The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 159 Hope for Breaking the City

"Tell all artillery commanders to prioritize destroying the enemy's catapults!" Xiahou Dun said to the messenger behind him. Gao Shun did not go to the front line to command today's battle, but instead sat in the command post in the city, enjoying his leisure time. Such a battle really did not interest Gao Shun.

"Yes, General!" Upon hearing Xiahou Dun's order, the artillery in all directions immediately changed their firing direction, prioritizing bombardment of the enemy's catapults. In reality, the power of the catapults was somewhat insufficient compared to artillery, but the psychological pressure of the catapults falling from the sky was too great, and even the elite First Legion was somewhat apprehensive.

Under the fierce bombardment of the General's Cannon, Chen's catapults were quickly destroyed, with very few remaining. Seeing the performance of the autonomous region's army, Yuan Shu and Chen's generals were both amused and exasperated, even though they were enemies.

However, they were truly at a loss for words regarding Xiahou Dun's command. The commander of the Pengcheng Autonomous Army was indeed formidable. They had just tried to put some psychological pressure on the Pengcheng garrison, but their plan was quickly foiled and their forces destroyed.

Moreover, they quickly abandoned the idea of ​​using catapults as a deterrent. The range of catapults was far too short compared to artillery, and once discovered, they would be quickly destroyed by enemy artillery. Furthermore, catapults were large targets and very inconvenient to move. Yuan Shu quickly ordered the abandonment of such actions, as it was simply a losing proposition.

"Pass down the order: artillery, fire with full force!" Yuan Shu said to the messenger. "Have the artillery concentrate on one point and make sure to create a breach in the city wall!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Less than half an hour after the messenger left, all of Chen's artillery began to change their firing direction and fire at a single point on the city wall!

"Order the artillery to launch a full-scale counterattack against the enemy artillery, suppress enemy firepower, and destroy enemy artillery positions," Xiahou Dun ordered.

Under the firepower suppression of the General's Cannon, the Chen army's firepower was quickly suppressed. Seeing that their own artillery firepower was suppressed, Zhang Xun, the Chen army general in charge at the front line, immediately ordered a retreat. Their artillery no longer had any advantage.

"Let's retreat," Zhang Xun said. "We need to regroup and launch a new offensive."

"The attack has failed," Yang Hong said to Yuan Shu. However, Yuan Shu was not surprised at all. According to Yang Hong, siege battles are not usually so smooth, so today's failure was within Yuan Shu's expectations. Moreover, during the day's battle, Chen's army had climbed the city walls several times, which had given Yuan Shu hope of breaking through the city.

"Pengcheng must be taken." Yuan Shu made up his mind that Pengcheng would definitely belong to him.

Following the usual practice after yesterday's battle, after the enemy's final attack, both sides began to collect the corpses and treat the wounded. Chen's army also dispatched a large number of supply troops to the front line to collect the corpses and treat the wounded.

"Have the supply battalion immediately send men to collect the bodies of our fallen comrades and treat the wounded," Zhang Xun said to a junior officer behind him. "The wounded must be treated as soon as possible to preserve our army's fighting strength."

Zhang Xun was a good general and treated his soldiers very well. Faced with this battle and the fighting of the past two days, Zhang Xun felt very heartbroken. These were elite soldiers that Chen had painstakingly trained, and now they had been sacrificed on the battlefield. It was a meat grinder. For some reason, the word "still" suddenly came to Zhang Xun's mind.

"War is a huge graveyard for junior officers and soldiers." In today's fierce fighting, the First Army Corps also suffered heavy casualties, with nearly 10,000 dead. This was all due to the Chen army's artillery fire. Moreover, the Chen army climbed the city walls more than once. In close combat, the equipment advantage of the autonomous region's army was no longer an advantage, which is also an important part of today's casualties.

Looking at the battlefield before him, Xiahou Dun couldn't help but sigh. If the gunpowder era had come earlier, wouldn't he have become a mid-to-lower-ranking officer on the battlefield, one of those people being shredded in that giant meat grinder?

In the first two days of fighting, the First Legion did not unleash its strongest firepower. This was to prevent Yuan Shu from becoming cowardly and retreating. Otherwise, how could the firepower of the First Legion's 100,000 main force have allowed Yuan Shu's army to climb the city walls so easily?

"Just as our lord often says, Yuan Shu is like a well, he's a jack of all trades. He doesn't understand our army at all, and he doesn't know that we have more than 100,000 troops defending Pengcheng. A 1:2 troop ratio is very advantageous for a defensive force like ours."

Xiahou Dun said to the two men, "In this way, we will have an opportunity. I have decided to launch a surprise attack tonight to disrupt Yuan Shu's battle plan. At the same time, we can also give Yuan Shu the wrong impression, making him think that our army is not strong enough, so we have resorted to such a night attack."

"A night raid?" Hearing Xiahou Dun's suggestion, Xi Zhicai was somewhat tempted. A night raid was indeed a good method; it could not only harass the enemy but also relieve pressure for the next day. Before this, they had been limited to their original plan, focusing only on defending the city and waiting for flanking forces. They had never considered taking the initiative to attack.

“We’ve been stuck with the original plan. Yuan Rang’s plan is pretty good. How many troops do we need to send for the night raid?” Xi Zhicai asked.

“Two battalions are enough,” Xiahou Dun said.

"Have the soldiers quietly infiltrate near the enemy camp, bombard it with small cannons, and then retreat. If we are lucky enough to hit the enemy's ammunition depot or something similar, this night raid will be even more perfect."

"Yes, tell the soldiers in the operation that their artillery fire should be concentrated in relatively dark places, which are very likely to be enemy ammunition depots or similar places, since fire is prohibited in these places," Gao Shun said.

"Understood, strategist."

Xiahou Dun originally wanted to lead the team himself for tonight's battle plan, since it was his suggestion. However, as a lieutenant general, Gao Shun and others would never agree to let Xiahou Dun personally go to the front line.

Xiahou Dun ultimately had to abandon the plan.

"Let General Huang Zhen of the First Army Corps find two battalions to carry out the plan, and the rest of you prepare to provide support," Gao Shun finally decided. As the person in charge, his word was law.

"Go and prepare."

"Tomorrow's daytime battle will still be entirely in Yuan's hands," Gao Shun said to Xiahou Dun. "Tomorrow, we must use all of our army's firepower advantage to suppress Yuan's army."