Although the addition of a hundred crossbowmen at once made the viewing post a little crowded, the crossbow was far easier to handle than a bow and much easier to aim than a bow, so the relatively narrow space did not affect the crossbowmen's ability to shoot.

When the 100 crossbowmen were divided into three groups according to Zhang Zheng's arrangement and began to take turns firing arrows at the Zhou army under the city, the Hou Zhou trench soldiers, who had not yet found that there was a large Han army at the head of Taiyuan City, were still throwing dirt bags in the outer trenches slowly, and they did not expect that the arrows of death were approaching.

The distance of 200 steps is not close, but it is not far away, although it does not exceed the effective range of the hard crossbow, but it is not easy to make a hundred shots. However, thanks to the "calm" trench filling action of the Hou Zhou trench soldiers, the relatively dense formation, and the fact that there were no long-range weapons to provide them with the necessary fire suppression, more than 20 of the first wave of more than 30 arrows fired by the crossbowmen of the Northern Han army actually hit the target, and with a scream, the Hou Zhou trench soldiers immediately fell nearly 20 people.

It stands to reason that as long as they do not receive an order from their commander to retreat, these trench fillers should stick to their posts and continue their task of filling the outer trenches. Moreover, judging from the number of arrows fired, the main force of the Han army defending the city showed no signs of large-scale entry into the city, and it was likely that only a small force of the Han army launched the attack. However, the vast majority of the Later Zhou soldiers believed that after the fierce bombardment of their own firearms, those enemy troops who voluntarily or were forced to stay on the top of the city to observe the movements under the city, even if they were lucky enough to avoid the bombardment, could not have such a fierce performance and dare to take the initiative to attack the Zhou army. At this time, the only thing that could calmly counterattack the Zhou army was the main force of the Han army, which had been hiding in a hidden place and had not been baptized by the Zhou army's firearms.

Second, seeing that the enemy army had moved, and his comrades were also killed and wounded, and the casualties were still increasing, the thoughts of these trench fillers, who had been greeted in advance and knew that they were just making a feint. Those who had the heart to be active began to wonder whether their mission should be over now that the enemy had begun to launch a counterattack, and whether they could turn around and retreat; There is the honest man, who must not stop the work in hand without the order of the superior, and still fill in the outer trench step by step; There is one who does not have much opinion, while absentmindedly filling in the outer trench, while looking back at his commander from time to time, hoping that the other party can quickly give the order to retreat. As soon as people's minds are too much, their actions will inevitably be affected, and everyone's minds are different, so their actions can no longer be unified, so the originally neat and orderly trench filling formation immediately became chaotic.

The formation in front was chaotic, and the officer in charge of directing the trench fillers in the back immediately noticed the anomaly. While trying their best to maintain order among their subordinates, they sent people to report to their higher commanders, demanding that the "Divine Army" immediately open fire to cover their subordinates -- although the trench fillers were participating in a feint, such a feint could turn into a real attack at any time, and this outer trench that hindered the passage of the rear brigade had to be filled.

In fact, even if the officer in charge of commanding the trench fillers did not report to him, Chai Rong, who was standing on top of the temporarily erected watchtower, and several generals under his command also saw what was happening in front of them. After two rounds of firearm bombardment, there were still Han soldiers on the city wall who fired bows and arrows at the Zhou army under the city, which was obviously unexpected by Chai Rong and the generals. You must know that in any war in which the "Shenji Army" participated, especially in siege warfare, even if it was the Gu'an defenders who had the fiercest confrontation with the "Shenji Army" and had the most tenacious defense, they would only block or counterattack the attacking Zhou army when the main force under the city that had evaded artillery bombardment returned to the city, and there had never been a soldier who had defended the city and acted as an observer and monitor who took the initiative to attack the Zhou army before the main force entered the city -- especially when the Zhou infantry had not yet begun a large-scale siege of the city. …,

However, it is unthinkable that the current situation requires Chai Rong to make an immediate decision whether to continue to fill in the trenches or withdraw his troops. Chai Rong's decision on this question was swift and resolute - whether the attack was false or real, the outer trenches had to be filled; No matter how many Han troops shot arrows at the head of the city, they must be eliminated, otherwise the Han generals with such tenacious will and tenacious vitality will definitely have a serious impact on the morale of the Zhou army. Therefore, not long after the crossbowmen of the Han army began to counterattack, the long-range firearms such as artillery, ballistas and stone throwers of the "Shenji Army", which had been silent for a short time, were once again powerful, and wave after wave of cannonballs, siege powder cartridges, and the most effective gunpowder bags for attacking the city head were sent to the west wall of Taiyuan City as if they were not paying money, and the location of the Han crossbowmen was naturally the object of key care.

Looking at the head of Taiyuan City gradually covered by billowing smoke, bursts of loud noises like thunder came from there one after another, Chai Rong and the Wenchen generals of the Later Zhou Dynasty were relieved, feeling that after this firearm bombardment, there would never be any more living creatures on the west wall of Taiyuan City, otherwise it would really be a ghost.

It turns out that Hou Zhou Junchen really "saw the hell" this time. No matter how fiercely the "Shenji Army" bombarded, the waves of arrows still shot down from the top of the city in an orderly manner, knocking down the Zhou army's trench fillers who were filling the outer trenches at the fastest speed. In less than a cup of tea, more than 100 trench fillers had been hit by arrows, and more than half of them were killed on the spot.

If it is said that the initial counterattack of the crossbowmen of the Han army was still regarded by the Later Zhou Junchen as a fish with special luck to interfere with the feint attack of the Zhou army, then as the round of firearm bombardment of the "Shenji Army" lasted longer and longer, the suspicion in the heart of the Later Zhou Junchen became more and more serious. Under the fierce bombardment of the artillery fire of the "Divine Machine Army", the Han army in the city can still fire arrows so calmly and calmly, and it can no longer be described by words such as good luck and fearless death, because such abnormal performance is almost "demon". If this situation is allowed to continue, I am afraid that the soldiers of the Zhou army should associate this performance of the enemy army with the possession of ghosts and gods and the protection of gods - in fact, not only ordinary soldiers, but even some civil and military generals around Chai Rong can't help but have similar thoughts in their hearts at this time, and even Chai Rong is quite shocked.

However, shock is shock, after all, Chai Rong is the king of a country, and he thinks that he is the true dragon son who is ordered by heaven and protected by God, but he is not afraid of whether the other party has any ghosts and gods to help. After a short period of astonishment, he immediately ordered to change the feint attack into a real attack. On the one hand, he urged the trench fillers to fill in the outer trenches and moats as soon as possible, and on the other hand, he ordered the main siege infantry in the rear to join forces with the assault infantry in front, follow the advance of the trench fillers, and launch a strong attack on Taiyuan City. In addition, 2,500 flintlock pipers were dispatched to the city of Taiyuan to provide fire support for the trench fillers and siege infantry, and to suppress the Han crossbowmen on the city walls.

He commanded the crossbowmen to continue to shoot and create chaos for the trench fillers of the Later Zhou army, while staring at the infantry of the Later Zhou Army who were approaching the city wall step by step, and silently counted the frequency and quantity of various explosives launched by the Later Zhou "Shenji Army" in his heart, until the siege infantry of the Later Zhou Army advanced to a distance of only more than 100 steps from the Taiyuan City Wall, and the "Shenji Army" was afraid of accidentally injuring the friendly troops and gradually stopped firing firearms, then nodded to Commander Sun beside him.

Commander Nasun received Zhang Zheng's signal, and immediately ran out of the observation post with a red flag, came to the inner side of the city wall, and shook it vigorously towards the city. With the red flag in the hands of Commander Sun wavering, the Han army guards in several other observation posts also began to wave the flag to the city, and more than 10,000 soldiers of the main force of the Han army defending the city who had been waiting for a long time immediately swarmed up and entered their combat positions at the fastest speed, preparing to stop the siege infantry of the Later Zhou army, and a tragic and powerful city attack and defense battle began.