In this realistic war game, only I understand the course of the battle.

"We can win, but a war fought with lives lost isn't worth it." Shen Du stood up, unfastened the sword from his waist, and placed it at his feet. He walked to the foot of the military camp wall and stood facing the Luoshui ferry for a while. The evening breeze blew across the river, carrying the sweet, fishy smell of rotting water plants, making his armor flutter loudly.

"Zhao Laoliu, pass down the order: tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM), our centurion unit will be responsible for attacking the west gate of Luoshui. We will lead six battering rams. Prepare another batch of gunpowder packs using the improved binding method, and lengthen the fuses to three feet. Also, go to the supply camp and get twenty cowhides, cut them into strips three feet wide, string them together with hemp rope, and make them into movable arrow shields to hang on both sides of the battering rams to cover the infantry's charge."

Old Zhao tucked his pipe into his coat. "Understood, but Master Li—if all six battering rams go at once, what if the alley next to the west gate of Luoshui is too narrow to deploy?"

"No need to elaborate." Shen Du squatted down and used his dagger to draw a simple siege formation on the muddy ground. "Still in echelons. Three battering rams in front, three behind, maintaining a distance of fifteen paces. The three battering rams in front should keep their doors flush against each other and concentrate their attack on one point. The three behind will provide cover—use the leather curtains to block arrows from the city walls, and use hook-and-sickle spears to pick up the gunpowder canisters thrown down from the city walls. The middle rank of infantry should not charge too far forward, maintaining a distance of ten paces from the battering rams. The crossbowmen should crouch behind the leather curtains and fire sniper arrows to suppress the left and right crenellations of the city walls."

His blade traced another arc in the mud, bypassing the main city wall in front of the west gate and turning into a narrow alley on the side of the wall. "Also, send someone to check out that abandoned alley south of the west gate. The end of the alley is about three hundred zhang away from the base of the city wall, and there are two abandoned rammed earth walls in between that can be used as cover. Tomorrow, when the siege is at its fiercest, take a group of men and sneak through this alley to test it out. If there's an opportunity, try to plant gunpowder under the base of the city wall. If there's no opportunity, come back; don't charge straight in."

"An abandoned alley?" Gu Zhang leaned closer to take a look. "I scouted that alley with Zheng Biao yesterday. It does lead to the base of the city wall, but the open section in the middle is completely exposed to the range of arrows from the city wall. Unless the defenders on the city wall are completely distracted from the front—three hundred zhang, it would take at least ten minutes to run there."

"So we must fight fiercely on the front lines, so fiercely that the defenders on the city walls have no energy left to look towards the alleys." Shen Du stuck his dagger back into the mud, stood up, and patted the dirt off his knees. "Sheng Yong is not Li Jinglong. He won't run away. Tie Xuan's proclamation has already blocked his last escape route. Tomorrow's battle will inevitably be extremely difficult, but the sooner we find a breakthrough, the less cost we will pay in the siege."

At dawn on the second day, the Yan army attacked the city.

The roar of cannons echoed from the north to the west of the city, and then from the west to the east. Zhu Di focused his main attack on the west gate—once the Luoshui ferry was captured, the Yan army's supplies and gunpowder could be transported directly from the ferry to the assembly point outside the west gate, without having to detour through the north. This decision was the right one, but also the most difficult. The west gate was where Tie Xuan was personally stationed. This high-ranking official removed his civil robes and put on a suit of iron armor. He stood behind the crenellations directly above the west gate, holding no sword but a scroll of documents—his "Letter to the Soldiers Defending the City," which he had written overnight, essentially stating that the city's survival depended on the soldiers' lives; if the city fell, the soldiers would perish.

The Yan army's first volley of artillery fire slammed into the west gate wall, sending rubble flying and leveling three of the crenellations. Tie Xuan's advisor was thrown to the ground by the blast, his hat falling off and his hair disheveled as he got up. Tie Xuan didn't move, still clutching the documents to his chest, continuing to speak. Someone glanced back at him, then turned away, a surge of strength rising within them. The Yan army's second volley was even fiercer, the stones from their cannons shattering a section of the outer parapet of the west gate, brick fragments rolling down the wall and splashing into the moat, creating a spray half a meter high. The defenders' musketeers crouched behind the crenellations, returning fire, lead bullets striking the iron of the battering rams, sparks flying.

Shen Du's six battering rams were pushed from the west side of Luoshui River to the front of the West Gate. Arrows rained down from the city wall, striking the cowhide curtain with a muffled thud. Zhao Laoliu pushed the lead battering ram, huddled behind the cowhide curtain, a pipe in his mouth, the tobacco soaked with sweat, its taste salty and bitter.

"Breaching team—go!" Shen Du shouted from behind the second battering ram.

The first layer of antlers was shattered by the battering ram. Hidden behind the second layer were Southern army spearmen; their spear tips pierced the front wheels of the battering ram through the gaps in the antlers. Zheng Biao flipped over from the side of the battering ram, his left arm, bandaged, grabbed the spear shaft and pulled him to the side, while his right hand wielded a Mongolian scimitar, slashing along the shaft and felling the first spearman. The second spearman was pinned to the shoulder by an arrow from a mounted archer, and the third was struck in the helmet by Zhao Laoliu's throwing axe, falling backward into the pile of antlers.

The antlers were cleared away. The battering ram rammed into the west gate panel. The iron sheet covering the panel was dented, but not broken. The defenders on the city wall began throwing gunpowder canisters down, which exploded on the top of the battering rams, scattering shards of pottery and sparks. Shen Du wiped the gunpowder residue from his face and turned to the messenger beside him, shouting, "Have the three battering rams in the back move to the front—concentrate on ramming the left side of the gate hinge!"

Meanwhile, in the abandoned alley south of the West Gate, Gu Zhang and nine men crouched against the rammed earth wall at the end of the alley. Across from him lay an open area exposed to the city wall's view, and opposite them was the base of the wall. Arrows flew over his head and embedded themselves in the earthen wall behind him; three or four flew past with each breath. The defenders on the city wall were completely focused on the battering rams and firelight at the West Gate; for the time being, no one looked south. But if anyone glanced down, this alley would be their final resting place.

"Three hundred zhang," Gu Zhang calculated silently in his mind. If ten men ran that way, at least several would fall in the first half, when the arrows were heaviest. He tightened the bandage on his left arm and glanced back at the nine men behind him. Zheng Biao was crouching to his right rear, tying three bundles of gunpowder together with hemp rope, ready to go. The other three axe throwers tucked the remaining axes into their waistbands, and the two spearmen raised their spears half an inch. "Don't run straight, and don't stop. Reach the city wall, immediately crouch down and stuff the gunpowder into the wall, light the fuse, and then run back—again, don't run straight back." He raised the banner above his head, placed one foot on the edge of the courtyard wall, and shouted, "Breakthrough Camp—"

The explosion at the west gate resounded directly ahead. It was the sound of the battering ram breaking through the gate hinges, or perhaps the sound of gunpowder canisters exploding on the roof of the battering ram; it was hard to tell. But Gu Zhang heard a signal—the archers on the city wall all tilted to the west for half a breath in that instant.

"Break through the city camp, charge!"