I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 171 He Arrived with a Thunderbolt Cart
After seeing Guo Jia off, Liu Miao still did not rush to attack, but continued to wait at Yinling.

Ten days later, Zhou Yu finally led his troops to join Liu Miao.

Why are you so late?

"Several gangs of river bandits have gathered over Chaohu Lake."

Zhou Yu explained the reason.

"Among them, there was a man named Zheng Bao who gathered more than 10,000 people. It took some effort to subdue him, and Bo Fu was left in Chaohu to continue the crackdown."

Zhou Yu also looked somewhat tired, but he still cupped his hands in congratulations to Liu Miao: "The Battle of Dongyang was a great victory for my lord!"

Is this a compliment or self-praise?

Liu Miao laughed and cursed.

The battle of Dongyang was proceeding according to Zhou Yu's original strategy. The only unexpected event was the sudden rain, but that did not prevent the implementation of the original plan.

Seeing Zhou Yu smiling broadly, Liu Miao immediately kicked him, saying, "Don't be complacent! There's still one more hurdle to overcome!"

"Moreover, only after passing this hurdle can one truly be considered to have entered the halls of high culture. Gongjin, are you ready?"

Zhou Yu asked uncertainly, "Does our lord really intend to attack Shouchun at this time?"

"if not?"

"What about Cao Cao's side..."

"Ignore them."

Liu Miao informed Zhou Yu of the terms he had agreed upon with Guo Jia.

Zhou Yu was also dumbfounded: "You can do that?"

At the same time, Zhou Yu shook his head with a smile: "Cao Cao is probably doomed this time."

"Why is Gongjin feeling sorry for Cao Cao?"

"It's not a pity."

Zhou Yu stood with his hands behind his back and approached Liu Miao.

"Cao Cao didn't understand his lord at all."

"If he truly understood his lord, he would know that this time his lord would disregard everything to capture Shouchun and kill Yuan Shu."

Liu Miao looked at Zhou Yu with a half-smile: "Why?"

"We would not have enough lords like Liu Bei who cherished the people; we would not have enough lords like Yuan Shu who harmed the people."

"If our lord were to change his mind over a mere amount of wealth and warhorses, how would he be any different from Yuan Shao and Cao Cao?"

Liu Miao chuckled, then put his arm around Zhou Yu, rubbing his beard against Zhou Yu's skin, which was even whiter than a woman's: "Gongjin is right! Cao Mengde doesn't understand me at all!"

"I just tried to trick him casually, but I didn't expect Guo Jia to actually agree. What should I do? Of course, I'll reluctantly accept it!"

Liu Miao was completely taking advantage while pretending to be innocent; Zhou Yu, who was being rubbed against by Liu Miao, couldn't stand it anymore and struggled to escape from Liu Miao's arms—

"My lord, capturing Shouchun is by no means an easy task!"

"Nonsense! Where is everything easy?"

At this moment, Zhou Tai had already led over a warhorse, and Liu Miao leaped onto it: "Let's go! Let's take a look at Shouchun City first!"

In the first year of King Kaolie of Chu, this place became the fief of Lord Chunshen, Huang Xie, and was thus named Shouchun.

Its location controls the confluence of the Huai and Wo rivers to the north, draws in the waves of the Fei River to the south, overlooks Jingzhou and Xiangyang to the west, and shelters Wu and Yue to the east. It is the throat of Jiujiang Prefecture established by Emperor Gaozu and is truly known as the "waist and back of the world".

The city of Shouchun stretches across the southern slope of Bagong Mountain, with a circumference of over sixteen li. Its battlements are majestic, resembling a coiled dragon, and its rammed earth is seven zhang high, as solid as iron and stone. When the Chu people built the city, they dug the Fei River into a moat and diverted the Shaopi Pond into a pool, where morning mist often drifted.

Then Yuan Shu embarked on a massive construction project, building palaces and pavilions. From afar, one could see a building every five steps and a pavilion every ten; winding corridors and soaring eaves, each embracing its own terrain, interlocking and vying for prominence. They rose up in countless layers, like honeycomb and whirlpools!

Unfortunately, Liu Miao did not come to appreciate the beauty of Shouchun, and it is believed that Yuan Shu would not have welcomed Liu Miao to go in and see it.

"Can I fight?"

"Disaster."

"Difficult? That just means we can fight!"

"They can definitely fight."

Zhou Yu's brow never relaxed after he saw Shouchun City.

"But a direct assault would result in many deaths."

"We still have to fight."

Zhou Yu nodded, then went back to gather his troops, and completed the first attempt three days later.

Zhou Yu first ordered his soldiers to dig tunnels, but Ji Ling, who was guarding the city, always discovered them immediately and destroyed them.

Zhou Yu then wanted to build an earthen mound east of the city to attack Shouchun, but Ji Ling also built arrow towers on the east side of the Shouchun city wall to exchange arrows with Zhou Yu.

If Shouchun hadn't been built against Mount Bagong, placing it on high ground and making water attacks impossible, Zhou Yu would have loved to dig a river and attack the city directly!
Clearly, even Zhou Yu was helpless against this famously fortified city.

"Therefore, the only option is to besiege them."

How long will the siege last?

"At least six months."

"Half a year..."

Liu Miao muttered to himself.

Liu Miao could afford to wait half a year.

But now it's not a question of whether we can afford to spend the money, but whether it's worth it.

The Central Plains are changing rapidly these days. If we were to linger here in Shouchun for half a year, it would be a waste of time.

Especially now that there is Huainan, which has been ravaged by Yuan Shu and is waiting for Liu Miao to govern, Liu Miao obviously cannot spend too much time here.

However, Zhou Yu is currently facing his own difficulties, and Liu Miao cannot really allow Zhou Yu to attack Shouchun at all costs... "Let's surround it for now, and then think of another way."

Liu Miao could only compromise for the time being and ordered Gu Yong and Zhang Zhao to send some officials to deal with the devastated people of Huainan.

The person recommended by Gu Yong was named Sun Shao, and that was the proposal.

Both men were northern scholars who followed Liu Yao from Xuzhou to Jiangdong. They had little connection with the local scholars of Yangzhou. In addition, both men demonstrated outstanding political abilities in Jiangdong, making them the best candidates to govern Huainan at this time.

Liu Miao met with the two men and asked them some questions. They answered fluently, which convinced Liu Miao: "Both of you are capable officials!"

"With Huainan in your hands, I should have nothing to worry about!"

Liu Miao immediately pretended to appoint his grandson Shao as the governor of Jiujiang and Shi Yi as the governor of Lujiang.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao, on the other side of the Huai River, immediately pretended to submit a memorial to the court, and soon completed the appointment.

"That's the good thing about cooperating with Cao Cao!"

If someone wanted an official position, they could simply send it to Cao Cao, and an official edict bearing the seal of the Han Dynasty court would be issued immediately—the speed was incredibly fast!

However, Cao Cao also sent his soldiers to the other side of the river to deliver a message to Liu Miao, urging Liu Miao to capture Shouchun as soon as possible.

"You you on the line!"

The four-word reply silenced Cao Cao instantly, and he then remained on the north bank of the Huai River to continue his leisurely fishing...

After a month of siege, Sun Shao suddenly entered the military camp and requested an audience with Liu Miao: "My lord, I have a plan to break through the city."

"what?"

Liu Miao looked at Sun Shao in surprise: "I didn't realize that Changxu also had the ability to conquer cities and seize strongholds?"

"No."

Sun Shao dared not take credit for it.

"A member of the Liu clan, claiming to be a descendant of Liu Yan, the Prince of Fuling, came to offer a plan, saying that he could help our lord conquer Shouchun!"

Another member of the Liu clan?

Liu Miao had reason to suspect that the other party was trying to establish a kinship with him or to freeload off him, and he was immediately skeptical.

Shouchun City, which even Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Sun Ce, Cheng Pu and others were helpless against, could not possibly be breached by a commoner from the Liu clan.
However, since he had nothing better to do, Liu Miao agreed to Sun Shao's request to see the so-called Liu clan's method of defeating the enemy.

Zhou Tai and Chen Wu guarded Liu Miao on either side, and followed Sun Shao to a training ground.

Upon seeing what was inside the training ground, Zhou Tai couldn't help but chuckle: "Changxu, don't tell me this thing can break through Shouchun!"

In the center of the training ground stood a strangely shaped wooden mechanism with long and short wooden arms at the front and back.

"That's a catapult! I recognize it!"

"Gongjin and the others tried this stuff before! It's completely useless, in my opinion..."

"Youping! Don't speak yet!"

At that moment, a boy appeared under the catapult, squatting on it and fiddling with the catapult's mechanisms.

Upon seeing Liu Miao and the others arrive, the young man immediately jogged over to them, panting as he bowed respectfully: "Greetings, General Liu and Prefect Sun!"

Liu Miao placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and gestured with his chin towards the catapult: "You did this?"

"Exactly."

"Great!"

Although catapults are not complicated, they are not something that an ordinary boy could tinker with at home.

The person who could tinker with this thing must not only be intelligent, but also come from a wealthy and noble family.

Liu Miao finally asked out of curiosity, "What's your name?"

"Liu Ye, Liu Ziyang, is a descendant of Prince Zhi of Fuling!"

It's you?

Liu Miao smiled knowingly, and at the same time roughly understood why Liu Ye claimed that those catapults could break through Shouchun.

"General Liu, this is no ordinary catapult, but a trebuchet I have improved!"

Liu Ye introduced Liu Miao—

"Compared to ordinary catapults, the trebuchet can carry larger stone projectiles and launch them farther!"

"Although Shouchun has high walls and thick walls, Yuan Shu did not completely rebuild it when he conscripted people to repair it. Many parts are still the old city walls."

"As long as we use trebuchets to attack the weak points of Shouchun's city walls, we can breach the walls and help General Liu conquer the city!"

Yuan Shu actually put on a shoddy construction project?
Or perhaps it was because Yuan Shu's project was so large that his officials had no choice but to resort to such self-deception.
Liu Miao was now even more confident in taking Shouchun City.

He stroked Liu Ye's chin as if petting a kitten: "If we can really break through the city, what reward do you want?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye immediately prostrated himself beside Liu Miao: "I have no other desires, I only wish to follow General Liu and listen to his teachings!"

Liu Miao frowned, because he felt as if he had heard these words before, which gave him a strange sense of unease...

Fortunately, Liu Miao quickly realized that this was the same thing he often used to brush off Yuan Shu. Why was Liu Ye using it against him now?
After a moment's hesitation, Liu Miao asked Liu Ye an extremely crucial question:

Are your parents still alive?

"My father is still alive, but my mother passed away early."

"Tsk! What a pity..."

Another child without a mother, what a pity!
However, Liu Miao quickly rallied.

After all, they are all members of the Han imperial family. Even if they are not related by blood, Liu Ye could not possibly be kidnapped by someone else, right?
With this thought in mind, Liu Miao instantly felt at ease.

"Let's go! Ziyang! Let's go to Shouchun and see how powerful this thunderbolt truck is!"

"If it succeeds, then Yuan Shu should say goodbye to this tortoise shell for good!"

(End of this chapter)