Tiger Owl

Chapter 266 Nothing can be done
Ten days later, just as dawn broke, 150 giant catapults appeared on the east bank of the moat, about 400 paces from the city wall. Each catapult was 50 feet tall, with a 70-foot-long throwing pole, and could launch stones 400 to 500 paces away.

These were all manufactured in Xuchang, transported to Jiangxia County in parts, and then from Xiling County to the military camp. Hundreds of craftsmen assembled them in ten days.

At this time, Xun You had already rushed to Hefei to meet Cao Cao, who was heading south.

Xun You understood that neither catapults nor fire kites would be effective against the enemy's tight defenses; it was merely a show of force to prove that they were not helpless.

Each giant catapult was also equipped with a giant shield to protect the soldiers operating it.

Huang Zhong stood on the observation platform, using his clairvoyance to observe the enemy's movements. The clairvoyance was indeed a great combat tool, allowing him to see many details. He noticed that the enemy's wagons were equipped with large fire kites.

Huang Zhong then realized that the enemy would definitely use fire hawks to attack the city again.

"Pass on my order: our catapults will strike first! Five hundred catapults will attack simultaneously!"

After a pause, Huang Zhong ordered, "Collect all flammable materials and store them in the warehouse. Firefighters, get ready."

The Western Chu army began to move, and all the tents and rice straw were collected and stored in warehouses. The warehouses were also built of huge stones, which were extremely fireproof. The city was completely empty except for a long row of five hundred giant catapults, stretching for several miles.

In addition, there are thousands of large circular pits on the ground, each containing a large vat filled with about half a vat of water. These pits are usually covered to prevent soldiers from accidentally stepping into them. They are fire pits specifically designed to deal with enemy fire attacks.

In addition, three thousand soldiers formed firefighting teams, five people per team, totaling six hundred teams. They were equipped with various firefighting tools, sand baskets, shovels, transport buckets, wet blankets, etc. The six people each had their own responsibilities and cooperated well.

When Huang Zhong's order to launch the attack came, hundreds of catapults creaked and rattled as they were deployed. To deal with the enemy's catapults, the boulders were actually more effective.

At this moment, Cao Cao's giant catapults also arrived at their designated positions, but they had just arrived and had not yet been fully tested when hundreds of catapults in the city began to start.

One after another, massive boulders weighing hundreds of pounds soared into the air with a sharp whistling sound, carrying enormous energy as they hurtled towards Cao Cao's catapults.

Although most of the hundreds of boulders missed their targets due to their density, about 10% of them still hit the targets, meaning fifty targets were hit.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A huge impact sound rang out as the dense boulders struck the barrier first. Unable to withstand the enormous impact, the barrier beam broke and collapsed with a crash.

More than twenty catapults were hit, their wooden frames broke, their bodies tilted, and huge parts of various objects crashed down, causing soldiers to scramble to avoid them.

Immediately afterwards, the second wave of catapults struck, with hundreds of boulders hurtling towards them, causing the barriers to collapse one after another, and dozens more catapults to be hit and broken.

In the midst of extreme haste, Cao Cao's catapults also began to retaliate, launching large incendiary bombs into the city with bursts of fire. The first batch consisted of only about sixty incendiary bombs.

Cao Jun's incendiary bombs, trailing long plumes of smoke and flames, flew over the city walls and crashed directly into the city. 'Bang! Bang! Bang!' Pottery pieces slammed into the stone pavement, shattering instantly, and flames scattered in all directions, creating a raging inferno.

But immediately several groups of firefighters rushed up, sprinkled sand on the fire, shoveled the sand and sand into the fire extinguishing buckets, quickly ran and dumped it into the nearest large pit, and covered it with a lid.

The fire that had just started was quickly extinguished with the help of the firefighters.

Huang Zhong wasn't afraid of fire; fire wouldn't burn anything of value. What he worried about was the smoke. Burning tung oil and pine oil would produce a lot of thick smoke that would permeate the entire city and seriously harm the soldiers. So he poured it into a large vat, covered it, and the smoke disappeared, cutting off the oxygen supply. The flames inside the vat wouldn't burn for long either.

The number and quality of Cao Cao's catapults were far inferior to those of the Western Chu army. After five rounds of catapults, more than 90 of the 150 catapults had been destroyed, and the remaining catapults were unable to fire for various reasons.

At this point, the Western Chu army switched to incendiary bombs. Flames burned near the catapults, thick smoke billowed, and dozens of catapults were quickly engulfed by the flames.

After firing their last round of incendiary bombs, the remaining thirty-odd catapults of Cao Cao's army went out completely. Soldiers and craftsmen fled, and the 150 catapults and their broken ramparts were gradually engulfed by the ever-growing flames.

As night fell, hundreds of lit fire kites were launched into the air and began to fly into the city. This was the last bit of force that Cao Cao's army had left to fight back. Apart from the fire kites, they had no other weapons that could harm Queyue City.

Unfortunately, fire kites are much easier to deal with than incendiary bombs. Unlike incendiary bombs, which spread into a large sea of ​​fire, fire kites are single. You can use fire tongs to grab them, put them directly into the fire extinguisher, and then close the lid, and they will disappear.

The next day, Cao's army camp finally fell silent. Cao Ren had no other choice but to patiently wait for instructions from the Prime Minister.

On the tenth day of the second month, Cao Cao led an army of 200,000 to Hefei.

This southern expedition began last year, but Cao Ren's performance has been unsatisfactory, with heavy losses and he has yet to capture Queyue City.

In the main hall of the temporary prime minister's residence in Hefei, Xun You reported to Cao Cao on the situation of attacking Queyue City, and Cao Cao's face grew increasingly gloomy.

He finally realized that Queyue City was so important that its fate would affect the whole situation.

Who is the opposing commander?

Xun You bowed and said, "The flag flying on the city wall belongs to Fu Tong, but I believe that the commander-in-chief is not Fu Tong, but someone else."

"Why?"

"The enemy's forbearance and tenacity impressed me greatly. Our vanguard troops climbed the city walls several times, only to be driven back each time. He remained patient and did not retaliate until our five siege towers crossed the river. Only then did he order them to be set on fire, which not only killed more than 8,000 people but also destroyed the five siege towers. Such shrewdness and tenacity are not qualities that ordinary generals like Fu Tong possess. I suspect that the enemy's commander is the veteran general Huang Zhong."

"Huang Zhong? Is that the old general who left Gan Ning helpless in Linxiang City?"

"It's him. He defends the city flawlessly. I believe that Gan Ning will only entrust such an important city as Queyue to him."

Cao Cao nodded, took a few steps with his hands behind his back, and said, "What if we let the Nan Commandery army launch a joint attack on Queyue City from the west?"

Xun You shook his head. "The Han River is to the west of Queyue City. The Han River has already been controlled by Gan Ning's army. I'm afraid General Xiahou is powerless to do anything about it."

Cao Cao thought it made sense. As long as Xiahou Dun sent troops, Gan Ning's navy could annihilate his army on the Han River.

After pondering for a long time, Cao Cao asked again, "If we besiege Queyue City without attacking it, will it still not disrupt our southern expedition plan?"

(End of this chapter)