Preparation

Dark clouds loomed over the city, as if the very heavens sought to crush it.

As the Western Xia Army arrived and deployed their battle formations, Weizhou fell into a state of unprecedented, high-strung tension.

Whether soldier or civilian, the very air seemed to tremble.

Sensing the atmosphere within Weizhou, Li Su's eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Damn it, no way, right? Surely not?

The battle hasn't even begun, and they're already this terrified? If the fighting actually starts, will these guys even have the strength left to stand?

To be honest, there were currently about fifteen thousand soldiers and eighty thousand residents within Weizhou.

Furthermore, Weizhou was no small town. As the protective shield for Jingzhao Prefecture, it had been built on a grand scale; the city walls alone stood over two zhang high, and with the moats included, the total height approached three zhang.

Do not underestimate three zhang. In the Song Dynasty, one zhang was slightly over three meters, making three zhang equivalent to nine meters.

Nine meters was as tall as a three-story building.

With the average Western Xia soldier standing under one meter seventy, it would take seven men standing on each other's shoulders just to touch the top of the wall.

In a siege like this, even with the low combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty troops, they could still achieve a casualty ratio of one to three.

For Western Xia to break in, they would need at least one hundred thousand troops to have even the slightest possibility of success, and it would take a long time—perhaps even until the city ran out of food.

In other words, under normal circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for Western Xia to take Weizhou.

Yet, looking at the atmosphere inside the city, Li Su felt his scalp tingle and his heart race with dread.

However, there was a silver lining!

In the eyes of the Song people, the Western Xia Army was incredibly brutal. After all, they were not a large nation; their population was limited, and their warfare relied entirely on sheer ferocity.

What brought them success was this brutality, and what would lead to their defeat was the same.

The Song side almost never surrendered—not because they couldn't, but because they dared not.

Because once the Western Xia soldiers won, they would not accept surrender; they would only slaughter the city.

Therefore, even though they were terrified, the soldiers and civilians shared a single, unwavering thought: hold the line. No matter what, they had to hold the line.

At this moment, the Western Xia main camp.

Leading the army was Meizang Shici, the son of Meizang Epang and brother to the favorite concubine of the Western Xia sovereign Li Yuanhao. He was a powerful relative of the imperial family.

Frowning, Meizang Shici's expression turned gloomy.

He had never intended to lay siege to the city.

Yet, the First Rank Hall insisted that he launch an assault.

The First Rank Hall was a special department personally established by His Majesty Li Yuanhao. Though small in number, its members possessed formidable individual strength and were masters of infiltration and assassination.

Because they answered only to Li Yuanhao, Meizang Shici had no authority to interfere with them.

Originally, the two sides kept out of each other's way, but he had not expected them to suddenly produce an imperial decree from Li Yuanhao.

As a military commander, he understood the difficulty of taking Weizhou all too well. With the troops he had brought, it was absolutely impossible to conquer the city; he lacked the manpower, and he lacked the time.

His arrival at the city walls was meant to be a mere show of force, intended to make the Song capital of Kaifeng feel threatened.

Weizhou was only one prefecture away from Jingzhao Prefecture, and Jingzhao Prefecture was but a stone's throw from Kaifeng.

Given the timid nature of the Song Emperor, even if he regretted not being able to march his troops to Jingzhao, reaching this point was strategically sufficient.

The subsequent negotiations would be very favorable for Western Xia.

Therefore, upon arriving at Weizhou, he had already begun contemplating his withdrawal.

After pondering the current situation of the Song Dynasty for a moment, Meizang Shici looked at the masked figure standing only four feet tall who held the imperial decree. "I can launch an assault, but for two days at most. If we cannot take it in two days, I will withdraw my troops."

"It won't take that long. One attempt will suffice. The First Rank Hall will coordinate with the soldiers to assault the city, find an opening, and breach the gates."

Meizang Shici's expression shifted. The First Rank Hall was going to participate directly in the war?

Though he had only seen them a few times, he knew the skill and strength of the people within the First Rank Hall. If they acted as the vanguard of a suicide squad, Weizhou might actually have a slim chance.

But a hundred percent success was out of the question.

The Song side also possessed experts comparable to those of the Western Xia First Rank Hall. Although they did not answer to the imperial court, they almost always appeared whenever war broke out. It seemed that this time, it was those experts who had passed on the intelligence; otherwise, the Song would not have reacted so quickly, and the previous battle would have been even easier.

The result had been that while they killed nearly ten thousand Song troops, their own losses were not insignificant: nearly eight hundred dead and over a thousand wounded.

It was fortunate that the opposing commander was a fool who, upon falling into a trap, chose to break out instead of holding his ground. Otherwise, the casualties would not have been two thousand—the dead alone would have exceeded that number.

Meizang Shici nodded. "I will have the siege equipment prepared. We will launch the offensive tomorrow at the hour of Shen, attacking the West and South gates simultaneously, with the West gate as the primary target. At the same time, I will prepare a force of five thousand at the North gate to strike at the start of the hour of Xu. You will send your people to coordinate that attack as well. By the second quarter of the hour of Xu, I will dispatch my night-warfare unit to strike the East gate, and I will have three thousand cavalry waiting outside."

The eyes of the short figure flickered. He had to admit that while he looked down on the man's personal combat prowess—which was weak and not worth mentioning—his military strategy was indeed commendable.

By attacking two gates, the defense of the other two would naturally weaken. However, the opposing commander would also be wary of sneak attacks on the other sides.

Striking the North gate at the start of the hour of Xu would lead the enemy to believe that was the true objective. Once they exhausted themselves defending it, their vigilance would inevitably drop. A sudden strike on the East gate would undoubtedly catch them off guard.

The East gate was behind the Western Xia formation, a position that followed the strategy of "surround three sides and leave one open." Under normal circumstances, no attack would be launched there, which was why most of the civilians in the city had gathered there, hoping to escape if the defense failed.

"Very well, I will send men to coordinate with you!"

Inside the city of Weizhou.

Wang Yan's brows were tightly furrowed; as time slipped away, his expression grew increasingly grave and perplexed.

The guards had just brought news that the Western Xia army was felling timber, an action that shocked him to his core.

A siege?

What were the Western Xia thinking?

Could they truly believe they could break into the city?

Even if the Song Dynasty's military strength was weak, and they would suffer a terrifying three-to-one casualty ratio against Western Xia in open-field combat, the situation would be reversed for a siege or street fighting. In a major city like Weizhou, the casualty ratio would be at least two-to-one in favor of the defenders.

If they really started a war, what would they gain even if they took the city?

How many of the incoming Western Xia soldiers would be left? There were only thirty thousand of them; they shouldn't be launching a siege at all.

Yet, they were doing exactly that.

Felling timber was clearly preparation for a siege.

He was not Ge Huaimin; he was quite experienced, and as long as he focused on defending the city, Weizhou could absolutely not be broken within a month.

And clearly, it wouldn't take a month; the Song Dynasty army could arrive in five days at most.

Were they planning a surprise attack? Or did they possess a means to break the city head-on?

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Wang Yan was no fool; he instantly considered a multitude of possibilities.

"Someone, come!"

"Present."

"Send for Master Tianming. I suspect that the Western Xia First Class from the First Rank Hall may be mixed in among them for this siege."