Chapter 381 Battle of Xiapi – Part 1 (2/2)

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

As Xiahou Yuan's soldiers marched forward while they covered their head, stones and logs slammed into the wall. Some of the rocks hit the garrison soldiers on the battlement, killing them from the impact.

Still, a few stray rocks also hit Xiahou Yuan Army. They could feel the impact through their iron shields, and the clanking noise of metal clashing resonated throughout the battlefield.

Xiahou Yuan complained to Cao Cao in the clan chat.

Xiahou Yuan: ”Mengde! Take it easy, will ya!?”

Cao Cao: ”I've already held back. Did you see that I haven't brought out our cannons?”

Xiahou Yuan: ”Screw you! Just let us switch sides right now and use your cannons, dammit!”

Cao Cao: ”Not yet, Miaocai. Pretend to fight for a couple days. Using cannons here will ruin the city and the precious cannons on the wall. I need the county walls and all tools they bought from Zhang Tong.”

Xiahou Yuan: ”You're too greedy!”

Cao Cao: ”Hahahaha!”

For three hours, Cao Cao kept using his range advantage to wither down the number of defending soldiers. Meanwhile, Xiahou Yuan did not move further. He kept staring and defending against stray bullets from the trebuchets.

On the wall top, Yuan Shao's men braced the bombardment. Several soldiers inside the city brought woods and logs to the battlements, building their catapults to counter Cao Cao.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Late afternoon, East Wall managed to build five catapults, and they were ready to be used against Cao Cao's siege weapons. However, Cao Cao withdrew his troops to establish a camp, which frustrated the defenders.

Xiahou Yuan was summoned back into the city along with all of his men at dusk. As Yuan Shao wanted his men to rest, he ordered Xiahou Yuan to protect the east wall tonight.

.

At the west gate, Sun Jian did not have the same luxury as Cao Cao. The defender ground forces launched a counter-attack against Sun Jian Army, which turned into a battle between 10,000 defenders against Sun Jian's 25,000 men.

In the first hour, the 10,000 soldiers zoned the wall area, guarding the perimeter of 200 meters before the gate.

Sun Jian's soldiers did not take out their cannons or used the trebuchets. He probed them with his archers, testing their patience.

His plan worked. After a hail of arrows, half of the ground force charged at the archers.

Sun Jian did not approach the wall like Cao Cao. Instead, he ordered his men to keep retreating backward, drawing the enemies away from the wall.

As a result, 5,000 charging infantries isolated themselves from the other battalions.

Cheng Pu and Sun Jian pincered the stray troopers with their light cavalries, routing them with ease.

Sun Jian's troops suffered casualties of 1,000 men from the pincer attack, but the garrison lost the 5,000 soldiers.

As elites, Sun Jian did not try to pursue or attack the wall again. He reorganized his force and made camps, recuperating his men's stamina and health.

.

The south gate was the most eventful one for the first day of combat.

At the beginning of a siege battle, Yan Liang rode outside and challenged a general from the sieging army.

Huang Gai accepted the challenge, and they fought on horseback.

Both elite generals exchanged 70 blows in the duel, and they called it a draw as they were too tired to continue.

Before Huang Gai could leave, Yan Liang turned around and threw a knife at the opponent. The sharp throwing knife got his back!

Fortunately, Huang Gai's imperial armor was dense enough, and the weapon did not harm any critical organ.

Huang Gai turned around and retaliated by throwing his secondary spear at Yan Liang, but it killed his opponent's horse instead.

In a panic, Yan Liang shouted, asking for help from his men. Ten thousand footmen rushed at Huang Gai and his troops right away.

Han Dang led his troops forward after Yan Liang had cheated the duel. Ten thousand armored infantries rushed at the oncoming defenders, which both sides clashed.

Amid the chaos, Yan Liang and Huang Gai managed to return to their men alive, but both were infuriated by the opponent.

Huang Gai violated Cao Cao's order and commanded his men to bring out the cannons.

On the other hand, Yan Liang got to the top of the wall to check his cannons. He found out right away that the crews did not use the right gunpowder.

All crews on the south wall were arrested and replaced with his men. They managed to secure real gunpowder and repair the cannons on the wall.

Within an hour, Yan Liang's men interrogated the cannon crews and found out about the bribery and a possible sabotage scheme of Guo Jia. Then, Yan Liang sent this discovery report to Yuan Shao in the city, while he manned a cannon to fight against Huang Gai Army.

Huang Gai Army brought their ten cannons forward, and both sides started firing their first rounds of bombardment at the same time.

Huang Gai's cannons aimed at the wall, while Yan Liang's weapons targeted the crowd of soldiers.

The thunderous boom of hot weapons deafened everyone at the south of Xiapi. County wall was slammed by cannonballs, while the soldiers on the field were squashed by mysterious black balls as well.

The battle of south Xiapi lasted till dusk. Both sides lost 10,000 men in a day, but Xiapi southern wall was no longer considered a proper defensive wall anymore.

A few sections of the wall crumbled to the ground. As if someone took a few bites out of the wall, several half-circles were left behind from the cannon shots. The weak parts collapsed, leaving a half-breached hole behind.

Huang Gai and Han Dang were also not in good shape. As their soldiers were shot by many cannon shells, their morale was low, and the generals did not think they could fight with their full potential in this battle anymore.

As such, Huang Gai sent his apologies to Sun Jian in the clan chat and informed him about his failure.