Sweep Yuan

Chapter 61 Which demon thief can get close?

The pointed wooden donkey cart has a 14-foot-long, 1.5-foot-diameter round log as its spine, supported by slanted pillars. It is pointed at the top and wide at the bottom, 7.5 inches high, with six wooden wheels at the bottom, and covered with raw cowhide. It can accommodate ten people.

The tabletop of the Eight Immortals Table is covered with raw cowhide. Its advantages are that the material is easy to obtain and modify, and it has a certain degree of defensive capability. However, it is not a special siege weapon, and one table can only barely protect three people.

The two vehicles and eight tables were clearly insufficient to provide cover for the two teams of over a hundred people. The rest of the people could only carry thin rattan shields or wooden shields and advance alongside the pointed wooden donkeys and the eight-immortal tables.

On the flank of the battlefield, as the central army raised its red "Advance" command flag, Fu Youde's archer squad, under the cover of shield bearers, slowly pushed six shield carts toward the city wall, providing long-range strike support for Shao Si and his men.

The shield cart was made of thick wooden planks covered with raw cowhide. The planks were angled so that small bricks and stones could not move it, large bricks and stones would roll down, and firewood would not burn it. With the addition of rattan shields and wooden shields, it could effectively protect against long-range attacks from the defending troops.

Before the column had moved forward twenty paces, it was met with a sparse barrage of arrows, which startled the archers from the former Lingbi County, causing some to drop their weapons and turn to flee.

"Coward! Open your donkey balls and see how far away we are. Who got hurt? Humph!"

In the morning light, the scars on Shao Si's face looked particularly ferocious and terrifying, making the fleeing soldiers' legs tremble.

"Pick up your gun and charge! If you dare to run again, Master Si will make an example of you!"

As Shao Si predicted, the defending troops' hasty attack before the "Red Heart Battalion" soldiers were within effective firing range only revealed their nervousness and did not cause any casualties.

The situation isn't much better for the "Red Heart Camp" side.

No sooner had the defenders finished their attack than three archers behind a shield wagon launched a blind counterattack towards the city wall. The rest of the soldiers stopped as well, and Fu Youde quickly shouted to stop them.

"Continue forward. Do not fire arrows without my order! I will spare you this time, considering it is your first offense. But if you disobey again, do not blame me for being ruthless in military law!"

Suffering from a shortage of bows and arrows, Shishan had never established a crossbow battalion. During the Battle of Chulan, they even used javelins instead of bows and arrows. However, attacking a city is not the same as fighting in the field. Without bows and arrows to suppress the defenders, there is no way to climb the city walls.

In this battle, Shishan concentrated his limited number of archers and handed them over to Fu Youde for command.

For this reason, Fu Youde specially organized a pre-battle training yesterday, but the results were disastrous. If these idiots were allowed to fire arrows indiscriminately, they would run out of arrows and not hurt many people.

Snapped--

County Magistrate Gao slammed the back of his sword into the archer who was firing wildly, and roared:

"Don't panic! Wait until the thieves get closer before firing!"

After shouting, Gao Jingyi looked at the enemy's pointed wooden donkey carts and eight-immortal tables below the city walls, feeling uneasy. Suddenly, he slammed his fist on the wall, turned around, pointed at Deng Shunxing and the others, and shouted:
"You lot, quickly scoop out these two pots of golden gravy and replace it with cooking oil, quick, replace the oil!"

Vegetable oil does not ignite when exposed to an open flame at room temperature; it must first be slowly heated until it is boiling hot and smoking before it can be used to ignite siege weapons.

Below the city, the rebel army, using pointed wooden donkey carts as cover, was searching for weak points in the city wall, leaving Gao Jingyi no choice but to hurry.

Deng Shunxing cursed under his breath, thinking "bad luck," and casually beckoned a few militiamen to scoop up manure and replace the oil.

As a county magistrate, Gao Jing often dealt with the common people and knew that Deng Shunxing had great ambitions. This time, in defending the city, he also entrusted the latter with the responsibility of leading the militia of the neighboring wards.

In his panic, he mistook the man for an ordinary militiaman. When he realized that the man covered in soot was Deng Shunxing, County Lieutenant Gao smiled apologetically and ran towards the location of Lin Chihudu at the city gate. “The rebel army has begun its attack on the city. I urge Your Excellency to come to the county office to strategize. I will do my utmost to kill the rebels and live up to Your Excellency’s trust.”

"It doesn't matter!"

Lin Chihu waved his hand to refuse Gao Jingyi's offer, deliberately raising his voice so that others could hear him, and said:
"Although I am skilled in the classics, my ancestors were all adept riders of fierce horses and hunters of wolves. Generations of them have made meritorious contributions and are protected by the Eternal Heaven. I will sit here on the tower and see which demonic thief can harm me in the slightest!"

Thump—clang—smack!

Bricks and stones struck the pointed wooden donkey cart. Hu Cai was so frightened that he shrank his neck. When he realized that the cart had rolled away immediately after being hit, and the roof remained sturdy, unlike his comrades who had reacted much more strongly, he felt somewhat ashamed of his cowardice. As if to defend himself, he clicked his tongue and said:
"Hey, the pointed wooden donkey cart is still the best. So many stones were thrown at it, but it didn't do much damage."

Shao Si, with a cold face, reprimanded:
"Stop talking nonsense! We're almost at the wall."

The defending troops had an advantage in height and numbers (in the current situation), and the closer they were to the city wall, the stronger their attack. Shao Si had already given his shield to a wounded soldier, who then retreated, while he squeezed into the pointed wooden donkey cart.

As it turns out, without the suppression of crossbows, even the sturdiest shields cannot withstand the rain of bricks and stones. Of the 106 men in the first two teams that went out to attack, only two carts and six tables, less than 40 men, are still advancing.

Those who didn't keep up weren't all killed in action.

In reality, very few people were killed, only three.

The rest either retreated halfway due to injuries or broken shields, or were too far from Shao Si to reach him. When they realized the situation was not right, they turned around and ran away. Among them were two groups carrying a 12-inch table on their backs.

Knowing full well that his mission was to probe the enemy's defenses and that his troops' morale was low, making it impossible for them to reach the city walls, Shao Si couldn't help but curse Fu Youde for not putting in any real effort, even though he had only gone halfway and had already lost or fled most of his soldiers.

"That bastard Fu Youde is ruthless! He didn't even fire a single arrow. Wait until Grandpa steps down, then I'll see how I sue him!"

In fact, Shao Si misunderstood Fu Youde.

Fu Youde did not fire a single arrow; instead, he shot two arrows, one of which felled a guard archer.

It's just that the battlefield was too chaotic. Shao Si was carrying his shield and dodging attacks from the city wall while constantly scolding his comrades who wanted to escape. It's normal that he didn't notice the cold arrows suddenly shot at the enemy.

With two shots hitting their mark, Fu Youde carefully selected his targets—all skilled warriors wielding powerful bows, whose arrows had caused casualties, and who posed the greatest threat to the besieging soldiers.

Like a venomous snake patiently lurking in search of a valuable target, it either doesn't strike at all, or when it does, it's deadly.

With just these two arrows, Fu Youde completely subdued the archers who were temporarily under his command, and also let the garrison know that there were skilled archers below the city, so they no longer dared to lean out and slowly aim at the enemy to fire arrows.

Although the defenders launched a strong attack afterward, they hid behind the battlements and threw bricks and stones randomly. Even when a few brave ones got up to shoot arrows, they would first draw their bows, peek out, and shoot without daring to aim properly.

Everyone knows that although snakes are venomous, they can only kill one person at a time, but no one wants to be the next one to be bitten to death.

Having witnessed the battle, Shao Rong was deeply impressed by Fu Youde's composure and keen insight.

"Third Brother, with Fu Youde providing cover, we should be able to charge into battle with peace of mind."

(End of this chapter)