Tiger Owl

Chapter 234 The Battle of Wangmei
Bu Zhi led Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci's 30,000 troops and more than 200 craftsmen southward, and with the help of guides, they entered the Jiaozhi Valley.

The Jiaozhi Valley Road is today's Friendship Pass, but it has not yet become a pass. It is just a valley between two mountains. It is a necessary passage for Jiaozhi to travel to and from the Central Plains. The valley is relatively flat and wide, and the road is easy to travel.

The weather was very hot, but the Western Chu army had been in Jiaozhou for nearly two months and had gradually adapted to the climate. In addition, each soldier was equipped with a cloth bag to protect against poisonous insects, which emitted a smell that poisonous insects and mosquitoes disliked, so they were basically not bothered by poisonous insects and mosquitoes.

The general leading the way was Zhou Guang, an extremely experienced scout captain. He was Zhao Yun's subordinate and had been Gongsun Zan's most outstanding scout general since the time of Gongsun Zan. Later, he followed Zhao Yun south and eventually became loyal to Gan Ning. He made many outstanding contributions in the attack on Jiangxia County and was promoted to captain.

Zhou Guangnian was about thirty years old, tall and thin, with outstanding archery skills. He was a very calm and wise scout general, and Gan Ning also valued him highly.
Zhou Guang led 500 soldiers as an advance scout to scout the safety of the route and prevent being ambushed by the enemy.

Zhou Guang was very experienced. He knew that many times there were no ambushes when he passed by, but after he left, the ambushes would quietly appear.

There are two ways to deal with this situation. One is to send troops to launch a counterattack, and the other is to take a short distance and then hide two scouts to monitor whether any enemy troops will appear quietly.

However, the journey was relatively safe, and by noon that day, they were less than 100 li away from Wangmei County.

Zhou Guang became more vigilant, as this was the most likely time to encounter an ambush.

Soon, a subordinate reported that there was a valley ahead, about seven or eight miles long, with bushes and weeds as tall as a person growing on both sides.

Although he did not see any enemy troops, Zhou Guang had a scout's intuition that enemy soldiers must be lying in ambush on the hillsides on both sides.

He did not take action, but instead sent someone back to report. Before long, his subordinate rushed back and said, "Commander Bu agrees with the Commandant's plan!"

Zhou Guang immediately gave the order: "Throw the oil bottles and set them on fire!"

The soldiers quickly threw hundreds of oil bottles onto the hillside, and the bushes and weeds were immediately set ablaze. The fire spread rapidly, and hundreds of soldiers who had been lying in ambush on both sides of the hillside scrambled to their feet and fled. However, many soldiers were unable to escape in time and were surrounded by flames, burning to death in despair.

Soon, the army arrived at the mouth of the valley, where fires were still burning on both sides, igniting the pine forest on the mountaintop.

The fire burned for more than an hour before slowly being extinguished. The Jiaozhi army had ambushed a thousand soldiers here, but unexpectedly, the fire killed more than three hundred of them. The remaining six hundred or so fled in panic, without even seeing the enemy's face, and were dealt a heavy blow.

Shi Zhi was somewhat frightened and dared not harass the main force anymore. Instead, he decided to proceed with the original plan and launch a surprise attack on the logistics supply team.

Without further disturbances, the main force marched south smoothly and arrived in Wangmei County the following morning.

Bu Zhi gazed at the county town several miles away, and said with a smile to Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, "I thought it would be a tall and sturdy city, but it's really nothing special."

Zhao Yun also laughed and said, "Perhaps compared to other counties in the three prefectures of Jiaozhi, this is already quite grand."

The city walls were about 25 feet high, and the moat was about 20 feet wide. Compared to the strategic passes of the Central Plains, Wangmei County was indeed insignificant, only equivalent to the defense level of a medium-sized county town.

However, there were clearly a large number of catapults on the city walls, so they needed to be prepared for that. Bu Zhi immediately ordered his soldiers to cut down a large number of trees in the surrounding area, mainly selecting straight and tall pine trees.

Soon, the soldiers felled thousands of tall, straight trees and dragged them back, and two hundred craftsmen began to work on making some simple and effective siege weapons.

First, there were the rafts, which were twenty large trees tied together. The pine trees were straight and long, each tree being four or five zhang long. Their branches were preserved, and after they were tightly tied together, they became temporary rafts. They could be used as piers to cross the moat, and after small logs were nailed on them, they could also become very powerful siege weapons, ladders.

However, the ladders lacked barbs and could not be hooked onto the city wall. The only solution was to make them as large and heavy as possible so that the soldiers on the city wall could not push them. Since there were enough trees, the craftsmen worked hard to make them as big as possible, and eventually created ten enormous monsters.

Each ladder is about six zhang high, four zhang wide, and seven chi thick, weighing several thousand jin, requiring two hundred soldiers to carry it while running.

It could help the Western Chu army cross the moat, with two hundred Western Chu soldiers running on a single raft. It could also defend against the arrows and crossbows of the Jiaozhi army.

Secondly, there was the Peng Shield, which was actually a giant shield simply made of wood, carried by a dozen soldiers while running. Originally used by the Central Plains army for arrows and defense against catapults, it was now being used by the Western Chu army to defend against fire attacks.

The so-called "peng shield" is a frame made of rough wood covered with several layers of cowhide. The cowhide is coated with a thick layer of grease, making it extremely slippery and angled. When a boulder hits the cowhide, it is easily deflected and slid away. Although it cannot defend against every boulder, it can at least defend against 60% of the flying boulders.

But now that there's no cowhide available, the craftsmen simply cover the surface with coarse rattan, which has some elasticity.

Two days later, at the crack of dawn, the Western Chu army launched an offensive.

Amidst thunderous shouts, the 20,000-strong Western Chu army advanced towards Wangmei City like a tidal wave, with more than a dozen large ladders and hundreds of canopies among the troops.

Amidst the sound of war drums, the 20,000-strong Western Chu army mobilized, forming a magnificent black tide that surged toward the city.

On the city wall, the Jiaozhi army was ready. Fifty medium-sized catapults on each of the east and west rows creaked and groaned as they were pulled up. Each catapult was loaded with a thirty-pound stone in its leather pouch. Each catapult required only twenty men to pull it, and two thousand Jiaozhi soldiers were responsible for pulling the catapults.

The Western Chu army was getting closer and closer, and had entered the 300-step line. However, the catapults in Wangmei City were slightly smaller, with a range of only 150 to 200 steps. The Jiaozhi general in charge of commanding the catapults was named Shi Kuang, the son of the main general Shi Wu.

Shi Kuang watched as the Western Chu army's offensive wave approached the city step by step. The vanguard was already three hundred paces away, entering the killing range of the powerful crossbows. Shi Kuang gave the order, "Fire the crossbows!"

The Jiaozhi army's crossbows fired instantly, and two thousand four-foot-long hard arrows shot towards the Western Chu army at once. The Western Chu army's shields were hit by the crossbow bolts with a crackling sound.

Dozens of Western Chu soldiers were shot in the legs, fell down screaming. The strong urge to launch the catapult tempted Shi Kuang, but he never waved the red flag in his hand. Without waving the red flag, the Jiaozhi army commander dared not give the order to launch the catapult.

Two hundred paces later, the Western Chu army finally entered the range of the catapults, and Shi Kuang finally lowered the red flag in his hand. "Fire!" Twenty Jiaozhi army commanders shouted almost simultaneously.

(End of this chapter)