East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

7

Zhu Jun and Sun Jian led the march toward Nan County in Jing Province, clearing any small pockets of resistance and attempts at ambuscades as they went. But the situation started to change as soon as they reached the area around Wan City, which was now the last remaining stronghold of the Yellow Turbans in the west. Once the force reached the Han camp in Nan County, Zhu Jun journeyed to the main command tent to relieve the officers there while Sun Jian assembled his small group of trusted aides for a private conference.
“Wan City is, as Cheng Demou said, considerably fortified,” Huang Gai noted miserably. “We cannot hope to siege this place without massive losses.”
“Perhaps we can try something,” Sun Jian said thoughtfully.
“No!” Wu Jing scolded. “Anything you want to try is always dangerous!”
“But we could end up being here for months, perhaps a year or more, if we don’t try something!” Sun Jian protested.
“Alright: like what…?” Wu Jing asked bluntly.
“…I didn’t say I had an idea, I meant that we should try and think of one,” Sun Jian replied eventually. “If I think of one, dear brother-in-law, then I’ll propose it.”
But no suggestions were made that could be adopted, and the siege of Wan - and the battles around Nan County that inevitably accompanied that siege - took their toll on the Han forces.
     Day after day, the siege consisted of sending armies of brave men with tall and flexible wooden ladders to the dry moat around Wan City while archers provided nominal cover. The defenders would pelt the ladder bearers with stones and arrows as they approached the moat and placed their ladders over the moat to cross; the men would have to crawl along the wobbling ladder, all the while hoping that they were not hit by some projectile while they were completely exposed and defenceless.

Any that made it across the moat - and many did not - would then face the second stage of the gauntlet. The same ladders would be lifted and moved to the walls of the city, so that the soldiers could climb. Once again, they faced projectiles, but in addition, the defenders might be able to push the ladders away from the walls, roll larger rocks off of the battlements or pour hot liquids like oil or water onto the men as they climbed. A lone climber might have some small defence in the form of flipping the ladder, such that they were underneath it as certain obstacles passed their position, but that did little to save them from boiling oil or heavy rocks that broke the ladder under their enormous weight. The result of this tactic was cruel attrition, pure and simple; it was hoped that the defenders ran out of deterrents before the sieging army ran out of men and ladders.
     At the same time, existing and newly-arriving Yellow Turban forces would engage the Han army outside Wan, giving the defenders relief and pressing the already overtaxed loyalist army further. The land battles were less costly than the siege efforts, but they were costly nonetheless. And without the option of other siege tactics, such as siege towers and sappers to tunnel into the city, the Han forces were starting to lose morale. Months went by, and Zhu Jun was quickly running out of supplies and inspiration.

“Wentai, I am at a loss,” Zhu Jun admitted as he sat in private conference with Sun Jian in the command tent one evening. “I am close to asking Commander Huangfu to come here and support me, as he did in Yu.”

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