In the large array of the Tang army outside the city, Song Jiangong, who had been paying attention to the movements of the barbarians at the head of the city, noticed that the barbarian soldiers at the head of the city were acting differently, and hurriedly came to Wang Yuan's side to report: "Deputy marshal, the number of barbarians at the head of the city is much less. ”

Wang Yuan stared at it, and sure enough, the number of barbarians at the head of the city had dropped sharply, and only a small number of people were left at the head of the city. Immediately frowned and was silent.

Liu Jun said: "Could it be that Luo Feng is going to give up the sheep and baa the city?" ”

Wang Yuan said: "If you really evacuate this city, Ge Luofeng will still know the current affairs. It was his best choice to abandon the city, otherwise it would burn to the ground and his soldiers and horses would not be able to hold it. ”

While everyone was talking, they suddenly heard a loud noise from the city, which was the cheers of the barbarians. Everyone looked at each other and didn't know why. Soon after, everyone found that Liu Dehai, who was directing the Shenwei cannon to move forward, rode his horse and galloped, and when he came to Wang Yuan, he didn't have time to salute and said loudly: "Deputy marshal, deputy marshal, there is something strange." ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "What are you panicking about, what happened?" ”

Liu Dehai hurriedly said: "There are strange sounds in the sheep and baa city, and they are weirdly tight. ”

Wang Yuan said: "What weird voice? Isn't it the sound of the barbarians? ”

Liu Dehai shook his head and said: "No, before that, the gunners of the Shenwei Cannon all heard a strange sound, like ...... Like the roar of a tiger and the sound of a dragon. ”

Wang Yuan laughed dumbly and said: "What nonsense, where is the sound of the tiger roaring and the dragon groaning?" What's wrong with you? ”

"It's true, lieutenant marshal, more than one person heard it, everyone heard it. Like the cry of a wild beast. Liu Dehai shouted.

Wang Yuan was about to reprimand, but Song Jiangong suddenly frowned and said: "Deputy marshal, the barbarians are in the company of beasts and poisonous insects all day long, what means can they not do?" General Liu will not be unsupplied. ”

Wang Yuan thought for a while and said, "Let's go, let's go and listen to the movement before, does Fei Ge Luofeng really have the ability to drive tigers and leopards?" But I didn't believe it. ”

Everyone galloped out of the battle to the rear of the Shenwei artillery position, which was closer to the city wall, Liu Dehai ordered all the gunners to stop making sounds, and everyone held their breath and listened to the sounds in the city. I only felt that there was a dull knocking sound in the distance in the city, and with the knocking sound, it seemed that the ground was shaking slightly. Suddenly, a long hiss came faintly.

Wang Yuan heard the sound and unconsciously screamed 'ah'.

"Lieutenant Marshal, what's wrong?" Everyone hurriedly asked.

Wang Yuan said: "It seems to be the voice of an elephant, I have heard the roar of an elephant, it is very like." ”

Song Jiangong suddenly woke up, patted his forehead and said: "Deputy marshal, barbarians are good at training elephants, I heard that they can drive elephants to fight, it is ......."

Wang Yuan's color changed, and he muttered: "Could it be that they are not going to evacuate this city, but to go out of the city to fight?" ”

Before he could say anything, the huge suspension bridge at the west gate of the city fell with a bang, splashing a cloud of smoke and dust. The people looked in amazement, but when they saw the gate of the city opened, a hill-like elephant carrying a small house-like elephant was slowly stepping out of the gate with its long nose and appearing in the midday sun.

Immediately after that, the second, third, and fourth heads ...... In just a short period of time, dozens of elephants poured out of the city and began to line up along the banks of the moat. Head after end, endlessly, seemingly endlessly.

The surprise of everyone was indescribable, and Liu Dehai scolded: "Dog. Mother, you really have to fight with us. ”

Wang Yuan said coldly: "Sure enough, there is some capital, these behemoths are afraid that they are difficult to entangle, Ge Luofeng is going to fight to the death." Get ready for battle. ”

Song Jiangong immediately turned around and shouted at Wei Guangzhong, the deputy of the front army: "Immediately pass the order and prepare to meet the enemy." ”

Liu Dehai said: "Deputy marshal, what should I do with the Shenwei cannon?" ”

Wang Yuan said: "Dump all the wooden bullets into the bonfire and ignite them, and all the Shenwei gunners will immediately evacuate this place, nothing can stop the impact of these behemoths, these Shenwei cannons can only give up." ”

Liu Dehai was distressed, but he had no choice but to give the order immediately. The gunners hurriedly poured the wooden bullets of various types into the bonfire, and then immediately retreated into the Tang army's large array. Wang Yuan and others also quickly returned to their own positions, Wang Yuan continued to give orders, and the whole army was awe-inspiring to prepare to meet the enemy.

More than 300 elephants have all left the city and lined up in two rows under the city. Behind them, a flood of brute soldiers poured out of the cave in the city gate. Ge Luofeng made a desperate bet and pressed all the 30,000 barbarian soldiers onto the battlefield, wanting to fight to the death with the Tang army.

A terrible elephant neighed out, and hundreds of elephants waved their noses and howled, and the sound resounded through the valley. Immediately after that, the largest elephant took its first step under the command of the elephant driver, and hundreds of elephants moved together, slow and clumsy at first, but after a dozen steps, the herd actually began to run. These behemoths may seem clumsy, but they are not slow to run, and the heavy elephant feet step on the ground, and the ground makes a dull echo, and dust and gravel splash sideways, and a cloud of smoke and dust rises.

Behind the herd, tens of thousands of barbarians rushed to the Tang formation, shouting like infantry charging behind tanks. More than 200 bed crossbows dismantled from the city were also carried by the soldiers, and Ge Luofeng wanted to use all the resources he could use to fight this great battle.

Wang Yuan thought that the roaring bonfires lined up in a row could stop the elephants from charging, but he miscalculated. These trained elephant cavalry ignored the raging fire and appeared three hundred paces away from the Tang army's formation through the gap between the fires. The elephant's trunk waved, the ivory poked indiscriminately, and the Shenwei cannon erected on the ground was trampled and knocked down like a building block. At the same time, the figure of the tidal wave of brutes also appeared in the rear of the elephant herd.

"Crossbowmen ready!" Song Jiangong's face was serious, and he held high the command flag and shouted.

Five thousand crossbowmen armed with crossbows began to click and click the arrows. The range of the arm-drawn crossbow can reach up to 300 paces, and these crossbows are the first to defend against the enemy. With the Song Jiangong order flag waved. The screeching of the bolts sliced at the charging Nanzhao elephant cavalry and brute soldiers like a rapidly moving dark cloud clinging to the ground. In an instant, the powerful crossbow bolts knocked down the hundreds of barbarians who charged in front like wheat harvesting.

However, what stunned the Jiannan army was that the crossbow had no effect on the cavalry at all, and each elephant that charged was nailed with dozens of crossbow arrows, but it did not affect them in the slightest to charge in front of the Tang army in a frenzy. And he ran, and the arrows and snaps that were nailed to his body fell down, and even the blood rarely flowed out. Apparently, the bolts did not reach the depth to be nailed to the elephant's body.

It's not that an elephant's skin is tough, and no matter how tough an animal's skin is, it can't be penetrated under a crossbow. But the barbarians have their own unique way of training elephant cavalry. Training an elephant cavalry is expensive, it takes a lot of time, and these elephants eat a lot of food, and the best elephant riders are to raise them fat and strong. Therefore, it is impossible to allow an elephant to die easily while charging.

During the domestication of these elephants, the elephant riders smeared the elephants with a sticky slurry mixed with a special sap of mud and cattail grass deep in the mountains. Day after day, the elephant doesn't feel anything. But in the end, this slurry will condense into a thick layer of outer skin, which is tough and elastic. Waterproof and rocket-proof supports are also difficult to penetrate. An elephant rider with this kind of pulp skin on his coat is a real elephant cavalry.

"Evil Gate!" Wang Yuan frowned when he saw this scene.

After the Tang crossbowmen fired another round, taking the lives of hundreds of barbarians, the elephant cavalry that rushed to a distance of two hundred paces also began to exert their might. The vine cover at the top of the elephant seat was lifted, and ten barbarian crossbowmen leaned out and shot a round of crossbow arrows at the Tang soldiers, and then quickly hid in the fortress of the elephant seat. The bows and crossbows fired by more than 3,000 elephant cavalry crossbowmen also took the lives of hundreds of Tang troops in an instant. Moreover, within a distance of three hundred paces, more than two hundred bed crossbows came into range. The brute soldiers carrying the bed crossbow hurriedly began to settle the bed crossbow, and a moment later, two hundred powerful bed crossbows penetrated the formation of the Tang army and shot more than two hundred Tang soldiers.

At this moment, the barbarians were actually lower than the Tang army in casualties, with more than 500 dead and wounded in the Tang army, but less than 500 dead and wounded in the barbarians.

"Fuck." Song Jiangong scolded and shouted to Wang Yuan: "Deputy marshal, why hasn't General Liu's cavalry been dispatched?" It's long overdue. ”

Wang Yuan shook his head in a deep voice and said, "Can't rush forward, can our cavalry be the opponent of the elephant cavalry?" The cavalry had to wait for the right moment. Since the crossbow cannot shoot the elephant cavalry, let the crossbowman shoot people instead of the elephant cavalry. ”

Song Jiangong gave a sharp order, and the crossbowmen gave up firing at the elephant cavalry and greeted the charging brute soldiers with all their firepower. As the formations of the two sides approached, the bows and arrows also entered the range, so the archers on both sides began to exert their might, and above the dark clouds of crossbow arrows on the ground, a large black cloud of arrows that covered the sky and the sun was shrouded. The number of dead and wounded on both sides soared.

But the elephant cavalry of the barbarians was unstoppable, and finally rushed to the front of the Tang army's armored soldiers under the locust-like arrows and crossbow arrows. The armor soldier beckoned to the elephants with spears and swords, but the sharp blades only inflicted wounds on the elephants. The frenzied elephant waved its sharp tusks, rolled its trunk, and threw the soldiers of the Southern Army of the Sword into the air one by one. If a heavy elephant's leg stomps on anyone, it will crush them into a pulp in an instant. Coupled with the barbarian crossbowmen who constantly fired on the back of the elephant, these more than 300 elephant cavalry became the most terrifying existence on the battlefield, rampaging in the Tang army's formation and invincible.