...
Shen Tu Jia's troops were remnants from the battle of Yinling, with a total strength of less than two thousand men, and this time he sent a thousand men to charge.
The soldiers carried the long ladders and rushed over, shouting as they went. They then easily placed the ladders on the top of Guangling City, and the soldiers climbed up one after another.
Shen Tu Jia had a vague premonition that something was wrong. The Chu army was too calm, which meant that a great general must be in command!
Sure enough, just as his troops were about to climb the city wall, the number of Chu soldiers who were originally sparsely stationed on the city wall suddenly increased several times over!
The densely packed Chu soldiers, each carrying a large stone, rained down a storm of stones upon the enemy troops attacking the city below.
The advantage of defending a city is that you can use gravity to kill the enemy. Arrows are too wasteful for defending a city; rolling logs and stones are the most commonly used weapons in city defense battles.
"Get out of here!" Shen Tu Jia shouted, his voice trembling with tears.
A series of screams rose and fell, and the soldiers at the front, especially those on the ladders, suffered heavy casualties.
However, the deaths of hundreds of soldiers also yielded the intelligence they wanted: Guangling City was indeed heavily defended, and unusually so.
"Could it be that the Chu army is bluffing?" Ying Bu frowned after hearing Shen Tu Jia's report. After careful consideration, he realized that five thousand soldiers in Guangling City could achieve that effect, since Shen Tu Jia only sent one thousand men to attack the city, and only five hundred actually climbed the ladders to the city walls, and there were even fewer ladders.
The key point is that the Chu army had absolutely no need to use so many men to ambush Shen Tu Jia's small force; they were almost too crowded to fit on that section of the city wall.
"How about we send more troops to launch a full-scale attack on the city? With our 100,000 troops, sending 10,000 soldiers should be enough to find out exactly how many Chu troops are in Guangling."
Cheng Hei also found this matter strange. If there were really so many Chu troops in Guangling City, why not take the opportunity to wipe out Shen Tu Jia's forces? Ying Bu ordered him to meet up with Shen Tu Jia, but he only sent a small number of troops as a perfunctory gesture. The Chu army, being on high ground on the city wall, could see everything clearly.
"Then let's each contribute five thousand?" Ying Bu had this idea in mind.
“Good.” Cheng Hei readily accepted; this was a golden opportunity to earn merit.
If they could capture Guangling ahead of time, or find out the true situation within Guangling City, they could cross the river with peace of mind.
Of course, this is on the premise that Xiang Yu's main force was indeed trapped by the main force of the Han army in the Juchao-Liyang area; otherwise, they wouldn't dare to do it even if they had ten times the courage.
"And what about your subordinate?" Shentu Jia asked Ying Bu.
"General Shen has just finished a battle, so you should stay and guard the camp. Oh, by the way, we're probably short of siege ladders, so could you please help us build some more?" Ying Bu said with a smile.
"Yes." Shen Tu Jia had already anticipated this outcome, so he didn't show any displeasure. At least this time, the true strength and weakness of the Chu army would definitely be ascertained.
After some discussion, Ying Bu and Cheng Hei decided to attack the city early tomorrow morning. They were tired from marching today, so they could rest and wait for news from Guchao.
Many people are sleepless tonight, including Liu Ji and Lady Qi.
Although Xiang Yu and the main force of the Chu cavalry were surrounded in Juchao, Liu Ji's camp was quite close to Juchao. Many people believed that Xiang Yu would raid Liu Ji's camp tonight to capture the king first.
Lu Ze, Zhou Bo, Chen Ping, and others were all well-prepared, maintaining a seemingly relaxed but secretly vigilant stance. If Xiang Yu dared to come, he would surely have no chance of escape.
In addition, Chen Ping has already ordered all armies to prepare to cross the river and attack Jiangdong in two days at the latest.
As for Juchao and Liyang, the strategy Chen Ping and others had initially discussed was that if Xiang Yu were trapped in Juchao or Liyang, they would surround them with a large army without attacking, and then send troops to attack Jiangdong.
Anyway, they have a lot of soldiers. Even if they besiege each city with 100,000 men, it would be easy to send 200,000 troops to Jiangdong. Let Xiang Yu defend the city if he wants. In half a month, the entire Jiangdong will be flattened. At that time, how can Xiang Yu have the face to live in the world?
As dawn broke, the Chu army inside Juchao City slept soundly. The idea of raiding the camp was just the Han army's imagination; Xiang Yu had never arranged such a tactic.
Chen Ping had been working hard all night, and Liu Ji had just gone to sleep. Lü Ze and Zhou Bo were extremely frustrated. Tens of thousands of soldiers had been outside in the cold all night, but this was the result they had expected.
But who can be blamed for this? To put it bluntly, they were all too afraid of Xiang Yu and too eager to capture and kill him, so some preparations were necessary.
Fortunately, the main task of the Han army today is to prepare ferries and rafts, and the defensive fortifications have been completed, so even if Xiang Yu leads the main force to break out now, he will not be able to do so.
In this way, Liu Ji and the others could rest assured and catch up on their sleep, while waiting for good news from Wu Rui's army in Jiangnan.
Tomorrow we will cross the river to fight. If Wu Rui's army can capture Tongling today, they can attack the Chu army defending the riverbank from both land and water, which is equivalent to announcing the successful landing ahead of time.
There are three main routes from Fanyang to Jiangdong, but two of them require crossing mountains: one passes through the Huangshan Mountains and the other through the Kuaiji Mountains. Only the route along the south bank of the Yangtze River is relatively easier to travel.
However, this road along the river is also in the gap between the river and the mountains. Some of the ridges extend almost to the riverbank, and in the slightly wider areas, there are two cities blocking the way.
One is Chiyi, which has already been captured by Mei Xuan, and the other is Tongling.
Limited by the terrain, neither of these two cities is very large, but their locations are extremely important. If these two cities are not captured, the barbarian army can bypass them through the valleys of the low mountains. Even if the Chu army does not ambush them in the valleys, they can still cut off their retreat after they pass through. This is a major taboo in military strategy.
Of course, if the main force of the Han army on the north bank could successfully cross the river, it wouldn't matter if this route of retreat was cut off. However, Wu Rui dared not place all his hopes on the Han army, nor could he be certain that Xiang Yu had no preparations in Jiangnan or Jiangdong.
If Xiang Yu's main force hadn't been besieged in Juchao, Wu Rui would never have dared to send troops to attack Tongling and enter Jiangdong; otherwise, he would have been asking for trouble by having too many soldiers and too long a life.
Although the situation looks very promising now, Tongling is the gateway to Jiangdong, and it's not so easy to take it. We can only try our best.
Just as Wu Rui was feeling uneasy about the heavy losses in this battle, the siege of Guangling was already in place, and a major battle was about to break out!
Chapter 75 The Decisive Battle of Jiujiang (Part 4)
Guangling City was divided in two, with the line connecting the east and west gates as the boundary. The north side was attacked by Ying Bu's Huainan army, while the south side was attacked by Cheng Hei's Zhao army. Shen Tu Jia was given a glorious task: to prepare ferries and rafts.
"Your Highness, the strategist sent a letter saying that we should surround the city without attacking and cross the river directly. Do we still need to attack this city?" Cheng Hei had only recently learned about the battle situation in Guchao.
"Attack! Of course we'll attack. What if we manage to take it? Since Xiang Yu is already besieged in Juchao, what do we have to fear? Anyway, it will take time to prepare the ferry. Let's launch a probing attack as planned, making it look like we're attacking the city, which will also lull the Chu army on the other side into a false sense of security."
Ying Bu felt that it was worth the gamble of using 5,000 troops. He thought about it all night and realized that Xiang Yu really didn't need to put too many troops in Guangling City. Wouldn't it be better to put all those troops on the south bank?
Holding Guangling was of little significance to Xiang Yu. His main objective was to draw away their army. Without Guangling, the anti-Chu coalition at Guchao would have gained another 100,000 troops, putting Xiang Yu in an even more passive position.
Therefore, Xiang Yu would not have many troops in Guangling City. To spend a large army besieging the city would only fall into Xiang Yu's trap of attracting troops. Taking it directly would be the best option.
In fact, Cheng Hei also thought it was worth a try, but due to Chen Ping's orders, he had to remind Ying Bu so that if Liu Ji blamed him in the future, he could shift the blame onto Ying Bu.
This mistake is nothing to Yingbu, but it could be troublesome if he were to be held accountable.
Ying Bu could naturally guess Cheng Hei's little scheme, but with a formidable enemy at hand, there was no need to pursue such a trivial matter.
"Then this humble general will obey His Highness the Prince of Huainan's orders. Please give the order, Your Majesty," Cheng Hei said respectfully.
"Send the order! Attack the city!" Ying Bu waved his hand.
Thump thump thump...
As the war drums sounded, armies from all sides rushed toward the city walls, their speed increasing rapidly.
"Kill them!"
"Charge!"
However, the Chu army on the city walls remained motionless, much like Shen Tu Jia's attack on the city yesterday.
Sure enough, just as the attacking soldiers were about to climb to the top of the city wall, it started raining stones again.
"ah!"
"Well……"
...
However, Ying Bu and Cheng Hei both smiled upon seeing this, because the Chu army's formation was clearly not as dense as Shen Tu Jia's. Who could be fooled by such a bluff?
The battle intensified. The Chu army hurled stones, while the allied forces retaliated with arrows. However, the Chu army was well-prepared, with almost every soldier carrying a shield. Although these shields were made of wood or rattan, they were quite effective.
The allied forces couldn't keep firing arrows indefinitely. After a while, they had to send their soldiers up the city walls. They couldn't keep shooting arrows while sending soldiers up, as it was too easy to accidentally injure them.
The two sides fought back and forth, attacking and defending fiercely. As time went by, the allied forces suffered increasing casualties, and Guangling City seemed to be in imminent danger, but they just couldn't take it.
"Your Majesty! Our five thousand soldiers are almost wiped out. Should we continue the siege?" Hao Hu ran up to Ying Bu, panting heavily.
"Huh? They've been wiped out?" Ying Bu looked at the Chu army on the city wall, which was clearly dwindling in number. He figured they would be able to take it down soon, and it would be a real shame to give up now. "Notify Cheng Hei that each of the two armies should send another 5,000 troops to take Guangling in one fell swoop!"
"Here you go!"
...
Cheng Hei's side is in a similar situation. Compared to the number of Chu troops who initially went up to defend the city, they are now half as many. With a little more effort, they should be able to take it down. Ying Bu's order is exactly what he wanted. It's just a matter of each army sending 10,000 troops. Taking Guangling is not a loss at all.
As a result, the allied forces launched an even fiercer offensive. Guangling City was in imminent danger, and some even managed to climb onto the city walls, only to become corpses as soon as they reached the top.
The battle for Tongling County was also fierce, but Mei Xuan adopted a strategy of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open, thus giving the Chu army a way out.
The two armies fought for a long time until sunset. The Chu army finally could not withstand the fierce attack of the barbarian army and retreated from the east gate. The barbarian army was also exhausted and had no strength left to pursue.
"Pass down the order: it's getting late, the army should camp in Tongling for rest." Mei Xuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although the casualties were relatively high, they had finally captured the city as they had hoped, and they could give an explanation to Wu Rui and the King of Han.
"Here you go!"
...
Not long after, Wu Rui, who was on the warship, learned that Mei Xuan had captured Tongling and happily sent someone to inform Liu Ji.
This increases the chances of the main Han army crossing the river west of Wuhu tomorrow.
Tongling is located east of Wuhu. Although there is a mountain range between the two cities, the mountains are sparsely distributed and many roads are passable. As long as we send out more scouts to explore the way, we can avoid being ambushed by the Chu army.
"This great battle between Chu and Han is finally coming to an end, and the world will finally be at peace. Facts have proven that my choice was right," Wu Rui said with emotion.
His betrayal of Xiang Yu and defection to Liu Ji was also due to his good personal relationship with Zhang Liang, and because Xiang Yu was too powerful, and the State of Chu was too powerful. If Xiang Yu were given another two years to develop, even if all the feudal lords of the world united, they would not be a match for him.
But Liu Ji was different. He wasn't very strong, and he was quite old. How many more years could he keep going, no matter how ambitious he was? After defeating Xiang Yu, all the feudal lords in the land could develop for a long time, and the land would naturally be at peace.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on achieving your wish. By the way, Your Majesty, now that General Mei has captured Tongling, will Your Majesty spend the night in Tongling?" Gongshang Buhai asked, bowing.
"No need, let's stay on the boat tonight." Wu Rui waved his hand, actually quite enjoying living on the boat.
"Let the army rest well, and tomorrow they will move out with the main force of the Han army," Wu Rui said again.
"Yes, sir." Gongshang Buhai bowed and accepted the order.
Meanwhile, the battle in Guangling also ended, with the allied forces giving up.
Ying Bu's face was grim. Five thousand after another five thousand, a total of ten thousand elite soldiers were lost or wounded, yet they still couldn't break through Guangling.
"King of Huainan, our army has suffered over nine thousand casualties. What about yours?" Cheng Hei had just learned the exact number.
"Our army is about the same. Sigh, the Chu army is really a tough nut to crack." Ying Bu sighed.
"Uh, King of Huainan, have we fallen into a trap set by the Chu army? How could the Chu army, with such a small force, hold out for so long?" Cheng Hei was also impressed; the Chu army's performance today was no less impressive than that of the Zhao army defending the city during the Battle of Julu.
Ying Bu frowned. "Could the Chu army be inferior to the Zhao army? The walls of Guangling are tall and sturdy. It would be strange if the Chu army couldn't even hold it for a day."
"Of course, we misjudged the situation somewhat; the city's defenders outnumbered us more than we anticipated. However, the Chu army should be exhausted from today's battle. If we continue our attack tomorrow, we will surely be able to breach the city in one fell swoop."
"Huh? Still fighting? What if the Chu army holds out for another day? Your Highness, in my humble opinion, let's follow the King of Han's orders and cross the river to fight tomorrow. If we can reach Kuaiji Commandery and capture Danyang City, wouldn't that be a much greater achievement than capturing Guangling?"
At this moment, a soldier came to report, "Your Majesty! The Chu army has shot over a declaration of war!"
When Ying Bu received the challenge letter, he was both angry and amused. "Xiang Guan, the garrison commander of Guangling, said that today's battle was inconclusive and invited us to fight again tomorrow. How arrogant!"