Chapter 61: The Battle of Guishan

  The eyes of the people on the city wall were all focused on Liu Ze, watching to see if he would take advantage of yesterday's remaining courage and kill his way down from the city, leaving not a single piece of armor or helmet of the Xiongnu people.

  Liu Ze smiled slightly, yesterday's success was not accidental, but it was unrepeatable. Faced with the dense and layered Xiongnu battle array, the probability of winning by going out of the city to meet the enemy is zero, unless he had water in his brain, he would think of competing with the Xiongnu cavalry in a field battle. To resist the powerful Xiongnu cavalry, only solid city walls can do it.

  Liu Ze showed a hint of mocking smile to the Xiongnu Left Shanyu who was shouting and scolding under the city, ordering all four gates of the city to be closed tightly, no one was allowed to go out of the city to fight, and the defensive troops on the city wall entered combat state.

  Zuo Xian Wang shouted and scolded at the foot of the city for a while, shouting dry mouth and tongue, and no one responded on the city wall. The anger was even more fierce, and he ordered the army to attack the city immediately. The Xiongnu soldiers abandoned their war horses, carried cloud ladders, pushed against the battering rams, and shouted towards Guishan City.

  Liu Ze didn't idle away for half a year, apart from transporting large quantities of stone to raise the city wall by three feet, he also extensively set up pitfalls under the city wall, dug deep trenches, and built defensive facilities such as abatis and caltrops, none of which were present in the original Guishan City. No wonder it was difficult for the Western Regions countries to resist the attacks of the Xiongnu people, their city defense technology was at least 500 years behind that of the Great Han Dynasty.

  The Xiongnu people attacked the moat, and many had already fallen into the pitfalls. The pitfalls were densely packed with sharpened wooden stakes. As soon as the Xiongnu fell in, their bodies were immediately pierced by the stakes, becoming transparent and hollow, with cries of agony echoing continuously.

  The abatis and caltrops in front of the moat were mainly used to defend against cavalry attacks, but they also caused great obstacles to the advancement of infantry. General Liu Xian ordered the infantry to remove these abatis and caltrops, but their lower ends were deeply buried in the sand, and if they wanted to move them, they had to first remove the sand at the lower end, which required tools and time. However, this area was within the effective range of the archers on the city wall, and as soon as the Xiongnu soldiers approached the abatis and caltrops, arrows rained down from above, and the Xiongnu soldiers with only leather armor were instantly killed or injured in large numbers under the arrow rain.

  Zuo Xian Wang immediately ordered the bow and arrow troops to counterattack, covering the infantry's advance. However, most of the arrows shot by the Xiongnu soldiers fell to the ground before reaching the city wall, and occasionally a few arrows could reach the top of the wall but had lost their power, posing no threat to the defenders on the wall, as the saying goes: "the end of a strong crossbow, cannot penetrate Lu's silk".

  The establishment of these defensive works was the result of Liu Ze's repeated measurements and practice, within the same distance of archery, the arrows shot from the city could just cover this area, forming an effective strike. The city below shot arrows at the city above, due to gravity, it was difficult to effectively shoot into the city. At this time, Liu Ze ordered free shooting, as long as the Xiongnu soldiers in front of the moat became live targets, they had no power to counterattack, and after leaving behind hundreds of corpses, they retreated in disarray.

  The first wave of the Huns' attack was repelled, and the morale of the defending allied forces soared. The Left Virtuous King was furious and whipped the retreating Hun soldiers, regrouping his troops to launch another assault on the city.

  This time, the Xiongnu mostly used the method of holding wooden shields on their heads to defend against the arrow rain from the city. The wooden shields were extremely large and could cover several people, but each person had to hold the shield with their hands, blocking their line of sight and moving slowly.

  Zhang Fei looked at the city and laughed loudly: "Hey, you see, those Xiongnu soldiers are like a tortoise shell crawling there!"

  As soon as he spoke, the people around him burst into laughter. Who had ever seen Xiongnu people advancing in such a turtle-like manner? That time was not riding high-headed horses, whistling and coming like a strong wind, cutting off all life on the way forward, but under Liu Ze's defensive fortifications, they could only advance in this almost ridiculous way.

  Even though the damage caused by the arrow rain on the city was greatly reduced, many Xiongnu soldiers rushed forward, with those in the back pushing against those in the front. The ones in the front were unable to pass through due to the tall palisade, and as they were pushed and squeezed from behind, many people were squeezed towards the sharp end of the palisade, instantly being pierced into their bodies. Blood stained the entire palisade red. The Xiongnu soldiers who climbed over the palisade by stepping on corpses were at a loss when faced with the moat that was several zhang wide. The dense arrows could only find opportunities to hunt down and kill individual Xiongnu soldiers through the gaps.

  After four or five rounds of impact, after filling the trenches with corpses, the Xiongnu soldiers finally had the opportunity to set up ladders on the city wall and launch an attack on Guishan City. However, at this time, the arrow rain was even more dense, and the huge rolling logs and pounding stones that whizzed down from the city walls were even more terrifying. The Xiongnu soldiers under the city were like ants, their lives as fragile as straw, unable to withstand the powerful defense. As night fell, the Xiongnu people were forced to retreat, leaving behind countless corpses scattered all over the place, with no one to claim them.

  Hudun single was greatly stimulated by the arrogant heart, and he personally led the army to launch a fierce siege war on the second day. The battle situation once entered a white heat, and the swarming Xiongnu people indeed brought great difficulties to the defense of Guishan. Under Liu Ze's command, the troops of all ethnic groups were united in their determination to defend the city to the death, repelling the Xiongnu people's attacks time and again. Faced with the increasingly strong defenders, Hudun single was also at a loss, unable to understand why the Western Regions army, which had always been weak and incompetent, had become so tenacious, and his troops had paid such a heavy price but were still trapped under the city and could not move forward.

  For three consecutive days, the Xiongnu suffered tens of thousands of casualties and realized that they could not take down Guishan City by relying solely on strong attacks. They retreated slightly and switched to a four-sided siege approach, attempting to use prolonged encirclement to undermine the defenders' morale and force them to surrender.

  Due to the unprecedented intensity of the battle, the garrison troops also suffered significant casualties. After the Huns retreated, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Liu Ze ordered the treatment of the wounded on one hand and strengthened vigilance on the other. His gaze was cast towards the dark mountain ridge in the east.

  Guan Yu led his troops, secretly advancing on the rugged mountain road near the northern foot of Tian Shan to avoid the large Huns cavalry on the main road. Although this road was bumpy and difficult to navigate, it was less likely to collide with the Huns and safer. After three days of continuous marching, the scouts reported that they were within ten miles of Juyan Mountain. Guan Yu ordered his men to raise the Hun flags and advance towards the Juyan Mountain Hun grain depot in a big way.

  The arrogance of the Xiongnu was written all over the faces of the soldiers guarding the great camp at Juyan Mountain, far from the front lines and extremely lax in their defense, as if no one could have imagined that the army of Guishan City would be able to reach here.

  Guan Yu and the 200 Han soldiers hid in the ranks, and at the forefront of the ranks was a Wusun general disguised as a Xiongnu chiliarch. He loudly ordered the garrison soldiers to open the gate, but the garrison soldiers took half a day to stick out one head and ask which unit they were from.

  "Qianfu Chang shouted: 'We are the vanguard of the Xiongnu cavalry, under the command of Huludun Shanyu. We want to see Right Wise King, open the camp gate quickly.'"

  The soldier said: "By order of General You Xian, to prevent spies from the Western Regions from sneaking in, anyone without a military order is not allowed to enter or leave the camp. Do you have a token?"

  Qianfu Chang shouted: "The Guishan City has been breached by the Xiongnu, what kind of Western Regions spy are you?"

  The soldiers guarding the camp were delighted: "So quickly, the great army has only been on expedition for a few days and has already captured Guishan City?"

  Qianfu burst out laughing and said: "The great army of Xiongnu is invincible, what's the point of mentioning a small city like Guishan? As soon as our army arrives, the enemy will surrender at the sight of us. Isn't this Huhezhe General? He was just rescued by the Chanyu from Guishan and ordered me to escort him to the big camp in Jixia Mountain for safekeeping."

  He waved his hand, and the people beside him helped Huhezha over. Huhezha saw that it was a Xiongnu person and became excited, but his tongue was gone, and he could only make "wu wu" sounds. He also tried to rush forward, but an icy dagger was pressed against his back, so he had no choice but to stand still and not dare move.

  "It's General Huhezhai, it really is him! Ah, why can't General Huhezhai speak?" The soldiers guarding the camp recognized Huhezhai but found it strange that he couldn't speak.

  "Those detestable Western Regions people subjected General Huhe to severe torture and cut out his tongue, beating him all over until he was covered in wounds. The Chanyu has specially ordered us to escort General Hu here to rest and recover."

  The garrison soldiers no longer had any doubts, opened the gate of the camp, and a thousand cavalrymen entered the Jixia Mountain camp smoothly.

  As soon as they entered the camp, several riders came forward. It was the Right Virtuous King of Xiongnu who was patrolling the camp. Seeing a large cavalry rushing into the camp, he frowned and asked: "Who are these people? Without military orders, they dared to enter the camp!"

  The leading soldier said: "General Hui, this is a brother of the Vanguard Cavalry Regiment, who has been ordered by the Khan to escort General Huhe to this place."

  "What? Isn't he dead? Besides, no one is allowed to enter the camp without military orders—" Righteous King glared at the chiliarch and said: "Cavalry Camp's? I think this chiliarch looks quite familiar. Come on, take away their weapons and search them thoroughly!"

  The matter arose suddenly, and the thousand husbands also didn't know how to respond. At this time, Guan Yu patted his horse and moved forward, swinging his knife straight at You Xian Wang. You Xian Wang relied on being in his own camp, with hundreds of guards still by his side, and hadn't made any defensive preparations. He only realized the situation was not good when he saw Guan Yu rushing towards him, but it was already too late. Guan Yu's knife was so fast that You Xian Wang only felt a chill on his neck, and before he knew it, everything in front of him had turned pitch black.

  Guan Yu beheaded the Righteous King with one slash of his sword, and the two hundred Han cavalry under him charged forward at the same time, killing the guards of the Righteous King mercilessly. The guards saw that the Righteous King was dead, lost all will to fight, and fled in a hurry, causing chaos throughout the camp. Guan Yu ordered his troops to stop pursuing and took out sulfur and saltpeter to set fires in various parts of the camp.

  The Jiuyai Mountain camp stored the military rations and fodder needed for the 100,000-strong frontline army. At this time, it was early spring when the wind was strong, and in an instant, flames burst forth, with the fire borrowing the wind's force and the wind increasing the fire's power. The fierce blaze rose to a height of several dozen zhang, while the thick smoke shot straight up into the clouds.

  Guan Yu's goal was achieved and he ordered a withdrawal from Julu Mountain, leaving only the Xiongnu soldiers who were guarding the camp to cry out for their fathers and mothers in the sea of flames.