Tiger Owl

Chapter 119 Night Raid on Liling (Part 2)

The water gate was an iron gate, with one gate on the inside and one on the outside, one more gate than that of Wan County. Its hard defenses were practically impregnable, doing everything possible to the extreme. However, its soft defenses were extremely weak. There wasn't a single soldier to be seen on either side of the water gate, nor was there a single soldier on the adjacent upper passageway.

Two hundred soldiers rushed up the city wall along the passageway. This was the northeast corner, a full two miles from the east gate and three miles from the north gate. There was no starlight or moonlight, only low-hanging dark clouds. The night was exceptionally dark. The distance was so great that the city towers on both sides could not be seen, only their outlines were vaguely visible.

"Lower the rope ladder!"

At Wang Xiaoman's command, her soldiers threw down thirty rope ladders and three lit torches. Whether the soldiers at the city gate would see them or not was no longer important at this point.

Wang Xiaoman even regretted it a little. It would have been better to just take the city gate directly. Instead, he came up with a way to climb the city wall. However, the regret was only for a moment. He immediately put his regret aside. Although the method was a bit clumsy, it was easier to succeed. If he risked attacking the city gate and the drawbridge was locked, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The Battle of Nanchang taught him a profound lesson, and this time Wang Xiaoman dared not be careless again.

A temporary pontoon bridge was built across the moat using dozens of wooden rafts. Three thousand soldiers ran swiftly across the pontoon bridge, quickly crossed the moat, and reached the foot of the city, where they began to climb rapidly.

Thirty rope ladders were laid on the city wall, and the soldiers climbed up very quickly. In just a short while, nearly a thousand soldiers had made it up.

"Take the brothers to the city walls and assemble!"

A garrison commander immediately led over a thousand soldiers along the passageway towards the city.

Wang Xiaoman had figured it out. At this point, there was no need to rush to attack the city gate; she should take the military camp directly first.

Just then, Taishi Ci, carrying his large iron spear, also climbed onto the city wall. He glanced at the wall and frowned, "Why haven't we taken the city gate yet?"

Wang Xiaoman quickly said, "General Taishi, attacking the city gate will easily trigger an alarm. Why not take the military camp first?"

Taishi Ci reacted quickly and immediately understood, "That's right, let's take the camp first. Commandant Wang, please lead the way."

The military camp was located in the north of the city. Three thousand soldiers, led by Taishi Ci, marched swiftly along the inner river street and soon arrived at the military camp, which covered more than a thousand acres. They went directly to the back gate, which was the passage for delivering vegetables and grain. There were no sentries here, only a tightly closed gate.

The soldier smashed the lock with a hammer, pushed open the gate with a creak, and three thousand soldiers, led by Taishi Ci, rushed in.

At this moment, Du Jin's intelligence came in very handy. They rushed directly to a row of houses on the west side, which were the officers' quarters. The conditions there were much better than those of ordinary soldiers. The soldiers kicked open the doors and rushed in, and in a short while, they dragged out more than twenty officers.

From the outermost dormitory, they pulled out a bald general in his thirties, who was none other than the commander-in-chief, Yang Ling. He was completely naked and looked extremely disheveled. The two women in the room were hiding in a corner, trembling with fear.

"General, spare my life!" Yang Ling cried out in terror.

"Get him some clothes to wear!"

A soldier found a long robe and haphazardly put it on him. Taishi Ci coldly said, "Take all the generals away!"

All the generals were taken away. Taishi Ci didn't need these generals to surrender at all. He was just worried that the generals would lead a rebellion. Without the generals, the soldiers were just a flock of sheep.

As Zhao Kai walked past Yang Ling, he spat in his face and said, "Pah! One incompetent general brings ruin to the entire army. I was blind to follow a dummy like you as my superior!"

Yang Ling was filled with shame, lowered his head and dared not speak, and was taken away along with the other generals.

The Yuzhang Army began to drive people out of the soldiers' barracks. Groups of soldiers were driven out of the barracks, most of them shirtless and barefoot, kneeling on the ground with their hands raised above their heads. Everyone's eyes were filled with fear; they couldn't help but be afraid.

Before them lay sharp spears and cold crossbow bolts, and ruthless enemies. At this moment, they were so close to death that many soldiers trembled with fear, not because of the chill of the autumn night, but because of terror.

Taishi Ci suddenly felt somewhat weary. Although such surprise attacks were necessary, he didn't particularly enjoy them; he preferred the more intense battles fought with blood and fire. He told his general Gao Lian, "You handle the rest! Make sure all the enemy soldiers and officers believe that we only have three thousand men."

"I understand the humble position!"

Taishi Ci was not only a fierce general, but he also understood military strategy and tactics. He led 15,000 troops to attack, but he only used 3,000 troops to break through the city, while the other 12,000 troops were hidden. He wanted to give the enemy the illusion that only 3,000 troops from Yuzhang had come.

A few days later, Liu Xin, the commander of Linxiang County, received news of the fall of Liling County. Liu Xin was shocked, especially when he learned that only three thousand troops had raided Liling County. Liu Xin was furious and immediately led eight thousand troops to Liling County.

Just then, Huang Zhong, a veteran general who had gone to Luo County to train troops, returned.

In front of the government office, an official clasped his hands in greeting to Huang Zhong and said, "Reporting to the general, Liling County has fallen. It was attacked by three thousand troops from Yuzhang Army. The prefect was furious and led eight thousand troops to Liling County."

Huang Zhong was greatly surprised and asked urgently, "How long has Prefect Liu been gone?"

"About an hour."

Huang Zhong immediately turned his horse around and led more than a dozen cavalrymen to gallop south of the city.

Huang Zhong was a member of the Huang clan of Nanyang. He had been unknown until the second year of the Chuping era. Liu Biao, who had just arrived in Jingzhou, appointed Huang Zhong as a General of the Household in order to win over the Huang clan of Nanyang. Ten years have passed since then. Huang Zhong has gone from being over forty years old to over fifty years old and is still a General of the Household. Of course, this is also largely due to Huang Zhong's straightforward personality and his frequent criticism of Cai Mao, which offended Cai Mao.

This is why they followed the wrong lord. Historically, Liu Biao stayed in his post for twenty years without any ambition. Many of his excellent civil and military officials had no opportunity to make achievements and could only grow old with time.

Huang Zhong galloped for thirty miles in one breath, and finally Liu Xin's army appeared on the official road ahead. He spurred his horse and gave chase.

"Halt! All troops halt!"

Huang Zhong waved and shouted, and the soldiers, who all recognized him, stopped in their tracks.

At this moment, Liu Xin rode out and asked, "General, what happened?"

Huang Zhong stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and asked, "Prefect, are you heading to Liling County?"

Liu Xin nodded, "It's important!"

Huang Zhong sighed and said, "The governor wants to retake Liling County, but how can we ensure the supply of provisions for the eight thousand troops?"

"I ordered each soldier to carry ten days' worth of rations. The enemy only has three thousand men, so taking back Liling County shouldn't be a problem."

"How could the governor know that the enemy only has three thousand men?"

Liu Xin was taken aback. "This was reported by the defeated soldiers. Does the general think there's a problem?"

"Of course there's a problem. The prefect deployed intelligence spies in Yichun County, but they didn't send any news. This means the other side used deception tactics and fooled the spies in Yichun County, preventing them from discovering the Yuzhang Army's deployment. If the Yuzhang Army used deception tactics, how could they only send three thousand men to attack Liling County?"

Liu Xin had acted impulsively for a moment, but after Huang Zhong's reminder, he immediately realized that the enemy could not possibly have sent only three thousand troops to attack Liling County. He had been confused.

He quickly bowed and thanked them, saying, "If it weren't for the old general's reminder, I would have almost fallen into the trap."

He immediately ordered, "The entire army must retreat to Linxiang County!"

(End of this chapter)