Traveling back in time to Liu Feng, starting with rescuing soldier Guan Yu.

Chapter 122 Heavenly Furnace Battle Strategy

The Wu army resumed its siege the following morning.

The war drums beat more urgently and frequently than the day before. Before dawn, Han ordered his men to drag the wreckage of the battering rams back from the city. The craftsmen worked through the night to repair several rams and build more than ten new siege ladders.

Sun Quan personally ascended the watchtower of the camp to oversee the battle, his blue eyes cold and sharp as frost. He had barely slept a wink last night, with a thick pile of military reports on his desk. Zhu Ran had still not breached the walls of Yiyang, and the Shamoke barbarian troops in the Mufu Mountains were harassing the supply lines. Meanwhile, the fortified city of Linxiang stood before him. With each day that dragged on, the army's morale would be worn down.

"We must take the city walls today."

He only said this one sentence.

Han Dang swung the command flag down heavily.

The arrows rained down on the city walls by Wu's archers were even denser than yesterday, the arrows striking the city bricks with a thud as dense as a sudden downpour.

The ramming convoy advanced slowly under the cover of shields. The convoy pushers were wearing double-layered iron armor today. Although the armor-piercing heavy arrows of the crossbow could penetrate one layer, they could not go all the way through.

Several battering rams approached the base of the city wall, and the battering rams began to rhythmically pound against the city gate. Each impact caused the heavy gate's inner sluice gate to tremble dully.

The triple-bow crossbows on both sides of the city wall continued to roar, their massive iron-spined arrows piercing through one battering ram after another, but the Wu army's craftsmen seemed...

They found a solution. They installed sloping iron plates on the top of the battering ram, which deflected most of the force of the giant arrows as they were shot, causing them to slide aside.

The boulders and boiling oil on the city wall continued to pour down, but the Wu army's ladders were no longer concentrated in one place. Instead, they were scattered across the city wall, which was only a few dozen steps wide, and the defenders were climbing them all at once, making it difficult for them to defend against the enemy.

The fierce battle lasted from dawn to afternoon, and then from afternoon to dusk.

Many breaches in the city wall were created by battering rams, and the defenders desperately filled them with sandbags and rubble.

The crossbow bolts missed several times, and the craftsmen in the city were working shirtless in the blacksmith's shop all night to make new bolts, the clanging of hammers striking anvils never ceasing.

The wounded soldiers were carried down from the city wall by the militia. The wounded soldiers' camp at the foot of the city wall was crowded with soldiers who were missing arms or legs. The doctors were so busy that they didn't even have time to wipe their sweat.

While overseeing the battle from the city wall, Kou Wei suffered a new injury to his old left arm. He tore off the hem of his battle robe and wrapped it haphazardly around his arm, continuing to wield his sword and direct the archers to fire a volley of arrows down at the city walls.

Just as the battle for the North Gate reached its most intense and fierce stage, a crack quietly opened in the side gate of the West Gate of Linxiang City.

Deng Ai led three thousand militiamen out of the city through the west gate and silently moved north along the city wall. These three thousand men were the best of the militia, and after a day and a night of rest, they were in high spirits. At this moment, they were gagged, their horses were hooves wrapped, and they were lightly armed, carrying only short swords and crossbows.

Deng Ai walked at the front of the group, his face calm, his eyes shining brightly in the night.

Wu Jun's attacking force had its flank exposed in a hilly area to the west of the city. The terrain there was slightly higher and covered with shrubs and shrubs. Han Dang's attention was focused on the front of the north gate, and only a small number of sentries were sent to guard the flank.

Under the cover of dusk, Deng Ai led three thousand men stealthily up the hills, spreading out in a crescent shape. The flank and rear of the Wu army's attacking forces were right before them. The supply wagons, reserves, and resting rotating soldiers were completely unprepared.

Deng Ai drew his ring-pommel sword from his waist, and a flash of firelight streaked across his thin face.

"kill."

Three thousand militiamen surged down the hills at the same time, like a silent black tide. They did not beat drums or blow horns, but charged silently, a silence more chilling than any shout.

Before Wu Jun's sentries on the flank could even sound the horn, they were shot down by crossbow bolts. The militia, like a sharp dagger, pierced the flank and rear of Wu Jun's attacking force. Short knives flew, crossbow bolts fired in rapid succession, supply wagons were overturned and set ablaze, and the dry wood ignited instantly, exploding into blinding flames in the night.

The Wu army's reserve troops, who were resting, were caught off guard and were scattered. Screams and horse neighs mingled together in the firelight.

Han Dang was overseeing the battle at the north gate when he suddenly heard deafening shouts and flames from his side and behind him, and his expression changed drastically. He turned around and saw flames shooting into the sky from the west of the city, with countless figures vaguely visible charging and fighting in the firelight.

He shouted sternly, "Zhu Yi! Lead the reserves to block the flank!"

However, Zhu Yi's reserve troops had just been deployed to the frontal assault on the city and were currently locked in a fierce battle with the defending forces below the city walls, making it difficult for them to withdraw immediately.

Deng Ai charged back and forth on the flanks and rear of the Wu army, setting fire to dozens of supply wagons and several newly repaired battering rams, killing hundreds of Wu soldiers. Then, without lingering in battle, he led his troops to quickly retreat to the west gate before Han Dang could gather reinforcements.

That night, Han Dang withdrew his troops and returned to camp, his face ashen.

Today's siege not only failed to capture the city walls, but Deng Ai's surprise attack from the flanks and rear also turned the tide of the battle. The attacking forces had already suffered heavy casualties, and this surprise attack resulted in the loss of hundreds more men. More fatally, it eroded morale. With the repeated setbacks in the siege over the days, coupled with news of supply convoys being repeatedly intercepted and killed by the Shamoke barbarians, the soldiers were exhausted and their horses were worn out, and complaints were rampant.

Several surrendered soldiers transferred from Yu Jinmo even privately discussed that Linxiang City was impossible to capture.

Sun Huan received the battle report in the camp, his brows furrowed. He stepped out of his tent and gazed at the lights on the walls of Linxiang, a sense of unease rising within him.

But at this moment, he had no way out. He had made a pledge to Sun Quan to capture this camp, and Linxiang City had to be taken.

He turned around and instructed his deputy, "Go and urge the rear supply convoy; a batch of grain must arrive at the camp within three days." The deputy obeyed and rode off, disappearing into the night. Sun Huan stared into the darkness, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly at his waist.

On the morning of the third day, before the thin mist had dissipated from the walls of Linxiang, the war drums of the Wu army sounded again.

This time, Sun Quan increased the siege force to 30,000, dividing it into three routes. Han Dang continued to attack the north gate from the front, Zhu Huan led 5,000 men to the west gate to feign an attack and distract the enemy, and Quan Cong led archers to form a battle array on the high ground north of the city, using a dense rain of arrows to suppress the defenders on the city wall.

Sun Quan himself ascended the watchtower of the camp that he had seized from Liu Feng, his blue eyes cold as frost, with Sun Huan and Yu Jin standing behind him.

"Whoever scales the city wall first today will be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces and appointed as a colonel." Sun Quan's voice was not loud, but it made the officers and soldiers on and off the watchtower clasp their fists in unison.

The sound of war drums shook the heavens and the earth.

Wu's archers formed three horizontal lines on the high ground north of the city, taking turns unleashing a rain of arrows at the city walls, the dense arrows obscuring the morning light.

The defenders on the battlements were pinned down and unable to lift their heads. Several crossbowmen who had just poked their heads out from the crenellations were shot through the face and fell down screaming.

Under the cover of shields, the battering convoy slowly approached the base of the city wall. The convoy pushers were all wearing double-layered iron armor today. Although the armor-piercing heavy arrows of the crossbow could penetrate one layer, they could not go all the way through.

Several battering rams approached the city gate amidst a hail of arrows, their battering rams rhythmically striking the gate, each impact causing the heavy gate's inner sluice gate to tremble dully.

The three-bow crossbows on both sides of the city gate are still roaring.

Kou Wei personally took charge, cranking the winch until it creaked loudly. The giant iron-spined arrow flew out with a piercing whistling sound, tearing off the roof, iron plates, and wooden frame of a battering ram with a single arrow. The ram pushers screamed as they crawled out of the rubble, only to be pinned to the ground by a second giant arrow.

From the city tower, Ma Liang directed the city's defenses, ordering the local militia to carry pot after pot of boiling oil to the top of the city walls. The scalding oil poured down from the crenellations, drenching the ladders and the armored Wu soldiers scaling the walls. Their flesh writhed in the hot oil, and their screams were horrifying.

But Wu Jun had the advantage in numbers. As the front ranks fell, the rear ranks took their place, and the offensive continued wave after wave without any sign of stopping.

The fierce battle raged from dawn until afternoon, leaving mountains of corpses beneath the city walls, their blood staining the soil at the base of the walls a deep brown. Battering rams breached several sections of the north gate's crenellations, which the defenders desperately tried to fill with sandbags and rubble.

That night, Sun Quan summoned his generals to a meeting in his camp. The atmosphere in the tent was heavy and oppressive; even the usually fierce Han Dang remained silent. Days of siege had resulted in nearly ten thousand casualties, and the army's provisions were running low, yet Linxiang City remained unyielding.

What's even more unsettling is that Deng Ai's repeated surprise attacks exposed a fatal flaw: Wu's flanks were far less fortified than their front, while Liu Feng still had fresh troops ready to strike at any time.

Sun Huan stood before the map, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table. He gazed at the sturdy outline of Linxiang City's walls, then looked towards the Mufu Mountains and Dongting Lake to the east and west, and a growing unease settled in his heart.

All the way south, from Laodao River to Liuyang River and then to the outskirts of Linxiang City, Liu Feng had been retreating and wearing down his opponent. Now, he was about to win the battle of attrition.

Liu Feng stood atop the highest point of Linxiang City, bow and arrow in hand. The night wind whipped his battle robes in the wind, and his personal guards stood breathlessly behind him; the entire city wall was deathly silent.

He gazed at the lights of the northern camp, and at the Wu army flags faintly visible within it, a cold smile creeping onto his lips.

"It's time to wrap up the Heavenly Furnace Strategy."

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