My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 152: Battle of Hefei - Part

It has to be said that even a traditional siege weapon like the battering ram, which has existed since ancient times, has become much more resistant to attacks after being improved by the Zhuge brothers.

The towering sloping roof structure with a carefully designed angle made it extremely easy for all the smashing weapons to "bounce" on the city defense, and in the end they had to resort to the ultimate trick of a dovetail torch and boiling oil to solve the problem.

But fuel was very expensive, and in that era there was no custom of using petroleum/incendiary oil in wars, so all incendiary fuels were edible oils.

Huainan had been ravaged for many years under Yuan Shu's rule, and people's livelihood was in decline. The people could not even get enough food, let alone eat oil. Even the middle and high-level military officers rarely ate oil.

This time, in order to burn Guan Yu's battering ram, after pouring five or six large pots of boiling water and gold juice without any effect, Yuan's army could only grit their teeth and add several pots of boiling oil in one go.

The surface of the battering ram is covered with a waterproof and fireproof layer. The wealthy ones use raw cowhide as a lining and then apply mud on the outside.

Guan Yu's army used tightly woven thick straw ropes covered with mud. The boiling water and gold juice could not penetrate into them, and had no effect on the soldiers. The boiling oil and torches covered the outer shell of the battering ram with a continuous fire.

Because of the isolation of the mud and straw rope layer, the soldiers inside were not afraid of being burned for a while, and they still rammed the city gate several times under the pressure. Finally, because they could not withstand the high temperature of the burning shell, they had to escape from the vehicle with their shields and retreat to the rear temporarily.

However, the ram was still left under the city and was not completely burned. Yuan Jun did not dare to be careless and poured more than a dozen pots of boiling oil back and forth at all costs before completely burning the wooden frame.

Also because of the slope, after the boiling oil was poured down, most of it could not be retained and quickly flowed down the slope to the ground. Only two or three percent at most hung on the car body and burned.

The overflowing burning oil turned the area within twenty steps of the city gate into a sea of fire, greatly restricting the movement of the Han army's siege soldiers, so it was not in vain.

Although the Han army still had a wave of backup battering rams in the rear, they saw that the fire at the city gate showed no sign of being extinguished, so they were not in a hurry to use the backup battering rams.

In contrast, after carefully observing the entire process of the failure of the first wave of rams, Guan Yu ordered the second wave of soldiers to be equipped with more shields so that when they had to abandon the rams, they could retreat smoothly under the attack of arrows and stones to reduce casualties.

Guan Yu was keenly aware that Hefei was not the kind of city that could be taken in one fell swoop. Liu Xun had sufficient troops and his fighting spirit was not yet collapsed. More wars of attrition might be needed in the future to repeatedly weaken the enemy and make them further desperate.

The Han soldiers who joined the first wave of siege today were also not very elite. All the soldiers pushing the carts were prisoners of Yuan’s army, and those responsible for charging were the surrendered "bandits". This was originally a war of attrition.

……

Yuan's army focused a lot of attention on burning the battering rams, which left a relatively safe time window for the Han army's Ge Gongche and ladders to approach the city wall.

As the city gate turned into a sea of fire, Guan Yu's two Ge buses on the other side had approached within twenty steps of the city wall.

The soldiers on the city wall of Hefei learned their lesson this time and knew how to deal with this thing, because when Wancheng was breached before, quite a few soldiers of Chen Lan's army broke out and told their comrades in Hefei about the experience they gained at the cost of their blood and lives.

Therefore, Yuan's soldiers were afraid of being crushed to death by Ge Gongche's planks. Even though they had lined up their guns on the top of the wall and were ready for battle, they did not dare to stand too close to the battlements. They had to be at least five steps away from the estimated climbing point.

But just when they thought they could avoid being killed by standing a little further away, a new incident occurred.

In the distance, on the Han army's position, several small catapults had been pushed up unknowingly.

The soldiers filled their leather stone bags with small stones ranging from the size of eggs to the size of grapes, and the largest no bigger than a fist.

Then after roughly aiming left and right, he simply dragged the gun tip and fired.

A huge rain of stones came pouring down like flowers scattered by a fairy from heaven.

The left and right aiming was quite accurate, with an error of no more than five steps, but the front and back distances were totally inaccurate. In addition, the stones were of different sizes, and the wind resistance slowed them down to different degrees, so the smaller stones were naturally thrown closer.

In the end, less than 30% of the stone bullets hit the top of the wall, and at least 70% of the remaining ones were either too close to hit the wall or too far away to fly directly into the city.

But just this 30% was enough to make the Yuan army's spearmen, who were unprepared, wail in pain. Countless of them had broken bones and tendons in their limbs, and those who were hit in the head and chest died with their brains and blood spurting out.

Especially since these spearmen were originally in a dense formation with shields against shoulder to shoulder, so as long as the stones hit the formation, it would inevitably cause casualties. There was no need to aim, a covering strike was enough.

The rain of stones brought a huge impact to the defenders. For a moment, the gun array was scattered in disorder, and even trampling occurred on the city wall.

Fortunately, the Han army did not dare to throw too many rounds of stone rain, and stopped firing after only two rounds - because the accuracy of the catapult was too low, even the left and right errors were at least ten steps. If they continued to throw, they would most likely accidentally hit the approaching Ge Gongche.

But this little chaos was enough to delay time. Taking advantage of the chaos when Yuan's spearmen were trampling on each other, Ge Gongche finally reached the city wall.

Countless sword and shield soldiers composed of reformed Chaohu bandits and Danyang thieves swarmed up to the top of the city wall along the planks and began to fight with Yuan's army.

"Hold on! Hold on! The enemy troops rushing up are few in number! We can fight them back! Our army will win!"

Liu Xun roared at the top of his lungs and personally led the reserve troops to the section of the wall where the Han army's Ge Gongche was first leaning against. He brandished a sword to supervise the battle and ordered the Yuan army's spearmen to rush up and block the gap regardless of the consequences.

While giving orders, he also tried various methods to boost morale: "Don't be afraid! The rain of stones just now has passed! Now the enemy and I are fighting each other. Guan Yu dare not use the catapult to hit his own people! Their siege vehicles will also be destroyed by the stones!"

The grassroots officers below also followed suit and made similar calls to stabilize morale.

In addition, Liu Xun was well prepared before the war and distributed some money and food to boost morale. On the first day of the attack, Yuan's army was more or less willing to fight to the death, so a situation of mincing meat soon formed on the top of the city.

The Han army was brave and agile, but their swords and shields had no advantage in length in close combat. The dense array of Yuan army's spears advanced like a forest, making it very difficult for the Han army.

……

Guan Yu, who was standing below the city wall, saw these scenes from afar. Although he couldn't see the details clearly, he could roughly guess what was happening on the top of the city wall.

His expression was a little solemn. He regretted that he had underestimated Liu Xun. He should not have fought so desperately today. The enemy was still large in scale, with tens of thousands of people defending the city. How could it be conquered without a long period of attrition?

Guan Yu thought quickly about countermeasures and finally issued a remedial order: "Let the catapult adjust the angle and throw stones at a position thirty steps away from the climbing point!

The Yuan army is so densely packed on the top of the city wall that we can still kill the enemy by moving thirty steps away, and avoid accidentally hurting friendly troops and Ge Gongche. Also, let the archers on the wells focus on shooting and killing the Yuan army near the climbing point! Cover the ladders and get them up!"

The Han army immediately passed down the order layer by layer. About half a cup of tea later, the Han army's slingers and well-siege soldiers gradually adjusted their tactics, and the casualties of Yuan army on the wall began to rise significantly again.

The Yuan army was not to be outdone and ordered groups of archers to climb up the wall in an attempt to suppress the Han army's slingers and siege soldiers.

Because the sharpshooters on the lintels were all focusing on covering the climbing points, the pressure on the Yuan army archers on the city wall was indeed suddenly reduced, and most of the casualties were borne by the Yuan army spearmen.

Thousands of Yuan army archers dared to show their heads and aim and shoot. Even though they were still at a height disadvantage, because only a dozen people could stand on the ledge, the Han army's sharpshooters continued to suffer casualties, and the suppressing firepower gradually weakened.

The whole process was extremely bloody, with all kinds of crossfire between the two sides, which was even more naked than a fight between beasts. Hundreds and thousands of lives were caught up in the bottomless vortex of minced meat.

Liu Xun, who was standing on the top of the city wall, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the firepower of the Han army supporting the climbing point was gradually weakening, while his reserve troops were still being deployed.

The Han army had also considered reversing the disadvantage of the sword and shield soldiers against the spearmen and deploying their own spearmen. Unfortunately, the battle on the top of the city was too bloody, and the position squeezed out was too small to cover the climbing point.

The spearmen who could not hold shields had a hard time charging up to the top of the city walls, and were shot down by arrows as they passed through the steps. Some of the few who succeeded in climbing the city walls could not make full use of their close combat advantages because they did not have enough comrades to form a formation.

The more Yuan's reserve troops were deployed, the more casualties among the Han army's archers and slingers under the city walls increased.

As for the sharpshooters on the lintels, once they were killed or injured, they could not be directly replaced on the battlefield. As a result, the firepower threat from the high ground became smaller and smaller, and the situation of the meat-grinding positions on the city walls became more and more difficult.

As Yuan's army stabilized its position, Liu Xun also took out his last desperate move.

Groups of axemen were sent onto the city walls, following the phalanx of spearmen and advancing steadily.

Originally, heavy weapons like battle axes were too powerful and were only good for fighting clumsy armored soldiers. They were too clumsy to fight lightly armored sword and shield soldiers, with excessive lethality, low hit rate, and easy to leave the opponent wide open.

However, under the cover of the spear formation, the few axemen interspersed among them were not so dangerous.

Liu Xun sent out the axemen at this critical moment, of course, not just for hand-to-hand combat. As the position for climbing the city wall became narrower and narrower, once the axemen reached the ladder, they began to swing their axes and chop at the ladder.

The wooden poles of the ladders were generally as thick as human legs, and it was impossible to break them with swords or spears. But facing the axe that could chop down trees, these wooden structures were not so indestructible.

After a bloody tug of war, the joints of several ladders were broken by repeated hacking and chiseling by heavy axes.

Gradually, even the heavy planks of a Ge bus could not withstand the fatigue after being repeatedly trampled, jumped on, and chopped with axes by hundreds of people, and broke directly. Several soldiers fell down with screams.

The Han soldiers who stayed on the top of the city wall were cut off from retreat and support, and their situation became increasingly difficult. Some soldiers tried to jump back onto the ladders or Ge Gong carts, but most of them fell directly.

Guan Yu's face turned pale, realizing that Liu Xun's reserve troops were sufficient and well prepared, and that this would not be achieved overnight, so he had to decisively order his troops to withdraw.

When the Han army heard the sound of the gong, they retreated quickly like the tide.

Some equipment that could be pushed back, such as the well screen, was successfully pushed back, while the Ge Gongche and some of the ladders were left under the city.

Guan Yu did not want more casualties in order to pull back the heavy equipment. These siege weapons could be rebuilt if they were lost. It would only take some effort and wood, and the wood was not valuable.

……

Although the first day's assault failed to capture the city, the Han army still managed to control the casualties well.

The Han army used Danyang bandits and bandits to fight and surrendered prisoners to push carts, and only archers were their elite. In terms of the kill exchange ratio, they did not suffer much compared to the Yuan army.

This was mainly due to the fact that the Han army had Ge Gongche and improved ladders, so the soldiers were rarely shot while climbing the ladders. In traditional siege warfare, climbing the ladders was the most vulnerable stage, and it was also particularly easy to be injured by rolling logs, stones, gold juice and boiling water.

After reducing most of the casualties while climbing the ladders, the only casualties left were those caused by archers and slingers shooting at each other, as well as casualties in hand-to-hand combat on the city walls. The Han army did not suffer much, and all the consumption was still within an acceptable range.

As the afternoon progressed, the armies retreated one after another, and the generals reported the situations they were facing to Liu Bei in the rear.

The four generals, represented by Guan Yu, each complained about some of the inadequate preparations and the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy forces that they had probed, and they also summed up a lot of experience.

When Liu Bei saw that everyone had withdrawn their troops, he did not blame them. Instead, he arranged for them to be comforted and rewarded with wine and meat:

"Brothers, you have tried your best. Our army has won battle after battle. How can we really reach Shouchun smoothly? There are 20,000 to 30,000 troops stationed in Hefei. They are extremely strong and well prepared. Our troops are only one and a half times that of Liu Xun. It is normal that we cannot capture it on the first day! We have learned the lessons, figured out the enemy's tactics, and we will win the next battle tomorrow!
The soldiers who died today will naturally receive compensation. For those who rushed to the top of the city and died, each family will be given two hectares of land! And their children will be given monthly food rations until they are ten years old! "

The Han Dynasty provided food rations to women and children until the child reached the age of ten, which was already a very benevolent policy.

Because according to the tax system of the Han Dynasty, men over the age of fifteen were considered "regular males" and had to pay full tax, while men between the ages of ten and fourteen were considered "second-class males" and had to pay half the tax.

In the eyes of people at that time, men over ten years old were considered half a laborer and had to go to the fields to farm. Poor people in ancient times did not need to go to school and had to go out to work very early.

The compensation standard offered by Liu Bei also helped to improve the morale of the army. The initial depressing atmosphere among the generals also gradually dissipated.

After all, Hefei was a strong city. Other princes in history had tried their best to capture it many times but failed. Liu Bei had been too successful before. It was not shameful that he failed to capture the city after besieging it for more than half a month and attacking it for one day.

After the atmosphere relaxed, Guan Yu, Taishi Ci, Gan Ning and others quickly began to sum up the lessons and complain about Liu Xun's many coping strategies.

Guan Yu said, "Brother, I think we should ask Zi Yu to improve our army's chariots! The chariots are higher than the city walls, but more than a dozen people can stand on the roof.

After pushing the vehicle to 70 or 80 steps away from the city wall, once the shooting started, the casualties on the upper part could not be replaced. Because if archers were sent to climb up the ladder, they would most likely be shot down by the crossbows of the opposite side before they could climb the chariot body which was more than 40 meters high!
Since Tzuyu can add a wall to the Ge bus to block arrows, why can't she also add one to the well? At least it should protect the ladder for getting in and out of the truck."

Liu Bei took note of this suggestion, but still defended Zhuge Jin: "Well ledges have been used like this since ancient times, and I have never seen well ledges in the past with additional protection for ladders.

These wells were also made by the military craftsmen according to the old method. Ziyu was not able to take care of them at the time. He had never suffered setbacks in actual combat, so who could have thought of so many things? Any other opinions?"

Seeing that Liu Bei affirmed Guan Yu's needs and did not think Guan Yu's demands were too high, Taishi Ci and Gan Ning also became enthusiastic.

Taishi Ci said: "Also, the improvements to the catapults built by Liu Caoyuan are not enough. They should also be equipped with shields to protect against arrows! Protect the soldiers operating the catapults! Today, the slingers covered the top of the city with a rain of gravel, which did kill a large number of Yuan army spearmen. But the archers on the top of the city shot arrows at the slingshot positions, and our casualties should not be underestimated!

The catapults that throw large stones have a longer range than the crossbows. If we hide more than a hundred steps away and operate them, we are not afraid of the crossbows. Now we have switched to using small gravel bags. The range has been greatly improved, so how can we not defend against arrows! "

Gan Ning also drew inferences from his words: "Yes, yes, I feel the same way. Besides, I think Liu Xun still has sufficient troops. We may have to fight a war of attrition in the next few days. In this case, we should reduce the number of ladders and don't rush to build the ones that have been damaged."

Just replenish the Ge Gongche and build a few more wells. Use the Ge Gongche to lure the enemy troops into the city, and then use the wells to shoot down the enemies who are blocking the Ge Gongche, which will surely kill a large number of Liu Xun's troops."

When Liu Bei heard this, he felt that Gan Ning's words made sense. If the main purpose was to consume the enemy, and if they needed to mince more meat to bleed Liu Xun, then adding the well blocks and catapults would be most useful. The Ge Gong chariot was only used to attract firepower and lure out enemy forces.

After being inspired by Gan Ning, Guan Yu also added: "In that case, we need to increase the number of rams! It's better to make them a little cruder in the future, but we need more of them, and give the ram soldiers more large shields!

Today, Yuan's army burned one of my battering rams, which took more than a dozen pots of boiling oil and quite a long time, plus a lot of rolling logs and rocks. As long as we can push the battering ram to the city, even if it can't hit the city gate a few times, as long as the soldiers can withdraw safely, it won't be a loss.

Anyway, we only need wood to build the cart, not even cowhide, so it doesn't cost much. I want to see how much boiling oil Liu Xun can find in Hefei City. He needs at least 70 or 80 pots of boiling oil every day just to burn the cart. How long can he last?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei cast a look of praise again:

"Everyone's summary is very good. I will arrange these immediately. Come on, if you need to improve the equipment, send someone to write down the details, and then send a soldier who knows the inside story as a messenger to Shucheng to let Ziyu find a solution.

We will continue to build more wells and battering rams to consume Liu Xun's potential, and the wounded soldiers must also be treated properly."

(End of this chapter)