My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 329 First, get soaked to the bone, then freeze to death? Xiao He: Cao Ren, taste the bitter cold of hell!

Once the imperial edict was issued, a thousand carpenters began their work.

During the Han Dynasty, the south was abundant in rainfall, while the north was also covered with dense forests and giant trees.

Liyang is close to the Yellow River, and a few miles east of the city lies a dense forest.

The Chu army mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers, and within a few days they felled trees and transported back hundreds of giant logs.

More than a thousand carpenters worked day and night to complete the project, following Xiao He's method.

Within fifteen days, more than two hundred water dragon cannons were completed.

A heavy snowfall had just passed, and as the saying goes, "frost precedes cold, snow follows cold," the temperature in the Liyang area dropped sharply again.

The Wei soldiers inside the city could only huddle together at the foot of the city wall, huddling around a tiny fire fueled by doors and windows for warmth.

Even so, under the onslaught of the bitter cold, the Wei army was shivering with cold, and many soldiers had already suffered from frostbite.

Compared to the freezing cold inside the city, the Chu army outside the city was living a very comfortable life.

With ample supplies of food and firewood, the Chu soldiers could simply hide in their tents and eat and drink around the roaring campfire every day.

Seeing that the temperature was dropping again and the water cannons were almost finished being built, Liu Bei decided to implement Xiao He's strategy of making matters worse.

At dusk that day, the cold wind howled, and the pain was so intense that it made one's scalp tingle and one's fingers ache.

A pee may freeze while it's still in mid-air.

At Liu Bei's command, the Chu army opened the gates of the city wall and began to assemble outside the four gates of Liyang.

The soldiers on duty, shivering from the cold on the city wall, were all terrified when they vaguely saw the Chu army figures appearing outside the city.

After all, although Liyang City had been besieged for five months, the Chu army had only dug ditches and built walls, and had not even bothered to fire a single shot into the city with the divine thunder cannon.

For some reason, the Chu army has suddenly decided to launch a major attack on the city.
Soon, the sound of gongs blaring from the city walls served as a warning.

"Reporting to General of the Flying Cavalry, the Chu army has amassed a large force outside the city, and they seem poised to attack!"

Inside the tent, Cao Ren, who was gnawing on cooked meat, suddenly choked.

Cheng Wu, Yue Jin, and the others standing nearby were also taken aback.

"It just snowed, and it's freezing cold. It's not a good time to attack a city. Why would that big-eared thief choose this time to attack my Liyang?"

Cheng Wu's eyes darted around, and he noticed something unusual.

Jia Kui frowned slightly and said in a serious tone:
"Could it be that Liu Bei anticipated our city's lack of food and firewood, and the instability of our army, and therefore took advantage of the situation to attack?"

boom!
Cao Ren threw the bone he was holding onto the table, leaped up, and said arrogantly:

"Why think so much? Let that big-eared thief attack if he wants to. I'll just let my soldiers have a good fight and stretch their muscles so their morale doesn't keep declining!"

Cao Ren immediately drew his sword and went out of the tent, ordering all his generals to lead their troops to meet the enemy at the four gates.

Cao Ren then spurred his horse and galloped away, arriving at the South Gate in the blink of an eye.

When they reached the city wall, nearly five thousand Wei soldiers had already been driven up to the top, shivering and clutching their weapons in the cold wind.

Cao Ren looked into the distance and indeed saw the gates of the city wall open, with countless Chu soldiers entering in an orderly fashion, forming a dense, dark mass as they approached the city wall.

"Big-eared thief, you've finally lost your patience and are going to launch a full-scale attack on my Liyang, haven't you?"

"Come on, come on, I've been holding back my anger for a while now, let me have my fill of slaughter today!"

Cao Ren gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and shouted:

"Soldiers of Wei, raise your spirits and give that Chu dog a resounding victory!"

The Wei soldiers were slightly reminded that they gripped their swords and spears tightly, enduring the bitter cold, and prepared to fight to the death.

Outside the city, the Chu army formed ranks and began to advance towards the south gate.

Cao Ren originally thought that Liu Bei would push the Divine Thunder Cannon to the front of the battle and, as usual, launch a barrage of attacks on Liyang City.

To his surprise, he did not see the massive Divine Thunder Cannon in the Chu army formation.

in contrast.

Instead, logs appeared within the Chu army formation, slowly advancing alongside the army as they were dragged by chariots and horses.

"Did you see that clearly? What kind of weapon is that in the Chu army formation?"

Cao Ren looked back at Cheng Wu, Jia Kui, and the others with a bewildered expression.

Everyone squinted and observed carefully for a long time, but they all shook their heads in confusion.

"You big-eared thief, what trick are you up to now..."

Cao Ren gritted his teeth secretly, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

Seeing that the Chu army had closed in within an arrow's reach, Cao Ren had no choice but to suppress his suspicions and order the archers to fire.

On the city wall, more than a thousand Wei soldiers, their fingers frozen stiff, barely managed to nock their arrows and begin firing at the approaching Chu army.

Almost simultaneously, countless arrows soared into the air from the Chu army's ranks.

A dense, oppressive mass descended, blotting out the sky and the sun, like a net stretching across the heavens and earth.

In the blink of an eye, screams rose and fell along the entire city.

The Chu army's numerical superiority was now fully evident.

The archers, outnumbering the Wei army several times over, quickly suppressed the Wei army's arrows, forcing them to either cower under the battlements or raise their shields to defend themselves, no longer daring to show their faces and fight back.

Under the cover of archers, the Chu army approached to within thirty paces of the city and halted their advance.

War drums sounded.

One after another, water cannons were pushed to the front of the battle.

Immediately afterwards, the Chu army began to pile up firewood and start fires, setting up large pots to boil snow water in front of Liyang City.

This scene completely stunned the Wei soldiers on the city wall.

"What...what are the Chu army doing? Are they planning to cook right under our noses?" Le Jin stared wide-eyed, thinking he was seeing things.

Cao Ren's eyes widened like saucers, and he exclaimed in astonishment:
"What exactly is this big-eared thief trying to do?"

Although he couldn't guess the Chu army's intentions, Cao Ren's ominous premonition grew stronger and stronger.

He was helpless and could only watch with suspicion as the Chu army did what they were doing right under his nose.

In fact, not only the Wei army, but also the Chu soldiers in their formation were completely bewildered.

The soldiers were whispering amongst themselves, all wondering what their king was up to.

Under the bewildered and astonished gazes of both sides, pot after pot of snow water finally boiled.

As the drumbeats changed, the soldiers quickly poured boiling snow water into the cannon muzzles before it froze.

More than two hundred water cannons were all in place.

Central Army Department.

Seeing the signal flag waving ahead, Liu Bei, filled with anticipation, cracked his whip:
"Order the water cannons to activate and seal off Liyang for Gu Bing!"

Suddenly, the sound of battle flags rang out.

Accompanied by shouts of pushing the pistons, more than two hundred water cannons were fired simultaneously.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle~~"

In an instant, two hundred jets of water gushed out and headed straight for the top of Liyang City.

"water?"

Cao Ren exclaimed in surprise, his face showing astonishment as if he had seen a ghost.

He originally speculated that the logs used by the Chu army were probably some kind of siege weapon, and that they would launch stone projectiles or something similar.

But he never dreamed that the Chu army would launch water jets!
It wasn't just Cao Ren.

Cheng Wu, Jia Kui, Yue Jin, and even the Wei soldiers along the city line were all dumbfounded, looking up at the columns of water rushing down.

It wasn't until the water jets hit them that Cao Ren and the others reacted and instinctively crouched down under the battlements.

"Wow~~"

The water columns that fell from the sky poured down like a torrential rain, instantly submerging the entire city wall.

Cao Ren and his soldiers were drenched in the blink of an eye, their clothes and armor soaked through.

The temperature was so high that water would freeze instantly. The scalding hot snow water cooled down in mid-air and became bone-chillingly cold when it was splashed on you.

A gust of cold wind blew, and a sharp chill instantly enveloped their bodies, causing the Wei soldiers to cry out in pain.

This is still the beginning.

The ice water froze rapidly, and the Wei soldiers' bodies, their armor, and the ice weapons in their hands were frozen together in the blink of an eye.

The Wei soldiers were terrified and frantically tried to peel off the ice covering their bodies. But this attempt to peel it off caused some of them to tear their skin as well, causing them excruciating pain.

Screams and wails suddenly erupted, echoing along the entire city line…

Cao Ren was lucky; his personal guards held up shields to block most of the water, and his armor only got slightly wet.

When he looked up and scanned his surroundings, he saw a city full of soldiers, frozen to the point of near death, their cries echoing everywhere.

"General of the Flying Cavalry, the Chu army's weapons are specifically designed for water attacks..."

"It's freezing cold right now. If we get splashed with water like this, our skin and clothing will freeze together!"

"We must quickly retreat from the city to get...warm up, otherwise everyone will freeze...freeze to death!"

Jia Kui, who was unfortunately soaked to the bone, was so cold that his tongue was tied in knots and his body was stiff.

Cao Ren suddenly awoke with a start, his shocked and angry gaze immediately turning towards the Chu army outside the city.

He finally understood.

The Chu army's "mysterious weapon" was neither a catapult nor intended to breach his city gates.

The Chu army planned to launch a water attack, taking advantage of the freezing temperatures and their lack of firewood, to freeze them to death!

"Those water-spraying weapons must be Xiao He's doing again. That sorcerer's scheme is truly vicious!"

Cao Ren, suddenly realizing his mistake, cursed angrily through gritted teeth.

In the brief moment he was distracted, the Chu army launched its second water attack.

Two hundred more water jets shot into the air, heading straight for the city wall.

This time, Cao Ren had no time to dodge and was directly hit by a large jet of water, instantly becoming soaked to the bone.

"Quickly, the whole army, move to the city walls to avoid the flood! Quickly, help me to a fire...to warm myself by the fire! Hurry, hurry!"

Cao Ren's entire body froze instantly, and he stammered out the order in terror.

The soldiers on either side endured the bitter cold and hurriedly helped Cao Ren down from the city wall, hiding him behind the tower, and frantically began to start a fire.

The Wei soldiers along the city wall also hurriedly fled down the city wall and rushed to the fire.

Originally, the city was short of firewood, and Cao Ren had issued an order to strictly control the use of firewood, with no waste allowed, just enough to ensure that people wouldn't freeze to death.

But now the Wei soldiers are all frozen to the bone, how can that little fire possibly save them?

So the Wei soldiers disregarded Cao Ren's strict orders and generously stuffed the remaining firewood into the fire.

The raging fire quickly spread everywhere, and the Wei soldiers hurriedly took off their soaked armor to dry it, desperately crowding around the fire to keep warm and save their lives.

The city walls were covered with ice, and when the Wei soldiers fled down the city walls, they inevitably slipped and tumbled down in droves. Many died on the spot, and countless others were trampled to death by their comrades.

And those Wei soldiers who couldn't squeeze close to the fire, their bodies frozen stiff, collapsed on the snow, and could only cry out for help, eventually freezing to death...

At this moment, Liyang City has become a freezing inferno for the Wei army!
(End of this chapter)