mtl008 Chapter 786 Initial Objectives Achieved
Chapter 786 Initial Objectives Achieved
When facing a formidable fortress, the attacking side faces two major challenges: first, failing to breach the city walls; and second, being unable to maintain a foothold once on the walls.
After all, most of the time the attacking side has far more troops than the defending side. The defending side can only stop the enemy by taking advantage of the high ground of the city walls. Once the enemy climbs the city walls and gains a foothold, the defending side's advantage of the high ground will quickly disappear, while the attacking side's troop advantage will continue to expand.
Normally, Cheng Wu might have been able to use the city walls to hold off Shen Yi for two or three days, but now Shen Yi has solved the first problem for the attacking side and reduced the second problem by using the shameless defense of the teleportation cave, which greatly weakens or even eliminates the advantage of the defending side.
Next, as long as the Han army that first climbs onto the city wall through the teleportation tunnel can withstand the first wave of attacks from the Wei army, the Han army behind will continuously rush onto the city wall to expand their foothold until they completely push the Wei army off the city wall.
As for whether the Han army could withstand the first wave of Wei's attack, Shen Yi was not worried at all.
It should be noted that during this period, the newly established Wudang Flying Army had been making achievements on the Jiangxia battlefield, while the barbarian troops transferred from Nanzhong were attacking and capturing cities and strongholds in the Dahong Mountains. Meanwhile, these Han soldiers, who were truly Han soldiers, were sleeping soundly in their camps. This had already angered the soldiers. Now, the Wudang Flying Army, led by Jiang Wei, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Yi, had captured three passes. If the Han army did not work harder, they would never be able to hold their heads high in front of the Nanzhong barbarian troops again.
In this situation, the Han soldiers who were the first to climb the city wall were almost all desperate men. They would rather jump off the city wall with Wei soldiers than retreat even half a step. This desperate fighting style instantly stunned the Wei army.
If we're not brothers, how much military pay do we get every month to work so hard?
Under the desperate fighting of the Han army, the entrance to the teleportation tunnel was successfully defended. Subsequently, Han soldiers continuously climbed the city wall through the tunnel entrance to join the battle, constantly expanding to both sides of the tunnel entrance.
As time went on, more and more Han soldiers climbed the city walls, and their foothold grew larger and larger, gradually tipping the scales of victory in their favor.
"Hold on, hold on, fight back!"
Seeing the Wei army being defeated and forced to retreat, Cheng Wu became so anxious that his voice cracked as he shouted loudly and personally charged forward with his sword, trying to reverse the tide, but to no avail.
The defenders' greatest confidence came from the city walls, so they would instinctively panic when they saw the enemy scaling the walls.
The morale of the Wei army was first weakened by the Han army's leaflet offensive, then shocked by the teleportation tunnels they had never seen before, and then attacked by the Han army that kept climbing the city walls. In an instant, it dropped by more than 20%. Not only was it unable to recapture the position, but its own position was also being continuously captured by the Han army. Under the continuous attacks, the morale dropped again.
On the other hand, the Han army's morale increased as their position expanded, and the Wei army was defeated even faster due to this disparity in strength.
After a fierce and bloody battle, the Han army finally captured the city tower and charged down the steps of the city wall, opening the city gate from the inside.
As soon as the city gates opened, Shen Yi ordered a general attack. The Han army, which had been waiting in formation below the city, surged into the city in the direction Shen Yi's sword was pointing.
The Wei army had only five or six thousand men, while the Han army had more than ten thousand men and their morale was high. As long as they broke into the pass, it would be a victory.
Seeing the Han army pouring in through the city walls and gates, the Wei army began to lose heart, and Cheng Wu knew that the situation was hopeless.
Cheng Wu's relationship with Cao Pi was so-so, but he didn't share Zhu Shuo's loyalty to Cao Pi. Seeing that things were hopeless, he decisively retreated along the city wall to the north gate, and then fled eastward out of the city.
Now that Dagu Pass in the north has fallen, we can't go back to Luoyang, and the south gate is occupied by Shen Yi, so we can't go south to see Cao Pi. We can only retreat eastward to Xuchang.
With the commander-in-chief Cheng Wu fleeing, the remaining Wei troops naturally had no reason to fight to the death. Some surrendered, some fled, and they quickly scattered like birds and beasts.
In this battle, the Han army killed more than 700 people, captured more than 1,000, and the rest all fled with Cheng Wu.
Shen Yi did not chase after Cheng Wu, but quickly took over the North Gate and all the city walls, and then rushed to the treasury to check the spoils. He burst out laughing when he saw the supplies in the warehouse.
There was a batch of grain and fodder, totaling 300,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), and more than 200,000 arrows, in the warehouse. It had been transported from the Central Plains just three days ago and had not yet reached the front lines.
There was even a blacksmith workshop that specialized in crafting or repairing weapons, and they made a fortune.
With these supplies, Shen Yi was confident he could withstand the Wei army's fierce attack for over a month.
It is worth mentioning that Guangcheng Pass, as a military fortress, did not have many civilians to begin with. After the war started, the civilians either fled on their own or were relocated by the Wei army. Therefore, apart from Shen Yi's army, Guangcheng Pass currently only has a little over a thousand Wei soldiers who were just captured.
Shen Yi did not make things difficult for these Wei soldiers. Instead, he prepared a big meal for them to eat and drink to their hearts' content. During the meal, he gave them some ideological education and then gave them three days' worth of food. He told them to leave through the south gate and go to Wancheng to report to Cao Pi.
Whether these Wei troops could achieve the same effect as the Wu troops that Guan Xing had released back then, Shen Yi didn't know. He only knew that without these Wei troops, the area inside the pass would be entirely occupied by Han troops, and he wouldn't have to worry about being betrayed.
After daybreak, Shen Yi temporarily entrusted the city's defenses to Hao Yu, and then sent a messenger to Dagu Pass to summon Jiang Wei to Guangcheng Pass to discuss the next steps.
It would take some time for Jiang Wei to arrive, and Shen Yi, not wanting to waste such precious time, led a cavalry force of a hundred warhorses captured from within the pass, leaving the pass and heading straight for Guzeng Pass.
The ancient Zeng Pass was the core pass of the Chu city wall, which was built by the Chu state to defend against the states of the Central Plains. After four or five hundred years, it had long been abandoned.
Therefore, Shen Yi had to go and see for himself whether it was necessary to capture and defend Guzeng Pass. If so, he would try to take Guzeng Pass to block Cao Pi's retreat; if not, he would abandon the pass and implement Guan Xing's second plan.
After several hours of travel, Shen Yi successfully evaded multiple groups of Wei scouts and arrived at the ancient Zeng Pass. However, what he saw was not the pass or city walls, but a stone tablet recording the glorious history of the ancient Zeng Pass.
How the hell is he supposed to defend this? Is he supposed to use this stone tablet, which is less than a meter wide, to block the Wei army's counterattack?
Although the stone tablet left Shen Yi speechless, upon closer examination, it made sense.
The ancient Zeng Pass was built by the State of Chu to block the armies of the Central Plains, that is, to block enemy troops from the north. However, the Han Dynasty was established for four hundred years and enjoyed four hundred years of peace. Although Wang Mang usurped the Han throne and Emperor Guangwu restored it, this place was not greatly affected by war.
As for why Emperor Ling of Han did not choose the ancient Zeng Pass when building the Eight Passes of Luoyang, it is because the ancient Zeng Pass was for defending against enemies coming from the north, while the four southern passes of Emperor Ling's Eight Passes of Luoyang were for defending against enemies coming from the south. The two sides faced different directions from the enemy, so the locations chosen were naturally different as well.
As for Cao Cao, he didn't need these passes at all; he could just attack directly. Why bother with defense?
Therefore, after the Chu state, the ancient Zeng Pass became a historical site.
Shen Yi stared at the stone tablet for a moment, urinated to prove he had been there, then turned and left. At the same time, he ordered Sha Moke to return to Guangcheng Pass to await orders, and ordered Li Kuan to return to the original position in Tongbai Mountain to guard the army's retreat route.
After another night of travel, Shen Yi returned to Guangcheng Pass at dawn with dark circles under his eyes, where he met Jiang Wei and Zhang Yi, who had been ordered to come.
After exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Yixing bowed and said, "Reporting to the general, I successfully captured Yique Pass as ordered by the general. I then ordered Liu Laosan to lead two thousand troops to guard the pass and lead the rest of the troops to support Dagu Pass. By the time I arrived, Dagu Pass had already been recovered, and I was unable to help."
Of the four passes attacked, Yique Pass was the most remote and least valuable, and the Wei army's defenses were naturally the most lax.
Therefore, long before the war began, Shen Yi ordered Zhang Yi to leave the calm and collected Liu Laosan to guard Yique Pass after it was captured, and then lead the rest of the troops to Dagu Pass to join forces with Jiang Wei to attack from both sides and try to capture the heavily defended Dagu Pass.
Unexpectedly, the battle went so smoothly that the prepared backup plan was never needed.