Jinting Han people

Liu Xian had made up his mind to break through the city head-on, but the overall situation was not optimistic, with the most critical issue being time.

Time is always the most crucial factor in war, because while you are acting, the enemy is also acting. Whoever acts more effectively is closer to victory. In order to demonstrate his power to the Jin army, Liu Xian had previously marched from Yiling to Jiang'an, successively capturing seven cities before besieging Jiang'an to persuade them to surrender. However, his attempts to persuade them to surrender failed, and in retrospect, this undoubtedly wasted a great deal of time, putting him behind.

According to information gleaned from prisoners, Wang Dun had ordered Wang Xun and Ying Zhan's troops in Yiyang to relieve the Jiangzhou army and then lead their troops back to reinforce Jiang'an. Although their exact location was unknown, it was assumed they were already on their way back. If Liu Xian failed to capture Jiang'an quickly, allowing the enemy to successfully return to reinforce, a situation similar to the Battle of Chengdu would inevitably arise.

This was a situation Liu Xian had been trying to avoid from the very beginning. After all, in the Battle of Chengdu two years prior, even though Liu Xian had a numerical advantage, he had faced numerous dangers and suffered heavy casualties when attacked from both sides by Li Xiong and Luo Shang. Moreover, the Han army was now scattered in various locations and did not have the upper hand in terms of numbers. If the enemy were to come to their aid, it would be difficult to escape unscathed.

Therefore, the generals all discussed that if they wanted to avenge the Left General, they had to act quickly, before the Jin reinforcements arrived. However, no one could be sure when the enemy reinforcements would arrive. After all, the Han army was new to the area and lacked sufficient understanding of the geography and the morale of the people. It was practically impossible to calculate a rough timeframe for the enemy's reaction.

He Pan, Li Feng, and others discussed this for an hour, and finally advised Liu Xian: "Your Highness, it is better to be lenient in assessing the enemy's strength. Let's set a deadline. Regardless of whether the enemy's reinforcements arrive or not, our army should either act within this deadline, or, of course, take down the city. If we cannot take down the city, we should simply withdraw our troops to Lexiang. Let's wait for Governor Yang and General Li to arrive and then discuss this further."

Liu Xian agreed, but a new problem arose: facing such a well-organized and fortified city, a frontal assault would inevitably result in heavy casualties and was not guaranteed to succeed. Other methods of siege were often slow and time-consuming. What method should be used to breach the city?

According to Li Feng, the best method was a water attack. Everyone had seen the dikes of Jiang'an City; the water level on the dikes was higher than the city walls. If the Han army seized the dikes and then breached them to the south, the river water would inevitably flood into the city. At that time, the Han army's warships could sail up to the city walls, using the high water level to their advantage, and perhaps even capture it in one fell swoop.

This method has a high success rate, but it faces significant internal resistance. Although everyone is united in their hatred of the enemy and wants to avenge Liu Shen, this is the first truly large-scale battle since the Han army entered Jingzhou from the east. Previous skirmishes were merely small-scale skirmishes, but what kind of negative impact would directly breaching the dikes and flooding the city during a major battle have?
In any case, human strength is insignificant in the face of floods. If the dikes were breached, how much farmland would be submerged, and how many people would be displaced? How much manpower and resources would be wasted rebuilding the dikes afterward? And how much reputational damage would it cause to the Han army? No one could give a definite answer.

But what other new methods could they use? Just as everyone was in a dilemma, Lü Quyang recalled the Battle of Niyang. Qi Wannian had led his army to besiege Niyang, and they had faced numerous perilous situations. The most threatening of these was Qi Wannian's tunnel warfare tactics. Could they use tunnel warfare to break through the city now?

When Lü Quyang shared this idea with Liu Xian, Liu Xian immediately perked up. He picked up a map and, while recalling his past experiences, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of tunnel warfare with his staff.

The advantage of tunnel warfare is simple: its primary strength lies in its concealment. When tunnels are being dug, the defenders have no idea of ​​the attackers' routes, making them extremely difficult to stop. Even if the defenders realize the enemy is using tunnel tactics, they can only wait inside the city, allowing the attackers to freely control the timing and pace of their attack. Even if the attack fails, the casualties are minimal.

However, tunnel warfare also has obvious drawbacks, namely, it cannot deal with equally skilled tunnel warfare experts. The defenders in the city only need to bury a large urn in each of the four corners of the city, and they can clearly hear the movements of the attackers underground.

While this makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact location, the defenders could dig a trench within the city. Such a trench offers several advantages: firstly, it creates an additional defensive line within the city after the enemy breaches the gates and walls; secondly, if the trench is deep enough, it can prevent the attackers from tunneling into the city. At that point, whether they attempt to ambush the tunnel entrances, flood the city with poison gas, or divert river water, the tunnel-borne troops will be rendered ineffective. When Qi Wannian's army dug tunnels and stormed into the city, Liu Xian used this method to prevent them from entering.

At this point in the analysis, Zhang Gu asked doubtfully, "Your Highness, given General Gou's reputation, he is considered a knowledgeable military strategist. Surely he wouldn't be unprepared? Can digging tunnels really conceal our presence from his eyes and ears?"

Liu Xian, of course, would not belittle Gou Xi without reason. He replied, "It's not easy to deceive him. Even when Prime Minister Zhuge Liang launched his Northern Expeditions, he couldn't fool Hao Zhao. What merit or ability do I have to think I can deceive the heavens and the sea?"

Liu Xian had indeed considered this point, but he had another idea in mind. He remembered that when Qi Wannian's tunnel attack failed, he simply burned down the tunnel, directly destroying the walls of Niyang. Could he use the same method to breach the walls of Jiang'an?
He shared his idea with everyone, and they immediately realized that this was the same tactic Yuan Shao used when attacking Gongsun Zan and capturing Yijing. How could they have forgotten this method? Using this approach, there was no need to storm the city. They could simply dig tunnels to the corners of the walls, then expand the tunnels and support them with timber. Once the tunnels had expanded sufficiently, the supporting timbers would be burned, causing the tunnels to collapse naturally. Consequently, the city walls above would also crumble, revealing cracks.

Although this method would inevitably lead to a fierce battle even if the city walls collapsed, it would still be much better than a direct assault or simple tunnel warfare. Seeing no one objected, Liu Xian immediately made the decision, saying, "Then let's do it this way! You'll be in charge of Quyang!"

Digging tunnels requires extensive preparation, including geological surveys, route selection, layout planning, construction plan development, and selection of construction techniques. Long-distance soil transport and underground ventilation are particularly challenging tasks that most beginners cannot master. Generally, only experienced miners or shaft workers know how to dig such tunnels.

The Sichuan and Chongqing regions are mountainous and lack salt, so people have to rely on salt wells to extract brine and boil it for salt production. Meanwhile, the southern regions are rich in copper mines, which are the economic lifeline of the locals. Liu Xian's brief investigation revealed that the army was not lacking in skilled personnel in this area. For example, General Zhang Qi had over a dozen veteran salt workers from Jianwei. They said their craft was a family tradition passed down for over a hundred years, and few places in the world could compare. They explained that being a salt worker was too arduous, and they had to leave to join the army because they couldn't endure it.

Liu Xian immediately promoted all these men by one rank and ordered them to quickly observe the terrain, understand the properties of the soil, and see if they could dig. If so, they were to quickly plan several feasible routes. Half a day later, Zhang Qi brought back an answer to Liu Xian. The salt workers said they could dig tunnels, but time was of the essence, and there was no time to plan routes. They could only have the salt workers guide them and plan routes as they dug.

These miners suggested that, in order to save time and ensure safety, the army should advance the entire camp to a point two miles from the city wall, and dig tunnels from inside the camp. In this way, the soldiers could pretend to be in a long-term siege, rebuilding trenches outside to lull the enemy into a false sense of security, while digging tunnels inside. The excavated soil could also be used as a cover.

Liu Xian thought this was a great idea, and he immediately agreed, then asked the most crucial question: "How many people are needed? How long will it take to dig to the city walls?"

Zhang Qi replied, "Your Highness has given me two thousand men. We can dig ten tunnels simultaneously, and in a day and a night, that'll be enough to reach the city walls!" "How confident are you? Are you willing to give a written guarantee?"

Zhang Qi was one of the powerful figures in Shu who actively responded to Liu Xian's call to enter Shu. He was extremely bold. With only a few hundred men under his command, he dared to set up a banquet to ambush and kill the royal family of Chengdu. Now that he had plenty of manpower, he was even more generous. He said loudly, "I dare not say that there will be no accidents, but as long as Your Highness provides enough shovels and wine and meat, we can dig out seven or eight out of ten!"

"Good!" Upon hearing this, Liu Xian immediately arranged for Xi An to slaughter an ox and encouraged Zhang Qi and the others, saying, "The wine and meat have been prepared for you. As long as you can succeed, you will be the ones who make the greatest contribution in this battle!"

At this point, Liu Xian felt that these words were a bit empty, so he immediately changed his tune and made the reward more straightforward, continuing: "As long as the tunnel can be dug through in one day and one night, every soldier who participates will be rewarded with fifty acres of fertile land, one ox, and three sheep!"

Farmland and livestock have always been the most beloved things for ordinary people. Originally, the soldiers were reluctant to participate because they thought digging was too tiring. However, after Zhang Qi spread the word, the soldiers' morale soared, and they all signed up. The required two thousand men were gathered in less than a quarter of an hour.

The tunnel offensive began in earnest. Following the agreed-upon strategy, Liu Xian first led his troops forward, constructing new camps and clearing the surrounding land within a five-mile radius to prevent scouts from approaching. He also considered that having tens of thousands of troops besieging Jiang'an City without retreating, and further complacency through trenching, might arouse Gou Xi's suspicion. Therefore, Liu Xian instructed Guo Mo to launch a feint attack every two hours, even diverting some troops from the Imperial Guards to create a false impression of strength.

However, since this was Liu Xian's first time using this siege tactic, he was still worried. So he personally went to the excavation site to observe and learn. Even if it didn't succeed this time, he could find shortcomings and improve upon them for future use. After all, this wouldn't be his last siege, and Liu Xian had a premonition that this tactic would definitely come in handy again in the future.

He witnessed firsthand that the method of digging tunnels was indeed very similar to that of mining operations: like digging a well, first dig downwards several meters deep, and then dig horizontally to open up the tunnel. The soil dug out of the tunnel was piled at the initial wellhead, then packed in baskets or sacks, tied with ropes, and pulled out.

Of course, these are all relatively simple tools. Real miners have specialized tools for digging and removing soil, such as mud buckets and shovels. But now, since we are only digging tunnels, we don't need so many tools. We don't even have enough shovels to dig, so we have to find hoes from farmers to replace them.

After digging a tunnel of a certain size, pillars need to be erected inside. At intervals, bamboo tubes are used first, followed by wooden pillars for support at the top and bottom to prevent collapse. After all, mine collapses have always been the most frequent and tragic accidents, and once buried inside, no one can escape. Fortunately, the tunnel we've dug is short and not intended for long-term use, so we don't need to worry about this issue for now.

However, ventilation had to be considered, because the air underground was stagnant, and the initial wellhead alone could not provide enough fresh air. Therefore, every hundred feet, a sizable air vent had to be dug upwards at an angle for ventilation. Even so, people still felt distressed and exhausted in such a cramped environment.

Besides, the most crucial factor determining the size of the tunnel was the moat of Jiang'an City. Although the moat wasn't very deep, if it wasn't taken into account when digging the tunnel, once the silt was hit, water would rush into the tunnel, and everyone underneath would be doomed. Therefore, people had to find a way to make the tunnel more than ten feet lower than the silt at the bottom of the river.

Zhang Qi was extremely responsible, always crawling at the front, not only directing the work but also digging himself. At first, the miners filled bags with the excavated soil themselves and hauled it out; later, when there was so much soil being dug, Liu Xian added another team specifically for hauling the excavated soil.

It must be said that the digging project proceeded very smoothly. Because Guo Mo's troops attacked relentlessly day and night, Gou Xi's forces remained completely unaware. Reinforcements from Furen City and Matou City arrived one after another, but were defeated by Mao Bao's forces who were blocking their path. All the captured soldiers were beheaded by He Pan as a sacrifice to the flag, to demonstrate the Han army's determination for revenge.

In reality, this was a case of acting first and informing later. Liu Xian's mind was entirely on the tunnels, and it was He Pan who made the decision before informing him. However, Liu Xian did not reprimand him after learning about it, which can be considered as tacit approval. He did indeed need this kind of tough attitude now to unite the army and boost morale.

On the third day, at daybreak, Zhang Qi, his eyes bloodshot, his face both disheveled and radiant, reported to Liu Xian:
"Haha, Your Highness, it's done!"

"Have you dug through the whole thing?" Liu Xian couldn't contain his excitement.

"We've dug through eight out of ten tunnels, but two of them ran into water veins and had to be abandoned," Zhang Qi assured him, patting his chest. "But it's no big deal. We're currently widening the tunnels horizontally to connect them. Just give the order, and we'll burn the wooden pillars underground. In less than half an hour, we guarantee half a wall will collapse!"

Liu Xian had been waiting impatiently for a long time. He had stayed up with Zhang Qi for a day and a night, and his spirits were even higher. Upon learning that the conditions for launching an attack were met, he immediately summoned his generals and inquired about the preparations of each army.

Zhuge Yan, Wei Bo, Huangfu Dan, Suo Lin, Huan Yi, and others were also eager to get started. They all rubbed their hands together and said, "We are willing to be the vanguard!"

Considering Huangfu Dan's closest relationship with Liu Shen, Liu Xian appointed him as general, with the other generals as his successors. Finally, he issued the military order: "Make preparations, have a good meal, and at noon today, breach the city! Attack the city! Avenge General Zuo!"

Everyone bowed their heads in unison and returned to their camps. Everything was ready, except for the final push. (End of Chapter)