Chapter 381
Chapter 381 – Battle of Xiapi – Part 1
August 1st, 190 A . D .
It was still summer in Xiapi . Rainfall was frequent during this period, and river tides were higher than the usual .
Yuan Shao and Tian Feng prepared everything to welcome Cao Cao's massive army .
Yuan Shao's 100,000 soldiers did not station only on the wall top or behind the city, but they also stationed their elite cavalries and infantries in front of the gate .
On each wall, Yuan Shao placed ten cannons on top, while the rest of the cannons were hidden with Tian Feng ambush force .
As for the other ten, Tian Feng took them to protect a dam, north of Xiapi .
Tian Feng hid his 25,000 infantries in a forest to the north, directing water from Yi River and building a dam . He had created a flood trap, which could be used against Cao Cao Army .
Xiahou Yuan was with the garrison forces outside of the city, protecting the east wall . As they were mercenaries, Yuan Shao wanted them outside to be their meat shields .
Yuan Tan was infuriated with this setup, but he had to accept it since it was his father's order .
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Cao Cao Army and Sun Jian Army arrived at Xiapi County . They stared at the defensive wall and barricades, which Yuan Shao and Tian Feng had prepared to welcome them .
They splitted their troops into four armies . Each was responsible for sieging each wall .
Sun Jian and Cheng Pu took 25,000 men and Cao Cao's ten wheeled cannons with them to attack the west wall . Huang Gai and Han Dang commanded the same number of troops, but they were in charge of the south gate .
Cao Cao stationed his men at the east wall, while Pu Jing would take care of the north . All 100,000 soldiers and 40 cannons were ready .
Pu Jing used his souls as scouts, checking the defensive formation . Soon, he found Yuan Shao's cannon crews .
Pu Jing: "Mengde, they have cannons . Don't move in the siege weapons . "
Cao Cao: "Ho? Do they have the same weapons? Did they build it? I thought it is one of your world's creation . "
Pu Jing: "One of our intels said that Yuan Shao traded something with Zhang Tong . I think this is the thing they traded . "
Cao Cao: "Ah, Zhang Tong again . Forget it . Miaocai, how is the preparation over there?"
Xiahou Yuan: "All cannon crews have been bribed . Too bad I can't contact the other crews outside the city, but all cannons here have been disabled . "
Cao Cao: "See? Nothing to worry about . Say, what are they doing outside the city again?"
Xiahou Yuan: "Tian Feng took men to the northern river . Guo Jia said that they are using a floodgate tactic, so the north troops will face some troubles . "
Cao Cao: "You hear that, Putin?"
Pu Jing: "Aye . I'll keep my heads up . "
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At the first day of the siege, Cao Cao had his men constructing trebuchets and ballistae . He did not reveal his cannons for now as they were vulnerable to the soldiers before the wall .
Had they charged at the cannon crews, all cannons would be destroyed .
Sun Jian and Huang Gai followed Cao Cao's order and set up the same gears for the battle . All four front approached the garrisoning troops with their weaponry .
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East Gate
Xiahou Yuan commanded all 10,000 soldiers below the wall to not fire any arrow or move to retaliate against Cao Cao . As they were his troops, none of them bothered questioning their superior's decision .
On top of the wall, Yuan Shao men bellowed, "Use the cannons! Fire at the enemy's siege weapons!"
The cannon crews nodded and loaded the weapon . However, Xiahou Yuan had already bribed these people, and they had already switched out all gunpowder and replaced with random ashes .
Because of that, none of the cannons fired a single round . Each of them released an odd smell of ashes .
"What happened!?"
The crews still pretended that they did not know anything .
"Something is wrong with our cannons, my lord . It won't shoot!"
"What!?"
All commanders rushed to the cannons and tried to fire a volley . However, none of them realized that the gunpowder was not here .
"We've been conned by Zhang Tong!!"
This was what Guo Jia had planned . It served as back-up stratagem just in case their campaign failed .
Had they failed to take down Yuan Shao, they would provoke a misunderstanding between two forces, ruining their alliance . Thus, it would give Tong an enemy while Cao Cao could recuperate from his losses .
Still, Guo Jia did not want Cao Cao to fail .
The next plan was in motion . Cao Cao brought his ballistae and trebuchets closer to the wall . Without the interference of the defenders, they got into an ideal firing range .
All of the siege weapons aimed at the top of the wall, ignoring the soldiers below the wall .
"Fire!"
20 Trebuchets and ten ballistae released their arrows and stones .
Xiahou Yuan bellowed, "Raise your shields and move forward 30 paces!"
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
As Xiahou Yuan's soldiers marched forward while they covered their head, stones and logs slammed into the wall . Some of the rocks hit the garrison soldiers on the battlement, killing them from the impact .
Still, a few stray rocks also hit Xiahou Yuan Army . They could feel the impact through their iron shields, and the clanking noise of metal clashing resonated throughout the battlefield .
Xiahou Yuan complained to Cao Cao in the clan chat .
Xiahou Yuan: "Mengde! Take it easy, will ya!?"
Cao Cao: "I've already held back . Did you see that I haven't brought out our cannons?"
Xiahou Yuan: "Screw you! Just let us switch sides right now and use your cannons, dammit!"
Cao Cao: "Not yet, Miaocai . Pretend to fight for a couple days . Using cannons here will ruin the city and the precious cannons on the wall . I need the county walls and all tools they bought from Zhang Tong . "
Xiahou Yuan: "You're too greedy!"
Cao Cao: "Hahahaha!"
For three hours, Cao Cao kept using his range advantage to wither down the number of defending soldiers . Meanwhile, Xiahou Yuan did not move further . He kept staring and defending against stray bullets from the trebuchets .
On the wall top, Yuan Shao's men braced the bombardment . Several soldiers inside the city brought woods and logs to the battlements, building their catapults to counter Cao Cao .
Late afternoon, East Wall managed to build five catapults, and they were ready to be used against Cao Cao's siege weapons . However, Cao Cao withdrew his troops to establish a camp, which frustrated the defenders .
Xiahou Yuan was summoned back into the city along with all of his men at dusk . As Yuan Shao wanted his men to rest, he ordered Xiahou Yuan to protect the east wall tonight .
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At the west gate, Sun Jian did not have the same luxury as Cao Cao . The defender ground forces launched a counter-attack against Sun Jian Army, which turned into a battle between 10,000 defenders against Sun Jian's 25,000 men .
In the first hour, the 10,000 soldiers zoned the wall area, guarding the perimeter of 200 meters before the gate .
Sun Jian's soldiers did not take out their cannons or used the trebuchets . He probed them with his archers, testing their patience .
His plan worked . After a hail of arrows, half of the ground force charged at the archers .
Sun Jian did not approach the wall like Cao Cao . Instead, he ordered his men to keep retreating backward, drawing the enemies away from the wall .
As a result, 5,000 charging infantries isolated themselves from the other battalions .
Cheng Pu and Sun Jian pincered the stray troopers with their light cavalries, routing them with ease .
Sun Jian's troops suffered casualties of 1,000 men from the pincer attack, but the garrison lost the 5,000 soldiers .
As elites, Sun Jian did not try to pursue or attack the wall again . He reorganized his force and made camps, recuperating his men's stamina and health .
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The south gate was the most eventful one for the first day of combat .
At the beginning of a siege battle, Yan Liang rode outside and challenged a general from the sieging army .
Huang Gai accepted the challenge, and they fought on horseback .
Both elite generals exchanged 70 blows in the duel, and they called it a draw as they were too tired to continue .
Before Huang Gai could leave, Yan Liang turned around and threw a knife at the opponent . The sharp throwing knife got his back!
Fortunately, Huang Gai's imperial armor was dense enough, and the weapon did not harm any critical organ .
Huang Gai turned around and retaliated by throwing his secondary spear at Yan Liang, but it killed his opponent's horse instead .
In a panic, Yan Liang shouted, asking for help from his men . Ten thousand footmen rushed at Huang Gai and his troops right away .
Han Dang led his troops forward after Yan Liang had cheated the duel . Ten thousand armored infantries rushed at the oncoming defenders, which both sides clashed .
Amid the chaos, Yan Liang and Huang Gai managed to return to their men alive, but both were infuriated by the opponent .
Huang Gai violated Cao Cao's order and commanded his men to bring out the cannons .
On the other hand, Yan Liang got to the top of the wall to check his cannons . He found out right away that the crews did not use the right gunpowder .
All crews on the south wall were arrested and replaced with his men . They managed to secure real gunpowder and repair the cannons on the wall .
Within an hour, Yan Liang's men interrogated the cannon crews and found out about the bribery and a possible sabotage scheme of Guo Jia . Then, Yan Liang sent this discovery report to Yuan Shao in the city, while he manned a cannon to fight against Huang Gai Army .
Huang Gai Army brought their ten cannons forward, and both sides started firing their first rounds of bombardment at the same time .
Huang Gai's cannons aimed at the wall, while Yan Liang's weapons targeted the crowd of soldiers .
The thunderous boom of hot weapons deafened everyone at the south of Xiapi . County wall was slammed by cannonballs, while the soldiers on the field were squashed by mysterious black balls as well .
The battle of south Xiapi lasted till dusk . Both sides lost 10,000 men in a day, but Xiapi southern wall was no longer considered a proper defensive wall anymore .
A few sections of the wall crumbled to the ground . As if someone took a few bites out of the wall, several half-circles were left behind from the cannon shots . The weak parts collapsed, leaving a half-breached hole behind .
Huang Gai and Han Dang were also not in good shape . As their soldiers were shot by many cannon shells, their morale was low, and the generals did not think they could fight with their full potential in this battle anymore .
As such, Huang Gai sent his apologies to Sun Jian in the clan chat and informed him about his failure .