Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 114 The Stronghold Was Destroyed in One Night

The campfire burned brighter and brighter.

Before the Wei generals and soldiers could react, the battle was about to break out.

Thirty-six siege towers, each over five zhang tall, were slowly moved to a point a hundred paces in front of the Wei army's first trench, where archers who were already prepared climbed the ladders.

Once all the archers had climbed onto the balustrade, twenty laborers and auxiliary soldiers pushed the balustrade toward the Wei army camp.

Thirty armored soldiers advanced with shields raised, guarding the well balustrade on both sides, while archers in reserve waited further back.

Seeing that the distance was about right, Wei Yan, the vanguard commander of this battle, gave an order, and the Han archers fired a volley of arrows at the Wei army's camp wall.

Finding that the distance was still a little too far, Wei Yan instructed his personal guards to relay the order: "Advance the well curb by five more steps!"

The order was quickly relayed, and the well curb rumbled forward.

The wind was much stronger at night than during the day, and the banners fluttered loudly, the sound reaching Wei Yan's ears.

Wei Yan instinctively looked up at the direction where the banners were waving and found that the wind was still from the southeast, which put his mind at ease.

All thirty-six well-towers were deployed on the south side of the Wei army camp.

With the help of a southeast wind, the range and lethality of arrows shot by Han archers can be more than 10% higher than when there is no wind.

However, the Wei army's arrows were flying against the wind, reducing their range and lethality by more than 10%. With this shift in power, the Han army gained the upper hand.

The wind would also carry the black smoke from the campfire and the dust kicked up from the ground towards the Wei army, obscuring their vision.

These things that ordinary people wouldn't notice were, for a seasoned general like Wei Yan, instincts ingrained in his very bones.

As the Han army moved forward, the archers on the first wall of the Wei army were ordered to fire a volley of arrows at the siege tower.

However, with the help of the southeast wind and Wei Yan's excellent control of distance, almost none of the hundreds of arrows shot by the Wei army could reach the well tower.

However, after another arrow was fired, all thirty-six siege towers of the Han army were in place. On the siege towers, more than four hundred and thirty archers, positioned high above, received orders and once again unleashed a rain of arrows at the Wei army camp.

This time, the distance was just right, and screams and wails began to frequently come from the Wei army's camp walls.

"Shoot!" Seeing that the first shot had been successful, the Han general on the well tower gave the order again, and a rain of arrows was fired.

Five or six skilled archers from the army showed off their skills, accurately calculating the force of the wind and firing precise shots at the Wei soldiers on the stockade wall.

Although the first shot missed, it gave him a general understanding of the wind force, and the next shot hit the target almost every time.

Unlike the frail archers depicted in later games, real archers were often among the best-fed, strongest, and most trained members of an army.

Not to mention that the archers on the well railing were Wei Yan's own troops, who had followed Wei Yan for more than ten years and whose training had never been neglected. They were not comparable to the insignificant soldiers, agricultural soldiers, and garrison soldiers under Guanqiu Jian and Linghu Yu.

However, within the time it took each soldier to fire five or six arrows, nearly a hundred of the Wei army's defenders on the first fortified wall had already been killed or wounded.

What made things even more difficult for the Wei soldiers was that they couldn't hit their targets with their arrows, and they couldn't move either; they could only stare helplessly, becoming sitting ducks.

Although wooden shields were quickly sent from the rear, holding a shield meant losing the ability to counterattack and suppress, and even holding a wooden shield did not mean that one would not be harmed.

Since the stockade walls had no roof, arrows fired from the left and right always managed to get past the shields and into the crowd from tricky angles, causing screams to rise from time to time.

Wei Yan did not let this opportunity pass. He ordered the Han army's garrison troops and Wei prisoners to push trench-filling carts and advance towards the Wei army's first trench.

The so-called trench-filling vehicle, compared to sophisticated siege weapons such as siege towers, ladders, and battering rams, had no technological sophistication whatsoever.

It was just a simple, cumbersome thing with a few thin wooden planks covering the front, sides, and top to block enemy arrows.

However, because of its simplicity, it is easy to replicate.

At Wei Yan's command, more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers and prisoners pushed nearly a hundred of these trench-filling carts and slowly advanced into the trench.

The Guanzhong Plain is rich in caltrops, which are the prototype of this biomimetic fortification.

The Han army collected a lot, and the Wei army also collected a lot. Now they are scattered all over the ground, forming part of the Wei army's defensive fortifications.

For most soldiers wearing straw sandals, the lethality was considerable.

But the Prime Minister was prepared for this.

The auxiliary soldiers and prisoners responsible for filling the trenches all wore specially made soft, flat-bottomed wooden clogs as they moved forward.

All the thorns were stuck in the wooden clogs.

The trench-filling troops cleared away the caltrops and filled in the potholes on the road with the shovels they carried. About 15 minutes later, they arrived at the first trench.

After a burst of rapid drumbeats, nearly a hundred trench-filling vehicles roared in front of them.

Dust billowed up as the soldiers filling the trench pushed down the long plank, which was over two zhang long, covering half of the trench.

The auxiliary soldiers, clad in leather armor, charged out shouting as they raised their large shields.

The laborers and prisoners hiding inside the trench-filling carts followed closely behind, throwing their sacks and bamboo baskets full of mud and sand into the trench.

The Wei archers, suppressed by the enemy's firepower, received orders and risked their lives to fire arrows at the Han army, resulting in casualties on both sides.

However, the Han army only had about thirty siege towers, which was not enough to completely cover the nearly one-mile-long battle line.

With time running out and the mission heavy, the front lines that had not received fire support could not simply stand by and do nothing.

These places were naturally assigned to soldiers and laborers captured from the Wei army, and these prisoners naturally suffered heavy casualties, with about one-fifth falling in the rain of arrows.

Since ancient times, siege warfare has been a meat grinder where lives and blood are at stake; not only would they die, but the Han soldiers would also perish.

But as long as the tactical and strategic objectives can be achieved, it is worth it no matter how many people die.

Tonight, we must capture this stronghold.

The fighting continued, with the monotonous trench-filling battles repeating endlessly.

In areas covered by siege towers, the first layer of trenches was filled in first.

Archers descended the ladders, and the auxiliary soldiers responsible for pushing the siege towers then pushed them towards the areas that were not yet filled, thus restoring firepower to suppress the Wei army and covering the filling of the trenches.

In less than an hour, the first trench in front of the Wei army camp was completely filled in, and the first layer of deer antlers was completely removed.

"How could it be so fast?" Linghu Yu's voice trembled slightly.

Xiahou Ru also looked bewildered: "These well towers... how did the Shu bandits manage to do that?"

He simply couldn't understand it; those simple trench-filling vehicles were one thing, but another.

Where did the materials for such a tall, large, and complex well curb come from?

How could so many be made in just two or three hours?
On the other side, Guanqiu Jian was also in a state of utter confusion.

With the first trench filled in and the antlers removed, the next line of defense was an earthen wall nearly ten feet high.

The purpose of this earthen wall is not only for defense, but more importantly, for counterattack.

When the Shu bandits came to fill the trenches, the Wei soldiers would occasionally seize the opportunity to rush out from behind the earthen walls and fight with the Shu bandits filling the trenches, exhausting their manpower and destroying their trench-filling carts.

Seeing that there were only a few dozen soldiers guarding the well towers of the Shu bandits, he organized more than a hundred soldiers, carrying oil and firewood, to rush out of the moat and concentrate his superior forces to burn down the dozens of well towers one by one.

As it turned out, the armored soldiers guarding the well tower were far more elite than he had imagined, while the soldiers of the Great Wei were far more vulnerable than he had expected.

Before the Wei soldiers could even reach the well tower, the Shu soldiers rushed forward to meet them.

The Shu army's command and response speed was extremely fast. Their superior forces quickly gathered and surrounded the Wei soldiers who came out of the camp to attack, and the battle was quickly resolved in no time.

After several failed attempts, Guanqiu Jian had no choice but to give up.

Simply staying behind the antler-shaped earthen wall and launching counter-attacks can maintain considerable firepower, while charging out is simply suicide.

The defenders have a natural advantage with their fortifications, so it would be better to let the Shu bandits in and use the deer antlers and trenches to defeat the strong with the weak and the many with the few.

After all, the Shu bandits had already suffered heavy casualties in filling the trenches and removing the deer antlers, and the earthen walls and trenches could create a local advantage where one man could hold off ten thousand.

As long as the Shu bandits are unwilling to let their elite soldiers in, then exchanging one life for three or four is no problem. Even with elite soldiers, exchanging one life for another is not an issue.

If the Shu bandits wanted to break through this earthen wall, they could only take sledgehammers and shovels and brave a hail of arrows to charge up and smash it open.

Without another one or two thousand casualties, it would be impossible to break through. And there are three such earthen walls, enough to hold out until dawn tomorrow.

It is unknown how many soldiers will be left in the stronghold at that time, or whether the General of the Cavalry's reinforcements will arrive in time.

"Then... what is that?" Linghu Yu suddenly saw something and exclaimed in surprise.

He could only see, illuminated by the firelight, that some enormous creature was being pushed out from behind the billowing smoke by a group of people.

Guanqiu Jian heard the sound and stared intently in that direction.

A moment later, it became clear that it was a battering ram with a battering log suspended above it!

Before he could even process his astonishment, eight or nine more identical battering rams emerged from behind the billowing dust.

"A battering ram?!"

"Where did this thing come from?!"

"Just how much stuff do the Shu bandits still have?!"

All the Wei generals, officers, and soldiers who had already spotted the battering rams became bewildered and anxious at this moment.

How could one not feel helpless?

It was bad enough that the Shu invaders' army suddenly arrived, and it was bad enough that there was no news from the General of the Cavalry, but now siege equipment seemed to have sprung up from the ground, one after another, one after another.

How can we fight this war?!

Many people kept swallowing hard, their faces showing despair.
However, while the Wei army was filled with fear and dread, the Han army had no intention of giving them any chance to catch their breath.

Soon after, dozens of siege engines resembling trench-filling vehicles were deployed from behind the smoke and dust.

As these siege weapons approached, Guanqiu Jian and Linghu Yu, who were worldly-wise, took a closer look and realized that they were siege engines.

This type of chariot has existed since ancient times. It is also a four-wheeled, bottomless wooden cart. People push the cart forward from inside the cart and approach the city wall to launch an attack.

However, its thick wood, covered with cowhide, and fireproofed with wet blankets made it far more defensive than those simple, crudely constructed trench-filling vehicles.

The Wei soldiers were increasingly panicked and at a loss, not knowing how to deal with the situation, while the Han army's battering rams and siege engines were quickly pushed to the front of the moat.

The Han soldiers hid inside the battering rams and pushed the battering rams, ramming the Wei army's earthen walls again and again.

More people hid inside the rickshaws and used sledgehammers and shovels to chisel at the wall.

The muffled thuds rang out one after another, as if striking the chests of the Wei soldiers.

Panic, fear, and pessimism spread rapidly among the Wei army.

Those guarding the stockade walls might be able to endure it, but the soldiers hiding behind the earthen walls, listening to the repeated impacts and chiseling, were filled with terror and despair.

Soon, they received orders to go out and attack the Shu army operating the battering rams and siege engines.

Many people were already terrified by the Shu army's endless siege tactics, and upon hearing the order, they not only did not advance, but instead wanted to retreat.

When Guanqiu Jian, Xiahou Ru, and Linghu Yu's personal guards saw that these people were trying to defy orders, they immediately rushed forward with bows, crossbows, spears, and halberds, shouting and cursing them as they went.

Whether they advanced or retreated, they would die. The Wei soldiers trapped in the narrow earthen walls gradually turned from despair into madness.

Just as they were about to charge out, a section of the earthen wall collapsed. The Wei soldiers were stunned. The impact of the collapsing earthen wall carried the ramming logs that were rushing towards them, sending several Wei soldiers who were piled up together flying.

Before the Wei army could react, the Han soldiers who had been waiting by the battering ram had already charged in with their swords and spears, creating a hail of bullets in the center and attacking from the left and right.

What was once an impregnable fortress, now crumbled in an instant.

The Wei army fled in disarray, barely managing to mount any decent resistance.

Many died by jumping over the register, and some even killed each other.

Half an hour later, the first layer of earthen wall was breached.

Another hour passed, and the second layer of trenches, antlers, and earthen walls were all breached and removed by the Han army.

The repetitive and mechanical siege battles were carried out in a bloody and brutal manner.

At dawn, the sky begins to lighten in the east.

The battle had been going on for more than four hours.

The Han army finally filled in the last trench, removed the last deer antlers, and smashed the last stockade wall.

The Wei army had been building what they thought was an impregnable fortress for a month, but now only the last three-zhang-high stockade wall remained.

The elite archers and crossbowmen guarding the stockade walls were already exhausted, and some weaker troops who didn't usually train with bows and crossbows were replaced.

The weak and feeble arrows caused negligible damage to the Han army.

The morale of the Wei soldiers had already plummeted due to the terrifying speed of the Han army's advance.

It will be dawn soon.

They didn't know if they could hold out until dawn.

Guanqiu Jian dispatched nearly a hundred brave warriors overnight to sneak out from the eastern outskirts, where no Shu army was attacking, to inform the General of the Cavalry.

However, the General of the Cavalry's camp is nearly thirty miles away. Those messengers did not ride horses, and it would be unknown how long it would take them to reach the camp. Even if the General of the Cavalry received the news and led his troops to the camp, it would not be something that could be done in one or two hours.

Unless the General of the Flying Cavalry has been sending men to follow the Shu army closely, observe their movements, and prepare reinforcements in advance so that they can come to their aid at any time.

But now that things have come to this, not a single messenger has entered the camp to inform them to hold on. It's hard to say whether they were intercepted and killed by the Shu army, or whether the General of the Cavalry simply didn't expect the Shu bandits to attack the camp overnight, nor did he expect them to use siege weapons, so he didn't send anyone to monitor or relay messages.

Soon, an all-star lineup consisting of generals such as Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, and Wang Ping, leading more than 20,000 elite armored soldiers, formed ranks on the open ground and slowly approached the Wei army's camp walls.

Seven or eight siege ladders with wooden wheels were pushed from the rear of the formation to the front by a group of auxiliary soldiers.

"--boom!"

"--boom!"

A series of loud explosions suddenly rang out.

The siege ladder crashed heavily onto the Wei army's stockade wall, and the iron hook at its end firmly hooked onto the wall, making the siege ladder and the stockade wall firmly connected together.

At the command of former military commander Wei Yan, his elite armored soldiers immediately climbed up with short weapons.

With the crossbowmen on the siege tower providing cover fire, dozens of Wei soldiers on the wall were instantly killed, and a gap appeared in front of the siege ladder.

The stockade wall was already quite narrow, and not many soldiers could stand there. Before the Wei soldiers who came up to fill the gap, Wei Yan's elite armored soldiers had already rushed up the stockade wall and started hacking and slashing wildly, quickly clearing a space.

The Han army quickly followed up using ladders.

Although the Wei army continued to reinforce their ranks, it was already too late.

They were already a defeated and routed army, and the Han army performed like gods and demons, so how could they possibly muster the courage to resist?

Before long, all the Wei troops on the southern wall of the stockade were cleared out, and the Wei troops inside the stockade completely collapsed and fled towards the eastern stockade, which was not surrounded by Han troops, in the direction of Chang'an.

Even Guanqiu Jian, who strongly advocated fighting to the death, was carried away from the place by his personal guards.

The four or five gates of the western and southern outposts were opened one after another by the Han soldiers in the outposts.

Some of the Han troops outside the camp rushed in, while others continued to pursue and kill eastward, expanding their gains.

After less than fifteen minutes of street fighting, the Wei soldiers in the stronghold either died or surrendered.

This fortified position, which all the Wei troops believed could withstand the Han army for at least three to five days, finally fell at sunrise.

(End of this chapter)