Chapter 289 Delivering Messages

Outside the west gate of Luoyang, a hanging basket is hanging down.

Guo Jia's body was curled up in the city, and the defenders on the city pulled the ropes.

The rope is connected to the round wheel on the boom, and the basket rises smoothly.

After Guo Jia's body, the accompanying guards and servants, a total of seven people, climbed up the city.

As for their carriages and horses, they were naturally seized by the Guanzhong soldiers.

Outside the west gate, Gan Ning reined in his horse and looked around, raising his head to gaze at the crane that was more than two meters long. He then looked at both sides of the tower, where cranes were also arranged, but these cranes were facing the inside of the city.

Gan Ning thought about it and asked his attendants, "Is this the Mohist art of attacking and defending a city?"

The dozen or so military officers around were also puzzled. It was during the pre-Qin period when various nations were fighting each other and the frequent sieges promoted the development of siege and defense equipment.

Although there were occasional rebellions and refugees during the Han Dynasty, and there were also city attacks and defenses, the main types of warfare that developed were siege warfare, and city defense warfare was mostly confined to the border counties.

What kind of decent siege equipment could the various Hu peoples in the border counties have?

The decline of the border counties is not a matter of one or two days, so in fact, compared with the Warring States Period, the skills of siege and defense of cities by all parties are far behind.

When Gan Ning saw the crane, he reacted instantly. This was a device to counter his own ladder attack tactics. It could lift huge rocks and wooden beams to repeatedly destroy any equipment close to the city wall.

Luoyang City was too big, and even with Xiahou Dun’s troops, they were still unable to fill the city walls.

However, Luoyang’s city defense was complete, with a moat with abundant water.

Seeing that the surrounding military officers could not come up with a decent opinion, Gan Ning said: "I don't believe that Cao's army can make so many city defense equipment. There are not many that can be used. Most of them are placed on the wall to intimidate our army."

At this time, a military officer said: "General, we have already mastered the water conditions of the Luo River. Next time we come, we will load the siege equipment onto the boats and not give them time to react. If we attack with all our might, we will surely be able to defeat them."

Others argued: "Cao's army also knew that my navy was strong, so they all retreated to Luoyang City to defend and wait for reinforcements, leaving me no chance to defeat them one by one and annihilate them separately. Now they have seen my army marching across the three rivers. If we fight again next year, there will definitely be hidden stakes blocking the Luo River."

Seeing Gan Ning looking at him, the man said, "If I were Xiahou Yuanrang, I would definitely recruit elite naval forces. I would take advantage of our navy's lack of preparedness and ambush them on both banks. I would then use small boats to seize our transport ships. If we sink many transport ships and block the waterway, our navy would be trapped."

"That makes sense. Record these words and pass them on to the navy."

Gan Ning looked at the others again, and seeing that no one had any suggestions, he said, "Be on guard tonight. With Guo Jia dead, Xiahou Dun might launch a night attack."

"Here!"

Everyone saluted, Gan Ning waved his whip, pulled the reins to control his horse and rushed towards the Pingleguan camp. The other military officers also joined the guards and returned to the garrison area.

Seeing Gan Ning's hundred-plus riders scattering in all directions, Xiahou Dun turned back to look at Guo Jia's body at the west gate tower of Luoyang.

The back half of his head was smashed flat, and the violent shock caused bleeding from all seven of Guo Jia's orifices, with large amounts of blood clotted in his mouth and nose.

Looking at Guo Jia's neck that was almost broken by being stepped on, Xiahou Dun took a deep breath and said, "Behave yourself. When the war stops, transport him back to Xudu for a proper burial."

One of Guo Jia's guards raised his head at this time. Xiahou Dun caught a glimpse of him and looked over: "What's the matter?"

The guard took out a bamboo talisman from his bosom and said in a low voice: "The military advisor has ordered that after his death, we should cut off his head and send it to Xudu by flying horse."

"Ok?"

Xiahou Dun was puzzled, but seeing that the guard did not look like he was lying, he said, "The soldiers from Guanzhong are surrounding the city. It is easy to enter the city but difficult to leave."

The other military officers around were also silent. It was natural that the defenders could not take any action during the day.

But after nightfall, the scouts of Gan Ning's army who were in charge of the siege were very sharp and brave. Any scouts outside the city would be killed or captured if they encountered them. So far, no scout has been able to escape back to the city after the fight.

The enemy scouts would not set up fires or tents at night, but would hide in the darkness.

This kind of secret sentry made Xiahou Dun very passive.

But the guard was stubborn: "I can leave the city through the water gate. The enemy is very brave and will not set an ambush in the water. I can dive out of the city through the northeast valley gate and drift along the river. I will be able to escape the patrol area in one night. When I reach the Luo River mouth, I will search for small boats and return to Xudu in a few days."

After the guard finished speaking, the other four guards also stepped out and bowed: "I am willing to go with you!"

Seeing this, Xiahou Dun, expressionless, instructed the officers around him: "Allow them to leave the city after nightfall, and prepare plenty of food and clothing."

"Here."

The military officer bowed, gritted his teeth to suppress his emotions, and led the guards away with a wooden face. Guo Jia's two servants also followed, carrying Guo Jia's body.

After leaving the city wall, they came to a nearby ruined courtyard. A guard drew out his ring-handled sword and, with a few gestures, removed Guo Jia's head. Two servants took off their clothes, wrapped up Guo Jia's head and handed it to the chief guard. As for the servants, they had to stay in the city to bury the body. If there was a chance in the future, they would dig up the body and transport it back to Xudu or Yangdi for burial.

The five guards also cleaned Guo Jia's head again, and the leading guard even turned over Guo Jia's lips to observe them.

Then he smeared salt on it and said to the other four people, "When we return to Xudu and Cao Gong asks us, we will say it is on the left."

The guards also understood what he meant, which was that Guo Jia's tongue was bitten by his left teeth and was almost bitten into two.

Nearing midnight, the five guards, who had just had a full meal, carried their luggage and Guo Jia's head, and went into the water one by one. Each of them held an inflated sheepskin air bag and began to swim.

Two or three miles out of the city, at the bend of the Caoyun Canal, one of the guards suddenly screamed as he was stabbed by a spear from a puppet Taoist soldier who was ambushing in the ditch.

The second person came next. Thinking that there were archers shooting at them from both sides, the other three took a deep breath and dived into the water to prepare to hide. One of the people who was paddling slower had just sunk into the water when he was stabbed in the waist and abdomen by a spear from a nearby puppet Taoist soldier.

Three people were seriously injured and bled profusely in an instant. The blood dyed the river red and slowly flowed towards the city.

At the water gate, a dozen defenders holding torches saw the water in the Cao Canal flowing red and the dead guards floating in one after another.

The officer in charge counted the number again and again and asked his attendants, "Only three people? Did two others escape?"

"It's hard to say. He might be arrested."

A small leader replied, and also said with emotion: "It's difficult to travel by water."

In order to continue to send out military intelligence, Xiahou Dun had traveled through two waterways, north and south, but was shot and captured by ambushed scouts.

Two of the five people broke through, which can barely be considered good news.

When the military officer brought the news to Xiahou Dun, the other two guards were discovered by the patrol boat fleet.

The two guards immediately abandoned the airbags and sank into the water again.

Three small boats patrolled the river section and repeatedly stabbed with spears and halberds, but in the end they gained nothing.

But the small boat persevered and patrolled downstream along the river, and soon entered the Luo River basin. There were boats at the military garrisons on both sides of the Luo River, and the night duty officers also drove boats for patrol.

Soon the captain of the guards was exposed and thrown onto the deck by the piercing spear.

Another guard returned downstream, went ashore after leaving the fleet's patrol range, and immediately headed towards the Beimangshan area.

Before three o'clock in the morning, Guo Jia's head was once again placed in front of the black bear, along with the dying captain of the guards.

After taking a quick look, Black Bear asked, "Why are you in such a hurry to send Guo Jia's head away? Tell me the reason, and I'll let you go. If you don't, I'll throw you into the Luo River and let you drift back to Guandong."

Hearing Black Bear's Liang Pei accent, the guard captain who was being held by two personal soldiers opened his eyes: "Grand Sima... ahem!"

Seeing that he was choking on water, Black Bear took out a magic berry, and Gao Shun beside him picked it up and stuffed it into the other's mouth.

Almost instantly, the opponent's mental state recovered, the amount of bleeding from the wound decreased rapidly, and a blood scab began to slowly form.

After taking two more breaths, the chief guard smiled bitterly and said, "The Grand Marshal is extremely intelligent and wise, so he must have known it. Why ask again?"

"So, many people in Luoyang City also know about it."

Black Bear raised his eyebrows: "What difference does it make if I know it a few days earlier or a few days later?"

When the captain of the guards was silent, he suddenly heard a breeze behind his head and subconsciously put his tongue behind his left molar.

Lu Bu's heavy fist hit the top of his head. The captain of the guards' eyes widened, his body twitched, and his head drooped weakly.

Seeing this, Black Bear pointed at Guo Jia's head and said, "Return it to Xiahou Dun tomorrow morning."

"Here!"

Another personal soldier stepped forward, took away Guo Jia's head, and retreated with the others.

The black bear rubbed his brows, feeling helpless.

I feel that Cao Cao has already tested his bottom line, and he might be more or less fearless.

Next, Cao Cao’s actions may become even more unscrupulous.

I don’t know if Liu Bei, brothers Yuan Shang, and Liu Biao and his son can withstand it.

(End of this chapter)