nycdaug Chapter 301 2nd chance
Chapter 301 2nd chance
"We can't possibly clean up every single blade of grass, so it's impossible for us to launch a sneak attack from another direction like Guan Yu did last time. Those hidden scouts from Xichuan will definitely send messages to the guards at Guan."
Ma Chao shook his head. He also wanted to find a way to bypass the enemy and launch a sneak attack, but the mountains on both sides were high and the forests were dense, with no roads, and there were many Xichuan sentries lying in ambush and watching, so it was impossible to sneak around quietly.
"Is a direct assault the only option?" Gao Shun asked, looking at the sloping road in front of the pass.
"No, that's not it. These past two nights, some of my soldiers sneaked up to the walls and inspected them carefully. These walls were built a long time ago and haven't been repaired for years. Some parts even have cracks."
“Although we can’t get close to the city gate and see the specific situation, I think the situation is pretty much the same. It must be an old city gate that hasn’t been replaced for many years. As long as we can find a way to get close to the city gate and blow it up with explosives, even a direct assault will be easy,” Ma Chao replied.
“Well, that’s one method. But getting close to the city gate isn’t easy. There are too many soldiers on the city wall. Before we can even get close enough to plant the explosives, we’ll be riddled with bullets,” Gao Shun nodded and said.
"We might have a chance if we sneak over tonight!" Yang Xiu suggested.
"Plan it carefully. We need to succeed on the first try. Otherwise, if Yumiti discovers our intentions, there won't be a second chance," Gao Shun nodded and said.
On the evening of March 20th, the weather suddenly changed drastically, and a heavy rain began to fall. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and the torrential rain caused some chaos among Gao Shun's soldiers. The soldiers who had initially camped in low-lying areas had to move to higher ground in the rain, while others had to reinforce their tents, and the logistics team had to build rain shelters to protect supplies. Everywhere in the rain, there were busy figures.
In Gao Shun's command post, Yang Xiu was overjoyed, shouting, "Heaven is helping me!"
When others asked why, Yang Xiu laughed and said, "This heavy rain may seem to have thrown us into chaos, but that's not the case. Not only do we need to take shelter from the rain, but the soldiers of the Five Streams Flying Soldiers guarding the pass also need to take shelter. There aren't enough towers on the pass for them to take shelter from the rain. I think that apart from a few soldiers wearing cloaks to keep watch, the others have probably all gone to the back of the pass to take shelter from the rain."
"Moreover, such heavy rain severely obstructs the enemy soldiers' line of sight during their patrols, giving us even greater confidence to approach the city gates and plant explosives. We should prepare tens of thousands of elite soldiers to stand ready, and once the city gates are breached, they can swarm in and easily take Imus Pass. Wouldn't that be heaven helping us?"
The others exchanged smiles, and Gao Shun stood up and said, "I originally planned to rest for two days before attacking the pass, but since Heaven is helping me, there's no need to be polite. Xiahou Dun, go and gather the main force of your two brigades of soldiers immediately, and get ready for a rainy night attack tonight."
Xiahou Dun accepted the order and set off, braving the rain to assemble the troops and prepare for the attack on the pass. Gao Shun, on the other hand, ordered the special forces to select two experienced special forces soldiers, carrying explosives wrapped in waterproof oil paper and matches, to sneak into the pass and blow up the city gate.
At the Yimusi Pass, the garrison commander, Yumiti, used a telescope to observe the Hua organization outside the pass for more than an hour, until it became completely invisible after dark.
After the heavy rain, the Huazu troops hurriedly moved their camp, fortified their tents, and protected their provisions. Yumiti felt relieved and said to a centurion beside him, "The enemy troops won't attack the city today, but you still need to keep a close watch and not give any enemy spies an opportunity." The centurion nodded in agreement, and Yumiti went down the city wall to sleep and rest.
Of course, given the heavy rain, and judging that the enemy soldiers would not attack the pass, Yumiti also ordered most of the garrison soldiers to go down the pass walls and into the city to take shelter from the rain.
This section of the city gate tower was built like a castle, with a small room inside for the garrison commander to rest in. After hearing Yumiti's warning, the centurion stood on the crenellations of the city wall and earnestly watched out for more than two hours, but on the dark slope outside the pass, not even a cat could be seen.
The centurion felt he was being foolish. Why was he standing there monitoring the situation when there were so many soldiers around? Losing him would only mean losing a pair of eyes. So he went to his room in the city tower to rest.
Once the commander on night duty went to his room to rest, the other Sichuan soldiers who had been standing motionless on the city wall monitoring the movements outside the pass relaxed one by one.
With such heavy rain, apart from a few braziers still burning and emitting some light under the eaves of the city gate tower, the rest of the walls without any repairs are plunged into darkness.
The firelight from the braziers on the city tower, reflected in the rain, only revealed a blurry patch outside the city gate, offering no real surveillance. Remembering Yumiti's words before leaving—that the enemy wouldn't attack in such heavy rain tonight—the soldiers began to slack off.
They tried their best to move closer to the inside, away from the gate walls and the crenellations, to avoid the rain that was blown in by the wind, only occasionally peeking out to check the situation on the mountain road outside the gate.
Around midnight, the centurion who was on night duty came out to check and was startled by the Wuxi Flying Soldiers who were taking shelter from the rain under the eaves.
It turned out that not only the soldiers who were patrolling the city gate tower, but also the soldiers on the walls on both sides had come here to take shelter from the rain. As a result, only one or two soldiers wearing raincoats and straw hats were occasionally seen on duty in the rain in the hundreds of meters extending from the city gate tower to both sides.
The guards were packed tightly together, with hundreds standing on the road above the city gate tower, and hundreds more crowding under the eaves on both sides of the tower. The centurion was startled and, with a shout, drove all the soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the city walls outside. However, knowing that it was raining heavily and dark, and that the enemy was unlikely to attack, he didn't say much and went back inside to sleep.
Seeing that the centurion hadn't punished anyone, the ordinary soldiers grew bolder. As soon as he entered the house, they immediately returned to the eaves to take shelter from the rain, abandoning their mission to patrol the enemy troops outside the pass. After all, the supreme commander, Yumiti, had said that the enemy troops couldn't possibly attack the city tonight. Little did they know that Gao Shun's elite troops intended to use the heavy rain that night to launch their attack.
Because the slope outside the pass was all muddy, to prevent slipping, all the soldiers in Xiahou Dun's two brigades were fitted with spiked boots, the soles of which had rubber studs to prevent falls. They also needed to prepare raincoats and cloaks for protection, even though the rain was heavy; it was better than nothing, to avoid catching a cold or fever, as treating injuries and illnesses while on the move was very difficult.
These preparations took a long time to complete due to the heavy rain. It wasn't until 2 a.m. that Xiahou Dun ran over to tell Gao Shun that the two brigades of soldiers from the 112th Company were fully prepared for battle and were just waiting for Gao Shun to send men to blow open the city gates so they could take the city in one fell swoop.