Chapter 597: The Blood Battle of Xiangzhou (1)

At night, the dark darkness covered the land of Hebei, but the defenders on the walls of Xiangzhou City were extremely tense. Despair filled everyone’s eyes. The vast fields outside the city were lit up by flames, forming an enormous oval that spread across the land like an ocean of torches, stretching for dozens of miles. On both sides of this oval, streams of bright flames continued to flow into this sea of fire.

An Lushan’s army and Cai Xide’s main forces arrived at Xiangzhou almost simultaneously. Until the second watch of the night, the influx of troops from both sides gradually diminished. At the same time, the massive oval formation began to change shape, stretching longer like a taut steel rope, gradually encircling Xiangzhou City from both the east and west. Soldiers on the east and west sides kept shouting, “They’re coming! They’re coming this way!”

An Lushan’s army grew longer and longer. By the fourth watch, the 300,000 troops finally formed a huge circle, tightly surrounding Xiangzhou City, and the noise intensified even more.

Dawn had just broken, and the warm sunlight shone on Xiangzhou City, but the hearts of the defending soldiers were like those in an ice cave. Outside the city, dense clusters of tents covered the land, like mushrooms that grew after a spring rain. Tens of thousands of tents stood closely together, encircling Xiangzhou City like an iron barrel.

Cheng Qianli looked at An Lushan’s massive army three miles away. Instead of feeling panicked, he became calm. It was impossible for all 300,000 troops to be used in the attack at once; at most, 100,000 could be deployed each time. His defending forces numbered over 47,000, plus nearly 50,000 civilian laborers. Their food supplies could last a year. As long as they defended the city wisely, An Lushan might not be able to capture it. This was also why Guo Ziyi insisted on holding the city—Xiangzhou had strong defenses, ample food, and sufficient troops. Why abandon it and flee?

With these thoughts, his anxiety from the past ten days vanished. Remembering that An Lushan’s spies had been completely eliminated the previous night, Cheng Qianli grew greatly confident. Seeing his soldiers looking panicked and fearful, he shouted, “What’s there to fear? Beat the drums to boost our morale!”

The loud drumbeats rang out from the city walls, signaling the order for the troops to assemble. Teams of soldiers rushed from below the city to the walls, gathering from all directions like ants. In fifteen minutes, over 30,000 soldiers rushed onto the walls, filling the north and east sides densely. On the towering city walls, flags fluttered in the wind. The army resembled a forest stretching for dozens of miles, presenting a majestic and imposing sight.

This was a tactic that Cheng Qianli often used with great success—using drumbeats to boost morale and revealing his own advantages to ease the soldiers’ concerns. It was indeed very effective. If soldiers were not made aware of their strengths or given a chance to see the balance of power between the two sides, fear would create a strong psychological influence, making them believe that with An Lushan’s 300,000 troops advancing, their army was doomed to defeat. Such panic would spread like an epidemic, severely undermining morale before even a siege began.

Therefore, Cheng Qianli had to make the soldiers understand their advantages. Although the enemy force was six times larger, they had strong fortifications and ample food supplies. The enemy couldn’t attack the city with all their troops at once. If they could prolong the conflict, reinforcements from Anxi would surely arrive, and An Lushan would eventually withdraw.

“Brothers, shout with me—we will surely win!”
“We will win!”
“We will win!”
……

The voices grew from one person to a hundred, then to a thousand, to ten thousand, quickly spreading throughout the entire city walls. Every Tang soldier was infected by the spirit of determination. They raised their swords and shouted, “We will win!”

Their confidence began to return, and their fighting spirit soared. The city walls of Xiangzhou were filled with cries of victory.

……

An Lushan’s command tent was located due north. This was due to his subconscious tendency to face south with his back to north—his tent was always set up in that direction. At that moment, An Lushan, clad in golden armor, sat on a palanquin carried by eight hundred men. The so-called palanquin was actually a large sandalwood platform five zhang square and one zhang high, its surface covered in gold leaf that shone brightly in the sunlight. His golden ivory throne was placed on top of the platform. He sat in the center, surrounded by eighteen highly skilled personal guards, while eight hundred strong men lifted the massive platform.

An Lushan narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the city ahead. Half a month earlier, this city had undoubtedly been a thorn in his side, but the situation was quietly changing. As Guo Ziyi sent troops from Jingxing into Hebei, this city suddenly became less important on An Lushan’s strategic scale.

What good would it do to capture Xiangzhou? Would it allow him to confront Li Qing’an’s 200,000 troops stationed in Henan Road? An Lushan knew that the military forces in Chang’an were divided into two factions, and Li Qing’an was just one of them. He might not be able to deal with Li Qing’an, but could he really not deal with that old warlord Guo Ziyi as well?

As An Lushan pondered, one of his personal guards stepped forward and reported, “My lord, Mr. Gao has arrived and wishes to see you.”

“Hm!”

An Lushan nodded and ordered, “Send out twenty scouting teams first. Within an hour, find out everything about the situation around the city.”
Someone immediately went to pass on the order. An Lushan glared sharply at the city once more and waved his hand, saying, “Return to camp!”
……
Gao Shang had followed An Lushan’s army southward, but he was in the rear guard and didn’t enter the main camp until morning. As soon as he arrived, he hurriedly sought out An Lushan. He had received an urgent message from Xiangzhou City in the middle of the night last, and he wanted to report it to An Lushan.
With his hands behind his back, Gao Shang paced back and forth outside An Lushan’s command tent, still thinking about that message. According to his instructions for the spies in Xiangzhou City, they were required to send a report every two days. Logically, the report he had should have been sent the day before yesterday, but no message had come then. Even if there was nothing to report, they should have explained in last night’s message why there was a delay. Given Song Yi’s cautious nature, he should have included such an explanation, but there was none—no explanation at all. This made Gao Shang slightly suspicious: had they accidentally overlooked it, or was there something more behind it?
On the other hand, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the message—everything was normal. It was written in Song Yi’s handwriting and sealed with Mao Sheng’s seal, completely error-free. Logically, there was no reason to doubt it. He should trust his subordinates, but why did they delay sending the message by a day without explaining the situation? This slight irregularity made the meticulous Gao Shang feel as if there was a sharp, thin object hidden somewhere in his clothes, causing him discomfort.
“King of Yan, return to camp!”
A loud shout came from afar. Thousands of soldiers were rushing toward them, and in the distance, a tall wooden platform appeared, adorned with gold and splendor. Gao Shang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Since starting the rebellion, An Lushan had become increasingly extravagant, living just like an emperor in every aspect of his life. He already saw himself as an emperor. Especially the fact that he used eight hundred men to carry his palanquin—probably even emperors didn’t have such a display. Sima Zhao’s ambitions were already fully exposed, yet they hadn’t even conquered Hebei yet! How could the people of the whole country support him? Moreover, the several mass killings ordered by An Lushan were undoubtedly his greatest political blunders.
Gao Shang was filled with disappointment and regret. What An Lushan was doing was not something a ruler should do—it resembled the behavior of a barbarian chieftain. Did he still want to rule over the Han lands?
Gao Shang sighed in his heart as An Lushan approached him. The golden wooden platform slowly lowered. An Lushan smiled and said, “Mr. Gao, what matters do you have to discuss with me?”
“Your humble servant pays his respects to His Highness, King of Yan!”

“No need to be polite. Let’s go! We’ll talk inside the main tent.”
The two entered the main tent and sat down according to their roles as host and guest. Gao Shang then took out the intelligence he had received in the middle of the night and handed it to An Lushan. Although An Lushan was still a bit hesitant, the content of the intelligence was extremely important; he couldn’t afford to ignore such crucial information and must let An Lushan know.
An Lushan took the intelligence and read it carefully, then was shocked. The report stated that there were Thunder Gods in Xiangzhou City, though the exact number was unknown. However, there was no doubt about the existence of these Thunder Gods, as they had also heard explosions.
An Lushan hadn’t expected there to be Thunder Gods in Xiangzhou. Li Qing’an had actually given his secret weapon to Guo Ziyi. He suddenly remembered his own Thunder Gods—though they had been successful, they had been completely destroyed by Li Qing’an. Later, even the sulfur he had purchased was intercepted. A sense of indescribable bitterness welled up in his heart.
“Mr. Gao, could your men have made a mistake?”
Gao Shang shook his head. “It shouldn’t be. Mao Sheng also saw the Thunder Gods with his own eyes in Youzhou; he can’t be wrong. I also think it’s very likely that Xiangzhou City has Thunder Gods.”
“Why?”
“If our Yan army had never known the secret of the Thunder Gods, Li Qing’an certainly wouldn’t have given this secret weapon to Xiangzhou. But now that the commander-in-chief knows this secret, knows its formula, and has even succeeded in testing it, there’s no reason for Li Qing’an to hide it from Guo Ziyi. So I’m not surprised that Xiangzhou has Thunder Gods.”
Although An Lushan was very frustrated, he had to admit that Gao Shang made sense. He just didn’t know how much damage the Thunder Gods in Xiangzhou could cause to his army.
“Commander-in-chief, there’s more intelligence…” Seeing that he was only focused on the Thunder Gods, Gao Shang reminded him again.
An Lushan continued reading. The next piece of information was rather good news: Cheng Qianli had distributed large amounts of food to the fleeing civilians. Although he claimed it could last for a year, in reality it could only last for a month at most. Rationing had already been implemented in Xiangzhou City, and this information was absolutely accurate.
“Sir, this is good news! If I besiege Xiangzhou for just a month, their food will run out, and they’ll collapse without a fight.”
An Lushan’s worries turned into joy, and he laughed heartily. But Gao Shang couldn’t quite figure out An Lushan’s tactics. Hadn’t he said he wanted to capture Xiangzhou City before the Yellow River completely froze over? If that was the case, what difference did a month’s worth of food make compared to a year’s worth?
“Commander-in-chief, why is that?”
An Lushan kept it mysterious, smiling enigmatically. “Sir, just wait and see. Watch how clever my strategies are.”

Gao Shang felt the battle situation becoming increasingly confusing—should they launch a rapid attack to seize Xiangzhou or besiege the city and wait for reinforcements? Even he couldn’t figure out what An Lushan was really planning.
…
At noon, An Lushan’s army besieging the East City launched its first assault, with General Li Guiren’s left-wing forces conducting a probing attack. Though it was merely a trial strike, An Lushan still deployed 36,000 soldiers and over a hundred siege engines, making the intensity of the attack no less than that of a full-scale assault.
The 36,000 troops were arranged in six formations, each separated by 100 steps, resembling six massive black carpets rolling forward across the land. Their morale was high, filled with a fierce fighting spirit. From two li away, they approached the city walls amid thunderous drumbeats, blaring trumpets, banners blocking out the sun, and spears like forests as well as shields like mountains, all taking on a deathly black hue under the sunlight.
General Li Guiren rode on his warhorse, pointing his sword at the city and shouting, “Advance!”
“Uuuu~”
Deep trumpet sounds resounded across the sky. Dozens of wooden shields were erected in the middle of each unit to protect against stones thrown from the city walls. Along with the loud creaking of these shields and nearly a hundred siege carts and trebuchets, the troops slowly advanced toward the city walls.
On the city walls, drums beat loudly. Cheng Qianli’s eyes were red as he shouted repeatedly. Though he knew this was just a probing attack by the Yan forces, the sheer number of enemies—over 30,000—still put immense pressure on him. He deployed 10,000 men to defend the East City and personally commanded the battle, discarding all previous plans.
“Hurry! Bring in more arrows…”
“Damn it! First get stones here—prepare the catapults!”
Thirteen heavy catapults on the East City walls creaked as they were set in position. Standing three zhang tall with arms six zhang long, they could launch stones up to 700 steps away and required 200 people to operate. These dark-colored catapults resembled thirteen monstrous beasts. 300-jin stones were loaded into their baskets, with 200 men pulling 20 belts as thick as arms, waiting for the order to fire.
Among the battlements, 8,000 soldiers held long bows and arrows. Four-foot-long arrows with thick shafts were already nocked on the strings. The arrows used for defense differed from those used in open battles—they didn’t need to fly very far but had to be heavy enough to pierce the enemy’s armor through their own weight. Thus, large arrows were typically used, with shafts as thick as fingers, sharp streamlined tips, and blood-draining grooves on all sides.
The enemy forces had gradually entered the range of the catapults. Cheng Qianli gave the order to fire. Shouting hoarsely, he commanded, “Fire!”

The red flag was lowered, and the troops fought bravely. Thirteen monstrous beasts swung their long arms, launching thirteen huge boulders into the air, which roared as they plummeted toward the city below. Looking up from below, thirteen small black dots appeared in the sky, like flocks of geese flying by. But those dots grew larger and quickly turned into massive boulders rolling through the sky, crashing down on them. With a loud shout, the soldiers rushed to hide beneath the shield walls, but many still had nowhere to hide. They screamed as they tried to dodge, only to be crushed by the boulders with a deafening “bang!” Dust filled the air, and several soldiers who couldn’t evade were reduced to pulp. The momentum of the boulders continued, knocking over dozens more people before they finally stopped. One boulder struck a leather shield wall, causing it to collapse with a loud crack. Soldiers crawled out from beneath it, but the boulder rebounded, traveling another twenty steps forward before crashing into the crowd, triggering cries of agony.

…

The catapults fired again in the second round. This time, a troop carrier loaded with soldiers was hit. Its upper part shattered instantly, with debris flying everywhere. Wood and bodies collapsed together. The massive impact knocked the carrier off balance, causing it to topple backward. More than two hundred soldiers inside were killed or severely injured…

The Tang army’s heavy catapults caused nearly three thousand casualties among the Yan army, but they couldn’t stop the attack of over thirty thousand soldiers. As the war drums in the Yan army’s camp grew louder, the soldiers in the six formations rushed forward in a massive wave toward the city. The moat had frozen solid, losing its defensive function. Ladders and troop carriers crossed the moat and slammed against the city walls. Tens of thousands of Yan soldiers climbed up like ants, using one hand to hold the ladder and the other to grip their shields, while biting their swords. Arrows rained down from the city walls, and boulders and logs fell like hail, hitting soldiers and sending them screaming back down…

The city walls of Xiangzhou had another feature: the horse faces—protruding sections of the wall shaped like horse heads. Usually protruding about twenty feet outward, they allowed defenders to shoot arrows at the enemy from behind. This forced the attacking soldiers to focus forward, leaving their backs exposed as targets. A barrage of arrows posed a severe threat to the Yan soldiers climbing the ladders, causing heavy casualties. Most of those killed or thrown down were struck in the back.

Dead bodies piled up rapidly beneath the city walls, and blood flowed into the moat, seeping from the piles and turning the ice on its surface red. Although the harsh winter rendered the moat ineffective as a defense, it offered another advantage to the defenders: the large amounts of water splashed onto the city walls froze into ice, thickening and widening them and making the walls extremely smooth. Ladders found it difficult to support themselves on top of the walls; soldiers on the walls pushed them aside with steel prongs, and the hooks at the top of the ladders scraped against the ice with a screeching sound, yet they still couldn’t hold, collapsing sideways. A string of soldiers on the ladders let out loud screams, and many jumped off, only to still suffer injuries or death.

…

What truly posed a threat to the Tang army were the siege vehicles. As tall as the city walls, these siege weapons, made of wooden frames covered with raw cowhide, resembled moving towers. Filled with soldiers, each vehicle had at least a hundred Yan army troops gathered on its roof platform. Tall and clad in heavy armor, they wielded battle knives, hammers, and spears, with fierce expressions and occasionally letting out low roars like beasts. In front of the platform was a long, thick wooden board covered in iron plates. As the vehicles moved forward, the board was raised, serving as a natural shield that prevented arrows from hitting the soldiers inside. Unless struck by boulders, Tang arrows found it hard to kill the enemies inside the vehicles. Although crossbows could penetrate the vehicles, they could only kill a few soldiers inside, making it extremely difficult to damage the vehicles.

As the siege vehicles got closer to the city walls, only ten feet away, the thick wooden board was dropped with a loud crash onto the battlements, sending debris flying. It formed a natural bridge, and the more than a hundred Yan soldiers on the platform rushed out of the vehicles and directly charged onto the city walls, engaging in fierce battles with the Tang soldiers.

Four siege vehicles approached the city walls, and nearly five hundred soldiers rushed onto the walls. These were 2,000 elite troops selected by An Lushan from his 300,000-strong army for the first wave of attacks on the walls. Behind them, many more soldiers were continuously pouring in through the passages inside the vehicles. These 500 soldiers were extremely fierce and unstoppable, quickly breaking through the defending forces and forcing thousands of defenders to retreat. The situation defending the city suddenly became critical.