Chapter 52

Chapter 686: Defending Hanguan! (3)

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"Come down, come down!"

Fang De shouted at the soldiers blocking him halfway up the ladder.

As the ladder became useless, the archers on the city walls concentrated their fire on the gate. With the crossbows and strong bows focusing on the center, the enemy soldiers clearing the way for the ram were mowed down like rotten straw.

"Kyaah!"

The battlefield was filled with the screams of the Guanxi soldiers. They tried to shelter from the rain of arrows behind the shield bearers, but the strong bows were the problem.

Thud!

While a shield might block a regular arrow, there was no defense against a strong bow. The strong bow arrows pierced through the shields and impaled those behind them.

When the strong bows on the city walls fell at regular intervals, it was possible to dodge them by luck. But now, the strong bows were concentrated in the center.

The Guanxi army, which had previously attacked without fear of death, now showed a different face, milling about in a disorderly manner.

Unable to bear the sight of soldiers being cut down without even a proper fight, Huang Baozhong gave the order.

"All troops, retreat!"

Hoooo! Hoooo!

With the sound of the retreat horn, the Guanxi soldiers began to retreat in a panic.

As the Guanxi army retreated, the soldiers on the walls of Hanguan cheered in victory.

"General, the enemy is retreating!"

Han Hao reported the retreat of the Guanxi army to Luo Xi. Luo Xi nodded with a satisfied expression but did not let his guard down.

"Send three thousand more soldiers to assist Gong Dai."

Luo Xi, not intoxicated by victory, prepared for the next battle.

"They should be given a break in the next battle to avoid any discontent. And the rest of the soldiers should take turns resting."

* * *

'It’s not a cloth wall (布?) but a wooden wall (木?)...'

Huang Baozhong fell into deep thought after repelling the attack.

"Luo Xi... His name stands alongside mine, but I didn’t expect him to be this good."

"I, a military advisor, beg for forgiveness from my lord. As a Guanxi military advisor, I failed to see through the enemy’s strategy, which is a capital offense."

The advisor bowed deeply, pleading for forgiveness. But Huang Baozhong shook his head.

"Even I, who have spent my life on the battlefield, have never seen such a strategy. Who would have thought to set up wooden walls on the city walls?"

Huang Baozhong fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Advisor, devise a strategy to counter the enemy’s tactics!"

"My lord, the enemy used wooden walls to increase the height of the city walls, making our ladders useless. We should calculate the height of the wooden walls and build ladders three or four feet longer to reach the top."

"Is it that simple? Have you considered that the enemy might raise the wooden walls even higher?"

"My lord, it’s easier to build longer ladders than to raise the wooden walls. Of course, the longer the ladder, the more it might bend under the weight of the soldiers. But the height of the wooden walls cannot be increased indefinitely."

Huang Baozhong nodded.

"Very well. Prepare to raise the ladders as quickly as possible so we can attack again."

"I will follow your orders."

While the Guanxi army was building longer ladders to reach over the wooden walls, the Luo Xi army was preparing for the next battle.

It took half a day for the Guanxi army to reorganize and launch another attack. This time, they brought ladders that were even longer...

The Guanxi ladders began to reach the city walls, piercing through the rain of arrows.

'That’s it, that’s it!'

The advisor confirmed that the ladders were higher than the wooden walls on the city walls and inwardly rejoiced. The archers and strong bows would not be able to block the soldiers climbing the walls.

During the lull in the archery, the ram could clear a path.

Here, the second strategy of Jin Gong began.

"Wave the red and white flags."

At Luo Xi’s command, strange objects appeared on the city walls.

Men holding long wooden poles, as long as a spear, with short poles tied horizontally at the end, like a halberd, pushed the ladders.

"The ladders are falling!"

Each time a ladder fell, Huang Baozhong’s expression hardened.

'Is this Luo Xi’s strategy? Or is there someone else?'

Despite the overwhelming numerical advantage, the Guanxi army was repeatedly repelled by Hanguan, a frustrating situation.

Luo Xi, with his small force, used ingenious strategies to repel the Guanxi army, leaving Huang Baozhong curious about the source of these strategies.

"My lord, I have no face to show you. I didn’t expect the enemy to prepare such strategies..."

"I am also angry. I am so furious that I could go mad, but beating you and the generals will not change the situation."

Huang Baozhong shook his head.

"We need to change our approach. Withdraw the troops."

"Already?"

"We have already been defeated twice by ingenious strategies. The morale of the troops must be low. Continuing the fight will only increase our losses. Raise the retreat signal."

The retreat horn sounded again, and the Guanxi army retreated.

The faces of the Luo Xi army’s generals, who had won two consecutive major victories, were filled with smiles.

"A great victory, a great victory!"

Zhang Mu clasped his hands and congratulated Luo Xi. Luo Xi also seemed in high spirits.

"The retreat after less than half an hour of the attack... I can only imagine Huang Baozhong’s expression right now."

"He must be scolding the generals with a bitter expression. Hahaha! It’s a shame I can’t see the enemy commander’s face up close."

Everyone expressed their regret at not seeing Huang Baozhong’s frustrated face.

At that moment, Jin Gong appeared, leisurely playing a flute. He walked with a confident stride.

Indeed, it was not surprising that he appeared so confident.

His strategies had repeatedly succeeded, repelling the enemy with minimal losses, and the generals looked up to him.

"General, as promised, now retreat to the rear for treatment."

"Hmm...!"

"Are you planning to break your promise?"

"A promise is meant to be kept. However, Gong Dai, you have accepted two strategies. What about the next ones?"

Luo Xi had not considered the battle without him. He was afraid that the morale of the soldiers would drop if he left.

Jin Gong, with a serious expression, requested to take over.

"Two of my strategies have succeeded, and I have two more prepared. They will also succeed. For the next four days, Hanguan can be defended even if you leave."

"I understand. Let it be so."

Luo Xi had no choice but to nod. Even if he were in Huang Baozhong’s position, he would have no solution to the current situation.

The only option was to pour in more troops, but even if they overcame Hanguan, the defenses of Luoyang would not be easy. He also had to consider the possibility of a battle with the Guandong army.

The Guanxi and Guandong armies were allied but could not communicate due to the interference of the flying horses of Lü Bu’s army.

* * *

While the Guanxi and Guandong armies continued their tedious battles at Hanguan and Sushuiguan without knowing each other’s status,

Lü Bu led his army to attack the supply lines of the Guanxi army.

"I wish I could break through Dongguan and attack Huang Baozhong from behind."

Lü Bu seemed unsatisfied with just attacking the supply units. Guo Jia clasped his hands and tried to calm him.

"Is it not true that the nature of a battle is only revealed when the lid is opened? What if there are many troops left in Chang’an to guard the supply lines?"

"That would be good. I haven’t had a proper cavalry battle in a long time."

Indeed, Lü Bu’s strength lay in cavalry battles. Siege and defense were not to his liking. However, he knew that the probability of Guo Jia’s suggestion was extremely low.

On the contrary, Guo Jia secretly believed it was highly likely.

"You can expect it."

"Ha! How many guards could there be, and how strong could they be?"

"General, the Guanxi supply lines start from Chang’an. Would they entrust the long supply line from the west to the east to weak guards? Don’t underestimate Huang Baozhong."

Guo Jia’s words made Lü Bu laugh.

"Those are welcome words. After all, if the supplies don’t arrive on time, it will be impossible to control so many soldiers. With such a large amount of supplies, there will be many bandits targeting them..."

"The Guanxi supply officer, Si Jian, did not know who was guarding the supply lines starting from Chang’an. They are likely to be the elite troops favored by Huang Baozhong."

Guo Jia, knowing that his next words would please Lü Bu even more, continued with a smile.

"General, given the nature of the long supply line, the guards are likely to be cavalry. Moreover, they must be strong, so the only elite cavalry unit that fits this description is one."

"Which unit?"

"The Red Arrow Cavalry."

At the mention of the "Red Arrow Cavalry," Lü Bu burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! I haven’t