Moma Liangshan

Chapter 142 Catapults, Lushun Port

Upon hearing that nearly a thousand of his vanguard troops had been killed, Wanyan Wulu immediately summoned his generals for a meeting and questioned them: "Tell me, who ordered the cavalry to attack the city?" Wanyan Pucha and Wanyan Digu remained silent, too terrified to answer Wanyan Wulu's question. Seeing this, Wanyan Zhamu stepped forward and said, "It was my oversight that led to the loss of a thousand men!" Wanyan Wulu knew it wasn't Wanyan Zhamu's fault, and besides, the dead were gone. The urgent matter wasn't to pursue responsibility, but how to win the battle. So he took the opportunity to say, "Although victory and defeat are common in war, a general's incompetence can lead to the death of an entire army. You must all learn from this!" Wanyan Wulu didn't pursue the matter further. Wanyan Digu and Wanyan Pucha finally stopped worrying and quickly stood up, shouting with Wanyan Zhamu, "We will remember your teachings, General!" Wanyan Wulu remained serious and coldly said, "Sit!" After the three sat down, he continued, "Although we lost the initial battle, have you thoroughly investigated the enemy situation in the city?" Wanyan Zhamu replied, "The enemy's city gates are tightly closed, offering no opportunity. I could only complete the reconnaissance of the terrain outside the city walls!" After saying this, he ordered someone to bring over a simple sand table. Wanyan Wulu stared at the sand table for a long time, then slowly said, "What follows will likely be a tough battle!" Wanyan Pucha, hoping to redeem himself, said, "The Shu princess not only took tens of thousands of troops but also all the civilians. If my estimation is correct, there are about a million people behind these walls." Wanyan Zhamu nodded, saying, "Last winter, I led my army around Liaoyang Prefecture and have some understanding of the population distribution in southern Liao. The number of soldiers and civilians in Liaoyang Prefecture, plus the civilians outside the city, should be around a million." Wanyan Pucha continued, "The daily food consumption of a million people is enormous. I believe that if we simply set up camp here and wait for the city's food supplies to run out, we can win without a fight!"

Wanyan Zhamu was not so optimistic, saying, "The Shu princess went to great lengths to relocate these people to Jinzhou; she couldn't possibly be without a backup plan!" Wanyan Wulu agreed with Wanyan Zhamu's view, saying, "Do you think Jinzhou city is not short of food?" Wanyan Zhamu said, "Although the Shu princess is just a woman, her shrewdness is far beyond that of the men of Xuchang!" Wanyan Wulu shared the same sentiment, saying, "Since the enemy has ample supplies, then we can only win by strength!"

Wanyan Zhamu pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Liao army, in order to hinder our siege to the greatest extent possible, has almost abandoned all opportunities for attack!" Wanyan Wulu asked in confusion, "How do you know?" Wanyan Zhamu said, "The reason our army suffered defeats is only one reason!" Wanyan Wulu immediately asked, "What is the other reason?" Wanyan Zhamu said, "The Liao army has placed a large number of stones near all the suitable passes for attack. These stones are no more than knee-high, scattered haphazardly, and whenever our army launches an attack, both our formation and rhythm will be disrupted by these stones. These stones can interfere with our attack and will also interfere with the Liao army's counterattack." Wanyan Wulu frowned and asked, "Where did these stones come from?" Wanyan Zhamu said, "They should have come from him..." "These stones were moved from somewhere!" Wanyan Wulu said. "Could our army concentrate its forces to move a certain stone in front of a pass before attacking the city?" Wanyan Zhamu shook her head and said, "These stones are extremely difficult to move without the combined efforts of three or four people, and they are located under the city wall. If the Liao army fires arrows at us, our army will be sitting ducks!" Wanyan Wulu said, "So, the walls of Jinzhou are impregnable?" Wanyan Zhamu said, "Thirty thousand Liao soldiers are sufficient to defend Jinzhou. Although our army has fifty thousand, a forced attack would result in too many casualties. Therefore, I believe that Jinzhou must be attacked, but we cannot attack it by force!" Wanyan Wulu became somewhat impatient and said, "If we cannot attack, but we cannot attack by force, then how should we attack?" Wanyan Zhamu said, "Use catapults to create a passage!"

Wanyan Wulu said, "Our army consists mostly of combat soldiers; we don't have many catapults!" Wanyan Zhamu was very determined and said, "Then we'll build catapults on the spot!" Wanyan Wulu then looked at Wanyan Pucha and Wanyan Digu and asked, "Do you two also think that it's unwise to force an attack on the city with 50,000 troops?" Wanyan Pucha said, "In the last battle, our army lost a thousand men, but we didn't even reach the walls of Jinzhou City!" This simple and clear sentence completely made Wanyan Wulu fully understand the ferocity and helplessness of the siege. He ordered, "Immediately conscript all the artisans in the army. Within ten days, I want to see three hundred catapults. In addition, conscript another five thousand men to collect stone projectiles nearby." Catapults are huge, but their construction is not complicated. The Jurchen army has sufficient manpower, and it is not impossible to rush to build three hundred catapults within ten days.

The Jurchens' activity of felling trees to build catapults did not escape the notice of the Liao army's scouts. Upon receiving the news, the princess of Shu immediately summoned everyone to discuss countermeasures. Xiao Shanbie said, "If the Jurchens can build catapults, so can we. We'll use catapults to deal with them!" The princess of Shu said, "I hereby appoint you to be in charge of building catapults!" Xiao Shanbie was very pleased and said, "I will do it immediately!" The princess of Shu nodded in agreement. After Xiao Shan left, the Shu princess continued, "Using catapults to counter catapults is a last resort. Our army is defending the city walls, with no cover and little room to dodge. If the enemy's attack is fierce, how will we respond?" Gao Que said, "The city walls are about three zhang high. When the enemy's stones fall, their power will be largely negated by the height of the walls. Therefore, I believe our army can build fortifications on the city walls." The Shu princess did not think it was feasible, saying, "Although our army is on high ground, the enemy is numerous and powerful. How sturdy would we need fortifications to withstand the repeated hammering of stones?" Gao Que smiled slightly and said, "If we directly withstand the hammering of stones, naturally no fortification can withstand it. But what if we use their force against them?" The Shu princess immediately perked up and said, "How can we use their force against them?" Gao Que said, "Stones can only fall from top to bottom, so we only need to build pointed fortifications."

The Princess of Shu understood Gao Que's plan and said, "You intend to use the sloping surface of the pointed bunker to deflect the force of the falling stones?" Gao Que nodded and said, "Your Highness is wise!" The Princess of Shu exclaimed, "That makes things simple; two rows of wood can be used to build a triangular bunker." After a short while, the Princess of Shu looked at Gao Chang and asked, "Has the grain that Wang Hao promised to give us been delivered on time?" Gao Chang replied, "Without delay!" The Princess of Shu then asked, "Who is his contact person in Jinzhou?" Gao Chang replied, "Wang Hao has no contacts in the city. He has only fenced off a piece of land on the southernmost coast and built a harbor. We just need to send someone to collect it on time." Gao Chang sensed that the Princess of Shu seemed very interested in Wang Hao's affairs and added, "He also named that land Lushun." The Princess of Shu asked, "Why is it called Lushun?" Gao Chang replied, "It is said to mean 'smooth journey'!"