Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 217 Siege
The grain escort force that set out from Yongping consisted of 1,500 elite soldiers and 500 county soldiers. The reason for sending so many troops to escort the grain carts was that this batch of military rations, totaling 30,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), was of paramount importance and could be considered Zhang Xun's army's last lifeline.

Zhang Xun originally intended to send more troops to escort military supplies, but the rapidly deteriorating situation at the front forced him to abandon this idea.

This is also the reason why Yan Yi suddenly launched a fierce attack on Yuan Jun's camp, precisely to restrain Zhang Xun's army and prevent it from mobilizing its troops to participate in protecting the grain.

As a result, it was extremely difficult for the two thousand grain escort troops to protect the grain convoy from the surprise attack by the Longxiang Camp.

Because 30,000 shi was a huge number, the number of grain transport wagons and deer carts alone was as many as 1,400. The entire grain convoy stretched for seven or eight li.

The grain transport cart was pulled by oxen, and according to the regulations of this dynasty, the standard load was 25 shi per cart.

However, rules are rules, and whether they are enforced varies from person to person. Just as freight trucks in later generations are often overloaded, this phenomenon is also prevalent in our time.

The deer cart is a human-powered wheelbarrow, also known as a wheelbarrow, with each cart carrying a load of about eight shi (a unit of dry measure).

The idiom "to pull a deer cart together" tells the story of Bao Xuan, the governor of Yuzhou during the Former Han Dynasty, before he rose to prominence, pulling a deer cart together with his wife, Huan Shaojun, to return to their hometown. Later generations often used this idiom to describe the simple life of impoverished couples who share hardships and support each other through thick and thin.

This shows that the deer cart was a vehicle used by the poor and was usually only used by ordinary people.

During the Rebellion of the Ten Attendants, Emperor Liu Bian and Emperor Liu Xie fled Luoyang and rode in a deer cart pushed by the common people.

The wooden ox and flowing horse invented by Zhuge Liang were actually an 'upgraded version' of the deer cart.

One can imagine what it would be like when thousands of carts carrying deer were closely linked together and drove continuously along the official road.

The civilians and laborers responsible for transporting the grain not only suffered exploitation by Yuan's army, but also had to provide livestock and vehicles for them free of charge. The resulting chaos when the situation changed was predictable, given the pent-up resentment they harbored.

When Zhang Sheng, the Grain Supervisor, saw the eight hundred enemy cavalry charging towards him like an iron torrent collapsing a mountain, the color drained from his face instantly.

He was already struggling to maintain order in the grain convoy, so how could he possibly withstand such a fierce enemy force?
But he knew he couldn't retreat. Even if it cost him his life, he had to find a way to stop the enemy. Otherwise, even if he escaped alive, Zhang Xun wouldn't let him go.

"Forget about the supply convoy for now. Quickly gather all the troops and move towards our unit to form ranks and defend against the enemy!"

Zhang Sheng shouted at the top of his lungs, directing a thousand elite troops responsible for mobile vigilance to rush towards the direction from which the enemy was attacking, hastily forming a spear formation.

However, it was all in vain. Yan Yi's military order to Xu Sheng was: "Burn the enemy's food supplies at all costs, or face military law!"

"Charge!"

Xu Sheng leaned down and shouted, then spurred his horse and, taking advantage of the enemy's hastily deployed spear formation, led eight hundred cavalrymen to sweep through and forcefully break through the enemy's formation!
He charged forward more than a hundred paces, then with a powerful thrust of his right arm, flung a corpse off the tip of his spear. With a sharp tug on the reins with his left hand, he quickly turned his horse around and charged toward Zhang Sheng, the most conspicuous figure in the enemy ranks.

"The cavalry advance to intercept, and the spear formation closes in!"

Zhang Sheng was directing his own cavalry, who were rushing to the scene, to hold off the enemy and buy time for his disorganized infantry to regroup. Suddenly, he saw more than a hundred enemy riders charging straight at him. He was terrified and instinctively raised his halberd to block.

puff!
Just as the halberd was raised halfway, the enemy general's warhorse charged past him, the spear tip piercing his chest in an instant. The immense force of the impact sent him flying more than ten feet away.

boom!
Zhang Sheng spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air and crashed heavily to the ground.

Strength was quickly drained from his convulsing body, and his consciousness immediately plunged into darkness.

With the commander of the grain transport army killed in battle, and nearly half of the soldiers scattered throughout the grain convoy, the army's morale plummeted, making it difficult to confront the Longxiang Battalion. The chaos quickly turned into a rout.

Some of the people and laborers transporting the grain scattered and fled, some led their oxen away, and some tried to take some rice with them.

"Quickly disperse the people who are looting the grain and lead them to the Ming Mausoleum. The young lord will open the granaries and distribute the grain! Burn the grain!"

At Xu Sheng's command, the cavalrymen quickly dispersed, poured the grease they had brought onto the grain carts, lit torches, and set fire to the road along the way.

Flames shot into the sky and soon spread into a fire dragon seven or eight miles long, turning more than a thousand grain carts to ashes in the flames.

"Wenxiang, the amount of grain is not right, it's only about 20,000 shi," Chen Xian shouted as he rode up to Xu Shengsheng.

The carrying capacity of each grain cart is almost fixed, and the total amount of grain can be easily calculated from the number of grain carts.

Xu Sheng frowned, a shadow falling over his face as he realized his mission was incomplete. His gaze swept over the burning grain carts, and he tugged at the reins, shouting, "Let's return to camp first, report back to the young lord, and retreat!"

Seven hundred cavalrymen quickly assembled on the official road and rode away in the glow of the sunset and the firelight.

On their way here, they started from Guangde, took a long detour eastward, and spent most of the day sneaking through the hilly area west of the Ming Tombs to reach this place. On the way back, however, they did not need to take such a roundabout route; they could simply travel quickly along the official road between Yongping and Guangde.

Halfway through their journey, dusk deepened, and the occasional croaking of frogs rose from nearby puddles. The group lit torches, their light illuminating the stubble fields, revealing vast expanses of brownish-yellow bare land after the harvest.

Just then, enemy reinforcements turned out from another official road.

The two troupes stood silently facing each other across half a mile of wheat field, but their states of mind were quite different.

"Yuan's millet, like a fire dragon spitting out, can feed you for three days, but you'll be buried in a single day!"

"The banners fluttered at the gate, while the hungry soldiers' bellies rumbled!"

The soldiers of the Longxiang Battalion shouted in unison, and amidst the enemy's curses, they laughed and departed.

An hour later, news of the burning of 20,000 shi of grain reached Zhang Xun's camp.

Zhang Xun's last glimmer of hope was suddenly extinguished. The tent was brightly lit, but his heart had sunk into darkness.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, just as he was so angry that his chest ached and he slumped onto the couch, panting, a message from Zhou Ping was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, instantly chilling him to the bone.

"General, the families of the rebels being escorted have been detained by Zulang!"

Zhou Ping, pale-faced and with a trembling voice, delivered the news that had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

Zulang was like a nouveau riche, guarding his small plot of land more than anything else. It was practically a pipe dream for a hundred or two people of unknown origin to try to pass through his territory.

Zhang Xun stared blankly at the flickering flame on the bronze lamp stand. After a long while, he waved his hand dejectedly and said weakly, "Go and call Lei Bo and Chen Lan here."

A short while later, Lei Bo and Chen Lan entered the tent one after the other. The flickering candlelight distorted and elongated their shadows, making them sway like demons on the cowhide tent surface.

“I have invited you two here so late at night because I have important matters to discuss. Please sit down.” Zhang Xun forced himself to sit up straight, his voice low and deep, as if it were coming from a great distance: “Our provisions are running low, and the weather is getting colder. The open field is no longer suitable for a large army to stay. I am thinking of leading the army back to Yongping, resting briefly, and then retreating to Qu’a. What do you two think?”

A sense of relief welled up in his heart. Fortunately, there weren't enough grain carts, and only 20,000 shi of grain could be transported out of the city. Otherwise, within three to five days, there would have been a commotion in the army. Lei Bo felt a deep sense of gloom. He recalled the high spirits he had when he set off from Shouchun, and looking at his current predicament, it was as if he had just experienced a nightmare.

“What good will it do to go back to Yongping?” he said in a hoarse voice.

Seeing that he and Chen Lan were one dejected and the other panicked, Zhang Xun raised his voice: "Yongping City is well-fortified, and there are still 10,000 shi of grain in the city. With the surplus grain in the army, it is enough to last for half a month. When the weather turns cold, there may be a glimmer of hope."

"Our lord will never stand idly by and watch us be trapped here. What we must do is hold on!"

"If we can hold out until winter, the Qiantang Navy will withdraw from the Yangtze River."

Lei Bo and Chen Lan perked up slightly after hearing Zhang Xun's rosy picture, and nodded solemnly.

After the three finished their discussion, they summoned all their troops overnight and withdrew to Yongping.

The night was as dark as ink, and all was silent. Zhang Xun's 14,000 troops quietly broke camp under the bright moonlight.

All the torches were extinguished, leaving only a few faint lights to guide the way at the front of the procession. The sound of the turning axles was covered by thick linen, and the horses' hooves were wrapped in straw.

The soldiers marched in silence, occasionally letting out a few suppressed coughs, which were quickly dispersed by the night wind.

Exhaustion and unease were etched on everyone's faces. The setbacks in the war and the rumors of running out of supplies weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like two mountains.

Zhang Xun sat on his horse, expressionless and silent. The low morale of the entire army was turning into an undercurrent of unease, quietly eroding his inner defenses.

Da da!

A dull thud of hooves came from behind.

A surge of anger welled up in Zhang Xun's heart, and he was about to lash out when he saw Zhou Ping rein in his horse beside him, his voice trembling slightly as he said, "General, the enemy is catching up!"

'He's like a persistent ghost, I can't shake him off no matter what I do!'

Zhang Xun cursed inwardly, a surge of panic rising within him. After taking two deep breaths, he said in a deep voice, "Order the entire army to light torches and speed up the march!"

The military order was quickly relayed, and as the first torch was lit, countless torches lit up one by one, dispelling the darkness and illuminating the surrounding fields.

The marching speed suddenly increased, like a fiery serpent winding along the official road.

Five or six miles behind the first fiery serpent, another fiery serpent closely followed. The two flames echoed each other in the pitch-black night, like two giant pythons vying for territory, engaging in a silent contest in the wild.

Yan Yi rode on his horse, wearing a black fox fur cloak and tanned deerskin handcuffs, the reins leaving deep indentations in his palms.

The night wind blew, making a whooshing sound, and the headscarf on his head fluttered incessantly.

His warhorse would occasionally trample on the enemy's abandoned military equipment and supplies, causing his body to sway and bounce.

Chasing an enemy army that is eager to escape in the dead of night, which is four or five miles away, is not an easy task.

In particular, the enemy would occasionally leave behind debris, piling it up on the official road to create obstacles. They would even cunningly bury caltrops, doing everything they could to slow down our pursuit.

Yan Yi knew he couldn't catch up anymore, because the enemy still had a trick up their sleeve: the gecko severing its tail.

However, he still did his best to lead his troops in pursuit, after all, finding a place to trap and annihilate the enemy was a matter that needed to be treated with care.

If the enemy is allowed to retreat to the plains south of Qu'a at will, we will lose the favorable terrain for encircling and annihilating the enemy, and our own casualties will also increase.

Under his relentless pursuit, Zhang Xun was terrified, like a dog with its tail between its legs. He lost his armor and weapons, and was in a sorry state. His already low morale was further dampened.

The following night at 9 PM, Zhang Xunjun fled to Yongping.

An hour later, Yan Yi led his army to Yongping and immediately ordered the entire army to besiege the city.

Including Sun Ce's troops, the entire army of 16,000 men attacked and captured strongholds and key roads around Yongping overnight, blocking all escape routes for Zhang Xun's army.

The next morning, the sky suddenly turned overcast, and the leaden-gray clouds pressed lower and lower. At first, only a few raindrops fell, but in the blink of an eye, it turned into a torrential downpour, and the rain curtain covered the fields like an iron-gray net.

Shortly after having breakfast, Yan Yi summoned his generals for a meeting. His first words sent a chill down everyone's spine: "Immediately construct defensive fortifications around all the strongholds. Demolish any bridges that need to be dismantled, and destroy any roads that need to be destroyed. Anyone who allows enemy troops to escape from the defense zone will face the ruthlessness of military law!"

After the meeting, the soldiers of all units acted on orders, braving the torrential rain, wearing raincoats and straw hats, and worked day and night to build defensive fortifications and construct a defensive system as quickly as possible.

Zhang Xun's soldiers were dumbfounded. They were seasoned veterans who had encountered all sorts of enemies, but they had rarely seen such a desperate opponent. It sent chills down their spines.

Will we be able to leave here alive?
Looking at the enemy troops bustling about like ants outside the city, similar thoughts involuntarily arose in everyone's mind.

Under immense pressure, the morale of Yuan's soldiers plummeted, and unrest gradually began to brew.

More and more people are urging Zhang Xun to break through the encirclement as soon as possible.

"Breakout? Where to break out! Even if you manage to break out, can you take the food from the city? Without food, what will you eat! Will we cook you first?"

Zhang Xun, his eyes bruised and swollen, launched into a tirade against a subordinate who had come to request orders to break out of the encirclement, spitting as his words rained down on the man's face.

Lei Bo and Chen Lan stood silently to the side, their expressions grim.

Their view was basically the same as Zhang Xun's: the enemy's numbers were about the same as their own, and even with fortifications, it would be difficult to stop their breakout. But what good would it do for just the men to break out? They couldn't take their supplies or much food, and within three days, they would collapse without even waiting for an enemy attack.

Staying in the city will at least allow us to hold out for a few more days.

Furthermore, given the current state of the entire army, what difference is there between breaking out in such terrible weather and suicide?
Under the combined pressure of the three top military leaders, the generals who requested an order to break out retreated in frustration.

Zhang Xun's expression did not ease after eliminating opposition within the army; on the contrary, it became even more gloomy.

He looked at Lei and Chen, his Adam's apple bobbing several times before he hissed, "Ziting, Ziren, judging from the current situation, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for long. We need to make preparations as soon as possible."

A flicker of fear, as if impending doom, surged in Lei Bo's eyes, and he nodded slightly.

Democracy and unrest within the army are the greatest taboos for a general, even worse than being killed by sword. A sword wound may kill only one person, but a collapse of morale endangers the entire army.

Now, all we can do is hope for a miracle!
(End of this chapter)