Sweep Yuan

Chapter 105 Even a mighty city is difficult to defend if it is not manly.

When Shi Shan led his troops to Haozhou, he left the Second Battalion (commanded by Sun Xun) and the Fifth Battalion (commanded by Fei Ju) to guard the Wuhe River. Sun Xun was in charge of all military and political affairs to secure the rear for the army.

Except for the Veterans Affairs Company, which was slow to act, all other combat battalions, combat training battalions, supply battalions, and combat support battalions were mobilized.

Including the civilian laborers transporting supplies with the army, the total number exceeded seven thousand. They sailed down the Huai River and went straight to the city of Haozhou. Their banners covered the sun and their sails stretched to the sky. The Haozhou garrison was intimidated by the Red Flag Battalion's imposing presence and dared not come out of the city to stop them.

As with previous sieges, once the army arrived at the city, each unit proceeded in an orderly manner according to Shishan's orders, either building fortifications, forging siege weapons, dismantling scattered buildings outside the city, or preparing for government troops to launch a counterattack.

Shishan then led a group of officers to conduct on-site reconnaissance of the city's defenses.

Based on the intelligence gathered in the early stages and the results of on-site reconnaissance, the defense situation of Haozhou City is roughly as follows:

The city wall of Haozhou was built with rammed earth foundation and covered with brick and stone. It was about nine li and thirty steps in circumference and three zhang high. The city wall was built according to the trend of the mountains and rivers. There were a total of six city gates, all of which were located at the corners of the city, resulting in an irregular orientation of the city wall.

Among them, there is one north gate: Linhuai Gate is located on the west side of the north city wall, close to the Huai River, and controls the Huai River ferry crossing.

The west gate: Tushan Gate is located in the northwest corner of the city. The city wall is built along the foothills of Tushan Mountain. The terrain is dangerous, and the city gate and Tushan Mountain form a natural barrier, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

There are two gates on the east side: Yifeng Gate is located in the northeast corner of the city. The city wall extends northeastward and is situated on higher ground. It forms a right angle defense with the outer moat and is an important passage for grain transport and merchants.

Wenxian Gate is located in the southeast of the east city wall, with the watchtower (city gate tower) to the east. The city wall slopes southeastward according to the terrain, and the city gate connects diagonally with the moat, resulting in a relatively small defensive surface.

There are two south gates: Quyang Gate is located in the southeast corner of the city. The city wall is built along the moat, and in recent years, a stone embankment has been added for flood control.

Qingliu Gate is located in the southwest corner of the city. The city wall follows the terrain, and the watchtower is built next to the moat. The city gate and the city river meet, and a sluice gate is set up to control the water flow. Iron chains and wooden gates are also set up to prevent enemy troops from sneaking in.

Such a fortified city naturally needs to be heavily fortified.

Haozhou was established as a Wanhu Prefecture, with a large army of 5,000, making it an important town in Huaixi.

However, due to the successive uprisings in the neighboring Yingzhou and Xuzhou, a large number of troops were drawn away and consumed, leaving only four thousand households in the city. The city claimed to have a large army of three thousand, but in reality, it had less than 1,500 men.

In the original historical timeline, Guo Zixing was able to conquer Haozhou with only a few thousand newly-formed local militia. The Red Flag Battalion, having undergone so much training over a long period, should not be weaker than newly-formed local militia.

Having completed his on-site reconnaissance, Shi Shan spurred his horse and cracked the whip, then smiled at the generals beside him:
"Such a magnificent city, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, should have been easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, because the Tartars feared that the Han people would rebel and occupy the city for their own defense, they dismantled the city's defenses themselves."

Haozhou now has only city walls, but no barbicans or arrow towers, and no watchtowers or ramparts have been built. The moat has not been dredged for many years and is largely silted up, so the city's defensive functions are only 30% intact.

"The Tartars are wicked and do not deserve to possess such a fortified city. It is only right that we take Haozhou."

The army has come from afar and has only just begun to build siege equipment. The formal attack on the city will not begin until at least tomorrow. However, inspired by Shishan, the generals all volunteered to lead their own camps to test the city's defenses.

"The Third Battalion (Han Cheng) will launch probing attacks on the east and south walls, and the Fourth Battalion (Hu Dahai) will launch attacks on the west and north walls. Make a big fuss and let these Tartars who only dare to cower in the city see the might of our army!"

"Leader!"

Haozhou City originated in the Spring and Autumn Period. After Chu destroyed Wu, Zhongli County was built here, and the city was constructed. It was expanded many times. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the prefect Lian Nanfu dredged the Hao River to merge the east and west cities and built the city wall to three zhang (approximately 10 meters), which finally formed the current form.

This city was once surrounded by water on all sides. To breach the city, one must first fill in the moat or devise a clever strategy.

As the Huai River continued to erode the right bank, the river channel shifted northward, gradually creating a piece of land north of Haozhou City. Although the distance was limited and it was difficult to establish a camp there, it was enough to deploy troops for the siege.

Shi Shan then set up a large camp west of Haozhou City, and planned to launch the main attack on the north side of the city wall.

The defenders knew this was a weak point in their defenses and had deployed the most troops there. Before the vanguard of the Fourth Battalion could even get close to the wall, they were met with a hail of arrows from the defenders.

At this moment, a strong northwest wind was blowing. The defending soldiers fired arrows against the wind, but the arrows were blown off course by the wind, their paths twisted and distorted, and they fell to the ground far from their targets.

The first volley of arrows caused no casualties to the attacking side, but instead exposed the low morale and panic of the defending troops.

The Fourth Battalion advanced slowly in a tortoise-shell formation until the second volley of arrows rained down from the defenders. Only then did the young officer in charge order a counterattack, and more than a dozen archers fired simultaneously, taking advantage of the wind to rush straight to the city wall.

After the Fourth Battalion of the Shishan Garrison set out from their positions, Ma Yi personally observed the probing attack's effectiveness. Seeing the defenders on the city walls frantically taking cover, he knew the attack had been successful and exclaimed:

"Commander Hu is both brave and composed, very good!"

The Fourth Battalion of the Yi Si Battalion was only formed before the Battle of Wuhe. This was a team whose most members had never seen blood, yet they were able to advance steadily despite the enemy's arrow rain. This shows that Hu Dahai was not only brave in battle, but also very good at training troops and commanding operations.

As they spoke, the defending troops, having regained their composure under the officers' whips and scoldings, began their third round of attacks.

"Gunpowder arrows?" Shi Shan was too far away, but he could vaguely see the flickering firelight on the city wall. Some of the arrows were still crooked and weak, but others trailed white smoke as they headed straight for the vanguard of the Fourth Battalion.

Finally, someone on the vanguard was injured. Under the command of a young general wearing leather armor, they retreated in formation. However, the young general, holding a large shield, charged forward quickly, heading straight for the line of near impact of the enemy's third volley of arrows.

The defenders, unaware of the young general's intentions, were not about to miss the chance to "shoot down the enemy general," so they hurriedly drew their bows and lit the fire, firing another round of rockets, but they were a little too slow.

After picking up the two arrows, the armored young general retreated rapidly. All the arrows that came at him were either blocked by his large shield or deflected by his short sword. He was truly incredibly swift.

Judging from this figure, it seems to be Hu Dahai's eldest son, Hu Deji.
Before long, Hu Dahai ordered Hu Deji to come and report.

"The defenders fired two volleys of gunpowder arrows. My father—the commander—specifically assigned several men to fire them. There were a total of twenty-three arrows. Ten of them ignited, but the rest didn't even smoke. They were fired at very close range, so that's how it should be."

A gunpowder arrow is essentially an arrow with a paper tube of gunpowder attached to its shaft. When fired, the fuse is lit, and the arrow's range is increased by the thrust of the burning gunpowder during its flight.

Shi Shan took the two gunpowder arrows handed to him by Hu Deji, opened the paper tubes, and found that the gunpowder inside had become damp and hardened. Only ten of the twenty-three rockets fired, with a success rate of only forty percent. It seemed that the problem of the garrison's poor weapon storage was very serious.

“Very good. On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes. You and your son both like to charge into battle, and being in the same battalion is not the way to treat meritorious soldiers well. It just so happens that the Imperial Guard Battalion is short of a squad leader. You can come over after the city is breached.”

Shishan admired the young and brave Hu Deji from the beginning and intended to transfer him to the Education and Guard Camp for proper training.

However, at that time, Hu Dahai had just brought his relatives to join him, and the foundation of trust between the two sides was very weak. Moreover, he needed the assistance of his relatives to quickly take control of the team, so Shishan did not make this request.

Hu Dahai has now secured his position as commander. He deliberately gave his eldest son a chance to shine in this battle, which was also intended to bring him closer to Shishan.

After joining the police battalion, Hu Deji not only had more opportunities to show his face and make merits, but it also represented the garrison commander's trust in his father. Not to mention being a squad leader, even if he was just a common soldier, Hu Deji would be happy to accept it.

"The commander-in-chief has placed great trust in me, and I have no way to repay him. I am willing to be the first to charge in this battle!"

"Haha, you've got quite the nerve."

Shi Shan pointed at Hu Deji and smiled at the generals around him:
"You want to be the first to go, without even asking if everyone else is willing to give way?"

"Hahaha."

Although the generals were highly motivated, Haozhou City was built on advantageous terrain, and not everyone had the opportunity to be the first to scale it.

Compared to the suppression of the defending troops by the north city wall, the probing attacks from the east, west, and south sides were not very successful.

The west city wall was built along the foothills of Tushan Mountain. It was very difficult to attack from below the wall. Although the wind helped, attacking the city required climbing the slope. Han Cheng personally led his men to shoot a few arrows to determine the landing point of the arrows, and then decisively moved to the south city wall.

Although the south city wall has two gates, only the Quyang Gate can actually be used to deploy troops. When attacking the city, arrows must be shot against the wind, so the situation is not as good as the west city wall.

The section of the moat outside the east city wall was silted up, but it was afternoon and some of the frozen silt had melted in the sun. Hu Dahai dared not take the risk and could only concentrate his troops at the city gate.

The defending troops, however, had a superior position and attacked from both sides, making it impossible for the attacking vanguard to raise their heads.

After the Third and Fourth Battalions of the Yi Group withdrew, Shi Shan ordered the Fifth and Sixth Battalions of the Yi Group to attack, and the situation was similar.

By this point, the generals had a deeper understanding of the difficulty of attacking Haozhou City.

After the probing attack ended and the army set up camp, Shi Shan and his generals had just finished discussing the siege tactics for the next day when Li Wu led his men back to camp at breakneck speed.

The main task of the cavalry battalion was to cover the battlefield and gather intelligence. Li Wu learned that Guo Zixing had raised an army to attack Dingyuan and was worried that his troops might affect the Red Flag Battalion's operations, so he hurriedly returned to the camp to report to Shishan.

"Guo Zixing certainly knows how to choose his timing!"

Shi Shan never expected that Guo Zixing would not rebel when he had given him things before, but when he led his army across the river to besiege Haozhou, this local tyrant from Dingyuan suddenly raised an army, hence his sigh.

Li Wu understood the importance of Haozhou to the Red Flag Camp's great cause, but fearing that Guo Zixing might interfere, he said:
"Let me take some men and stop this scoundrel."

"never mind."

The army set off from Wuhe and arrived at Haozhou City in just four days. Given the slow speed of information dissemination at that time, even if Guo Zixing had planted spies in Wuhe in advance, it would have been impossible for him to raise an army so quickly.

After a moment's thought, Shi Shan realized that this was most likely just a coincidence, and rejected Li Wu's suggestion, saying earnestly:
"Without a heart that embraces the world, how can one conquer the world? If Guo Zixing were to head straight for Haozhou after raising his army, I would respect him as a hero, and it's not impossible for us to cooperate and take Haozhou together."

But he attacked Dingyuan first. After capturing the city, it would take him at least two or three days to regroup, and at least five or six days to reach Haozhou. If we can't capture the city by then, don't blame others for taking a share.

(End of this chapter)