The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 169: Attack the City Again

Seeing Wang Hong being so understanding, Yue Wenxuan didn't say much. He smiled and said, "Since that's the case, let's implement this plan. You should return to the camp as soon as possible to avoid being discovered by the Jin thieves."

Wang Hong hurriedly thanked him and followed Guan Sheng out of the city again.

The two men went around to the south for a while, then to the west, and after a while, it was almost dawn when Wang Hong returned to the outside of the Jin army camp.

He clasped his fists towards Guan Sheng and said, "General Guan, I'll be leaving now."

Guan Sheng: "Since you can slip out so easily and slip back so easily, it means that the Jin army camp is not so strict. Why don't we just set fire to the Jin camp tomorrow night, and then I will lead my army to attack the Jin camp at night and chop off Bali Yuanshan's head directly."

Wang Hong said with a bitter face: "General Guan, you think too highly of me and my soldiers. When we asked them to set fire, they were trembling all over."

Guan Sheng thought about it carefully and sighed, "Well!"

Wang Hong said goodbye and returned to the Jin camp. The soldiers guarding the wall were already getting a little anxious. They were relieved to see the general finally coming back. They were really afraid that Wang Hong would never come back and they would abandon him.

Wang Hong returned to the camp by the rope and quickly returned to his tent. His personal guards were still wearing their clothes, pretending to be drinking and having fun with Li Cui. When they saw Wang Hong return, Li Cui quickly approached and asked, "How was the conversation?"

Wang Hong whispered, "It's done!"

Li Cui was overjoyed.

Wang Hongdao said, "But let me be frank. After we surrender, we will no longer be leading generals. We will first have to do labor reform... which means working, mining, etc. Master Yue said that it will take at least one or two years of labor reform before our status can be restored."

Li Cui was overjoyed and said, "I just don't want to go to the battlefield. Whoever wants to lead the army can lead it. Working is exactly what I want."

The two hit it off immediately, and their hearts finally settled down...
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Another two days passed in a flash.

The siege weapons that Bali Yuanshan ordered the auxiliary troops and civilians to build were finally sufficient.

Forty battering rams, twenty towers, and ten catapults were built.

I also made a lot of long cards...

That’s right, it’s the long card player who imitates the Mandarin Duck Formation.

The last time Bali Yuanshan fought the Zhangjiacun team, despite his superb martial arts skills, he failed to kill a single enemy. Most of his killing moves were blocked by the opponent's long shield.

The door panels are broken and all the fancy stuff is gone.

No matter how agile and flexible your moves are, they can all be blocked by a door panel.

After such an experience, of course I have to learn from Bali Yuanshan.

He could not learn the soul and changes of the Mandarin Duck Formation, but it was not difficult to learn to have his own soldiers carry a large door panel each and walk at the front of the team. Thousands of laborers worked hard for several days and made two hundred door panels.

Baliyuanshan felt that this was enough and they could start attacking the city.

Leaving auxiliary soldiers and civilians to guard the camp, he himself led nearly 3,000 Khitan soldiers, 1,500 Tieli soldiers, and 1,300 Han soldiers, and marched towards Jiaoshui.

His scouting circle still could not be expanded. There was a terrifying Lu Bu to serve as scout for the rebel army. The scouts in the distant mountains were really unlucky. They dared not go too far away from the army and stayed very quiet. As a result, he had no idea that there was a Jiaoshui City to the east of his army, an 800-man rebel army led by Wu Jialiang and Guan Sheng to the south, and 500 people led by Wu Zhan and the prefect of Laizhou to the north.

The rebels' pockets are open!

The distant mountains of Bali once again came to the foot of Jiaoshui City.

Looking at the huge banner with the Chinese character "Palace" waving atop the city walls, Bali Yuanshan couldn't help but snort, saying, "I'm fully prepared this time; there's no way I'll be defeated by a bunch of bandits again." The Iron Beauty, Lu Yuan, chimed in, "If we can capture the city in one battle and capture that prince, it would be a major victory, and we might even be given an important position. I heard that Jinan Prefect Liu Yu is very favored by the Jurchens and is about to be entrusted with important tasks. We surrendered to the Jin before Liu Yu, yet we're not as valued as he is. It must be because we haven't made enough contributions."

Although illiterate, Bali Yuanshan possessed more knowledge in this area than Lu Yuantiao. He thought: Liu Yu is valued because he is a cultured man and well-read. Furthermore, he is a Han Chinese, making him a perfect candidate to rule Han Chinese territory. It would be strange for a Liao roughneck like me and a Tieli roughneck like me to be given important positions. Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you this.

"Prepare to attack the city!" Bali Yuanshan ordered, "Give the battering rams and towers to Li Cui and Wang Hong, and give them a hundred winning cards. Let them attack the first battle line."

Forty battering rams, twenty towers, one hundred door panels, and a large number of ladders were delivered to the Han army.

They were not given catapults because they were placed at the back of the formation and did not need to rush to the front, and of course they were not used as cannon fodder.

The Khitan supervisory team stood nearby, looking at Li Cui and Wang Hong with cold eyes.

Although Li Cui and Wang Hong are cowards and cannot fight, they have been in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty for decades and have first-class acting skills.

Li Cui pretended to be angry and yelled, "It's not fair. Why should we fight first? You are asking us to die."

Wang Hong also pretended to be angry, but he hung his head and pretended to pull Li Cui's arm: "Brother Li, stop... stop talking... The arm can't beat the thigh. If we don't obey, we will be chopped off."

Li Cui continued to act: "I just won't listen."

Wang Hong pulled his bald head and said, "If you don't obey, you will be killed by the supervisory team immediately. But if you charge forward, you won't necessarily die."

Li Cui's face darkened as he exhaled heavily, "Alright, get ready to attack the city."

Seeing the two men finally concede their defeat and agree to attack the city, the Khitan supervisors couldn't help but sneer. These Han soldiers are cowardly and useless, their only real use as cannon fodder. You'll all be killed sooner or later anyway; it just depends on where you die.

Only Li Cui, Wang Hong, and their most loyal and trusted personal soldiers knew about the surrender. The ordinary soldiers were unaware of it. When they heard that they were going to lead the charge, all the Han soldiers looked terrified. They all knew that they were being used as cannon fodder, but there was nothing they could do.

Life is so bleak sometimes!

Just go for it!
The Han soldiers got into the battering ram, huddled themselves into a ball, and tried their best to let the roof of the ram cover their bodies.

The soldiers in charge of the tower cars also hid themselves behind the shields, unwilling to stick out even half of their heads.

The people in the front row lifted up a hundred door panels, connected them in a row, and everyone hid behind the door panels.

"Forward!" Wang Hong and Li Cui ordered at the same time.

The drums sounded, and the Han soldiers began to advance...

At this time, the rebels in the city were ready for battle.

Not many people knew that the other side would surrender, only a few rebel leaders such as Yue Wenxuan, Gong Erniangzi, and Zhang Yong.

Even the Jiaoshui County Magistrate and the four Ma brothers didn't know about it.

The archers in charge of the giant crossbows were so nervous that their breathing became heavy. Someone shouted, "General, the enemy has deployed a large number of siege weapons. Shouldn't we release the arrows in advance this time?"

Ma Congyi also shouted: "Should the catapults be launched in advance?"

Madam Gong Er shouted, "Crossbows, do not attack recklessly. Not a single arrow may be fired without my command. Catapults, maximize your firing range. Ignore the rams and tower masters in front, and aim at the trebuchets in the rear."

(End of this chapter)