mesbooks Chapter 462 The Ruthless Yu Jin
Chapter 462 The Ruthless Yu Jin
There are no fancy tricks in city sieges; it's all about raw power.
Although the Wei army was powerful and occupied half of the city, allowing them to launch attacks from the city walls, the walls were only so wide that they could not deploy too many troops at once. No matter how many Wei soldiers they had, they could only send a dozen or so men to fight in front while the others stood behind and watched.
Therefore, as long as Wu's fighting spirit remains undiminished, the possibility of Wei defeating Wu from the city walls is extremely slim.
With Guan Xing just outside the city and reinforcements likely to arrive at any moment, how could Wu's fighting spirit possibly wane?
Two days passed quickly amidst the screams and cries of battle between the Wei and Wu armies. In those two days, the Wei army made no progress, while Guan Xing outside the city gradually sorted things out.
First, Guan Xing ordered Sun Huan to lead his troops around the city to meet up with Deng Hong and head to the Dangyang Bianxian area to attack the Wei army's supply lines. If they encountered Zhu Ran, they were to cooperate with him, inform Zhu Ran of Guan Xing's battle plan, and then obey Zhu Ran's command.
After all, Zhu Ran's official rank was higher than Sun Huan's, so it was unrealistic to expect Zhu Ran to obey Sun Huan.
After seeing Sun Huan off, Guan Xing screened the Huang family's private soldiers after he had done ideological work on them. He selected 5,000 men from the tens of thousands of private soldiers to join the army, while the remaining 5,000 men with poor combat ability were assigned to logistics to do odd jobs such as transporting the wounded and building fortifications.
During this time, Sun Quan sent someone to inform the Wei army about the breaching of the city wall. He was worried that the breach would affect the wounded soldiers inside the barbican. In addition, the number of wounded soldiers was increasing and the barbican was too small to accommodate them all. Therefore, he discussed with Guan Xing whether some of the wounded soldiers in the barbican could be moved to the main camp outside the city.
Guan Xing readily agreed and sent men to carry the wounded to the camp to be cared for by Yu Yang.
After two busy days, on the third day at noon, Zhou Cheng suddenly left the city and ran to Guan Xing, saying angrily, "General Guan, something has happened. Yu Jin has gone completely mad after failing to capture the city for a long time. He shamelessly drove the people to attack the city. We don't know what to do. The strategist sent me to ask you for advice."
"What?!" Guan Xing's face changed drastically, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "Has Yu Jin gone mad? How could he be so heartless and insane?"
Without waiting for a reply, he pushed past Zhou Cheng and ran towards the city wall. He climbed up the wall in a basket and was immediately enraged. The Wei army was ordering civilians to climb ladders to wear down the rolling logs and stones for the Wei army. At the same time, there were also many civilians on both sides of the city wall being driven by the Wei army to charge into the Wu army's formation.
Although Wu Jun was reluctant to massacre civilians, he dared not let them attack his own formation, because if his formation was attacked, Wei Jun would likely take advantage of the situation to defeat Wu Jun and seize the city wall, which would have unimaginable consequences.
So Wu Jun had no choice but to kill them, but you could see that their hands were trembling as they gripped their knives.
Guan Xing slammed his fist on the wall and roared through gritted teeth, "Yu Jin, you're dead! Even the Three Pure Ones can't save you, I'm telling you. If I can't kill you, I'll change my surname to yours."
He was truly enraged. Driving the people to attack a city was something only non-Hunters and Xianbei people would do. What difference was there between Yu Jin's actions and those of an animal?
Zhang Zhao said urgently, "There's no point in talking about this now. Let's think about how to solve this. We can't just let it go like this. You have to understand that Jiangling City has three or four hundred thousand people."
Jiangling is the capital of Jingzhou, and it is one of the top five cities in the world today. Its population is even larger than that of Chengdu. Under Guan Yu's rule, it has not been affected by war for many years, and its population has long exceeded 300,000.
As for the time when the white-clad soldiers crossed the river, because Mi Fang voluntarily surrendered the city, Sun Quan took over Jiangling peacefully and did not cause too much damage to Jiangling. Therefore, there are still many people in the city. However, if Yu Jin continues to do this, it is estimated that Jiangling will become a dead city in no time.
Without thinking twice, Guan Xing immediately said, "Notify Lord Wu and ask him to immediately evacuate the personnel and supplies in the eastern barbican to the main camp outside the city. Open all the city gates and barbican gates to let the people escape. I will figure out how to deal with the people on the city wall."
The steps leading up to the city outside the barbican had been destroyed by Sun Quan, so the Wei army could only use ladders to climb the city. Since there were no steps inside the barbican, opening the city gate would have no effect on the defending troops.
"I'll go report to Lord Wu." Zhang Zhao didn't hesitate and started walking away.
Guan Xing didn't delay any longer and quickly went down the city wall to return to the camp. He then found a carpenter to quickly build two slides, each two or three zhang wide, that could be placed on the city wall and the moat, based on the width of the moat and the height of the city wall. He then sent people to push the slides to the battle zone between the Wu and Wei armies on the city wall. When the civilians who were being driven to charge saw the slides, they decisively slid down the slides to escape to the bottom of the city.
Although they encountered ruthless shooting by the Wei army during their escape, the people did not back down but ran even faster. They knew that charging into the Wu army's formation would lead to certain death, while sliding outside the city would offer a glimmer of hope. If you were a civilian, what would you choose?
At the same time, Fei Yi also emptied everything that could be moved from the two barbicans and opened both city gates to allow the people to pass through.
Guan Xing, who opened the city gates, was not worried at all about the Wei army infiltrating the civilians. What was the purpose of the Wei army infiltrating the crowd? It must be to attack the Han army. Guan Xing had already built a tight defensive fortification outside the city. If the Wei army wanted to cause trouble, they could only attack Guan Xing's camp. But if the civilians left the city, they would be exposed to the elements from all directions. Guan Xing did not believe that the civilians would be so stupid as to rush into his camp instead of trying to escape. If they really rushed into the camp, they would not be civilians but enemy soldiers.
In other words, as long as the civilians leave the city, they will definitely choose to flee, thus isolating the Wei soldiers mixed among them. At that time, the Wei soldiers mixed among the civilians will only be able to launch a strong attack on his camp or retreat back into the city.
Since that's the case, what's there to worry about?
With the help of two slides and two city gates, Yu Jin's plan to drive the people to attack the city failed.
But Guan Xing wasn't one to suffer in silence; now that the crisis was resolved, he was ready to retaliate.
After finishing, Guan Xing summoned Fei Yi, Wang Hong, Yu Yang, and others and asked, "Is there any way to contact the spies in the city and find out about Jiang Ji and Yu Jin's situation?"
Fei Yi was startled and quickly asked, "What do you want to do?"
Guan Xing gritted his teeth and said, "Behead him. I'll take five hundred personal guards and sneak into the city to find an opportunity to kill that old thief, Jin."
Fei Yi screamed on the spot as if in shock: "No, absolutely not! Yu Jin and Jiang Ji both have personal guards. If their personal guards can hold you off for even half a quarter of an hour, the nearby Wei army will come in droves to surround you. What is your status and what is Yu Jin's position? It is absolutely not worth it to exchange your life for his life. You must not be impulsive."
Guan Xing was a living Huo Qubing, while Yu Jin was a criminal who had surrendered to the enemy. If Guan Xing hadn't annihilated Lu Xun and caused a change in the world's situation, he might have already been brought back to Luoyang to be punished and beheaded.
Replacing the young commander Guan Xing with a criminal general slated for execution would surely be a welcome move for Cao Wei, including Yu Jin himself. If it succeeded, Cao Cao would probably be laughing in his sleep.
Therefore, this is definitely a losing proposition, and Fei Yi would never agree to it. He opened his arms and stood in front of Guan Xing, saying firmly, "If the general wants to go, he will have to step over my dead body."
Others joined in the persuasion, their voices clamoring and their words converging into one sentence: even if they collectively knocked Guan Xing unconscious, they would not allow him to go.
Sima Wang Hong solemnly said, "Young General, let me go. I have served as the Sima of Nan Commandery for many years and am familiar with all the streets and alleys in the city. I will definitely wipe out that bastard Yu Jin."
He had served in Jiangling for many years and his feelings for Jiangling were deeper than anyone else's, so his hatred for Jin was naturally the deepest.
Guan Xing angrily banged his head against the table several times, using the pain to calmly ask, "Zhu Yi, where is the Wei army's grain hidden? How is it guarded? Is there any way to burn it?"
The Wei army's supply lines to Xiangyang have been cut off by Zhu Ran and Sun Huan. If they can burn the grain stored in the barbican, the Wei army's doom will be nigh.
But...
Zhu Yi smiled wryly and said, "I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult. The grain and fodder are all inside the barbican at the north gate. The barbican is heavily guarded, and it won't be easy to get in."
Guan Xing sneered, "Not necessarily. The Wei army is currently on the offensive and doesn't need to defend. There's no need for them to hold the barbican behind their own side so tightly, is there?"
"Even if the defenses are tight, there may still be a chance. We'll risk everything and never come back. I refuse to believe we can't break into the barracks and set it on fire."
Wang Hong immediately stepped forward and solemnly said, "General, I will go. Give me three hundred elite soldiers, and I will definitely rush into the barbican and burn the Wei army's stored grain."