Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

Soon, thousands of barbarian soldiers raised their shields and led archers to suppress the defenders on the city walls across the moat. Another two thousand barbarian soldiers carried sandbags, bamboo baskets, and other similar items to fill the moat with sand.

As the former capital of the Eastern Yue Kingdom, Kuaiji City was always a royal stronghold, and enemies rarely managed to reach it. Therefore, the moat was only a little over ten meters wide, with its symbolic significance outweighing its practical significance.

Shen Qing watched the barbarian soldiers outside the city from the city wall, and then looked at the trembling local militia around him. In the end, he gave up his plan to shoot at them with bows and arrows.

After all, archers are a special type of soldier, requiring more experience and accumulation, unlike swords and spears, which can be used as soon as they are picked up. If these local militia were forced to use bows and arrows, they would probably just be shooting out of faith, and who knows where the arrows would end up.

And so, Shen Qing watched as the moat was gradually leveled by the barbarian soldiers below the city, opening up a road leading directly to the city.

"The leaders of each tribe have decreed that whoever is the first to scale the city walls will be promoted three ranks and rewarded with ten head of cattle and ten head of sheep..."

With the moat breached, the bounties offered by the tribal leaders echoed through the barbarian camp below the city, instantly exciting the barbarian soldiers.

In cold weapon warfare, there are four military achievements that are widely admired and praised, and are also recognized as the most difficult to achieve, but also the fastest way for ordinary soldiers to rise in rank. These are: being the first to scale the walls, breaking through enemy lines, beheading enemy generals, and capturing enemy flags.

The first to scale the city wall, as the name suggests, requires immense courage. In a siege, the first soldier to reach the top must brave arrows and approach the wall step by step before climbing the ladder. During this time, in addition to dodging various arrows, they must also endure continuous physical damage from rolling stones, logs, and hot oil from the tower, while ensuring they don't fall off the ladder. Once they finally reach the city gate, they still face various attacks from the enemy who are waiting in ambush.

After all, once he gains a foothold, a large number of attacking soldiers will follow him in an endless stream, becoming a fatal weakness for the defenders.

Therefore, soldiers who were the first to scale the walls were often the primary targets of the defenders, and historically, in siege battles, only a fraction of those who were the first to scale the walls survived. Those who did survive were invariably elite warriors, and countless valiant generals distinguished themselves in the army through their pioneering feats.

After the initial assault, the next step is the charge into enemy lines. As the name suggests, this involves charging into the enemy's ranks. This brings us to the warfare of the cold weapon era. Battles between armies are not like the chaotic melees depicted on television; rather, they require a rapid charge into the enemy lines to break through their formation, divide and encircle them, and ultimately shatter their will to fight. The "charge into enemy lines" are the brave warriors who bravely face the challenge, being the first to break through the enemy's defenses and break the stalemate for the main army.

Slaying a general, as the name suggests, means killing the enemy's general. In the era of cold weapons, when two armies met, they would often engage in duels to demoralize the enemy. To kill an enemy general in front of both armies was undoubtedly a glorious achievement, earning cheers from all sides and providing the best opportunity to demonstrate one's bravery. Guan Yu famously killed Hua Xiong in a duel while the wine was still warm, becoming renowned from a mere horse archer to the warlords of the land.

Finally, there is capturing the flag. Compared to the other three military achievements, capturing the flag is undoubtedly the most difficult. The main banner in the army often represents the presence of the commander-in-chief. As long as the banner is there, the army is safe; when the banner falls, the army collapses. The commander-in-chief's banner is usually located in the core area of ​​the army, heavily surrounded by troops. Not only is there a special flag guard, but those who carry the banner are also the bravest warriors in the army. Even if an ordinary person rushes to the banner, they may not be a match for the fierce flag bearers.

Therefore, to gain the military merit of capturing the flag, one often had to kill the general first, which is why killing the general and capturing the flag were often linked together in the army.

These four military achievements represent the highest honor for a soldier. Even generals in the army would not dare to embezzle such military achievements, otherwise they would be despised by the entire army and attacked by all sides.

"My lords, look! When my men leveled the moat, the defenders on the city walls didn't react at all. They must have been terrified..."

Seeing that the moat had been leveled without any casualties, the barbarian leaders below the city were greatly more confident in capturing Kuaiji City.

Without the obstruction of the city's defenders, the barbarian soldiers outside the city crossed the moat smoothly. Soon, more than twenty siege ladders were positioned and mounted on the city walls. Countless barbarian soldiers swarmed around the ladders, preparing to swarm and attack the city.

"Pan Yang, once the enemy's siege ladders get close, throw rolling logs and boulders directly." Shen Qing, hiding behind his shield, immediately gave the order upon seeing the enemy's movements. Pan Yang clasped his hands in obedience and left.

A moment later, ladders, surrounded by barbarian soldiers, were brought up to the top of the city wall. Dozens of fierce barbarian soldiers, armed with swords, began to climb the ladders.

"Everyone was throwing logs and stones down the ladder..."

"Don't be afraid, the enemy hasn't come up yet. Just keep throwing stones down the ladder, and they won't be able to get up..."

"Are you a coward? You haven't even seen a shadow of the enemy, and you're already so scared you can't even lift a stone..."

"Aim carefully before you hit, don't stick your head out..."

"You guys grab your guns. Once the enemy appears on the ladder, charge at them together..."

As the barbarian soldiers began their attack on the city, Pan Yang walked along the city wall and shouted at the panicked villagers. With his reprimand, the villagers, though still trembling with fear, were no longer so terrified that they froze in place.

Logs and boulders were continuously thrown down the ladder. Some barbarian soldiers who had climbed halfway down were either hit by the logs and boulders or, seeing the situation was not good, jumped down from the ladder on their own.

The local militia on the defending side were all novices, while the barbarian soldiers on the attacking side had little experience in siege warfare. They were evenly matched, and their attention was focused on the dozens of siege ladders. Once the barbarian soldiers started climbing up the ladders, rolling logs and stones were thrown from the city walls. As soon as the barbarian soldiers saw something being thrown from the city walls, they would immediately jump down from the ladders in fright.

For the duration of a full incense stick's time, not a single barbarian soldier below the city managed to climb up the ladder. This greatly boosted the morale of the warriors on the city wall, diminishing their fear and making their bodies less stiff and more agile.

However, Shen Qing noticed the hidden dangers of doing so. Although the local militia used rolling logs and stones to stop the barbarian soldiers, the cost was that the prepared rolling logs and stones were consumed in great quantities. In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a third of the supplies were consumed. If this continued, they might not even be able to hold out for an hour.

Without the help of rolling logs and stones, the morale that the local militia had managed to build up would likely vanish in the blink of an eye.