Chapter 75: Lu HaiKong vs. Gao Shun (Part 2)
Chapter 75: Lu HaiKong vs. Gao Shun (Part 2)
September 25, 2017
Many thanks to 'Cansue Jingluo Wuhen' and 'Gudu de Beishang' for their generous support!
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Since Gao Shun's fall from the wall yesterday, there had been no movement from the Shanwu County side, except for a tight encirclement of Lu HaiKong's mountain fortress.
Although these guys didn't seem to have any intention of attacking, Lu HaiKong remained vigilant. In addition to the front wall of the fortress, Lu HaiKong stationed men at the other three sides of the fortress.
This fortress was carefully chosen by Lu HaiKong. The front faced the impregnable wall that Zhang Ke had repeatedly failed to breach. The left and rear sides were surrounded by another barren peak, which stood at least twenty to thirty meters higher than the fortress. The right side was a sheer cliff.
Only the front of the fortress offered any feasible point of attack. In theory, the other three sides could also be assaulted, but the difficulty was too great, and success was highly unlikely. Lu HaiKong had men keeping watch over these areas.
In this situation, Lu HaiKong's fortress only needed to hold the front, and it would be as solid as gold. This was the source of Lu HaiKong's confidence.
After Gao Shun's retreat, there was no sign of an offensive from Shanwu County for an entire day, although there was some unusual activity that Lu HaiKong couldn't decipher.
At dawn on the second day, Lu HaiKong received news that the county troops were showing signs of an impending attack. Lu HaiKong, who had been resting after keeping watch for the latter half of the night, quickly climbed up to the wall to prepare for the fourth defensive battle.
Lu HaiKong wasn't overly concerned, but upon reaching the top of the wall, he sensed something amiss.
"What's happening? These soldiers... they feel different from yesterday."
The county troops' morale had been low the day before, and Lu HaiKong could even see fear in their eyes, a dread of the fortress wall. It was as if, in their eyes, this short stretch of wall was a towering guillotine.
But in just one day, the soldiers' morale had soared!
"Could it be him?" Lu HaiKong suddenly thought of Gao Shun and immediately scanned the county troops below for his figure. Soon, Lu HaiKong locked eyes with Gao Shun, standing proudly beneath the military flag.
As Lu HaiKong spotted Gao Shun, the latter lifted his head, his tiger-like eyes meeting Lu HaiKong's gaze. In Gao Shun's eyes, Lu HaiKong read defiance and pride.
"If you're not afraid, then bring it on!"
"The fourth wave of the Shanwu County offensive begins!"
After the system's cold notification, a fierce battle erupted under Gao Shun's command.
It was the same group of soldiers, using the same tactics, but under Gao Shun's leadership, everything seemed to change.
The soldiers seemed to run faster, their steps more determined, and their fear replaced by courage.
It was different, completely different.
Lu HaiKong, standing atop the wall, felt a pressure unlike anything he'd experienced before. During Zhang Ke's command, the only pressure Lu HaiKong had felt was at the very beginning. After that, Lu HaiKong hadn't sensed any threat at all and had even handed the defense over to Wang Ti to manage.
But with Gao Shun taking charge, the situation was entirely different. The offensive was far more ferocious, and the attacking soldiers coordinated perfectly with the archers below. Gao Shun's timing was impeccable; with each wave of arrows, the climbing soldiers advanced a little further.
It's worth noting that the wall was only ten meters high, quite short. Yet, under Gao Shun's command, they were nearly at the top of the wall after just a few short minutes.
In this situation, Lu HaiKong dared not let go and hand over command to Wang Ti, instead taking control himself and engaging in a different kind of contest with Gao Shun.
Lu HaiKong's talent was not bad, and he had some command experience. Under his leadership, Gao Shun's initially fierce offensive was effectively curbed. The first wave of county troops who had climbed the walls was immediately knocked down, and the subsequent attackers were disrupted, losing their previous rhythm.
After yesterday's battle of strength, today marked the beginning of a contest in military command.
From the current situation, in terms of ability, Gao Shun was undoubtedly a little stronger than Lu HaiKong. However, Lu HaiKong held the defensive position, enjoying an absolute advantage.
Despite Gao Shun's excellence and the strength of his soldiers, even with several attempts to lead his troops onto the walls, they had been attacking for several hours without success in breaching the walls.
The reason was that Lu HaiKong's defense was too solid, and the area he needed to defend was not large. Even if there were occasional gaps, Lu HaiKong could quickly fill them.
With a distance of less than a hundred meters, over a hundred mountain bandit footsoldiers, and the presence of eleven quasi-vassals, this level of defense was not something that could be easily breached.
Gao Shun didn't seem to be aiming for a swift victory. After nearly two hours of attacking, he directly ordered a retreat. After a simple tally during the break, Lu HaiKong's face turned dark.
In the 1619th chapter, a glance at the book revealed no mistakes!
Although it seemed like Lu HaiKong's defense had successfully repelled Gao Shun's attacks, achieving victory, a post-battle tally showed that after two hours of fighting, they had only killed less than a hundred of the enemy, while suffering nearly 50 casualties themselves.
This was essentially a 2:1 casualty ratio. Before Gao Shun took command, Lu HaiKong had never experienced such losses; the worst had been a 1:10 ratio. Now, with Gao Shun's first move, it was a 2:1 ratio. "This is a defensive battle, a defensive battle! How can we have such a casualty ratio?"
Things were getting serious!
It was only at this point that Lu HaiKong truly realized how terrifying Gao Shun was. The pressure Gao Shun exerted on Lu HaiKong was not just his high 69-point strength, but also the fact that Lu HaiKong had been on the receiving end of crushing defeats for a long time, making him more cautious about strength than any other attribute.
Lu HaiKong had directly ignored Gao Shun's 70-point leadership, which was even higher than his strength. He had always thought that leadership was just about supporting the number of subordinates. But at this moment, Lu HaiKong realized that leadership was far more complex than he had imagined.
However, Lu HaiKong had come to this realization a bit too late. In the previous wave, although Lu HaiKong had won, he had lost a third of his over a hundred mountain bandit footsoldiers. If this continued, just two more waves would leave him without any troops.
Although Lu HaiKong could recruit soldiers from the mountain bandit barracks, the first-level barracks could only recruit 20 soldiers per day, which was not enough!
At this moment, the importance of depth was once again revealed. Gao Shun had plenty of troops and generals, and the loss of a hundred or eighty soldiers was of little consequence. However, although Lu HaiKong seemed to hold an absolute advantage and could repel Gao Shun's attacks,
Just one round of intense fighting with Gao Shun had led to a crisis in Lu HaiKong's troop numbers. If another wave came, would they lose?
As Lu HaiKong contemplated countermeasures, Gao Shun's side, after half an hour of rest, launched a new round of attacks!
(End of Chapter)
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