Chapter 193: 191. Battle Of Shouchun
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Ji Ling panicked as he didn't expect that the level of experience the new soldiers had was this low, he scolded Hou Zui saying that if Hou Zui ever trained all of these new recruits. What he didn't know was, that both Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang gave him an evil smile.
Ji Ling's panic was what Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang wanted, unbeknownst to Yuan Shu and Ji Ling is that the two of them had been approached by Oriole members, who invited them to join Lie Fan's side.
At first, the two refused the offer, as they were loyal to Yuan Shu, and they even chased out the Oriole members but in return, Yuan Shu didn't appreciate them, and even replaced them with Hou Zui whom they knew had a sinister intention to Yuan Shu.
This treatment from Yuan Shu makes them angry, as they are the first advisors who join Yuan Shu, helping him establish the power base that stands today. They didn't expect that Yuan Shu would cast them aside the moment they didn't agree with Yuan Shu's plan.
This time the Oriole members approached them again, telling them that Lie Fan extended an olive branch to them and that Lie Fan promised that he would treat them better than Yuan Shu.
They struggled internally, as they knew that even if Yuan Shu won this battle, their future would be bleak due to Hou Zui hounding them, even if they could lose their lives if they were not careful.
Finally, after a moment of dilemma and moral struggle, the two of them agree to join Lie Fan's side and promise to help Lie Fan from the inside.
The Oriole members happily told them that they had made the right choice and that Lie Fan had his first order for them, that is to try and recruit generals and soldiers under Yuan Shu to their side.
Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang cupped their hand and promised to do what their new Lord ordered them to do, making Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang suggest to Ji Ling send the new soldiers first, leaving the original soldiers to defend Shouchun.
This is because Yang Hong and Yang Dajaing have managed to recruit some of the original soldiers to their side, from 100,000 men about 30,000 men have agreed to follow Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang.
All these men agree to follow them because they feel that they wouldn't last long following Yuan Shu, especially since he has declared himself Emperor, making some of his soldiers dissatisfied with him.
They also managed to recruit some of the generals under Yuan Shu to join Lie Fan's side. They managed to position them to enter the army they were in, this general was Lei Bo, Chen Lan, Li Feng, and Qiao Rui.
Ji Ling: "Master Yang Hong and Master Yang Dajiang, what should we do next, I didn't expect that the new army was this incompetent."
Yang Hong: "Hou Zui has truly let us down, he led the expansion of our army, aren't some of the generals under General Ji Ling also included in training the army?"
Ji Ling: "Yes they were, those fools don't even train them right! We have lost about 60,000 men in a single skirmish in different areas, should we centralize our defense at Shouchun?"
Yang Hong: "Yes we should do that General Ji Ling, Shouchun has a high wall and is very fortified thanks to our Lord turning it into a fortress to defend against Lie Fan."
Yang Dajiang: "Yes we should, just like Master Yang Hong said we should fortify ourselves at Shouchun, they would spend their time here, leaving some time for our lord to repel Cao Cao and then support us."
Ji Ling: "All right then we do as Master Yang Hing and Master Yang Dajiang suggested, Men revive my orders! Informed all of the army outside to retreat to Shouchun, where we would fight a defensive battle!"
Under Ji Ling's order, all of Yuan Shu's army that was under him retreated to Shouchun including the newly recruited army. Thanks to Lie Fan and his general's army onslaught, they have reduced them from 100,000 strong men to around 40,000 men left.
This was a heavy blow to Ji Ling, as that meant he had around 140,000 men to defend Shouchun, whereas they estimated Lie Fan had around 120,000 experienced men to siege Shouchun.
They have the advantage at the number but Lie Fan has the advantage at quality, which Ji Ling knew could become the end of his army if they can't increase their combat capability as this was a siege battle where human swarm tactics don't work too well with the terrain they have.
On the other side, Lie Fan led his army in a continued successful battle, and he said that it's all thanks to Jia Xu, Yan Jun, and Zhuge Jin for suggesting their strategy or tactics.
Lie Fan now leads an Army with the amount of 45,000 men, 15,000 of whom are the prisoners army. Right now Lie Fan has arrived at the designated location, where he will meet up with the rest of his army.
Lie Fan let his army recuperate their spirit and rest for a while, Lie Fan asked Jia Xu to inform Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang secretly to prepare their men they would attack Shouchun, and asked Lu Kang when he would send his men.
Jia Xu cupped his hand, went toward his tent wrote the secret letters, and then gave them to Oriole members who had been trained as a courier, having more endurance and can travel faster than normal couriers.
This message was sent out and after some days the armies under Huang Zhong, Dian Wei, and Zhang Chao finally arrived almost at the same time.
Lie Fan hadn't seen them for some time, he greeted all of his generals and advisors enthusiastically. He promised that after their win against Yuan Shu, there would be a banquet to celebrate, and some reshuffling of the positions to increase the efficiency.
After some preparations and recuperating for a day, Lie Fan led his army numbering around 135,000 men to march toward Shouchun. Ji Ling who was at Shouchun received the report from his scout, that 50 Km north of Shouchun Lie Fan's army was matching here.
Ji Ling ordered the evacuation of the civilians, he ordered all of the people who lived outside of Shouchun's walls to enter, and bring their own supplies and food as he was afraid that the supplies at Shouchun couldn't last long enough to accommodate so many people.
Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang behind Ji Ling's back call for Lei Bo, Chen Lan, Li Feng, and Qiao Rui for a meeting. There he told them that Jia Xu had sent them a letter, saying that they would need to do their part.
Li Feng was the highest-ranking and strongest general among the rest, so he was appointed by Yanh Hing and Yang Dajiang to lead the 30,000 men they recruited, for the rest they supported Li Feng.
Qiao Rui asked Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang if they would truly be used by Lie Fan after they joined him, hearing this question Yang Hong answered with certainty that Lie Fan would do so, as among the generals serving him there was Fan Chou and Xu Rong who is serving Dong Zhuo before.
Renewed with vigor, Li Feng then told Lei Bo, Chen Lan, and Qiao Rui to distribute some black cloth to their soldiers, regardless matter where they found it, and ordered them to tie it on their right arm.
This is so that their soldiers can know which side is enemies and which side is allies, he also requested Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang to inform Jia Xu of this, so that their soldiers and Lie Fan's soldiers would not fight each other.
All of this coordination was done at the fastest speed, with Ji Ling not knowing that some of his men and even strategists were plotting to overthrow the battle and join Lie Fan's side.
Ji Ling and his army waited for about 3 days when finally Lie Fan's army was seen across the horizon.ie Fan's imposing army intimidates the soldiers under Yuan Shu, as Lie Fan's army has some kind of intimidating aura.
Ji Ling: "Everyone stands still! Don't be intimidated by the enemy! Lei Bo! Chen Lan! Li Feng! Qiao Rui! Lead your men and prepare for the defenses of Shouchun!"
Li Feng: "General! If all of our army joins up at the wall, it's too full! I propose for me and my squad to stay below, in case the enemy managed to breach us!"
Ji Ling: "Great idea Li Feng! Do that, and maybe reinforce the others when they need help!"
Li Feng: "Yes General!"
On Lie Fan's side, Jia Xu and the rest of Lie Fan's advisors have composed a plan for their siege. As they will have some help from the inside, Jia Xu proposes for them to have a frontal assault, making the soldiers under Ji Ling focus on them.
The infantries will be the main force of the battle, so Dian Wei, Chao Bai, Fang Yue, Ling Cao, Zhang Chao, Zang Hong, and Ze Rong will lead the infantries, Ren Jun and Chao Bo will coordinate the siege weaponry, Huang Zhong will lead the archers, and the rest will lead the cavalries to surround Shouchun.
Lie Fan approves of the plan and since this was a siege battle and all of his generals were present, he doesn't join this battle choosing to command the army with Jia Xu, Xun You, Chen Deng, Yan Jun, and Zhuge Jin beside him.
So the battle of Shouchun began, Ji Ling and Lie Fan didn't send a messenger or something along those lines, as they knew that this battle was inevitable. Following Jia Xu's plan, Lie Fan's infantry began their attack, with the archers covering them by firing their arrows at Ji Ling's soldiers atop the wall.
Led by the famous Dian Wei, Lie Fan's infantry began their aggressive attack. The siege squad under Ren Jun and Chao Bo begins to put up siege ladders on the wall while pushing the trebuchet and battering ram to the frontline.
Lie Fan's counterclockwise trebuchet proved to be a deadly siege weapon in this era, the stones that were fired at Ji Ling's soldier on top of the wall caused heavy casualties, Ji Ling was shocked as he had never seen this kind of catapult before.
The Cavalries under Xu Rong's leadership with the Tian Mao battalion under him, began encircling Shouchun to cut them off from the outside world and supplies from the outside.
Huang Zhong led the archers to continue firing their arrows, working together alongside the trebuchets to cause damage to Ji Ling's army. Ji Ling also put up doubt, he told his men to continue firing their arrows.
Whatever the condition might be, the arrows from atop Shouchun Wall never stopped, the battering ram began to ram Shouchun's northern gate, where Ji Ling's soldier held the gate from behind.
While the battle was going on, with Lie Fan's soldiers beginning to come up through the siege ladder, Ji Ling began to notice something amiss as Lei Bo, Chen Lan, and Qiao Rui didn't put up the fight like they usually do.
While he began to feel suspicious, Li Feng below led the 30,000 men to the southern gate, opposite where the battle was going on and met up with Yang Hong and Yang Dajiang, who had taken control of the southern gate with the help of the Oriole where they begged to help them.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu
Age: 25 (192 AD)
Level: 15
Next Level: 1.588.000
Renown: 605
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 371.700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 906 (+20)
VIT: 578 (+20)
AGI: 563 (+10)
INT: 567
CHR: 93
WIS: 489
WILL: 377
ATR Points: 0
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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