Chapter 24 - If We’re Going To Do It, Then We’re Going Big (1/2)
Chapter 24 - If We’re Going To Do It, Then We’re Going Big
Original by Bro Got a Gun, Translated by James
Although there were neither guns nor cannons in the era of cold weapon, it had something that weapons could not replace - the reek and sight of blood.
From Cao Cao’s single command, the whole Cao army, like ants, began to rush toward the city walls.
North, South, West and East, all four gates were being besieged. Waves after waves of Cao troops had dyed the walls red with blood.
Although Zang Ba had dismissed his troops, he had been stationed in Kaiyang for a long time. Thus, the defenses of Kaiyang was no worse than Xiapi. In fact, had Xiapi not been protected by rivers on all sides, its defense might not even be able to match Kaiyang’s!
Boss Lu was at the front gate. As for the other three gates, there’s Gao Shun, Zhang Liao and Zang Ba. Their presence managed to keep the morale in place.
Having just finished killing a wave of Cao troops that have climbed the walls, before Liu Mang was able to take a rest, another wave of Cao troops had already climbed up the walls.
Four gates. Each of them were being attacked by twenty thousand Cao troops. Underneath the gates there’s the also the Ferocious Cavalry gazing upon and waiting for their opportunity.
“Kaiyang. Kaiyang!” Cao Cao narrowed his eyes as he looked upon the city in front of him. He had originally thought it to be just a county city in outskirts of Xu Province, never did he imaged it to have defenses comparable to strategic cities like Xiapi. Even though he had the number advantage and the siege tools he was still met with disastrous amount of casualties.
“Fengxiao, do you know who was the originally guarding this Kaiyang?!” inquired Cao Cao.
As if knowing what Cao Cao was thinking, Guo Fengxiao drank his wine and said. “Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao, originally from Huaxian of Mount Tai, his father is called Zang Jie, he had two sons, Zang Ai and Zang Shun. When he was young, he had once gathered numerous people to rescue his father who had committed a crime and had been drifting all over the place ever since. Later entered the service of Tao Qian and was tasked with resisting the Yellow Turbans. With Sun Guan, Yin Li and others, he had gathered soldiers in Kaiyang and created an independent power. In the second year of Jianan, he defeated Xiao Jian and occupied the city of Ju. This led to Lu Bu dispatching his army to attack Zang Ba. After that, the two men reconciled!”
[TL: Second year of Jianan = 198 AD]
[TL: Xiao Jian was Lu Bu’s ally.]
“Zang Ba, Zang Xuangao?!” Cao Cao lowered his head and began to ponder.
“This Kaiyang was originally Zang Ba’s base. Prior to being subdued by Lu Bu, this Kaiyang was the reason why Zang Ba was able to negotiate with Tao Qian!” To be able to transform Kaiyang into something like a capital city, this Zang Ba was certainly a great talent.
“My dear lord, you shouldn’t always think of obtaining talents. You want to obtain Zang Ba too? Well, the South Gate is currently guarded by him. General Xiahou Dun had already dispatched multiple waves against it but was still unable to even reach the city walls!” What a headache it must be for Guo Jia. This lord of his have a disposition for suspicion but also wanted to obtain every single talented individual he met. If it really was that easy to obtain talents, then why would they come all the way to Langye?!
“My lord, this general is asking for permission to enter the battle!” next to Cao Cao, Xu Huang grew anxious seeing that his subordinates had already attacked Kaiyang for so long but was still unable to enter the city.
“Gongming ah!” Cao Cao looked at Xu Huang and shook his head. “Don’t be anxious, it is still not the time yet!” On the city walls of the main gate, there’s a golden armored general standing underneath the radiant suns.h.i.+ne. With his armor glittering, he was like the G.o.d of War! This was Lu Bu, as long as he’s standing there his army will never be defeated.
[TL: Xu Huang’s courtesy name = Gongming.]
How could he, Cao Cao, send forward his generals when Lu Bu had yet to make a move?! Xu Huang, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin and Li Dian were all Old Cao’s top generals. However, none of these people were able to match Lu Bu. If they were to be sent out, Cao Cao would only be presenting to Lu Bu their heads!
Men cannot win against a tiger alone. However, men could use stratagems to win against a tiger - stratagem of attrition! To constantly attack the city, both day and dusk, for Cao Cao had plenty of people! As long as he could kill Lu Bu after tiring him out, then it would all be worth regardless of the amount of casualties!
“Pity that my E Lai is already no longer by my side!” Old Cao had a gloomy expression.
[TL: E Lai referred to Dian Wei. E Lai = Fei Lian’s son and a man of great strength. Fei Lian is the chinese G.o.d of the wind. Hence by calling Dian Wei E Lai, Cao Cao is praising him.]
Guo Jia knew that Cao Cao was thinking of Dian Wei again. In the Battle of Wancheng, Cao Cao lost both his precious son and a fierce general.
The sky gradually darkened. The sun was about to set and both the Cao and Lu soldiers felt a relieve. Unlike modern times, there’s no light in the night other than the moon. Thus, whether sieging a city or fighting a battle, both are usually conducted on daytime.
“Beat the gong to recall the troops!” Cao Cao looked at the golden armored man atop the city walls. Lu Bu, as if knowing Cao Cao was watching him, also looked at Cao Cao. Their two sights met and a spark belonging to heroes of the warring era surged amidst the empty air.
“How’s the casualties?!” Lu Bu asked one of his officer.
“Over three hundred and eighty wounded, one hundred and twenty two dead!” By wounded, the officer meant seriously injured and unable to return to the battlefield. From just a single day, there’s already five hundred casualties. Take into account that there’s four walls, the total casualties would number more than two thousand.
How many people do Lu Bu have? He have less than ten thousand! Can he only last for five days?!
As to the amount of Cao casualties, no one bothered to pay attention to it for there’s already more than three thousand corpses underneath the city walls. But so what if they had more casualties? Cao Cao could afford to waste but Lu Bu cannot!