Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 146 Advancement
Quan Rou walked down the city wall with a normal expression, but his heart was in turmoil. He knew that he didn't have much time left to make a choice.

The future of thousands of people in the Quan family depends on his single thought.
The next morning, when the first rays of morning light had just pierced the darkness of the sky, deafening shouts and cries of killing were heard from Zijing Fort, twenty miles west of Qiantang.

He Xiong, a brave general under Wang Lang, was leading 1,500 soldiers to attack the city. Soldiers climbed up the four or five meter long wooden ladders and fought repeatedly with the defenders for the wall.

The wall was stained with blood, and there were two thick layers of dead bodies piled up at the foot of the wall with broken limbs and arms.

In order to reduce casualties among the soldiers, He Xiong did not surround the fort completely, but surrounded it on three sides and left one side open, leaving an escape route for the defenders. His purpose was to capture the fort as quickly as possible and advance towards Qiantang.

In fact, as early as last night, not long after Yu Fan arrived in Fuchun, he keenly sensed Yan Yi's army's intention to attack the city. So, regardless of the soldiers' fatigue, he ordered a night attack, advancing the attack time by nearly four hours, disrupting Yan Yi's army's siege arrangements.

Overnight, Wang Lang's army took advantage of the enemy's weak defense line and captured three forts and a camp in succession, advancing the front line by more than five miles.

Yan Yi's army had to adjust its deployment, mobilize troops, and strengthen its garrison on the western front.

Wang Lang's army also suffered heavy casualties, especially when capturing the fort, the number of casualties was almost three times that of the defenders.

But Yu Fan didn't care about it. As long as he could effectively stop Yan Yi's army from attacking the city, such a price was still within his tolerance.

What's more, before the expedition, Wang Lang had already implicitly expressed his determination that he would build the wall all the way to Qiantang even at the cost of his soldiers' lives!
Therefore, Yu Fan felt no pressure. The enemy lacked reinforcements, and every casualty meant a loss of one man, while he had a steady stream of reinforcements arriving on the battlefield.

Using one's own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses, the tactics may seem ordinary, but they hit the enemy's weak spot and brought tremendous pressure to Yan Yi's army.

At this moment, in Yan Yi's tent, the main generals of each department were hurriedly summoned to discuss countermeasures.

Xu Sheng said in a low voice, "The enemy must have changed their commander. Otherwise, given Zhou Xin and Shang Sheng's fighting style, they would never have launched an attack overnight."

Yan Yi stared at the map intently, and without looking up, asked, "Where is the Northern Army now?"

The Northern Army he was referring to was the 2,000 reinforcements from Yuncheng and the soldiers stationed at various strongholds north of Qiantang. Because they had been held back by Han You's army for a while, they had not yet reached Qiantang.

Although tens of thousands of people gathered around Qiantang at that time, only two or three thousand of them were military slaves and civilian laborers, and only more than seven thousand were actually capable of fighting.

Among these more than 7,000 people, 3,000 were defending Wang Lang's army on the western front, and there were less than 5,000 troops under Qiantang City.

"The Northern Army won't reach Qiantang until noon." Fan Yan's expression was filled with worry and anxiety. He then asked, "Should we attack the city immediately after the Northern Army arrives? If we replace the soldiers on the western front with military slaves and civilian laborers, we should be able to capture Qiantang."

As soon as he finished speaking, a quiet discussion erupted in the general's tent. The generals' expressions varied: some were excited, some were uneasy, and still others frowned.

Yan Yi pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Noon isn't the best time to attack the city. First, the enemy is well-prepared, making it difficult for our army to attack, and we'll undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties. Second, conquering Qiantang isn't the only goal; defending it is. Wang Lang's army far outnumbers us. If the enemy takes advantage of our weakened position after capturing it and launches a siege, we'll lose Qiantang once and for all."

Fan Yan broke out in a cold sweat and bowed, saying, "I was inconsiderate."

"Even the wisest of men can make mistakes. Lord Fan, there's no need to blame yourself." Yan Yi smiled faintly and looked around. "Do you have any good ideas?" Si Qing clasped his fists and said, "Wang Lang's main force hasn't yet fully assembled, yet he's eager to divide and advance. In my opinion, our army should seek an opportunity to defeat them, dampen their morale, and weaken their main force to a level acceptable to our army before attacking Qiantang."

Xu Sheng followed up, "Lord Si's words make sense. However, our army must retain sufficient forces for the siege. We should refrain from engaging in large-scale field battles to avoid excessive casualties. It would be more cost-effective to exploit the enemy's eagerness to advance and use our strongholds along the way to wear down their forces."

Yan Yi pondered for a moment, then nodded, "The two strategies can be combined. Focus on depleting the enemy's forces at the strongholds, supplemented by annihilating small groups in the field. Combining offense and defense, we'll prioritize annihilating the enemy's vital forces. Furthermore, let the people return to their homes and strictly prohibit them from wandering outside. Any garrison troops or patrols who encounter anyone of unknown origin will be executed immediately! As for the timing of the siege, I'll make my own arrangements. All of you, please await orders."

Seeing that he remained calm, the generals were all encouraged and responded loudly.

A quarter of an hour later, Yan Yi personally led Xu Sheng's troops and two thousand elite infantrymen to the western front to seek an opportunity to annihilate the enemy.

At the same time, Yan Yi's army began to search for enemy scouts in the controlled area. Under the strict order, even if some people were killed by mistake, they would not hesitate.

By noon, Yu Fan began to feel that he had become blind and deaf. The scouts he sent to the area around Qiantang had no news and no message came back.

He hurriedly summoned all the generals to discuss the matter. Everyone believed that the enemy was making final preparations for the siege and might have already begun the attack.

Although Yu Fan had doubts in his heart, for the sake of safety, he still ordered all departments to speed up the advance regardless of the cost.

His greatest reliance was the large number of his troops. The first batch of 8,000 troops assembled in Fuchun had lost 3,000 to 4,000 men, but with the reinforcements, the number had recovered to 7,000. He then divided the troops into two groups, one to rest and the other to fight, taking turns advancing.

The defenders also changed their strategy, abandoning strongholds vulnerable to enemy encirclement and instead holding on to key positions on strategic roads and strategic terrain. They no longer stubbornly defended their positions. Once losses reached a certain level, they would withdraw under the cover of reinforcements and retreat to the rear for repairs.

As both sides attacked and defended, casualties mounted. By dusk, Wang Lang's army had suffered 7,000 to 8,000 casualties. Without a steady stream of reinforcements, disobedience would have been inevitable.

When the casualties of Yan Yi's army reached 1,500, they switched to using military slaves and civilian laborers to defend the city. The casualties were also quite heavy, and even desertions began to appear.

At this time, Yu Fan had led his troops to advance to eleven miles west of Qiantang, posing a great threat to Yan Yi's army's capture of Qiantang.

The defenders began to change their strategy and defended with all their might. The supervisory team had killed dozens of those who deserted from the battlefield, and the situation was gradually becoming chaotic.

Yu Fan saw that the defenders were about to be defeated and ordered the advance to continue, but was met with strong resistance from his soldiers.

The Kuaiji army had long been estranged from battle and had never experienced such a brutal siege. They were literally paving the way to Qiantang. Despite their increasingly obvious advantage, the soldiers refused to fight again, resorting to lip service and insincerely disobeying orders.

If the generals of various departments had not tried their best to suppress the rebellion, unrest would probably have occurred.

Yu Fan was furious and personally beheaded a military marquis who was causing trouble. He also promised a generous reward to the entire army and personally led his troops into battle, advancing with drums beating.

At this moment, scouts came to report that a unit on the right wing of the army, which was ordered to attack the key road of Tingbu, was ambushed by the enemy's elite troops and was completely wiped out.

(End of this chapter)