I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 96 Han Shizhong Establishes His Authority

"President Zhao was truly farsighted. Fang La had been frightened by the previous battles at Wujiang and Huzhou, and fearing that he would be defeated one by one if he divided his forces to meet the enemy, he actually transferred so many of the main forces surrounding Hangzhou City.

There are only layers of fortifications outside each gate, and in places without gates, there are only a few trenches and earthen walls. How can such a defense stop our army? "

At dawn that day, Han Shizhong, who had taken a detour from the northwest of Hangzhou City, brought two hundred cavalrymen and quietly arrived at a place less than ten miles away from Hangzhou City.

Zhao Zicheng's main force of nearly 10,000 men had come from Xiuzhou and was currently stationed in Haining Town, Yanguan County, fifty miles northeast of Hangzhou. Therefore, if Han Shizhong had chosen the same route as Zhao Zicheng, he should theoretically have appeared northeast of Hangzhou.

But at this moment, he happened to appear in the northwest direction. Naturally, it was because he had parted ways with Zhao Zicheng when he went south from Huzhou. He only brought two hundred cavalrymen with him and traveled alone, hiding during the day and moving at night, moving quickly and low-key.

Fang La's army wasn't completely unprepared. Fang La's sister, Fang Baihua, personally organized scouts and sent out a number of them in every direction. In theory, as long as the government troops entered within fifty or sixty miles of Hangzhou, no matter which direction they came from, they would be discovered by Fang La.

But Han Shizhong was clearly no ordinary man. Firstly, he had traveled a very long distance on the last night before arriving in Hangzhou. Secondly, he had indeed encountered a group of scouts under Fang La's command along the way.

However, Fang La had launched his rebellion in the south, where war horses were already scarce. The scouts were few in number and their horses were inferior. Yesterday evening, when two groups of Fang La scouts collided with Han Shizhong's troops northwest of Hangzhou, Han Shizhong had spotted them before the enemy and quietly dispersed to encircle them from both wings.

By the time the Fang La scouts discovered Han Shizhong, they had already lost the initiative and were almost surrounded on three sides by Han Shizhong. In the final short and bloody battle, the unlucky Fang La scouts were completely wiped out by Han Shizhong, and not a single one escaped alive.

This is how Han Shizhong was able to keep a low profile and reach a place very close to the city of Hangzhou.

With the first rays of dawn in the morning, Han Shizhong observed the surrounding terrain and chose to dismount temporarily and climb the mountain to overlook the thieves in Hangzhou City.

At this moment, Han Shizhong was located outside Hangzhou, near Baoshishan and Geling Mountain on the north bank of West Lake. It was just outside the city's northwest corner, and from the mountain one could overlook West Lake and the city.

As early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the famous Taoist Ge Hong lived on Geling Mountain, where he made elixirs and compiled the Baopuzi (Baopuzi). This is why Geling Mountain got its name. After Ge Hong's death, the remains of the Baopu Taoist Temple were found on Geling Mountain in successive dynasties.

Han Shizhong casually occupied the Taoist temple and temporarily stationed his troops there, then continued to climb to the top of the mountain and looked down from the first balcony left by Ge Hong.

Chuyangtai is the first place in Hangzhou where you can see the sunrise, and the view is very good.

"Commander, look quickly. The enemy's trenches and earthen walls between Wulin Gate and Qiantang Gate are so weak. Why not break through from there, disrupt the situation for a while, and scare the enemy off." After observing for a while, a captain under Han Shizhong suggested this.

Han Shizhong glanced in the direction the man pointed, then shook his head: "The defense there is weak, but the distance between the Wulin Gate in the north and the Qiantang Gate in the northwest is too close. The enemy troops blocking those two gates will arrive soon.

Hangzhou City is long from north to south and narrow from east to west, with three gates on each side. It would be easier to quickly reinforce enemy forces stationed at the south and north gates."

His officers pondered the idea for a moment and agreed. They then suggested, "How about going around to the east? The eastern wall is very long, and the gates must be very far apart. But the east side is flat, with nowhere to hide. Going around there would eliminate the element of surprise."

Han Shizhong thought for a moment and shook his head. "Indeed, going around to the east of the city would definitely lose the element of surprise. Furthermore, Zhao Tongpan and Brother Liu are attacking from the northeast of Hangzhou. The enemy defenses east of the city are definitely tighter."

Only by attacking from the northwest can we achieve the most sudden effect. If the north of the city isn't suitable, then let's try the west."

The officers under his command looked at each other in confusion. "West of the city? Doesn't that mean we have to approach the city from the West Lake? We are cavalry."

Han Shizhong pointed with his whip at the Bai Causeway and Su Causeway below him: "Fang La is a bandit after all, and he neglected to search and seize civilian boats. Aren't there still scattered abandoned fishing boats along the West Lake?

You lead the remaining cavalry to guard the foot of the mountain and prevent Fang La's bandits from approaching. I will lead dozens of people in fishing boats, approach the city wall, and shoot the letter onto the wall."

As expected, Han Shizhong could see several small boats nestled among the willows on the shore, where his whip pointed. They were well hidden, nestled in a weedy pond behind Baidi and Lonely Hill, sheltered by lotus flowers and the willows lining the shore. Fang La's army must have failed to search the lake thoroughly when they arrived, and therefore missed them.

Most of the officers under Han Shizhong were shocked after hearing his decision.

Because they all came from the Western Army, similar to Yang Zhi, and were cavalry, many of them could not swim at all.

Han Shizhong also knew this and could not help but laugh and scold: "I told you to practice more skills, but you didn't listen. If you can swim, follow me! And you have to be good at archery. We may encounter Fang La's navy on the lake, but they will probably only be using small boats, so don't worry too much."

Han Shizhong himself was a skilled sailor, a rarity among Western Army generals. His later success in the Battle of Huangtiandang was a testament to his versatility in both land and water.

Taking advantage of the cover of morning light, Han Shizhong's troops finally successfully carried out the plan as visibility was poor in the winter morning.

He sent some men down the mountain and found the abandoned civilian ships. He then gathered all the shields he could find and put them on the side of the ship. He selected dozens of people who were good at riding and shooting and had some knowledge of swimming, and rowed towards Qiantang Gate.

Fang La's bandits had no way of completely encircling the west side of Hangzhou City, as the city wall on the west side directly bordered the West Lake. Any attackers who attempted to encircle the west side of the city would be within the range of the crossbows on the city walls.

Therefore, Han Shizhong was not discovered by Fang La's army on the distant shore until he was only one or two miles away from the lake.

Fang La's rebel army immediately reported the unusual situation. The person in charge of the siege now is Fang La's eldest son Fang Tianding, assisted by his aunt Fang Baihua and his general Li Tianrun.

Upon hearing that several small boats, likely belonging to government troops, had appeared on West Lake, Fang Tianding immediately determined they were attempting to contact the garrison. He quickly summoned Li Tianrun and ordered him to intercept them. Li Tianrun, fearing no delay, hastily mobilized a dozen small boats from Fang La's small water fortress outside Qiantang Gate and headed towards Han Shizhong to intercept them. Li Tianrun's naval forces were undoubtedly far larger than these. However, Han Shizhong arrived too quickly, leaving him no time to assemble his forces.

The only thing they could do was to send out patrol ships that were always ready and able to set sail at any time, and then slowly gather reinforcements.

……

"Commander Han, Fang La's navy is here to intercept us!"

Han Shizhong's fleet consisted of only four small boats, manned by a total of thirty archers. When they saw a dozen or so patrol boats of Fang La's army rushing out from the northwest, the soldiers of the government army became a little frightened.

Only Han Shizhong remained nonchalant, completely unconcerned. "Don't be afraid! We don't have much road left. Fang La's men won't be able to stop us in time! Get your wooden trumpets ready, and join me in shouting towards the city walls. Just get within two or three hundred paces of the wall, and I'll shoot Judge Zhao's arrow into the city."

As Han Shizhong spoke, he pulled out several arrows from his quiver, each one tied with a specially made gunpowder barrel. Each arrow was also tied with a pre-written letter, and the content of each letter was exactly the same.

The Song Dynasty already had gunpowder weapons, so Zhao Zi said that it was not difficult to make a few rockets with cartridges tied to them. The materials could be used ready-made, and only some temporary materials needed to be added.

The main problem with the gunpowder of the Song Dynasty was that its combustion rate was too low, making it difficult to explode, and the gas expansion speed was not fast enough, but it was more than enough to serve as a propellant for gunpowder arrows.

Zhao Zi explained that the temporary addition was simply to enhance the flame color and make the rocket's trajectory more conspicuous, like a firework. He also made minor adjustments to the cartridge structure, ensuring a sharp, piercing sound like a rocket shooting through the air.

This would make the trajectory of the arrows entering the city more conspicuous and easier to find. It would also undermine the morale of Fang La's army, letting them know that the government troops had established contact with the defenders in the city.

After all, during a major war, being able to "let the enemy know that our morale is high" can, in itself, lower their morale. Zhao Zi, skilled in psychological warfare, said that when planning, no opportunity should be missed.

Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the Hangzhou city wall, Han Shizhong first ordered his men to raise the flags of the government troops to prevent the people on the city from becoming too nervous and randomly placing crossbows to block the attack.

After seeing Han Shizhong's flag, the defenders on the city wall did not act impulsively, but just continued to wait and see.

Han Shizhong successfully approached to within 300 steps, then took out his extremely strong bow, put on the gunpowder arrow that had just been lit, and shot several arrows at the top of the city.

The flying monkey flew towards the top of the city with flames and screams, startling the defenders and Fang La's army on the lake.

"How could such a small boat possibly be equipped with a crossbow? Could the government troops have just used their arm strength to launch their arrows so far?"

Li Tianrun, who was chasing Han Shizhong with a dozen small boats, was horrified when he saw the fiery trail of the Sky-Climbing Monkey streaking through the air. Not to mention Li Tianrun, even Fang Tianding, who was in the camp outside Qiantang Gate, saw the Sky-Climbing Monkey streaking across the sky.

"Hangzhou garrison, listen up! I am Han Wu, the vanguard under General Tong. Hold out for another twenty days, and reinforcements from the general will surely arrive!"

Han Shizhong had a loud voice, but even with the help of a wooden trumpet, his voice alone was still not loud enough. Fortunately, the soldiers on several small boats joined in the shouting, and even from hundreds of steps away, the shouts could be heard on the city walls.

There was a sudden and chaotic clamor from the top of the city wall, and it was unclear whether it was due to excitement or surprise.

But with so many witnesses, Han Shizhong's heroic deeds and Zhao Zicheng's intentions were enough to be witnessed by both sides.

No matter how the battle situation in Hangzhou City develops in the future, Zhao Zicheng and Han Shizhong will only have merits and no faults.

Han Shizhong had no time to observe the results. He needed to go back as soon as possible because Li Tianrun was chasing him with a force several times or even ten times larger than his.

Fang La's army's vanguard boats were indeed only a dozen or so, but there were still more small boats rushing out from the water fort outside Qiantang Gate, like snakes in Changshan.

Han Shizhong didn't want to delay and decided to shock the enemy with the quickest and most decisive move. So he went to the bow, drew his five-stone bow again, took aim, and shot at the enemy ship that came to intercept him.

The full bow is like the autumn moon across the sky, and the arrow is like a meteor falling to the ground.

With just the first arrow, a sailor on Li Tianrun's ship was shot and killed even though the two sides were at least one hundred and seventy or eighty steps apart. The sailor screamed as he fell off the ship and into the water. His screams were so shrill that they really frightened his comrades around him.

Han Shizhong fired a barrage of arrows, killing and wounding several people. Li Tianrun repeatedly ordered his soldiers to raise their shields, but he didn't expect another arrow to be shot right at him. The angle was very tricky and it was not blocked by the soldier in front.

The powerful arrow pierced directly into Li Tianrun's shoulder armor. If it weren't for his excellent armor, the arrow would have penetrated his lungs directly.

Li Tianrun groaned and collapsed into the cabin, just like in another time and space when he was leading the defense of Hangzhou City and sniping Zhang Shun on West Lake. Unexpectedly, in this life, the situation had reversed and it was his turn to be hit by Han Shizhong's arrow.

Han Shizhong didn't know what he had achieved. He just retreated while cursing: "If you want to die, come and chase your grandpa Han! If you don't want to die, grandpa won't play with you!"

(End of this chapter)