Guangling Commandery, situated between the Huai and Jiang rivers, commanded the northern bank of the great river, facing Dantu County across the water. Its strategic importance was paramount; should Guangling fall, the Yan army could advance to the Jiang and, utilizing the city's defenses, relentlessly assault Xia's riverine fortifications.
Guangling Commandery had three land gates: North, East, and West, along with two water gates, South and North.
Murong Boli's right flank army had been besieging Guangling Commandery for four months. To resist the enemy, the military and populace of Guangling had already sealed the three land gates with ramming carts, stones, and other obstacles. The water gates were blocked with sunken ships, trees, and mud. This not only demonstrated the determination of Guangling's people to fight to the death but also prevented the Yan army from sending spies into the city to assassinate officials, incite unrest, or poison the populace.
Previously, Yan spies had infiltrated the city and assassinated the Governor of Guangling Commandery. The people of Guangling were filled with hatred and regret over this.
Simultaneously, by sealing all the city gates, the Xia army and people of Guangling had also sealed their own escape routes. After four months of siege, Guangling was nearly depleted of supplies. A large portion of the populace had starved to death, with tree bark, grass roots, cats, dogs, and rats all but consumed. The city was littered with corpses, a scene of widespread starvation.
Despite the dire state of Guangling, the remaining tens of thousands of Xia soldiers and civilians refused to surrender. This infuriated Murong Boli, who swore to break through Guangling Commandery at all costs.
Before the towering gatehouse of Guangling's city walls stood the high and thick ramparts. In front of the walls lay a deep moat. Beyond the moat were dense clusters of caltrops, chevaux de frise, and abatis, all designed to repel enemies. Between these defenses lay countless uncollected corpses, their bones exposed. Ravens and other birds pecked at them, amidst broken weapons and arrowheads. The horrific scene resembled a living hell.
"Stay back, cover your noses and mouths, beware of plague!"
Zhou Fugui, the commander of the Yan army's White Tiger Battalion, reined in his horse. After tying a cloth around his nose and mouth, he addressed Feng Cheng and the other scouts.
Murong Boli had compelled Zhou Fugui and the White Tiger Battalion to act as a suicide squad to attack Guangling. Zhou Fugui, naturally, had to scout the terrain of Guangling and the situation of the Xia army, lest he and his men die without knowing why.
Upon arriving outside Guangling Commandery, Zhou Fugui was also shocked by the hellish scene, but he forced himself to continue his reconnaissance with Feng Cheng and four other scouts.
With bodies scattered everywhere, preventing plague was paramount. Zhou Fugui understood this all too well. Thus, Feng Cheng and the other four scouts had their noses and mouths tightly wrapped with cloth.
"Battalion Commander, what is that object in your hand?" Feng Cheng and the other scouts were greatly surprised to see Zhou Fugui take out a round, elongated object and place it over his right eye, observing intently. Feng Cheng voiced their curiosity.
"Oh, this is called a Thousand-Mile Eye. Feng Cheng, come and have a look!" Zhou Fugui said, handing the "Thousand-Mile Eye" to Feng Cheng.
Creating a simple telescope was extremely easy for Zhou Fugui, a task he could accomplish with readily available materials.
"Thousand-Mile Eye?" Feng Cheng took the telescope with surprise and, mimicking Zhou Fugui, placed it over his right eye.
"Ah! Mother!" As Feng Cheng looked through the telescope, a massive skull appeared in his vision. The skull was still covered in partially decayed flesh, and it seemed to grin at Feng Cheng, a truly terrifying sight. Feng Cheng cried out in fright, tumbled off his horse, and the telescope flew from his grasp.
Zhou Fugui snatched the telescope as Feng Cheng fell. Watching Feng Cheng sitting in the mud, he scoffed, "As the leader of the scouts, you have such little courage? What did you see to scare you so badly?"
Feng Cheng was the banner general of the scout banner.
"I... I... Battalion Commander, your subordinate..." Feng Cheng scrambled to his feet, speechless and stammering.
In truth, Feng Cheng would not have been so terrified even if faced with real skeletal remains. But the skull appearing through such a small device, the "Thousand-Mile Eye," had deeply frightened him.
"The Thousand-Mile Eye, as the name suggests, can see things a thousand miles away. That's impossible..." Zhou Fugui said to Feng Cheng and the other four scouts. "However, on a clear day, it can see two or three li without a problem. As scouts for the army, wouldn't this object be perfect for you? You others, come and try it."
The other three scouts took the Thousand-Mile Eye and took turns looking through it. Though astonished, they did not fall off their horses like Feng Cheng.
"Battalion Commander is truly a divine being!"
With Zhou Fugui's explanation, Feng Cheng understood that the Thousand-Mile Eye was for observing things from afar, not for things to emerge from it. He then eagerly snatched it back and began observing everything around him with great interest, exclaiming, "With this in hand, the enemy has nowhere to hide!"
"That's not necessarily true," Zhou Fugui replied, shaking his head. "External objects are merely aids. Ultimately, it depends on the person. Moreover, this object is still far from the Thousand-Mile Eye I envision."
"What is the Thousand-Mile Eye you envision, Battalion Commander?" Feng Cheng asked.
"It can see a thousand, ten thousand, even a hundred thousand or a million li. It can see clearly through walls, forests, and other obstacles. Understand?" Zhou Fugui answered.
"Oh, that would truly be a heavenly artifact!" Feng Cheng and the others clicked their tongues in disbelief. They wouldn't believe it even if killed.
"Believe it or not..." Zhou Fugui saw their look of disbelief and glared at them before commanding, "Let's go. Continue the reconnaissance. No need to be secretive anymore. Be bold and open."
"Battalion Commander, why is that?" asked a scout named Zhang.
"Can they still come out? Do they dare to leave the city?" Zhou Fugui said with a smile, gesturing towards the city walls with his horsewhip.
A few heads could be seen peeking out from the battlements, observing Zhou Fugui and his men.
"Battalion Commander's insight is brilliant!" Feng Cheng nodded in agreement. "The Xia people have sealed themselves within the city, and they can't get out."
"That's not entirely certain..." Zhou Fugui shook his head. "When I say they can't leave the city, I don't mean they absolutely cannot. They can still make small raids, such as descending from the walls, and perhaps there are secret tunnels. But no matter how they exit, it will be in small numbers. How can small groups match our speed? If we can't defeat them, can't we outrun them? Therefore, when we reconnoiter, we should walk boldly around the city, but never enter the forests."
"Battalion Commander is truly a master strategist, surpassing Kongming of the Three Kingdoms!" A scout named Hu flattered him profusely. "Perhaps they think we are just tourists visiting the area."
Kongming of the Three Kingdoms? Zhou Fugui mused inwardly. If they know of Kongming of the Three Kingdoms, then this era must be after the Three Kingdoms. However, the name Zhuge Kongming was known to everyone from the Three Kingdoms period onwards, and many dynasties revered Zhuge Liang. Thus, Zhou Fugui still did not know which era or dynasty this was.
"Crack!" Feng Cheng feigned a whip crack and reprimanded scout Hu, "You like to visit battlefields for leisure? Look at all these corpses, what are you staring at!"
"Hahahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter.
Zhou Fugui and his four companions boldly circled Guangling Commandery once and arrived at the water gate. Along the way, they saw no one. On the city walls, only a few Xia soldiers watched them, pointing and chattering about them.
"Battalion Commander!" Feng Cheng pointed to the water gate. "This river channel is wide, and the banks are deep. Although the river is shallow now, this is winter, the dry season. In spring and summer, the river must be quite deep, capable of accommodating large vessels. To attack Guangling, we could also enter by boat through the water gate. It's a pity they have already sealed the water gate, leaving us helpless."
"Hmm..." Zhou Fugui nodded, holding the Thousand-Mile Eye and carefully observing the water gate, trying to find any weakness.
As a water gate, it would have sluice gates and channels, with archways and gate towers above the channels to control the entry and exit of ships.
The gate tower was a two-story, three-bay structure with a hip-and-gable roof. Below the archway was the water channel. Currently, the Xia army had blocked the water gate with sunken ships, trees, and mud. In the dry season, the river was shallow, and the riverbed was even exposed where the sunken ships lay.
If Zhou Fugui were to lead his army through the water gate, he would first have to clear the blockage at the archway. During the excavation, they would inevitably face fierce attacks from the Xia army stationed in the gate tower above the archway. Furthermore, with a small number of soldiers, the Xia army could inflict heavy casualties on Zhou Fugui's White Tiger Battalion, possibly even annihilating them.
The city walls on either side of the water gate towered into the clouds, like sheer cliffs.
"Alas, it's truly impenetrable, not even a fly can get through," Zhou Fugui sighed after observing for a long time without finding any flaws.
Feng Cheng and the scouts were also at a loss.
"Let's go and look elsewhere," Zhou Fugui ordered.
The tightly defended water gate of Guangling Commandery left Zhou Fugui and his men bewildered, forcing them to seek other methods.
In fact, when Murong Boli attacked Guangling, he had also considered entering through the water gate. He had mobilized ships to attack the water gate by boat, but he lost over three thousand soldiers and only managed to chip away at the surface.
"Why is the Battalion Commander so discouraged?" Zhou Fugui and his men had circled Guangling Commandery again, and it was nearing dusk. They had found no weaknesses in the city's defenses; they were practically impregnable. Feng Cheng saw Zhou Fugui with his head bowed in silence and tried to console him, "Even the strongest fortress has its weaknesses. A turtle shell is hard, right? But I know how to break its shell."
Feng Cheng, being a hunter, was naturally knowledgeable in such matters.
"Oh? What method do you have to break a turtle's shell?" Zhou Fugui asked.
As the five of them spoke, they had reached a patch of forest. This forest was on Zhou Fugui's route back to camp. If they didn't go through the forest, they would have to take a long detour.