My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 311 A Normal Siege
Wu Pan's regret was deepening. On the third day, an army came from north of Qu'a. It was Gao Shun who arrived with his two thousand troops.

This group of people set off from Jiangcheng, passed through Dantu without entering, and headed straight for Qu'a.

Gao Shun's troops did not set up camp at the north gate of Qu'a, but instead moved to the east gate, forming a pincer movement with Jia Kui's troops to the southeast.

The situation continued to worsen, but Wu Pan was like a bird caught in a net, the more he struggled, the more powerless he became.

On the sixth day, when Liu Feng arrived in Qu'a with his own elite force of over 10,000 men, along with 14,000 vassal troops reorganized from the retinues of Zuo Rong and Xue Li, Wu Pan faced only two choices: surrender or die in battle.

Before Liu Feng arrived, Jia Kui's troops and Gao Shun's troops, who arrived later, had been working on building siege weapons.

Qu'a city is not high, its area is not large, and its population is even smaller.

In addition, Zhao Fan had previously held this position, so even with all the able-bodied men in the city mobilized, Wu Pan could only muster a total of five thousand.

The three thousand troops originally handed over to him were the expanded army, and only one thousand of them were Wu Jing's old guard.

It's easy to imagine what kind of rabble these five thousand men were; they probably wouldn't even be a match for the same number of vassal troops that Liu Feng brought in a field battle.

Even so, Wu Pan still wanted to stick to his principles.

At this point, he no longer expected to survive. If he had led his troops to break out on the very day Jia Kui arrived, at least some of them might have managed to escape.

But now, Liu Feng didn't even bother with the pretense of leaving one person out of the encirclement; he simply surrounded Qu'a completely.

Jia Kui was in the south, Gao Shun in the east, Xu Sheng in the north, Fan Neng in the west, and Pan Zhang was left in Jurong. Meanwhile, troops were sent to take over Moling and wait for reinforcements to arrive. At the same time, a large number of young men and women were transferred to Jiangbei.

Liu Feng himself, along with Xu Chu, entered Jia Kui's camp.

“Zhongkang, you and your brother have not seen each other for many days. He happens to be in the camp right now. I’ll give you a day off so you can have a good time with your brother.”

Liu Feng first selected 500 veterans from Pan Zhang and Xu Sheng's units as the backbone, then incorporated 800 elite warriors selected from the units of Zuo Rong and Xue Li, and finally selected 1,200 more young men from the two men's forces, totaling 2,500 men, to form a separate unit, and appointed Zhao Fan as the commander of the separate unit.

The vacancies in Pan Zhang and Xu Sheng's units were filled by selecting 500 men from Zuo Rong and Xue Li's troops. In this way, it was equivalent to absorbing the more than 1,000 most elite troops under Zuo Rong and Xue Li.

However, Zhao Fan's unit is not yet capable of fighting.

Even with veteran soldiers from Xuzhou as the backbone and fierce warriors from Zuo Rong and Xue Li's troops as the flesh and blood, there were still more than a thousand new recruits. Moreover, rebuilding morale and stabilizing the army would require a great deal of training and time.

Therefore, Liu Feng did not intend to put them into battle immediately, but instead placed them under his command as his direct subordinates.

Zhao Fan could also switch shifts with Xu Chu, so they could both get a rest.

Now that Liu Feng has become too powerful, he has attracted a lot of attention. Pan Zhang, Xu Sheng, Zhou Tai, Gan Ning, and even Dong Xi have all been sent out to lead their own armies. Although he still has many brave warriors around him, his ordinary-looking faces are no match for the famous historical generals.

This wasn't Liu Feng being picky; he had personally tested it.

Let alone Xu Chu and Zhou Tai, even Pan Zhang could easily defeat them like cutting melons and vegetables.

The next day, Liu Feng sent an envoy to Qu'a to persuade them to surrender. Regardless of whether they would agree or not, the formalities and procedures had to be respected.

What if the other side actually votes?

Wouldn't that save you a lot of trouble?
Unfortunately, Wu Pan did not intend to make things easier for Liu Feng, but he also did not cut off the envoy's head as a sacrifice; instead, he released him.

Liu Feng was quite satisfied with this and ordered preparations to attack the city.

Zuo Rong and Xue Li's remaining 13,000 troops were divided into four groups of 3,000 each, with the last 1,000 being directly assigned to Jia Kui's troops in the south.

At the same time, Jia Kui and Gao Shun also allocated some of the battering rams, siege towers, and siege ladders they had previously built to the other two sides.

With this distribution, each side received a battering ram, a siege tower, two siege ladders, and a dozen or so ladders.

Don't underestimate these small items. The fact that Jia Kui and his men were able to create so many siege weapons in such a short time is quite impressive.

Battering rams and siege towers are relatively easy to build, but siege ladders are actually quite troublesome and time-consuming.

Around noon, after lunch, the soldiers of the three armies began to leave the camp.

Leading the charge were naturally Zuo Rong and Xue Li's troops. Their equipment was preserved, and even their losses were replenished, all in order to maintain their combat effectiveness.

At the same time, Liu Feng also announced that as long as they fought hard, they could also get a share of the spoils, but they must abide by the military discipline of the Southern Expeditionary Army and strictly prohibit personal looting and robbery.

However, they also enjoyed the same treatment as the Southern Expeditionary Army: the wounded were treated by the Southern Expeditionary Army, the disabled were provided with a livelihood, and the dead received compensation.

The release of these two systems quickly stabilized the morale of Zuo Rong and Xue Liyuan's troops, as they felt accepted by the new system and were not merely used as cannon fodder.

At the same time, the mid- to high-ranking officers who were stripped of their positions were not completely sidelined. Apart from the relatives of Zuo Rong and Xue Li, the other officers were allowed to redeem themselves through meritorious service.

Those willing to participate in the war will be issued armor and go directly to the front line, but they cannot command troops for the time being to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

Those who are unwilling to fight will remain prisoners of war; they will not be forced to.

The Southern Expeditionary Army made a large-scale operation, showing no intention of concealment whatsoever.

Wu Pan's troops inside the city also realized that the Southern Expeditionary Army's general offensive was imminent, and immediately launched a general mobilization.

Because Liu Feng was besieging the city from all sides, no section of the city wall was undefended, and his forces were far superior to the city's defenders. This forced Wu Pan to distribute his troops evenly across each section of the city wall, making it impossible to concentrate his forces.

Finally, the three thousand troops were divided into five parts, with six hundred people on each wall. The last six hundred people were kept by Wu Pan as the general reserve force.

The two thousand able-bodied men mobilized were all assigned to the four city walls to transport weapons, logs, hot oil, incense, and other supplies to the city walls.

Young and strong men are, after all, young and strong men; they cannot be put into battle until the very last moment, because they are very likely to have the opposite effect if they are on the front line.

It would be more reliable to arrange for them to transport supplies, since this is an extremely important task.

The Southern Expeditionary Army's offensive was extremely fierce from the very beginning, attacking from all sides without distinguishing between primary and secondary targets.

All the mid- to high-ranking officers in Zuo Rong and Xue Li's troops were stripped away and replaced with key officers drawn from the Southern Expeditionary Army.

These officers are competent as commanders, since it is the lower-ranking officers who are actually fighting on the front lines.

Qu'a was just a small county, and it was a place that Sun's army was planning to abandon, so they didn't have much stockpiled supplies.

Wu Pan originally wanted to use it sparingly and try to last as long as possible.

However, the Southern Expeditionary Army launched a full-scale offensive from the very beginning, and fought fiercely. The Sun family army already had few men, and if they were to conserve resources, it would be tantamount to letting the enemy climb onto the city walls.

Left with no other choice, Wu Pan ordered his men to hold their ground with all their might.

Although the Southern Expeditionary Army used the troops of Zuo Rong and Xue Li as its vanguard, it did not actually treat the enemy as cannon fodder, or rather, not only as cannon fodder.

These units also provided a great deal of long-range firepower suppression, especially for protecting the two siege ladders, which was particularly important.

The difference between siege ladders and ordinary ladders is that siege ladders can provide some protection for the attacking soldiers climbing them, so that the soldiers will not be fatally hit before they reach the top of the city wall.

While ordinary ladders are convenient, soldiers would be powerless to resist if stones, logs, or night-blooming jasmine were thrown down from the city walls, and even large shields could not protect them.

The defenders clearly knew that the key was the battering rams and siege ladders, but the problem was that they were too poorly prepared.

Generally, catapults and ballistae are needed to deal with such large siege weapons.

But now, there isn't a single one of these two things in the city.

The only somewhat effective tactic was to unleash rockets and throw torches in an attempt to ignite the siege weapons.

However, the Southern Expeditionary Army was well prepared. The siege weapons were covered with leather and doused with a lot of water. The back of the battering rams was even covered with a thick layer of wet mud.

This rendered all of Wu Pan's methods ineffective, and in the end, he could only watch helplessly as various siege weapons arrived at the city's edge.

To Liu Feng's surprise, the first to achieve a breakthrough was actually the West Gate, where Fan Neng was located.

It wasn't that Fan Neng was particularly skilled, but rather that Yu Zi, a subordinate of Zuo Rong assigned to Fan Neng, was quite valiant. Taking advantage of the Sun army's unpreparedness at the west gate, he climbed the simple ladder to the top of the city wall, killed two Sun army soldiers, and created a breach. Immediately afterwards, a large number of Zuo Rong's former subordinates poured onto the city wall.

The garrison commander at the west gate hurriedly dispatched his only reserve force of fifty men, attempting to retake the city wall and drive Zuo Rong's former troops off the city.

However, Yu Zi fought with increasing ferocity, and even killed a Sun army officer on the spot, directly defeating the enemy's last reserve force.

Subsequently, Yu Zi continued to direct operations from the city wall, advancing to both sides to expand the area under his control, while ordering Zuo Rong's former subordinates below the city to move the ladders over to speed up the ascent.

While urgently requesting reinforcements from Wu Pan, the commander of the West Gate personally led a dozen or so personal guards to join forces with the defeated soldiers on the road, gathering less than a hundred men in an attempt to retake the city wall.

The two sides clashed again.

The fighting strength of Sun's old troops was actually above that of Zuo Rong's old troops, but in the past year or two, Wu Jing's troops suffered many casualties, and with the expansion of the army, their fighting strength actually declined rather than increased.

The commander guarding the west gate not only failed to repel Yu Zi, but was also killed by him again. The entire Sun army at the west gate was on the verge of collapse. Yu Zi even charged all the way up the city wall toward the city gate, and the next step was to open the city gate and welcome the army into the city.

Yu Zi was one of the most formidable fighters under Zuo Rong, and one of the most capable officers from outside Zuo Rong's clan.

Although Liu Feng transferred Yu Zi and others away from their command positions, he allowed them to go to the front line to atone for their crimes.

Yu Zi was naturally brave and strong, and often charged to the front lines in battle. He was fearless and immediately expressed his willingness to join the fight.

Therefore, Ximen's rapid breakthrough was not due to Fan Neng's greatness, but rather because Yu Zi played a significant role in it.

Upon receiving the news, Wu Pan reacted immediately, dispatching half of his troops to reinforce Ximen.

It wasn't that Wu Pan looked down on Yu Zi, but rather that he had no choice but to do so.

Because the other three gates also sent urgent requests for help, but not as seriously as the West Gate.

In reality, by this time, Qu'a City could no longer be defended.

Even if Wu Pan sent 300 men, or even 600 men, they still couldn't stop the endless stream of Zuo Rong's former troops from surging onto the city walls.

Moreover, Fan Neng had already been blowing his conch shell repeatedly, ordering his subordinates to press forward and prepare to join the offensive.

Although Yu Zi's military post was stripped by Liu Feng, his prestige among Zuo Rong's former subordinates, coupled with his record of killing several of Sun Jun's garrison generals, made Zuo Rong's former subordinates willing to obey his orders.

Yu Zi immediately gathered his troops, scattered the guards at the city gate, and opened the city gate before Wu Pan's reinforcements arrived.

After that, the Southern Expeditionary Army swarmed in, and Sun's army had no chance to resist anymore.

Half an hour later, Wu Pan was killed in battle, and a quarter of an hour later, the entire city was pacified.

Liu Feng entered Qu'a, sealed off the warehouses, and inspected the casualties and supplies.

After the warehouse storage quantity was reported, Liu Feng couldn't help but smile wryly.

The city had only 1,800 shi of grain in storage, and almost no other supplies. On the contrary, hundreds of able-bodied men in the city had been killed or wounded. It was as if the city had inherited a mess.

This was only possible because Sun Jun didn't set fire to the granary until the very end; otherwise, it would have been completely empty.

In fact, this was the typical outcome of wars during this period.

Such a situation as Liu Feng's previous victories, where every battle resulted in a bountiful harvest and he became rich after each battle, is extremely rare.

Take Yuan Shu's Shouchun as an example. The usual operation was to raise an army of 100,000 to surround Shouchun and then launch a fierce attack day and night. If they could break through, they would; if they couldn't, they would turn it into a siege until the city ran out of food and the soldiers were exhausted. Only then would there be an opportunity to break through the city.

Even if the city is breached in this situation, how much loot will be left?
At least the millions of shi of grain that Liu Feng obtained must have been completely consumed long ago.

Another reason is that Liu Feng's previous opponents were all extremely wealthy. Whether it was Guangling, Yingchuan, Runan, or Jiangbei, these were all famous grain-producing areas. As long as someone cultivated the land, there would be a harvest.

Liu Feng's timing was perfect. If he had gone two or three years earlier, the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan would still be cultivating wasteland. Even if he had won, he would have gained a large number of mouths to feed, and Liu Feng would have suffered a huge loss.

But if it had been two or three years later, all that grain would have gone to Cao Cao, the widow, since Yu Province was next to Yan Province. With Yuan Shao in the north and Liu Bei in the east, Cao Cao would be crazy to leave the unclaimed Yu Province untouched and go to Guanzhong first.

That's why Liu Feng was in such a hurry, because only he knew that the real window of opportunity would only last one or two years.

Once you miss it, it's gone forever.

Now, Liu Feng's opponent is Sun's army.

The Sun family army at that time was not as wealthy as it would be later; it was practically the poorest of the poor. Sun Ce himself had the idea of ​​militarism and aggression etched into his very being.

With most of Wu Commandery, more than 40,000 troops were supported. If Yuan Shu hadn't been secretly supplying Sun Ce with provisions, the people of Wu Commandery wouldn't have been able to support so many troops even if they didn't eat or drink.

As a result, although Wu County was still a good place, it was truly devoid of savings.

What Liu Feng will likely face next are one tough battle after another.

However, Liu Feng had already prepared himself mentally. He was very familiar with Sun Ce's situation. Moreover, the most important thing in Jiangdong was population and territory, while resources were secondary.

Afterwards, Liu Feng reviewed the casualty report.

The Southern Expeditionary Army suffered over 100 dead and over 400 wounded, bringing the total casualties to over 600.

Many of these serious injuries are actually irreversible. These people were scalded by the molten metal, and unless the necrotic tissue was cut away on the spot and the wound was disinfected with alcohol, they were basically beyond saving.

Sun's army numbered only three thousand men, and they were not elite troops. Qu'a was just an ordinary county.

Even so, the Southern Expeditionary Army still suffered so many casualties.

Although it wasn't Liu Feng's main force that was attacked, if it had been Liu Feng's main force, the casualties would probably have been halved, but those deaths and injuries were even more heartbreaking for Liu Feng.

This shows how great an achievement it was for Liu Feng to infiltrate Shouchun and successfully capture the city. It was equivalent to sending Liu Bei 100,000 elite soldiers and a million bushels of grain.

Of the three thousand soldiers in the Sun family army, more than eight hundred were killed in battle, and more than two thousand were captured.

Such high casualties were entirely due to the siege defense.

After all, the commander-in-chief Wu Pan was not a famous general, but just a capable subordinate of Wu Jing. If they had not relied on the city to defend, Sun's army would probably have collapsed when they suffered five or six hundred casualties.

In this battle, Yu Zi, who performed outstandingly, gained Liu Feng's approval and was allowed to select 500 men from Zuo Rong's former troops and 500 men from Xue Li's former troops, totaling 1,000 men per unit. At the same time, Liu Feng recommended Yu Zi as the commander of a separate unit.

The position of Biebu Sima was a versatile one, suitable for any number of troops, and also had some degree of autonomy. Many famous generals during the Three Kingdoms period held this military post.

"Mr. Changxu, please arrange for all the wounded to be housed in the city. Including the wounded civilians in the city, they can all go to the medical camp for treatment. They will only charge for the medicine. If they don't have money, they can pay on credit."

Liu Feng continued, "Those injured by the molten metal should be placed in a secluded spot and their wounds thoroughly cleaned. If..."

Sun Shao listened attentively to Liu Feng's arrangements. When he heard this, he noticed that Liu Feng hesitated, so he couldn't help but look up at him.

A complex expression flashed across Liu Feng's face. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "If the wounded person is in too much pain and does not want to suffer any more, the military law department can help him leave as soon as possible."

Sun Shao was startled, then filled with admiration: "Shao obeys!"

Liu Feng nodded, wondering if Hua Tuo had already discovered Mafeisan. If he had it, even if it couldn't save the lives of some soldiers, it could at least allow them to die more peacefully and spare them too much suffering.

Sun Shao accepted the order and withdrew, turning to leave the hall to carry out Liu Feng's command.

"Mr. Boqin".

Teng Dan, courtesy name Boqin.

Upon hearing Liu Feng's summons, Teng Dan stepped forward to greet him: "Lord Dan hereby commands the expedition to the south."

Liu Fengdao said, "There is still a lot of grain in Qu'a and Dantu counties that has not been harvested. Please urge the people in these two places to organize manpower in time to harvest the grain and put it into storage as soon as possible."

The main force of Sun's army had already withdrawn from the Qu'a and Dantu line before the autumn harvest, and the elite troops led by Sun Ce had already moved south, reaching Yuhang and Qiantang.

(End of this chapter)