Chapter 264: War Breaks Out Again
In the early spring of the second month, the air was still biting cold, and the scent of war mingled with the feeling of spring in Jingzhou.
After nearly half a year of stagnation, Cao Ren’s large army finally began to move.
Cao Ren was still stationed in Xiling County, Jiangxia Commandery, but he had not stopped preparing for war for the past half year. He continuously deployed troops, accumulated grain, stockpiled fire oil and other supplies, and manufactured a large number of siege weapons.
Cao Cao did not blame him, merely saying indifferently, “Victory and defeat are common occurrences in warfare.” He then dispatched Xun You as the front-line strategist and reinforced Cao Ren with an additional fifty thousand troops, bringing Cao Ren’s troop strength in Xiling County to ninety thousand.
As the second month began, Cao Ren, who had long been prepared, led an army of eighty thousand, accompanied by thirty thousand carts laden with various supplies, and once again marched mightily towards Queyue City.
This time, he was determined to succeed, aiming to completely wash away the shame of two previous crushing defeats.
The commander of Queyue City was still the old general Huang Zhong, but the deputy general was not only Fu Tong but also Wang Ping. Gan Ning ordered Wang Ping to lead ten thousand troops to reinforce Huang Zhong, bringing the garrison inside the city to thirty thousand.
Gan Ning was well aware that Cao Ren was preparing for another major battle in Xiling City. He also knew what Queyue City represented: it was a sharp dagger pressed against Cao Cao’s neck. Should Cao Cao dare to cross the river, this sharp dagger would not hesitate to strike, cutting down not only the thirty thousand troops in Queyue City but also initiating a full-scale counterattack by the Western Chu Army north of the river, and the navy would sever Cao Army’s retreat route.
It could be said that Queyue City represented Gan Ning’s stance, his will. As long as his will was not broken, Cao Cao could not hope to win this southern campaign.
At this moment, Huang Zhong had received the news: Cao Ren’s army had marched out again. He patiently awaited the arrival of Cao Army.
That morning, dense tents appeared three li away, as if they had sprung up overnight.
“Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!”
The drum sound summoning the army began to beat. Squadrons of Western Chu Army soldiers rushed out of the barracks and quickly converged on the city wall. Wang Ping led the ten thousand new soldiers who had come to reinforce them, rushing onto the wall. The city wall, stretching for ten li, was densely packed with Western Chu Army soldiers, their sabers and spears gleaming, arrows densely arrayed, and the crimson banners of the Western Chu Army fluttering in the sunlight.
Outside the city, the overwhelming Cao Army had completed its formation. The shadow of the failed siege last year still lingered, and all the officers and soldiers attacking the city lacked confidence. However, Cao Ren was pushed into a corner; this was his last chance. If Queyue City could not be taken this time, it would directly affect his standing and future within Cao Army.
One li away, Cao Army had erected a viewing platform five zhang high. Cao Ren and his strategist Xun You stood on the high platform, surveying the moat below and the layout of the city wall for the first time from a comprehensive vantage point. They could even see a massive catapult inside the city.
“Hiss—” Cao Ren gasped, only now realizing how impregnable Queyue City was, how wide the moat was, and that it was connected to the Han River. He had been completely unaware of all this before; no wonder his previous defeat had been so disastrous.
Xun You calmly said, “Does the General understand now? You are not facing a city, but all of Western Chu. They can continuously reinforce the city by water. This is the true reason for your defeat: knowing yourself but not your enemy.”
Xun You always spoke frankly, unceremoniously exposing Cao Ren’s scar. “Knowing yourself but not your enemy.” Cao Ren’s face turned red, and after a long pause, he sighed, “The strategist is right. I truly did not expect that Queyue City was never an isolated city.”
After a pause, Cao Ren asked again, “Strategist, can we take this city?”
Xun You remained silent for a moment, then sighed, “I don’t know. This is a dangerous situation I have never encountered. It is truly difficult, but we must try no matter how difficult. We will use sandbags to fill the moat and create a path.”
Xun You whispered a few words into Cao Ren’s ear, and Cao Ren nodded repeatedly.
Xun You, truly a master of tactics, ordered soldiers to dig nine trenches, all interconnected and leading to the moat. The trenches were covered with wooden planks, and tens of thousands of soldiers ran through them, throwing bags of sand and soil into the moat.
The massive catapults inside the city hurled fire oil cans into the wilderness, igniting fires and billowing smoke. Some fire oil cans struck the wooden planks, burning fiercely upon them. The burning fire oil also flowed into the trenches. Cao Army’s fire-fighting soldiers immediately rushed forward to bury the fires with soil, a method Cao Army had developed to extinguish fires. Other soldiers quickly diverted to other trenches.
At night, Huang Zhong used his Thousand-Mile Eye to observe Cao Army laying the mud and sand road. The night was too dark, and the Thousand-Mile Eye could not see clearly. He felt something was amiss with Cao Army, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.
Burning incendiary bombs soared into the air, tracing bright arcs. With a “bang!” they struck the mud and sand road, quickly igniting a large fire. Cao Army soldiers immediately rushed forward to extinguish the flames, scattering bags of something onto the burning material. The fierce flames gradually weakened and eventually extinguished.
More than twenty Western Chu Army mengchong warships appeared, and arrows rained down on the Cao Army soldiers throwing sandbags. However, strangely, it had little effect; very few soldiers were hit and fell.
It turned out that the Cao Army soldiers who finally placed the sandbags into the water were all clad in iron armor, completely fearless of arrows. Fire had no effect, and arrows were also useless.
They watched as the mud and sand road built by Cao Army filling the moat advanced little by little.
Three days later, a fifteen-zhang long, five-zhang wide mud and sand road appeared in the thirty-zhang wide moat, half of it completed.
Despite losing thousands of soldiers killed by arrows or burned to death while building this mud and sand road, Cao Army persevered, pushing forward little by little.
But what was truly shocking was the sudden completion of a fixed bridge of the same five-zhang width. It appeared unexpectedly and abruptly, running close to the mud and sand road, greatly surprising the defenders on the city wall.
This was not like the previous makeshift pontoon bridges. Cao Army had driven thousands of piles beneath the pontoon bridge, covering it with thick wooden beams and planks. The bridge was very sturdy, and ships could not crash through it.
This was the masterpiece of the tactical master Xun You. Two bridges were constructed together, one wooden bridge and one mud and sand road, using the laying of the mud and sand road to conceal the construction of the wooden bridge.
The most difficult part of building the wooden bridge was driving the piles. To avoid detection by the defenders, Xun You used the mud and sand to fill the moat for concealment, driving piles at night and successfully deceiving the defenders on the city wall.
On the city wall, Huang Zhong gazed at the suddenly appearing wooden bridge with a complex expression. He realized he had encountered a tactical master who had used the mud and sand filling of the moat to conceal the construction of the wooden bridge.
This wooden bridge was so wide and flat, it was sufficient for passing large siege weapons. What was also troublesome was that the wooden bridge was covered with leather, making it ineffective even if set on fire.
“Old General, we have met our match!” Fu Tong said solemnly beside him.
Huang Zhong nodded slowly, “He is likely a top strategist around Cao Cao. He has overcome our moat, but we not only have the moat, we also have the city walls. Order the entire army to prepare for a major battle!”
