"Lord of the city, the Han army has agreed to take us in and has already sent soldiers to help us. These men were sent by General Cheng Pu to assist us in setting up the city's defenses. The Han army will arrive soon!"
The messenger, looking excited, introduced several staff officers to Kemolai.
Upon hearing this, Kemolai quickly bowed to the staff officers and said, "On behalf of the millions of people of Parthia, I thank the Han army for their righteous assistance!"
"Lord Kemolai, you are too kind. His Majesty the Emperor once said that the people suffer. As soldiers, we should take it upon ourselves to protect the people. No matter what country they are from, we should not sacrifice them for the selfish desires of some people!"
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty is truly a great monarch!"
Upon hearing the staff officer's words, Kemolai couldn't help but praise him with a look of admiration.
The staff officer smiled and then said, "Of course, our army occupies your country's port only because your country's officials keep sending people to harass us, and our army has no choice but to retaliate."
Now, because of our army's actions, the people have suffered undeserved calamity, and our army will naturally not stand idly by!
"No, no, no, this is not the fault of the Han army. The blame lies with that Sakqi, that greedy and cruel fellow. He is the culprit behind all this. As long as he is alive, Parthia will never have peace!"
Upon hearing the staff officer's explanation, Kemolai also placed all the blame on Sakhochi.
The staff officer nodded solemnly: "Yes, if this Right Chancellor were not so greedy and could get along well with our army, your people would not have suffered so much!"
"Now that we have the help of the Han army, we will surely defeat Sakqi and protect our safety. I just don't know how many men your army has sent to support us?"
While looking relaxed, Kemolai couldn't help but wonder about the number of Han reinforcements.
Staff Officer: "Ten thousand!"
"Ten thousand?"
Kemolai paused for a moment, then said with a bitter expression, "Your army is unaware of the fact that the Sakqi army numbered two hundred thousand. Although some have been lost, at least eighteen thousand remain. These ten thousand men will likely find it difficult to stop them!"
"Man proposes, God disposes; war is sometimes about more than just numbers!"
The staff officer smiled and continued, "Moreover, these 10,000 soldiers are among the most elite troops of our Han Dynasty, capable of withstanding several times their number on the front lines."
"If we're defending the city, even with 200,000 enemy troops, we have nothing to fear. Besides, these 10,000 are just the vanguard; tens of thousands more are reinforcements behind them!"
"I see. If that's the case, then there's no problem!"
Seeing the staff officer's confident expression, Kemolai breathed a sigh of relief.
The Han army isn't stupid. Since they dared to send only 10,000 men, they must have the confidence. I'm just worrying too much.
The staff officer immediately said, "Time is of the essence, let's make arrangements for the defense of the city first!"
Kemolai nodded: "We will do our utmost to assist you as instructed!"
"Good!" The staff officer's face also became more serious, and then he asked, "May I ask how many people are in the city, and how many of them are able-bodied men?"
Upon hearing this, Kemolai exchanged a few words with the Lord of Linshan City beside him, and then replied, "There are a total population of 60,000 in Linshan City, of which about 15,000 are able-bodied men. In addition, we have brought able-bodied men from Ansu and Kenan, making a total of 35,000 available men!"
The staff officer nodded and then said, "I request that Lord Kemolai immediately lead 20,000 able-bodied men to dig three trenches outside the city. The trenches should be at least one zhang deep and wide, with each trench spaced about one and a half zhang apart!"
As he spoke, the staff officer took out paper and pen, drew a simple construction drawing, and handed it to a colleague next to him.
"good!"
Kemolai nodded, then walked outside with the other staff officer.
Then, the advisor looked at the city lord of Linshan and said in a deep voice, "Please gather all able-bodied men and craftsmen in the city, whether they are carpenters, blacksmiths or bricklayers, as long as they are craftsmen."
Five thousand able-bodied men were responsible for moving logs and stones; if that wasn't enough, some houses could be demolished, with compensation provided later. Five thousand men were also responsible for collecting the city's excrement and preparing at least fifty large cauldrons to carry up to the city walls. The remaining five thousand men and the craftsmen would be under our command!
"good!"
The city lord of Linshan agreed and hurriedly led his men away to begin preparations according to the instructions of the Han army's strategist.
Soon, everyone in Linshan City began to get busy.
Several staff officers, along with a group of craftsmen and five thousand able-bodied men, gathered some wood and began to make simple crossbows for city defense.
This simple crossbow was developed by the Research and Manufacturing Bureau specifically for city defense. It abandoned the complicated procedures of siege crossbows, and its projectile distance was only about 100 paces, and it could only project objects weighing less than 50 jin (25 kg).
Although its power is not great, it is sufficient for the defending troops who are positioned on higher ground.
Most importantly, this type of crossbow is simple to make and does not require high-quality materials. If twenty people make one crossbow, it can be completed in just one day.
However, in order to meet the deadline, these staff officers also followed the assembly line method, splitting the team into groups, each leading a group of people to make various parts of the crossbow.
In less than half a day, 240 crossbows were produced and placed on the four city walls.
At the same time, the logs and stones needed for defending the city were prepared, and hundreds of buckets of excrement were also carried up to the city walls. Dozens of large pots were also set up on each city wall.
Immediately afterwards, several staff officers led all the able-bodied men in the city out of the city to assist Kemolai in digging trenches.
As sunset approached, the three trenches were finally completed.
Just as everyone entered the city, Cheng Pu led 10,000 naval soldiers to the south of Linshan City.
Kemolai, along with the two city lords of Kenan and Linshan, personally led a group of people out of the city to welcome them.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with everyone, Cheng Pu began to inspect the city's defenses.
Upon seeing the moat outside the city, the crossbows on the city walls, the rolling logs and stones, and the excrement and large cauldrons used to boil the gold syrup, Cheng Pu's face broke into a satisfied smile.
That night, after two days and nights of marching, Cheng Pu and his soldiers went to bed early after dinner.
The next morning, Cheng Pu, yawning, had just stepped out of his military tent when Kemolai, who was waiting not far away, rushed up to him with an eager expression.
"General Cheng, something terrible has happened! According to our scouts, an enemy force is rapidly approaching Linshan City!"
Cheng Pu's expression shifted: "Oh? How many enemy soldiers are there?"
Kemolai: "There are probably around 30,000 people!"
"Ha~, only 30,000 people, and you're this scared?"
Upon hearing that the enemy force consisted of only such a small number of people, Cheng Pu chuckled and glanced at Kemolai with amusement.
"General Cheng, it's not that I'm afraid of these 30,000 men, but rather I'm worried about their purpose in coming here..."
"Whatever their purpose, since the enemy has invaded, just kill them!"
Cheng Pu interrupted Kemolai's nonsense and then shouted loudly into the camp, "Everyone assemble!!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
