BSI Chapter 99 Speed is of the essence in war
Chapter 99 Speed is of the essence in war
At the third quarter of the hour of Yin (3:45 AM), just as dawn was breaking, there was already movement in the camp.
The soldiers were woken up one by one by their squad leaders. They were all in high spirits, clearly having prepared themselves mentally for the battle that morning.
They didn't cook; instead, they ate the dry rations that had been prepared beforehand: two wheat cakes and a piece of pickled vegetable each, which they tucked into their pockets and swallowed with the cold water from their water bags.
Li Sheng stood outside the tent, gazing at the first hint of dawn on the eastern horizon.
"General, it is now 3:45 AM."
Liu Wu emerged from the darkness, fully armored, his steps steady.
"All battalions have completed their assembly."
"Any new information from the scouts outside the city?"
"The last wave of scouts has just returned, and all the government troops' outposts outside the city have been eliminated. The enemy has not been alerted."
Liu Wu paused, then lowered his voice.
Li Sheng nodded.
He walked to the front of the line and silently scanned the dark mass of people.
Two thousand soldiers stood in neat formation, their armor gleaming dimly in the night. Behind them, nearly a thousand auxiliary soldiers carried ladders, battering rams, and trench bridges, the weapons swaying slightly on their shoulders and emitting dull creaks.
In this battle, he used up all the resources of the Taiping Army, leaving only eight or nine hundred men for Li Feng to guard Xiapi City.
No one spoke at that moment.
Li Sheng raised his right arm and swung it forward.
The army moved out silently.
The group traveled eastward along the official road on the south bank of the Sishui River. The road surface under their feet was made of rammed earth, which felt particularly heavy after being wet with night dew.
Li Sheng rode his horse in the middle of the procession, with Liu Wu and a dozen or so personal guards beside him.
The vanguard was a select elite force, personally led by Liu Wu. Everyone was gagged, their horses' hooves were wrapped in cloth, and even their swords had their scabbards wrapped with strips of cloth, for fear of making the slightest sound.
The army marched at a considerable pace, with scouts spreading out three hundred paces ahead of the main force, like an invisible net filtering through every inch of land.
The sky was already beginning to lighten.
The city walls were sparsely lit.
The city wall of Xiaxiang County is about three zhang high, and it is made of blue bricks, which makes it look particularly heavy in the night.
The torches on the south gate tower swayed in the night wind, and the soldiers guarding the city huddled behind the crenellations, dozing off with their spears in their arms.
Beneath the city wall, inside the barbican, several meters underground, a large vat lies quietly buried in the ground.
This is the method of "listening to the earth".
This is an old tactic used by the defenders.
The mouth of the vat was covered with cowhide, which was covered with a thin layer of ash. Experienced veterans could put their ears to the mouth of the vat and hear the vibrations coming from the ground. The sound of horses' hooves, footsteps, and even the movements of carriages and horses in the distance could not escape the vat.
The veteran on duty at that time was a man who had been a soldier for over ten years.
He was pressing his ear against the rim of the jar.
Then he heard something.
Very light, very far.
It sounded like someone was pounding the ground with their fist in the distance. Once, once, and again.
His brow furrowed.
He held his breath and pressed his ear even closer.
Something's off about that sound.
Those were footsteps. The footsteps of many people.
He suddenly raised his head, his forehead beaded with cold sweat. He nimbly scrambled out of the ground and burst open the door to the night watchman's room.
"Squad leader! There's movement outside the city!"
The city gate guard was dozing off with a wine jug in his arms when he was startled by the shout and almost rolled off his couch.
"What's all the commotion? Why are you making such a fuss!"
"The listening jar! Sergeant, there's movement inside the listening jar! The sound of many footsteps, coming from the west, at least a thousand people!"
The captain rubbed his eyes, his expression changed slightly, but he quickly relaxed.
"Thousands of people? You must have misheard. The sentries outside the city report that everything is safe every two hours. If thousands of people were to sneak over, how could the sentries not see them?"
"But the squad leader..."
"Alright, alright."
The captain waved his hand impatiently.
"Your jar is always picking out rats or stray dogs. Last time you said there were cavalry outside the city, but it turned out to be a caravan of merchants driving donkey carts. Don't make a fuss, just keep an eye on things when you get back."
The old soldier opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was silenced by a glare from the captain.
He had no choice but to retreat dejectedly, return to the listening jar, and lie down to listen again.
Perhaps he was worrying too much.
But the footsteps were getting closer and closer.
outside the city.
It is 500 paces from the city wall.
Li Sheng's vanguard has already reached this position.
As dawn broke, the outline of the city wall became clearly visible. The row of crenellations, like the teeth of a ferocious beast, looked particularly menacing in the morning light.
"General."
Liu Wu rode back from the front, lowering his voice.
"The forwards have reached their designated positions, but there has been no response from the city walls."
Li Sheng looked up at the city wall.
The torches were still burning, and the shadows of the defenders were faintly visible; there was no sign of disturbance.
"Take another two hundred steps forward."
Li Sheng's voice was very soft.
"Have the auxiliary soldiers prepare their equipment and await my command."
"promise."
The group continued moving forward.
Four hundred steps.
Three hundred steps.
Two hundred steps.
When the distance was reduced to two hundred paces, there was finally movement on the city wall.
A soldier peeked out from behind the crenellations, squinting as he peered out of the city. It was still dark, and all he could see was a mass of dark shadows moving below the city walls.
He rubbed his eyes and glanced at them again.
That's not a shadow, that's a person!
He opened his mouth wide, wanting to shout, but his throat felt like it was being choked by something, and he couldn't make a sound.
A moment later, a sharp scream shattered the silence before dawn.
"Enemy attack!!"
"Bandits!!"
The city was in an uproar.
The garrison was awakened from their sleep. Some ran to the city wall shirtless, some couldn't even find their weapons, and some tripped and fell in the darkness. Curses, shouts, and the clash of weapons filled the air.
But Li Sheng didn't give them any time to react.
"Attack the city!"
"kill--!"
The war drums beat and the bugles sounded.
Two thousand soldiers surged toward the city wall like a tidal wave, with auxiliary soldiers carrying ladders and battering rams at the forefront.
The siege ladder was over three zhang long and required more than a dozen people to carry it. The auxiliary soldiers shouted in unison as they erected the ladder and placed it on the city wall.
By the time the first ladder was set up, Li Sheng had already reached the foot of the city wall.
He held a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right, stepping onto the first rung of the ladder.
The defenders on the city wall finally reacted; some began shooting arrows downwards, while others hurled stones and logs. Arrows flew past their ears, striking their shields with dull thuds.
Li Sheng did not stop.
He leaped onto the rampart and slashed down the guard who was still drawing his bow and shooting an arrow.
Blood splattered, and the soldier screamed as he fell off the city wall.
Li Sheng stood firm on the city wall, his left hand holding a shield to protect himself, while his right hand slashed left and right with his ring-pommel sword. Before the defenders on the city wall could react, he had already cut down three of them.
Behind them, Taiping soldiers climbed over the crenellations one by one and jumped onto the city wall.
Liu Wu also climbed up another ladder, and he led dozens of elite soldiers to fight along the city wall towards the south gate.
The outcome of the battle on the city wall was almost a foregone conclusion.
The defenders were startled awake from their sleep. They didn't even have time to put on their armor, and they were still holding the spears they had been carrying during their shift the night before. They were completely unable to put up any effective resistance.
Some tried to rally and resist, but Li Sheng's knife was faster than their reaction.
A quarter of an hour.
From the moment the first ladder was erected on the city wall to the complete collapse of the defending troops, only a quarter of an hour had passed.