Jinting Han people

Zhang Fang's defensive arrangements for the western camp were meticulously planned and far superior to those of ordinary camps.

Although Zhang Fang quickly established a large-scale fortified camp, the fierce offensive of the Imperial Guards was foreseeable. He naturally did not believe that relying solely on the outermost layer of defenses would be sufficient to easily withstand their attack. Therefore, he adapted to the local conditions, utilizing the existing divisions and foundations of the streets and neighborhoods in the suburbs of Luoyang, and extensively constructing smaller fortifications and building palisades within the western camp, thus dividing the western camp into nearly a hundred interconnected smaller fortifications.

In this situation, even though Sima Yi built a large number of siege weapons and breached the outer wall on the first day, that was all. After breaching the outer wall, the weapons could not advance any further, and the ensuing fierce fighting could only be propelled forward by the blood and flesh of the soldiers.

When Song Hong led his fully armed Imperial Guards into the western fortress, the Western Army soldiers quickly abandoned the outermost high walls. What then appeared before the Imperial Guards were layers upon layers of palisades and watchtowers. These cumbersome, heavily armored soldiers were soon cornered at the second layer of palisades, still braving a hail of arrows flying overhead.

The Imperial Guards, wanting to continue their attack, had no choice but to bend over, heads bowed, and crawl over one by one. Meanwhile, the Western Army soldiers, dressed in light, round-necked, button-down shirts, secured their cuffs with handcuffs and nimbly approached the fence. They carried long wooden poles with iron hooks attached to the tops, hooking them onto the barbed wire collars of the Imperial Guards, dragging them to one side of the fence. Their comrades, already prepared, raised their clubs and, before the Imperial Guards could react, swiftly beat them to death like whack-a-mole.

At the breaches they had made, the Western Army did not give up completely. They had hidden oil in the wooden sheds, and when the Imperial Guards entered, they threw oil-soaked straw into the breaches and then shot fire arrows into them. It was the dead of winter, and the weather was dry. Flames instantly rose from the breaches, igniting a raging inferno. The thick smoke engulfed the siege equipment at the breaches and made it difficult for people to approach. This successfully blocked the Imperial Guards' second wave of attack.

After entering, Cavalry Commandant Song Hong suddenly found himself isolated and helpless, and panicked for a moment. But he quickly rallied his infantry and said, "We have fought alongside the General of the Cavalry for years. What deadly situations haven't we seen? This is nothing more than fighting some bandits from Guanzhong. We just need to hold our ground here for a while and wait for the fire to die down. We can still win!"

As a native of Changshan, Song Hong was renowned for his bravery, having been valued by Sima Yi in his early years and appointed as the chief clerk of the Changshan Prince's Palace. He was eight feet tall and could wield a longsword weighing nearly twenty pounds. Against soldiers wearing ordinary leather armor, a single blow would be enough to pierce their lungs. Now, he stepped forward to rally the men into a defensive formation, guarding a relatively narrow alleyway, and the restless crowd immediately calmed down somewhat.

Just then, the fence blocking the street entrance on the west side suddenly opened a crack, and dozens of Westerners rushed out, ready to fight them. The leader, a burly man, held a long spear and shouted, "I am Lu Lang, the Prefect of Hongnong. Who is the leader? Come out and fight me!"

The two sides were now in a narrow alley, facing each other in a narrow pass. Whoever hesitated to fight would be doomed to defeat. Seeing that Lü Lang was not particularly tall and his armor was not as good as his own, Song Hong sneered and stepped forward, saying, "I am Song Hong, the Commandant of the Imperial Carriage. So it is the nameless thief who has come to offer me credit!"

The two immediately stepped out from the crowd and began their duel in the firelight. Due to the cramped space, neither could wield their long weapons effectively, so they both switched to ring-pommel swords. Even so, neither had much room to maneuver, so they simply began to fight for control of the center line with slashing and thrusting attacks.

Just as Song Hong had predicted, the moment their blades clashed, he knew his opponent was weaker than him, so he rushed forward and slashed fiercely, sparks flying everywhere. Although Lü Lang was more agile, he couldn't maneuver effectively in the alley. His attempts to launch attacks were futile; he couldn't deceive his opponent or even make him waver. They were forced into a simple contest of strength.

As a result, Song Hong pressed forward step by step, while Lü Lang retreated step by step. After seven or eight rounds, Lü Lang's sword had six or seven cracks. It turned out that there was a difference in the weapons between the two sides. If things continued to develop like this, Song Hong could be said to have a sure chance of winning.

Feeling much more confident, Song Hong continued his fierce hacking forward, taunting, "With martial arts like this, you dare to embarrass yourself on the battlefield?" Lost in his smugness, he failed to notice that someone opposite him had climbed the wall, pressed against the corner, squinted for a moment, and then swiftly pulled a crossbow from beneath the wall, aiming it at Song Hong's head. A sharp whistling sound followed, and the bolt struck Song Hong squarely in the center of his iron armor, piercing the armor and hitting him right between the eyebrows.

The arrow didn't pierce his brow bone, but a sharp pain shot through his brow, causing Song Hong to stiffen. Lü Lang seized the opportunity, pinning him to the ground, then pried open his neck and hacked at him repeatedly with a blunt knife until his head was severed. He then laughed and said, "Foolish pig! The battlefield isn't just about strength; it's also about wit!"

With Song Hong's death, the imperial guards remaining within the city walls scattered, and many small fortifications captured were quickly recaptured by the Western Army within the city. When the news reached Sima Yi's main camp, Sima Yi felt dizzy upon hearing it, but he quickly regained his composure and addressed his generals: "It's just the death of a fighting general, what's there to regret! Keep attacking! If we fail, it's just a matter of whether we die sooner or later!"

In reality, Song Hong's death, as a long-time subordinate of Sima Yi, had indeed cast a deep psychological shadow over the Imperial Guards. Adding to this, it was already past midnight on the first day; the initial breach of the outer fortifications had required a massive manpower effort, leaving many exhausted. Sima Yi urged his generals to continue fighting, but most remained silent and taciturn. This infuriated Sima Yi. In the past, Liu Xian would usually volunteer for battle without him even needing to say a word, but now the situation was reversed.

Sima Yi angrily said, "If you won't go, then I'll go myself!" He drew his sword and was about to step down from the platform when all the generals stopped him. Since they couldn't go to Liu Xian, Shangguan Yi said, "Duke of Xicheng (He Pan) is a veteran general. Why don't we ask him what good strategy he has to defeat the enemy?"

So the group hurriedly went to He Pan for advice. He Pan said, "The outer fortifications of the Western Army have been breached. The inner fortifications are mostly made of wood, which is perfect for a fire attack! Didn't they set fires before? Our army will set fires too! We won't even need to fight. We can send people to clear the fires, advance step by step, force them to retreat, and when they can't stay any longer, we can engage them in open battle!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up: This was indeed a good idea. Although it would take a while to clear the area, the advantage was that there would be fewer casualties. Once a piece of land was captured and burned to the ground, the Western Army would not be able to take advantage of the terrain even if they launched a counterattack.

So Shangguan volunteered to lead more than 7,000 men to hold the line, while Miao Yuan led more than 10,000 laborers to set fires in an attempt to destroy the many smaller fortifications in the western fortress. This led to the establishment of a new attack strategy.

Sima Yi calmed down, and soon after, Shangguan Si and the others pressed forward. He then ordered the drummers on the platform to beat the drums, while he continued to observe the course of the battle from the platform.

In the darkness, the Imperial Guards and laborers, torches aloft, surged back into the western city walls like fiery dragons. Upon seeing the Imperial Guards return, the Western Army soldiers immediately resorted to their old trick, hiding behind the palisades and atop the watchtowers, firing arrows at those carrying torches. The Westerners' arrows were indeed swift and accurate. Unlike the Imperial Guards and the Northern Army, they didn't like to overwhelm their troops with sheer numbers; instead, they fired cautiously and efficiently. Their rate of fire might not have been fast, but guided by the torches, they hit a man almost every three or four arrows. Since many laborers were unarmored, those hit sometimes didn't even hear the wind before collapsing with a thud, as if some ghost had emerged from the darkness and dragged them down.

However, the western front was narrow, and this kind of sniping in the dark did little to stop the Imperial Guards' advance. After leaving behind over a hundred corpses, they still reached the numerous small forts and began to set them on fire in an orderly fashion. The method of setting fires was simple: they cut a clump of reeds from the banks of the Luo River, each person holding a bunch, and then piled them under the forts and fences. They didn't even need to add much oil; the flames immediately leaped up and quickly burned the area.

The Westerners were not unprepared; they had prepared fire-fighting sand and soil, throwing it over any flames they saw. However, the fire spread too quickly. Despite their efforts to bury the flames, they could not withstand the scorching smoke. In addition, the Imperial Guards retaliated with arrows, which meant that although the Western army's firefighting efforts were effective, they could not stop the fire from spreading.

Thus, the situation gradually shifted in favor of the Imperial Guards. As He Pan had said, although this method was slow, the scorching fire prevented the Western Army from engaging in close combat. They could only watch helplessly as the small fortifications, converted from civilian houses, gradually burned to ash and then collapsed. The laborers only needed to continuously transport dry straw and stalks in, clearing a path forward. The Western Army, despite its formidable strength, could only retreat step by step.

Seeing that everything was back on track, Sima Yi breathed a sigh of relief and said to his generals, "The Duke of Xicheng truly deserves to be called a veteran general who pacified Wu. You should all take this as an encouragement!"

The group stayed on the platform for most of the night, but seeing that the Westerners had not launched any effective counterattack, they became somewhat complacent. Having persisted from day to midnight, most of them were exhausted. Although the drums on the platform continued to thunder, they could not dispel their weariness. The nobles who were not involved in the battle, such as the emperor and his officials, had already gone to rest.

Sima Yi then began arranging the rotation of troops, planning to have Wang Ju and Liu You take over their duties at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM). He also urged the fire station to prepare breakfast for the soldiers so that those being rotated out could have a hot meal. After the two units had rotated out and he confirmed that nothing went wrong, and after receiving intelligence from the armies on both the north and south sides to ensure there were no oversights, Sima Yi was thoroughly exhausted.

Around dawn, he rode his horse to a camp a mile away to rest. Even though the drums were still beating outside the tent, he didn't care. He haphazardly plugged his ears with some cotton wool, and before long, Sima Yi fell into a deep sleep.

Logically, he was a light sleeper and shouldn't have been dreaming. But for some reason, Sima Yi seemed to be dreaming of his teenage years, more than ten years ago. Back then, he was not only very young, but also carefree.

In mid-spring, the grass grew tall and green in the wind, and the sky was clear with few clouds. I, along with my brothers Sima Wei, Sima Yun, and Sima Xia, rode from Xuanwu Field all the way to the summit of Mangshan Mountain. We passed countless tombstones on the mountain, and climbed to a high point on a massive rock. Sometimes we gazed southward at the majestic city of Luoyang, and sometimes we looked northward at the ceaselessly flowing river. Fallen petals carpeted our feet, and orioles sang sweetly in the trees. At that moment, just one glance at this magnificent landscape made me feel as if I possessed the entire picturesque world.

In reality, at that time, I had only just learned to ride a horse, and I was already very happy as long as I could sit still without falling off the saddle.

In the blink of an eye, the sound of war drums rose in their ears, instantly changing everything before their eyes. Spring blossoms withered into dry grass, clear water froze into icy rivers, and then smoke and fire filled the air. The once magnificent and prosperous capital of Luoyang was transformed into a desolate and silent wasteland. Looking around, there were no pedestrians to be seen; instead, flocks of gray jackals and vultures roamed and foraged for food.

Suddenly, a barrage of arrows rained down from the sky, leaving no place to hide. As the arrows struck, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out in the air, jolting Sima Yi awake.

He sat there for a while, covering his head. He lifted the curtain to look at the sky outside the tent and realized that he hadn't slept for long. Memories of reality flooded back, reminding him that he was in the midst of war. So he drifted off into a daze for a while.

Unexpectedly, a guard rushed in from outside, saying in a panic, "General, something terrible has happened! Go out and see what's going on!"

Sima Yi was taken aback, but quickly recovered. He dressed and walked back, strode to the high platform, and stared wide-eyed at the western fortress. What he saw enraged him: for some unknown reason, several hundred armored soldiers of the Western Army suddenly appeared behind the Imperial Guards and were rampaging through the laborers.

It turned out that when Zhang Fang was building the western fortress, he had secretly left about twenty tunnels in some of the smaller fortresses. The Imperial Guards' arson prevented the Western Army from engaging them head-on, but they could emerge undetected from underground and launch a surprise attack on the rear. The rear was mostly made up of laborers, who had no weapons to fight back or armor to protect themselves. Despite their large numbers, they were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter in front of the armored and sword-wielding Western Army wolves.

Before long, the entire Western Army line attacking the fortress was thrown into chaos by these few hundred men. The laborers scattered and fled, and the armored soldiers were powerless to stop them, instead being swept along by them. Seeing this, the Western Army soldiers inside the city finally had an opportunity. They extinguished several fires, covered them with damp cloths, and stepped out through the embers to drive the enemy away. With such a pincer attack, Liu You's troops soon showed signs of defeat.

Sima Yi was furious upon seeing this. Without waiting for Liu You's troops to retreat, he personally led his troops to meet them. Seeing his overwhelming force, the Western Army had no intention of going all in. Under the command of the Western Fortress camp, they slithered back through the crowd like a long snake. Even so, the Western Army's results were considerable. In just a few short hours, they had killed or wounded three thousand laborers, further damaging the morale of the Imperial Guards.

Upon hearing this, some advised Sima Yi to regroup and rest. Sima Yi immediately lashed out with his whip, leaving a horrifying bloody welt. The King of Changsha gritted his teeth and declared, "Now that this battle has begun, it's either me or the enemy! What more is there to say! Anyone who dares to suggest retreating will die!"

He redeployed his troops and launched his third assault. (End of Chapter)