Chapter 41: Two Rewards

Nowadays, the Qing Army appears to him as dazzling feats of merit, showing no hint of fear or timidity.

"Old Han, you're already a first‑class man! Why are you still contesting the vanguard with me? Let me go first in this battle, and you cover me from behind!"

"I can capture Jizhou City for Lord within three days!"

Feng Ziying's face darkened; he cut off Han Qi's words and rushed to speak.

"I'll go first; I can breach Jizhou City in two days..." Han Qi would not yield at all.

Liu Fang and Hou Xiaokang, seeing the two scramble for the assault, exchanged puzzled looks.

Historically, the Han Army has feared the Qing Army as a tiger; even under General Nian Gengyao on the Liaodong front, none of the commanders ever rushed to fight the Qing Army.

Moreover, Jizhou City's high, thick walls are not easily taken; a careless move could cost lives at the foot of the walls, which is no joke.

"Enough!"

Jia Jing snorted coldly, gave the two a casual glance, and instantly halted their argument.

As Jia Jing continued to win battle after battle, his authority grew ever heavier,

not only did the rank‑and‑file soldiers respect him more, even Feng Ziying and Han Qi regarded him with considerable awe.

"A direct assault is certainly impossible; the casualties would be too great! Colonel Liu, Colonel Hou, how do you think this battle should be fought?"

Jia Jing asked Liu Fang and Hou Xiaokang.

Seeing Jia Jing's probing tone, Liu Fang thought for a moment, then bowed and said:

"I see that the Qing Army has been frightened by Lord, and in recent days our troops have repeatedly challenged them; they dare not leave the city."

"For the present plan, perhaps we could bring a few Hongyi cannons from Shenjing City to blast open Jizhou City's gates; then the battle would be settled!"

The Hongyi cannon is a strategic weapon of the Han Army, three meters long, weighing over a ton, with a range of two to three hundred zhang.

It was employed by Emperor Chengzu in the early Han against Nurhaci during the Ningyuan Defense, where a single shot devastated dozens of miles, its power astonishing, routing the Qing Army.

In theory, Liu Fang's suggestion is feasible.

But Jia Jing still rejected the strategy, waving his hand and saying:

"Although the Hongyi cannon is excellent, sending men to Shenjing to transport it now would take too long round‑trip. I suspect Qing reinforcements are already en route, and the war cannot be prolonged."

Liu Fang spread his hands and said, "Then I have no good ideas left!"

Hou Xiaokang, standing nearby, glanced left and right and lowered his voice:

"Perhaps we could use fire attack! I am familiar with Jizhou City's interior layout; most buildings are wooden."

"Since the weather is bitterly cold and dry, we only need to wrap crossbow bolts in oil‑soaked cloth and fire them continuously through the four gates; with the flames spreading, the Qing Army will have to abandon the gates and flee."

"Even if it fails, we can still burn their supplies; a Qing Army without food will inevitably collapse!"

Sss~

The generals present inhaled sharply at his words, eyes widening.

Feng Ziying said:

"There are still Da Han citizens inside the city; if a great fire breaks out, they will have no way to survive..."

Jia Jing also gave Hou Xiaokang a surprised look; this is a poisonous scheme!

This matter is not the same as slaughtering the Qing Army; if he actually did it, aside from possible imperial accountability, he himself could not get past this inner hurdle.

On the battlefield, casualties among civilians and soldiers are inevitable,

but actively slaughtering one's own people is another matter!

Lord Guan Er was a remarkable figure, yet his flooding of seven armies has been condemned by later scholars and historians.

Jia Jing considers himself not a saintly white lotus; a saint cannot be a general.

If they were merely barbarians, he would not hesitate to kill any number.

After all, historically those ferocious barbarians that roamed the Central Plains inflicted massive casualties on Han civilians,

even calling Han people two‑legged sheep, cooking them for food.

Such barbarians, of course, need not be regarded as humans.

However, there are still many Han people inside Jizhou City; a fire‑based massacre would be far too ruthless!

Hou Xiaokang saw the others staring at him in astonishment and realized he might have misspoken.

He forced a dry laugh and said, "Ha... ha, I was speaking nonsense; Lord need not take it seriously!"

Jia Jing did not press the matter, turned his head again toward the heavily fortified Jizhou City, and said gravely:

"Since you have no good solutions, I can only resort to my own clumsy method!"

Saying so, Jia Jing gave Zhu Que beside him a signal,

Zhu Que instantly understood, turned around and shouted:

"Lift it up!"

In an instant, a dozen soldiers behind lifted a massive object.

It was a gigantic hammer, the head as large as a winter melon, forged entirely of dark‑gold metal, its surface adorned with drum‑pattern reliefs; the handle was short and sturdy, making the whole piece extraordinarily heavy.

The dozen soldiers struggled to lift it, their steps heavy, the ground beneath them pocked with small depressions.

"A hammer this big? What is it for?"

"It takes a dozen people to lift it; it must weigh five or six hundred jin!"

"I heard that the first great general in history wielded a hammer called the Lei‑gu Weng‑gold hammer, a single hammer weighing four hundred jin, a pair eight hundred jin, possessing the bravery of ten thousand men!"

The generals began to discuss, many of them puzzled.

Could Lord be planning to have people carry this hammer to batter the city gate? Is that necessary? An actual siege hammer would be more convenient!

Among the generals, only Qin Qiong and Zhu Que seemed to understand what Jia Jing intended,

and when they first learned of this plan, they were also shocked!

Jia Jing looked around, and said in a deep voice:

My method is actually similar to Colonel Liu's! The only difference is that he used a red barbarian cannon to breach the gates of Jizhou City, while I will use this hammer to smash the gate; this hammer is my weapon for this battle.

After I smash the gate with the hammer, you all lead your troops to charge in, and the enemy inside will naturally collapse without a fight!

What?

The generals were shocked beyond reason! For a moment their heads felt dizzy!

Use a hammer to break open the gate? What a joke!

Since when does a siege have such a method?

You're not making a mockery of us, are you!

If the speaker weren't Jia Jing, all the generals present would think the speaker's head is faulty!

Even Feng Ziying and Han Qi, who have seen Jia Jing's martial bravery many times, still do not think Jia Jing could break the gate with a single person's strength!

This is fundamentally not a strength that a normal person should have.

Although Jia Jing has always charged at the front in past battles, with extraordinary martial bravery, that was only due to superb martial skill and good spear technique, not because his strength is inhuman.

If we speak of pure strength, it corresponds to top‑tier warlord level, capable of snapping a three‑stone bow, with several hundred jin of force.

But this hammer appears to weigh at least five hundred jin; to lift it and smash the gate, lacking several thousand jin of strength is simply impossible.

In fact, Feng Ziying and Han Qi were not wrong.

Before his promotion, with Jia Jing only inheriting Zhao Yun's martial strength, it would have been virtually impossible to accomplish such a god‑defying feat.

It is only because he was promoted that he received two rewards from the system.

Promoted to senior fifth rank, system reward: Lu Bu martial strength inheritance.

Promoted to senior fourth rank, system reward: Xiang Yu martial strength inheritance.

Lu Bu, who is that person?