Chapter 480 - Merciless (1/2)
Chapter 480 – Merciless
Two days later, Liu Bei's 150,000 soldiers finished producing siege weaponry. Siege towers, trebuchets, ladders, and ten million of arrows.
With such preparation, they marched toward Hongnong City, provoking Zhang Liao's men to a decisive battle.
Ma Chao, the leading commander of Liu Bei Army, held a weapon that did not suit this era.
An arquebus, the firearm that Cao Cao had shared the blueprints to Liu Bei, came into play in this battle.
Although Liu Bei possessed the blueprints and manufacturing methods, due to the unfamiliarity of the production process, only 20 crude rifles were made.
Moreover, the ammunition was limited to 10 bullets per gun, as Liu Bei's men did not understand chemistry or gunpowder recipe. As Liu Bei hated Tong and his yellow turban family, he also disliked taoist priests, who had the production methods of gunpowder.
Because of his bias treatment toward the priests, not many of them were willing to work for Liu Bei.
As a consequence of the lack of educated population, Liu Bei's forces suffered from their empire's slow research and productivity, unable to build advanced weaponry fast enough for sudden war.
Still, thanks to Xu Shu and Pang Tong's insight, they had already instructed their blacksmiths to build blunt weapons for their cataphracts and heavy footmen.
They knew that Tong's soldiers were sporting heavy armors, so ordinary spears and halberds would not be able to kill these men easily. Maces and hammers were a better solution to fight against knights.
With half-done preparation, Liu Bei was looking forward to crippling one of Tong's legions, so the others could have the courage to rebel against this emperor in the open.
”Surround the city! Cut off their chain of supplies!”
Ma Chao immediately used the number advantage to seal the city, hoping to starve Zhang Liao's men.
150,000 men divided into three regiments, 50,000 men each, and barricaded Hongnong City west, east, and south gates.
Per Pang Tong's instruction, he intentionally left the north open, so Zhang Liao could flee toward the north. Had the latter done so, his army would get sandwiched between the Yellow River, Hongnong City, and Liu Bei's armies. Then, they would become a sitting duck, waiting to be slaughtered.
The 50,000-man regiments also served another purpose, baiting Zhang Liao to leave the city. Since Zhang Liao only had 50,000 men, he should not be able to sortie with all of his men to cripple one of the regiments.
Tong had done this before when Han Fu's men had attempted to surround Tong's fort. Because Han Fu's men spread out too thin, Tong sortied and finished off one of the regiments, causing critical damage to the sieging army.
Being aware of such tactic, Pang Tong would not allow his men to suffer from such a basic stratagem.
Also, Ma Chao, Liu Bei, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu disguised themselves as reserve soldiers, hiding behind the main regiments. This was to prevent Zhang Liao from assassinating their important officers.
The three regiments completed their formation within 3 hours. Yet, the Monster Legion inside the city had not shown any sign of movement. Only their banners fluttered, and their garrisoning soldiers on the wall looked at them in solemn.
All routes but the north had been sealed. Liu Bei and Pang Tong looked at the city, waiting for the reaction of Zhang Liao and Li Feihong.
They did not attack the city right away. Instead, he wanted to intimidate Zhang Liao and Li Feihong with their number.
If possible, Liu Bei wanted Zhang Liao and Li Feihong to betray Tong and surrender to him!
”Send an envoy. Ask them to open the gates and surrender, or we shall begin the siege.”
Pang Tong accepted the order and sent his men right away.
The messenger approached the gate by himself and shouted toward the defending soldiers.
”OPEN THE GATE AND SURRENDER!! LORD LIU BEI HAS PROMISED THAT WE WILL TREAT ALL PRISONERS FAIRLY!! WE WILL NEVER EXECUTE ANY PRISONER OR CAPTIVE SOLDIERS!!”
The garrison soldiers looked down upon them, but none of them uttered a voice of protest.
Ten minutes of awkward silence passed. Yet, no one replied to the messenger's demand.
The messenger treated the awkward silence as a refusal. He turned around and prepared to leave.
At that moment, the creaking sound of moving metallic doors was audible. The bronze gate behind him opened.
The messenger looked back in delight, believing that Zhang Liao had surrendered.
However, what came out of the gate shocked the messenger and everyone in Liu Bei's forces.
They were former Liu Bei's officials and civilians, who still believed in Liu Bei's leadership. These peasants slowly walked out of the gate and headed toward Liu Bei Army.
One of the officials reached out for the messenger and bowed to him, ”General Zhang Liao has told us to evacuate from this city if we still want to follow Lord Liu Bei, so we won't get caught in the battle. I hope that Lord Liu Bei can accept us.”
Unable to respond, the messenger looked back toward the main army, asking for help with his gesture.
Pang Tong noticed that. He galloped his horse forward to talk with the leaving officer himself, which exposed his identity in the process.
The strategist approached the official, ”What's going on!?”
”We're former subordinates of Lord Liu Bei! General Zhang expelled us from the city since we're not willing to join him in this fight. Please help us!”
Pang Tong widened his eyes and gazed at the crowd, who was waiting to leave the city.
”So, Zhang Liao won't surrender?”
”He asked us to deliver you a message. He said that he would fight to the very end, but he did not want to get the bystanding innocent involved in this fight.”