Chapter 614: Pacifying Sibao County (Sixteen) [Surgery No. 15]
While digesting their food, Shen Tang and his civil and military officials gathered around the still-warm campfire to roughly determine the attacking military formation's incantations. Shen Tang suddenly sighed, "Speaking of which, this is our first time fighting a siege. Everyone must proceed with extreme caution."
As far as she knew, siege warfare was the most difficult type of warfare.
It often takes several times the number of troops of the enemy to take it down, and it is common to encounter a stubborn enemy that cannot be captured even after months of siege.
The attacking side's primary challenge isn't the enemy within the city, but rather the formidable city walls and the comprehensive defensive structure built around them. The moat, the city gates, the outer city, the inner city—each step must be breached to advance the front line. But can it be so easy?
It's not easy at all.
If such a large city could be so easily conquered by the enemy, why would they spend so much money building it?
The city's defenses can withstand four times the number of troops defending the city!
The walls were either made of rammed earth or constructed of huge stones, providing formidable defense. Light weapons like bows and arrows were largely ineffective, allowing the defenders to hide behind the walls and launch counterattacks through the pre-drilled firing ports.
Once the battle begins, the defenders will block the city gate passages with stones to prevent the enemy from breaching the walls with siege equipment, forcing them to use ladders to scale the walls. This would allow them to gain high ground and unleash boiling molten metal, flaming stones, and rolling logs...
Even if the city walls fall and the enemy rushes into the city, there is still a chance to turn the tide through street fighting. However, this theory does not fully apply to the world after the arrival of the Thieves, because individual combat strength has been amplified, and there are no shortage of ruthless people who can dismantle city walls with their bare hands.
Linshan County's city walls are not as towering and majestic as Xiaocheng's, making them relatively easier to attack, but only relatively speaking...
Gu Chi could see the underlying unease beneath Shen Tang's calm exterior.
He spoke with ease and composure: "My lord, do not panic."
It's okay that Shen Tang has no experience.
Her team of seasoned veterans is incredibly experienced.
If all else fails, just go through the proper procedures; you're familiar with them.
"Okay, I'm not panicking."
They remained calm and composed.
Qiu Cheng was extremely uneasy.
The enemy is right in front of us, but we have no idea when they will attack or how they will attack. With such an unknown threat right at our doorstep, who can feel at ease? Qiu Cheng asked about Shen Tang's movements three times every fifteen minutes.
However, Shen Tang refused to budge an inch.
finally--
"Report—Enemy movement!"
Qiu Cheng immediately perked up and started listening intently.
"Hmph, just in time!"
Everyone thought to themselves: [It's finally here!]
Yes, Shen Tang's troops have finally made a move. This news spread like wildfire. The bugle call for battle sounded, and the city wall defenders were fully prepared. Even the most cunning and sly old foxes dared not continue to take advantage of the chaos.
While frantically putting on his gear, he shook his lazy comrades awake: "Wake up, everyone wake up!"
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? Are you deaf and didn't you hear me?"
Without time to explain, he grabbed his weapon and scrambled back to his post. Those who had woken up also heard the order and hurriedly got up.
These are just some of the inconspicuous scenes at the grassroots level.
The powerful figures on the city wall had no time to pay attention.
Qiu Cheng and the others watched as the "black horizon" formed by people in the distance, like a rising tide, approached them. The synchronized hoofbeats created a vibration that could be felt even from the city walls. Qiu Cheng remained silent for a long time before exhaling a breath of stale air.
"Such a rapid advance has allowed them to regroup and not disperse..."
"We really underestimated Shen Youli."
Qiu Cheng does not regret robbing Shen Tang.
He only regretted not being fully prepared and underestimating the other side. If he had known Shen Tang had such resources, he should have contacted nearby counties lacking food and sent troops from all directions to gradually annex Shen Tang. Although this would have required taking a share of the spoils, it would have been less risky.
As the army approached the city walls, Qiu Cheng gave a signal to the general beside him. The general understood immediately, gathered his strength, pointed a long spear downwards, and declared righteously, "Who goes there? Why do you dare to invade my Linshan? Retreat immediately to save your lives!"
These words were spoken with great force and conviction.
His voice carried a natural air of righteousness and integrity, making uninformed people genuinely believe that they were the victims.
"Heh, which mad dog is barking?"
A short while later, a general riding a mule emerged from the ranks below. He was dressed in red robes and silver armor, with a straight posture and a youthful voice.
This person sneered.
The sound wasn't loud, but it easily carried throughout both armies.
This demonstrates the depth of the opponent's skills.
However, the other party was more skilled with words.
"A bunch of thieves stole your ancestors' things and did shameless things in Nanyu County. Now, in front of two armies, you're pretending to be a pure white lotus? If you're so good at pretending, why don't you go to the assembly line and pretend to be something you're not? Although the salary is meager, it's still better than your whole family being so poor that you have to lie in a latrine to eat! You spew filth without wiping your mouth, and you have to flaunt it everywhere. How disgusting!"
Shen Tang was uncompromising, immediately launching into a barrage of insults involving household registration documents and bodily fluids, not forgetting to drag their lord, Qiu Cheng, into it at the end. He declared in front of both armies, "Those who know what's good for them, step forward right now with Qiu Wenyan's neck cleaned!"
"While I'm in a good mood, let's leave him with a whole corpse!"
Upon hearing this, Xun Zhen, who was leisurely stroking his beard, plucked a whisker. This pained him greatly; he tried to put the whisker back in, but after poking it twice, he gave up. Watching his lord's retreating figure, he whispered to Jiang Sheng, "Is our lord extremely angry?"
Although I couldn't understand some of the content, I could tell from the parts I could understand that the rest wasn't very pleasant.
Jiang Sheng said, "Probably..."
He then tried to save face for Shen Tang, saying, "My lord wasn't like this before."
Xun Zhen wholeheartedly agreed: "That's true."
What is the lord like on ordinary days?
Polite and refined.
Humility and respect for scholars, promotion and demotion based on merit.
In terms of government affairs, she is diligent and conscientious, only occasionally revealing the playfulness and liveliness unique to her age.
In short—
The two of them, without conscious thought, both thought of the same person.
He's lucky he didn't come this time...
Shen Tang has brought out five scholars this time, a truly impressive lineup.
Kang Shi led his mobile squad, also serving as mentors to the young men like Yu Zilin and Feng, helping them gain experience. The main force consisted of Jiang Sheng, Xun Zhen, Liao Jia, and Gu Chi. The others remained behind, stationed in the counties and towns within the prefecture's jurisdiction to prevent surprise attacks.
Originally, he planned to take Qi Shan with him on the trip, and Shen Tang was used to Qi Shan accompanying him on military missions. However, given that the relationship between the three of them and him was not very harmonious, and they would bicker every now and then, their casual conversations would be accompanied by a "barrier that blocks Qi Yuanliang"—as the lord, Shen Tang could not force the relationship between them to be sweet and harmonious unless his subordinates had actually started to fight.
After much deliberation, it was decided that Chu Yao, Qi Shan, and Ning Yan would stay behind to look after the house, while Gu Chi would fill the remaining spot.
Actually, it's convenient to take Gu Chi out with you. If we catch a big fish and capture him, it will be easier to interrogate him with him around.
Gu Chi heard the two whispering and pursed his lips.
My lord is not just angry.
She has clearly revealed her true nature.
What she just said was merely the tip of the iceberg of her swearing repertoire. When she actually started hurling insults at someone, the force of her attack was no less than a raging storm. How could she be so gentle? Nevertheless, the people on the city wall were still so enraged by her vulgarity that they nearly fell over.
_(:з」∠)_
It's all booked. It's the second surgery this morning, hehe.
God bless, the surgery went smoothly.
P.S.: There was a bug that forgot about Liao Jia. Patch it!
(End of this chapter)
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