Wei and Jin did not submit to Zhou

Chapter 60 Turtle Fight
When Shi Shouxin arrived at Liu Qin's military tent, the governor of Weixing, who had also been up all night, looked worried.

"Prefect Liu, don't be in a hurry. Why don't you take a look at this first?"

Shi Shouxin handed the sheepskin map to Liu Qin, then put his hands behind his back and remained silent.

"This……"

Liu Qin's eyes widened when he saw the map, and he instantly understood what it was.

A visually drawn, yet exquisitely detailed and standard official map! Far superior to his hand-drawn one.

Are these the professionals from the Imperial Household Department?
Liu Qin breathed a sigh of relief as he recalled Shi Shouxin's past experiences as an official.

These days, some officials are good at getting things done, while others rely on their family connections to get by. It's clear that Shi Shouxin is an official who gets things done, and one could even say that his past resume is quite impressive.

Liu Qin cleared his mind of all distractions and began to examine the map, scrutinizing every detail.

"The mountaintop opposite Golden Gorge?"

Liu Qin suddenly realized.

The entire map is viewed from the mountaintop on the opposite bank of the Han River, which is opposite Hung Hom Wai!

That's a high vantage point, even higher than the summit of Golden Hill.

"Set up the trebuchets here, and fire the cannons to blast them to smithereens!"

Shi Shouxin nodded and swore!
Hearing this, Liu Qin smiled wryly and asked, "Commander Shi, your idea is not bad. But building stone cannons and preparing stone projectiles takes more than a few hours. With the army about to return home, is this kind of trouble appropriate?"

Everyone could see that with the fall of Yang'an Pass, the Hanzhong Campaign was essentially over. All that remained was to clean up the smaller strongholds one by one. Places like Huangjinwei, even if they weren't completely cleared out, it wouldn't matter. Just leave a thousand soldiers to guard the road out of the valley and let the Huangjinwei garrison eat tree bark.

If they don't give up after gnawing on tree bark for a year, then gnawing on it for another year. Unless the soldiers here are cultivating immortality, they will surrender sooner or later.

Liu Qin could not have foreseen the sudden changes on the battlefield. His opinion was actually well thought out and was not out of cowardice.

"Previously, the Grand Commander wanted to kill Xu Yi to establish his authority, but I stopped him."

"If Prefect Liu doesn't want to put in the effort to attack Huangjinwei, then if the Grand Commander wants to kill you to establish his authority in the future, I won't stand in his way anymore."

Shi Shouxin said calmly.

Zhong Hui was a troublemaker, and the more trouble he found, the more authoritative he became in the army.

If Liu Qin lets Huang Jinwei go unchecked and slacks off, he will sooner or later walk onto the guillotine that Zhong Hui has prepared for him.

When the time comes, Shi Shouxin will produce his own map, and even if Zhong Hui wanted to find fault with him, he wouldn't have anything to criticize. He's just the military supervisor; he's already made suggestions, but Liu Qin didn't listen, so who can he blame?

Upon hearing this, Liu Qin shuddered in fright. He quickly smiled apologetically and said, "Supervisor Shi, please calm down. I was just saying that. Whether it's building camps or deploying stone cannons on the other side of the mountain, it's all the proper thing to do."

"It's good that Prefect Liu knows this. I have a good temper and won't fall out with anyone. But the Grand Commander has a bad temper, so Prefect Liu shouldn't make a mistake."

"Perfunctory gestures to impress Shi are useless; if the higher-ups investigate, Prefect Liu will also be embarrassed."

After saying this, Shi Shouxin carefully put the map away and tucked it into his pocket. He then said to Liu Qin, "This map belongs to the Imperial Household Department. I need to take it back to Luoyang. Farewell."

After saying that, he drifted away.

Liu Qin was a man of action. As soon as Shi Shouxin mentioned it in the morning, he arranged for men to build a camp on the mountaintop opposite Huangjinwei in the afternoon. Soldiers felled trees on the mountain and built a high platform for launching trebuchets.

Relying on his memory, Shi Shouxin sketched out a rough draft of the trebuchet inside the Shaofu (Imperial Palace). By calculating the parabolic trajectory of the projectiles and the size of the surrounding stones, he determined the dimensions of each component. Finally, he created a "parts list" and had soldiers with some carpentry skills work according to it.

The military camp immediately became as busy as boiling water, bubbling and gurgling.

After finishing all that, Shi Shouxin actually had some free time.

Liu Qin dispatched some of the army's best archers to take Shi Shouxin hunting in the surrounding area, and they had a very successful hunt. These hunting trips made Shi Shouxin understand why someone like Yang Hu, who usually followed the rules and didn't cause trouble, could also be so fond of hunting.

Yang Hu and his sister Yang Huiyu had a very close relationship, but she repeatedly warned him against hunting, which he wouldn't listen to at all. Hunting was a skillful form of killing that could arouse a man's bloodlust, stimulate his senses, and bring irreplaceable pleasure!

A few days later, the campsite on the mountaintop was completed. It was more like an open-air woodworking workshop than a true camp. Because suitable hardware could not be found, the stone cannons had a short lifespan and had to be replaced as soon as they broke.

In addition, stone projectiles need to be polished to a roughly uniform size before they can be used; otherwise, they will deviate far from their trajectory.

Simply put, launching stones at the Shu army's barracks on the opposite mountaintop was less like fighting and more like production and repair work. Fighting and repairing at the same time meant there were few casualties, but the hardship was unavoidable.

"Commander Shi, what do you think of this?"

Liu Qin asked with a fawning expression. He had clearly given in and was no longer thinking about anything else. He would do whatever Shi Shouxin told him to do.

"Prefect Liu, the world is ever-changing, and many things are not necessarily the same today as tomorrow. We should not follow the rules and regulations."

Therefore, we can only do our duty. Even if the court announces the withdrawal of troops tomorrow, we must still work diligently to attack the city today.

This is the only long-term solution.

Shi Shouxin sighed.

Liu Qin quickly bowed respectfully to him and said, "Supervisor Shi, I have learned a lot from you."

"Of course, of course, let's watch the battle then."

Shi Shouxin smiled and nodded.

"Please!"

Liu Qin gestured for him to enter, his attitude becoming much more humble.

The two walked side by side to the towering "chaff launchers," each operated by a dozen or so people. There were ten launch points and fifteen chaff launchers in total on the mountaintop. Ten were in operation, and five served as spares in rotation for when one failed.

boom!
A stone projectile was launched, and Shi Shouxin narrowed his eyes as he watched the object, which was about the size of several human heads, trace an arc in the air.

The range of the trebuchet's horizontal shot is 800 paces; however, this is a downward projectile, which increases the distance and can completely cover the top of Golden Enclosure.

The stone hit the mountainside on the opposite bank, narrowly missing the barracks where smoke was rising from the chimney.

Liu Qin gave a few instructions to the soldiers testing the trebuchets, and the second shot hit inside the fortress, but unfortunately missed. At that moment, the Shu soldiers who had been lazily resting inside the fortress were now like ants on a hot plate, running around in panic!

It's important to understand that this area was originally a rest area, a place for sleeping and eating. The fortified village halfway up the mountain was their "work area," used to prevent the Wei army from attacking the mountain.

Now that the rest area is being pelted with stones, the number of people killed or injured is secondary; the most important thing is that their psychological safe zone has disappeared! This is no longer a place where they can sleep, eat, and rest at ease!
"The second test firing."

Liu Qin walked up to another Thunderbolt truck and said.

The trajectory of the stone projectiles launched from each firing point is different. Not to mention that each catapult vehicle is slightly different in its construction. Therefore, the experience gained from the first vehicle cannot be directly applied to the second.

Shi Shouxin remained silent, quietly watching Liu Qin give his orders. As a military supervisor, his job was simply to oversee important matters; there was no need for him to micromanage everything.

"Commander Shi, I think the Shu army is in for a rough time."

Meng Guan leaned close to Shi Shouxin and chuckled softly.

"Be serious, this is war!"

Shi Shouxin rebuked him, a slight smile playing on his lips as he suppressed the urge to laugh.

Haha, what do you mean by an impregnable fortress? Even if we can't take it down, we'll still disgust you to death!

Shi Shouxin muttered a complaint to himself.

His purpose in this attack wasn't to conquer the city; it was purely to annoy the hundreds of Shu soldiers at Huangjinwei!
Before long, all ten trebuchets were in "start" mode and firing calibration was completed.

Eight or nine out of ten of the polished stone projectiles hit the fortress atop the mountain on the opposite bank. One stone projectile, however, struck precisely at the top, knocking down the "Han" character flag hanging on the city wall.

"Commander Shi, we have begun launching stone projectiles as you instructed. But what if the Shu army doesn't surrender later?"

Liu Qin asked with a troubled expression.

Shi Shouxin comforted him, saying, "Prefect Liu, whether it's the Grand Commander or the imperial court, seeing how actively you've attacked the city, even if you haven't achieved any merit, you've certainly put in the effort."

At that time, even if no reward is given, punishment will not befall you. Things in this world are rarely as one wishes, so why be so demanding?
If we can't take it, that's fine; as long as we've done our best.

"That's fine then."

Liu Qin nodded, agreeing with Shi Shouxin's words.

Unexpectedly, his words came true; Shi Shouxin seemed to have a jinx. What happened next left the two of them extremely frustrated.

Following Shi Shouxin's instructions, the Wei army continued to hurl stones for ten days straight, damaging several trebuchets in the process. However, the garrison at the Huangjinwei mountain fortress across the river remained active!
They just no longer sleep or cook on the mountaintop.

By the tenth day, the morale of the Wei army was low, and Liu Qin had no choice but to order a halt to the attack.

There were no casualties, but we were just exhausted.

The Wei army needed to quarry and polish stones before launching them, repair damaged catapults, and continuously observe and adjust the firing angle.

They are all physically demanding jobs.

It felt even more tiring than those who dug trenches and built camps!

But Huangjinwei remained unmoved! It must be said, the Shu army's defending general was incredibly tough!

That night, exhausted, Liu Qin pulled Shi Shouxin into his tent and sighed helplessly, "Supervisor Shi, the Shu army commander on the other side is as stubborn and unyielding as a rock in a latrine. We've been bombarding them for ten days, and I personally witnessed a Shu soldier being smashed into a pulp by stones. But they just won't retreat, nor will they send anyone to surrender. What are they after?"

Yang'an Pass has already been breached, and people have been sent to Huangjinwei to issue a warning. Unexpectedly, the enemy is completely unmoved!
In the current situation, the Wei and Shu armies are like two turtles fighting each other in a mud pit. Apart from annoying the opponent, they can't do anything and have a negligible impact on the overall battle!
"The general guarding the Golden Enclosure is named Liu Yin, right?"

Shi Shouxin asked in a deep voice, and Liu Qin nodded and said, "Yes, why make things difficult for a poor man like me if we don't go to Yang'an Pass to show off our power against such a tough nut to crack?"

He was a little angry. He had few soldiers and was not a member of the Imperial Guard. He was looked down upon and neglected by Zhong Hui, left to fend for himself, and could not gain any military merits.

As it turned out, there was a resilient figure on the Shu side, stubbornly holding onto the insignificant stronghold of Huangjinwei. He refused to surrender, wasting lives and energy in vain.

Suddenly, a bizarre image flashed into Shi Shouxin's mind: two stray dogs were fighting in a mud puddle over a steamed bun, while passersby, without much effort, were already going into the yard to enjoy a feast.

He immediately felt that the current battle was completely pointless.

"How about this, I'll go to Huangjinwei tomorrow to persuade them to surrender and talk to Liu Yin."

Shi Shouxin sighed and said.

"Commander Shi, what if Liu Yin goes mad..."

Liu Qin quickly raised his hand to stop him, but Shi Shouxin pushed him away.

"Liu Yin may not surrender, but he certainly won't make things difficult for me. There's no need for that."

Shi Shouxin said with great certainty that these rules of human nature are actually quite easy to understand.

The reason for not surrendering is that there is a lingering resentment in one's heart; serving one's sovereign must be done faithfully to the end. However, serving one's sovereign is completely different from killing an enemy envoy and provoking the enemy to massacre the city.

(End of this chapter)