Chapter 376
Chapter 376 – Kebineng VS Tian Yu
July 17th .
Kebineng and his 12,000 riders reached East Linyu Fort . They stopped to check the fortification that Xu Huang had built for Tian Yu .
Horse traps, spike walls, trenches, and two-meter tall walls stopped Kebineng from having a silly idea . These setups aimed to disable any cavalry attack and force all invaders to use infantries .
Kebineng learned from his past mistakes . He did not want to siege a city by dismounting their best weaponry, the horses .
"Should I go for Linyu County?"
Kebineng hesitated . He wanted to go for the county, but they would be up against 10-meter-tall mud walls instead of 2-meter-wooden walls .
The answer was clear . Kebineng had to deal with this fort to steal supplies, or else, they would not have enough food to return home .
Kebineng made his mind .
"Fire attack . Get torches and any flammable material . We"ll burn this fortress, so we can draw the garrison soldiers outside . We"ll fight them in the open . "
His aide disagreed, "Shouldn"t we attack Linyu County? At least, we can rob Han"s people and plunder from the town folks . "
"I agree with you, but we don"t have a choice . Our force is only good on open field battles, but we won"t have a chance against the Hans if we fight in siege warfare . These cunning people always cower behind the wall . "
"Then, I shall relay the order . "
The riders returned to rest and gathered materials from a nearest hill and forest .
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July 18th .
Kebineng"s 12,000 soldiers each had a torch in their hand . All riders charged at the nearest wooden structure, traps, and barricades to burn them .
The flame ignited, and all spike traps, horse traps, and small fences were burnt . A few riders attempted to throw their torch at the wooden wall, but they fell short .
All of them rallied back and watched the traps on fire .
Half a day later, the defenders did not move out from their fortification . However, Kebineng could see their movements on top of the wall .
Several soldiers were arranging weird carts and lined them toward their hors.e.m.e.n . At a glance, it looked like ballistae, but they lacked bowstrings .
4 PM .
The flame died down, and all traps were clear from Kebineng"s path .
A battalion of a thousand soldiers brought planks to cover trenches while another force pushed a battering ram forward .
The battering ram was a decoy to get the defender force"s attention . His real attack was still a fire attack .
Once the preparation was completed . Two sacrificial battalions rushed forward with their planks and battering ram . As Kebineng expected, the garrison archers unleashed their arrows at them .
"Charge! Throw the torches at the wall! Burn it down!"
The remaining 10,000 riders rushed forward with another wave of the torch run .
Once they got to the range of 300 meters before the wall, strange sounds and white smoke came out from the top of the wall .
*SWOOSH*
*SWOOSH*
*SWOOSH*
Long arrows came out from the weird carts in succession . Within five seconds, one of them fired over a hundred arrows at the hors.e.m.e.n .
On top of the walls, there were over 30 carts, which rained over a thousand arrows in an instant . Combined with the defender archers, which numbered about 5,000 on the wall, the arrow wall terrified Kebineng and the Xianbei light cavalries .
Ten thousand arrows rained onto the hors.e.m.e.n . Even though they had anti-arrow leather armor and silk cover, they could not escape this many arrows at once .
Before they could reach a hundred meters in front of the wall, 3,000 chargers fell down in one volley!
"KEEP CHARGING AND THROW YOUR TORCHES!"
7,000 Riders threw their torches at the wall and retreated from the wall . During their withdraw process, the archers on the wall did not stop shooting at them . As a result, another five hundred riders fell .
The battering ram reached the gate, and the survivors of the battalion began hitting the wooden gate with it .
*CLANK*
A jar of lamp oil hit the wooden log . Afterward, a defender returned the favor by throwing a torch of their own .
The battering ram caught fire, and the 500 survivors of the battalion retreated along with the riders . As for the plank squads, they had completed their jobs and fell back to regroup with Kebineng .
8,000 Soldiers remained after the attempt to take down the wall, which they had half-succeeded . Flame spread on the short walls, and the defenders were busy trying to extinguish the fire .
Kebineng squinted his eyes to observe the garrison forces" reaction . The weird carts had been carried down away, and all soldiers seemed to have abandoned the wall .
Realizing that the enemy had abandoned their defensive walls, Kebineng had a high hope in this raid .
5 PM .
The sun almost set, but Kebineng had not finished yet . He was waiting for the wall to collapse .
"All units, get on your horse and get ready . We"ll charge into the fort once their wall is no more!"
As Kebineng had predicted, the two-meter-wall collapsed in the next five minutes .
"CHARGE!! THE WALL IS DOWN!! BREACH IT!!"
All 8,000 soldiers rushed into the fort, hoping to fight the defenders on the ground, which they had the advantage . All of them brought out their spears, blade, and their heirloom to this battle .
Half a minute later, the first battalion breached through the collapsed wall section and got inside the fort . As soon as the troops entered, the thousand-man commander of the force shouted in panic .
"RETREAT!! THIS IS A TRAP!!"
Inside the fort, there was another layer of fences, trenches, and horse traps . Behind the defensive structures, watchtowers, siege towers, and over 5,000 archers stood ready .
Rain of arrows showered on them in an instant, which wiped out the spearhead team .
The second battalion could not stop the charge on-time . Another group of hors.e.m.e.n entered the fort and got slaughtered as well .
The third and the later battalions managed to stop after they heard the loud commotion and the anomaly . Kebineng ordered a full-retreat this time .
"This won"t do! Come back! Regroup and fall back, now!"
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Tian Yu watched the invaders retreat with a sigh . He did not like his performance today .
He used the hwachas very late because he did not understand their usage . By the time he could use it, the enemies already burned all of the outer barricades .
Tian Yu also could not bring all hwachas to use on-time . He only used 30 of them instead of all 50, which he was disappointed .
Then, he planned to trap Kebineng Army in his fort maze and wipe them out so that the threat would be eliminated for good .
Unfortunately, the execution was too hasty . Tian Yu could have drawn more troops inside the second layer block before he signaled the arrow shower . Also, their reaction was fast enough to avoid the maze inside .
Within the East Linyu Fort that Xu Huang had constructed, there were five layers of the wall . Each layer served as a decoy and a disguise for another layer inside .
On the first layer, it was arranged as a standard trap field to defend against a raid from hors.e.m.e.n . Since they were up against barbarians, which excelled in horsemans.h.i.+p, they would be a food had they not prepared to fight against cavalries .
The second layer was a wither-maze . Another line of palisades hid the third layer, but arrow towers behind the walls were the second layer"s weapons . Archers boarded the towers, and they withered down the invaders .
Between the first and the second line of walls, they limited a pathway into blocks and sections . Each area was a 100x100 meter block area, which surrounded by both walls and horse traps . There were small paths for garrison soldiers, but they could be covered with a little adjustment with the barricade spikes .
The third trap was the killer, but Tian Yu could not use it today .
"I didn"t think that they would give up just like that . "
In Tian Yu"s evaluation, had Kebineng continued using the fire tactic to burn them or used fire arrows, he would have had a headache .
Tian Yu did not know that Kebineng lacked supplies because of Xu Huang . The Xianbei did not have enough arrows to use in combat anymore .
"Men, repair the walls, and replace the traps! Tell half of our men to rest now . Have the rested guy change s.h.i.+ft when it"s midnight . Keep watch and prepare for a possible night raid!"
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Kebineng was in a bad mood .
12,000 Men were with him this morning, but 5,000 came back alive .
Secondly, had he had more arrows than the current stock, he would have used fire arrows instead of torch throwing . With the lack of supplies, it hurt him in this battle .
Kebineng was angry, but he was sane enough to know when to quit .
"Tell everyone, we"ll head home . "
"We"re not raiding them again, my liege?"
"No need . We lost enough men while we haven"t been able to kill theirs . The result is obvious now . "
"… Yes, my liege . "
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July 20th .
With Kebineng"s absence of activities, Tian Yu and Zhao Yun began searching for this Xianbei"s traces .
They found their trace, which a group of 3,000 to 5,000 hors.e.m.e.n had already moved toward the north a few days ago .
After both of them reported this matter to Tong in the clan chat, a new order came .
Tong: "Xu Huang"s Silver Axe will remain in Xiangping for now . You will keep watch on Xianbei tribes to the north . Do not invade the east or the north on your own . I don"t want to cause a war with the Koreans . "
Tong: "Zhao Yun, you will form a new legion in Beiping! Gather all former white riders of Gongsun Zan under your wings and stand by for orders . Until you managed to get 10,000 men from former Gongsun Zan"s men, I won"t allow you to be a legion commander yet . "
Tong: "Tian Yu, you will station in Ji City as the garrison commander . You will protect Ji City for now . "
Tong: "Zhen Yi will return to Zhongshan, and w.a.n.g Yun will go back to Nanpi . As for governor of Ji Beiping, and Xiangping, I"ll arrange personals to handle it later! For now, the three commanders will handle the task as a deputy governor until further notice . "
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The matter about Gongsun Du and the northern tribesmen had been solved . However, the issues about Xiongnu was still present .
At the end of July, Tong mobilized his forces again . This time, Lu Bu led 50,000 men into the western territories, crossing mountains into Xiongnu"s lands .
Ding Yuan remained in Jinyang to guard the headquarter of their legion . Ju Shou and Gao Shun followed after Lu Bu to finish this enmity .
It was a counter-attack for the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu Empire!
Tong gave Lu Bu another order . Until the Xiongnu Empire collapsed, he could not return to the Han Dynasty . All tribes under Khan"s rule had to either perish or surrender to them .