Chapter 8: Weizhou (3) After the initial defeat, the Lulong Army continued to attack the city despite suffering heavy casualties. After the cloud cart was destroyed, they successively used arrow towers, catapults, and battering rams, but none of these had much effect. The arrow towers and catapults could only suppress the defenders on the city walls, but were unable to solve the problem; the battering ram's effectiveness was also poor, as the defenders had completely blocked the gates. After the battering ram broke through half of the wooden gate, it discovered that there were huge stone blocks behind the door, and still couldn't get in, so they could only retreat.

  Li Chengzhong watched the catapult's attack, with over a dozen large wooden arms throwing stones at the city head, but most of them didn't have much accuracy. Those that fell inside the city could still affect the morale of the defending army, while those that fell outside were completely useless. A few lucky stones hit the city wall, but only splashed up dust and had no further effect. However, a few stones fortunately landed on the city head, knocking down several Wei-Bo soldiers, but this was a rare occurrence. Moreover, the stones that could be thrown weren't very large, with the largest being about the size of a person's head; any larger would damage the catapult itself. Li Chengzhong shook his head as he watched, thinking that this thing was far less useful than he had imagined.

  After the cloud car was destroyed, Lu Longjun's reinforcements were not in time, and he could only use the method of wooden ladders to climb the city. The defenders inside the city were very stubborn and had a shocking combat power. According to the few brothers who managed to retreat after climbing up to the top of the city wall, there were two kinds of people on the city wall who were particularly difficult to deal with: one was the Wei Bo soldiers holding silver spears, and the other was the big axe-wielding soldiers wearing green shirts from Bianjun. They fought without regard for life or death, refusing to retreat, and desperately charged forward, even if they lost their spears or axes, they would still rush up and use their bodies to collide, using their teeth to bite, really difficult to deal with.

  Li Chengzhong had not had the opportunity to climb over the city wall for several days. He had pushed the battering ram, guarded the wooden ladder, and witnessed his comrades falling one by one beside him, but he was powerless to do anything. The battle was fierce, and having fought to this point, he had completely merged into it, without any thoughts of a transmigrator's cunning or self-preservation. Not only did the deaths of his comrades beside him make him feel deeply grieved, but also the strict array of the execution squad behind him made him dare not retreat even half a step.

  Fortunately, Li Chengzhong was blessed by heaven and did not suffer any serious injuries. The most he had were scratches on his body, which were caused by the evasive maneuvers he used to dodge arrows, as taught in his previous life's military unit. Jiang Miao, who was always by his side learning from him, also managed to escape unscathed. As for Li Chengzhong's desire to promote this method throughout the army, it was easier said than done. The reason was simple: it looked too awkward. In the words of Captain Zhang Zhong, "It's all rolling and crawling, what kind of dignity is that?"

  After repeatedly attacking Weizhou without success, the army began a long siege.

  After going through such a difficult war, Li Chengzhong was still not used to the days when he didn't fight suddenly. The most common thing everyone did was to look at the knives and guns on the city head from afar, separated by the wooden fence of the military camp, as well as those big flags that were still standing upright in the wind after being smoked black by the war fire.

  There were still about thirty brothers left, and they didn't separate into different groups. When eating, everyone sat together in a circle, chatting about something. Seeing that everyone's brows were furrowed, Zhang Zhongyan and several old soldiers started telling stories about the past when they were stationed in the north of the mountain, or talked about how General Big had defeated the Jin army so badly that they fled in disarray, and as they chatted, everyone's mood slowly relaxed.

  After the atmosphere became more lively, everyone began to enthusiastically offer suggestions on how to attack Wei State. Li Cheng was deep in thought, thinking about various tactics he had learned from his past life's military knowledge, but they all seemed impractical because of the difference between hot weapons and cold weapons. He then started recalling scenes from war movies, frowning as he thought about various tactical terms such as "protracted warfare" and "guerrilla warfare", which didn't seem suitable for this situation; and also "sparrow warfare" and "tunnel warfare"... As he thought, he muttered to himself, repeating the phrases over and over.

  Jiang Miao's eyes lit up beside him, and he asked, "Li Lang, what did you say? Sparrow War? Tunnel Warfare? What is a Sparrow War? Can sparrows fight? Is tunnel warfare digging tunnels? This method isn't bad."

  Everyone nodded in agreement, and Zhang Zhong also patted his own head, saying loudly: "Li Lang is right, tunnel warfare can be done! Our great general was very good at this back then... uh, the great general was very skilled at this, who knows if we'll have to dig tunnels too!"

  Liu Ren'gong was once a skilled grave digger before he joined the army, and all old soldiers knew about his expertise in tunnel warfare. He had used this tactic during battles against the Khitan people of Shanbei and the Jin army of Hedong, with great success. However, Liu Ren'gong was ashamed to mention his past occupation, and Zhang Zhongjian also refrained from speaking about it. Nevertheless, they were more confident that their commander would use tunnel warfare to attack Wei State.

  This strategic plot was not something that a few low-ranking soldiers could influence or understand, and after discussing it for a while, they gave up. However, some time later, the speculation about the Lulong army's use of tunnel warfare to attack the city was confirmed.

  That afternoon, Li Chengzhong and Jiang Miao were summoned to the middle of the Zhongjun Da Camp, along with hundreds of brothers from the remaining five camps who could still see at night. When they arrived at an open space behind a large tent, Li Chengzhong suddenly discovered that there was a sloping entrance on the ground that could accommodate three people shoulder-to-shoulder going down.

  By dusk, thousands of soldiers had gathered around the open space, among them hundreds were dressed in neat uniforms, wearing helmets and armor, holding high-quality swords, although their expressions seemed lazy, but their movements revealed a hint of ferocity. Li Chengzhong listened to an old soldier's introduction that these were all the Grand Marshal's inner guards.

  When the lanterns were lit, a slight commotion occurred outside, and a path was cleared among the troops. A group of generals squeezed in from the path. The soldiers all stood up, bowed and saluted, calling out "Commander-in-Chief!" They all seemed extremely excited.

  Only one of the long-whiskered middle-aged generals came out, wearing a bright silver armor and carrying a long sword at his waist. He turned around in a circle to greet the soldiers, shouting "Bring wine!" A general beside him stepped forward and handed over a bag of wine.

  General Liu Ren gong held the wine bag, remained silent for a moment, and said: "Everyone is a good fellow from Yan land, following certain households to conquer the south, throwing their heads and shedding hot blood, regardless of their lives! In these few days, the war has been unfavorable, causing brothers to suffer heavy losses. Ren gong... owes everyone an apology!"

  The soldiers' hearts warmed up, and they all opened their mouths to say:

  "What a big shot!"

  "How can General say such a thing!"

  "I wish to follow Generalissimo on his southern expedition!"

  "Thanks to General for bringing good fortune and promotion to brothers!"

  ……

  Liu Rengong paused for a moment, then said: "Nowadays, the world is in chaos and heroes are rising to seize power. My family is also helpless, if we don't strive to advance, within a few years, others will come knocking on our door, and the men of Yan can only be slaughtered and butchered by others! Therefore, my family has raised an army of 100,000 to march south, and only by taking over Weibo's land can we make arrangements for the future of all brothers. I hope you brothers are willing to follow me, I am truly grateful in my heart."

  "What an imposing guest!"

  "Although the general gives the order, wherever the command flag points, we are willing to die!"

  ……

  Liu Rengong nodded, pointing to the city of Wei State in the distance and raising his voice: "My Lulong Army defeated Bei State in one battle and besieged Wei State in another. Who is being trapped in the city by us now? It's the so-called elite soldiers of Weibo! It's the invincible Xichuan Army led by Ge Congzhou and He Delun, who are known for their bravery in the Central Plains! Tonight, will you brothers dare to fight to the death with these so-called elite enemies? Can we make some people spend a certain night in the Wei State Military Prefecture?"

  "General, you can rest assured! We will stake our lives on this and let you spend the night in Wei State!"

  "What a fine fellow! In front of us sons and daughters of Yan and Zhao, you are just a lump of dog shit!"

  ……

  Li Chengzhong was also stirred up by Liu Ren'gong's words, and he tiptoed forward in the crowd, shouting loudly: "I've heard that Luo Shaowei's little wife is extremely beautiful, I'd like to offer her to the general as a bed warmer!" Luo Shaowei's little wife was famous for her beauty on the vast land of Hebei, even Li Chengzhong had heard some rumors about it. At this moment, he was carried away by his passion and shouted out loud, instantly provoking a burst of laughter from the soldiers.

  Liu Rengong was also amused, and with a smile, he turned his head to Li Chengzhong's side: "Then thank you, brothers! Come on, pour the wine!" The generals surrounding Liu Rengong threw out more than ten wine bags, which were caught by the soldiers around them. Everyone passed them around, each taking a sip, and soon they had drunk all the wine bags dry. Li Chengzhong also took a big gulp. To be honest, this wine wasn't very good, but in this atmosphere, even the worst wine tasted wonderful!

  After drinking, Liu Rengong waved his hand: "Luo Youji! Someone is waiting for you here!"

  He personally led the vanguard, crawling into the tunnel first, with the elite troops of the Imperial Guard following closely behind.

  Liu Rengong stood guard at the entrance of the tunnel, watching as hundreds of imperial guards entered the tunnel. He went down and patted a soldier on the shoulder. The soldiers didn't even turn their heads, but instead marched in with abandon.

  The Imperial Guard has made its way, consisting of hundreds of Shanbei youths. Li Chengzhong's Jianzuoying is the third batch, and at this time, they are waiting for orders at the entrance of the tunnel. After the front line enters Weizhou, they will continue to advance. At the same time, Liu Rengong issued an order at the entrance of the tunnel, checking that the Baodu Riders and Yinhulu were all outside the city waiting for orders, ready to seize the city at any moment.

  It was unknown how much time had passed when a loud explosion was heard from within the city. The castle's lights suddenly lit up, and under the firelight, swords and spears were densely packed, with flags standing tall. Liu Ren-gong's face changed color, staring at the top of Wei State Castle for a long time before spitting out a mouthful of blood and falling backwards. His subordinates rushed to support him. All they could hear was Liu Ren-gong coughing loudly as he shouted: "Quickly...cough...order the troops to retreat...cough..."

  The generals were busy ordering people to enter the tunnel to pass on commands, while also going to invite doctors to come and treat them. The firelight shone at the entrance of the tunnel, also shining on the faces of the soldiers, everyone's complexion was not good, looking pale under the firelight.

  The five brothers of the Jianzu regiment waiting at the entrance of the tunnel were silent, staring blankly at the city head. Li Chengzhong's heart had also sunk to the bottom of the valley, his mouth agape as if wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

  In an instant, dozens of soldiers covered in mud rushed out from the tunnel, one of whom wailed loudly: "It's all over! The tunnel is flooded, our men are all gone!" This cry finally broke the silence in the camp, and the area around the tunnel was thrown into chaos. Some people were crying, some were coughing loudly, some were shouting in alarm, and others kept asking "What happened?"

  Li Chengzhong also rushed to help his comrades who were crawling out of the pit one after another, and he was anxious in his heart. Everyone waited at the edge of the pit for a whole night, and finally less than 100 people came back! The thousands of Yunnan soldiers and Shanbei children who entered the pit were buried inside, never to see the sun again.

  In May of this year, the Lulong Army dug a tunnel to attack the city, and the Weizhou garrison diverted river water to flood it.