Tiger Owl

Chapter 122 Unsuccessful Siege
The following morning, as the war drums sounded, the first attack on the city by 20,000 Yuzhang troops began.

The moat of Linxiang City was extremely wide, with even the narrowest point being twenty zhang (approximately 10 meters). Normally, stone bridges were built over the moat, with drawbridges placed on them to facilitate the movement of people inside and outside the city. However, once the drawbridges were raised high, the stone bridges became meaningless.

The moat was about seven or eight zhang away from the city wall, too far to be attacked by boat. The only way to attack the city was to build a pontoon bridge and use siege ladders.

But the Yuzhang Army had a solution. They sailed their warships into the moat and laid planks between them, quickly creating three pontoon bridges in the northern part of the city.

The defending soldiers were not about to allow them to build a pontoon bridge so easily. Arrows rained down on the soldiers on the large ship. At the same time, five thousand archers on the shore also fired arrows at the city walls, creating a dense rain of arrows on and around the city.

The soldiers on the large ship could only build a pontoon bridge with great difficulty under the cover of giant shields, but soldiers were still constantly hit by arrows and fell headfirst. They were immediately carried back to the ship by the soldiers in the cabin for treatment.

Amidst a dense hail of arrows from the defending army, the pontoon bridge ships slowly advanced towards the city walls. Just as the last large ship was being built, countless burning oil bottles were hurled at the warships.

'Crack! Crack!' The kerosene bottle fell onto the boat and shattered, quickly bursting into flames.

The Yuzhang soldiers who were attacking the city were well prepared. They immediately carried out wet bedding and spread it on the raging fire, extinguishing the flames on the ship.

However, enemy arrows rained down, and many firefighters were hit by arrows and fell on the deck.

At the same time, the soldiers of the Yuzhang Army also threw burning oil bottles at the city wall, and a fire broke out on the city wall.

The soldiers of the Yuzhang Army also pushed up hundreds of medium-sized catapults, hurling burning oil canisters at the city walls, instantly turning the walls into a sea of ​​fire.

"Launch the city!"

At Gan Ning's command, the bugle call to attack sounded, "Woo-woo-woo!"

The deep sound of horns echoed outside the city.

Five thousand Yuzhang soldiers, who had been prepared in advance, carried siege ladders, raised shields, and braved a hail of arrows to rush onto the large floating bridge. They ran on the floating bridge and rushed down to the city. Before long, they had hung siege ladders on the city wall and bravely climbed up the wall.

But those below the city could not see what was happening on the city walls; they could only see flames burning fiercely.

Huang Zhong had already ordered his soldiers to build a firewall several miles long on the city wall using sandbags, leaving a ten-foot-wide gap at the edge of the wall. Due to the angle of the fire, the oil could only fall on the back half of the city wall, so that although the fire burned fiercely, it was blocked by the firewall.

Thick smoke billowed out, and each of the soldiers guarding the city squatted at the foot of the city wall, covering their mouths and noses with wet towels.

Huang Zhong stared at the soldiers of the Yuzhang Army. As the iron hooks of the siege ladders caught on the city wall, Huang Zhong shouted, "Attack!"

Soldiers picked up heavy boulders and logs and hurled them down the siege ladders. In an instant, logs and stones rained down from the city walls like hail, and soldiers screamed as they fell off the walls.

Jars of oil were also poured down the siege ladders, and dozens of siege ladders were covered with oil. The fire immediately ignited, and dozens of siege ladders became fire ladders. Bundles of wheat straw were thrown from the city walls, and a great fire quickly broke out below the city. The soldiers of Yuzhang Army were terrified and jumped off the ladders to escape.

Gan Ning watched the battle from a few hundred paces away, his brows furrowed. The enemy's defense was very organized, with arrows and oil used in perfect coordination. They also had special throwing holes for rolling logs and stones, making it impossible for their arrows to hit the enemy soldiers on the city walls.

What particularly annoyed Gan Ning was that the kerosene bottle he invented proved incredibly powerful in the hands of the city's defenders. What Gan Ning didn't know was that once such a powerful firearm appeared, if the technical threshold wasn't high, it would quickly be widely adopted by the armies of various warlords.

Now, not only the Jingzhou army has been equipped with a large number of oil bottles, but the Jiangdong army has also begun to produce oil in large quantities. Even Cao Cao's army has begun to be equipped with several models of oil bottles, and large oil bottles are launched into the city using catapults.

Moreover, why were they not afraid of the fire burning on the city walls?
Xu Shu said to Gan Ning, "The enemy did not extinguish the fire, but it did not burn. There is only one reason: they may have built a firewall on the city wall to block the flames. It seems that they were well prepared."

Just then, thousands of haystacks were thrown from the city walls. Gan Ning knew very well the consequences; if they didn't retreat, all five thousand attacking soldiers would be wiped out. He could only sigh helplessly and order, "Sound the retreat!" "Clang! Clang! Clang!"

As the retreat bell rang, thousands of Yuzhang soldiers withdrew like a tide, but countless soldiers were still hit by arrows and fell headlong onto the ships.

Oil canisters were launched from the city walls, crashing heavily onto the pontoon bridge, turning it into a sea of ​​fire. The soldiers on board were forced to retreat, and the soldiers on the city walls erupted in cheers.

In the first siege, the Yuzhang army suffered more than 1,500 casualties, and twelve warships were completely destroyed by fire, an unprecedentedly heavy loss.

Gan Ning was truly annoyed and unwilling. Under the cover of night, he looked at the fortified city from afar, which really gave him a headache. According to the intelligence he had obtained, the enemy originally had 10,000 troops. With the addition of the troops from Luo County and Xiangnan County, they should now have 17,000 troops, as well as 20,000 militia.

The number of troops was not important; what really gave Gan Ning a headache was the city's defending general, Huang Zhong, who was extremely disciplined in his defense. Even the most powerful fire oil attack was ineffective. Although he might be able to breach the city walls at any cost, that was definitely not what he wanted.

"Is my lord still worried about attacking the city?" Xu Shu stepped forward and asked with a smile.

Gan Ning sighed and said, "This is the first time I've felt so powerless."

Xu Shu pondered for a moment and said, "If we really want to take Linxiang County, there are ways."

Gan Ning's eyes lit up. "What brilliant plan does the strategist have?"

"It's not exactly a brilliant plan, it's all about luck!"

Xu Shu said a few words in a low voice, and Gan Ning gave a helpless bitter smile, "It really all comes down to luck!"

…………

The next morning, the soldiers guarding the city were surprised to find that the Yuzhang Army outside the city had disappeared. They rushed to report to Huang Zhong. Soon after, Huang Zhong rushed to the top of the city wall and saw that all the tents had disappeared, leaving no trace, as if they had never been there at all.

Huang Zhong was genuinely surprised. What did the other party mean by this?
At this moment, Prefect Liu Xin also arrived, and he was equally surprised. "General Huang, what's going on?"

“I don’t know why the enemy suddenly withdrew their troops. This is not Gan Ning’s style. He never admits defeat easily, let alone attack a city only once. Perhaps he has some ulterior motive?”

Liu Xin suddenly realized, "This must be our reinforcements arriving. Gan Ning has no choice but to retreat to protect his warships and navy."

When Liu Xin lost Liling, he sent a message by pigeon to Jiangling for help. Judging from the timing, it should have been around the time when reinforcements arrived.

Huang Zhong nodded. "That's possible. He went to meet our reinforcements."

A bold idea popped into Liu Xin's mind: "Why don't we break out of the city, meet up with our reinforcements, and then attack them from both sides to defeat the Yuzhang army?"

"Absolutely not!"

Huang Zhong flatly refused, saying, "Gan Ning's greatest wish right now is for us to leave the city and fight. We cannot play right into his hands. Defending Linxiang County is the right decision."

Liu Xin remained silent for a long while before sighing, "That's a real shame. What if our reinforcements lose?"

"Even if the reinforcements lose, we must not leave the city!" Huang Zhong replied decisively.

(End of this chapter)