The top of Yinglan City was crowded with elephants with teeth and claws. They were roaring, grinning, and rushing towards the city wall.

The entire Yinglan City has been covered by the black sea, and there are ferocious elephant warriors everywhere, slashing and killing the Dali guards and wreaking havoc.

Blood is flowing everywhere in the city. If you listen carefully, you can vaguely hear the Yinglan guards howling in pain.

But more of them are the roars and grins of elephants, as well as the frightening swallowing sounds.

The wails of the guards gradually weakened until they disappeared...

……

Chai Yuzhao, the emperor of Dali, kept walking back and forth in the palace with his eyebrows furrowed and his face solemn.

A little further away, there were Prime Minister Zeng Chengwang, Minister of War and others standing, all of them had solemn faces, bowed their heads in silence, and were full of worry.

"Why haven't we heard any news yet?" Suddenly stopping, Emperor Dali cursed angrily.

Last night, after receiving the news from Yinglan City, Emperor Dali was so frightened that his hands and feet trembled. Unexpectedly, what he had been worried about actually happened!

Xiang Rong begins to invade the south with all his strength!

Regardless of the depth of the night, he immediately summoned many ministers and discussed it for a long time in the dormitory. It was not until early in the morning that they dispersed.

Rather than discussing it, it was more like lamenting and praying together. Apart from passing down the order and letting the third line of defense defend, there was no constructive opinion at all.

But now, it was already the evening of the second day, and no news came. Emperor Da Li was filled with anxiety and couldn't help but pace back and forth in the palace.

At this moment, footsteps suddenly came from outside the palace. Everyone in the palace, including Emperor Dali, Zeng Chengwang, and many ministers, quickly turned their heads to look.

I saw a soldier with a panic-stricken look on his face. He ran into the palace and reported in a shocked voice, "Your Majesty, there is a battle report from the front line!"

Emperor Dali suddenly clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and shouted, "Read it!"

The soldier quickly opened the secret message and hurriedly read, "The city of Yinglan was destroyed. One hundred thousand guardsmen suffered heavy casualties. Only one tenth of them managed to escape!"

When Emperor Dali heard this, his whole body went limp and he almost fell down!

He quickly held the back of the chair, his face full of shock and panic!

Many ministers failed to notice the strangeness of Chai Yuzhao, because they were also shocked!

The second line of defense that was painstakingly built was broken...

The third line of defense will definitely not be able to hold it for long!

They seemed to have foreseen the scene where black-haired elephants would rush into Lidu, roaring and pounce on them!

Everyone was terrified, and the entire hall was filled with deathly silence!

I don’t know how long it took for someone to come back to their senses and lament again and again.

The moment he heard the news, Zeng Chengwang's eyes widened and he has not been able to recover to this day.

He suddenly thought of something and asked quickly, "Where is General Gu? Has General Gu ever escaped?"

Guards should live and die with the city, but Gu Yulan is an exception. She is extremely important to Dali.

Let’s not talk about her being a famous general. She is very good at commanding troops and can stabilize the hearts of soldiers. Let’s just talk about her reputation. She defended Yinglan for several months and blocked the Xiang Rong outside the city. She was the first person among the Yuan clan to resist the Xiang Rong.

, he is also a general who is extremely trusted by the people of Dali and has high popularity.

If she were alive, she would definitely be able to boost morale in the future fight against the Xiang Rong!

After hearing the question, the soldier who sent the message was stunned for a moment, and quickly checked the battle report. He looked over it over and over, but did not see any other words. He could only look to Zeng Chengwang and said helplessly, "Sir, the battle report only contains the sentence just now!"

Zeng Chengwang frowned, stepped forward quickly, took the battle report, and looked at it carefully. He read both the front and back, and indeed there was no mention of Gu Yulan's whereabouts.

He couldn't help but frown!

This situation made him a little confused.

The battle report has not yet been written, so what is Gu Yulan’s situation?

The Minister of War thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "When the outcome is unknown, the battle report will not be written hastily. This shows that General Gu... is not sure whether he is alive or dead."

This battle report came from the third line of defense.

Their information was most likely obtained through reconnaissance cavalry and oral reports from deserters.

In this way, the information will be incomplete and some important information will be missed.

After all, the war situation in England was extremely tragic. Less than one-tenth of the people who escaped, most of them died. Although a small number of deserters escaped with their lives, the situation was chaotic and it was impossible to know who died and who was still alive.

What can be confirmed is that when the battle report was sent back from the third line of defense, Gu Yulan did not escape back inside.

It is very possible that... he died heroically!

Or it is possible that Gu Yulan escaped back to the third line of defense after the battle report came out.

But no matter which possibility, no one can be sure until there is a final result.

The hall once again became deathly silent.

"Hateful!" He slapped the back of the chair violently, and Emperor Dali shouted. He had calmed down, no longer trembling, and became hysterical, "Damn Xiangrong, damn it!"

Zeng Chengwang turned his head and saw that Emperor Da Li's face was pale. He couldn't help but feel sad. He turned around and looked around and found that the surrounding ministers were also the same.

He sighed sadly, cupped his hands and advised, "Your Majesty, please calm down."

"Calm down your anger! What's the use of calming down? If I calm down, will Xiangrong die? Will he retreat?" Emperor Dali was furious and cursed Zeng Chengwang, who was sulking.

During this period, he was under great pressure. Now, Yinglan City has been destroyed, the guards suffered heavy casualties, Gu Yulan's life and death are unknown, and the third line of defense can never stop hundreds of thousands of soldiers. All of this makes

He almost collapsed and became hysterical.

Zeng Chengwang lowered his head and remained silent, letting Chai Yuzhao vent his temper. He knew that Chai Yuzhao was neither a wise king nor a capable person. Such pressure was too great for the other party, so it was understandable to vent his temper.

After scolding for a while, Emperor Dali suddenly shouted, "Break the dike! The dike must be broken!"

Before, he had decided that if the third line of defense could not be held, he would break the dike and drown those damn elephants!

But after making the decision, he began to feel a little hesitant, wondering whether he should do this or not.

But now, he has no hesitation.

He felt it was extremely worth it to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of common people in exchange for Dali's survival!

The officials sighed and originally wanted to say something, but in the end they held back.

They know that if this is not done, Dali will perish, and tens of thousands of Dali people will be displaced and brutally slaughtered. At that time, life will truly be in ruins!

……

Suddenly, Gu Yulan opened her eyes and was about to sit up when she saw the wooden roof and was startled!

As if she had lost her soul, she was stunned for a long time before slowly sitting up and covering her face with her hands in grief.

It remains motionless for a long time, like a sculpture.

It seemed like crystal tears slowly overflowed from between her fingers...

Her subordinates fought bravely, and one after another fell in front of her and beside her, but she abandoned Yinglan and managed to survive...

Guilt, sadness, helplessness... are all over my heart!

……

The Yinglan city was broken, and the news that Xiangrong was about to attack the third line of defense spread like wildfire.

In an instant, everyone was panicked, especially the many common people who were adjacent to the third line of defense. After hearing the news, they were horrified and hurriedly returned home, packed up their belongings, dragged their families and fled to the south.

Along the way, there were huge crowds of people, with sad faces and panic-stricken children.

They were very sad to leave their hometown where they had lived for a long time, abandon their real estate, become homeless, and become refugees.

They didn't know if they could escape the Xiang Rong's claws by fleeing south, or whether Dali could stop the Xiang Rong.

They only know that if they stay here and don’t leave, they will die without a burial place!

Among these people, many were in ragged clothes and had yellowish faces. They staggered forward with the crowd.

They were all people who had previously fled from the city behind the second line of defense to the third line of defense. Before they could settle down, they had to continue fleeing.

These days are the most miserable days for them since they were born. Only when they become refugees do they know what it means to be insignificant.

Many of them fled in a hurry, carrying nothing or not much. After using up, they were now hungry and full, and they didn't have much strength anymore.

The refugees who brought some money could buy food to fill their stomachs. However, as a large number of refugees poured into the city, the price of food skyrocketed, making it impossible for immigrants like them to afford it.

I don’t know if someone is trying to enrich the country, or if the supply is simply too short of supply.

Until they ran out of money and had no money to exchange for food, the refugees had to dig wild vegetables outside the city in order to fill their stomachs. However, more and more people went out to dig wild vegetables, and the wild vegetables continued to decrease and were eventually used up.

In order to survive, many women can only sell their bodies in exchange for a mouthful of food.

And more people are as skinny as a stick due to hunger, with sallow complexions and skinny muscles. They walk precariously, as if they will fall down in the next moment.

This scene made the other refugees feel sad.

In the past, they could not empathize with them, but now, they all understand that the appearance of these people will be their tragic situation in the future!

In troubled times, human life is as cheap as a dog, and no one can escape the tragic fate!

……
To be continued...