Sweep Yuan

Chapter 106 Taking Haozhou: All the Heroes Gather

In the era of cold weapons, defending a city was about ensuring the steadfastness of the people's hearts and the sufficiency of supplies; the completeness of the city's defenses was secondary.

The Yuan dynasty abandoned its city defenses and lost the hearts of the people; there was no city in the world that could not be breached.

However, Shishan firmly believed that he could capture Haozhou City in a few days, not because the Tartars had abandoned the city's defenses due to their tyranny, but because of his own efforts, which came from both the long-term training of the Red Flag Battalion and the advance planning.

Sending Daoist Pu to investigate the true situation of Haozhou and plant an inside agent was only one aspect of the plan. Shishan also had another weapon to break through the city—gunpowder.

After learning that the Yuan army had already used gunpowder in the war, Shishan collected sulfur and saltpeter through various channels and arranged for Tong Si'er to study the gunpowder manufacturing process.

The formula is very simple, and the saying "one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, and three parts charcoal" has been passed down through the ages (note). The difficulty lies in the specific proportions of gunpowder with different properties, such as propellant, explosive, and fuse, as well as the purification process of raw materials.

Tong Si'er was meticulous and skillful. She recorded the relevant data in detail for each experiment. Although she was not very literate, the experimental records made Shi Shan have to guess at the results. However, she figured out the relevant formula in less than two months, which was quite remarkable.

Due to the scarcity of raw materials, after working for so long, they only managed to produce nearly 500 jin of gunpowder, which Shishan brought all of.

Although many explosion tests had been conducted before, each time only a few kilograms of gunpowder were used, and the power was limited. It was unknown whether using 500 kilograms of gunpowder at once would be enough to collapse the Haozhou city wall.

Of course, gunpowder was only a backup method, and it was best not to use it if possible.

After all, if the city walls are blown up, they have to repair them themselves. If the government troops are inspired to develop more sophisticated siege techniques, it could ruin everything.

Gunpowder research had been conducted in secret, and Li Wu was unaware of this. However, he trusted his third brother and had no doubt that Shishan could capture Haozhou within three to five days, which led him to consider another possibility.

"If we capture Haozhou, what if those people from Dingyuan come after us?"

"Of course we welcome them. How long can we overthrow the court by fighting alone? The Red Flag Battalion is based on blood and fire. We welcome all righteous armies who are willing to join forces with us to kill all the Tartars and overthrow the court."

Seeing Li Wu's furrowed brows, Shi Shan knew he didn't agree with the statement, and added:

"But since we are joining forces, we must distinguish between the master and the servant in order to form a united force—whoever breaks through Haozhou first is the master, and those who come later are the servants. We will break through Haozhou first, and when Guo Zixing comes, we must obey his orders and follow the same commands. We must not act on our own."

"I understand."

Li Wu's doubts vanished, and without further delay, he got up and left.

"Third Brother, go ahead and attack the city. I won't let these Dingyuan people ruin our plans."

Although he appeared calm and composed in front of Li Wu, Shi Shan knew that he was a powerful dragon crossing the river. If he wanted to snatch food from the mouth of Guo Zixing, a local tiger, he could not be too relaxed. This battle had to be won quickly.

The attack officially began the following day, with Shishan focusing his main assault on the north city wall.

For this purpose, five battle battalions were concentrated: Battalion A1 (Commander Fu Youde), Battalion A3 (Commander Wu Liujin), Battalion B4 (Commander Hu Dahai), Battalion B6 (Commander Geng Zaicheng), and the Recruiting and Guarding Battalion (Commander Gong Wu).

The two sides launched a feint attack from the east and west, with the First Battalion (commanded by Zeng Xing) and the Second Battalion (commanded by Zhou Shier) deployed respectively.

The south was the pre-planned escape route for the defending troops, and the Third Battalion (commanded by Han Cheng) was sent forward to set up an ambush.

Based on the experience gained from the sieges of Hongxian and Wuhe, Shishan improved his siege tactics and determined the siege strategy of "small groups attacking from multiple directions in waves". He divided each battalion into several siege waves to make effective use of siege equipment.

The Sixth Battalion led the charge. Commander Geng Zaicheng knew that most of his troops were surrendered soldiers who lacked courage, so he selected only half of the bravest soldiers to form the siege team. He divided them into three groups to take turns attacking the city.

The rest of the men provided cover, pushing the siege equipment into the defenders' firing range before retreating, allowing the siege team to continue advancing.

To boost morale, Geng Zaicheng handed over command to his deputy and personally led the assault team, braving arrows and stones from the city walls, to the barricades below. After pouring oil on the barricades and setting them on fire, they immediately retreated.

The main trunk of the chevaux-de-frise is thick and takes some time to burn through.

After a short rest and once his strength had recovered, Geng Zaicheng led the second assault team to quickly clear away the still-burning wreckage of the barricades using large axes, spears, and iron hooks.

Even with the suppression from their own archers, clearing obstacles while enduring the constant barrage of arrows and stones from the defenders was still extremely exhausting.

Although Shishan sought a quick victory, he never considered using the blood and flesh of his soldiers to fill the city moat. Before the battle, he clearly instructed each battalion and unit to advance steadily around each stage of the battle.

The first phase of the task mainly involves overcoming obstacles, emphasizing speed.

Before Geng Zaicheng could exhaust himself, the third siege team arrived, replacing the second team's comrades, and continued to clear obstacles below the city.

From the central observation post, one can have a panoramic view of the entire battlefield and issue timely orders.

"Order: Battalion B4, advance; Battalion A3, prepare."

As flag signals and war drum signals were given, officers in each battalion received orders and issued tasks level by level, with the troops adjusting their positions accordingly.

On the city wall, the defending soldiers panicked and dodged the suppressive fire of the Red Flag Battalion, while occasionally retaliating with a few arrows under the whips of their officers.

At the foot of the city wall, while the third batch of attacking soldiers of the Sixth Battalion were still clearing away the remaining obstacles, Hu Deji had already led the first batch of attacking soldiers of the Fourth Battalion to accelerate their charge.

Heading out to the front line, Hu Dahai watched as his eldest son had only cleared a small patch of ground under the city wall before hastily erecting a ladder. He shook his head and sighed inwardly at his eldest son's eagerness to make a name for himself. Under such circumstances, even if the ladder was set up, how could he possibly be the first to scale the walls?

Sure enough, the siege ladders were discovered by the defending troops as soon as they were erected.

Several wooden forks quickly came and pushed down the ladder, which was not yet securely attached to the iron hook. As a result, the guards were exposed and took a hit from a volley of arrows from the Red Flag Battalion. Several of them were shot down on the spot.

"You clear the obstacles first, and we'll set up the ladders once I lead the third team to attack."

After giving his instructions, Hu Dahai ordered the second assault team to set off.

After Hu Deji returned to his base, Hu Dahai confirmed that his eldest son was unharmed and cursed:

"Fool! How can you be so impatient when attacking a city? Open your eyes wider and watch how your old man scales the walls!"

Wearing only a leather and iron ring armor to ensure agility in battle, and carrying a round shield and a short sword, Hu Dahai led the third siege of the main camp. He did not walk fast, and did not even run at all, but relying on his height and long legs, he took a very long stride, with one step almost equivalent to two steps for an ordinary person, and always kept close behind the group, about five or six steps behind.

Faced with the intermittent arrows fired by the defenders, Hu Dahai did not dodge or move. Instead, he quickly parried the arrows with his round shield or short sword just before they were about to hit him. He was like a boulder standing firm against the current, completely unaffected by the arrows and flying stones.

Upon seeing Hu Dahai's imposing figure in the formation, Wu Liujin knew that the latter intended to scale the city walls, and ordered his archers to engage in battle.

"Archers, advance and cover Commander Hu as he scales the city wall!"

The third squad of the third battalion attacked the city, and the suppressive fire from the rear suddenly increased, making it impossible for the defenders to raise their heads. The soldiers of the second squad, who had been waiting under the city wall, took the opportunity to crawl out of their protective equipment and quickly set up six siege ladders.

Once the hook at the top of the iron hook ladder gripped the crevice, several daring soldiers climbed up the ladder.

The fierce battle seemed to have nothing to do with Hu Dahai. He simply stood ten steps away from the ladder, concentrating all his energy on carefully observing the trajectory of the bricks and stones thrown from the city wall, thus deducing the location where the defenders were hiding.

Before long, Hu Dahai found the weak point of the defenders, grabbed the short knife in his mouth, and suddenly charged forward. He chose a ladder where soldiers had just fallen, and using the momentum of his forward movement, he stepped onto the fourth rung of the ladder in one step.

He then used both hands and feet, like a snake or a giant ape, and surprisingly overtook the others who had climbed the ladder earlier, reaching the top of the ladder in just a few steps.

"Good skill!"

Wu Liujin was also very calm and good at seizing opportunities. He even climbed the city wall twice during the Battle of Hongxian. However, compared with Hu Dahai, who was as still as a rock and as swift as a giant ape, he still felt a huge gap.

Seeing Hu Dahai climb the city wall so quickly, Wu Liujin knew that Haozhou would most likely be captured today, and immediately gave the order:
"Second and third teams, follow me!"

On the city wall, to avoid the Red Flag Battalion's long-range attacks, the defenders were huddled behind the outer parapet of the city wall, using large shields to protect themselves from the constant rain of arrows. They set up a hanging door every five zhang (approximately 15 meters) to observe the enemy situation below the city through the reflection of bronze mirrors.

"Quick! Thief, thief, come up here—"

Before the observer could finish speaking, the guard crouching against the wall realized something was wrong. Just as he was about to straighten up to prepare for a counterattack, his vision suddenly went dark, and a huge figure descended from the sky.

"Bah!"

Before landing, Hu Dahai had already spat out the dagger and caught it with his right hand. Then he roared, like the roar of a dragon and the howl of a lion, which stunned the guards nearby.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hu Dahai burst into the crowd, kicked a guard in the jaw, knocking him down, and then slashed left and right with his short knife, killing two more people in an instant.

"Kill him quickly!"

Before the defending commander could react, Hu Dahai had already seized a long spear. Relying on his long arms and heavy strength, he swung the spear like a mace. Wherever the spearhead went, people were either killed or injured, and no one dared to approach him.

In just a few breaths, Hu Dahai cleared a section of the city wall by himself, just in time to help his comrades who had climbed the ladder to the city.

"Stand by my side, kill!"

On the defending side, no one could withstand a single blow from this tall, burly man, and their morale plummeted. No matter how much the commander urged them, no one dared to step forward and take a shot from Hu Dahai head-on.

"Reinforcements! Quickly, reinforcements!"

The garrison reinforcements had actually arrived long ago, but the city wall passage was only so wide, and the number of troops that could be deployed on the front was limited. The people in the back rushed forward, but the people in front were forced to retreat repeatedly by Hu Dahai. They collided with each other, and no matter how many people there were, they couldn't exert any force.

The commander, relying on his iron armor, was eager to kill Hu Dahai and squeezed to the front. However, after only two moves, Hu Dahai knocked the weapon out of his hand with a spear, and then the spear tip pierced his face, killing him on the spot.

"The commander is dead! Run!"

As the defenders fled, the crowded passageway suddenly became open, and the archers who had previously had nowhere to attack found an opportunity, drawing their bows and nocking their arrows.

Wearing only leather armor, Hu Dahai dared not be careless and quickly followed the fleeing defenders, using them as cover to charge forward.

"Kill!"

Central Command Post.

Shi Shan had heard Li Wu's report on the battle of Wudu Village and knew that Hu Dahai was brave, but he did not expect him to be so brave. With just one charge, he scaled the city wall, quickly defeated the defending troops, and swiftly adjusted his orders.

"Beat the drums! Launch a full-scale attack!"

In a small alley in the city.

Seeing the soldiers on the city wall running and shouting wildly, Park Daoren knew that some had already broken through the walls. He glanced at the lean man in front of him who was still anxiously looking in the direction of Fengyue Tower, and said sarcastically:
"Brother Tang, you said the Tartars in the city were all elites, how come they are so easily defeated? I advise you not to wait for Brother Cao and the others to set fire. If you don't act now, you will miss the chance to kill Tartars and make a name for yourselves in this battle."

"Damn it, let's fight!"

The man surnamed Tang also noticed that the defending troops were showing signs of collapse. Without further hesitation, he spat out a mouthful of saliva, raised his knife, and shouted to the crowd behind him:

"Follow me and charge out to welcome the righteous army into the city!"

Just as this group rushed out of the alley and was about to scatter a troop of defenders preparing to reinforce the city wall, two men suddenly rushed out from the side, startling the man surnamed Tang. After recognizing the two men, he couldn't help but ask:

"Guo Xing, Guo Ying, what are you doing here?"

"Hey! If Tang He can kill the Tartars and welcome the righteous army, why can't we join the righteous army in rebellion?"

Tang Hezheng was troubled by a lack of manpower, and the Guo brothers were both brave and strong, so he naturally welcomed them.

"Haha, good, let's kill the Tartars together!"

"Kill!"

(End of this chapter)