You became an emperor by letting me AFK.

Even Song Yan was getting impatient. He did send envoys to test the waters, but Feng Tianyin only gave him one answer: "We will definitely occupy Nanyuan, that's all. Where is the action? What are you waiting for?"

Amidst various uneasy speculations, Nanyuan ushered in a new change: on the morning of the third day, a grand procession caught up with the Imperial Guard.

Auxiliary troops.

Upon arrival, they immediately began constructing siege towers, ladders, and other facilities on the spot.

However, the garrison at Nanyuan still felt it was insignificant.

"Surroundings of this level are no match for our city; they're pointless."

The Imperial Guard, equally familiar with war, understood that this was ultimately still a plan for a frontal assault, facing towering city walls and the unknown number of deaths that would ensue. They were prepared regardless.

night.

It was another ordinary day of siege warfare, but this time Feng Tianyin did not order everyone to turn off the lights and rest early as usual.

"Order to assemble. All engineers must be in position at the designated location."

She took out a detailed topographic map of the southern plateau, which clearly marked weak points, support points, river channels, natural caves, etc., and investigated the entire flat-topped mountain area inside and out.

"Now we're going to start poaching our employees." Chapter 99: The Great Poaching Operation (Edited, please refresh)

It was late at night.

Under Feng Tianyin's command, a large number of engineers climbed ladders to the high point of Pingdingshan, which was not far from the corner of the city wall.

Only then did they realize that this thing was used for this purpose.

Moreover, there are already some traces of pits.

Only now do I realize that there was actually a liaison inside the city. They secretly dug a tunnel from the other side of the city wall and also obtained detailed blueprints. These past few days have been the time for them to coordinate and communicate with each other.

No wonder.

The high priest was simultaneously preparing for the siege and undermining the city's foundations.

Once they understood this, the engineers of the Great Qian Dynasty immediately began working in the dark.

Little did they know that they were also unaware of the full scope of the plan. Not far away, another team was digging a tunnel, raising dust with equal effort, slowly making its way to the city wall, moving an astonishing amount of earth.

These waste materials are then quickly transported up and down using ladders.

During this time, the Daqian Army naturally became familiar with climbing, memorizing various weak points and support points, which was equivalent to a training exercise.

Even at night, it feels familiar.

It would be easier to attack the city during the day.

Feng Tianyin's plan has stood the test of time; it's nothing more than a few tricks like flooding the city walls, digging tunnels, and undermining the foundations of the walls. They could even throw in corpses infected with the plague.

However, it would be against the natural order, and once they entered the city, they would still face the plague.

These are all unconventional methods. In fact, people's stereotypes still lean towards climbing straight up or crashing into the city gate.

These methods are not mutually exclusive.

In practice, they often coexist, with only a difference in emphasis.

Feng Tianyin naturally focused on destroying the city walls, dismantling them from an engineering perspective, which was quite feasible.

The construction technology of the Southern Plains city-state was far inferior to that of the Great Qian Dynasty. Most of it used rammed earth structures, and even bricks and stones were scarce. Moreover, its height and thickness were far inferior, and it lacked a moat, which was a crucial point.

If the moat exists, it will be very difficult to carry out excavation work.

If Feng Tianyin were in charge, she would definitely try to divert water to create a moat below Pingdingshan and expand the city. However, Nanyuan could not afford such a large-scale project, so she had to abandon it.

"hurry up."

The engineering officer urged the excavation progress in a low voice.

Sweating profusely, they shoveled up soil and gravel, slowly sinking it below the horizon, making their way through the area below the foundation of the city wall. Although laborious, their coordinated efforts resulted in astonishing efficiency.

They secretly hollowed out the foundation beneath the city wall and poured in a large amount of rotten materials.

The engineering corps was divided into two categories of work: digging tunnels and digging foundations.

Moreover, each team was responsible for more than one task force, and they were damaging the structure of the city wall as they passed through it.

The enemy isn't stupid either.

Feng Tianyin would not place her hopes for victory on the enemy's carelessness, as they would be discovered too soon if things continued this way. Therefore, she would also launch a frontal assault and employ multiple offensives.

During the day, the Imperial Guards, who had been resting for several days, lined up in battle formation.

On this day, the siege towers and catapults were completed, and everything was ready. They had to test the strength of the Southern Plains' defenses no matter what.

"They're coming, stay alert."

The defenders then realized that the enemy had made most of their preparations under the cover of darkness in the early morning.

Careless.

If we had discovered it earlier, we might have been able to proactively sabotage some of it. Now we can only watch helplessly as the enemy advances little by little, amassing a large army on one side of the gentle slope and flat land.

At the same time, the booming sound of drums rang out, pounding against the eardrums and exhilarating.

"This momentum is not good. Quickly send more men."

However, the Imperial Guard did not attack directly as expected, but instead launched a simultaneous barrage from numerous catapults—

call!

A fierce wind howled through the air, tracing a perfect arc before crashing down with the force of gravity, slamming into the city wall with a deafening roar. Those left behind were instantly reduced to a bloody pulp, their bodies covered in blood, while scattered shards of stone injured those nearby.

The loud noise, the vibrations underfoot, and the smell of blood were instantly repulsive.

They hadn't expected it to be so powerful.

Little did they know that the catapults of the Great Qian Dynasty were the latest iterations, undoubtedly the best of the classical era.

The long, effortless torque propelled enormous kinetic energy, launching massive stone projectiles from a distance. Each one could cause a corner of the city wall to collapse, and the dense bombardment made it impossible for people to lift their heads.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The defenders on the entire city wall had to duck back, but they dared not relax completely, because the enemy could climb over at any moment...

However, the Imperial Guards of the Great Qian Dynasty still did not intend to launch a direct attack.

They bombarded from a safe distance, avoiding entering the archers' firing range.

"What a despicable tactic."

No matter how angry the defenders of Nanyuan were, the enemy remained calm and continued their bombardment attacks.

Feng Tianyin did not intend to waste morale on wave after wave of siege attacks. According to the simulation model, the losses would be too great. Losing an elite soldier was like losing a drop of blood. She could not afford to waste it on an unclear situation.

She wanted to maintain high pressure to throw the enemy into disarray.

In a game, you can't expect the enemy to make a mistake, but you can use pressure to force the enemy to make a mistake first, which will inevitably expose a flaw, at least enough to cover the engineers.

The Imperial Guards of the Great Qian Dynasty continued their bombing, while the Southern Plains were completely helpless.

"Damn it."

"There are too many wounded; the city walls can't accommodate them all. Let's go into the city."

They originally intended to keep the battlefield strictly within the city walls, but now they had to move the wounded and dead down the walls, and the people inside the city naturally witnessed this bloody scene.

Among them were his own family members; how could he not be moved? Seeing this, he immediately burst into tears.

All the bystanders could do was pull people away to prevent them from blocking the road; getting a beating from the defenders would be a greater loss than a gain. So everyone could only silently move aside and look towards the city wall—

"Something flew over here?"

A shadowy figure arched across the towering city walls, drawing a parabola across the sky!

Boom!

The boulder crashed straight into the city, hitting the road and creating a huge crater. It killed and wounded many of the garrison soldiers who were carrying supplies. The horrific scene in the street caused many people to scream in despair, and chaos reigned all around.

The city wall's height of less than 10 meters became a weakness, allowing Feng Tianyin to accurately calculate the lever arm distance and ultimately strike into the city.

Once one shot is successful, there will be a second, a third...

They flew over the city wall one after another.

The once peaceful Nanyuan City was suddenly destroyed with a deafening roar. In an instant, houses collapsed, shops crumbled, smoke and dust billowed, and cries filled the air.

Caught off guard, many people lost their lives on the spot, without even seeing the faces of the Imperial Guards.

"Include the city within the attack range as well."

Feng Tianyin's cold tone at the catapult position immediately commanded the soldiers to obey. Now was the time to press their advantage and launch a multi-pronged attack to pressure the defenses of the Southern City-State.

I'm not worried about them holding on, I'm just worried they'll fall into internal strife and the Great Qian will have to clean it up.

"The siege has only just begun today."

Feng Tianyin's assertion drew solemn nods from the generals, who also believed that the day the city fell was not far off.

Three days after the siege.

It was another late night, and everyone in the Southern Plains City-State had dark circles under their eyes.

I couldn't sleep at all; it was so noisy. Every now and then, a huge rock would come crashing down over the city wall with a loud bang.

They couldn't ignore it, because not only was it noisy, but it also occasionally contained stones made of burning kerosene. These were specially made so that once they hit, they would scatter and spread flames, easily setting several houses ablaze.

"Quickly, put out the fire! Where's the water bucket? Hurry!"

Amidst billowing smoke, people frantically splashed water, and the firelight illuminated the night as if it were daytime.

worry.

A slight mishap could turn a street into a sea of ​​fire. We've managed to control it these past few times, but how many more times can we be lucky enough to extinguish it? Will it burn down completely?

They harbored deep fear, but dared not express it.

People are becoming increasingly numb.

This doesn't mean they weren't afraid; on the contrary, they harbored resentment that would eventually erupt. The skilled missionary agents within the Great Qian Dynasty, naturally aware of this, astutely grasped this point and began their propaganda:

“I will pay to hire them, and we can form a fire brigade to put out the fire together and help each other.”

"Yes, and outsiders are not allowed to interfere. Any soldiers who dare to forcibly conscript laborers should be killed if they dare to come in."

"Isn't this a bit too serious?"