For most of the time, pontoon bridges are not possible on the deep and fast Heishui River, but in the current winter season, when the upstream tributaries are frozen in large areas, the water level and flow rate drop dramatically, and the normally difficult operation is made possible.

Three medium-sized boats first pulled up the ropes across the Heishui River, and on the basis of these three ropes, a large number of small boats collected from nearby and improvised work, and even improvised rafts with airbags were connected, and then tied to each other with tight ropes to maintain a suitable distance between them, and then nailed or tied to wooden planks, and finally formed a narrow bridge deck that could only be passed by one or two people. After the bridge is roughly formed, with the help of the free boat, an iron anchor is thrown in the middle of the river to pull the middle of the bridge to fix it, so as to prevent the whole bridge from swinging left and right with the current and affecting the stability.

The three pontoon bridges across the Heishui River are twenty or thirty meters apart from each other, and together they build a river crossing position less than 100 meters wide.

It can be seen that the land-donating army has made a lot of preparations for this, and the construction of the pontoon bridge is proceeding quite in an orderly manner...... The Golden Regiment had also been sent to obstruct the formation process, but there were always several ships full of archers to cover the sappers, and as soon as the legionary mercenaries appeared on the beachhead riverbed, they would be immediately taken care of by a large number of arrows.

The Golden Regiment also had archers, but Strykran didn't dare to send them in front of him - the end of the Bend Siege Camp was the best example, and he had no doubt that if he sent his troops to the beachhead, he would immediately attract a bombardment of the strange iron ball weapons.

After weighing it, he simply gave up sending people to his death, and instead allowed the three pontoon bridges to take shape.

Rather than prevent the other party from crossing the river, it is better to wait for the enemy to cross the river halfway and then rush them into the water, which will not only completely thwart the opponent's intention to cross the river and pursue, but also be regarded as a great victory in the report.

Although Stryclan is a financial officer and not a soldier, after all, he has been the leader of the mercenary group for many years, and he can still understand the basic military common sense of "half-crossing".

......

The sound of the river crossing echoing in the air gradually dissipated, and at the same time, the rumbling that had been constantly ringing before disappeared. Stryclan, of course, would not be naïve enough to think that the other side had run out of gunpowder and shells at this moment, and the other side had most likely reloaded the weapons and aimed them at the beachhead in their direction, ready to strike again the moment the blocking force emerged from behind the embankment.

The new weapon, which had a long range, could only threaten dense formations, and Strykran had already figured out how to deal with it: disperse, split into batches.

Whether waiting or charging, each hundred-man team kept a distance from each other, attacking the opposing river-crossing vanguard from multiple directions, as long as they did not suffer too many casualties on the way to the charge, and waited until they were in a state of stalemate, it was impossible for that kind of iron ball to bombard the river-crossing beachhead indiscriminately.

Under the gaze of the eyes that poked out from behind the countless twin river embankments, the black-clothed army that had stood in the cold wind for an hour finally moved? Divided into three columns under the shouting and dancing of the commander? Orderly trotted up to the three pontoon bridges.

Even though the prelude to the battle has sounded, the command of the land-giving army can still be described in one word: steady.

To prevent too many people crossing the bridge at the same time, causing too much stress on the improvised pontoon? Avoid soldiers pushing each other and causing chaos and overboard? The land-giving army gave up passing two rows of people at the same time, and instead allowed only a single column of soldiers to cross the bridge. However, while improving security? It also sacrifices a small half of the passage speed, giving the defender more room to react and a larger window of time to attack.

Great? Stryclan's secret thoughts? Pick up the lens again and look at the land-giving army that is crossing the river, intending to observe the opponent's equipment and personnel, so that he can know himself and his opponent in the next battle.

Telephoto through the refraction of several pieces of glass? The scene two hundred meters away was instantly pulled closer to the eyes? Stryclan noticed that the first three columns of soldiers who crossed the river on the other side were not only tall individuals, but all of them were carrying huge shields—large shields that were like door panels, and the approachers were tall enough to shrink their whole body behind them.

The first group of soldiers to go ashore had to face the attack of the defending side, and the ability to hold their positions was particularly important, so it was understandable to send shieldmen over? But Strykerland moved a little direction of the lens and stumbled upon a small detail: the soldiers with large shields? He doesn't appear to be carrying a weapon.

The shield is usually equipped with a spear, which can be used against infantry and cavalry? Occasionally, it will be equipped with a sword, depending on the commander's idea. And yet Strykerland sees that from this? Observed several black-clad soldiers crossing the river in a company? Not only can't you see any long and thick rods? Even the shorter swords were not found, but they found that almost each of them had two large round iron balls hanging from them, strung together with ropes and hanging on their shoulders, swaying back and forth with the pace of crossing the bridge, which was very conspicuous.

Such a big iron ball, if it is solid, I'm afraid that it will weigh half a person if it is not two, is this some kind of new meteor hammer, or is it ......

Questions flashed through my head, but it was too late to guess the answer. Strykran shifted the observation point from the soldiers crossing the bridge to the soldiers waiting on the riverbed to get on the bridge, and found something even more bizarre: the second group of soldiers behind the first group of shield-raising soldiers not only carried spears each, but also had two large balls around their necks, and one of every two or three people was carrying a torch!

What nerves are they having in broad daylight?

Strykran felt a little uneasy, but the enemy was crossing the river in an orderly manner and stepping onto the territory he was defending, and the speed of change in the tide of battle did not allow him to hesitate or wonder any longer.

"Buddha Flower!" he turned and shouted, "Go and bring the elephant over and go into the first wave of battle!"

"Okay!"

The tower shield soldiers who can protect the whole body of people and combine them into a shield formation are difficult to gnaw bones, and the other party's intention of sending this unit as a vanguard is to rely on their ability to defend the position to seize the beachhead and buy time for the follow-up river-crossing troops.

It was difficult for manpower weapons to solve the shield array, and most of the siege weapons had been taken away by the retreating riverbend army...... Luckily, the Golden Regiment still has war elephants.

This is the rarest but most powerful class of the entire mercenary group, whether you are the unsullied legion that does not retreat or the tide of the Dothraki cavalry sea, you have to obediently break the formation when you are rushed by an elephant in armor, if it weren't for the fact that this thing eats too much and is not suitable for frequent long-distance maneuvers, and the speed is not so meaningful, Strykran would have ordered the cancellation of the cavalry system and replaced them with war elephants.

At its peak before the crossing, the Golden Regiment had nearly 30 war elephants, but the sea transportation, war deaths, and diseases caused a lot of loss to the war elephants, and now there are less than 10 left.

But even if only the last one remains, they are the best weapon to tear through the shield.

When the Legion War Elephants, draped in golden blankets and ivory and armed with weapons, were led behind the river embankment, about a hundred enemies had already set foot on the south bank and began to build a semi-circular defensive formation around the southern end of the pontoon bridge.

The golden battle flag, which had been lowered for fear of being targeted by the shelling, was re-erected, ten hundred-man troops who had received the order to charge rose from their resting positions and climbed over the embankment, and a thousand heavily armed mercenaries, plus seven war elephants, shouted to the beating of war drums and rushed towards the vanguard of the land-giving army that had not yet gained a foothold.

——