Chapter 145: Battle Of Xiling
In the command tent of the Yuzhang Army barracks, Gan Ning was discussing the details of the city attack with Xu Shu and several great generals. Gan Ning certainly could not place all his hopes of seizing the city on Su Fei; he himself also needed to take action.
Huang Zhong said: “When this subordinate was defending Linxiang City back then, he specially built a firewall and covered the city wall with sand and soil. The greatest benefit of covering it with sand and soil is absorbing fire oil to prevent it from flowing. The firewall not only prevents fire but also smoke. Prepare a pot of clean water and two pieces of cloth for each soldier; wetting the cloth with water and covering the mouth and nose can prevent smoke. But when this subordinate observed the city wall today, all signs indicate that Xiling County has no such measures, so fire oil can completely be used to attack the city. Just the thick smoke alone can make the defending soldiers on the city wall unable to stay.”
Huang Zhong’s words excited everyone. Zhao Yun said: “Although ships cannot be used to enter the moat, we can use catapults to hurl burning fire oil. Even if it hits the city wall, it will burn and produce a large amount of thick smoke, which is very advantageous for our city attack.”
Seeing that General Taishi was also eager to speak, Gan Ning smiled and said: “Does General Taishi have any ideas?”
Taishi Ci rose slightly and said: “During training, this subordinate repeatedly tested climbing the wall in blazing fire. If the siege ladder is wrapped in cowhide, it can be fireproof. Additionally, we tested soldiers climbing the wall with wet bedding on top, which not only defends against arrows but also effectively resists burning fire oil.”
Zhao Yun promptly reminded: “But we have already used fire oil to sweep the ground first, so there will be no enemy army on the city wall anymore.”
Taishi Ci smiled and said: “I know. I mean passing through the fire field we set ourselves.”
Gan Ning nodded. “This plan is good, but no need for wet bedding. We use military blankets; every soldier has one. Soak it completely wet, then drape it over the body to attack the city. The head should also be wrapped in wet cloth to prevent facial skin from being burned and smoke inhalation.”
Everyone chimed in one after another, and soon finalized a complete city attack plan.
The generals withdrew, leaving only Xu Shu in the command tent. Gan Ning stood in front of the map, pointing to the north of Jiangxia Commandery. “This is Yiyang Three Passes, the second passage from Jingzhou to the Central Plains, but it is also the second passage for the Central Plains army to invade Jingzhou. We need to rebuild a strong pass here to prevent Cao Cao’s army from killing into Jingzhou from here.”
Xu Shu pondered for a moment and said: “Does my lord think that Cao Cao will come in from Jiangxia Commandery in the future, rather than Nanyang Commandery?”
Gan Ning shook his head. “Cao Cao will not choose one or the other; he will definitely select both.”
“My lord makes a good point!”
At this time, a soldier reported at the tent entrance: “Su Fei has sent someone to request an audience!”
Gan Ning and Xu Shu exchanged a glance, and Gan Ning nodded. “Bring him in!”
Soon, several soldiers brought in a drenched messenger. He took out half an iron token from his arms and presented it.
This was the token given to Su Fei. Xu Shu took it and verified it; it matched perfectly.
“What message does General Su have?”
The messenger took out a white wax pellet and presented it. “This lowly one is only responsible for delivering the letter. What General Su wants to say is all inside here.”
Gan Ning crushed the wax pellet, revealing a note inside. He opened the note and examined it closely. Su Fei had arranged to open the East City Gate at noon tomorrow.
Gan Ning nodded and asked the messenger: “Do you need to go back to report?”
“Reporting to the general, this lowly one cannot go back. The general may light three piles of fire outside the East City, which indicates that you have received his message.”
“I understand!”
Gan Ning ordered to reward the messenger with ten taels of silver and had his personal guard take him down to rest.
Only then did Gan Ning ask Xu Shu: “Strategist, do you think it is credible?”
Xu Shu pondered for a moment and said: “Hard to say, but the degree of credibility is somewhat higher. However, we cannot bet everything on Su Fei. This subordinate suggests attacking the South City an hour earlier tomorrow, following the plan we discussed today—bet on both sides!”
Outside the East City Gate, three large piles of fire were lit, with blazing firelight particularly striking in the darkness.
Su Fei on the East City wall saw the three piles of fierce fire and immediately turned to go down the wall.
But Su Fei did not know that Strategist Chen Jiu was standing dozens of steps away, coldly watching him. When Su Fei left the barracks at night, the watcher had reported to Chen Jiu.
However, Chen Jiu currently had no evidence. He did not know if the three piles of fire lit on the opposite shore of the moat had anything to do with Su Fei.
“Continue surveilling him. The key is to see who he contacts.”
But Su Fei was also very cautious. That night, he did not seek out anyone and went straight back to the barracks to sleep. Although Chen Jiu was extremely suspicious of him, he had not caught any evidence.
The next morning, war drums sounded in the Yuzhang Army barracks. “Dong! Dong! Dong!” Teams of soldiers marched out and soon formed a large formation two li outside the South City.
Huang Zu also led his army up to the city wall, tensely watching the distant Yuzhang Army. Huang She had also rushed back last night.
Huang She said worriedly: “Our water gate is not very sturdy. I suggest Father strengthen the water gate defense.”
Huang Zu said indifferently: “I filled the water gate with boulders. No need to worry about the water gate. It looks like they are going to forcibly attack the city!”
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
Suddenly, the drums boomed loudly from the opposite side. The Yuzhang Army began to move. Clusters of Yuzhang Army soldiers ran forward, each cluster consisting of twenty soldiers, including one catapult, five operators, and fifteen soldiers holding large shields—a total of one hundred fifty clusters, that is, one hundred fifty catapults.
Watching the opponent run forward, Huang Zu shouted: “Archers, prepare!”
On the city wall, five thousand crossbowmen raised their bows, arrows, and crossbow bolts. The Yuzhang Army soldiers were getting closer; three thousand soldiers dispersed over three li made it hard to achieve concentrated annihilation.
The Yuzhang Army rushed to within a hundred paces. Huang Zu roared: “Loose arrows!”
Arrows rained down from the city wall like locusts, five thousand arrows and bolts shooting toward the charging enemy army. Unfortunately, the enemy was too dispersed, the effect was not good, and there were also fifteen large shield bearers protecting them.
After three volleys of arrows, only about thirty men were injured, mostly in the legs.
The Yuzhang Army soldiers rushed to within a hundred paces, set up camp, and erected one hundred fifty medium catapults, which could hurl thirty-jin fire oil cans to a distance of one hundred fifty paces.
Arrows still rained down from the city wall like locusts, which could hit the catapults but not harm the operating soldiers. Every soldier was tightly protected by shields.
The instruction given to the catapults before departure was to fire autonomously, meaning they could fire after setup without waiting for a unified command.
Soon, dozens of burning fire oil cans soared into the air, smashing toward the city wall, followed by more fire oil cans thrown out. The city wall was immediately ablaze with firelight, thick smoke rolling. Even if they smashed onto the city wall and burned, the thick smoke rose, enveloping the city wall.
The defending soldiers on the city wall scattered and fled, desperately avoiding the burning fierce fire. Huang Zu had suffered a great loss in the naval battle, but he had not truly learned his lesson. He merely imitated and produced tens of thousands of fire oil bottles, but paid no attention to how to defend against the opponent’s blazing fire.
This time, Huang Zu panicked.
“Woo——”
A low horn sounded. Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun each led five thousand soldiers to strike out. The soldiers shouted as they surged toward the city wall like a tidal wave.
The soldiers drove carts with huge wooden boxes on them. The boxes had iron rings. At the moat, the large boxes were placed into the moat, with front and rear iron rings linked. Soldiers swam across the river and nailed the other end into the soil.
The soldiers, draped in soaking wet blankets and holding spears, rushed across the wooden box pontoon bridge, carrying siege ladders toward the blazing city wall.
On the two-li-long city wall, fierce fire burned, thick smoke filled the air. The South City wall, which had been full of soldiers, surprisingly had no defending soldiers in sight, and even Huang Zu was nowhere to be found.
