People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 420 Bloodshed and Sacrifice
A trial of iron and blood began on the top of Jinyang City. Arrows rained down one after another, and the Yellow Turbans on the ladders kept charging forward to try to climb the city wall despite the kerosene, gold juice, rolling logs, and falling rocks of the Wei army. However, even if they worked hard to reach the top, they were greeted by a powerful counterattack from the Wei army on the top of the city.

As for the Yellow Turbans below, most of their attacks were concentrated at the city gates, with countless soldiers gathering in the small area.

Cao's army had made sufficient preparations for this battle, and naturally had long been prepared for the Yellow Turbans' killer move of blowing up the gate. Several days before the Yellow Turbans arrived in Jinyang, the entire city had been completely blocked. Now the gate of Jinyang was actually just a slightly weak wall.

When the soldiers rushed to the wall, they found that the city gate had been blocked by bricks and stones, and the brick and stone wall could not be easily broken by gunpowder.

Once any special trick becomes known to others, its power will be greatly reduced. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the Yellow Turbans to accomplish extraordinary feats such as using gunpowder to blow up doors. Even if the city gates are not sealed, they are often blown open. Inside the city gates are a series of earthen and wooden defense lines, and it is not easy to defeat the enemy's city defenses.

When it became difficult to break into the city, the Yellow Turbans' main attack direction became climbing the city walls.

However, even though the Yellow Turbans were strong, they still had a hard time fighting against high walls and strong cities. The Wei army deployed all of its elite forces on the city walls. Even if the Yellow Turban soldiers climbed to the top of the city walls, they would inevitably fall to the ground in the face of a sudden siege.

After a long battle, as the horns of the Yellow Turbans' retreat sounded, the noise of the battlefield slowly subsided.

After the frontline soldiers retreated, Wang Dang, who was in charge of the army in the rear, was the first to meet them. When the bloodied general in front saw Wang Dang, he panted and clasped his fists and reported: "General, the enemy is well-prepared. Our army has no way to break through the gate. It is also difficult to fight on the city wall. It will be difficult to conquer the city."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dang nodded solemnly, first ordered the soldiers to return to the camp to rest and prepare, and then took the general to the rear.

In fact, Wang Dang could see that the battle situation on the front line was not easy, without the generals telling him. However, this was also within his expectations. Siege warfare has always been extremely difficult. It is common for the weaker side to rely on the city walls and the strong side to consume the enemy's strength. The Yellow Turbans were no exception when facing such a disadvantage.

In fact, when facing city walls, unless there are sufficiently powerful siege facilities and means, the most commonly used means in war has always been siege rather than assault.

When Wang Dang and the generals returned to the rear military tent, the other generals and Ju Shou were also among them. They all looked unhappy, and it was obvious that they all saw that this battle would not be easy.

The general who had just come in wiped the blood off his body, then stood beside the table, bowed to everyone, and began to explain the battle situation.

"After today's probing, I can clearly feel that the Wei army has made sufficient preparations for this battle. Our army has rarely been so exhausted in battle. If we continue to attack, let alone whether we can capture the city, even if we do, we will definitely suffer heavy losses and the gains will not outweigh the losses. Therefore, I suggest that it is more appropriate to adopt a siege strategy against them."

After these words were spoken, everyone looked at each other, looking somewhat embarrassed.

When they came to support, they had already anticipated that this battle might not be easy to fight. The Wei State's desperate counterattack was indeed quite powerful, and it was not so easy to deal with it relying only on the Yellow Turbans in Bingzhou and Jizhou.

Of course, the biggest obstacle is the difficulties brought to them by siege warfare. In the era of cold weapons, city walls are always the most powerful weapons, and even the Yellow Turbans would have a headache when encountering them.

This was not a war that broke out suddenly, but a war carefully planned by the Wei army. The Wei army had made all possible preparations. The Yellow Turbans could certainly rely on their strength to charge forward, but they would also need to bear the expected huge losses.

However, siege does not seem to be a good option. After Wang Dang sat down, he pondered for a moment: "The enemy has already accumulated countless food and supplies. If our army sieges them, how long will it take to wear them out? One month, half a year, or even a year or even longer in extreme cases?"

At this point, everyone was even more silent. The choice they faced was whether to suffer losses and forcefully attack the city, or to spend time fighting a siege.

At this time, a man suddenly stood up. It was Taishi Ci. He slapped the table and started talking.

"Xuan Xia's pace of unifying China cannot be delayed. The leader also said that reform is not a dinner party. There is no cause that can be achieved easily. We soldiers enjoyed eating meat and soup before, but are we not happy when it comes to gnawing bones? I think we should fight, and fight hard, so that the enemy will be heartbroken and dare not look at us again!"

These words were so powerful that everyone's expressions were lifted and they felt the blood boiling in their chests.

Following Xu Chen all the way, they have never been afraid of anything since they joined the Yellow Turbans. They will have no regrets even if they die for their beliefs. There is absolutely no reason for them to avoid a tough battle.

They all remembered the words quoted by Taishi Ci: Reform is not like treating people to a dinner, it requires bloodshed and death!

Even the generals who had just proposed a siege fell silent at this moment.

Wang Dang, the commander-in-chief of the army, would not simply consider the direction of the battle. Whether it was siege or assault, everything depended on the overall needs of the war. Everyone expressed their opinions, and he also came out to finalize the direction in due course.

"Besieging the city is an option, but it is not the one we should choose now. The people in the city are being held hostage by the Wei army, and the situation in Bingzhou is not peaceful. The Wei army can wait for a year or half a year, but we can't."

Everyone nodded when they heard this. At this point, they all knew that Wang Dang had made the decision.

Sure enough, Wang Dang said, "Now is the time to gnaw the bones. Tell the soldiers that until the Wei army and the Xiliang army are driven away, the people of Bingzhou will not have peace. We, the Yellow Turban soldiers, are all soldiers of the people of our country. We will shed blood and sacrifice for our fathers and fellow countrymen. This is our mission!"

For a moment, there was a resounding response in the military tent, and the eyes of the generals present were sharp and resolute, and none of them flinched in fear because of the upcoming tough battle.

After the decision was made here, the direction of the offensive was quickly conveyed to the army. Every soldier knew that this battle would be very long and difficult, and perhaps many people would die here.

After receiving the order, the soldiers accepted it calmly and silently. There was not even a trace of noise in the entire Yellow Turban camp, as if everything was going on as usual.

Death and bloodshed may be terrible, but they are the people's soldiers, and everyone of them is already fully aware of the situation when they go out to fight.

(End of this chapter)