Chapter 43

In the heavy night, Chen Qing gazed at the valley entrance, perhaps the Jurchen general at the valley entrance was also looking at the city from afar.

"Commander, do you think the Jurchen will use unconventional tactics?" Yang Yuanqing walked up to him and asked.

Chen Qing looked up at the dark mountain and nodded, "I've been worried about this since the first day I came to the city. If the enemy launches an attack from above us, how will we respond?"

At this, Chen Qing turned to Yang Yuanqing and said, "Even if objects fall from a height, we can dodge them. I'm worried about the enemy cutting off our water supply. Mobilize the soldiers, find all containers to store water. From now on, except for drinking, cooking, and treating the wounded, all other water usage must be stopped!"

...

Chen Qing's concerns were not unfounded. The next afternoon, a soldier ran up, shouting from a distance, "Commander! Commander!"

Chen Qing stepped out of the door, "What's the matter?"

"You should take a look, at the cave."

Chen Qing led the heads to the water storage cave. Chen Qing touched the moss-covered stone wall, and the water flow had stopped. The spring water flowing into the crack on the other side had also been cut off.

"When did you notice this?"

"Just now, and immediately informed the commander!"

Chen Qing nodded and said to Luo Gan, "It seems your judgment was correct; the enemy has indeed taken action above us."

"I suggest we move the warehouse. It's too close to the stone wall and can easily be attacked!"

Luo Gan didn't say much, but every word hit the point. However, the water issue needed to be addressed first. Chen Qing turned to Yang Yuanqing, "Do the soldiers have any stored water?"

"We started last night. All containers, even helmets that are temporarily not needed, were used to store water. The water pool was almost drained last night!"

Chen Qing saw that the water pool had been refilled, and his heart eased a bit.

At this moment, a commotion was heard outside, and a soldier shouted, "They're coming again!"

Chen Qing led the officers to the cave entrance. As soon as they arrived, a large flaming fireball, as big as a millstone, fell from above, heavily landing on the warehouse roof and bouncing away. Two burning fireballs were seen on the ground in the distance.

One of the fireballs 'Peng! Peng!' exploded continuously, with a loud noise, flames shooting out, and a plume of black smoke rising.

"It's a fire caltrop!"

The soldiers all exclaimed in surprise. They were very familiar with it, a caltrop made of gunpowder.

Yang Hua walked forward, picked up a black particle, and handed it to Chen Qing. Chen Qing took the heavy iron caltrop, which resembled a small chestnut, but with finer and longer spikes that would pierce through the soles of shoes if stepped on.

"This is an iron caltrop!"

Yang Hua said solemnly, "It's a weapon our Western Army uses against the Western Xia cavalry, mainly to target horses. It's scattered after the paper-wrapped gunpowder explodes. However, this iron caltrop is black and not poisoned."

"If it were poisoned, what would happen?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Poisoning is troublesome. Being hit by one or two might not be a big problem, but if hit by many, it could result in serious injury or death!"

Yang Yuanqing added, "It's not that the Jurchen are merciful and don't use poison; they probably don't have gunpowder experts in their camp to reprocess it. They can only use the Song army's captured weapons directly."

At this moment, two more large fireballs were thrown from above, but this time the fireballs were not tightly bound and scattered upon landing. The burning cloth was scattered on the ground, and the iron caltrops inside did not explode.

The Jurchen on top also noticed the problem and stopped throwing fireballs. The soldiers cautiously approached and collected twenty unexploded iron caltrops.

"Commander, there are twenty iron caltrops in total."

The iron caltrops were fist-sized, made of leather paper, with a thin rope for throwing. Chen Qing didn't have time to study them in detail and instructed Zheng Ping, "Take a dozen men to collect the iron caltrops, be careful not to step on them!"

"Understood!" Zheng Ping ran off.

Chen Qing then said to Luo Gan, "We can't evacuate the warehouse in time. You lead the soldiers to seal all the warehouse doors with stones to prevent the fire from reaching them."

"Understood!"

The enemy's intention to use fire was clear: to ignite and burn the warehouse. The iron caltrops were meant to injure the soldiers fighting the fire. Unfortunately, the plan was well thought out, but the reality was bleak. The warehouses were built of stone, and as long as the doors were not set on fire, the enemy's fire attack was meaningless.

Zheng Ping quickly collected over 170 small iron caltrops and about twenty unlit fire caltrops.

Zheng Ping placed a pile of iron caltrops wrapped in cloth on the table, looking down on this weapon.

"In my opinion, these fire caltrops are just for show. They are actually useless. You have to heat the iron first, then poke it into the gunpowder to ignite it, and then throw it, which can only reach about 20 to 30 feet. Each fire caltrop contains only eight small iron caltrops. It's so troublesome. I might as well grab a handful of iron caltrops and throw them directly."

During the Northern Song period, fuses had not been invented, so igniting weapons was always a hassle. On the battlefield, they only served as an auxiliary role and could not directly injure the enemy. Therefore, various weapons had been invented for many years but remained a marginal existence. At first, the explosion sounds, thick smoke, and flames intimidated the Liao and Western Xia armies, but after they got used to it, the Song army's weapons could not stop the Liao and Jurchen attacks.

Unless a barrel of gunpowder exploded, the shock wave and blast would indeed have some killing power, but the cost was not worth it. Gunpowder was more often used to aid combustion rather than to explode.

Yang Yuanqing looked at the weapons and said to Chen Qing, "We should pay more attention to the enemy's activities on the mountain top. They not only cut off our water supply but might also climb down the cliff at night. I'm more worried about the enemy circling around to the south and attacking the southern city!"

"You're right; we must be prepared!"

At this moment, a low horn sounded in the distance, and Chen Qing's face changed. The enemy was about to launch another attack.

A loud rumble echoed in the valley. Soon, a dozen strong oxen pulled five large trebuchets. These trebuchets were assembled overnight by Jurchen craftsmen. Each trebuchet was ten feet high, with a long throwing arm of thirty feet, capable of launching a fifty-pound object two hundred steps away.

Each trebuchet required over twenty men to operate, and dozens of mule carts followed, loaded with various siege materials.

Two thousand puppet troops and a thousand Jurchen cavalry lined up. The commander of today's attack was a Jurchen thousand-man leader named Wanyan Chimu, a trusted general of Wanyan Wulu, skilled in using machinery to attack cities.

Soon, the five large trebuchets were lined up two hundred steps away. On each side of the trebuchets, a large shield was placed. The shields were three inches thick and covered with two layers of thick cowhide, making it difficult for the Song army's crossbows or powerful bows to penetrate them.

The immense pressure loomed over the city. Faced with the five giant trebuchets, the Song army was momentarily at a loss.

Chen Qing observed for a moment and then ordered, "Command the tiger shooters to target the leather straps on the trebuchets!"

The leather straps might be the weak point of the trebuchets, but shooting them down was no easy task.

The trebuchets creaked, and 'Peng! Peng! Peng!'

Five black dots soared into the air, whistling toward the city.

"Quick, crouch down!" Yang Yuanqing shouted.

The soldiers on the city wall lay down. Bang! Bang! The large stones hit the city wall and the top of the city, causing a sound of splintering wood.

"That's not right! They're not boulders."

Chen Qing turned and saw a large wooden barrel completely shattered, leaving only two iron hoops. Dark fire oil flowed all over the ground, splashing onto the city wall and the top of the city.

"Bad, the enemy is using fire!"

Chen Qing shouted as the Jurchen launched their second attack, five large fireballs burning fiercely in the air, carrying smoke and fire toward the city.

The fireballs hit the city, immediately breaking into small fireballs, scattering in all directions. Some ignited small packets of gunpowder, making the fire even more intense.

"Boom!" The city wall was set ablaze, and the soldiers scattered...

Chen Qing watched as the enemy's third attack came, still wooden barrels. He immediately decided and shouted, "All soldiers, retreat from the city wall!"

The soldiers ran down the city along the passage. The five wooden barrels thrown contained fire oil and gunpowder, making the fire on the city wall and below even more fierce, gradually engulfing the top of the city.

The soldiers inside the city also shouted, as the Jurchen on the mountain top threw large wooden barrels filled with fire oil and fireballs mixed with gunpowder...

Soon, the entire Arrow Pass was engulfed in a sea of fire, flames soaring to the sky, thick smoke spreading, and the sound of battle cries shaking the heavens...

"Commander, we can't hold out, let's retreat!" Several heads' faces changed.

"No!"

Chen Qing's eyes blazed with fire, but his gaze was exceptionally firm. He shook his head and said, "Unless we all die, the Jurchen will not step into the city!"