Han Mo closed his eyes in pain as he watched the commotion in the distant crowd.
Once war began, human lives were no longer merely lives.
The lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians had now become bargaining chips in the eyes of both warring parties.
At least until one side emerged victorious, neither would cease their offensive for their sake.
As the refugees charged forward, Fang Qifo let out a triumphant roar to the heavens.
In that moment, he seemed to see Wang Bing's headless corpse lying at his feet.
"Release the cattle!"
The war had progressed to this point, and Wang Bing no longer harbored any compassion.
His last shred of hope had been extinguished with the charge of these refugees.
At his command, the battle line arrayed in front parted.
Immediately thereafter, torches were lit on the tails of over a thousand cattle and horses.
In pain, all the cattle and horses charged forward desperately.
Compared to the refugees, the speed of these cattle and horses was significantly faster.
In mere breaths, the two sides collided.
Compared to them, the human body was far too fragile.
Almost in an instant, the refugee ranks were cut open by the stampede, creating a bloody chasm.
Amidst countless screams, the remaining refugees scattered in all directions.
"Not good, General, run!"
In order to quickly break through the military formation, the rebels had almost mixed themselves in with the refugees.
If these refugees had maintained their charging momentum, there might still have been some distance between them, but now, as the refugees in front began to flee in disarray, those behind also started to retreat unconsciously.
Coupled with the terror of the stampeding beasts, any rebel who dared to maintain their formation in front of them would only be trampled into a bloody mess.
The Liangzhe region was mountainous, and even though this was an official road, its width was less than twenty feet.
Nearly a thousand maddened cattle and horses had almost filled every corner of the road.
In less than fifteen minutes, Fang Qifo's army of several thousand had collapsed into a disorganized rout.
To escape the rampaging beasts, countless men jumped into the roadside river.
In the face of such a swift current, human strength was insignificant.
"Surrenderers shall be spared; those found with iron weapons within ten paces shall be killed without mercy!"
After the onslaught of the beasts, the battlefield fell silent. Wang Bing took a deep breath and issued another order to advance.
"Those who kneel shall be spared; those found with iron weapons within ten paces shall be killed without mercy!"
As a precaution, Wang Bing left five hundred of the Victorius Army to guard the center, while the rest were committed to the assault.
All the Song soldiers, in neat formation, began searching the survivors one by one.
With his order, the surviving rebel soldiers were immediately isolated.
Compared to the Song soldiers before them, these refugees actually harbored more hatred for the rebel soldiers who had wielded blades against their kin.
Although they dared not take revenge directly, in order to save themselves, each tried their best to distance themselves from the rebels.
This immediately made the targets clear.
Anyone isolated from the crowd was immediately cut down by the nearby Song soldiers.
"Damn it! My army! My army!"
At the rear of his ranks, escorted by his retainers, Fang Qifo finally reached a safe zone. However, looking at the less than two thousand soldiers remaining by his side, he was truly heartbroken.
To ensure the success of this operation, he had brought only the elite troops he had selected from various armies.
He had originally intended to use Wang Bing to establish his authority, but unexpectedly, just as they were about to succeed, Wang Bing had played this trick.
Not only had all his plans come to naught, but he had also suffered a significant loss of his own capital.
"General, we should retreat quickly. They will be here soon!"
Seeing the Song army steadily advancing, the remaining rebel soldiers dared not fight any longer.
Before any formal engagement, their morale had already been shattered.
"Let's fight! I'll fight them head-on!"
After planning for so long, he had ultimately been defeated by a herd of cattle and horses.
At this moment, Fang Qifo was like a gambler who had lost all his chips. He raised his saber, ready to rally his troops for another battle.
"General, look at the brothers. Everyone is injured. How can we fight now?"
Seeing Fang Qifo begin to lose his mind, his subordinate generals started to dissuade him.
If it had been at the beginning, with their numerical advantage, they might have been able to fight again, but at this moment, their numbers were even fewer than the Song army's. In such a situation, charging the Song army would be suicide.
"Take the General, let's go!"
Seeing that Fang Qifo had lost his reason, Fang Huaisheng, his nephew, struck him on the back of the neck with a powerful palm strike.
Under his leadership, the remaining soldiers desperately fled towards Hangzhou city.
"Tell the brothers to quickly clean up the battlefield. All those found with iron weapons are to be executed. Send someone to report our victory to the Pacification Commissioner's Office and request them to immediately send people with sufficient medicine to treat the nearby civilians!"
Seeing the rebels retreat, Wang Bing breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Medicine is not necessary. Even if we asked for it, they wouldn't give it. Ask them to prepare some salt, clean linen cloth, and some grain..."
Looking at the innocent civilians groaning on the ground, Han Mo's heart suddenly became unusually calm.
In the current situation, medicine was extremely precious. Even if Zhao Zhen was willing, the officials at the Pacification Commissioner's Office would not agree.
Rather than getting nothing, Han Mo preferred to obtain something that could save lives.
"Salt? The army still has some salt, and we have some linen cloth, but how should they be used?"
The battle was over, but Wang Bing showed no signs of excitement.
Although the soldiers below were celebrating, as the commander, he could not be happy at this moment. Hearing Han Mo's words, he immediately asked.
"Set up large pots, boil these linen cloths in hot water for fifteen minutes, dissolve the salt in boiling water using copper basins, then use it to clean the wounds of the injured, and finally, bandage their wounds with the boiled linen cloths!"
"What are you waiting for? Go quickly!"