Mythical Qin: I, Gao Yao, will never be a eunuch!

Chapter 885: The Chu army’s excavation and Li Zhao’s panic!

Upon receiving the urgent report from the sentry, Li Zhao immediately donned his helmet and armor and, braving the increasingly heavy rain, scaled the towering walls of Xianyang. Rain soaked his battle robe, trickling down his armor. He gazed into the distance, his brow furrowed.

Visibility was extremely poor under the veil of rain. All I could vaguely see were groups of three, five, or even a dozen dark figures moving about in the distant wilderness. They were scattered about in a chaotic manner, with no discernible formation. They seemed to have no immediate intention of attacking the city, and their movements were somewhat erratic, sometimes crouching, sometimes moving, with no clear purpose to be discerned.

"General, should we use arrows to disperse them?" asked the deputy general beside him.

Li Zhao pondered for a moment and shook his head. "No. The rain is so heavy that it's hindering the arrows' flight and making them less accurate. The enemy is so scattered, firing aimlessly would be a waste of arrows with little effect. Order all sections of the city walls to increase vigilance and maintain close surveillance! No one is allowed to attack without my order!"

He feared this was a Chu tactic, deliberately deploying small, scattered forces to appear weak and lure the defenders out of the city to pursue them, thus luring them into an ambush. In such weather conditions, a hasty battle outside the city would be extremely risky. He chose to remain constant in the face of change, firmly maintaining the advantage of the city walls.

This strange standoff, accompanied by the pounding sound of the rain, lasted for nearly an hour. The defenders on the city walls stared intently at the Chu soldiers outside, their movements unpredictable and indistinct in the mist and rain. They were extremely nervous, yet helpless. The rain gathered into streams, forming a small waterfall at the battlements.

Finally, as time went by, the rain clouds in the sky seemed to be a little thinner, and the rain gradually subsided, from heavy downpour to moderate rain, and the vision became much clearer.

At the moment when visibility improved, Li Zhao finally saw clearly what the Chu soldiers outside the city were doing! Upon seeing this, his face suddenly changed, and he took a deep breath. A chill instantly rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head!

I saw those small groups of Chu troops, each holding tools such as shovels, hoes, and even short halberds, digging frantically in the vast land outside Xianyang City! They were not wandering aimlessly, but were carrying out an extremely clear and vicious mission - digging holes!

The reason it had been so difficult to detect before was, firstly, because the heavy rain blurred vision, and secondly, because the Chu army had so many divisions, each digging site was far apart, making it extremely difficult to discern subtle movements in the rain. More importantly, in this era, apart from the standardized roads such as the straight roads that Gao Yao vigorously promoted and built in the southern border, the vast majority of the land was natural land with bumpy and uneven terrain.

After a rainstorm, the ground quickly turned muddy, and the appearance of puddles was perfectly normal. The pits dug by the Chu army were often filled and covered by running rainwater and mud shortly after they were dug. From a distance, they looked almost like natural puddles!

Li Zhao was a man of both civil and military talents, meticulously nurtured by the Four Elders of Shangshan. Later, he followed Gao Yao for a long time, and through his influence, his knowledge and thinking far surpassed those of ordinary generals of that era. He instantly understood the other party's intentions!

Black powder!

Gao Yao secretly developed and had high hopes for the powerful weapon - black gunpowder. In order to deal with the possible siege launched by the Chu army, it had already been divided into several parts and secretly buried in several key strategic locations outside the city of Xianyang, forming a hidden line of death defense, waiting for the Chu army to launch a large-scale attack and deal it a devastating blow.

And now, the Chu army was digging and investigating the periphery on a large scale and in a scattered manner, just like digging potatoes in their own vegetable garden! Their purpose was obvious: to find and destroy these buried black powder bags!

"How...how did they know?!" Li Zhao was horrified. This method was unheard of; it completely transcended the boundaries of traditional warfare! Apparently, the enemy not only knew the Southern Border Army possessed a secret weapon, black powder, but even knew the core secret that it was buried outside the city!

"Is there a traitor?" This thought flashed through his mind for the first time, but he quickly dismissed it. From the time the gunpowder was buried until now, Xianyang City had been practically sealed off, with entry and exit strictly controlled. Passing on such specific intelligence would have been extremely difficult and risky.

Furthermore, judging by the way the Chu army was digging outside the city—a vast, almost blanket-style, random excavation and probing—it was clear they knew these things existed, but didn't know their precise burial locations! They were using this clumsy yet extremely effective method of brute force investigation!

"It's not a traitor..." Li Zhao's heart sank, his eyes becoming extremely solemn. "It's a capable person among the enemy army... A capable person who knows Gao Yao very well, and may even be aware of the existence and weaknesses of black gunpowder!"

He immediately thought of the name Gao Yao kept mentioning—Yi Xiaochuan. Could all of this be his doing? Who was this man, the one who could predict everything so accurately and come up with so many tricks?

The cold rain lashed his face, yet Li Zhao felt a surge of heat and anxiety. They had to be stopped immediately! The Chu army couldn't be allowed to destroy the assassination plan they had so painstakingly laid! He turned abruptly and shouted, "Order! Crossbowmen, prepare your arrows! Target all the digging sites outside the city! Align your crossbows! Shoot! We can't let them succeed!"

Li Zhao's command was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves. On the walls of Xianyang, the Southern Border Army's crossbowmen, already well-prepared, sprang into action. Despite the lingering rain, which weakened the bowstrings and reduced the accuracy of the arrows, the well-trained soldiers carried out the order swiftly and in an orderly manner.

Suddenly, arrows from the city walls flew like locusts, piercing the air with sharp clatters as they shot densely towards the Chu troops buried deep in the digging outside the city walls. The rockets trailed a dim glow through the humid air, many failing to reach their targets and extinguishing mid-flight. However, many still managed to penetrate the muddy ground, or luckily hit a Chu soldier who couldn't dodge in time, causing a brief howl of agony.

The trebuchets roared at the command, launching massive rocks into the distance. The rocks landed, splashing mud and water, leaving shocking holes in the ground. This did indeed disrupt and deter the Chu army's digging operations to a certain extent.

The defenders on the city walls saw scattered casualties and disarray among the enemy, their morale buoyed. However, Li Zhao, in command, after his initial anxiety faded, a sense of unease crept in as he gazed at the vast expanse outside the city, blanketed in a hail of arrows and stone bullets. He felt as if he had overlooked something crucial, but the urgency of the situation meant no time for reflection. He knew only that he had to protect the black powder, crucial to Xianyang's survival, at all costs.