Chapter 178: Chen Cang (2)

The siege tower is more than three feet high, even higher than the city wall. Standing on the top of the tower, the crossbowmen were able to suppress the city's head. The huge wooden wheel turned on the ground, leaving deep rut marks. The siege tower, which was slowly pushed over, made a "creaking" sound.

In front of the siege tower, the trap has been filled, the horses have been destroyed, and the bamboo sticks have been removed. Before the huge war machinery can be put into use, it is necessary to cover all the obstacles outside the city with shield vehicles. The Xiliang army was outnumbered, and after paying more than 100 casualties, they cleared a large area of attack passage and reached the edge of the trench.

According to the agreement between Chen Cheng and the princes of Xiliang, the war machinery was built by the people under Chen Cheng's command, and the catapults were also operated by Chen Cheng's people, but things like filling trenches and pushing siege towers still had to be done by the subordinates of other princes. Han Sui and the others didn't care, with the cover of the shield car and the siege tower, how many people could die when the trench was filled?

Although the shield cart is rudimentary, and often falls apart on its own while in use, it is simple and practical, and can defend against long-range attacks at the head of the city. Han Sui and Song Jian and the others saw the equipment such as shield cars, ladders and siege towers built by Chen Chengjun, and they all regretted in their hearts, if there were so many equipment last year, how could they be blocked under Chen Cangcheng for more than 80 days?

The siege tower is a little more complicated, but it's not that complicated, isn't it just a few pieces of wood nailed together, and you can see it. The shield cart is simpler, two wheels and some planks are all the way. How could they just not think of such a simple thing?

Duan Xuan stood at the head of the city, watching the huge monster stop on the edge of the ditch, shocked and happy in his heart. I was shocked that such a huge machine could still move on the ground, and although it was very slow, it still approached the direction of the city wall with a determined attitude. Thankfully, this huge war machine was slow enough to move, and there were only a few of them, or more precisely, only one, which allowed him to calmly mobilize his army to deal with it.

Hundreds of crossbowmen were already in place at the head of the city, and dozens of large iron pots had been erected. The iron cauldron was blazing, and the wooden barrel next to it contained grease from the vicinity of the high slaves. With a command, the strong archers clustered the arrows in the barrel a little, then stretched them out to the flame in the iron pot, and when the grease began to burn, they shot the arrows out.

Although last night's raid failed, Duan Xuan firmly believed that the idea of using flames against those war machines was not wrong.

Arrows of fire flew out, streaking through the air. "Jump", the arrow crossed a distance of fifty or sixty paces and nailed to the top of the siege tower. The black grease produced near Gaonu is essentially oil that has been simply distilled and will not be extinguished when exposed to water. Locals often use this oil as fuel and sell it to other places to earn some money.

The defenders at the head of the city fired rockets, and the crossbowmen on the siege towers were likewise colored. With the sound of the bowstring vibrating, arrows and crossbows flew out of the shooting holes and landed on the top of the city. Although Xiliang is barren, there are still thousands of bows and crossbows. The top of the siege tower is not very wide, and it can accommodate a maximum of twenty people.

The arrows staggered through the air, making a "whoosh" sound. At a distance of sixty or seventy paces, the power of the arrows is greatly reduced, and the so-called "the end of the strong crossbow cannot wear Lu Min" is also. Shooting at each other at this distance, even if you ignore the shielding effect of battlements and planks, a normal bow and arrow will not do much damage, unless you use a rhubarb crossbow or a bed crossbow.

Chen Cheng didn't expect this siege tower to play any role, and it was just to provide some cover for the soldiers who filled the trenches on the side. Because a lot of prisoners of war were captured last night and samples of grease were also obtained, the Xiliang army already knew that the city had the ability to attack with fire. After the siege tower was hit by a rocket and began to burn, the men behind sent wooden barrels of sand and water to extinguish the flames.

The crossbowmen on the city were pouring firepower, and the crossbowmen of the Xiliang army were also spreading out on the edge of the ditch, trying to suppress the enemy on the city. But they didn't have siege towers to cover them. From time to time, someone was shot, let out a muffled grunt or scream, and then dragged down by the friendly forces behind.

The defenders at the head of the city were protected by battlements and overhangs, and the casualties were much smaller than those of the attackers. After shooting at each other for a while, there were not a few people killed and wounded on the top of the city, but many people were shot down under the city. But the casualties of so many dozens and hundreds of soldiers were not taken to heart by the Xiliang princes at all.

Looking at the scene of the arrows in the sky, Chen Cheng didn't feel a little itchy, but since he had already made a plan to smash the city wall with a catapult, there was no need to do anything superfluous. He walked back and forth on the catapult positions, checking the combat readiness of each artillery cart and helping to adjust the firing angles and counterweights.

After a while, a large section of the trench had been filled, and more and more rockets were being fired at the siege towers. Many people were killed and wounded by the tall war machinery, and many places on the ground turned suspiciously red. Seeing that fires had begun to break out in many places on the siege tower, and the sprinkling of water and sand had ceased to work, the sound of gold finally sounded in the rear.

Hearing the sound of the gong, the crossbowmen who had been shot under the city were demoralized, as if they had been pardoned, turned around and ran wildly in the direction of their own army. The soldiers above and below the siege tower also retreated, holding their shields and slowly withdrawing from the huge torch.

Seeing that the Xiliang thieves had retreated, a cheer rang out from the city. A general laughed and said loudly: "Xiliang people are poor!" ”

Duan Xuan's face was still not very good, and it was of course a good thing that he burned one of the enemy's siege equipment, but the long-arm wooden shelves behind him had been unfolded, and there were dozens of people busy on the side of each machine. When I squinted, I could see that the men had carried a lot of stones to the side of the equipment.

Bad feelings were faintly born in his heart, and then these bad feelings quickly became a reality.

Hearing the ridicule from the city, Zhang Heng threw down his soldiers and horses, ran to the edge of the catapult position, and said hurriedly: "Chen Yuanjun, is this thing okay?" ”

Chen Cheng snorted and said, "How can a man say no? General Zhang, just look at it. ”

He turned around and said to the eager crowd: "According to the order of formation, launch one after another!" ”

With the orders of the artillery commanders on the catapult position, the "Xiangyang Cannon", which had completed the preparation for firing, was put into actual combat for the first time and roared at the city wall. The sound of "woo, woo" was not big, and the stones of hundreds of catties cut through the sky one by one, and then smashed in the direction of Chen Cang.

The people of this era never imagined that such a terrible weapon could throw hundreds of pounds of stones two hundred steps away. Even though nearly half of the stones fell on the open space in front of the city walls, half of the stones fell into the city. More than 100 catties of stones fell from mid-air, penetrated the roof beams, smashed through the tiles and walls, and made blood marks on the ground. When the stone hits the ground, the people around you can even feel the shaking of the ground obviously.

Another stone smashed right on the city wall, instantly destroying the battlements and smashing the defenders behind the battlements into meat sauce. And that's not all, the bricks and stones splashed, forming a secondary damage, sweeping through more than a dozen soldiers nearby, bringing a scream of ghosts and wolves.

Duan Xuan looked at the messy city in shock, and his body trembled slightly.

Those wooden shelves of the enemy are terrifying!

On the catapult position, Chen Cheng adjusted the firing direction and counterweight according to the situation of the test firing just now, and then ordered the ten groups of artillery trucks to shoot another round. This time, the hit rate increased a bit, and only three of the ten roughly polished stones fell outside the walls, and the rest smashed into the city.

Chen Cheng didn't have high requirements for these heavy equipment, and he didn't need them to hit the city wall, as long as he could throw stones into the city, he would win. As far as he knew, no matter how strong a soldier was, no matter how strong his armor was, he couldn't stop more than a hundred pounds of stones from falling from a height of twenty meters.

Even hiding in a house is useless, without steel and concrete, no house can carry such a terrible weapon. He even suspected that if it wasn't particularly fortified, those houses with 70-year property rights, or 40-year property rights, would also be unbearable.

Even if Chen Cheng himself was wearing the strongest armor available, he could only resist a few more stone throws, unless the thickness of the armor was increased by ten times, but in that case, even if he was not flattened by the weight of the armor itself, it was estimated that he would not move much. If you want to withstand this kind of attack, it is impossible to use manpower, probably tanks. The wailing and screaming of the city continued, and the morale that had just been raised by repelling the Xiliang thieves quickly dissolved.

This kind of terrible attack is not at all able to withstand by manpower, and if it weren't for the fact that the hit rate was really touching, I am afraid that the soldiers at the head of the city would have collapsed. Rao was like this, and every time a stone hit the wall, it caused a burst of exclamation from the defenders. When the stones hit the walls hard, the walls of several feet long would tremble, as if the earth was shaking.

Watching one stone bullet after another fall on the city wall or in the city, Duan Xuan's face couldn't help but turn iron-blue. He shouted, "Those stones can't hit us, hide behind the horses!" ”

Before he could finish speaking, a stone bullet hit the tower. With a crackling sound, a hole was smashed out of the wooden attic. The stone projectile blasted through the plank, castrated, and smashed into the streets of the city. With a "boom" sound, the stone bullet bounced on the ground, rolled out more than 20 meters along the street, and finally hit a dismounted stone, which ran out of kinetic energy.

The defenders at the head of the city were again crying wolves, and the trained soldiers were able to endure the fear in their hearts, hiding behind the battlements and shivering, and praying to the gods that the stones would not fall on their heads. But those village warriors who were recruited couldn't bear such a blow, jumped up screaming, and ran down the city.

Duan Xuantie roared with a blue face: "Those who leave their guards without permission, behead!" Those who do not listen to orders will be killed! ”

Under his strict order, the soldiers around him rushed forward with fear, chopping and chopping dozens of villagers to the ground. A young man full of slag shouted something nonsense in his mouth, and ran towards the city, but was caught by Duan Xuan's personal soldiers and pressed on the city wall on the spot.

"Don't, don't kill me!"

The sharp ring-headed knife was raised by the pro-soldiers, and it was about to be cut down, but Xiang Yong finally came to his senses and howled: "Don't kill me, general, I know it's wrong, don't kill me!" ”

The soldiers hesitated for a moment and looked at Duan Xuan, but saw that his general Tie was blue and murderous. The soldier then turned his head and raised the ring-headed sword. Seeing that the blade was about to fall, Xiang Yong's body was hot, and his pants were suddenly wet. He closed his eyes in despair, waiting for the final moment.

However, the wind suddenly howled on the side, followed by a shock to the city, and screams rang out all around. Xiang Yong closed his eyes and waited for a while, but he didn't wait for the knife to hit his neck, so when he opened his eyes, he saw a pool of flesh and armor fragments in front of him.

He was stunned, then screamed and ran towards the city.