The Belan people and the cannon fodder of the Belt and Road Party were making preparations, and the preparations on the side of the stronghold at the head of Luoming Mountain were already very sufficient, and there was nothing to grind even for grinding guns in battle, so they just let the soldiers save some gunpowder and shells, and slowly wait for the enemy's next move.

Of course, now Beran's main force and cannon fodder are scattered in two, and it looks like a steak that has been cut in two, giving off an enticing aroma.

But Luo Ming was not fooled, this was clearly a bait.

If you send an elite army from Iron Fire City to attack those cannon fodder, it seems that it will achieve good results, but if you do the math carefully, you will find that there are too many obstacles and possible accidents.

Now there was a trench and earthen wall on the road, although the ditch was not deep and the wall was not high, but it was effective in deterring the rapid movement of the troops, and the same was true of the river.

Originally, it would take a certain amount of time to get out of the Iron Fire City, and if the road was blocked like this, even those cannon fodder who were not much stronger than Sansha were enough to organize a defense, and this attack could not achieve good results.

And I'm afraid that the group of mages of Belan lurking somewhere will immediately emerge and smash the lethal spells over.

Although the losses of the Belan mage group are not small, even if they have the remaining strength, they are still very strong, and they may be able to make some moths.

Luo Ming thought about it, and this time he wouldn't be in danger.

However, he still made some adjustments on the side of Iron Fire City.

Seeing that the drawbridge was lowered, two hundred cavalry appeared at first to defend on both sides, and then two hundred spearmen and two hundred musketeers appeared, and under the cover of these soldiers, a large group of "people" appeared with labor tools and began to work outside the city gates.

Of course, most of them are not real people, they are either militiamen, or they are simply regular soldiers who have laid down their arms and taken off their armor, they are organized and disciplined, and they are much more efficient than the people.

Although Luo Ming attaches great importance to the status of the military, and even has a slight tendency towards Priunism, his soldiers, except for some officers, are recruited from the civilian population, and they are usually instilled with collective glory and the overall idea of the entire Meiquan Territory, so that they will not be ashamed of burying their heads in work.

Soon, they dug a trench and earthen wall in the shape of a trench. The earthen wall is in front, and the ditch is behind.

The trench was not prepared to be made to a depth where the enemy could fall to his death, and the earthen wall was not intended to cover the chest of the man, let alone be rammed.

They don't exist to enhance their defenses, they're just an obstacle.

However, it is good enough as an obstacle, and the trench is about 1.8 meters wide and 80 centimeters deep, and the earthen wall is similar in width and height.

Any normal person who wants to cross it needs to climb it, and even the rare steed can only jump over the earthen wall and then land in the trench.

In front of this section of obstacles, some pre-made red deer barricades and the like were placed casually, which was considered complete.

This kind of defense is of course stronger than nothing, but it is far worse than the walls of Iron Fire City itself, and Luo Ming did not think that his soldiers would have to hold on to resist the enemy in such a place.

It didn't take long for several artillery wagons to move out of the city, and the gunners jumped off their horses, untied the gun wagons, and then pushed behind the earthen walls and trenches, and began to shoot at the cannon fodder.

Compared with the gun emplacements at the head of the city, it is about a hundred meters ahead, so the hit rate of the artillery has been greatly improved.

Yes, theoretically, Lockin's twelve-pound mountain grenade had hit a maximum range of 1,200 meters in a test shot, but at this point, the target was gone.

As for attacking infantry, it is necessary to ensure that the shells can bounce multiple times to create greater damage, so the effective range is further reduced.

Originally, the gun position of Iron Fire City was more than 500 meters away from those cannon fodder, but now it has been reduced by 100 meters at once, and the accuracy can be increased by as many as 100 meters at once, and this distance has barely entered the effective range of the shotgun.

From here, Luo Ming's artillery began to bombard the cannon fodder under the cliff unhurriedly, basically each cannon could bring one or two effective kills, further eroding their morale and will.

The people of Belan looked at this scene, although they gritted their teeth, but there was nothing they could do.

If the army were to attack this Schönbrunn army, not to mention the casualties of the fire blockade through the mountain passes on both sides, even if it was forced to break through, the time it would take to cross the middle few hundred meters would be enough for the Schönbrunn army to retreat into the city.

And this section of the earthen wall and the ditch would be useless even if it fell into the hands of the Berans.

If the trench was built in the traditional way, with the earthen wall in front and the earthen wall behind, the Beran archers could rush into the ditch with an earthen wall in front of them to protect them, allowing them to throw at ease.

But now the trench is behind the earthen wall, and the trench itself, which is less than a meter deep, does not protect the upper body of the soldiers at all, and can only restrict the movement of their legs and feet.

And a few shotguns fired at this side at the head of the Iron Fire City, or even just let the musketeers fire, can cause a river of blood.

This method was also the one Luo Ming came up with when he summed up the experience of the previous battle - if a few small fortifications like this were set up outside the city at the beginning, then when the Beran army attacked the city for the first time, the artillery could suddenly come out and fire, and then quickly retreat back into the city before the angry enemy army pounced.

And the enemy army is only a live target here, completely untenable, and can only quickly evacuate.

So the artillerymen could swagger out of the city to regain the lost ground under the protection of a small number of troops, and continue firing here.

It's like exchanging space for time, and space for the enemy's living force - and it can be reused multiple times, completely without cost!

And this has the advantage that the Thunder Cart's car has to move back another hundred meters to ensure safety, so the distance between it and the city wall will be beyond the effective range, which means that the bulky toy will completely lose its threat to the city wall.

Theory is always improved and enhanced in practice, and this new method has greatly broadened Luo Ming's idea of defending the city, and it will bloom more brilliantly in the future.

And even if you look at the present, this trick is very useful.

The work of leading the way to build siege equipment was delayed even more slowly, and the men sent by the main force of the Belan army to transport siege equipment suffered even more casualties due to the additional fire blockade of this small stronghold outside the city.

As a result, this delay really dragged on until dark.