Tiger Owl

Chapter 204 Burning Yiling
In early August, Cao Cao led a large army to garrison Ye City and prepared to move the capital there. The Yuan clan's power had been completely destroyed. Although Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi were still in Liaoxi, their power was gone and they could not turn the tide.

Cao Ren suffered a disastrous defeat due to his unauthorized attack on Jiangxia Commandery and was recalled by Cao Cao. Xiahou Yuan and his deputy Xu Huang were replaced in charge of Nan Commandery, and Xun Yu was appointed as the strategist. Cheng Yu was transferred back to Ye City.

With Xiahou Yuan stationed in Nan Commandery, he immediately adjusted his strategic direction. He no longer considered Jiangxia Commandery, but instead focused on how to capture Yiling County. This was a thorn in Liu Bei's side in Nan Commandery. If it was not taken, Liu Bei's army could invade Nan Commandery at any time, especially threatening the safety of Jiangling.

Xiahou Yuan was fully aware of this, and he made a pledge to Cao Cao to take Yiling County within three months. There was a reason why Xiahou Yuan dared to make such a pledge. He was the main force in the Battle of Ji County and personally commanded the giant catapults to burn Ji County. Xiahou Yuan had truly tasted the sweetness of fire attack, and he was ready to use the same tactic he used to attack Ji County on Yiling County.

Xiahou Yuan and Xu Huang led an army of 60,000 to Yiling County. At this time, Yiling only had 10,000 troops, which were stationed by Guan Yu and Liu Qi.

Xiahou Yuan set up a large camp three miles away and ordered that all 150 giant catapults be assembled within ten days. These catapults were all transported from Jiangling. Each giant catapult required three ships to carry it, and each giant ship also required one ship to carry it.

This can be considered the pinnacle of the development of long-range weapons in the north. The giant catapult, which is five zhang tall, could not even be built in Yuzhang County. It took them a year to complete and was transported from Xuchang.

However, its purpose was not to attack cities, but to block the Han River. It was deployed at Zhangshan in the northern part of Jingling County, which is also the narrowest point of the Han River. After blocking the Han River, it could effectively suppress the control of the Yuzhang Army's warships over the Han River.

Ten days later, 150 giant catapults were assembled. These giant catapults were five zhang tall, equipped with eight large wooden wheels, each wheel taller than a person, and the launching poles were more than ten zhang long. Each catapult required 100 people to operate, and there were 15,000 soldiers just to operate them.

In addition, each giant catapult was equipped with a giant shield, each shield being three zhang high and four zhang long, and also fitted with wheels. It could effectively protect the soldiers operating the catapult from being shot by crossbows on the city wall.

As dusk fell and weary birds returned to their nests, twilight enveloped the earth, but Cao Cao's army unexpectedly set out.

Sixty thousand troops, escorting one hundred and fifty giant catapults and shields, rumbled forward. Thirty oxen pulled the catapults, while soldiers hid behind the shields and pushed them forward. When they were still one hundred and twenty paces from the city, the catapults stopped. Arrows rained down from the city walls, but more than ninety percent of them were blocked by the shields.

One hundred and fifty giant catapults stood like one hundred and fifty gods, lined up in a row, majestically standing in front of the city wall.

Guan Yu stood atop the city wall, watching the enemy's catapults, which were two zhang higher than the city wall itself. He was extremely anxious. The fact that these giant catapults were only a little over a hundred paces away meant that the enemy was definitely going to attack the city. He turned around and shouted, "Tell the people in the east of the city to retreat to the west!"

Chaos reigned within the city. The gongs rang out urgently, and soldiers shouted, "All civilians, retreat to the west of the city! It will be too late if you don't retreat now!"

The streets were filled with people carrying large and small bags, running towards the west of the city, with their families in tow, fleeing into the night.

Xiahou Yuan stared coldly at Yiling County. He waved his hand and ordered, "Launch!"

The soldiers raised torches and lit the incendiary bombs in the throwing pots. With a powerful swing of the long poles, three incendiary bombs, engulfed in flames, soared into the air and were fired into the city. The first volley consisted of 450 incendiary bombs.

As the town was being evacuated, incendiary bombs suddenly rained down from the sky, hitting rooftops and the ground, shattering upon impact and splattering oil that instantly ignited ceramic shards, turning everything into flames. Terrified screams erupted from all sides; families who were still packing their belongings abandoned their efforts and fled with their families. Then another round of incendiary bombs entered the town. In just three rounds, seventy percent of the houses in the eastern part of the town were ablaze, engulfed in flames, and thick smoke blanketed the county town.

The soldiers on the city wall were also suffering from the thick smoke. Guan Yu realized that the situation was bad and immediately ordered, "The whole army retreats to the west of the city!"

Ten thousand soldiers on the city wall retreated rapidly westward along the city wall.

By this time, the fire had spread rapidly to the west of the city, growing larger and larger until most of the city was engulfed in flames. The west gate had already been opened, and tens of thousands of people, young and old, were rushing to escape the city, their cries and shouts echoing everywhere.

The 150 giant catapults outside the east city were still launching incendiary bombs. They launched them in ten rounds, dropping 4,500 incendiary bombs into the city before temporarily stopping.

At this moment, the entire Yiling County was engulfed by raging fire. Guan Yu stood ten miles away and looked back at the Yiling County engulfed by fire. He couldn't help but sigh and led ten thousand troops to protect more than ten thousand people as they retreated towards the Three Gorges.

...........
Ten days later, Gan Ning received a detailed report on Cao Cao's army's attack on Yiling County. Gan Ning took this report very seriously, and 150 giant catapults, each five zhang tall, used incendiary bombs to burn down the entire county.

It took Gan Ning a long time to realize that Cao Cao had copied his invention, the incendiary bomb, even using the same name. However, Cao Cao surpassed his master, using a giant catapult to burn Yiling County to the ground.

The nature of warfare was completely changed. If Cao Cao had learned to use incendiary bombs during the Battle of Guandu, he would have easily defeated Yuan Shao long ago. This was all because he brought the Molotov cocktails and incendiary bombs, which had only been used in the Ming Dynasty, to the Three Kingdoms period, which led to the rapid evolution of warfare.

However, such a brutal burning of the city was a catastrophe for the people, but in the face of war, how many heroes would pity the lives of the people?

Xiao Xia sighed deeply, pulled the thin rope, and soon Lu Xun rushed over, bowed, and said, "Greetings, General!"

"Go and invite the members of the Military and Political Council here; we have important matters to discuss!"

The Military and Political Hall was the highest deliberative body under Gan Ning's leadership, which included the heads of the military and political governments, namely Lu Su, Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Jiang Wan, Yin Mo, Bu Zhi, and Zhuge Jin. Various captains and generals were also qualified to attend as observers.

Gan Ning waved his hand, and the high-ranking officials on both sides fell silent, and the hall became quiet.

"We have just received intelligence from Nanjun that Xiahou Yuan used 150 giant catapults to drop thousands of incendiary bombs on Yiling County, burning the entire county to the ground overnight. Yiling County, which Cao Ren could not conquer before, was easily captured without losing a single soldier. Gentlemen, the form of warfare will undergo a major change in the future, and fire attacks will become the main method of combat."

(End of this chapter)