A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 310 Thank you, Prime Minister Pei, for sending the arrows.
"Prime Minister Pei is not suitable."

Tang Jian, the military clerk and vice minister of the inner court, rushed over to persuade him, "Prime Minister Pei, I am writing this at the risk of my life. You must not be provoked by the two traitors, Xun and Zhang, and launch a strong attack. Although our army is large, our soldiers are hungry and thirsty and have not yet set up camp."

Furthermore, they were unprepared for siege warfare; launching a full-scale attack at this time would be a direct provocation from the enemy.

Prince Yong'an, Li Xiaoji, looked around Jiexiu City and said from the side, "When the emperor is disgraced, the subject dies. How can we sit idly by and watch the Prime Minister and Zhang Wansui dare to insult the emperor like that?"

Even if the siege equipment is not ready, we must teach them a lesson first.

"No siege ladders, no battering rams, and no crossbows? Let them taste a rain of arrows first."

Upon hearing this, Tang Jian could only smile wryly. He hadn't prepared anything and was just shooting arrows at Jiexiu City with bows and crossbows. Even if he could kill some people, what good would it do? It would just be a waste of arrows.

Pei Ji, however, waved his hand with a gloomy face: "A subject dies for his sovereign's disgrace. Prince Yong'an's words are reasonable. Issue the order: archers will surround Jiexiu City from all sides and fire arrows."

Lee Hyo-ki then offered a suggestion from the side: "We can launch rockets. Since these thieves are ungrateful and refuse to surrender, we don't need to be polite."

Pei Ji stroked his beard, his eyes lighting up. In this dry weather, launching rockets into the city from all sides would not only kill the defenders but also damage the city. If they could ignite a fire in the city, they could also greatly weaken the defenders.

“Alright, let’s follow Prince Yong’an’s plan and launch rockets from all sides. Lord Tang, as the chief clerk of the army, you can’t just keep saying this is wrong and that is wrong. You have to learn from Prince Yong’an and come up with some ideas.”

Tang Jian was stunned and speechless.

The Tang army had a large number of bows and crossbows. Not only did they have dedicated archer and crossbow teams, but other soldiers such as spearmen, sword and shieldmen, and cavalrymen were also equipped with bows.

Bow and arrow, sword, and spear—this is the complete set.

Surrounding Jiexiu City on all sides, no complicated formation is needed.

A dense square formation, firing wave after wave of rappelling.

However, because we needed to build rockets, it became a bit more complicated, and we had to prepare kerosene and other supplies on the spot.

At noon,

The sun is high in the sky.

Beneath six large banners with nine tassels, twelve cowhide war drums thundered deafeningly.

Banners fluttered in the wind, crimson flags were bright red.

There were also several general's flags, one embroidered with the image of Pei, Duke of Wei; another with the image of the Grand General of the Army of Jinzhou Road; yet another with the image of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel; and yet another with the image of the Minister of State Affairs.
One flag features the Big Dipper constellation, and the other features a lion-shaped flag.

Pei Ji sat on a small stool under the large banner.

"shoot!"

"shoot!"

Countless roars rang out,

Thousands of arrows were fired.

In an instant, a shower of meteors fell over the sky above Jiexiu City.

With overwhelming momentum,

Pei Ji looked at the scene with satisfaction.
A true volley of arrows.

Pei Ji laughed heartily as he watched the panicked state of the soldiers guarding the city walls.

A soldier, his face flushed, squeezed through the crowd and said, "Prime Minister Pei, why not personally beat the drum to cheer on the army?"

"Haha, Military Advisor Xue's suggestion is excellent."

Pei Ji laughed loudly and immediately decided to beat the drum himself.

To highlight Prime Minister Pei, this Military Advisor Xue quickly had a platform erected so that Pei Ji could climb up and beat the drum.

Once the stage was set up, Pei Ji went up and beat the drum.

By this time, they had been playing for 45 minutes.
The Tang army surrounded the city from all sides and fired arrows and fire arrows. In a short time, they had shot hundreds of thousands of arrows into Jiexiu City.

Indeed, multiple fires broke out in the city.

However, with the tall and sturdy city walls blocking their way, although there was initial panic, they quickly calmed down.

The soldiers either raised their shields, took cover in enemy towers, or huddled behind the parapets, and the rain of arrows didn't seem so terrifying.

Meanwhile, the people in the city used planks or other objects to cover themselves and fight the fire.

Pei Ji beat the drums for a while, but then felt he couldn't take it anymore.

Although he was not yet fifty years old, he was, after all, a civil official.

In less than 15 minutes, Pei Ji could no longer keep up the pace.

As soon as he stopped, the other drummers also stopped, and the soldiers firing arrows gradually stopped as well.

Many soldiers had already emptied two quivers of arrows in the past half hour.

Nearly a million arrows were shot into Jiexiu City.
But Jiexiu City still shone brightly under the midday sun, remaining steadfast and unmoved.

Pei Ji was panting heavily.

Covered in sweat.

"Physalis".

Pei Ji stepped down from the platform and went to cool off under the large banner and parasol. His attendant, Kunlun slave, quickly handed him some specially prepared sour syrup to quench his thirst and cool him down.

Tang Jian had been staring at Jiexiu City the whole time.

Although a lot of smoke was rising in the city
But it's clear that it's impossible to burn the entire city down with just a few rockets.

"Prime Minister Pei, should we withdraw our troops first and choose a place to set up camp? Setting up camp for 80,000 troops will take a lot of effort. If we stop our troops under the city, we must secure our camp and guard against enemy attacks."

Pei Ji was still somewhat unwilling.

After looking at Jiexiu City, he finally had no choice but to nod.

"Then retreat ten miles and set up camp at Suodu Plain at the foot of Jieshan Mountain."

This location was chosen by Pei Ji while he was still on the road, based on the map. He chose Suodu Plain because it was not far from Jiexiu City, making it convenient to manufacture and transport machinery.

Furthermore, this place is located north of Jieshan Mountain, which is advantageous for defense.

“Prime Minister Pei, although Suodu Plain is not far from Jiexiu City and has Jieshan Mountain to rely on, it is still a plateau. Now it is August in autumn, a time of drought and water shortage. The plateau can only rely on wells for water. With an army of 80,000, I am afraid it will be difficult to get water.”

The only way to get water is by going down to the plateau and fetching water from the mountain stream, which is quite far from the campsite and very inconvenient.

He suggested changing the camp location: "Why not camp west of Jiexiu City, right next to the Fen River? It'll be easy to get water, and the Fen River can also be used as a natural defense. Li Yi from Haozhou wrote a letter reminding us that setting up camp at Suoduyuan is not very suitable; it can only accommodate 10,000 to 20,000 people at most..." As soon as Tang Jian mentioned Li Yi's name, Pei Ji snorted coldly in dissatisfaction.

“Li Yi, what does Li Yi know? The west side of the city is flat and unobstructed. It is convenient to set up camp on the Linfen River to get water, but have you ever thought about what would happen if there was an autumn flood and the river swelled up? Wouldn't you be afraid of flooding the Seven Armies?”
What if the enemy builds a dam upstream to store water, and then breaches the dam to release the water?

Pei Ji refuted several reasons why they did not set up camp in the west of the city.

As for the water shortage on Suodu Plain, he felt it wasn't a big problem, since the mountain streams below the plain flowed from the Jie River, and people could be sent to fetch water.

With his 80,000 troops, he wouldn't have to worry about being surrounded by rebels and having his water supply cut off. If Prime Minister Zhang Wansui dared to come out, he would be more than happy to do so.

"The entire army will encamp at Suoduyuan!"

Pei Ji waved his hand, sealing the deal with a single blow.

The Tang army sounded the gong to signal a retreat.

The rain of arrows stopped.

The sky over Jiexiu is clear again.

Seeing the retreating Tang army, Xun Xiang jumped onto the battlement, lifted his robe, took off his underpants, and urinated on the Tang soldiers below the city.

While urinating, he shouted loudly, "Old man Pei Ji, thank you for sending us a million arrows!"
I have nothing to thank you for.

"Hey, I'll give you a piss!"

Zhang Wansui laughed and jumped onto the wall, taking water from the bird's nest while shouting, "Don't rush off, old man Pei Ji, shoot a few more!"
"So what if you're good at kung fu? Who do you think you are?"

"That's right, don't go, let's fight another three hundred rounds. Pei Ji, old man, is this all you usually do with your wives and concubines?"

"Old man Pei Ji, you're no good."

Pei Ji, who had already mounted his horse and was about to leave, almost fell off.

He was so angry he was trembling all over, and he really wanted to order his men to keep shooting until nightfall.

Tang Jian quickly spoke up to persuade him.

He was heartbroken after shooting for so long, firing a million arrows. Every single one of those arrows was hard-won, especially since they were transported to the front lines.

Pei Ji's random use of arrows was far too wasteful and extravagant.

What normal general would shoot like that?

Now it's a boon for them; they can happily retrieve those million arrows that fell into the city.

Although most of these arrows cannot be used directly, most of them can still be processed and reused.

Those arrowheads alone were extremely useful.

One iron arrowhead weighs about half an ounce, thirty-two arrowheads weigh one pound, and a million arrowheads would weigh more than thirty thousand pounds of iron arrowheads.

With so many arrowheads recovered in Jiexiu City, they can be used again after a little processing and repair.

The arrows shot today,
Sooner or later, they will be shot back at the Tang army.

The army retreated like a receding tide.
Only Zhang Wansui, the Prime Minister, remained, leading the Jiexiu garrison, to the city walls to mock those outside, spewing all sorts of vulgarities.

The Tang army marched ten miles under the scorching midday sun to set up camp on Suoduyuan.

Everyone looked wilted from the sun, and morale was low.

Lee Hyo-gi's suggestion to fire arrows did not boost morale; instead, it made people think that Prime Minister Bae did not know how to fight.

Once we started setting up camp,

Each unit performed its own duties: some erected palisades, some dug trenches, some built watchtowers, some pitched tents, and some dug latrines.
Others were sent to fetch water and chop firewood.

Soon, the people who went to fetch water reported that all the water sources on the plateau had dried up, and no water could be found by digging wells; they had no choice but to fetch water from the foot of the plateau.

But when they got to the bottom of the plateau, they found that the mountain stream that was supposed to have water had long since dried up and cracked at the bottom.

The cracks in the mud were like their parched mouths.

The only option is to continue upstream to seek death.
There are also some puddles.
Some more small springs were found.

The water volume is not large.

After a long day of work, everyone was exhausted and thirsty. With 80,000 troops and so many horses and mules waiting for water, the only option was to transport the water back first.

Continue searching for water.

Pei Ji, upon hearing the news, paid it no mind.
"If there's a water shortage nearby, we'll just go further to get water. It'll only be a couple of miles more, but it's not like there's no water at all."

Night came,

Many soldiers in the camp still hadn't gotten any water.

This was an unforgettable Mid-Autumn Festival. I was covered in sweat, and forget about taking a shower or wiping myself down. I even had to wait in line for water to cook some millet porridge.

The moon rises,

It was large and round, and the 80,000 Tang soldiers of Suodu had neither mooncakes to eat nor water to use.

Haozhou City.

The bright moon is in the sky,

Li Yi was on the city wall enjoying the moon and eating mooncakes with his generals.

"Sir, signal the arrival of the signal fire."

Upon hearing the sound, Li Yi immediately spoke up. Sure enough, fireworks rose from the southeast, dazzling in the night sky.

A plume of fireworks.

Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

As agreed, information was transmitted using beacon fires twice a day during the day and once at night. If there was nothing wrong, a beacon fire would be lit to report that everything was safe.

"It seems that Prime Minister Pei also intends to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival first. There is no war in Jiexiu, which is good. Come, have some mooncakes."

Liu Zhan said with some disappointment, "I originally thought that Prime Minister Pei's 80,000 troops would form an array outside Jiexiu City today..."

"Then Xun Xiang and Zhang Wansui will either abandon the city and flee, or surrender directly."

“Unless Jiexiu City runs out of food, how could Xun Xiang and Zhang Wansui, as generals of Liu Wuzhou, surrender so easily?” Li Yi had no expectations of Pei Ji at all.

(End of this chapter)