Chapter 163 A Grain of Dust

The next morning, the air was foggy again.

Near the mouth of the Jingshui Canal, boats are connected to form a floating bridge.

Black Bear stopped beside his horse, watching the soldiers of Yang Qiu's army leading their horses across the bridge.

The flow of the Jing River is large, so a floating bridge is needed here in Yang Qiu.

The vanguard of Duan Wei's troops on the north bank of Baiqu were all cavalry. They abandoned their baggage and tents, jumped into the canal on horseback, and were able to cross the river.

When the fog cleared, the new coalition forces were stationed to the west of Chiyang City.

Ma Wan climbed up the city wall and looked around, and saw another army crossing the river at the floating bridge on the Jingshui River upstream in the distance.

Under the city, behind the curtain.

Black Bear sat in the main seat, with Zhong Yao on his right and Duan Wei on his left. Below Duan Wei was Yang Qiu, and below Zhong Yao was Pang De.

In the open space in front of the curtain, Yan Xing and Zhang Heng's troops were disarmed and only given shields and digging tools, and were digging trenches.

While digging into the trench, the prisoners also collected surrounding wood and built arrow shields on both sides of the trench.

The dug trenches will be covered with wood for support, and then covered with grass bundles and loess to completely hide the trenches.

The craftsmen accompanying the camp also began to make siege equipment, and Zhang Heng was just the appetizer for the coalition forces.

Only by capturing Ma Wan and taking all of Fengyi can this coalition force become deterrent.

"Report~!"

A messenger stopped his horse in front of the curtain and shouted, "General Cheng Yin, the General who suppresses the enemy, wants to see you!"

Yang Qiu stood up and saluted: "General, I am willing to guarantee Cheng Yin."

Duan Wei looked at Black Bear sideways and said, "We have already sent out the arrows, but Ma Wan is unmoved. Why not ask Cheng Yin to send out the arrows as well to put an end to Ma Wan's hopes."

"What the old general said makes sense. Today we intend to show the might of our army. If it is not possible to persuade Ma Wan to commit suicide, it can at least inspire the heroes in the city to take up arms."

After Black Bear finished speaking, he looked at a military officer in front of the curtain. The man quickly stepped out, grabbed an idle horse, turned around and went to find Cheng Yin to pass on the message.

Then there was only the soothing rhythm of drums inside the curtain. Black Bear didn't speak, and everyone else was also very patient.

There's really nothing to talk about now, since we don't know each other well.

Only after taking down Ma Wan can we start to determine the right to speak on the division of Ma Wan’s inheritance.

It's a pity that no one can replace Gan Ning in defending Tongguan at present, otherwise we can build ladders and attack with heavy armor.

But there is no need to rush, as four trenches are advancing towards Chiyang.

The moat was only about a hundred steps long. After it was dug to the foot of the city, it was like the shape of the Chinese character "而", which facilitated the quick and safe passage of officials and soldiers. Bags of sand could be transported to the foot of the city and piled up to make slopes.

Siege equipment must be built, as well as trenches and earthen ramps.

Chi Yang is already in a desperate situation. If Ma Wan doesn't know what's interesting, someone will make him know what's interesting.

However, Ma Wan couldn’t quite understand the moat outside the city, and subconsciously thought that they were going to dig a tunnel to attack the city; he thought so, and so did the defenders in the city.

Only when they realized that the trenches were used to transport sand did they truly despair.

Even though Cheng Yin and Cheng Yi led the knights to arrive at the battlefield first to express their stance and shot arrows to persuade them to surrender, Ma Wan remained unmoved.

At this point, Ma Wan is still looking forward to Hedong Yuan Tan.

From the afternoon onwards, the troops surrounding Chiyang dispersed and set up camp along the east bank of the Jing River in order to obtain supplies.

But their general still stayed with Black Bear, watching the progress of the prisoners digging trenches.

Some captives have begun to set up arrow shields a dozen steps below the city wall. Some crossbowmen among the Qingzhou soldiers are wearing heavy armor and have taken the initiative to step forward to shoot at the crossbowmen on the city wall.

This part of the Qingzhou soldiers are Taishan powerful crossbows, and they were mixed into the Qingzhou soldier system.

From time to time, injured crossbowmen who were shot by arrows were transported down. As long as the heavy crossbow was vacant, the Qingzhou soldiers would take it and go to the shield to shoot at the defenders.

This situation did not last long, because some veterans under Pound's command also spontaneously formed a team and went forward to suppress the defenders.

They are all veterans and will not shoot arrows easily.

Arriving at the shield, each one waited for a reliable shooting opportunity.

Duan Wei counted briefly and found that as it was getting dark, about fifty wounded soldiers were carried down.

Although these people were wearing heavy armor and the arrow wounds were difficult to penetrate deeply, making them easy to heal, no one knew whether the arrows shot by the defenders were normal arrows or poisoned arrows.

What shocked him was that Black Bear sat there motionless, showing no emotion at all towards the fifty veterans who were most likely to be completely killed.

What’s even more terrifying is that even though some people kept being shot by arrows and retreating, there were still Qingzhou soldiers rushing forward.

Brave and not afraid of death.

As night fell, bonfires were lit in the western part of the city.

The prisoners who took turns to rest continued to dig trenches, and Black Bear also replaced a team of Qingzhou soldiers to guard the position.

Inside the curtain, mutton soup is cooked.

The generals and main leaders of all parties are here, especially Duan Wei. He just tricked and coaxed Zhang Heng into death yesterday. Black Bear let Duan Wei return to the camp, and this old man may not dare to go back.

Out of various precautions, these generals were more like hostages and stayed here with Black Bear for the night.

Just like during the day, Black Bear did not take the initiative to mention the plan for post-war order in Guanzhong, and these people did not ask.

While eating mutton soup and wheat cakes, these people started chatting and looking forward to the future.

Everyone seems to be filled with joy about the unification of Guanzhong.

In this situation, the black bear is not in a hurry.

Ma Wan's head can effectively increase his voice.

Before eating the horse, any negotiation would be a loss for him.

Duan Wei and his men were not in a hurry about this. Perhaps, in their eyes, the fortified city of Chiyang was not something that the Tiger Tooth Army could easily break through.

The longer the stalemate lasts, the Tiger Tooth Army's deterrence and voice will decline.

In the second half of the night, these people finally couldn't help falling asleep, and Black Bear had time to hold a siege meeting with Guo Tai and Pang De.

The three of them sat around the fire. Guo Tai was holding a handful of thin wooden sticks, which looked like they were freshly chopped.

Guo Tai also brought a plate of mud that had been roughly shaped into the outline of the city wall. He pointed to the angle between the city wall and the ground and said, "The Chiyang wall is 17 feet high. The soil obtained from digging four trenches is enough to fill the siege slope. It will be filled around noon tomorrow."

For every foot higher the city wall is, the amount of earthwork required increases significantly.

After Guo Tai finished speaking, he began to build an above-ground tunnel with small wooden strips and wood chips. The sides and the top of the tunnel were all closed with wood. He looked at Black Bear and said, "General Qu, the soil in Guanzhong is easy to dig. If we attack Guandong in the future and encounter a strong city, we might as well build a tunnel with wood. We can use the tunnel to transport soldiers to the foot of the city, and then build earth ramparts to cover the left and right wings, so as to fight against the archers on the city. The higher the earth ramparts of our army, the more advantage the archers will have."

"Once the archers in the city are suppressed, we will fill up the moat, build a slope with earth, and then break into the city."

This method of siege is not uncommon. In the past, when the Yellow Turban Army of Nanyang was trapped in Wancheng, the Han army used the tactics of feinting to the east and attacking in the west and building earthen ramps to break into the city.

Today, the Qingzhou soldiers used the shield to shoot back at the people in the city. They were located in a low position and were at a disadvantage when shooting back, so they suffered a great loss.

If there was an earthen rampart parallel to the city wall outside the city and half a zhang higher than the wall, Guo Tai would be confident that he could shoot down the defenders.

Black Bear understood Guo Tai's intention: "Building a corridor with wood can save time, and then build an earthen rampart to suppress the archers of the defending army, and then build an earthen slope... Let's just do this, and build fences on both sides behind the earthen rampart, so that soldiers can be stationed at night."

After saying this, he took out a piece of bamboo paper, picked up a pen and began to draw a blueprint for the future siege.

Guo Tai took the blueprint and nodded repeatedly: "That's right, our army is not afraid of minor injuries. The defenders will have less medicinal materials if they are surrounded. Even if we don't attack the city, we can suppress them with earthen forts and archers, and make the defenders exhausted."

Pang De was curious and leaned forward to take a look. When Guo Tai saw that the black bear smiled at him, he handed the blueprint to Pang De. Pang De immediately felt the oppression of this clumsy tactic.

The less skillful a tactic is, the more difficult it is to avoid once it is implemented.

But if Pound were to carry out this tactic himself, he would have difficulty suppressing the defenders with his archers.

No matter how good the tactics are, they still need soldiers to execute them.

Only archers who are fearless and unafraid of death can truly suppress the enemy.

When archers are shooting at each other, the side that fears death is doomed to be suppressed.

In the early stages of the exchange of fire, there were heavy casualties.

For example, when attacking Huayin, Gan Ning's troops withstood the initial casualties and successfully suppressed the defenders' long-range forces.

Now the Qingzhou soldiers are equipped with lances and heavy armor, and can also carry out bow and crossbow shooting and suppression tactics.

Therefore, the same tactics, when given to different troops, will have completely different execution results.

For example, in the Battle of Wancheng, did the Yellow Turban Army on the city allow the Han Army to build earthen ramparts and slopes?
Suppression must be carried out, but it fails.

After reading the drawings, Pang De smiled bitterly and returned them to Guo Tai.

Black Bear instructed, "The soldiers in the camp are already skilled in formation, so you can practice siege tactics in your spare time. Also, don't rush to capture the city tomorrow, I want to see the effect of the artillery."

There were soldiers in Qingzhou who had participated in the Battle of Guandu, and Liu Ye also sent the drawings of the Thunderbolt Chariot.

However, the more Black Bear looked at the catapult that was pulled and launched by manpower, the more uncomfortable he felt. A catapult required more than a dozen people to pull the ropes to provide power, which made him feel that it was a bit cumbersome and a waste of manpower.

So according to memory, improved drawings.

It was almost an instinct to master the mechanics of leverage, and the artillery carriage was converted into a counterweight projectile vehicle.

Because it is a movable catapult, it is not very tall or heavy, and the projectiles it throws are only about two or three kilograms.

Black Bear didn't have much hope for the newly built catapult.

He just wanted to let Duan Wei, Yang Qiu and others see it along the way, so that they would know that the Tiger Tooth Army was not only brave and ruthless, but also mastered the manufacture of siege equipment.

Simply put, it means telling them not to expect the city to save their lives.

In the city, at Ma Wan’s mansion.

His favorite maiko was performing dance moves in the hall, with rows of candles lit on both sides.

It was as bright as day, and the maiko felt warm in her tight-fitting dark green gauze dress.

Ma Wan drank his wine and began to think about the possibility of rescue from Hedong.

If reinforcements from Hedong don't arrive and the city is captured, the whole family will be killed.

He was not clear about the family situations of Li Kan and Hou Xuan, but he knew that the Tiger Tooth Army only killed Liang Xing and did not kill Liang Xing's descendants.

Even Liang Xing's wives and concubines who had given birth to children were spared, and those concubines and maids who had not given birth to children were separated from Liang Xing's clan.

The Liang family’s wealth was also confiscated, and it seemed that some paddy fields were also allocated.

He couldn't find out any more details.

After the Tiger Tooth Army besieged the city in recent days, Ma Wan’s information channels have been cut off.

To die alone or to kill your whole family, this is always a difficult choice for the person involved.

As for opening the city and surrendering, wouldn't that make it difficult for the Tiger Tooth Army?
After so many years of ups and downs in turbulent times, Ma Wan is very clear-headed and rational.

Now the soldiers on both sides have not experienced a bloody siege, so the hostility of the soldiers outside the city is limited.

Opening the city now can protect most people in the city.

Otherwise, if the soldiers outside the city become increasingly angry and feel proud of their contributions in attacking the city and do whatever they want, then Black Bear and Duan Wei will be powerless to protect Ma Wan's family.

In Ma Wan's opinion, tonight is the best time.

Now the soldiers outside the city did not participate in the siege and had no say in the division of the spoils in the city.

As long as ordinary soldiers do not get involved, their families and relatives will still have a relatively good home.

Having experienced so much, he was not afraid of other officers and military officials of the same level, but he was most afraid of the low-level soldiers.

In their hands, death is more than the end.

Thinking about it, he hooked his fingers and asked the maiko to come to him. He could feel her trembling: "Feed me some wine."

"grown ups……"

The maiko couldn't bear it. The feelings between them were complicated. At this moment, she was reluctant to let go.

"Live well. I am now very angry with Yan Xing and Zhong Yao, and secondly with Duan Wei, Yang Qiu, Zhang Heng and the like."

Reaching out and pinching her oval face, Ma Wan's expression was also complicated, with all kinds of thoughts churning in his mind, and he even wanted to take her away with him.

This thought loomed in his mind, and Ma Wan forced a smile: "I wrote a letter to Black Tiger Teeth. If you give it to him, it will ensure that you have food and clothing."

After saying that, Ma Wan drank alone.

He threw away the golden wine cup and took out two scrolls of silk books: "You must hide the small scroll well, and no one else can know about it. The big scroll can allow you to see the Tiger Tooth Army alive. Stay in the mansion and don't move around."

When the maiko saw Ma Wan's gesture, she could only nod and hide the smaller one close to her body.

Ma Wan was satisfied then, and strode out of the mansion. More than a hundred soldiers were waiting in front of the door, all of them were his relatives and fellow villagers.

These people silently surrounded Ma Wan and climbed to the top of the city wall, waiting for the sky to brighten.

(End of this chapter)