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Throughout the history of human civilization, city walls have always played a crucial role in warfare. From the moment walls were first erected, agrarian societies finally gained a formidable tool for defense. However, these same walls also restricted their mobility, unlike the nomadic tribes who roamed freely.
Before the advent of gunpowder, firearms, or even explosives, there were no effective weapons capable of breaching sturdy fortifications. In siege warfare, the defending side held an undeniable advantage.
As long as there were sufficient reserves—be it food supplies or manpower—holding out for half a year or even a full year was not an insurmountable challenge.
Moreover, in siege battles, due to the presence of city walls, the casualty ratio between attackers and defenders typically remained at four or five to one. Unless the attacking side possessed an overwhelming numerical advantage or had no choice but to attack, they would never recklessly throw lives away to capture a city. Such an approach would clearly be a case of "gaining eight hundred at the cost of three thousand."
And without siege engines, the task became downright despair-inducing for the attackers. Otherwise, nomadic tribes over the centuries would not have only been able to dominate in open-field battles, only to falter the moment they encountered a fortified city.
Zhang Liao watched as Zheng Jian's troops slowly retreated. Though he breathed a slight sigh of relief, his vigilance only grew stronger.
"Ziyuan's words forcing them to retreat were truly satisfying!" Zhang Liao did not voice his concerns but instead praised Fei Qian.
Fei Qian, however, was not cheered by the compliment. He shook his head and said, "Our success in seizing the pass this time was sheer luck. This Zheng Jian is not an easy opponent."
Zheng Jian had attempted to provoke Zhang Liao into abandoning the advantage of the walls and engaging in open battle by hurling insults. Similarly, Fei Qian had used rhetoric to provoke Zheng Jian—partly to boost their own side's morale, but also in hopes of enraging Zheng Jian into launching a reckless assault on Hangu Pass without any siege preparations.
While they had achieved some success in bolstering their own morale, Zheng Jian had not lost his composure despite being thoroughly humiliated by Fei Qian. Instead, he chose to swallow his anger and retreat, clearly intending to prepare siege engines for a methodical and decisive assault.
Constructing siege towers and scaling ladders on the spot might be difficult, but crafting simple ladders and battering rams from timber was not an insurmountable task.
Thus, Zheng Jian's retreat was not something to celebrate. The next time he attacked, he would undoubtedly bring siege engines, and a brutal battle would be inevitable.
Moreover, Hangu Pass had historically been designed to defend against attacks from the east rather than the west. Although the western walls had not been damaged by the fire, they were neither as tall nor as thick as the eastern walls. Additionally, they lacked protruding corner towers like the Wangqi Tower or Jiming Tower, which extended outward to expand the defensive coverage. The western walls were also significantly longer than the eastern ones.
All these factors added to the difficulty of defense for Zhang Liao and Fei Qian.
Another troublesome issue was the lack of defensive supplies. While there were still some rolling stones, almost all the wooden beams and boiling oil had been destroyed in the fire Fei Qian himself had set—effectively leaving them with nothing.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Liao said, "Ziyuan, I'd like to ask a favor of you. Could you go to Luoyang and request reinforcements?"
Fei Qian was momentarily taken aback but quickly realized that while Zhang Liao might genuinely need reinforcements, his greater intention was likely to give Fei Qian a chance to escape this dangerous situation.
Fei Qian clasped his hands in gratitude but replied in a formal tone to emphasize his resolve, "I appreciate your kindness, Wenyuan, but retreating in the face of the enemy is not something I can do. Moreover, fighting side by side with you is an honor—how could I possibly miss it?"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Liao's lips as he nodded. "In that case, let us fight together!"
"By the way," Fei Qian suddenly remembered something, "Wenyuan, could you lend me a squad of soldiers? I need to escort the books from the Cai residence back to Gucheng."
"The Cai residence's books?" Zhang Liao was puzzled.
Fei Qian briefly explained, and Zhang Liao repeatedly nodded in understanding before summoning Zhang Zhao.
Zhang Zhao had since been promoted to squad leader. Upon hearing the task of escorting the Cai family's books, he immediately assured Fei Qian and Zhang Liao that he would ensure their safe delivery. Along with Huang Xu and a squad of soldiers, as well as the remaining ten guards from the Cui family, he set out through the eastern gate with the recently restored books.
With this worry off his mind, Fei Qian threw himself wholeheartedly into preparing for Zheng Jian's impending assault.
This confrontation was relatively evenly matched. Zheng Jian had around two thousand troops, while Zhang Liao only had eight hundred infantry and five hundred auxiliary soldiers. The two hundred cavalry, though formidable earlier, would be of limited use in defending the walls—at best, they could serve as makeshift archers.
In other words, Zheng Jian's forces were roughly double Zhang Liao's.
Another issue was the lack of defensive tools like rolling stones and wooden beams. The western walls had only a token supply, while those on the eastern walls had been nearly wiped out by Fei Qian's fire.
Fortunately, they were able to retrieve some arrows from the official storehouse. Otherwise, their ranged combat capabilities would have been severely lacking. The two hundred cavalrymen only carried twenty arrows each—hardly enough to make a difference.
There was also a latent threat: some of Zheng Jian's soldiers who had remained in the pass had fled, a few had been killed during the resistance, but others had surrendered and were now being held in the training grounds south of the city.
These soldiers had followed Zheng Jian for years. If they learned he was launching a counterattack, they might entertain rebellious thoughts. Thus, they could not be deployed on the walls and would instead require additional manpower to guard them—though this task could be left to the auxiliary soldiers.
Even if reinforcements from Luoyang were to arrive, they would not come quickly. With only eight hundred infantry and two hundred dismounted cavalry—and the auxiliary soldiers' combat effectiveness being far from reliable—holding such an extended defensive line with insufficient ranged weapons was no easy feat.
While they held some advantages, they were still limited.
Given that neither Dong Zhuo nor Li Ru, no matter how magnanimous, would allow free passage through the eastern or southern roads at this critical juncture, the only way out of Luoyang was to secure the western route to Hedong. This meant thwarting the gentry's plans was imperative.
Though the Cai family's books were now temporarily safe, the pass still had to be defended—and defended successfully.
The question now was: how could they further amplify their advantages?