The wind was fair, the sun was cloudy, the sun was shining on the earth, and the muddy ground was hot after the water receded, and the land that had sunk the horseshoe a few days ago had now regained its hardness.

A soldier looked up at the sky, reached out and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, then lowered his head and spat on the left and right palms, then clenched the long handle of the mallet and picked it up with all his might.

With a "bang", he smashed the gavel into a mechanism on the ground in front of him, and after a click, the mechanism unlocked, and the heavy counterweight not far above the soldier's head sank violently, causing the attached cannon rod to rotate around the shaft.

One end of the cannon rod is carried down by the counterweight, and the other end is jerked up, throwing the heavy stones on the cable forward.

The stones weighing sixty catties were sharp and angular, drawing a graceful arc in the air, falling down to the city below, and smashing on the war shed on the city wall with a "bang", stirring up a burst of dust.

"Test firing completed, cannon !!"

The shouts came and went, and the trebuchets of Rulin began to move, and in the creaking sound, huge stones were thrown out, falling like a rain of stones towards the head of the hanging gourd city two hundred paces away.

After several years of actual combat, the Zhou army's use of breeding trebuchets has reached the point of perfection, and the corresponding tactics have been perfected, and the skilled artillery soldiers can even make the trebuchets used to achieve the effect of "first hit" on the city wall without even test firing.

Years of practical experience have brought good results to the first round of projectiles, and most of the stones thrown by trebuchets in the first round have hit the hanging wall or the high barricade in front of the city wall.

The place where the stones hit was dusty, and there were also trebuchets in the Hanging Fortress City that threw stones outward, but they were at a disadvantage in terms of quantity, because the open space in the city was limited, and there were not so many trebuchets in place.

Not to mention that at this time, there was a circle of trebuchets on the periphery of the Hanging Fortress City, throwing stones at the city from all directions, and if the trebuchets in the city counterattacked separately, the number of stones thrown would be even rarer.

One mile north of the Hanging Gourd City, Prime Minister Chi Dian held a clairvoyant mirror, stood on the mound to observe his siege situation, and saw that the first round of projectiles from the official army trebuchets arrived outside the city had such an effect, and nodded with satisfaction.

Before, in order to reduce the casualties of the soldiers and save the thunder, he adopted a strategy in the water, but the water attack failed one after another, not only did he have no results, but also wasted time.

If this delay continues, it will affect the overall strategy, so Wei Chidun immediately decided to break the embankment and release water, and decided to directly attack the city with trebuchets, even if the casualties and costs are greater, to overcome the hanging gourd as soon as possible.

When the officers and soldiers built the long fence and the barrage, they did not stop building trebuchets, so when the weir was released and the ground outside the city was hardened, the officers and troops could immediately invest a large number of counterweight trebuchets to attack the city.

The trebuchets they built, all pressed on four wheels, could calmly reach a distance of three or four hundred paces from the Hanging Gourd, and then quickly advance to the launch position, and then launched an attack on the Hanging Gourd.

More than 100 trebuchets consumed a lot of wood, together with the required stones, are the result of the desperate efforts of the prefectures and counties in the upper reaches of Rushui, not to mention the powerful thunder, under the day and night projectile of the trebuchet, how long can the hanging gourd last?

It's just that in this way, the cost is too much.

As the prime minister of the Chinese and foreign military forces, Wei Chidun has many staff members to deal with various affairs, he only needs to control the overall situation and make key decisions, but it is precisely because of that position that he knows more things than others.

The trebuchet projectile thunder attack the city is indeed not small, but the problem that comes with it is that the demand for gunpowder has increased dramatically, and outsiders don't know what the formula of gunpowder is.

Only charcoal, sulfur and nitrate are needed to prepare gunpowder, and charcoal is readily available, and when it comes to sulfur and nitrate, with the vast land of Zhou, it is not impossible to get it, but it is urgent to get enough large-scale use.

In a siege battle, if the trebuchet throws all the thunder, it can quickly break through the city, but this consumes a huge amount of gunpowder, and there are so many enemy cities, you can't use the thunder every time you attack a city.

Wei Chidun now mastered the configuration of gunpowder and the production of thunderbolts, so he knew that the annual output of thunderbolts in the imperial court was limited and could not be used indefinitely on the battlefield.

Therefore, this attack on the hanging gourd, the trebuchet is mixed with stones, fireballs and thunderbolts, if you come up to throw the thunder desperately, a trebuchet throws fifty pounds of thunder at a time, and a hundred trebuchets will consume five thousand pounds of thunder in a round of throwing.

Cast ten rounds, 50,000 catties, if the cannon continues to fire for more than ten days around the clock, the stock of thunder in the army will bottom out.

It is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, and Wei Chidun is a little helpless about the limited output of gunpowder, so this time he attacked the hanging gourd, and the thunder energy province was provincial, and he arranged for people to make preparations early, and with the help of Rushui water transportation, a large number of stones were transported from the upstream states and counties to prepare for the siege.

There is no stone mountain around the hanging gourd, and it is difficult to collect a large number of stones weighing dozens of catties, but this problem is not a problem now, the key is that the hanging gourd city wall seems to be very resistant to smashing.

He had commanded many sieges and had a good idea of the power of trebuchets, but the overhanging walls and the high barricades outside them were more solid than he expected.

At this time, the trebuchets of the official army had finished the fifth round of projectiles, and the hit rate was not low at a rough glance, but the hanging gourd city wall and the high fortress outside the wall were generally intact, and there were no obvious signs of collapse.

Of course, this was only the first day of the direct siege of the city, and Wei Chidun did not expect to break through the Hanging Gourd City Wall on the morning of the first day, but he witnessed the battle with his own eyes, and always felt that the Hanging Gourd City Defense was stronger than he imagined.

The battle shed at the head of the city was directly hit by stones weighing dozens of catties, which only stirred up a burst of dust, and then remained unharmed, and even if the earthen fortress of the city was blistered before, even if it was hit by stones, there was no sign of collapse.

Wei Chidun could guess that Yu Wenwen, who was guarding the hanging gourd, had made great efforts to strengthen the city defense, and he had heard that there was a building material called "cement" in Shannan, which seemed to be used to strengthen the city wall.

Now it seems that the hanging gourd city wall is much stronger than before, as for the "cement"...

No matter how hard the cement is, it can't be hard enough to be stone, and the city wall is all made of stone, and it can't resist the attack of trebuchets!!

Wei Chidun thought so, put down the clairvoyant mirror, and said to the generals on the side: "You can start." ”

"The last general commands."

The general sent heralds to the various siege trebuchet positions and began to implement a method of warfare.

Stinky carriages slowly came to various trebuchet positions, loaded with rotting and smelly corpses, which were cattle and sheep that had died of plague, as well as livestock that had been killed directly and decomposed by exposure to the sun for several days.

The pus-dripping, foul-smelling, and fly-ridden carrions were wrapped in white cloths and unloaded as stone bullets on the ropes of the trebuchets, and the gunners, even with their masks, were churning in their stomachs with the stench.

Finally ready, the burly soldier picked up the mallet and smashed it at the mechanism, and the trebuchet's cannon turned and threw the rotten corpse into the hanging city in front of him.

During the siege of the city, the trebuchet was used to throw the rotten livestock carcasses into the city, and after the corpses landed, the wreckage fell everywhere, and the carrion and pus splashed out, which could pollute the water source, grain and grass, and houses in the city, and after ten days and half a month, the plague was very likely to break out in the city.

This method of warfare appeared during the war against Sui, but this method was harmful to the peace of the heavens, and only with the consent of the commander could the generals dare to let it go.

Even though the corpses had been thrown, the stench still permeated the trebuchet position, and the soldiers covered their noses and looked at the hanging gourd, their eyes full of pity: "Good, good, good, you die early and live sooner!"

。。。。。。

On the ground, a large pool of flesh was scattered all over the ground in a blur and splatter, and the stinking wreckage was everywhere, and many soldiers in white robes, hats, and masks stepped forward to collect these things with wooden rakes.

Pigskin boots creaked against the foul-smelling object, and the soldiers carefully gathered the wreckage into a dustpan and poured it into a cart, while others shoveled the soil and carried away the floating soil contaminated by the foul-smelling substance.

Just halfway through the shovel, the horn sounded, and it was the soldiers at the head of the city who were warning - a new round of enemy projectiles was coming, and the soldiers who were cleaning the ground hurriedly hid in the nearest bunker.

It was the sound of stones thrown by trebuchets hitting the ground, bunkers, walls, and fireballs and more rotting corpses.

The ground, which had just been cleaned up, was once again contaminated with stinking debris, and even some sandbag bunkers were hit by corpses, and the stench of flesh and blood was blurred everywhere.

It was their duty to clean up all the objects that the enemy had thrown into the city, and the stones were to be carried away and thrown with trebuchets for a tooth for a tooth; When the fireball falls, extinguish it quickly so that it does not ignite the buildings in the city.

Before the battle, Shangguan had ordered them to prepare and clean up the carrion thrown in by the enemy, because this thing could cause a plague outbreak in the city.

In a bunker, Yuwen Wen, the king of Xiyang who was patrolling the city, was eating with relish with a piece of cooking cake, it was noon, it was meal time, so even if the scene was stenching, Yuwen Wen was still eating the cooking cake as if nothing had happened.

It's still the kind with meat floss, and the color and appearance of the meat floss silk are similar to the puddle of rancid wreckage in front of you.

"This cooking cake is insufficient, the meat floss is just a little bit, and the gap between the teeth is not enough, which one came from, you write it down, and settle accounts with them when you go back!"

"Profiteers! Dare to cut corners on munitions, do you think that the widow does not dare to kill! ”

Yuwen Wen scolded, and Zhang Yu on the side approached and said, "When Lord Fang Cailang was talking to Wang Senjun, a lot of the meat in the cooking cake was loosened on the ground..."

"Huh? Is that so? ”

"Yes, Lord Lang."

Yu Wenwen looked at the ground, but there was meat loose at his feet, and after coughing dryly, he finished eating the cooking cake in his hand, looking at the fishy smell outside, and was a little embarrassed.

With the widespread use of counterweight trebuchets on the battlefield, sooner or later a "biochemical attack" will also appear, a tactic that has indeed appeared in history, accompanied by the Mongol armies that swept across Eurasia.

Yuwen Wen let the counterweight trebuchet (return cannon) appear in advance, so the tactics of throwing carrion corpses into the city to create a plague will also appear in advance, and now, he has tasted the evil consequences of changing the timeline.

Fortunately, it was not shelled by enemy artillery.

Yuwen Wen thought so, and when the footsteps started, Wang Hao, who joined the army in the record room, walked in with a note.

"How's it going?"

"Back to the king, the deadline..." Wang Fei looked at his pocket watch, then looked at the note he had just gotten in his hand, and continued: "As of half an hour ago, at least eighty-five carrion corpses had fallen in the city, and now they have all been removed. ”

"Has the well been affected?"

"No, all the wells in the city have been prepared."

"Good." Yuwen Wen nodded and looked at the soldiers who were busy outside the bunker, "Sure enough, they threw carrion into the city to trigger the plague. ”

Wang Fei followed Yu Wenwen's gaze and looked at the fishy smell outside, the smell made him feel a little uncomfortable in his stomach, there was nothing that the dead could not be beaten in marching battles, and the smell of corpses was commonplace, but it was the first time he had seen such a fishy rotting corpse.

"Let's go, go to the city."

Yu Wenwen turned around and left, walking along the top of the protected "traffic trench" to the east of the city, Wang Hao followed closely, and saw that Zhang Yu, the lieutenant of the palace, handed over a cooking cake, and he waved his hand to signal that he didn't need to.

"Full?"

"Back to the king, my subordinates have an upset stomach and can't eat for the time being."

In the face of Yu Wenwen's question, Wang Fei decided to answer truthfully, he has been a doctor for a long time, and he is really not used to eating while smelling the stench.

"It's okay, just get used to it."

Yu Wenwen said as he walked, and then changed the topic: "I didn't expect them to throw carrion into the city so quickly, it seems that they are really in a hurry." ”

"The more anxious they are, the more stable our army must be, and we must not attack easily, taking advantage of them..."

The two talked while walking, discussing the matter of defending the city, before Yu Wenwen asked Wang Fei to give advice on the strategy of defending the city, one of the doubts raised by Wang Fei was how to deal with the rotting corpses of the enemy army in the city.

The method of fighting the city is incredible, but Wang can understand the stakes, and he suggests that the carrion should be disposed of and burned with fire, rather than the extravagant sprinkling of quicklime on each carrion for "disinfection".

The reserves of quicklime in the city are limited, and if you can save it, you can save it.

"If you can save it, you can save it, these four words are right, the enemy army has not been willing to invest too much thunder until now, it seems that the stock is tight, which is really disappointing to the widow."

Yuwen Wen climbed the stairs and said as he walked, when suddenly several muffled noises came from overhead, and the sandbag protective shed above the steps was shaken, as if something had smashed on it.

After a while, an object rolled down the ceiling and rolled down the "stone trough".

It was a stone the size of a millstone, which should have been thrown into the city by the enemy's trebuchet and smashed into the bunker at the head of the city, and then rolled down and was blocked by the protective shed on the steps.

Walking up to the city, Yu Wenwen looked around and found that the bunker at the head of the city was generally intact, turned into a bunker, put on earmuffs, and looked out through the observation port, and the scene in front of him made him feel refreshed:

In the field outside the city, dense trebuchets stand like a forest, and countless soldiers surround the trebuchets, busy like worker ants.

The tall trebuchet kept throwing objects at the hanging gourd, including stones, fireballs, and corpses, and not long after Yuwenwen ascended the city, the explosion began to sound intensively, and the head of the hanging gourd city was blazing and black smoke was filled.

That was when the other side began to throw thunderbolts to attack the city, and a violent storm was coming, and it would never subside in a short time.

The explosion became more and more intensive, Yuwen Wen was using a clairvoyant mirror to observe the situation outside the city, and suddenly there was a muffled sound in his ears, as if something was smashed aside, and before the people in the bunker could react, a loud noise made Yu Wenwen feel that the world was quiet.

The whole bunker was hit by a wave of air, and a little dirt fell on the roof, and Yuwen Wen's hand holding the inner wall of the bunker could feel the trembling of the bunker, and he could also feel the solidity of the bunker.

A thunderbolt exploded not far from the bunker where he was located, but the power of black powder was never comparable to explosives, and the structure and shape of the cityhead bunker built by the Anzhou army were optimized after countless tests.

Even if a thunderbolt weighing dozens of pounds is placed on the roof and detonated, it will not hurt the people in the bunker, and neither can the stones thrown by the trebuchet.

This is a cross-era fortification, its opponent is explosives instead of black powder, and the structure is optimized to the maximum extent possible, and it is not something that can be pried open by a thunderbolt that explodes in all directions.

Looking at the tide of enemy troops outside the city, thinking of the bloody siege battle that would inevitably break out sooner or later, Yu Wenwen only felt that his blood was boiling, he had made all the preparations, just waiting for the other party to fill it with human lives.

Even if the hanging gourd at this time was like a lonely boat sailing on the stormy sea, Yu Wenwen was not afraid, he remembered that sentence, and couldn't help muttering to himself:

Let the storm come harder!