Crossing the Unknown Country

The Ansheng defenders used firecrackers at a distance, boiling water at close range, and bows and crossbows at a medium distance to attack the enemy from all directions. The few Dongjie soldiers who ran to the city would also die, so they did not dare to rush forward.

The Dongjie Army wanted to move forward, so they could only adopt the human wave tactic. After several sieges, they were not stupid. With few people, they would die. They sent a large number of troops forward, but they did not find the most successful strategy. They could not climb the city wall, so they still went to die.

The Dongjie Army attacked the city every day, but there was no progress. They could only fire firecrackers from a distance, and they stopped firing in recent days, knowing that it would not have any effect.

They also tried to use wooden boards to block the city gate, but the Ansheng Kingdom's firecrackers were more powerful than theirs, and they could blow the wooden boards away. In addition, they had to climb up the city wall with ladders, and without protection, they would be blown away or burned and fall down while climbing the ladder.

Some ladders were directly overturned. The Ansheng defenders took a large bamboo pole and pushed their ladders over in one go. This left the Dongjie Army with no choice. If the ladders were not placed next to the city wall, they could not climb up, and the ladders were useless. When the ladders reached the city wall, several defenders took the bamboo poles and pushed hard, and the ladders flipped over.

What's worse, they didn't push, but a few strong ones flipped the ladder left and right. This was even more terrifying. It would be better to just fall down. It was so scary.

Others would pour oil along a ladder, and even when they were about to reach the top, they would slip and fall.

Anyway, the Ansheng defenders wanted to prevent their ladders from being securely placed on the city wall, so they could not climb up the wall.

They had tried to open the gate, but it was difficult. They didn't know that the gates of Fenggou City were all forged from a large piece of bluestone, thick and huge. Every time the gate was opened, it was pulled open with a large iron chain, and the most powerful gate design was used.

To put it bluntly, unless there is a traitor helping to open the city gate, it is generally easier to attack the city gate than the city wall. This is also why they can defend the city gate as long as no one approaches, and there are more defenders inside than outside.

The Dongjie Army found that the Ansheng Army this year was too difficult to deal with. They had too many tricks and it was not like before when they fought them head-on with real swords and guns. Now they were just hiding on the city walls, waiting for them to attack. If there was no internal support, it would be really difficult to succeed.

When they wanted to contact the insiders in Fenggu City, they didn't know that General Wang An had already made arrangements. Because Su He reminded them that if a solid defense cannot be taken down by a frontal attack, the best way is to disintegrate it from the inside.

This is the most common failure case Su He has seen in history. Many wars are not lost due to lack of strength, but due to traitors and internal strife. If you want to win the war, you have to be united from top to bottom to ensure that there are no problems internally.

These problems include some special means such as poisoning the defending soldiers, assassinating the leading general, secretly opening the city gates, inciting some soldiers to rebel, and lurking a large number of enemy troops. Basically, if one of these is successful, the outcome of the war will be reversed.

General Wang An had already asked the city's civil servants to investigate outsiders. They had to be guaranteed by multiple people and obey the arrangements. They were not allowed to enter or leave the outer city at will. The Dongjie bloodline was the focus of attention, so someone had to keep an eye on them.

The residents of the city received the news that if they found any suspicious persons, the government would reward them with fifty taels of silver for each person they caught. This made the old men and women very happy, and they investigated more strictly than the government, just like a civilian detective team.

They spontaneously locked up all the wells in the city and opened them during the day to prevent the enemy from poisoning them at night. There were people guarding the wells during the day, and those who were not familiar with the wells could only use the water that had been collected and were not allowed to go to the wells.

The people in the city trusted General Wang An very much. As long as he issued a notice, they would treat it as the highest order and must execute it. The people knew that once the outer city was broken, they would be the dead ghosts under the enemy's butcher knife, and they would never let the people of Ansheng go.

The safety of Fenggu City is guarded by Wang's army. For so many years, as long as Wang's army is there, Fenggu City can be saved. Wang's army is their patron saint. Who else can they trust if not General Wang An?