Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 113 Architectural Designs

Sunset.

Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, Wu Ban, Chen Shi, Wang Ping, Meng Yan, Cuan Xi, Guan Xing and other Han generals escorted the Prime Minister's carriage and led 45,000 troops to the front of the Wei army camp.

aggressive.

Murderous.

Logically speaking, tens of thousands of troops should be exhausted after marching for days.

It was sunset, so we should rest for a day and fight again tomorrow.

However, the Han army has now mobilized its entire force and seems unwilling to give the Wei army in this camp a chance to regroup.

This was unexpected by Guanqiu Jian, Linghu Yu, and others, and even more so by the eight thousand soldiers in the camp.

Yesterday, the Han army, with over ten thousand armored soldiers and a supply train of twenty to thirty thousand auxiliary soldiers and laborers, arrived west of the Fengshui camp, causing the morale of the eight thousand soldiers in the entire camp to become unstable.

Whenever the enemy suddenly bypasses the front line and appears in the heart of the territory, it is a terrifying thing.

Now that the Han army has arrived, no news has come back from Sima Yi's camp.

A rational person could more or less guess that this was mostly a strategy by the General of the Flying Cavalry to let the Shu bandits come over, so that they would be attacked from both sides.

However, once an individual integrates into a group, their ability to think independently declines sharply, emotions and instincts begin to dominate their behavior, leading to gullibility, blind faith, and the loss of rationality.

Not to mention, the people in this camp were defeated soldiers who had been brutally beaten by the Han.

More and more people began to spread rumors that the General of the Flying Cavalry had been defeated, and some even said that, like Zhang He, the General of the Flying Cavalry had been beheaded by his subordinates and that his entire army had surrendered.

The discussion immediately erupted, and the crowd was in an uproar.

What alarmed the Wei army even more was that in just half an hour, tens of thousands of armored soldiers from the Han Dynasty had quickly formed ranks.

The fact that a force of 40,000 to 50,000 men could assemble and form ranks in front of the camp in such a short time was quite a shock to the Wei soldiers.

When some people first heard the rumors of Sima Yi's defeat, they thought it was impossible for the General of the Cavalry of Wei to be defeated so decisively.

But now, these fierce and ruthless Han troops, having just come from the General of the Flying Cavalry's side, have not rested for a moment and have already formed ranks outside the camp, ready to attack.

These soldiers, who initially refused to believe or spread rumors, eventually began to believe the rumors to some extent and soon became fearful.

After the rumors had spread widely, Guanqiu Jian finally heard about them. He immediately took swift action, capturing and killing more than thirty people who spread the rumors, and displaying their heads to the public.

He then appealed to their emotions, reasoned with them, tempted them with benefits, and threatened them with disaster, finally calming their hearts. He then distributed silk as a reward in public, which finally stopped the rumors. The Wei soldiers who received the reward were also somewhat at ease.

Seeing that the soldiers had finally regained their fighting spirit, the three Wei generals, Guanqiu Jian, Linghu Yu, and Xiahou Ru, climbed the stockade wall and looked together at the Han army that was lined up outside the stockade.

But the Han army's armor gleamed in the field, their swords and spears were like a forest, their banners fluttered, and their formation was like an iron wall. The chilling atmosphere was palpable.

Looking further into the distance, one could see vehicles carrying supplies or something else slowly approaching the Han formation. The soldiers and laborers pulled or pushed them back and forth, yet they moved about in an orderly fashion, without showing any signs of panic.

Further away, billowing dust rose, and large groups of cavalry could be vaguely seen patrolling and roaming.

"Are the Shu bandits planning to attack the camp tonight?" Xiahou Ru's voice trembled slightly. Just now, when rumors were rampant in the army and morale was in chaos, he thought he was about to lose control of the situation.

Fortunately, Guanqiu Jian was a prudent person; otherwise, I really wouldn't know what to do.

"I am not worried about the Shu invaders attacking, but I am worried that they will surround us without attacking. Now that the Shu invaders have come in full force, our Great Wei has nothing to worry about." Guanqiu Jian's expression was cold and serious.

In Xiahou Ru's eyes, he possessed the demeanor of a famous ancient general, and he nodded in agreement.

“Zhong Gong’s words make sense. I suspect that General Piaoji let the Shu bandits over because he intended for them to attack our camp.”

"If he dares to attack, he will have already fallen into the trap of the General of the Flying Cavalry. If he attacks me and I fail, I will suffer heavy losses. Then the General of the Flying Cavalry will launch a pincer attack. How can the Shu bandits have any chance of survival?"
"I truly didn't expect that the Shu bandits would come in full force without even taking a break. So impatient and arrogant, aren't they afraid that the tragedy of 'annihilation at breakfast' will repeat itself here?"

There is no greater calamity than underestimating the enemy. Duke Qing of Qi thought it wouldn't be too late to have breakfast after annihilating the Jin army, but he suffered a crushing defeat and barely escaped with his life.

Although the Shu bandits are numerous and their forces are fierce, they are far too impatient and underestimate their camp.

It should be noted that this Fengshui camp, after nearly a month of construction, although not as sturdy as the fortress built by General Piaoqi's tens of thousands of troops, was still a formidable stronghold.

There were three layers of earthen walls, each over ten feet high, four layers of moats, each over three feet wide, and four or five layers of deer antlers. In the innermost layer, there was a tall and heavy wooden fence.

In addition, it is bordered by the Wei River to the north and the Feng River to the east, and is only vulnerable to enemy attacks to the south and west.

The stronghold had eight thousand soldiers, as well as four or five thousand auxiliary soldiers, laborers, and servants, which was more than enough to manage.

"It seems the Shu bandits are building weapons?" Linghu Yu suddenly spoke up, covering his forehead with one hand and pointing with the other to an open space in the middle of a military formation about a mile away.

Everyone looked over and saw dozens of Shu bandits gathered together, with several supply wagons placed to the side. People were unloading items from the wagons and assembling them on the ground.

Guanqiu Jian frowned slightly and focused on scanning the Han army formation, only to find that such scenes were everywhere, more than a hundred in total.

Previously, everyone's attention was drawn to the Han army's disciplined military appearance, and they failed to notice these people squatting in the gaps between the troops assembling equipment.

"Our Great Wei has already fortified its walls and cleared the fields; how could they possibly build any large-scale siege weapons?" Linghu Yu snorted disdainfully.

Guanqiu Jian and Xiahou Ru nodded slightly.

Linghu Yu's words were true. Large siege weapons are very heavy and large, making them difficult to transport. Since ancient times, they have been built on-site by felling trees. What can be transported are generally some core components, as well as lighter items such as gears and winches.

Meanwhile, the Great Wei had already burned down all the forests within a radius of forty or fifty li around Chang'an. If the Shu bandits wanted to build large-scale siege weapons, they would have to cut down trees in the Qinling Mountains, which are sixty li away.

Logging and transporting timber takes time, as does building siege equipment; ten days to half a month is already considered incredibly fast.

This is why Guanqiu Jian just said, "I am not worried about the Shu bandits attacking, but I am worried about the Shu bandits besieging us without attacking."

The fact that the Shu bandits launched an attack meant that they were prepared to sacrifice lives at any cost.

The intention was obvious: to win by speed, so that the General of the Cavalry would be unable to come to the rescue in time.

If they establish fortified camps outside and slowly build up siege equipment, then General Piaoji's tens of thousands of troops will be in danger of running out of food.

At that point, the Great Wei would be in a passive position, and it's possible that this was a strategy by the Shu bandits to besiege a point and attack reinforcements.

Outside the village.

Generals Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, Wu Ban, and Chen Shi escorted the Prime Minister's carriage and inspected the Wei army camp, seemingly searching for a suitable breakthrough point.

Dust rose in the distance, hooves pounded, and a cavalry general led dozens of elite riders in a galloping approach.

After galloping a few dozen paces away, they saw that the Tiger Cavalry Supervisor Mi Wei, who was slightly shorter and stockier than the other Tiger Cavalrymen, dismounted. Although his gait was slightly different from that of ordinary people, it was no longer obvious that he was a lame man.

When Zhao Yun, Wang Ping, and Guan Xing saw Mi Wei again for the first time in two months, they were immediately drawn to his iron prosthetic limb.

Whether it was to show off or not, ever since he got the prosthetic leg, this man simply cut off his trouser leg, lifted up his robes, and even wore short boots.

At this moment, a section of iron-clad shinbone was exposed, reflecting a crimson light under the afterglow of the setting sun.

Beneath the light, inscriptions were clearly visible. They were, to say the least, rather dazzling.

"Prime Minister, Sima Yi hasn't even sent out a scout to deliver a message. It seems he's certain we can't take this camp anytime soon," Mi Wei reported.

He was ordered by the emperor to accompany the prime minister on the expedition, and just now he led three hundred elite cavalry to patrol the rear, but he didn't see a single person.

General Zhao gazed intently at the seemingly impregnable Wei army camp and smiled:

"It seems that Sima Yi still believes that our Han Dynasty cannot conquer cities and seize strongholds."

"In that case, let Wei Kou see the Prime Minister's construction methods."

Upon hearing this, all the generals were immediately energized.

Since the Prime Minister took charge of military and state affairs, in addition to encouraging agriculture and sericulture, and developing water conservancy projects, he has accumulated seven or eight million shi of grain for the Han Dynasty's northern expeditions.

The planning and construction of various military equipment were also carried out without neglect.

It's not just about building; it's about establishing a complete and rigorous system for construction.

Of all these systems, the most important and indispensable is the system of recording the names of the workers.

This means that the person in charge is inscribed on the cast object, from officials to craftsmen, with responsibility assigned to each individual at every stage.

The second point is that the Han Dynasty has a process for randomly inspecting and testing the weapons and equipment that leave the factory.

Every batch of weapons and armor produced is sampled by the Jin Cao Yuan of the Prime Minister's Office for quality inspection.

It measures both error and strength.

Not only that, the Prime Minister also established a very mature and complete system for training artisans, which greatly improved the production capacity and efficiency of military equipment.

Experienced craftsmen can train apprentices in three months, and new craftsmen can become experienced craftsmen in six months. Outstanding ones can also receive generous rewards.

Such a system may seem like a waste of time and difficult to implement, but in practice it not only saves time and resources, but also lowers the requirements for the individual skills of craftsmen.

In other words, the artisans of the Wei army were skilled craftsmen who were difficult to train on a large scale in a short period of time, while the artisans of the Han army were assembly line workers who inherited the Qin system and could be mass-produced.

While the Wei and Wu states were still relying on their sense of touch to forge armor and weapons, the Han dynasty, under the leadership of the prime minister and his wife, had already established an assembly line by employing artisans with short training periods but high manufacturing skills.

From casting to polishing to quality inspection, each step is interconnected.

Arrows with an error margin of only millimeters, precisely meshed gears, and swords, spears, bows, crossbows, armor, and helmets engraved with inscriptions—all these were the foundation of the Han Dynasty's confidence in resisting Cao Wei's nine provinces from a small corner of the country.

The mass production of siege weapons was a secret weapon of the Han Dynasty.

The most crucial and precise components of the siege weapons that the Prime Minister had previously built when attacking Shanggui and Tianshui were all brought from Hanzhong. Each one was meticulously crafted and fit together perfectly.

It boasts extremely high compatibility, allowing skilled workers who only handle a specific process to quickly install it once they have it in hand.

There will be no mismatch between the parts and the joints, and the workers who are so familiar with the fixed process will not be flustered.

When the army marched down the Longxi River, these most critical and precise parts were naturally disassembled into components and taken to Guanzhong.

The reason why the Prime Minister lingered near Wuzhangyuan for several days, leading Sima Yi to believe that he was hesitant to advance, was that he was cutting down trees again to make some simple but somewhat cumbersome parts.

With so many siege weapons in place, how strong can a small camp be, no matter how well it is built?
Firstly, the stockade walls were not as high as the city walls of the fortified city, and the field of vision was not as wide, so the arrows from the high ground were not as lethal.

The width of the stockade wall was also much smaller than that of the city wall, so it couldn't accommodate so many people.

As the sun set completely, the craftsmen, each with their own assigned tasks, had already finished assembling the siege equipment parts for their respective units, and then dispersed to the front lines to continue assembling.

into the night.

A bonfire was lit.

The positions in front of the Wei army's camp were as bright as day.

The first well curb, which is over five zhang tall, has been assembled.

The so-called "well tower" is actually a mobile arrow tower.

Four huge wooden wheels were installed underneath, with archers standing on them and elite armored soldiers guarding them below, responsible for pushing them.

A height of five zhang is already one zhang higher than the walls of an ordinary small city, and more than two zhang higher than the Wei army's stockade wall in front of them, which can be used to suppress fire.

Half an hour later, all thirty-odd well curbs were assembled.

Another half hour passed, and the cartloads of parts brought by tens of thousands of Han laborers and soldiers were finally assembled into moat-filling carts, siege carts, armored carts, and battering rams.

These siege weapons, resembling giant beasts, lurked within the Han army's ranks.

"The Prime Minister has ordered that the three armies don their armor and prepare to attack the city!" The Prime Minister's military order was quickly relayed to each army formation by messengers.

"Raise!" In front of a siege tower, a hundred men in charge of operating the tower to attack the city waved their command flags and issued the order.

The towering Jinglan Tower, which is over five zhang tall, was built by assembling it piece by piece on a wooden frame.

Upon hearing the order from the centurion, dozens of strongmen from the wagon camp supported the well tower, while other dozens of strongmen used ropes to pull it up. Finally, they worked together to lift the well tower.

Under the cover of night, Guanqiu Jian, Linghu Yu, and the others, who were more than a mile away, had their vision obstructed and had no way of knowing what the Han army was doing.

Tens of thousands of armored Han soldiers remained arrayed at the front.

Some stood on guard, while others lay down or sat to rest. In short, there was no indication that they intended to return to camp to rest.

Many Wei soldiers were exhausted from waiting and had begun to doze off.

"——Boom!"

"——Boom!"

"——Boom!"

Three drumbeats rang out in quick succession, shattering the silence of the battlefield.

Guanqiu Jian, who had been on guard on the stockade wall, was suddenly startled and jumped up from his couch.

The two generals, Linghu Yu and Xiahou Ru, who had been fast asleep, were also awakened from their sleep. They got up in a daze and looked out of the camp.

At this moment, the sound of drums came continuously from all directions.

On the open ground in front of the Fengshui Great Camp, the Han soldiers who were sitting or lying down had all stood up and quickly formed a battle formation.

After a few dozen breaths, dozens of enormous figures could be seen emerging from the darkness of the night from the Han army's ranks, which stood solemnly with their weapons in hand.

(End of this chapter)