Tiger Owl

Chapter 301 The fight between trapped beasts
Upon learning of the attack on the rear guard, Sun Ben's face turned deathly pale. He looked helplessly at the strategist Wei Jing, who was also pale. He knew better than anyone that they had fallen into a trap.

This was not a temporary tactic; they had fallen into the other side's trap from the very beginning.

He underestimated his opponent, and as a result, all his schemes were seen through by the other party, who dug a huge pit for them to fall into, and they couldn't climb out.

"Strategist, can we retreat?" Sun Ben asked in a trembling voice.

"Retreat?" Wei Jing's lips curled into a bitter smile. It would take them seven days to retreat, but they only had enough rations for one and a half days at most. What were they going to do for the remaining five and a half days? Were they going to let the soldiers go hungry for five days?

Wei Jing was, after all, a strategist. Although he knew he had fallen into a trap, he quickly calmed down and used reason to assess the current crisis and how to deal with it. In fact, he already knew in his heart that they only had one way out.

"General, retreat is impossible. Our food supplies won't last seven days. Our only option now is to move forward and see if we can capture Yu County."

"What if we can't capture Yu County?" Sun Ben asked with extreme worry.

"Then let's continue onward. Once we pass Yu County, we'll be close to the heart of Yuzhang Prefecture. There should be more people there, and perhaps we can find a way to solve our food problem."

This was the final solution Wei Jing could think of: plundering the countryside. Although it was morally wrong, he had no other choice at this point.

Sun Ben understood. He nodded. "Then let's continue forward, first to Yu County!"

...........
Sun Ben's 40,000-strong army arrived at Yu County at dusk, but the city gates were tightly closed, the drawbridge was high and filled with Western Chu soldiers, and a red banner with black characters reading "Western Chu Army" fluttered in the wind on the city wall.

If a long-range raid succeeds, the rewards are astonishing, but if it fails, the cost is fatal. Long-range raids on cities have two major weaknesses: first, they are lightly equipped and have limited food supplies, so they can only carry dry rations; second, they cannot carry large siege weapons, and they don't even have siege ladders.

Therefore, for distant cities, it is common practice to first send out an inside agent to cooperate with the outside forces for a chance of success. This was also Sun Ben's strategy, but Pan Zhang's army was completely annihilated, and all his strategies failed.

"Strategist, we can cut down trees to make simple siege ladders!" Sun Ben cautiously sought Wei Jing's opinion.

Wei Jing pondered for a moment. They were running out of time. Their dry rations were only left until tomorrow morning. They could build a simple siege ladder tonight, but what if they couldn't take the city by tomorrow? Especially since the enemy also had potent fire oil.

Thinking of this, Wei Jing slowly said, "General, why don't we split our forces? Half of us can stay and attack the city, and the other half can go and gather food."

Sun Ben hesitated. As a general who had fought for a long time, he knew that it was dangerous to divide his troops like this, as they could easily be defeated one by one by the enemy. What if he gave up the siege?

Sun Ben looked towards the county town again. He felt that there weren't many soldiers on the city wall. He was reluctant to give up. He also thought of another possibility: what if the enemy adopted a scorched-earth policy and they couldn't get any food? Would they have to turn back and attack the county town again? Would they still have time then?

The difficult choice troubled Sun Ben for a long time. He finally made up his mind that if there was no other choice, he would take the risk and give it a try!

"Then it's decided. The strategist will lead 20,000 troops to gather food, and I will lead 20,000 troops to attack the city!"

On the city wall, Wang Ping watched as the enemy army split into two groups, one remaining three miles east of the city and the other heading west. He smiled and said to the strategist Pang Tong, "The strategist's calculations were indeed accurate. They really did split into two groups. It seems their food supplies are running low."

At this point, Wang Ping said with some concern, "What if the other side is just faking a withdrawal?"

Pang Tong smiled faintly, "That's possible, but we'll remain unchanged and wait for their food supplies to run out. They'll collapse without a fight." That night, Sun Ben ordered his soldiers to cut down a large number of trees and build nearly two hundred makeshift siege engines and more than a dozen makeshift bridges.

Without barracks or tents, the soldiers were busy making makeshift siege ladders. Everyone looked heavy-hearted. Most of them only had two kilograms of dry rations left, enough for just one day. They had brought eight days' worth of rations. Under normal circumstances, they could reach Yu County in seven days and still have one day's worth of rations left over.

But the ration bags beside them made all the soldiers realize that they had reached a dead end.

Sun Ben sat on a large rock, watching the soldiers busily working with a heavy heart. All his previous beautiful dreams and ambitions gradually shattered in the face of cruel reality.

At this moment, Sun Ben felt like a clown, manipulated by Cao Cao and Gan Ning. Only when his entrepreneurial passion slowly faded did he suddenly realize that his family was still in Shouchun, where the garrison numbered only 5,000. Wasn't that equivalent to being held in Cao Cao's hands?

Thinking of this, Sun Ben broke out in a cold sweat. He had actually overlooked such a serious problem. No wonder Cao Cao was willing to give him an army.

That night, Sun Ben felt as if his heart was being gnawed by rats; he was filled with despair and helplessness, which tormented him so much that he couldn't sleep all night.

As dawn broke, Sun Ben's eyes were bloodshot from a night of agony. He was now completely resigned to his fate, free from any hesitation or fear of loss.

Standing on the high platform, he shouted to all the soldiers: "We have no way out, we can only fight with our backs to the river. All brothers, once we break through Yu County, you can plunder for three days. The first person to reach the top of the city wall will be rewarded with ten thousand strings of cash, and he can choose any of the women on the city wall first."

Although it was just a pie in the sky, it still excited the soldiers and boosted their morale. Sun Ben drew his sword and shouted, "Attack!"

The 20,000-strong army surged toward the county town like a tidal wave. Looking at the high-spirited troops, Sun Ben suddenly felt a strong sense of regret. He shouldn't have divided his forces; he should have concentrated all his troops to attack the county town.

Yesterday he was still hesitant and uncertain, but now he's made a desperate decision and has finally realized this.

The army carried makeshift siege ladders and bridge planks as they ran across the open fields. At that moment, a barrage of arrows rained down from the city walls, and soldiers were constantly shot down as they ran, but this did not stop Sun Ben's army from attacking.

There were eight thousand soldiers defending the city walls. Wang Ping coldly stared at Sun Ben's army as they attacked, and he coldly ordered, "Prepare the oil! Prepare the rice straw!"

Thousands of barrels of oil and tens of thousands of bundles of rice straw have been moved to the city walls. The enemy's food and supplies have all been intercepted, and they have no more oil. Wang Ping is not worried about the enemy's fire attack.

A simple bridge was laid across the moat, and Sun Ben's army surged across it, placing siege ladders on the city walls. Driven by greed for wealth and women, countless soldiers lost their reason and climbed the ladders recklessly.

"Pour out the oil!"

At Wang Ping's command, barrels of oil were poured down, followed by torches, and all the siege ladders immediately burst into flames. As more and more oil was poured down, the entire area below the city wall caught fire, and the defending soldiers began throwing down tens of thousands of bundles of rice straw.

Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the entire area below the western city wall was engulfed in flames. The moat was also set ablaze. Tens of thousands of soldiers cried out in agony amidst the flames. Sun Ben's soldiers scrambled to escape, but many were unable to flee and were engulfed by the fire. Their screams echoed below the city. More than two hundred siege ladders were completely consumed by flames and pushed off the city walls by the defending soldiers.

At this moment, Sun Ben stared blankly at the sea of ​​fire below the city, utterly despairing.

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[We have guests at home today, so I'm taking a break at noon. Updates will be normal this afternoon.]

(End of this chapter)