just a mad wild donkey with no other abilities besides kicking. Compared to their ancestors hundreds of years ago, the wild donkey's skills hadn't changed at all; it was still the same trick.
"Vice City Lord, it's fine now. You can come back and continue watching. I will continue to protect you," Luo Qing quickly said.
Upon hearing Luo Qing's brief account of what had just happened, Chang Jianyi couldn't help but find it amusing. She shook her head and said, "I never expected to be scared into retreating by a wild donkey."
Chu Chaoyan looked at the battle situation and found it uninteresting. She couldn't help but say, "We overestimated these beasts. Even zombies are more strategic than these beasts. These mutated beasts only know how to charge and dig tunnels. If this continues, we won't need Yang Chang to return; we can end this war ourselves."
Chu Chaoyan recalled the scene she had witnessed the previous night.
Led by Tu Xuhuai, the City Lord's Mansion went from house to house, knocking on doors. Any man found to be sixteen years old was taken away. At that time, people cried and begged not to be taken, believing that once their family members went to the battlefield, they would never return. It could be said that the entire Yuzhou was plunged into weeping.
Many women hid their husbands or children, refusing to let them be found by the City Lord's Mansion, as being found could mean eternal separation.
What's more, as people were being taken away by the City Lord's Mansion, some were already saying their last words. Some told their spouses to remarry after their death, while others asked to be remembered. It was a scene of parting and death.
Chu Chaoyan felt that such actions were akin to forced conscription and couldn't bear to watch. If it weren't for the defense of Yuzhou, the City Lord's Mansion wouldn't have forcibly separated these families.
However, after witnessing the current battle situation, Chu Chaoyan lost all interest. She realized that Yuzhou had overestimated the mutated beasts. Even if beasts mutated, they were still beasts, and there was no need to worry too much about them. On the contrary, the people in the city were too pessimistic, always believing that going to the battlefield was a matter of life and death.
An hour after the battle began, there were no casualties among the soldiers on the city wall. The strength of the mutated beasts was only this much; they couldn't even defeat temporarily recruited militiamen.
It wasn't just Chu Chaoyan who saw through the current situation; even Chang Jianyi understood that the mutated beasts' strength could not break through Yuzhou. She couldn't figure out why so many mutated beasts were charging towards them.
Just then, the mutated beasts in the distance suddenly scattered, bypassing Yuzhou and moving towards the east and west sides.
The every move of the mutated beasts was being monitored. When everyone discovered that the mutated beasts were fleeing, the news was immediately reported. When Chang Jianyi and others learned of this news, they were all stunned. Didn't these mutated beasts come out of the mountains to eat people? Why were they all running away now?
Feng Shicheng had a guess and quickly said, "I think these mutated beasts wouldn't come out of the mountains for no reason. Their purpose might not be to eat people. If they can find other edible things, why would they attack the city?"
After Feng Shicheng voiced his guess, Chang Jianyi's expression changed. She understood the matter. Feng Shicheng's words enlightened her. Indeed, there was no reason for the mutated beasts to keep attacking the city. As long as these beasts could find food, whether it was to the east or west of Yuzhou, fields had already begun to be cultivated, and some legumes were ready for harvest. The thirty thousand mutated beasts were coming down the mountain to eat the crops!
"Quickly find a way to kill these mutated beasts, otherwise Yuzhou will face a famine!" Chang Jianyi was now completely panicked. If the mutated beasts wanted a real fight, it would be one thing, but their goal was to eat crops, which was unacceptable. They had finally cultivated enough food, and now, at this time, wild beasts were coming down the mountain to snatch food. If they ate the grain, what would humans eat?
Chu Chaoyan was also stunned. Looking at the slowly retreating mutated beasts in the distance, she was also in a state of confusion and didn't know what to do. The mutated beasts were going to eat the crops! Wouldn't Yuzhou face a famine? They had just managed to cultivate fields, and the crops weren't even ready for harvest yet, but the mutated beasts were already coming to wreak havoc.
Chang Jianyi found Professor Niu Baiye and directly asked for a countermeasure.
Professor Niu slowly sat down. He hadn't expected such a situation, but after careful analysis, he felt it was reasonable.
"The mountains were originally the territory of mutated beasts, especially after a winter of reproduction, the number of mutated beasts had already increased to an unbelievable extent! And the food in the mountains was definitely not enough for so many animals to eat. These animals, under the pressure of survival, would inevitably go down the mountain. Once they go down the mountain, they will either eat people or compete with humans for food!" Professor Niu analyzed.
Only when they couldn't survive in the mountains would mutated beasts be likely to go down the mountain and enter human territory.
After the mutated beasts attacked Yuzhou and were blocked by the tall city walls, they clearly couldn't eat people. Therefore, the mutated beasts gave up the idea of eating people and went to eat the crops planted by humans instead!
Countless mutated beasts rushed into the fields, eating whatever crops they saw. Even animals like cats and dogs, which primarily ate meat, were gnawing on crops due to survival pressure. The fields closest to Yuzhou were immediately ravaged.
Chang Jianyi anxiously said, "Professor, please give us some advice. If all the food is eaten, the millions of people in Yuzhou will surely face a famine."
Professor Niu also had no good solutions at this time. After thinking about it, he finally said, "Now, there is no other way but to hunt down the mutated beasts!"
Chang Jianyi shook her head helplessly and said, "Ordinary people are no match for mutated beasts. If they could be easily hunted, the situation wouldn't be so difficult now."
Professor Niu spread his hands, having no solution.
The next day, Yang Chang arrived outside Yuzhou City with six to seven thousand soldiers and tens of thousands of refugees. They had traveled upstream by boat for nearly two days and finally reached outside Yuzhou City.
Yang Chang had expected to face a fierce battle upon returning to Yuzhou. For this reason, he had specifically instructed his soldiers to be alert and to unleash their powerful combat strength upon returning to Yuzhou, so that a group of mutated beasts would not harm their families. This was a battle to protect their families.
In Yang Chang's imagination, Yuzhou would be filled with mutated beasts everywhere, and they would face an ocean of mutated beasts that stretched as far as the eye could see. Perhaps it would even be more brutal than fighting against a zombie horde.
However, when Yang Chang returned to Yuzhou, he was stunned. He couldn't believe what he saw. The area outside Yuzhou City was a mess, with bullet holes everywhere, but not a single mutated beast was visible. It seemed the battle had already ended!
This was something Yang Chang had never expected. Was Yuzhou's combat power so strong that only a little over a thousand people could defeat over three hundred thousand mutated beasts? Or were the mutated beasts simply too weak?
While Yang Chang was still confused, upon entering the city, he was immediately informed of the battle's progress. It turned out that Yuzhou had not won the victory, but the mutated beasts had retreated voluntarily. However, the over three hundred thousand mutated beasts had begun to ravage the crops, and the City Lord's Mansion was still discussing what to do.
Hearing this, Yang Chang couldn't help but look at Guo Pinming and Lu Xian, only to find them looking helpless. They had expected to return to fight, but the battle had already ended, and the mutated beasts had instead gone to ravage the crops. This situation could not be ignored.
When Yang Chang and the other three main commanders entered the conference room, they saw a group of people with dark circles under their eyes engaged in a heated discussion. These people had stayed up all night, constantly considering how to deal with the mutated beasts, and the conference room was already in chaos.
Chang Jianyi sat at the head of the conference room, looking haggard. She had also pondered the current situation for a long time. Although she had some ideas for countermeasures, they had not yet reached a consensus.
Chu Chaoyan sat beside Chang Jianyi, seemingly diligently recording the meeting's content, but in reality, she was jotting down her observations in her notebook.
"The weather is clear and the branches are lush, it is the height of summer. I saw many lotus flowers in Rongcheng before, and I imagine they have bloomed by now, perhaps it is 'endless green lotus leaves touching the sky, and sun-kissed lotus flowers with a different kind of red.' But I have no chance to see such scenery. Thirty thousand mutated beasts have entered Yuzhou and are wantonly destroying the crops. The discussion in the conference room has been about how to kill the mutated beasts for a long time. I think it's time for me to step forward.
When the beasts in the mountains were planting crops, these beasts did not appear. But when the crops were almost ready, these beasts came to snatch food. Such an absurd thing in the world. In this regard, I must strike a heavy blow against these mutated beasts, preferably to make a name for myself."
Chu Chaoyan decided in her heart that this was the time for her to turn the tide. After all, Chang Jianyi was still pregnant, and Shen Feng was still pursuing the Dragon King downstream of the Yangtze River. At this moment, only she could step forward. In turbulent times, true heroes emerge. Chu Chaoyan wanted to prove that she was not just a pretty face.