Han Ji

The high-ranking official said, "They arrived a few days earlier than I had predicted."

Guo Fu glanced outside the city and saw Liu Bei's army arrayed. Infantry squares led the way, siege weapons followed, and cavalry patrolled the perimeter. Banners stretched out in a continuous line, billowing in the wind. The sound of drums echoed intermittently, and dust fell softly from the cracks in the city walls.

"My lord, Liu Bei has a large army. If we confront him head-on, we may not be able to hold out."

"We have to hold Huguan Pass even if we can't hold it. We're occupying it to buy time. If we hold Liu Bei back for a month, the Wuhuan will be able to make their move. Once the Wuhuan move, Liu Bei's main army will have to return to defend. He can't fight on two fronts simultaneously," Gao Gan said. "Has the Wuhuan envoy replied?"

"No. The people we sent haven't returned yet."

The high-ranking official didn't speak. His fingers dug into the cracks of the wooden railing of the watchtower, and he didn't even notice the splinters embedded in his fingernails.

The final round of defenses is being deployed in Huguan City. Craftsmen are patching up the gaps in the crenellations of the city walls with newly fired blue bricks. The bricks are not yet completely dry; you can still leave your fingerprints when you press them on them.

The stones piled up in the city gate tunnel were piling up, almost reaching the lintel. If they were piled any more, the tunnel would be completely blocked, and even their own people wouldn't be able to get out. Guo Fu asked if they should leave a gap, but Gao Gan said to block it completely.

Water was brought into the city from a mountain stream, and a reservoir was dug in the west of the city. The reservoir was not large, and several springs were dug along the mountainside, with water slowly seeping out from the cracks in the rocks. Gao Gan had three guard posts set up around the reservoir, the innermost of which was staffed entirely by his long-time soldiers. Water was scarce in Bingzhou, so whoever controlled the water controlled the city.

The grain storage was located on a terrace behind the pass. From the city wall, one could see the grain storage on the terrace, covered with tarpaulin and weighed down with stones.

There were piles of hay and firewood nearby. Gao Gan moved half of the grain and fodder to a mountain hollow three miles behind the pass as a reserve. He left the other half on the plateau to lure Liu Bei to burn it, and then concentrated his forces to attack the person who was trying to steal the grain and fodder from both sides. This was his counter-strategy.

Gao Gan came down from the arrow tower and walked around the city wall. He looked at the faces of the guards one by one; some were old, some were young, all of them locals from Bingzhou who had been with him in Bingzhou for several years.

"Hold out for fifteen days. The Wuhuan reinforcements will arrive after fifteen days. If you hold out until then, I will reward each of you with a bolt of silk."

No one spoke. A few people nodded.

Gao Gan then walked to the West Gate. The West Gate faced the back gate, which was also blocked off with stones. Outside the West Gate was a steep slope, below which lay a dry riverbed. The riverbed was piled with pebbles, making it uncomfortable to walk on. Standing on the West Gate wall and looking down, Gao Gan saw several birds fly up and then land on the opposite hillside. He watched for a while but couldn't make out anything.

Guo Fu walked over. "Sir, Liu Bei's army outside the East Gate has started pushing the battering rams."

"Crossbows ready."

On the city wall, the crossbowman pulled the winch, the crossbow arm creaking and bending down, the bolt resting in the slot. The arrowheads were made of iron, triangular in shape, capable of piercing a horse's belly with a single shot. The crossbowmen's faces were covered in sweat, some of their hands trembling.

Outside the city. Zhang Fei stood at the forefront of the infantry formation. He drew his ring-pommel sword and pointed it forward, the tip aimed at the blue brick above the city gate.

"Fill the trench!"

Dozens of sappers ran forward carrying bamboo baskets filled with gravel. Reaching the moat, they poured the stones from the baskets into the icy water. The stones smashed through the thin ice, splashing water everywhere.

A crossbow bolt rained down from the city wall, piercing a sapper's leg, and he collapsed to the ground. The men behind him stepped over him to continue moving stones. He lay on the riverbank, crawling back along the frozen ground, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

Another team of engineers followed, carrying planks. They laid the planks on the path filled with stones, in two layers. One end of the planks rested on the pile of stones, and the other end extended to the opposite bank of the moat. After it was set up, people stepped on it to test it; it wobbled, but it was walkable.

Seeing the planks laid out, Zhang Fei raised his sword above his head. "Up the siege ladder!"

Eight siege ladders were simultaneously hoisted up and pushed forward. The ladders were very tall and heavy, requiring twenty men to carry each one. The men carrying the ladders ran with their backs bent, the ladders bouncing up and down on their shoulders. When they reached the moat, those in front stepped onto the wooden plank bridge, the planks creaking under their weight.

The archers on the city wall began firing. The arrows weren't aimed at the engineers carrying the ladders, but at the ladders themselves. The arrows struck the rungs, sending splinters flying. Several arrows embedded themselves in the rungs, one lodging in the shoulder of a ladder-carrying soldier. He swayed, his grip loosened. Someone nearby immediately caught the stray piece.

The first ladder was placed against the crenellations. The iron hooks at the top of the ladder made a screeching sound as they gripped the blue bricks of the crenellations. The soldiers on the city wall used long poles with iron forks at the ends to push the ladder outwards, using them to push down the rungs. The ladder tilted outwards, and the people below desperately braced themselves against the base, their feet slipping and sliding on the frozen ground.

Zhang Fei's first wave of assault men had already climbed the ladders. With knives in their mouths and gripping the rungs, they climbed step by step. Halfway up, the ladder was pushed aside, and one man fell from a height of over ten feet, landing with a thud on the bank of the moat. The rest continued climbing.

The first soldier who charged up the battlements hadn't even gotten his footing when he was struck in the face by a blade and tumbled down the wall. The second one followed suit. The third, a swordsman and shieldman, used his shield to block the blow, then charged forward, knocking the attacker aside and tumbling back into the battlements.

A chaotic battle broke out on the crenellations of the city wall. The drums below grew increasingly urgent; when one drumstick broke, another was used to continue the pounding.

Zhang Fei stood by the moat, looking up at the battle situation on the city wall, veins bulging on his neck.

"Add two more ladders! Move them to the left; there are fewer guards guarding the crenellations over there!"

On the city wall, Gao Gan stood in the arrow tower looking down. He saw ladders being erected one after another, and the defending troops were being suppressed on the crenellations. On the left, the men on two ladders had already pushed up several steps, and a breakthrough was about to be formed.

"Take the reserves over there. To the left wall. Smash those two ladders."

Guo Fu led several dozen men out of the arrow tower. They ran quickly along the left side of the city wall, their feet treading on broken bricks and arrows. When they reached the left wall, Guo Fu ordered his men to pour barrels of boiling oil down the crenellations.

Boiling oil was poured onto the ladder and onto the people climbing it. One soldier had half his face scalded by the oil, lost his grip, and fell straight down. The others on the ladder followed suit. The rungs were soaked in oil and slippery, making it impossible to hold on.

Then someone pushed in a pot of "golden juice." "Golden juice" was boiled excrement, its stench unbearable. One potful poured down, and the engineers below the ladder scattered in panic. The excrement splattered on people, burning their skin and causing it to rot; it was more poisonous than boiling oil.

Zhang Fei saw his soldiers falling from the ladder. Instead of using his drumsticks, he punched the drumhead next to him. The drumhead broke.

"Pump again!"

By midday, a considerable number of corpses had piled up at the foot of the eastern wall of Huguan. Some lay motionless by the moat, while others were still crawling. Patches of blood stained the blue bricks of the city wall, and the blood that had seeped into the cracks had dried and turned black.

When Zhang Fei reported the casualties of the vanguard, Liu Bei stood on the high ground outside the central command tent and looked towards Huguan with a telescope.

"Keep Yide going. Don't stop. The harder the better."

He turned to Jia Xu and said, "Send a message to Zilong. Tell them to start taking your shortcut now and get to the pass before dark."