“Ah???”
Upon hearing the order, the Xuzhou soldiers were momentarily dumbfounded.
They were still three hundred paces from the ford.
Even for a martial general blessed with extraordinary strength, shooting an arrow three hundred paces with a treasured bow would leave it with virtually no killing power.
Such warriors were exceedingly rare to begin with.
As for ordinary soldiers like them, their effective range was only thirty to fifty paces.
Firing from this distance was basically the same as throwing arrows into the river.
“What are you all standing around for?”
Seeing the soldiers hesitate, Cao Bao felt that his authority was being challenged and angrily shouted:
“This is a military order! Immediately—at once—fire at those Yellow Turbans! Shoot! Shoot them hard!”
In the first place, he had only come to probe the enemy.
In Cao Bao’s understanding, a probe was a feigned attack.
A feigned attack meant pretending to attack.
Pretending to attack meant scaring people.
Therefore, a probing attack simply meant coming over to frighten the enemy a little.
With the two sides separated by three hundred paces, there could be no better way to put on a show.
“We obey!”
Seeing that Cao Bao was on the verge of losing his temper, the Xuzhou soldiers snapped back to attention.
They raised their bows, nocked arrows, drew the strings, and sent the arrows flying into the river ahead.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
“What are they doing?”
When Zhou Cang saw the Xuzhou fleet stop, he had already prepared himself for battle.
But the scene before him completely defied understanding.
Stunned, he blurted out:
“Are they messing around?”
The surrounding soldiers looked equally bewildered.
“…”
Faced with Zhou Cang’s question, none of them knew how to answer.
“All troops, hear my command!”
After wasting several thousand arrows, Cao Bao shouted once more.
The Xuzhou soldiers immediately tensed up, assuming that the real assault and landing operation was about to begin.
“Withdraw!”
“…”
The soldiers fell silent on the spot.
With numb expressions, they turned their boats around and rowed back the way they had come.
“General Zhou, the Han army is retreating?”
“I think they are?”
Facing the young officer’s question, Zhou Cang stared at the departing vessels and frowned.
“This may have only been a probing action. We cannot afford the slightest carelessness. Otherwise, we would not only betray our lord’s trust, but also fail our families.”
“Rest assured, General Zhou. We will not slacken our vigilance!”
…
Hour of Si, Yuncheng.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thunderous beating of war drums, accompanied by mournful horn blasts, echoed across the land as Yuan Shu’s army launched a major assault.
Under Xun Zheng’s command, fifteen thousand soldiers from three battalions crossed the moat—which was no more than ten paces wide—in an orderly advance, surging toward Yuncheng like a tide.
“They’re coming!” Pei Yuanshao’s expression tightened as he shouted:
“Trebuchets! Archers! Prepare!”
“Awaiting your command, General!”
A hundred trebuchets inside the city stood ready at all times.
One junior officer shouted loudly in response.
Creak—
Hundreds of archers also drew their bows, and the sound of bowstrings tightening instantly filled the city walls.
“Release the trebuchets!”
The moment the Yuan forces entered a hundred-pace range, Pei Yuanshao issued the order.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A signal flag waved.
Immediately, two hundred soldiers below pulled hard on the ropes.
The mechanisms securing the crossbeams were released, producing a series of thunderous reports.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Stone projectiles shot skyward, screaming through the air as they were hurled from within the city.
“Look! What’s that?”
A Yuan soldier outside the city spotted the flying stones overhead.
Fear appeared on his face.
“Stone shot! Take cover!”
Bang! Bang! Crack!
“AAAH!”
As the stones crashed down one after another, soldiers who failed to dodge tried desperately to survive by hiding behind their shields.
Their efforts were as futile as trying to stop a chariot with a praying mantis’s arms.
In an instant, both shields and men were smashed apart.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The stone shot struck the earth with overwhelming force.
The impact sounded almost like an earthquake.
Though the casualties inflicted upon Yuan Shu’s army were not especially severe, the psychological pressure they created was immense.
“Loose arrows!”
The bombardment did not stop the Yuan soldiers.
Countless troops continued pressing toward the walls.
Several hundred soldiers advanced while sheltering behind heavy shields.
Under their protection was a massive battering ram fashioned from a huge tree trunk, heading straight for the city gate.
Its purpose was obvious.
However, the South Gate had long since been blocked by countless massive stones.
The battering ram could accomplish nothing.
“So that is the rebels’ trebuchet?”
The tremendous commotion caused by the stone projectiles naturally did not escape Yuan Shu’s notice.
Watching the giant stones continually flying through the air, his eyes burned with excitement.
“These rebels do have some tricks up their sleeves.”
“But such a magnificent siege weapon…”
“To leave it in the hands of bandits is truly a waste of a priceless treasure.”
“Soon enough, it will belong to me.”
“Then let me see who still dares oppose me!”
The Yellow Turbans possessing trebuchets was hardly a secret.
However, this was the first time Yuan Shu had personally witnessed their power.
And after seeing it just once, he immediately set his sights on this formidable siege weapon.
For he had also realized that, compared to the power of these stone projectiles, the imperial army’s stone-throwing machines seemed little more than toys.
“The Left General is wise indeed!”
Standing beside him, Zhang Miao inwardly counted himself fortunate.
Had he not fled early back then, he likely would have ended up sharing the same fate as Wu Zi.
As the Yuan army’s archers, protected by shield-bearers, returned fire at the city walls, more and more Yuan soldiers reached the foot of the walls and attempted to scale them using siege ladders.
“Men! Feed the Yuan army some shit!”
While carefully observing the battlefield, Pei Yuanshao loudly issued the order.
“Yes, General!”
The soldiers, who had long been eager for this moment, immediately responded.
Their eyes practically gleamed with excitement as they ladled spoonful after spoonful of golden juice—boiling liquid manure—and poured it onto the Yuan soldiers below.
Splash!
“AAAH! It’s so hot—no, wait, it stinks! What is this stuff?!”
“It’s burning me alive! Ugh… it reeks!”
“Damn it! It’s liquid manure! Hot—too hot!”
“…”
The Yuan soldiers climbing the walls were completely caught off guard by the sudden shower from above.
The foul liquid drenched them from head to toe, scalding them and causing cries of agony to erupt everywhere.
It was now late February.
And with noon approaching, the boiling golden juice was far more effective than it had been during the previous winter.
“Kill them!”
Some Yuan soldiers, overwhelmed by the stench covering their bodies, became hesitant.
Others, however, were consumed by rage.
Instead of fearing the manure, they only became more determined to storm the walls and take revenge.
Splash!
What they had not anticipated was this:
No matter how they tried to climb.
Even when using heavy siege ladders.
The moment they poked their heads above the battlements, they were greeted by another ladle of steaming, foul-smelling manure.
Bang! Bang!
Splash!
The soldiers protecting the battering ram naturally became priority targets.
Every time they approached the gate and struck it, another round of excrement rained down upon them.
“These damned villains!”
Watching countless soldiers withdraw with burns from the boiling manure, Xun Zheng’s temples bulged with rage.
Grinding his teeth, he shouted:
“Pass down my orders! The wounded are not permitted to retreat! Manure may stink, but it won’t kill anyone! Today, Yuncheng must be taken!”
This was also Xun Zheng’s first encounter with golden juice.
He had no idea how dangerous it truly was.
Believing that it posed no mortal threat, he ordered the army to continue the assault with full force.
“We obey!” The junior officers shared Xun Zheng’s opinion.
After saluting and accepting the order, they immediately went off to boost morale and urge their troops forward.
After issuing his commands, Xun Zheng still felt somewhat uneasy.
He therefore rode to the central command to report the progress of the siege to Yuan Shu.
“As expected of Yellow Turban bandits!” Yuan Shu’s face darkened.
“They resort to nothing but despicable tricks.”
“You have done well.”
“Go and tell the soldiers this: if Yuncheng is captured, I will spare no reward.”
“The first man to scale the walls shall receive a reward of one thousand gold!”
— The end of the Chapter–
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