Gyeonseong Battle - Black Mountain Bandits Subjugation (4): "How to Smash the Gate in a Single Day?"
"A way to break the gate in just one day?"
"Yes. Do you remember? Back when we talked about how to breach Xiabi Castle's gates."
"We came up with over thirty methods that time. Which one are you thinking of?"
"The one you suggested, Master. The method that opens it in one shot."
Was there really a way to open a castle gate in one go? There was. Precisely for thin-walled gates like Gyeonseong's, though theoretically it couldn't be ruled out for others.
Cao Cao's army composition. The bandits' response capabilities. And the skills of our soldiers. Putting it all together, there was definitely a way to shatter Gyeonseong's gate in a single strike.
But it was all just armchair theory. An absurd notion that had never been tested in reality.
"I distinctly remember calling it a joke of an idea back then."
"You discussed it with Zhuge Liang, right?"
Oh.
"If you'd talked it over with her, she must've come up with a concrete plan. Blueprints or diagrams, maybe ways to modify existing gear."
"Do you think Liang's some goddess of machinery or something?"
"At least when it comes to what she calls those machines... I admit she's way better than me. If I'm better at riding horses, she's better at handling tools and gadgets."
"She is pretty exceptional in that area."
In all sorts of ways.
"She definitely made it, didn't she?"
"Well, not exactly made it, but..."
"Be straight with me. You had her make it, right?"
"...She did draw up the blueprints."
It wasn't just lying around, and I hadn't come up with it alone. I'd sketched the wild idea in my head, and Zhuge Liang turned it into reality.
-Liang, what if we did it like this? Would that work?
-If we smash it like that with this, wouldn't the gate fly open, dear husband?
-Oh...
It was one of the ideas born from pondering how to open Xiabi Castle's gates during the siege against Lü Bu. The basic concept used a battering ram. One variant involved slamming a thick, sturdy spearhead into the heavy gate.
"Look at that gate over there. Doesn't it look like something even you could smash open easily, Master?"
"Why do you keep dragging me into this?"
"Because you're my master."
"...Sigh."
I immediately caught the meaning in Sima Yi's gaze.
"You want me to build it."
"Yes. The model answer's right there in your head, Master. And I don't know... that answer."
Whoooosh.
The wind blew. Sima Yi's hair fluttered back, and her eyes held a hint of wistfulness.
"The siege weapon Zhuge Liang taught me. You must remember the blueprints, right, Master?"
"...Blueprints or not, it's nothing fancy. No different from a regular battering ram."
To break Lü Bu's barricaded Xiabi gates, Zhuge Liang had devised a battering ram. But what was a standard battering ram? Since one hit wouldn't do it, soldiers clung to it, steeling themselves for sacrifice as they hammered the most dangerous spot.
-The problem with regular battering rams is the soldiers keep ramming it in. But with this, no problem. No soldiers dying while breaching the walls.
To shield from arrows raining from above, they'd hold shields or wear heavy upper-body armor—but soldiers were still exposed in the deadliest position. To minimize that risk and sacrifice, Zhuge Liang invented a powerful new battering ram design.
And I could build it. Crude and rough, but doable.
"Even if the blueprint's just in your head, get a few people on it and you can make it, right?"
"True enough. Especially since it's Zhuge Liang's design."
"She may have drawn it up, but you're the one who can make it happen here, Master. Please. I'll smooth things over with Liang later. She's probably dying for us to wrap this up and head back to Jingzhou too, right? So make it."
Using it without telling Zhuge Liang would earn me an earful later, but as Sima Yi said, if it got us home faster, she'd forgive it.
-You used our secret weapon—made in secret without telling the world—for Cao Cao's army?
Heh... ah, and it let us get back thirty days sooner?
...Fine, I'll count that as thirty days in Jingzhou.
That's exactly what Zhuge Liang would say.
"Huang Zu said something similar."
"What'd he say?"
"It's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission."
"...That old man's sneakier than he looks."
We'd seek Zhuge Liang's forgiveness later. And deciding that meant deploying our knowledge now to smash Gyeonseong's gate.
"To the command tent. I'll explain it to the generals myself."
I gathered the generals through Sima Yi. Having seen her talent already, they now regarded me with a mix of tentative respect and testing scrutiny as they listened.
"Hmm... a way to breach the gate..."
I adapted Zhuge Liang's plan to fit Gyeonseong and our situation, explaining it step by step.
"Hmm?"
"What... is this?"
At first, they stared like I'd claimed immortals were real.
"Oho, brilliant! If we do that..."
"That'll work for sure."
By midway, even the skeptics were astonished by Zhuge Liang's weapon.
"Let's do it! Worst case, we ram the gate ourselves after."
"Can't risk the Ho Biao Qi. And if it works? We open the gate without spilling a drop of blood!"
In the end, everyone endorsed our plan.
Is this okay for Cao Cao's army?
Accepting a guest strategist's proposal so readily—especially one to open the gates with wood scraps instead of men.
"...I have no idea."
They'd already gone to gather materials to make it real, buzzing with childlike glee over a new toy. A chill ran down my spine.
"It wasn't made for this."
Originally, for demolishing old nests to build new birdhouses. Now, repurposed to smash castle gates instead of old huts.
"...We're using it because they're bandits. Yeah, makes sense."
"Exactly. Against regular soldiers, we'd use standard tactics—soldier-on-soldier strategies from the classics."
Sima Yi squeezed my hand, patting the back reassuringly.
"It seems fanciful, hard to apply over conventional tactics. But that's why it works perfectly for bandit extermination. Master, if this succeeds, they'll see you in a whole new light."
"What light?"
"Discovering a side of you they never knew."
"......"
A talent even I hadn't realized. Another gift revealed through Zhuge Liang.
"What's it called?"
"...Just to clear up any misunderstanding, Pang Tong saw it in passing and named it."
Flutterbee Ram.
"Flies like a butterfly, stings like a bee."
* * *
"Two days gone and no sign of them. Guess sieges make 'em hesitant after all."
Suho—leader of the Black Mountain Bandits—sighed in relief at the sight of Cao Cao's army encircling Gyeonseong.
"Heh, thanks to that, we've reinforced the walls and cranked out arrows. Come on, then. I'll personally put holes in your necks."
Suho climbed the wall himself, nocked an arrow, and aimed below.
Beyond bow range, their camp occasionally loosed mounted volleys like target practice before withdrawing. Each time, Suho fired back.
"Damn it, you think we're targets?!"
The wooden barricades atop the walls bristled with arrows like bullseyes. Dismantling them later would yield a haul—Cao Cao's riders were that thorough in practice.
"Calm down. The second they open the gates, they'll charge. Yeah, holding out now means victory."
Suho reined in his rage as taught. Endure a month, and the vast lands of Jinyang would be theirs to plunder. With that future in mind, he scanned the enemy lines.
"...What's that?"
Rumble rumble.
About ten heavy cavalry? Ropes bound to their horses' flanks, dragging something behind.
"...A cart?"
One cart trailed them, laden with something huge, thick, imposing. It resembled that.
"Those crazy bastards!!"
Hiiing—
The riders spurred forward in unison. At first, the horses strained against the cart, but momentum built to full gallop.
Clack-clack!
Four wheels rolled smoothly over the ground. The mounted tip aimed dead at the gate.
"K-kill the horses!!"
Bandits nearby grabbed bows at Suho's shout. Good shots, they aimed true—but the riders parried arrows with spear sweeps.
"Damn those mad Ho Biao Qi?!"
"Boss! Those are the enemy's generals!"
"What?! Why are generals doing this themselves..."
In that instant, Suho saw it: as the cart neared the gate, riders slashed ropes with spearheads and scattered left and right.
Realization hit. They'd raced right up, cut loose—so the wheels kept rolling forward...!
"It won't stop—!"
BOOM—!!!!
Gyeonseong's unbreakable gate—never breached before—shattered in one hit.
* * *
"It was meant to launch the ram like a trebuchet. Shame."
"This seems plenty effective..."
"Teacher Kim! Brilliant! The gate's wide open! Haha, Lord Cao Cao had to see this. But what if it hadn't broken?"
"Oh, that."
I pointed to the bow hanging nearby.
"It's all wood except the iron tip. Shoot it with fire arrows, burn it, build another, and launch again."
"......"
Better to fell one more tree than lose men breaching the gate, right?