Zhao Zhixian, Tan Yuliang, and Tan Tie naturally could not so easily hand over Zhongfang City, which they had painstakingly managed for nearly two years.
Watching Feng Changyu and the others flee hastily into Zhongfang Mountain, although Zhao Zhixian and the others still could not figure out why the Four Clans would suddenly send troops to attack them, they could guess that the Four Clans must have fallen into a trap set by Han Daoxun and his son Han Qian.
Even if the Four Clans no longer gathered troops to retaliate against the Han father and son, in their eyes, although the Han father and son had recruited over two thousand troops in Xuzhou, most were nothing but a rabble with combat strength as weak as chickens—there was nothing to fear.
Inside Zhongfang City, besides the five hundred remaining soldiers, they also had two thousand women and children who could assist in defending the city.
Once the agreed surrender time had passed, Tian Cheng also led his troops out from the riverside camp and pressed toward the southern wall of Zhongfang City.
The siege equipment transported from Wuliu Creek by boat had already been assembled overnight.
More than ten iron sliding carts and shield carts bristling with refined steel spearheads led the way to prevent the defending troops from counterattacking from the city, while behind them five hundred soldiers clustered around four massive siege towers, slowly advancing toward the gate tower.
Sixteen ballistas were mounted on the siege towers, and once within range, giant crossbow bolts as large as short spears shot forth like black meteors toward the defenders atop the walls, immediately sending bricks and stones flying from the battlements.
The Tanzhou troops had originally hidden over thirty ballistas inside the city, but in yesterday’s fierce battle, more than half were lost. The remaining sixteen or seventeen ballistas had loosened bowstrings and could not shoot far. When facing off against the dozen or so ballistas from Xuzhou—which had reinforced tuo-wood limbs with refined steel and arrowheads cast from refined steel—they were at a disadvantage from the start.
Four whirlwind catapults were also successfully erected in front of Zhongfang City’s south gate before noon, hurling stone projectiles weighing over a hundred pounds each at the brick-and-timber gate tower, gradually destroying the defensive installations atop the walls. Then over a hundred assault troops in armor, using sturdy siege ladders, forcibly charged up the walls over two zhang high, wielding swords, spears, and halberds to suppress the defenders’ counterattacks and seize more space so that more soldiers could climb the walls to fight.
Kong Xirong strongly requested to be in the first wave of armored assault troops attacking the city.
In the past, Kong Xirong had obeyed Feng Yi’s every word, and everyone regarded him as Feng Yi’s follower, often overlooking him. But at this moment, wearing two layers of lamellar armor, holding an iron shield in one hand and a short lance in the other, braving the scattered arrows, he led the charge up the walls. Standing at the forefront, he used his shield to block the desperately counterattacking remnant defenders, his sharp lance thrusting out again and again and pulling back, fresh blood spurting before his eyes. Yet Kong Xirong’s expression remained as calm as if he were practicing stabbing on wooden posts.
Of course, Kong Xirong did not just thrust and kill blindly. Being in the chaotic battlefield, he constantly observed the changing strength and weakness of the enemy and allied front lines. When the enemy was too strong, he would unite with soldiers on his left and right to retreat to a corner, holding their foothold atop the walls and waiting for reinforcements to climb up. When the enemy showed signs of disorder, he would not hesitate to lead three to five men to charge deeper, tearing the defenders’ formation more thoroughly apart.
Han Qian, holding a brass telescope, could see the situation atop the walls clearly. He secretly felt that Kong Xirong, who normally appeared taciturn and honest by nature, serving Feng Yi without complaint, was perhaps like his father Kong Zhou—both natural-born battlefield generals who seemed somewhat clumsy in interpersonal interactions.
One had to admit that the Tanzhou troops had extremely strong fighting spirit. Those sent to infiltrate Xuzhou were naturally all elite veteran soldiers loyal to the Ma clan, vastly different from the Tanzhou army’s incompetent performance in the earlier Jingxiang campaign.
In the afternoon, Han Qian even transferred some soldiers from the Second Battalion stationed at Qianyang City to rotate into battle, in order to reduce the consumption and casualties of the First Battalion.
However, the four hundred remnant soldiers in the city had consumed too much in yesterday’s bloody battle with the Four Clans’ tribal troops. Almost all carried wounds, hastily bandaging their injuries before going into battle, which seriously affected their combat effectiveness.
As for the two thousand elderly, weak women, and children in the city, they were purely that—elderly, weak women, and children, without a single able-bodied man among them.
They were indeed the family dependents of the remnant defenders, connected by blood, and they assisted in defending the city selflessly. But ultimately they were no match for fierce wolf-like soldiers.
The Xuzhou troops came from diverse sources, and the newly recruited soldiers had barely received any training. However, the junior officers were all elite veterans tempered through the bloody battle of Xichuan, and more remarkably, all the soldiers climbing the walls to fight had armor and weapons good enough to make the defenders despair.
The assault troops either wore refined steel lamellar armor or wore an extra layer of leather armor inside their iron scale armor. The war swords, spears, and axes they carried were extremely sharp, remaining sharp even after prolonged killing without many notches appearing on the blades. The arrows shot at them had tremendous force and penetrating power; even ordinary leather armor could not effectively block them. The casualties on both sides began to diverge from the very start.
The siege battle continued intermittently for a day. Nearly three hundred remnant defenders and over five hundred women and children were killed on and below the walls. The defending general Tan Tie was also stabbed to death by Kong Xirong’s short lance atop the southwestern corner wall during his third assault. When Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang saw Xuzhou troops successively breaking in through the west and south gates, they finally chose to surrender with fewer than two hundred remnant soldiers and over eighteen hundred dependents.
Tian Cheng led the First Battalion soldiers to take control of Zhongfang City before nightfall, driving over a hundred remnant defenders and seventeen or eighteen hundred defender dependents to the riverside camp for imprisonment.
Zhongfang City was not large—the city wall’s circumference was only four or five li, and the interior was only four or five hundred paces square. Moreover, over the past year or so, the Tanzhou troops had kept Zhongfang City sealed off for development, making it difficult for outsiders to glimpse the secrets inside.
Han Qian had no need to charge into battle. He waited until Tian Cheng and his men had swept through inside and out once before entering the city with Xi Ren.
Over the course of nearly two years, the Tanzhou troops, including women and children, had numbered over thirty-five hundred people. Besides building the city and newly cultivating several thousand mu of grain fields outside the city, they had mainly been busy inside the city, with Tanzhou continuously shipping resources over.
After entering the city, Han Qian discovered that although Zhongfang City had only one main street, over ten alleys and nearly three hundred compounds of various sizes were distributed in an orderly fashion on both sides of the main street. In the city center, besides a large compound that could serve as a garrison commander’s office or county office, there was also a training ground about three mu in size.
The city also had eight wells dug, with drainage channels running through underground conduits into the Yuan River outside the city.
Additionally, the city stored twelve thousand shi of grain—enough to support over three thousand people for at least half a year. Clearly they were also guarding against the possibility that Xuzhou troops might suddenly besiege Zhongfang City before the grain fields outside the city could be harvested, or perhaps they were thinking that one day they would suddenly deploy two or three thousand more elite troops to completely bring Xuzhou under their control.
The garrison commander’s office was quite plain. In the spacious hall stood weapon racks and several long tables.
Since Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang had been operating undercover in Xuzhou for a long time, they needed family members as cover—at this time they were also detained by Han Qian in Qianyang City. However, the main generals directly dispatched by Tanzhou to command the troops had left their families in Tanzhou, so the rear quarters were quite simple.
Han Qian took a tour around, then returned to the main hall. Tian Cheng was having men bring in the tightly bound Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang. Han Qian quickly changed to a smiling face, ran over enthusiastically to untie Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang, and said: “Today has truly been an injustice to Lord Zhao and Chief Tan. You both know that some things are not what I wanted either.”
Having set up a trap to make the Four Clans’ tribal troops fight a bloody battle with them, after which Xuzhou troops came to collect the spoils, killing seven or eight hundred of their soldiers and women and children combined—yet Han Qian presented such a face. Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang felt as if their hearts were stuffed full of dirty, stinking rotten cotton wadding.
However, as victors rule and the defeated serve, with the city fallen and their army defeated, having fallen into Han Qian’s hands, what could they say?
“I have already ordered people to send Lord Zhao and Chief Tan’s families from Qianyang. I wonder whether Lord Zhao and Chief Tan wish to remain in Xuzhou, or would you have me arrange ships to send you back to Tanzhou?” Han Qian lifted his armor skirt and sat down behind the central table, discussing with Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang with an amiable expression.
By setting up a trap and luring the Four Clans’ tribal troops to slaughter Zhao Zhixian’s forces, then sending troops to capture Zhongfang City, he could only demonstrate that he and his father had the ambition to completely control Xuzhou and were unwilling to be controlled by Tanzhou.
The court had not yet gathered troops on a large scale in Ezhou. If they could deceive Tanzhou for even one more day, they should strive to do so.
Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang exchanged glances for a while, then understood that the Han father and son had set up such a large trap, nearly wiping them out completely, yet still had the delusion of winning Tanzhou’s goodwill!
In Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang’s view, this was the Han father and son engaging in wishful thinking. But with their lives and property in Han Qian’s hands, if there was a chance to escape, they would not be foolish enough to clash with Han Qian.
“At this time, Yingyu Stronghold has fallen into Lord Han’s hands. We have nothing to say, but please, Lord Han, release the remnant soldiers and other family members together to return to Tanzhou. Tanzhou should be able to sense Lord Han’s goodwill.”
Even if they could return to Tanzhou now, Zhao Zhixian needed to consider that he and Tan Yuliang might be held accountable upon their return.
If at this time they could bring back the fewer than two hundred wounded soldiers and seventeen or eighteen hundred dependents to Tanzhou, even if he and Tan Yuliang were held accountable, the punishment should be lightened.
Han Qian laughed it off, saying: “The fewer than two hundred defenders are all wounded. If we put them on boats with Lord Zhao and Chief Tan to depart now, I fear few could survive to reach Tanzhou. As for most of the dependents, their family heads have already unfortunately died in battle at Lujiao Creek. Even if they do not stay to guard the graves, returning to Tanzhou they would likely have difficulty making a living. After all, Yingyu Stronghold still has the fields they cultivated over the past two years and the houses they built. I will not make things difficult for them. I hope Lord Zhao and Chief Tan will not worry.”
Seventeen or eighteen hundred dependents, including seven or eight hundred young women—these were precious labor resources anywhere. How could Han Qian possibly let them return to Tanzhou?
This matter had no room for negotiation. To show “sincerity,” Han Qian would at most release those mid- and low-level officers who had no family in Xuzhou to return to Tanzhou together with Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang.
Seeing that Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang still wanted to say something, Han Qian waved his hand, saying: “It is already late. Lord Zhao and Chief Tan should go rest first. Tomorrow I will arrange boats to send you back to Tanzhou.” He had people take Zhao Zhixian and Tan Yuliang away for imprisonment, then said to Tian Cheng: “Immediately separate out those Tanzhou officers who have no family here, then arrange for people to spread word among the ordinary soldiers, saying that Tanzhou will ransom Zhao Zhixian and the others but abandon them…”
The ordinary soldiers had no particular loyalty to Tanzhou. Moreover, most of them still had wives and children detained here—they were the easiest to assimilate. Even if these people were just used to plow fields and cultivate land, Han Qian would not let them return to Tanzhou.