Chapter 48
Chapter 48 – Battle of Anping – Day One
October 23rd . Morning .
Han Fu Army appeared at the south of Tong"s fortress . Their front line formed up in formations while the soldiers in the back were busy crafting ladders to prepare for the siege .
Guo Dian Army arrived later at 10AM . Just like Han Fu, they settled formed up and took their time getting ready to attack .
Both army sent their spy to scout the fortress layout and obtain more information . They also came into contact with each other and sent their messengers to negotiate for the coalition against Tong and his men .
Tong was observing their movements with his radar map . He had marked both Han Fu Army and Guo Dian Army in a different color when Tong came into the radar range .
To moment Tong saw the two different color came into contact and didn"t kill each other, Tong guessed that they should somehow come to a truce .
Up till now, Tong was still baffled of why Han Fu would attack his camp . So once the Han Fu Army arrived, Tong sent his messenger to negotiate with them and asked why they had to attack his camp and his family .
At 10 . 30 AM, a messenger from Han Fu Army came and stopped in front of the gate . Tong already stood on top of the wall, observing the incoming messenger .
The horseman messenger hurled a head toward the gate . It was the head of Tong"s messenger who was sent to negotiate with Han Fu Army!
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
There was a limit of how uncivil or trickery antics that Tong could tolerate . Killing a messenger was definitely not one of them .
He took out the rifle and aimed at the horseman .
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Three rounds of burst fire killed the horseman before he could turn around went back .
*Sii*
Tong"s subordinates breath in cold air . The immortal had demonstrated another magic again . This time, someone fell because of his wrath .
"Get someone to take that body and pierce it with a stake from his a.n.u.s through his mouth . I want that stake as a decoration in front of the south gate . "
Tong"s voice was calm and monotonous . However, his men could feel that Tong"s killing intent was intensified . They hurried back and completed his order with gooseb.u.mps and shaking legs .
Ten minutes later, a group of another hors.e.m.e.n came and hurled the insults toward Tong and his troops, causing the soldiers inside to fume in rage .
"They sure want to get me angry alright . And they have succeeded . "
Tong mumbled to himself and adjusted his rifle, sniping the bad mouthing hors.e.m.e.n down one by one . The troops behind Tong cheered when they saw the foul mouth enemies fell .
…
Pan Feng observed the commotion outside the fortress south gate from afar . He heard that the commander of the Zhang family was just a brat, so he planned to provoke Tong and drew him out to fight outside of the fort .
But it seemed that Tong was more tolerant than He had thought because the insult from his men and Tong"s dead messenger couldn"t draw Tong Army out .
Pan Feng wanted to step forward and challenged Tong into a duel . But after he heard that Tong had a strange thunder magic, he stopped his idea .
He had his men surveyed the landscape, and got the reports that his opponents had dug pitfall traps around the fortress . Yet, the pitfall traps were concentrated around the peninsula-like extended walls of the strange fort while the road to the gate was clear of traps .
Pan Feng smirked .
"Such childish traps won"t work against us . Men! Hear my order! Have the s.h.i.+eld bearers carry extra planks . If you see any suspicious uneven ground, put the planks on the ground . "
"As you command!"
"Ready the men . We will siege it at noon . "
…
Meanwhile, Guo Dian was relaxing in his tent, ignoring what Pan Feng and Tong had done .
After he heard from his spies that Wen Chou and his men retreated back to Nan Pi, he was relief . They don"t have to face that elite army anymore . The rowdy bandits ahead of him could never be a match for his army .
"Since Han Fu wants to deal with the Zhang, then let them have him . "
"Men! Stay in position but do not siege! We will watch the show from the sideline . "
Guo Dian had lost many men already, so he allowed Pan Feng and Han Fu troops to take a bite first . Once Tong"s camp was damaged enough, he would launch the a.s.sault and reap the fortune later .
…
…
The sun hung on the middle of the clear sky, indicating that it was noon .
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Pan Feng troops sounded the drums and color flags were waved around . The s.h.i.+eld bearers marched forward with their s.h.i.+eld covering their head and the battering ram behind them . Hundred men followed after the troops, carrying tall ladders and ropes . A total of 1,500 men stepped forward in the first wave .
Tong watched the incoming troops with mocking smile .
"Instead of attacking at the weak-point corners, they walk straight into the crossfire . What a bunch of simpletons . "
"Archers and Pillbox Squadrons get ready to fire on my command! Ballista Squads stand by! Do not fire until I give the order! Trench Squadrons, withdraw from the first and the second lines . Draw them in!" Tong shouted with all air in his lung .
Pan Feng s.h.i.+eld bearers marched to the gate which had walls surrounding the troops in a triangle shape . One of the soldiers was scared from seeing the shape of this fortress, he walked straight into a V-formation .
"Archers! Fire!"
Archers on both wings on the walls rained down their arrows . At the same time, the pillboxes on the ground, in front of the edges of the walls and behind the trenches, shot out crossbow arrows .
The s.h.i.+eld soldiers attempted to block the incoming arrows in front of them, only to find out that they were hit by the side . The arrows didn"t come from the front straight angle, but from both sides on their left and right, and from the top of the wall and from the ground .
No matter where they lift their s.h.i.+elds to block, there would be arrows flew at them in their blind spots .
The crossfire tactic showed the effect . The approaching soldiers cried in pain, afterwards fell one after another .
A crossfire tactic, which also known as interlocking fire, was a prominent tactic in World War I . The troops would fire from two angles and the arc of fire from the angles crossed each other . Once someone got caught, the person would be considered lucky if he managed to get out of there alive .
The commanding officers were elated seeing the effectiveness of this formation . Meanwhile, Tong cringed while watching his men and his formation .
"If only I have barbed-wires, land mines and more snipers, none of them can even approach the wall . There are still rooms for improvement . "
Tong glanced at the right wing of the wall . Hua s.h.i.+, who wore leather armor and disguised herself as one of the archer, was shooting several bright arrows at the targets below . She was enjoying her farming session for free lifespans and grinding her magic arrow skill EXP .
Tong glanced at his radar map . The west gate was still calm . It seemed that Guo Dian hadn"t attacked yet, which relieved Tong .
"The first wave was nothing to worry about . Now, show me your next move . "
…
Pan Feng stood on the watch tower, shocking from what he saw . The first wave of the s.h.i.+eld bearers with battling ram failed without being able to reach the gate .
The rate of fire from the volleys was terrifying . It was as if there were over 10,000 archers shooting from the walls .
Speaking of the walls, the strange shaped fortress also played a part of this ma.s.sacre . Pan Feng noticed it just now that it looked like a wing formation or a V-shaped formation .
"Have the front troops withdraw! Sound the drums!!"
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
The retreating signal drums vibrated and the troops that was on the frontline withdrew in a hurry, leaving their comrade"s dead bodies behind .
"I want a report on the west side . How is the battle on the west side going on?"
Pan Feng asked his subordinates in his tents whose face were all pale . They knew that once they reported it, Pan Feng would be mad .
"Report to the general, Guo Dian ordered his troops to stand by . They have not laid the siege yet . "
Pan Feng slammed his fist on the wooden table in front of him, destroying it . His face was boiling red . Veins was bulging under his skin .
"d.a.m.n IT!! GUO DIAN!!"
The officers in the tent shrunk back from the roar, but Pan Feng aide stepped up to calm him down .
"Lord Pan Feng, you should not be angry . I think it was a correct decision by Guo Dian not to a.s.sault . "
"What!?"
The aide was none other than Xin Ping who had suggested Han Fu to get rid of the Zhang family and ruin the cooperation between Zhang family and Yuan family .
"In common instance, the number of our soldiers has to be at least five times higher than the defending troops in a siege warfare . And from the latest intel, they now have 5,000 men inside . Therefore, we fall short in terms of number and the preparation for this siege . "
Pan Feng heart sunk . Xin Ping was right . After the failed siege they were left with around 7,000 men, which was not enough for a standard siege against 5,000 defenders .
"Then what can I do to break the situation?"
"Lord do not need to worry . I have just received an interesting intel and already drafted a plan . I"m sure you will like it . "
Xin Ping grinned .