Chapter 8


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Next Day - Morning

Zhao Camp

Normal POV

"How is the morale?" asked Li Chang while looking at Kwan walls.

"They are still confident that we can win this battle, they're just not sure how many will die for it." said lieutenant.

"Tch, we need to take this city by tomorrow lieutenant or we won't make it in time to Bai before their reinforcements arrive."

"I understand general. What do you want to do?" asked lieutenant.

"I noticed that they favor throwing short spears and their big shields do a good job at protecting them from our arrows. We need to either open the gate or get onto their walls. Today we will use our numerical superiority to exhaust the enemy and overwhelm them tomorrow." said Li Chang with a frown on his face.

"Shall we split our forces and have each half of our troops attack them in turns from front and back till tomorrow morning?" asked lieutenant while quesioningly looking at Li Chang.

"Yes, by this time tomorrow they'll barely have strength to stay awake not to mention carrying those big shields of theirs." said Li Chang with a smirk.

"Understood general, I shall issue orders immediately." said lieutenant with a bow and left the tent.


Several minutes later

Kwan

Normal POV

"Damn it, they chose the most troublesome strategy for dealing with us." said Ma Cong as he slammed his fist on the table.

"Indeed, they plan to attack us in turns till tomorrow morning and then finish us off in one go." said Zhu Fa with grimace on his face.

"No, this works in our favor or did you forget our plan?" asked Yang Jin as he sat on his chair while leaning on his right hand.

"No, its just we will lose a lot more troops this way than originally planned." said Zhu Fa.

"Also, is everything in place for our big plan?" asked Ma Cong while looking at questioningly at Zhu Fa.

"Yes, we just need to give signal."

"Excellent. Zhu Fa distrupute to the troops those mobile rations I asked you to prepare just in case, they won't have much time to rest between attacks. Ma Cong, make sure to tell soldiers that this will be a long one, at least they'll be prepared mentally. Dismissed." ordered Yang Jin.

"As you command lord Jin." said the two with a bow before going to fulfill their orders.


In a few hours the attacks started, they were extremely frustrating for the defenders of Kwan since the Zhao army sipmly harassed them from two sides in turnes. Javelins were the main ranged weapon of choice for most troops in Kwan, only a quarter were equipped with bows and knew how to use them. So it was extremely frustrating when Zhao forces made sure to stay well away from the range of javelins but still in range for their bows. While the defends who did wielded bows had the advantage since they fired from higher ground, there were too many enemies and they made sure to have shield bearers in front of their archers.

Yang Jin saw all this and understood that while he created a great infantry for engaging in field, they were not ideal for siege warfare. He swore to fix this problem as soon as the siege was over. Due to his mistake a lot of good men died without having a chance to fight back, simply hiding behind their shields and hoping that they will protect them. Over 200 men died this way, without being able to do anything.

When the time came to give signal he'll make sure to make the death of Li Chang especially painful for killing so many of his men.


Next Day - Early Morning

Zhao Camp

"Your strategy was a great success general, our enemies should be extremely exhausted by now. I'm sad to say that we still lost 3,000 men despite our best efforts, Kwan has few archers but all of them are extremely good." said lieutenant.

"Damn them all, how come I was not informed that Kwan had such a strong garrison?" asked Li Chang.

"No one knew general, Kwan is just a small town, no one even suspected that they had such a strong garrison."

"Prepare our troops, we strike at dawn."

"As you command general."


Dawn

Kwan

"Looks like they're finally going to try to finish us off lord Jin." said Zhu Fa while looking at mobilizing Zhao forces.

"Yes, finally." said Ma Cong while sharpening his war axe.

"Ma Cong, prepare out troops. Zhu Fa, ready to give signal on my command, it's time." said Yang Jin with a frown on his face as he was looking at the Zhao forces.

"CHARGE!" roared Li Chang as he pointed his hammer at Kwan.

"HAAA!" roared Zhao soldiers as they charged at the city.

"Prepare for ladders!" ordered Yang Jin.

"Iacera Pila! (Throw Pila/Javelin!)" ordered Ma Cong.

"Haaa!" roared soldiers as they rained down death upong Zhao forces.

Zhu Fa and his marksmen were picking off the soldiers who carried ladders, making sure that none of them got too close to walls. But it was no easy task, this time Li Chang made sure that ladders were well protected, they were surrounded by soldiers who carried shield. Slowly but surely, the Zhao forces were able to get to the walls and they were finally able to place the ladders. Now a lot of attention from defenders were drawn to making sure that no Zhao soldiers were able to climb on the walls. But this also made sure that Zhao forces were fully committed to taking Kwan, there was no retreat for them now.

"Zhu Fa! The signal!" ordered Yang Jin as he continued to coordinate the troops. Zhu Fa quickly went to follow the order and took out an arrow with special tip. It was an arrow which produced a loud whistling sound when fired. He aimed upwards and fired the arrow. The loud whistling sound it produced drew attention and spooked some of the Zhao soldiers who were not used to it. And while they were all looking at the arrow and trying to figure out what happened, they failed to notice the advance of a large force from their rear.


Flashback

"So if I got what you're saying right, you're telling me that you want all 15,000 civilian volunteers and the hundred veterans that you hired to go out of the city and stay unnoticed till the third day?" asked Ma Cong with incredulous look on his face.

"That's only part of it fool, the veterans will make sure that they will stay unnoticed till the third day while circling around to the rear of the enemy forces. After we give the signal they will attack the enemy from range while they have their back to them. 15,000 thousand people, even civilian volunteers, with bows, arrows and javelins will make sure of the swift end of our enemies." said Zhu Fa then looking toward Yang Jin.

"And while the enemy will want to disengage and go for the volunteers, we will open the gates of the city and make it irresistible for them to go for it. That's where you come in, you'll lead the unit that will hold all those Zhao soldiers that will rush for the gate. While normally this won't be possible, but if you form phalanx, you'll be able to hold them back just fine." said Yang Jin with a smirk.

Phalanx, a formation that was made legendary by both Spartans and Alexander the Great. It was a rectangular formation, usually used with spears or pikes and shields. This was one of the main formations that Yang Jin made sure his troops constantly practice. Phalanx allowed a small body of men to hold great number of enemies at bay and slowly decimate them. This formation's weak points were that it had extremely vulnerable flanks, read and took some time to set up. This weakness was made moot when phalanx was used to hold a bottleneck where the enemies couldn't attack the flanks and rear of the formation. This phalanx is what gave Yang Jin the confidence that his men will be able to hold the gate against a tide of enemies.

"I see, so what will you two do while I risk my life holding that gate?" sarcastically asked Ma Cong.

"Why, I will go for the head of the general and Zhu Fa will take down all other senior officers with his bow." said Yang Jin.

"Tch, oh well, I guess we got our plan." said Ma Cong with a smile.

Flashback End


"Aim, ready, FIRE!" ordered the veterans that were put in charge of civilian volunteers.

As soon as the order was given a large amount of arrows and javelins was launched at the rear of Zhao forces. By the time someone noticed it was already too late, the deadly projectiles tore into the ranks of Zhao soldiers and killed them by thousands.

"WHAT? Enemy reinforcements? Damn it, how did they get there unnoticed, what were our scouts doing?" raged Li Chang.

Unknown to him, all of his scouts were killed and replaced by the veterans before any of them were able to warn Zhao forces of the enemy at their rear. Before Li Chang can order his soldiers to turn around and take care of the enemy at the read, his lieutenant arrived.

"General Li, Kwan is opening their main gates, we should hurry our forces inside the city." said lieutenant. While Li Chang for a fleeting moment had a bad feeling about those gates, he squashed that feeling.

"Charge for the enemy gate!" ordered Li Chang.

"Hmph, they totally fell for it. Alright lads, we must hold the gates at all costs. Hear me!

Here we stand, here we die!

Victory or death!"


AN

The next chapter is the last chapter of Siege of Kwan arc. I hope you enjoyed the story so far, please do leave a review.