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Sometimes, darkness serves as protection.
Under the sunlight, everything is laid bare. Even if something escapes one person's notice, it cannot evade the watchful eyes of the crowd.
But in dim light, certain details become far harder to detect…
By now, the sun had already set some time ago. Though the surroundings were still faintly visible, everything had grown murky and indistinct. Zheng Jian's soldiers charged madly through the city gates, howling wildly, with almost none of them paying attention to what lay beneath their feet—something soft that crunched faintly with each step…
Beyond the western gate lay the east-west avenue. Though called an "avenue," it was not as wide as the grand boulevards of Luoyang due to the terrain constraints. It was only wide enough for four carriages side by side, or at most ten cavalrymen riding abreast.
Lining the street were civilian homes and a few shops, their structures somewhat similar to the posthouse—built with a mix of wood, stone, and clay. Due to the geographical limitations of Hangu Pass, the buildings were densely packed, with almost no gaps between them.
This layout provided Fei Qian and Zhang Liao with an exploitable advantage…
Hangu Pass had once served as a crucial transit point for transporting supplies from Luoyang to Chang'an. Thanks to Guo Pu's garrison, it had also stockpiled a considerable amount of provisions and fodder.
When Fei Qian had fled for his life earlier, he had hesitated at the public granary, unwilling to burn everything. In the end, he only set fire to a pile of dry grass stacked against the outer wall of the storehouse.
Unexpectedly, that moment of mercy proved useful today.
Fei Qian's small act of compassion had preserved the supplies they needed, while Zhang Liao's ruthlessness had gathered the necessary manpower…
Zhang Liao's hundred or so warhorses, willing or not, were temporarily repurposed as draft animals, hauling carts loaded with nearly all the dry grass from the public granary. The auxiliary troops spread it in a thick layer across the street, covering the area from the gate to a hundred paces inward.
As for the Hangu Pass garrison soldiers previously detained at the training grounds, Zhang Liao had no choice but to put them to use.
To prevent these soldiers from entertaining any rebellious thoughts, Zhang Liao immediately enforced a decimation punishment at the training grounds—and made the survivors carry it out themselves.
Those selected for execution were tied up in a row, and the so-called "lucky ones" were each forced to step forward and stab their former comrades.
After Zhang Liao emotionlessly beheaded more than a dozen soldiers who refused to participate, the sight of rolling heads finally shattered the remaining men's resistance…
During the lulls in battle, and thanks to the time Fei Qian and his soldiers bought by fiercely defending the walls, Zhang Liao managed to deploy these hundred-plus soldiers and the remaining three hundred or so auxiliary troops. They not only covered the hundred-pace stretch of street with dry grass but also sealed off the doors and windows of the houses on either side—either by nailing planks over them or blocking them tightly with grain sacks—effectively creating an artificial bottleneck, a man-made "urn city."
As for the residents inside these houses, Zhang Liao had them all driven into the inner city's magistrate Zheng's compound. Those who refused were executed on the spot…
In such circumstances, Zhang Liao knew that even the slightest mercy would be cruelty—to himself and all his allies.
Though Magistrate Zheng's residence had been partially burned by Fei Qian earlier, its foundations remained solid—high walls and deep courtyards. Once the people were herded inside, the gates locked, and four or five soldiers stationed as guards, the job was done.
"Light the fires!"
Zhang Liao gave the order.
The nearby soldiers hurriedly used torches to ignite two carts piled high with dry grass. The tinder-dry fodder burst into flames almost instantly…
Though somewhat reluctant, the soldiers blindfolded the horses, then slashed their hindquarters!
Blinded and in pain, the horses panicked at the scorching heat behind them. With a long, terrified whinny, they bolted forward, dragging the blazing carts behind them like two enormous fireballs, charging straight toward Zheng Jian's troops flooding through the gates!
Zheng Jian's soldiers, racing down the east-west avenue into the city, suddenly saw two flaming carts barreling toward them. The men at the front nearly died of fright on the spot, frantically scrambling to the sides—only to find that every door and window along the street had been boarded shut!
Before they could think of a way out, the burning carts were upon them. The blindfolded horses had no idea people stood in their path and plowed straight into the crowd. Several soldiers were sent flying before the horses themselves lost balance and crashed to the ground, toppling the carts and scattering burning grass in all directions like a blossoming flower of fire. Wherever the embers landed, new flames sprang to life…
Dry grass, clothing, hair—anything flammable was now alight. The flames danced wildly, painting the ancient pass in vivid, blazing hues.
Meanwhile, atop the walls, Fei Qian and his remaining soldiers split into two groups. Almost simultaneously with Zhang Liao's ignition of the carts, they hurled burning bundles of dry grass down both sides of the gate passage, effectively cutting Zheng Jian's forces in two.
The already-collapsed siege ramps and wooden beams near the gate, though made of freshly cut, damp timber, finally caught fire under the onslaught of burning fodder. Smaller branches ignited first, spreading to larger logs until the entire gate passage became an inferno…
Ironically, they had Zheng Jian's shoddy craftsmanship to thank. Had the siege rams been properly stripped of their smaller branches, setting the thick, bare logs alight would have been far more difficult.
But now, the very branches meant to protect the rams and their operators became the perfect kindling. The damp wood not only burned but also produced thick smoke, choking even Fei Qian's men on the walls—let alone those trapped below.
The massive wooden beams, once ablaze, were impossible to move, especially through the suffocating smoke.
After dumping all their stored dry grass into the gate passage, Fei Qian's coughing, tear-streaked men scrambled away from the smoke. Watching the flames engulf Zheng Jian's trapped soldiers below, Fei Qian finally exhaled in relief…
"We've been tricked!"
The realization struck Zheng Jian's men like a physical blow. The abrupt shift from the euphoria of breaching the gates to the horror of entrapment shattered their last vestiges of morale. Their frenzied charge had been fueled by the promise of victory—only to find it was all a mirage…