Hearing Zhao Ying's words, Xiao Mo was puzzled, but thinking that Zhao Ying knew the tactics of the grassland alliance best, he still nodded and ordered: "The archers began to diffuse after the barbarians entered the firing range, and the shield bearers were ready to guard against the opponent's counterattack. 【】”

After hearing Xiao Mo's order, Cai Da said yes in a deep voice and passed on the order again.

Originally, although Xiao Mo was a supervisor of the army, he should not be directly involved in the command of the army in general, however, looking at the generals behind him at this moment, except for a few people, they were all chaotic formations, although the supreme general Cai Da was still relatively calm, but for a while, he would only be submissive, and in desperation, he could only overstep his responsibilities. Fortunately, it was only the initial command, and with the military books that Xiao Mo read, he could barely cope with it.

"Hopefully, as the war continues, they will return to normal, otherwise it will only be bad to rely on someone like me who has only read a few military books to command."

Xiao Mo frowned and thought.

On the other side, Zhao Ying saw Xiao Mo's shocking momentum in the face of Mandi's galloping horses, although his face was faintly pale, he could still barely maintain his composure, and he commanded and responded on behalf of Cai Da and others, and secretly admired in his heart, but he still walked towards Xiao Mo and persuaded: "Lord Privy, you are a civil official, and you also went to the yamen in the city to command in the center, and we have our own response here." ”

Hearing Zhao Ying say this, the defense made Cai Da also think of the inappropriateness of Xiao Mo's order on his behalf when he was panicking, and hurriedly said: "Yes, my lord, you have a golden body, you can't lightly get involved in the battlefield and dangerous places, or please go back, the lower official promises, and will ensure that Shangyuan City will not be lost." ”

Xiao Mo looked at the shield hand who surrounded him in the middle, and Chu Da and Cao Fei, who were already holding weapons with a cautious look on their faces behind him, feeling that he was still safe here, and he also wanted to watch the changes in the battlefield situation in person, so he slowly shook his head and said, "No, I'll watch the battle here, but the commander behind me will be presided over by Cai Fang's envoy." I'm not going to do it anymore. ”

Seeing that Liu Xingzhi and the others next to him were pale, Xiao Mo added: "All civil officials can retreat to a safe place and deal with logistics, it's useless here." ”

Hearing Xiao Mo say this, Liu Xingzhi and the others were overjoyed, and after bowing to Xiao Mo, they left in a hurry.

Seeing Xiao Mo's insistence, Cai Da was helpless, so he could only tell the shield players around him to care about Xiao Mo's safety.

"Ballista ready!!"

When the cavalry of the grassland coalition army had already entered the land of two arrows outside Shangyuan City, Cai Da raised his voice and ordered.

As Cai Da's order was handed down, the soldiers in the city hurriedly pulled the crossbow arms of the ballista and put arrows on the stones.

When the cavalry of the grassland alliance army entered the land of a stone's throw outside Shangyuan City, Cai Da was just about to attack, and the grassland alliance army, the abnormal protrusion saw that the countless barbarian cavalry that was surging towards Shangyuan City like a torrent, when approaching the land of Shangyuan City, it was like a river meeting a reef, and naturally went around to both sides, not only avoiding the countless horse-resisting trenches in front, but also faintly encircling Shangyuan City.

On the other side, the Da Chu archers on Shangyuan City, but because of the panic in their hearts, when the Mandi cavalry had not yet entered the firing range, some of the Da Chu archers were too nervous, and they couldn't help but shoot the arrows in advance, and finally attracted almost all the archers in the city to shoot arrows in advance, so it can be seen that countless arrows rose to the sky, but they fell before the Mandi cavalry, the offensive seemed to be not small, but in fact it did not cause a Mandi casualties, and the Mandi under the city couldn't help laughing wildly, arrogant, But Cai Da, who was angry, roared angrily for a while, and the defenders in Shangyuan City became more and more depressed.

"My lord, the first battle is extremely important, although the archers are useless, but it is not a way to let the morale weaken like this."

I don't know why, since the beginning of Mandi's appearance, Zhao Ying has been by Xiao Mo's side, and did not go to Cai Da's place to assist in defending the city, and after seeing this farce caused by the archers at this moment, he whispered to Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo nodded, and raised his voice to say to Cai Da, who was still yelling and reprimanding the archers: "Lord Cai, shoot crossbow arrows, and give me the momentum of those barbarians under the city!" ”

In this era, there were basically two types of ballistae, one called catapults and the other called arrow ballistas. Catapults have greater lethality and a wider range, but a shorter range, while an arrow ballista uses the power of a spring to shoot a giant arrow with the thickness of an arm, with a longer range and great power, and an arrow can pierce several people, but in this era, the role is much lower than that of a trebuchet, so there are not many opportunities to use it.

Among the nearly 300 ballista carts in Shangyuan City, there were 80 taels of arrow ballista carts, of which 20 were arranged on the northern city wall.

After hearing Xiao Mo's words, Cai Da was slightly stunned, and then raised his hand to give an order: "Shoot the crossbow, tell the crossbow soldier, if you waste the opportunity again, you don't need to attack the city with brute, I will directly deal with them by military law!" ”

With Cai Da's order, a moment later, the arrow ballista was ready, with Cai Da's order, twenty crossbow arrows shot out from the city wall, straight to the front of the Barbarian cavalry and stood on the city wall, far away, Xiao Mo saw that the twenty crossbow arrows were all pierced into the Barbarian army array, not only each and a half arrows pierced at least one Mandi, but under the huge impact, it brought Mandi's body into the air, and it fell fiercely after a long time.

With the power of the crossbow arrows, Mandi's previous laughter stopped instantly.

On the other side, on the wall of Shangyuan, there were earth-shattering cheers.

Seeing the power of the crossbow arrows, which instantly suppressed the momentum of Mandidi, Cai Da was even more excited, and arranged in a loud voice: "The arrow ballista is ready again, continue to kill Mandi!" "It's a pity that the arrow ballista is quite troublesome to load the arrows, and within a hundred breaths, the arrow ballista will not be able to continue to exert its power.

On the other side, in the midst of the deafening cheers, Xiao Mo's expression flashed a hint of relief, although he only killed dozens of barbarians, and the results were not big, but he finally did not let the morale of his side be lost.

However, Zhao Ying's face was still solemn, and he said to Xiao Mo: My lord, Mandi's action is not over yet. Xiao Mo looked at it slightly, and looked closely, sure enough, although he was frustrated under the power of the arrow crossbow car, and dozens of people were killed in an instant, and the arrogant laughter of the barbarians before was no longer there, but the team was still not flustered, and the morale was not affected at all, and it was still a stone's throw away, constantly rushing around Shangyuan City.

"What do they want to do?" Xiao Mo frowned and asked.

Zhao Ying seemed to think of something very terrifying, his face became more and more pale, and said: "They are still attacking the heart and destroying our morale, this time they are going to perform the art of riding and archery, my lord, let the soldiers in the city pay attention to concealment."

Yarrow Mo frowned, nodded slightly, and conveyed the order to let the soldiers pay attention to the concealment through Cai Da.

As soon as the order was delivered, a picture that Xiao Mo would never forget appeared in front of Xiao Mo.

Ten miles away from Shangyuan City, under several royal flags representing the major steppe peoples, the Great Khans of Bale, Khitan, Xianbei, and Murwei, as well as the leaders of the major tribes, all gathered here.

When I saw the archers in Shangyuan City hurriedly shooting arrows, but they didn't even kill a single soldier of the Grassland Alliance, it was like a farce scene, all the leaders of the Great Khan laughed, and the laughter was full of sarcasm, only the faces of a few people such as Bale changed slightly.

"There are a lot of archers in Shangyuan City."

Bale rode on the horse, his temperament was more refined, but his expression was extremely calm, and he said slowly.

After being reminded by Bale, the Khitan Great Khan Yelu Axiao Ji was slightly stunned, his expression was also cautious, and he nodded: "Well, there are indeed a lot, and the wave of arrows just now can prove that there are at least tens of thousands of archers in this city." ”

The big leader of Xi Xianbei said disdainfully: "What's the use of more archers, our sons can draw two-stone bows, and there are even many warriors who can use three-stone bows at will, and most of these cowards of the other party's Great Chu can't even use a stone bow at will, even if they have more archers, they can only be shot by our grassland warriors at will." ”

After hearing the words of the great leader of Xi Xianbei, everyone was praised.

And at this moment, the crossbow carts in Shangyuan City were powerful, and they instantly took the lives of dozens of grassland coalition soldiers, witnessing this scene, the faces of everyone on the field changed slightly.

"In Beicheng alone, there are twenty arrow ballistae, and in the previous Great Chu City, there were a total of seven or eight......

Bal frowned.

Yelu Axiao Ji snorted coldly and said: "Although the power of the arrow ballista is not small, it can't change the situation at all, Bal Khan, we can't let such Chu people be arrogant, you should give an order." ”

Balak nodded, and suddenly waved his hand.

Seeing Bale's order, the soldiers of the steppe coalition army who surrounded the leaders suddenly each took out a horn and whined, and the sound was full of poignant.

And with the sound of the horn, a stone's throw outside Shangyuan City, more than 100,000 grassland warriors who were galloping around Shangyuan City suddenly began to slow down, and at the same time, everyone took out a strong bow in their hands, took arrows and drew the bow!!

The strong bow in the hands of the grassland warriors is a real strong bow, at least it has the power of two stones, and even the strong bow with the power of three stones is not a few, and it is only two-thirds of the range for Da Chu.

As the 100,000 grassland coalition troops outside Shangyuan City drew their bows and shot arrows at the same time, a picture that Xiao Mo would never forget appeared in his life.

I saw that as the bows and arrows in the hands of the grassland coalition army were shot, countless arrows rushed into the sky, mighty and dense, shooting towards Shangyuan City.

It was as if a dark cloud suddenly appeared, obscuring the afterglow of the setting sun, and around Xiao Mo, it was actually cut into the night in an instant, "My lord, lie down!" ”

Seeing this scene, I don't know whether to say it is spectacular or a poignant and cruel scene, Xiao Mo was stunned.

Zhao Ying jumped up violently and threw Xiao Mo to the ground, while Deng Shangquan, Chu Da, Cao Fei and others next to him, under Zhao Ying's reminder before, were already holding a shield in their hands, and together with the archers, they tried to shrink their bodies under the shield, and together with the surrounding archers, they protected Xiao Mo in the middle.

Xiao Mo was protected under the heavy shield, silently waiting for the arrow to fall, as if waiting for a moment, and as if waiting for countless years, he has always prided himself on being calm and calm, but his mind is blank at this moment.

"Crackling ......"

Finally, the arrows fell, as if falling to the ground in a torrential rain, with a continuous crackling sound, mixed with the screams of countless soldiers in the city, and the smell of blood began to permeate the air, which was disgusting.

The continuous arrows, the continuous screams, and the increasingly thick bloody gas, mixed with the desperate cries and shouts of countless people, this situation lasted for a long time and finally passed.

"My lord, it's over."

After a long time, Zhao Ying's call woke Xiao Mo up from a blank in his mind, as if he thought of something, Xiao Mo jumped up violently, looked outside Shangyuan City, and kept asking, "How is the situation with Mandi?" Did they take advantage of the opportunity to attack the city? ”

Indeed, at that moment just now, everyone was hiding under the battlements, and if the Barbarians took the opportunity to attack the city, the countless trenches, traps, and horses set up under the city walls would have been broken by nearly a third of the barbarians.

And just now he only asked half of the question, but Xiao Mo couldn't help but be stunned. I saw that outside Shangyuan City, the grassland coalition army had gathered together for some time, and stayed quietly outside Shangyuan City, a stone's throw away, countless knights, black and oppressive, but there was no sound, and there was no intention of taking the opportunity to attack the city.

And on the wall of Shangyuan City, it has turned into a hell on earth at this moment, although Xiao Mo has ordered all the soldiers to pay attention to dodge beforehand, but there are too many arrows shot before, and they are too dense, under the strong bow, the penetration is even more terrifying, those soldiers who hide under the battlements are better, those who are only defending with wooden shields, but they have suffered heavy casualties, or although they protect their heads and chests, they are shot through their legs and feet, or the bow and arrow directly penetrate the wooden shield and kill them with one blow.

Note: Until the Qing Dynasty, most of the infantry still used wooden shields. The so-called wooden shield is not really a wooden shield, it is wrapped in cowhide on the outside, and the main part in the middle is wood. This is a workaround that will only appear when considering that the ancient Chinese soldiers were not strong enough and had even worse physical strength, and they could not wield a pure iron shield at all. Objectively speaking, the defense of the wooden shield can resist most attacks, but when it encounters too strong attacks, it can only reduce some damage. , There are many soldiers who have not had time to dodge, such as those arrow crossbow riders who have just made meritorious achievements, and at this moment, they and arrow ballista have all turned into hedgehogs.

As far as the eye can see, there are arrows everywhere, there are dead and wounded everywhere, all the ears hear, all the wails and cries, all the soldiers' faces, are panic and despair, and there are many soldiers, their faces are numb, although they are not injured, but they just lie there quietly, looking at all this in front of them in a daze, their expressions are dull, and they are no different from the dead.

In the air, there seemed to be a faint blood-colored mist wafting in the air, and the smell of blood was overwhelming.

At this moment, even Xiao Mo, who had always been able to maintain his composure, couldn't help but change his face.

Looking around, the only thing that Xiao Mo is thankful for is that he and the people around him have not been damaged because of the tightly protected relationship.

However, at this very moment, the anomaly returned.

The 100,000 grassland barbarians gathered outside the city suddenly raised their scimitars in their hands in unison and shouted murderously: "Descend, you can live!" Fight, all die!! ”

"Descend, live!! Fight, all die!! ”

"Descend, live!! Fight, all die!! ”

And so on three times.

When 150,000 people shouted in unison, the earth trembled, and the wind and clouds changed color and murderous spirit.

And with the chorus shouts of the grassland coalition army, the faces of the defenders in Shangyuan City became more and more pale, and many people's eyes flickered, and they didn't know what they were thinking.

At this moment, Xiao Mo finally knew why the previous fifteen cities couldn't hold out for even three months, and they were broken one after another.

There is no more murder than murder.

"The leader of this steppe coalition...... It's amazing......"

Seeing that the grassland coalition army had begun to return to the place three arrows away from Shangyuan City one after another, and set up camp calmly, it seemed that he was not worried about the counterattack of nearly 100,000 Chu troops in Shangyuan City, Xiao Mo suddenly muttered to himself after a long time.

This is just the first battle between Shangyuan City and the grassland coalition army.

Just like that, Xiao Mo stood on the city wall, silently looking at the camp of the grassland coalition army outside Shangyuan City, motionless until the sky was completely dark.

"My lord, the statistics are out."

Liu Xingzhi came to Xiao Mo's side, his face was pale and almost transparent, and he said softly: "How? Xiao Mo's body finally moved and asked.

"Six hundred and ninety-three of our officers and men were killed and two thousand one hundred and seven wounded. In addition, due to the strength of the enemy's bows, many arrows were fired directly into the city, causing more than 1,900 civilian casualties. Xiao Mo nodded silently, Mandi's blow could be said to have ruined the morale of Shangyuan City, but how to deal with it, Xiao Mo had no choice.

Seeing Xiao Mo's expression, Zhao Ying, who had been following Xiao Mo's side, suddenly said, "My lord, in fact, you don't have to worry. "Oh? How so?

Zhao Ying replied: "It is terrifying to shoot a volley of ten thousand arrows like this, but the barbarians are only equipped with two pots of arrows each, and it is impossible to suppress us with bows and arrows all the time. What we should be worried about is their other three tricks. ”

Xiao Moyi frowned and asked, "Which three moves?" ”