Jinting Han people

For Liu Xian, this trip to Qingcheng Mountain ended somewhat hastily.

His original plan was to directly persuade Qingcheng Mountain to surrender, and then, with their help, to achieve a bloodless surrender of Chengdu. However, after contacting Fan Changsheng, he changed his mind.

A monarch can certainly rely on external forces to handle affairs, but must also grasp the appropriate measure. He must be able to effectively resolve problems without allowing external forces to overshadow his own authority. Otherwise, while solving old problems, it might create new internal crises. With this in mind, Liu Xian abandoned his decision to directly persuade Qingcheng Mountain to surrender and convert to the Celestial Masters sect, choosing instead to allow Qingcheng Mountain to remain neutral for the time being. He intended to use this final battle in Chengdu to announce the rebirth of the Shu Han regime.

Upon returning to the walls of Chengdu, all the armies had been deployed. Liu Xian ordered Li Ju to besiege the north of the city, Yang Nandi to besiege the west, and he personally oversaw the south. In late February, they launched a fierce attack on Chengdu.

Liu Xian's primary offensive target was the south of the city, as it had the most surrounding small towns and was also home to the Zhaolie Temple. Of course, this also meant that the south of the city was the most heavily fortified area outside the city. But Liu Xian was a man of considerable experience; he had fought countless large-scale offensive and defensive battles, and now he had ample time. Therefore, no matter what kind of defenses he faced, he could devise a corresponding countermeasure.

He first built siege engines such as catapults, pointed wooden donkeys, siege ladders, and battering rams. At the same time, he prepared giant axes specifically for breaching palisades, earthen bags for filling ditches, and straw and fire arrows for burning watchtowers. Once everything was ready, the army marched out with lightning speed and unstoppable force.

The pointed wooden donkeys carried the troops forward, stopping at the ditch. The defenders' arrows rained down on the donkeys, having no effect, while the attackers, using sandbags, quickly filled in the pits and ditches along the road. After the road was filled, the waiting catapults were pushed forward to the outer earthen ramparts, where a single volley of boulders shattered everything in its path. With the support of the surrounding axe-wielding soldiers, the palisade system surrounding Chengdu collapsed almost instantly, utterly unable to halt the advance of the Hanzhong army.

In just two days, the Hanzhong army took the lead in approaching Cheguan City and launched the first round of siege warfare.

Soldiers pushed over a dozen siege ladders to the city walls. A brave warrior, clad in iron armor and wielding a cleaver, stood atop the ladders and charged forward, directly into the city. Soldiers below followed suit, quickly securing positions on the walls. A fierce battle ensued. Defending Cheguan City was Li Xiong's cousin, Li Long, who personally braved the enemy's attacks, leading the charge and temporarily stabilizing the defenses.

While they were locked in combat, Zhang Guang led his battering ram to the city walls. The ram, as large as a cauldron and covered with iron plates, struck the city gate with a deafening roar that instilled fear in all who beheld it. Before the city could muster enough defenders, after dozens of deafening blows, the gate collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dust. Those behind erupted in wild cheers, and the Han army surged into Cheguan City like a tidal wave.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the city's defenders fled north, attempting to escape back to the north bank on warships. However, the small city was cramped, easily leading to congestion, which only exacerbated the rout. Zhang Guang pursued his victory, leading his troops to cut off the north gate. Driven by a desire for revenge for his son who had died in the battle of Yinping, he initially refused to accept the enemy's surrender, capturing and killing hundreds of people. Only after the news reached Liu Xian did Liu Xian order the retreat.

However, the results of this day were still outstanding. In a single day, the Hanzhong army killed or captured more than two thousand people, Li Long died in the chaos of battle, and they also breached Cheguan City. This was only three days after Liu Xian began his siege. If this pace continued, the outer defenses of the Chengdu army would be completely cleared within half a month.

Panic gripped Chengdu. Li Xiong immediately mustered his troops, ordering Grand Tutor Li Xiang to lead veteran soldiers to defend Jin Guan City. With Che Guan City lost, Jin Guan City could not be allowed to fall as well; otherwise, with these two strongholds, the Hanzhong army could seize Zuo Bridge. Zuo Bridge, also known as Yili Bridge, was a bamboo rope bridge connecting the north and south banks of the Jin River. Spanning over two hundred feet, it was the most important of Chengdu's eight bridges. If the Hanzhong army captured it, their forces in the east and south of the city would be linked, greatly increasing the difficulty of defense.

The problem, however, was that the factors influencing the decisive battle lay not within the city, but outside. Having confirmed that Li Xiong had lost his reinforcements from Qingcheng Mountain, Liu Xian now held absolute initiative. He could move quickly or slowly as he pleased, without any reservations. Seeing that the enemy seemed to have strengthened the defenses of Chengdu, Liu Xian ordered a slowdown, instructing them to first construct earthen mounds outside the city.

Chengdu was a small city, unlike the Guanzhong Plain where it could take advantage of natural terrain. Even with the construction of city walls, they couldn't rise higher than the earthen mounds outside the city, leaving them vulnerable to fire from the Hanzhong army from above. As a result, the veteran soldiers fighting on the city walls were simultaneously attacked from both above and below, a truly miserable situation. Moreover, they lacked their most crucial element: cavalry. Even if they ventured out to fight, they couldn't break through the encirclement, let alone stop the enemy from building watchtowers and earthen mounds.

After about seven days, Li Xiang judged that Jin Guan City could not be defended, so he led his army back to Chengdu and burned down the Zuo Bridge to buy time. However, the deterioration of the situation was already very obvious. Of the three cities south of Chengdu, only the Zhaolie Temple remained. The Zhaolie Temple was originally a tomb, the least suitable location for defense. Therefore, it was suggested within Chengdu that the Zhaolie Temple be burned down to demoralize the Hanzhong army.

This matter was widely supported internally, as they had suffered greatly at Liu Xian's hands recently and harbored deep hatred for him. Burning down someone's ancestral graves was undoubtedly the best way to vent their anger.

But Li Xiong quickly rejected this idea.

Li Xiong said, "When two armies clash, they are merely fighting for their own lords. Victory, defeat, rise, and fall are all common occurrences. A true man should live an upright life, knowing what to do and what not to do. Moreover, good and evil are rewarded accordingly. If you burn people's tombs today because you are at a disadvantage, do you expect to die without a complete corpse when you are defeated in the future?"

After careful consideration, Li Xiong chose to voluntarily withdraw from Zhaolie Temple and return it intact to the Hanzhong Army. In this way, the Hanzhong Army completely occupied the southern suburbs of Chengdu.

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian first led his generals to the temple to pay homage to their ancestors. During the worship, he saw that all the statues in the temple were intact, the mound of his great-grandfather's tomb, Huiling, was as it had been, the beams and tiles of the houses had been renewed, the flowers and grasses were lush, and the pines and cypresses were luxuriant. He couldn't help but repeatedly say to his subordinates, "Li Xiong is indeed a rare gentleman. Since he was able to preserve my family's tomb, I must repay him in return."

Having said this, Liu Xian immediately dispatched envoys to Chengdu to offer Li Xiong his first offer of surrender. Liu Xian promised that if Li Xiong surrendered, not only would his entire clan be spared, but he would also be treated with the honors due to a local marquis. Furthermore, his advisors and generals would be selected and employed after rigorous evaluation.

These were extremely generous terms, and Li Xiong quickly replied, "No need for further words, I truly wish to test my skills against you! If I were to surrender, I would rather die!"

After reading it, Liu Xian couldn't help but sigh, "What a fine man! If there is an afterlife, he should be at my service."

So they turned and crossed the river to attack Gongguan City. Although there were warships there attempting to stop Liu Xian from rebuilding the bridge, the river was too narrow, no more than twenty zhang wide. What might be insurmountable for an ordinary person was easily crossed by the 80,000-strong Hanzhong army. Under Yang Nandi's command, the army first collected stones, then opened a new waterway upstream and downstream, and subsequently blocked the old waterway with large stones, successfully cutting off the river's flow, rendering the warships useless. The Hanzhong army rebuilt the Zuo Bridge at the point of blockage and safely crossed the river. Within four days, they breached Gongguan City again. Thus, all the defenses outside Chengdu were overcome by the Hanzhong army.

It was now late March, a month after the start of the war. A month wasn't a short time in a typical siege, but this was Chengdu. Previously, Li Xiong and Luo Shang had been locked in a stalemate in the smaller and larger parts of Chengdu for over two years, neither gaining the upper hand. In comparison, Liu Xian's speed in conquering the city was astonishing! Chengdu was in an uproar; they had no idea how much longer they could hold out.

Now, with the Li family and others repeatedly pleading for reinforcements from Qingcheng Mountain to no avail, and seeing the Hanzhong army's relentless, wave-like offensive day and night, they finally realized that the Celestial Masters Sect had probably given up on them. This caused the atmosphere within the city to plummet. Although Li Xiong remained resolute in his determination to resist, most people had begun to discuss the question: if they had truly lost external support, what was the point of continuing to resist within the city?
Even Li Xiong's closest relatives, such as Li Xiang and Li Feng, felt there was no hope for the future. They dared not openly oppose Li Xiong, but at night, they secretly met at Li Xiang's residence, discussing among themselves with worried faces: "Liu Xian is indeed a renowned general who has fought countless battles. His methods of breaching cities are so varied and unpredictable, it's like magic. We defend the city walls, while he attacks from below. We use ropes in the water, while he uses them to cut off the flow of water from the river. If we continue fighting like this, we simply cannot win. Where is our chance of survival? We should just surrender!"

However, they also knew Li Xiong's character well. Given his nephew's personality, he would never surrender voluntarily. If they were to speak up, they might only provoke Li Xiong into a rage, which could end up costing them their lives.

Finally, Li Guo suggested a candidate: "We can go to the Duke of Guanghan! No matter what, my king will do the Duke of Guanghan a favor!"

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly understood and then clapped their hands in approval.

The "Duke of Guanghan" mentioned by Li Guo was Li Ban, the eldest son of Li Dang, Li Xiong's elder brother, and he was eighteen years old this year. Although Li Ban was not Li Xiong's biological son, their relationship was even stronger than that of father and son. This was because Li Dang and Li Xiong were brothers born of the same mother, and they had supported each other since childhood, having an extremely close relationship in private. During the Battle of Chizu, Li Xiong was resting in his camp when Li Dang led his troops to pursue the fleeing soldiers, resulting in his unexpected death. Li Xiong felt extremely guilty about this, believing that he had caused his brother's death because of his desire for temporary comfort. From then on, he treated Li Ban well, saying that he had only obtained his high position by chance and was merely looking after Li Ban's legacy. He believed that if Li Ban were to persuade Li Xiong, even if there were disagreements, it wouldn't lead to any major chaos.

So Li Xiang went to meet Li Ban again and told him that his tribe wanted to surrender. Li Ban initially wanted to refuse, but seeing the tribe's opinion and the situation outside the city, he finally had no choice but to agree and went to Wudan Mountain to see Li Xiong.

It was still late at night, but Li Xiong was still not resting. He and several advisors were studying the city defense map in the palace. In fact, he had already looked at it hundreds of times, and knew every part of the city by heart, but he still looked at it again and again, as if he could find some kind of hope in it. When he heard footsteps outside the door, Li Xiong looked up, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes. When he saw that it was Li Ban, he immediately smiled with relief. He told his advisors to take shelter in the corridor, and waved, saying, "It's Shiwen. Come here, let me take a look."

When Li Ban walked up to him, Li Xiong pulled him to his side, looked him over for a while, and then asked, "Shiwen, what are you doing here? Is the food in the manor not enough? Everyone's life has been tough lately, so you should be understanding and set an example by being patient. But Shiwu and the others are still growing, so I'll secretly have the palace send a few fish over later, and you can have some to eat with them tonight."

The relationship between the two was indeed beyond that of an ordinary father and son. Upon hearing Li Xiong's concern, Li Ban felt awkward and sad, and his eyes reddened. He stammered, "Uncle, I came here today not for anything else, but because I have a question I would like to ask you."

"Oh?" Li Xiong looked delighted when he heard Li Ban ask for advice, and patted his shoulder, saying, "Great, Shiwen is so sensible now. What questions do you have?"

"Regarding this battle... does Uncle still have... any chance of winning?" At this point, Li Ban could barely lift his head, not daring to look Li Xiong in the eye.

But Li Xiong was an extremely intelligent man, and he immediately understood the deeper meaning behind it. He was initially angry, but after looking at Li Ban, he fell silent. After a long while, he patted Li Ban on the shoulder and said, "This isn't your question, is it? Who invited you here?"

Li Ban shook his head and said, "No one, Uncle, it was my own idea."

Li Xiong had no intention of exposing him. He sighed and shook his head, saying, "I really don't see any chance of winning, but I'm not a shameless person. If you want me to surrender like Liu Shan and Sun Hao, you might as well kill me. Shiwen, tell me, should I follow the example of King Zhou of Shang and burn myself on the Deer Terrace, or should I learn from Xiang Yu and commit suicide at the Wujiang River?"

Seeing Li Xiong's dejected expression, Li Ban felt even more distressed and immediately stood up to volunteer, saying, "Uncle, why must you do this! It is my fault. At worst, we can all learn from Jiang Wei and fight Liu Xian to the death. If we win, we win; if we lose, we lose. Even if we perish together, what does it matter?"

"Good! This is worthy of the Li family bloodline!" Hearing this, Li Xiong was greatly gratified, but looking back at the map before him, an endless sense of resentment welled up in his heart. He had to admit that, as things stood, no matter what method he used, he felt there was no way to win. How could this be? Since the world had already created me, Li Xiong, why had it also created Liu Xian? Was this not a cruel joke of fate?
Thinking of this, he was filled with hatred. He drew his sword from his waist and cleaved the table in two with one stroke, angrily saying, "Heaven has wronged me!" Then he said to Li Ban, "If anyone can offer a plan to help me defeat Liu Xian, I am willing to appoint him as prime minister and share this throne with him. It is not a pity!"

He had only spoken casually, but unexpectedly, someone in the corridor said, "Is Your Highness serious?"

Li Xiong was startled by the sound and turned to look, only to find that it was Li Feng, the General of the Imperial Guard in charge of the palace. Li Feng was a rising star of the Li clan of Lueyang. He had made great contributions in the last battle of Chengdu by blocking the Jin army, but because of his remote origin, even if he was promoted, he could not compare with the other members of the clan.

At this moment, Li Feng was not embarrassed for disturbing Li Xiong's private affairs. Instead, she bowed and said leisurely, "Your Highness, there is only one plan that can bring the dead back to life. It depends on whether you dare to use it."

"Oh? You have a brilliant idea? Tell me." That's what he said, but Li Xiong looked at him coldly, clearly displeased with Li Feng's words. As a monarch, he hated people who were blinded by greed and didn't think he could really come up with any brilliant ideas.

Li Feng's next words took him by surprise: "Since my king is unwilling to surrender to Liu Xian, why not feign surrender to Luo Shang? Given Luo Shang's greed, he will certainly not yield. Jiangzhou will mobilize its entire nation to attack from the east, forming a pincer movement with us, and we will still have the strength to fight. This is our only chance of survival; success or failure hinges on this!" (End of Chapter)