Tiger Owl

Chapter 203 Cao Cao and Liu Bei Break Through the City
News of Cao Ren's failed attack on Jiangxia County finally reached the north. This news greatly angered Cao Cao and forced him to change his battle plan. He changed his original long-term siege strategy to a rapid attack with a strategy of surrounding three areas and leaving one open, and launched a strong attack on Ji County with an army of 100,000.

Thirty thousand soldiers and tens of thousands of able-bodied civilians defended the city. After more than ten days of fierce attacks, Cao Cao's army suffered more than thirty thousand casualties. Even his strategist Guo Jia was hit in the head by a stray arrow. Cao Cao suffered heavy losses.

Just then, a major turning point arrived: Chen Qun escorted 30,000 incendiary bombs to Ji County.

The soldier opened a small wooden box, inside which was an incendiary bomb. The box was lined with thick layers of dry grass, which is why the thin-skinned earthenware jar remained intact and unbroken all the way north.

"What is this?" Cao Cao asked, puzzled.

Chen Qun stroked his beard and smiled, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, this is the incendiary bomb used by the Yuzhang Army; it's essentially a large Molotov cocktail."

"What are its advantages compared to Molotov cocktails?"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, its advantage lies in its projection range. Hand-thrown Molotov cocktails can only reach about thirty paces, at most the city wall, but catapults can project incendiary bombs at least two hundred paces, directly into the city. Moreover, if it is a giant catapult, it can even be launched a mile away, causing a great fire in the city and burning the entire city."

Cao Cao thought for a moment and asked, "If we throw it into the city, how do we set it on fire?"

Chen Qun smiled slightly and said, "When throwing, coat the surface with a layer of oil, ignite it, and then throw it. After it breaks, the burning pottery shards will become sources of fire!"

Cao Cao stroked his beard approvingly and said, "That's not bad. What other good fire attack methods does the Yuzhang army have?"

"According to top-secret intelligence we obtained, the Yuzhang Army also developed fire oil mud, which mixes fire oil with sulfur powder, bone meal, and chopped straw to form a thin mud. It is usually stored in a leather bag, and when used, it is squeezed into an oil paper bag, lit, and thrown out. It will form a large area of ​​burning points in the air. They call it Fairy Scattering Flowers. It is a powerful weapon against nomadic cavalry. Warhorses are easily hit, and once hit, they will be burned and go crazy, and the cavalry will not be able to control them at all."

"anything else?"

"There's also this kind of incendiary bomb in front of the Prime Minister. When it lands and breaks apart, it will scatter, which can easily splash onto the legs of warhorses. Once a warhorse is hit in the leg by burning oil, it will soon fall down in excruciating pain."

Cao Cao nodded, "Perhaps catapults are inconvenient to carry!"

Chen Qun smiled slightly and said, "I have considered this. If the catapult is mounted directly on a cart, wouldn't it become a mobile catapult? Or we could make it smaller and mount it on a camel's back, and make the incendiary bombs the size of a fist, so that it can be launched directly from the camel's back. Wouldn't that be very convenient?"

Cao Cao's interest grew stronger. "What other novel firearms has the Yuzhang Army invented?"

"There is another type of firearm they call the fire hawk. It is made into a wooden hawk, filled with oil, lit and launched. It can fly two or three miles. Thousands of fire hawks can fly out together. This is a powerful weapon for night raids on enemy camps and cities. Prime Minister, just think about it, it can be launched from two or three miles away."

Cao Cao, a veteran of countless battles, certainly knew what it meant to raid an enemy camp from two or three miles away—it meant being caught completely off guard. He asked urgently, "Has it had any practical effect in battle?"

"Yes! When they attacked Sun Ben's army camp in Lujiang County, they used fire kites, which were launched from two miles away and burned down Sun Ben's army camp. Then the army attacked and Sun Ben's army was completely wiped out."

Cao Cao squinted at Ji County and said with delight, "Immediately build giant catapults, and I will let them taste the bitterness of burning a city."

Ten days later, Cao Cao's army built three hundred giant, simple catapults, each five zhang tall, capable of launching three incendiary bombs a li away at a time.

This simple catapult can only be used a maximum of ten times before it breaks down, but ten times is enough.

As night fell, Cao Cao's army launched its first large-scale fire attack. Led by General Xiahou Yuan, tens of thousands of Cao Cao's soldiers used giant, makeshift catapults to launch tens of thousands of incendiary bombs weighing thirty pounds each into the city overnight. The entire city was engulfed in flames, and Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan, was also burned to death in the fire.

Left with no other choice, Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi led a thousand cavalrymen to break out of Xicheng and head to Liaoxi to seek refuge with the Xiongnu chieftain Tadun. Although tens of thousands of civilians were also burned to death, it was no longer important to Cao Cao. What mattered was that Jixian, which had been besieged for a year and a half, was breached overnight without a single casualty. Cao Cao had tasted the benefits of advanced fire oil weapons.

The only regret for Cao Cao was that this oil-based weapon arrived too late, as his previous traditional siege tactics had caused him heavy losses.

A few days later, something that deeply saddened Cao Cao finally happened: his strategist Guo Jia ultimately succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

..........
At the same moment that Cao Cao finally and completely defeated the Yuan brothers, Liu Bei also led tens of thousands of troops to the gates of Chengdu.

During his entry into Shu, Liu Bei did not commit any offenses and won over local powerful figures. In addition, his reputation spread far and wide, and he quickly gained the support of the Ba people's power group and the Dongzhou army. Important figures of the Dongzhou army, such as Li Yan, Fa Zheng, and Fei Yi, all surrendered to Liu Bei.

The Dongzhou Army consisted of commoners and powerful clans who fled from Guanzhong and Jingzhou to Bashu during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. They quickly banded together to form a powerful force. Initially, they were used by Liu Yan to support his ascension to the throne. However, after Liu Zhang succeeded to the throne, he began to favor local forces and suppress the Dongzhou forces. This aroused serious dissatisfaction among the Dongzhou forces, and they successively rebelled, but all of them were suppressed by Liu Zhang.

Just as the Dongzhou Group was being repeatedly suppressed, Liu Bei entered Sichuan. Liu Bei first gained the support of the Ba people's power group, represented by Yan Yan, the governor of Ba Commandery. With Ba Commandery as his base, he was able to gain a foothold in Shu. On Zhuge Liang's advice, Liu Bei won over the Dongzhou Group, thereby gaining their support.

With the support of the Dongzhou Group and the Ba People Group, Liu Bei's army advanced with unstoppable momentum, leading 80,000 troops to the gates of Chengdu. He sent a letter to Liu Zhang, demanding his surrender and promising to treat his family well and ensure their generations of wealth and honor.

Liu Zhang was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old. He was cowardly, suspicious, and indecisive. He still had 60,000 troops, which were scattered in various places. He only had more than 10,000 troops in Chengdu. Several of his subordinates had long advised him to gather his troops as soon as possible and concentrate them in Chengdu, but Liu Zhang hesitated. It wasn't until Liu Bei led 80,000 troops to the city that he panicked and tried to gather his troops, but it was too late.

The messengers he sent out to deliver messages were all captured by Liu Bei's patrolling soldiers, and not a single message was delivered. In addition, Liu Zhang had not established a carrier pigeon system, so once Chengdu was besieged, there would be virtually no reinforcements.

Liu Zhang was filled with anxiety in his official residence. Liu Bei had given him three days to consider, but he still couldn't make up his mind and still harbored illusions about reinforcements.

At this moment, Zhang Song, the Prefectural Governor, hurriedly came to find Liu Zhang with Liu Bei's second letter of persuasion to surrender.

"My lord, this is a personal letter sent by Liu Bei. This is the second letter. Please take a look!"

After reading the letter, Liu Zhang remained silent for a long time. Zhang Song grew anxious. "My lord, some soldiers are already preparing to surrender. If you don't make a decision soon, all these benefits will be lost once Liu Bei's army enters the city. If you hesitate, you will lose your head. What exactly do you want, my lord?"

After a long pause, Liu Zhang finally said, "Give me some more time, let me think about it some more?"

Zhang Song walked out of the room, looked up at the sky and sighed, "If you don't seize the opportunity when it's given, it's too late to regret it when it's gone."

In the afternoon, Pang Yi, the governor of Shu Commandery, surrendered the city, and Liu Bei led his army into the city.

Liu Zhang panicked and hurriedly asked Zhang Song to surrender, but Zhang Song had already surrendered to Liu Bei along with Pang Yi.

Liu Zhang then realized that he had no officials by his side and had become a lonely figure.

Liu Zhang was filled with remorse and had no choice but to kneel down and surrender with his sons, shirtless, with the official seal hanging around his neck.

The generous terms Liu Bei had promised him were no longer available. At most, he could spare the lives of his entire family and give him a life of luxury. But even if he wanted to save his life, Liu Zhang would have to pay a price.

Liu Zhang ordered troops in various regions to lay down their weapons and surrender to Liu Bei; this was his only remaining purpose.

(End of this chapter)