My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 498: Zhuge’s Specialty in Treating Fancy Things
"Keep shooting! Push all the boulders down! Don't be stingy!"

Under the cover of darkness, Zhuo Ying on the top of the cliff had no idea that the enemy general at the bottom of the cliff was smashed into meat paste by the first two or three rounds of falling rocks.

It was because the enemy had to launch a surprise attack after nightfall. The defenders had poor vision, so they could only fire a few more rounds to be on the safe side.

The Cao soldiers on the cliff were hit hard by the continuous bombardment, with their heads bleeding, tendons and bones broken, and their screams shook for miles.

Many Cao soldiers were not hit, but because they had already climbed halfway, they thought they would be surrounded and killed even if they reached the top. Seeing their comrades on both sides die tragically, they let go of the ropes without thinking and jumped off the cliff to escape.

It was hard to tell the height in the darkness, and those soldiers who had only climbed two or three meters could still limp back to the ship after landing. However, those who jumped down from more than five meters in panic would be seriously injured if not dead. In a short period of time, the number of people who fell off the cliff and died reached hundreds.

"Run! Retreat! Row the boat quickly! We've fallen into a trap!" Amid the noisy and shrill shouts, the enemy soldiers who had managed to escape jumped into the river and climbed back into the boat. Some others missed a step in the dark and were washed away by the river. The scene was tragic and unbearable.

An unknown amount of time had passed, and a lot of arrows and falling rocks had been wasted. Zhuo Ying heard that there was no sound at the bottom of the cliff, and there was no one standing on the path around the top of the cliff, so he ordered to stop.

Even so, he was still worried and watched quietly for a while. Occasionally, he heard a strong wind blowing and the trees on the cliff rustled. Zhuo Ying then ordered another rain of falling rocks and actually heard a few more screams.

It was estimated that the enemy soldiers who were hit or shot in the first wave fell to the bottom of the cliff and were unable to move, and at this moment they were finally covered with stones.

The defending soldiers around them were quite excited when they saw how badly the enemy was beaten and it was almost a one-sided massacre, and they were eager to try.

A troupe leader suggested to Zhuo Ying, "Sir Zhuo, why don't you let me lead a team of Danyang soldiers to lower the hanging basket so that we can check the results of the battle and clean up the battlefield. If we find any who are still breathing, we can kill them a few times! Maybe we can even cut off a few enemy generals' heads, which will be a good thing for us to show off our achievements in the future."

Zhuo Ying decisively raised his hand to stop his men from being eager to cut off the heads and report their achievements: "Don't be impatient! It's so dark now. What if there are still living enemy soldiers hiding in the dark? Wouldn't it be giving them a chance if you go down?

One night is not a big deal. You guys continue to guard here and stay alert. When tomorrow morning comes and you can see clearly, it won’t be too late to go down again.”

The commander of Naqu felt quite regretful: "The enemy's sneak attack failed, and the remaining soldiers will definitely sneak onto the boats and row away. If we don't pursue them now, won't we lose a lot of our gains in vain? They may even drag away the bodies of the dead enemy generals, and we won't be able to cut off their heads tomorrow morning."

Zhuo Ying patted the head of Naqu on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. Before the Wei Duwei came, the military advisor said that as long as we defeat Xiahou Yuan, we will be rewarded with more merits. The military advisor is very observant, so how could he skimp on these things?

What is more important now is to inform Captain Wei of the news here so that he can be at ease. You just keep an eye on it and don't act rashly! Otherwise, you will be punished for disobeying orders!"

The other party didn't dare to say anything more and continued to guard the top of the cliff cautiously all night.

……

On the other side, after repelling Lu Zhao's sneak attack, Zhuo Ying did not dare to delay and immediately went straight to the main battlefield of the east wall to find Wei Yan in person.

When Zhuo Ying arrived, the feint attack on the east wall had become very intense. Because of Ge Gongche, the first outer wall was once again climbed by Cao's army.

However, Cao's army had very few heavy equipment that could push to the second wall, so Wei Yan defended the second line of defense very resolutely, without any danger, and there were sufficient reserves to fill the line.

Zhuo Ying didn't waste any words. He just took a sip of water and went straight to the point about how he repelled the enemy's surprise attack from the rear.

Upon hearing this, Wei Yan's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but rub his hands together, "As expected, the military advisor predicted it! When the military advisor looked at the sketch I sent him, he also replied that the sandbank on the north bank is the easiest to be attacked by the enemy!

Xiahou Yuan really had a backup plan there! It seems that today's frontal attack was just a feint to attract our attention! Wait... I remember how the military advisor deduced it in the letter... In this case, we should..."

Wei Yan quickly recalled Zhuge Liang's reply, the contingency plans for dealing with various situations, and then his eyes suddenly lit up, and he urged anxiously:
"I remember what to do! Quick, Brother Zhuo, go to the rear camp and set a fire immediately, but control the fire! Just make sure the enemies on the east wall can see it!

After setting the fire, let the soldiers shout and scream, pretending to be in chaos. I will control the situation here! Let's seduce Xiahou Yuan to invest more money!"

Zhuo Ying was a little confused at first, worried that doing so would lead to low morale and confusion among his own people.

But seeing that Wei Yan was so confident that he could control the situation, and that this was also instructed by Zhuge Liang, Zhuo Ying did not dare to have any doubt and just gritted his teeth and did it.

As soon as Zhuo Ying left, Wei Yan hurried to appease the enemy. He personally led the elite reserve team to patrol back and forth on the second east wall. When he caught a subordinate with the rank of Quchang or above, he would call him over and give him a few instructions:

"The camp will catch fire in a little while! But don't panic! Tell the soldiers that this is a brilliant plan given by Zhuge Military Advisor! It is used to lure the enemy!"

It would take a few cups of tea for Zhuo Ying to run back and set the fire, which was enough time for Wei Yan to inform the main officers on the front line. The officers would pass the message down layer by layer, and soon the backbones of the army knew that this was a trick to lure the enemy, and the people's hearts were stabilized. After a while, the rear camp really caught fire as promised, and there was noise.

The defenders were only slightly panicked, but because they were told in advance that this was a strategy, they quickly regained their composure.

In contrast, Zhang Xiu and Feng Kai, who were already exhausted from the feint attack, were energized when they saw the fire at the rear of the enemy camp.

Zhang Xiu shouted in front of the crowd: "Doctor Jia's plan succeeded! General Lu has sneaked in from behind and breached the enemy camp! We will take over the city today!"

Then he ordered the entire army to attack fiercely regardless of casualties, and even Zhang Xiu himself went forward to fight in iron armor.

The defenders held their ground like a rock, without wavering at all. Instead, they took the opportunity to kill Cao's soldiers who were rushing up the city one after another.

Logs and rocks were rolling down like rain, and pots of lime, boiling water and gold juice were poured onto the densely populated crowd. The killing efficiency was actually several times higher than before.

Zhang Xiu attacked fiercely for several rounds, and finally realized that something was wrong: "Didn't Wei Yan fall into a trap? Wasn't he ambushed by General Lu from behind? Why didn't the enemy panic at all when they were defending the front? Didn't their morale collapse even when their rear camp was attacked?"

Just when Zhang Xiu was doubting his life, because the fierce battle was too brutal, he was finally shot by an arrow in the gap between the iron armor cape and the body armor, and one of his arms could not be lifted up immediately.

In fact, during this fierce battle, Zhang Xiu had been shot by seven or eight arrows. However, as a senior general, he was well-armored, so the first seven arrows could not penetrate his fish-scale black armor.

However, in order to avoid hindering the movements of the generals, the shoulder armor and body armor of the fish scale black armor are not completely connected, and there is a separate additional cover on the shoulders. In the normal state of hanging hands, it can fully cover, but in the fight, if the arms are raised and the cape is opened, the weakness will be exposed.

This arrow was shot at the critical moment when Zhang Xiu opened his arms and raised his hand to hold the spear. It immediately broke through the leather armor on the inside, penetrated several inches into the flesh, and blood flowed.

"Quickly protect the general!" The Xiliang soldiers around Zhang Xiu immediately came over to protect him at all costs, allowing Zhang Xiu to retreat.

Zhang Xiu was also sobered up by this arrow, and he cried out in pain: "We must have fallen into Wei Yan's trap to lure the enemy. They are not in chaos at all... Retreat quickly! Don't let our brothers die in vain!"

Zhang Xiu's retreat despite being wounded was the last gasp of Cao's army that had been attacking desperately.

Seeing that the defenders were as firm as a rock, Cao's army, led by Feng Kai, fought and retreated, and had to temporarily retreat to the first east wall to hold out for a while. Then they rushed to drag away the wounded east of the first east wall and strip away the expensive weapons such as armor to reduce some losses.

As for the wounded and armored personnel left between the first and second walls, there was nothing that could be done about them; they were right under the noses of the defenders' archers and could not be withdrawn.

While Cao's army was doing all this, Xiahou Yuan from the rear camp also sent an urgent messenger to formally notify Zhang Xiu to withdraw his troops as soon as possible.

The injured Zhang Xiu had no time to take care of these things, but Feng Kai, who had just taken over the command of the battlefield, felt a sinking feeling in his heart when he heard these words.

Feng Kai and Lu Zhao had a good relationship, and their resumes overlapped a lot, and they had worked together for a long time. When he saw Xiahou Yuan's messenger, he had a bad feeling and asked hurriedly: "How was General Lu's surprise attack? Did he retreat? Was it because the enemy's defense was too tight!"

Seeing that he had guessed it, the messenger announced the answer directly: "General Lu was crushed to death by a huge rock. His subordinates risked their lives to pull his body back, but their head was nowhere to be found. Most of the surprise attack soldiers were killed or wounded."

"Wei Yan, you bastard! You are so insidious and despicable!" Feng Kai was so angry that he drew his sword and hacked and chopped at the wooden pillar of a nearby Ge bus. He used too much force and broke the sword, which finally vented his anger a little.

……

Cao's siege troops retreated in such a miserable manner.

Zhang Xiu was lying on a door panel, and Feng Kai was also covered in dust. When he came in front of Xiahou Yuan, he had to blame himself for the failure of the attack and the form.

Fortunately, Xiahou Yuan also knew that the main responsibility lay with him, or at least it was because of Jia Xu's reckless advice, so he did not blame Zhang Xiu and Feng Kai on the executive level.

Xiahou Yuan pounded the table unwillingly and sighed in grief and anger: "You two generals have worked hard. It is my fault that General Zhang was injured. You have fought hard. Unfortunately, the thief general is too cunning. He was able to prevent this! General Lu was killed in such a place. Wei Yan is a thief! I haven't settled the blood debt with him for Shang'er yet!"

Jia Xu, who was standing by, was also afraid to speak, fearing that he would be angered. After everyone had vented their anger, he carefully reminded:
"General Xiahou, of the five methods of breaking the city, four have failed. Now... the only thing left is a long-term stalemate and a siege to cut off the food supply. It's not that I don't want to give advice, but I really have no other choice but to use this last stupid method."

Xiahou Yuan looked at Jia Xu with resentment, but there was nothing he could do but go with the flow.

(End of this chapter)