The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 773 A Call for Aid
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The stirring sound of war drums resounded outside Jincheng City, where ten thousand soldiers began to line up.
Zong Luohou gazed at the city, renowned in the northwest for its towering height and sturdiness. He raised his battle sword and roared, "After the city falls, the sword shall not be sheathed for three days!"

"Awooo!" Ten thousand soldiers roared like wild beasts, their morale soaring.

But that wasn't enough. High morale could easily be broken by the enemy's strong defenses. Someone had to climb the city walls. Zong Luohou shouted again, "Whoever climbs first will be promoted three ranks and rewarded with a thousand taels of gold!"

"Kill--"

Ten thousand soldiers raised their arms and shouted, and the atmosphere was electric.

Zong Luohou raised his sword and roared, "Attack the city!"

The war drums sounded, and the army launched its offensive. At the forefront were three hundred elite soldiers, each clad in heavy armor, wearing helmets, their faces covered with ugly and fierce bronze masks, and wielding swords and shields.

Beside them were soldiers carrying siege ladders and pushing bridge-building vehicles.

The bridge-building vehicle was very similar to a modern handcart, except that its platform was much longer, about two to three zhang (approximately 6.6 to 9.6 meters), just long enough to span the moat.

In addition, there is a thick wooden board in front of the pusher, which is just right to block arrows.

Ten thousand soldiers galloped across the open field, getting closer and closer to the city.

"Arrows are coming! Raise your shields!" someone shouted from behind.

Countless small black dots appeared in the sky, and then the dots transformed into a deluge of arrows, raining down on the running soldiers like a storm.

"what--"

A soldier carrying a siege ladder was shot through the chest by an arrow, screamed in agony, fell backward to the ground, and struggled in pain as the siege ladder crashed to the ground.

Arrows rained down, and although the heavy armor of the soldiers could withstand the arrows, the sheer density of the arrows meant that men were constantly being shot in the throat or legs and falling to the ground.

The ordinary soldiers behind them suffered even heavier casualties. Their leather armor was completely unable to withstand the sharp armor-piercing arrows and was shot through one after another. Amidst cries of agony, countless soldiers fell.

Screams echoed across the battlefield, gradually approaching the moat.

Three soldiers pushing the bridge-building cart bravely stepped forward and pushed a wooden plank across the two-zhang-wide moat. With the cart wheels suspended in the air, the plank formed a temporary bridge. Sui soldiers above leaned out and fired arrows, but before the three could run away, the arrows flying from above had already pinned them to the ground.

The soldiers behind them carried ladders, jumped onto the planks, and rushed across the moat.

Logs and boulders rained down. As a captain climbed halfway up the siege ladder, a basin of boiling oil was poured over him. Even his shield couldn't stop it. The oil soaked him from head to toe. Then, he threw down his torch, and the oil burst into flames. A man on fire screamed as he fell from the siege ladder, crushing several of his men behind him.

This was the first time kerosene had been used on the battlefield. Enemy soldiers who were doused with kerosene were burned to a crisp. The other soldiers who were affected by the kerosene, though not burned to death, lay on the ground rolling around and wailing.

The remaining soldiers trembled with fear at the sight of the carnage before them.

"Charge!" the supervising officers shouted from behind.

With no other option, the attacking soldiers had to set up ladders, hooking the two iron hooks at the front to the top of the city wall. A hundred soldiers leaped up, holding swords in their mouths, shields in one hand, and ladders in the other. Arrows rained down on the soldiers from both sides, but none could penetrate their armor.

"That bastard is wearing iron armor and using kerosene!" someone shouted from above.

Suddenly, a black cloth-like object appeared above the siege ladder. "It's kerosene!" The soldiers were terrified and jumped down from the city walls.

On the siege ladders, flames raged everywhere. At this moment, the iron hook of a siege ladder was smashed off by Sui soldiers with iron hammers. Several long forks pushed the siege ladder outward with all their might. The bodies of more than a dozen enemy soldiers were instantly lifted off the city wall, standing in mid-air, and then fell heavily backward.

The soldiers on the siege ladder screamed in agony as they tumbled down the ladder.

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"

In just half an hour, nearly half of the 10,000 men were killed or wounded. Zong Luohou was heartbroken for his soldiers and ordered a retreat.

Five thousand people retreated like a tide, leaving behind more than three thousand corpses and taking more than two thousand wounded soldiers with them.

Xue Ju was truly dissatisfied and sent someone to summon Zong Luohou, giving him a severe dressing-down.

"Why withdraw troops? Why not send reinforcements? It's only been less than an hour, are you even fighting a war? This is utter nonsense!"

Zong Luohou suppressed his anger and said, "Today's attack is just a probing attack to see how the enemy is defending, so we can't send out too many troops, otherwise we won't have enough troops for the decisive battle."

"I allowed 10,000 troops to launch a probing attack, but do you expect me to allow you to withdraw after only half an hour?"

"Your Highness, in half an hour, more than half of the 10,000 troops have been killed or wounded."

"what!"

Xue Ju was also taken aback. In just half an hour, more than 5,000 people had been killed or wounded? Was Li Gui's army really that powerful?
No, this is the Guanzhong army, 20,000 surrendered soldiers, but surrendered soldiers couldn't possibly be this powerful!

Xue Ju's expression softened slightly as he asked, "When do you plan to launch a formal attack?"

"I have ordered the craftsmen to speed up the assembly of large siege weapons so that we can start the siege early the day after tomorrow. I will deploy 30,000 men for the siege at once."

"That's more like it," Xue Ju nodded. "I look forward to seeing the moment when the army besieges Jincheng County!"

Qu Tutong stood on a cliff several miles away, observing the battlefield with his telescope. He really liked this telescope. He had long heard that the Sui army in Jiangnan had such a powerful weapon on the battlefield. Yesterday, Li Jing finally gave him a pair, which Qu Tutong cherished.

It was incredible that the battlefield just a few miles away was right in front of him. Qu Tutong was amazed. After watching for a while, the enemy withdrew their troops.

He glanced at the sky again; there were still at least two hours until noon. He immediately ordered his men, "Go to Jincheng Pass and light the beacon towers!"

He didn't want to wait any longer; he would strike tonight. Qu Tutong was filled with hatred for Xue Ju. Fifty thousand soldiers had been wiped out, and his brother Qu Tugai had died under Xue Rengao's blade. He was determined to avenge this.

Around noon, the beacon tower at Jinshuo Pass was lit. Soldiers were already waiting on the beacon tower in Jincheng County. When they saw the beacon tower at Jinshuo Pass lit, they immediately lit the oil on their own beacon towers as well. Instantly, three columns of smoke rose into the air, billowing thick smoke.

Li Jing did not expect Qu Tutong to make a move that night, so he immediately ordered the entire army to rest and to go out of the city to fight that night.

The beacon fires on both sides were lit almost simultaneously, with a difference of no more than ten seconds. It was difficult to tell which one was lit first. The enemy scouts outside the city also discovered the beacon fires and immediately ran to report to Xue Ju.

Xue Ju stood atop the watchtower, gazing at the beacon fires over the county town, and then at the beacon fires at Jin Suo Guan. He stroked his beard and chuckled, "The enemy has actually requested reinforcements from Hexi. Is it too late to ask for help now? They might as well surrender to me!"

The generals behind him burst into laughter, and Xue Ju also laughed, "It's good that they're asking for reinforcements. It'll be perfect for Li Gui to come and collect their corpses!"

(End of this chapter)