4

"Listen to the defenders in Tuhe City!"

The bright sunlight of late autumn shone high on the blazing flag, and the red and golden coiling dragons spread all over the mountains and fields outside Tuhe City. When the Xiangyang cannon was erected high, I saw Yuan Xian running to the front of the battle through the shining blades and armor, and shouted at the city.

"Our army has marched to the foot of the city, and has lined up in formation. What I say to you at this moment is that I don't want to see the lives of the city in ruins. Please surrender Kaicheng as soon as possible, in exchange for the stability of Hecheng. If you insist on stubborn resistance, our army will immediately attack the city, and everything our army will see will not be spared! ”

Yuan Xian was shouting, when he suddenly saw a flash of light on the city, and something flew over. Yuan Xian didn't move, but he heard a soft sound, and an arrow poked straight into the ground twenty or thirty steps in front of him. Although Yuan Xian looked down on who shot at him at the head of the city and what he used, he could basically conclude that it was a strong crossbow based on the range. This scene drew laughter from the soldiers in the front row.

"I'm afraid this arrow is using the strength of milk, right?"

The autumn wind was whining, and Yuan Xian's face was as calm and cold as the wind. She swung the reins of her horse and turned around, and the soldier fell silent when he saw her countenance, knowing that the attack was imminent.

"Ignition."

The word lightly was shouted by the herald and passed on to the ten-mile military formation.

The moment the torch touched the stone bullet, the twine, soaked in grease, burst into flames, so that the soldiers around them couldn't help but retreat due to the heat wave. The order to fire followed, and a stout soldier smashed the trigger with a mallet. After a muffled sound, the wooden box full of stones fell suddenly, and the throwing arm several feet long was lifted high, pulling the bullet box to slide out of the slide, throwing the fire into a perfect arc, and then raising the stone bullet high.

A huge fireball instantly filled the sky, dragging dark red flames and black smoke, flying towards Tuhe City like a meteor. For a while, the towering city wall was filled with gunsmoke and fire, and from a distance, you could see the buildings toppling, the wood and stone flying, and people dragging the flames flying down from the city wall.

In just one attack, the seemingly impregnable walls of Tuhe City had been severely damaged. Half of the towers were destroyed, several beacon towers were flattened, and several gaps were smashed into the neat battlements, and the cries and wails of the soldiers could be heard clearly from a mile away.

After the blow, seven or eight soldiers ran into the rollers under the Xiangyang cannon and slowly turned the rollers up with their running. As the rollers turned, the counterweight box slowly lifted up, gradually lowering the high projection lever back. Half a moment later, the huge stone ball refilled the magazine, and the second round of firing was ready.

Mu Gong, the leader of the Karakuri Battalion, was by Yuan Xian's side at this time, he was a boy who was not tall or big, but it is said that the Karakuri Camp was created by him.

"The first round of testing was barely enough, and the next thing I could do was to complete the task."

"You call this reluctant? No wonder the old man treats you for a treasure. Then hurry up and shake out the real skills. ”

In the second round of projection, Mu Gong set his sights on the West City Tower, the North Bridge and the South Bridge. After he wrote down some things, he asked the scouts to pass them to the north and south formations, and he talked about something with the commanders of each Xiangyang artillery in this formation. After a while, the twenty Xiangyang cannons in this formation were all aimed at the Xicheng Tower, and then an order was given, and they saw the flying fire flying in the sky and flying towards a target.

After a round of attacks, the soldiers at the head of the city dodged when they saw the fireball flying again, and some of them even jumped directly into the moat under the city. A moment later, a deafening explosion rang out one after another, and the fire swept through the city like a wave, and scattered wood and stones shot at the soldiers around them like arrows. Stumps and severed arms are scattered everywhere.

Suddenly there was a bang, and the explosion was louder and duller. Immediately after that, like the earth shaking the mountain, the watchtowers at the head of the city fell like a landslide with the earth and stones of the city wall, leaving a lonely city wall with huge cracks.

The bridge in the south and north of the city was not spared, and the huge flint stone rushed straight into the delicate and delicate beams and columns of the bridge, instantly discharging the bridge body into the boiling river. The tiles and the river burst out, and the bridge instantly turned into a piece of wreckage, and many soldiers who had increased their strength in Xicheng were trapped in the middle, and could only wait for the flames to gradually swallow up the remaining bridge.

5

"What? The West Gate is gone? "At this moment, Dai Ying, who was commanding from the watchtower in the city, couldn't believe the scene in front of him, although he had a full view of every corner and every situation in Tuhexi City, he still couldn't believe that the important town in western Liaoning that he had carefully built was so vulnerable." I haven't even seen the troops on the other side, why did the West City Gate fall away? ”

"It's not lost, it's completely collapsed."

"Collapsed?" Dai Ying looked at the side of Xicheng, the billowing smoke covered the sky and the sun, and she couldn't see the situation at the West Gate at all. "Take my armor, I will personally come forward to supervise the battle!"

"My lord!" Seeing that Dai Ying turned around to leave, Yuan Hua hurriedly stepped forward to stop him. "It's too dangerous ahead, this stone bullet doesn't have long eyes!"

"Then you want me to abandon the river? It's been less than a day! ”

"I did not let the lord abandon the Tu River, but let the lord abandon the West City. At this moment, Yuan Xian is gaining momentum, and if he collides with it, he may suffer heavy losses. Our army still needs to take a procrastination as the top, and wait until they run out of ammunition and food before making a plan. ”

"But you abandoned the West City, and the Inner City was not directly exposed to the other party's noses? You also saw the Xiangyang cannon, and the inner city can't stand in front of it! ”

"The inner city is not important, the important thing is the river defense, not to mention that the watchtower of the lord is on the high ground, and the Xiangyang cannon across the Xiaoling River cannot be hit. And at this moment, I expect that Yuan Xian has seen the weakness of Tuhe City's defense, and is trying his best to isolate Xicheng. At present, the second north and south bridges have been destroyed, but only a middle bridge connecting the island in the middle of the river is still there. If it is a hard defense, the dispatch of this force and supplies will now be a problem. ”

Dai Ying looked at the island in front of him, and sure enough, as Yuan Hua said, it was already crowded. The increased number of people will go up, the wounded will be withdrawn, and the bridge is already flooded. When he was hesitating to listen to Yuan Hua's suggestion, several single-row galleys suddenly floated out of the upper reaches of the river in the distance. Although the ship is not large, the sails are high and the speed of the ship is so fast that at a glance it is clear that it is heading for the central bridge.

"Intercept those ships!"

Under Dai Ying's order, beacons broke out on both sides of the river, and more than a dozen ships spread hundreds of oars and flew towards the upstream ships. As they approached, they fired their arrows in unison, but there was no reaction from the sailboat. Seeing that the two ships were about to connect, the ship suddenly climbed out of the cabin, rushed to the two sides and took out the brass pipes, and shouted to the cabin:

"Hurry up!"

In an instant, several sailboats erupted several flames, and the ships in front were instantly ignited by the flames, and the soldiers who were supposed to take the side turned into burning men one by one, jumping into the water and still not being able to survive. In the midst of the confusion, several of the sailboats swung their oars and sped downstream, and by the time the rest of the ships turned their bows in the middle of the river, they were long gone.

Seeing that the single-row galleys had entered the city, the beacon towers on both sides of the strait intercepted them with rockets. A few sails caught fire, but the speed of the boat remained undiminished as it went down the river and the oars still slid hard.

The people on the bridge saw the burning boat rushing towards them, and they were so frightened that they fled desperately. There are strong people with quick hands and feet, and they rush out when they squeeze people, and there are also people who jump directly into the river, and for a time the bridge is crowded, and no one cares about the wounded, what soldiers and people, and countless people are trampled to death and squeezed and injured. About a hundred paces remained, the men on the sailboat poured the fuel used to breathe fire on the deck, and when the torch was dropped, the hull of the ship instantly turned into a fire dragon. The people on the boat seemed to have no intention of survival, and still sailed at full speed towards the bridge.

I saw a flash of fire, and the explosion of air and sound before I opened my eyes knocked people down in an instant. When I got up and looked at the river again, the black and red flames instantly rose a hundred feet, and the flying sparks crackled and fell like fire arrows, igniting everything around them. The river was blazing, and everyone within a hundred feet could feel the scorching air flowing chaotically, and as for the bridge, it was long gone, and the people around it were instantly only left with black charcoal-like bodies.

Yuan Xian, who commanded the attack outside the city, was also attracted by a flash of light, and the sound of the explosion immediately alarmed the soldiers who were already tired of seeing the Xiangyang artillery, and the flying flames and billowing smoke were as clearly visible outside the city.

"What is this?"

Seeing Yuan Xian's puzzled face, Mu Gong's face showed a slight hint of pride. "Volcanic fire, also called Greek fire. The specialty of the Byzantine Empire was transmitted to the Western Regions during the Tang Dynasty. Resin is used as the main raw material, supplemented by nitrate, sulfur and wax to increase its combustion rate and adhesion. Once it is stained with water, it cannot be extinguished, and it can only wait for it to burn out the skin and burn the muscles and bones. ”

Yuan Xian listened to the introduction and felt shuddered when she thought about being ignited by this thing. "It's so fierce, why haven't I seen the old man use it before?"

"Because this thing has three disadvantages: first, it is inconvenient to transport, the launcher is very cumbersome, and it cannot be used unless it is a positional battle or has been prepared in advance; The second is flammable and explosive, if the enemy knows that we have this thing, then it only needs to be ambushed by rockets during transportation, then it is you and me like today; The third is to rely on the wind, which is the same as other fire attack methods, and it is necessary to avoid burning your own home. ”

"And so it is." Yuan Xian suddenly thought of something, and asked, "What about the soldiers who are burning now?" ”

At this point, the originally high-spirited young man suddenly lowered his head and restrained his smug appearance. "It's gone. Since they received the task, they knew that they would not return. ”

"I see." Yuan Xian understood for a while that even this young man who seemed to only know how to study "strange skills and tricks" knew that as the commander of an army, he should shoulder the life and death of the soldiers under his command. Thinking about the soldiers who were buried because of their anxious mentality some time ago, guilt once again came to my heart. She slowly pulled out from her waist, and the layers of blue-purple patterns on the knife instantly reflected the cold light into her eyes, as if the fierce battle of the previous days had long faded, and only a more tenacious and cold blade remained.

"Brothers!"

She raised her arms and shouted, and the soldiers who had been waiting for a long time were all excited for a while, and they all erected their weapons and armor, and pricked up their ears to wait for her orders.

"At this moment, the gates of Tuhexi City have been opened, the defenders have suffered heavy casualties, their morale has been greatly damaged, and the supply routes and retreats have been cut off. All this is the result of the intrepid soldiers of the Ingenuity Battalion, who have the courage to sacrifice themselves. From this point of view, it is a seamless strategy, that is, there is a skillful weapon, and what can really end the war is always our heart to move forward! ”

As she spoke, she pointed her blade straight at the burning head of the river.

"My fearless soldiers, charge with me!"