My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 651: The Violent Offensive from the Eastern Empire

Stone bullets flew back and forth between the city walls, and both sides inflicted the greatest casualties on the other side.

However, for the Sackprut Empire's scorpion-tailed cannons in the city, their range could not be moved due to the obstruction of the city walls.

After two rounds of mutual bombardment, the Tang army had already noticed the opponent's weakness and immediately moved the catapult line to the right.

Although there were Sakpruit soldiers on the city wall watching, the scorpion-tailed cannons in the city were unable to make such movements. Only the scorpion-tailed cannon on the right turned, followed the enemy, and retaliated.

As a result, there were only eighty useful scorpion-tail cannons, which greatly reduced the pressure on the Tang army soldiers.

Just as they were repositioning themselves and adjusting their angle, two cavalry units with "Lu" and "Zhao" flags rushed over from the side of the Tang army's catapult line with the sound of rumbling horses' hooves.

"Marquis Wen, General Zhao's cavalry has moved!"

"Look over there, the cavalry of General Xiang and General Ma are also running!"

"Now we should let those barbarians over there see how powerful our cavalry is."

"Hurry up and adjust. Be careful of the barbarians' stone bullets flying over here!"

A lieutenant colonel saw three soldiers on the fifth catapult in the distance, looking at the cavalrymen running by and talking incessantly. He hurriedly shouted at the three soldiers, "Be careful of military law!"

The three of them were so frightened by the roar that they trembled twice and hurriedly adjusted the winch and lever of the catapult in front of them...

-

In the sky, a goshawk flew across the horizon, looking at the stone bullets that had temporarily stopped below. Above the field, two streams of smoke separated to the left and right, heading towards the two sides of the foot of the city wall in the distance.

The flapping wings paused, then glided for a while, then turned around and swooped down towards the flag with a black background and a white dragon pattern. The rude man on the giant elephant raised his arm, and the flying eagle stretched out its sharp claws and clasped Dian Wei's arm.

Dian Wei took out a piece of dried meat from the leather bag at his waist and stuffed it into the open eagle's beak. He said to Su Chen who was riding on the warhorse at the side: "Your Majesty, those two barbarian armies are relying on the city wall. I'm afraid they can only be taken out by force."

"There is no benefit in forcing them. Although Wen Hou and Xiang Wang are strong men, they will also judge the situation and protect their reputation. They will not let their men die."

Above the warhorse, Su Chen stroked the mane on the horse's neck and looked at the human figures walking back and forth like ants on the winding and towering city wall in the distance.

"With their archers on the city wall to protect them, they only need to rely on the city wall behind them and the trenches and chevaux de frise in front of them to remain invincible."

Su Chen withdrew his hand and smiled.

"The barbarians over there probably also think that I will first remove these two nails, but... I only need to contain these two troops and make them afraid to leave the fortifications. Why waste the lives of the soldiers?"

Sure enough, just as Su Chen said, the four cavalry units that rushed towards the two sides of the east wall of Nongma did not launch a charge.

Instead, each cavalry unit split into two groups, quickly formed a battle formation and charged, circling the trenches set up by the enemy, and shooting at the barbarian soldiers hiding behind the chevaux de frise from horseback.

Relying on the city walls, the two legions of Holy Light and Thunder carried out defense in an orderly manner. They had practiced the cavalry attacks of the Seris army no less than twenty times.

During the past two days, they had dug criss-crossing trenches and built sharp chevaux de frise on the front line. However, the enemy did not charge forward as promised.

This disappointed the Holy Light Knight Percival, who was ready for a big battle. However, in order to provoke the Seris cavalry to charge, he sent out many skirmishers to rush to the outermost horse trap and shoot arrows or throw stones at the passing wolf riders and white horse volunteers.

The Wolf Cavalry and the White Horse Volunteers totaled more than 7,000 cavalry, divided into two large formations, each with two columns. The war horses were sparsely spaced, and the arrows and stones shot at them did not cause much damage, but the thrown stones were a strong provocation.

"Don't pay any attention to them. Shoot these desperate barbarians to death with arrows!"

Whether it is Lu Bu or Zhao Yun, as veterans of the battlefield, how could they not know the role of the scattered soldiers sent by the enemy.

The two men conveyed the order one after the other.

Then, the horn sounded, and the running Wolf Riders and Ma Baiyi Consorts, who were close to the enemy cavalry's horse trap, raised their shields to block the flying arrows and stones.

The Wolf Riders and White Horse Volunteers inside drew their bows and pointed them at the stragglers, fighting back.

A stragglers of the Holy Light Legion who had half of their bodies sticking out of the ravine were instantly pierced by arrows like hedgehogs.

From time to time, someone screamed and fell down. The stragglers who originally wanted to continue provoking were frightened and tightened their grip on the ravine, or fled along the ravine towards the main camp of the Holy Light Legion.

On the other side, Bedivere, who had the powerful force of thunder, crushed the feather arrows on the ground with one foot. He looked at the Seres cavalry running outside, especially a Seres man wearing a cloak and silver armor. Thinking of a battle outside Harabitos, he shouted loudly: "- Honor!"

"Huh!"

Tens of thousands of people in the Thunder Legion uttered a short, high-pitched syllable. Outside the army formation, Xiang Yu, who was riding and shooting, looked in the direction of the sound, hung up his halberd, took out his longbow, and shot an arrow at the same time.

Bedivere tensed his body, and at the moment when an arrow was shot and cut off by his sword, he suddenly ran up from the ground, stepped on the barricades in front of him, and jumped into the air onto the raised sword, flashing a blue-white arc of electricity.

Of the 10,000 soldiers in his Thunder Legion, 3,000 of them also moved at the same time, charging out of the formation and fortifications with spears held high, blocking the way of the first group of Seres cavalry.

According to past training, they quickly formed a formation. The first row of soldiers held up their shields, put their shoulders behind the shields, tensed their thighs and pushed against the ground.

The soldiers in the second and third rows raised their spears, and the three hundred men on both sides began to run, throwing their short spears at the oncoming cavalry. The second group of prepared javelin throwers also raised their javelins, ran, raised their bodies, and threw them.

Forming two consecutive throwing attacks.

Long Ju's voice shouted: "King Xiang, keep going!"

The moment the words fell, a figure in the sky slashed down with the power of thunder. Long Qie rushed up on his horse, and threw the spear in his hand with a loud bang, colliding with the opponent's sword.

Bluish-white lightning exploded and pierced people's eyes, while three hundred javelins flew densely across the sky.

Xiang Yu's voice resounded: "Fend the horses!"

The Julu Lie cavalrymen running behind fell on their horses' backs, then stepped on the stirrups with one foot and hung sideways on the side doors of their horses.

This was learned from the Mongolian light cavalry, and it is very effective in avoiding arrows. After all, a warhorse will not necessarily die if hit by a few arrows.

As long as people are still alive, it will be beneficial to the subsequent war.

One thousand giant deer were lined up in a long line, with about five hundred riders in front lying on their horses sideways. The flying spears only splashed a few bloodstains among the running horses.

A dozen war horses were shot and fell to the ground, and some unlucky cavalrymen were pierced by spears and fell off their horses.

The remaining Julu Lie and Ma Chao's Feiqiang cavalry jumped over the several wounded horses and corpses on the ground and followed Xiang Yu in the front and charged directly into the battle line.

There was a loud bang, and the flying spear was smashed into pieces in mid-air by Xiang Yu's halberd. The barbarian general who could control thunder and lightning was restrained by Long Ju.

He simply charged into the three thousand Thunder Legion that were blocking the way ahead, swinging his city-breaking halberd with a rumbling sound, and shields were blown into the air in his path.

……

"The opportunity has come!" Su Chen was watching the battlefield and said this at the same time. The giant eagle on Dian Wei's arm spread its wings, let out a cry, and rushed into the sky.

-

Under the banner of Great Xia, the calm Jia Xu heard the eagle's cry, slowly opened his eyes, and nodded with a smile on his face.

Han Xin beside him took a step forward on the chariot, drew his sword with a clang, and raised it above his head.

"Order the Tang army to attack the city wall!"

The rhythmic sound of war drums rang out. This war drum, which was modified based on the secret skills passed down by Yang Yuhuan, was called "Qin Wang Po Zhen Qu" and was high-pitched and passionate.

The two battalions of 4,000 Tang soldiers marched forward in unison, carrying shields and spears, crossbows hanging from their waists, and light, curved swords in their hands. The soldiers who worked together to lift the ladders were protected by their fellow soldiers holding up shields, and then gradually increased their speed.

……

"Siege tower, charge forward together!"

Han Xin waved the command flag again and ordered the cavalry to gallop with the order.

They waved various flags, and the Qingzhou and Bingzhou armies each sent out 500 people, carrying shields to protect two wooden towers more than ten feet high.

The base of the tower is square and has six wooden wheels. It requires more than a hundred people to push it. Shields are hung on both sides of the tower to prevent rocket shooting.

While moving slowly, Li Yuanba, instructed by Li Jing, led a hundred infantrymen and archers to climb the wooden ladder behind the siege tower and enter the wooden box at the top.

As for the other one, Xu Huang and Zhang Fei also climbed up with their personal soldiers.

"Send a message to Subutai. Let the Mongolian light cavalry harass and suppress!"

"Order the stone cannons, don't stop, adjust the angle, avoid the ladders and attack the city wall with all your strength!"

Two more orders were issued.

Behind the two camps of Tang troops attacking the tower and advancing on the city wall, a large number of Mongolian light cavalry had already caught up on horseback. These men from the grassland might not be good at attacking cities, but they were more adept than anyone else at launching horseback archery at the city walls.

The mighty Mongolian cavalry rushed towards the city wall from both sides of the Tang army and the siege tower, and were only an arrow's distance away. On the city wall, Oufeiro shouted, "Be careful of the Seres' cavalry and archery!"

Thousands of Mongolian light cavalry were divided into several groups, circling and interweaving, traveling back and forth outside the city wall. Dense arrows flew onto the top of the wall with a "buzzing" noise.

"Defend, defend with all your strength!" As the centurions on each section of the city wall shouted with all their might, a black cloud of arrows instantly covered the city.

next moment.

There were crackling sounds all around the city walls, which were the falling arrows hitting the shields and the rocks of the city walls. There were even more spearmen without shields and the conscripted civilians in the back row. Many of them were hit by arrows and cried out in pain.

Under such intensive cavalry archery, the legion archers on the city wall had no chance of fighting back and would be killed instantly as soon as they showed their heads.

After the tough suppression, the Mongolian light cavalry holding grassland hunting bows ran back and forth more than ten feet away from the city wall, drawing their bows, and arrows flew onto the top of the city wall from time to time.

This is to save the number of arrows in the quiver. At the same time, such disorderly shooting will also pose a great threat to the barbarian archers on the opposite city wall.

After all, who knows if a stray arrow will hit you in the next second.

The circular horse archery continued.

The 4,000 Tang troops advancing forward had already exploded in speed at this moment.

The moment they pushed towards the city wall, the soldiers guarding the ladders connected their shields with those of their comrades to protect the infantrymen and ladders below, as well as the archers among them.

The sound of footsteps became louder and louder, and when they broke through the Mongolian light cavalry's defense line, they burst out and pushed towards the city wall like a wave.

The protected archer rushed out of the shield range and shot an arrow at the barbarians on the city wall who had been aiming at him.

The moment the falling figure fell from the top of the city wall with a scream, twenty ladders arrived at the foot of the city wall, and the arrows fired from above hit the shields on the ground like rain.

After a brief pause, the shield was flipped open, and the soldier holding the ladder stood up the folding wooden ladder and hung it against the parapet with a bang. Dozens of people holding the ladder fell down together. The huge pulling force caused the iron hook on the ladder to sink directly into the bricks and stones and fix it.

"Tang army, take the city!"

The captains of the two camps gave the same shout at different sections of the city wall, and the Tang soldiers with knives in their mouths climbed up the ladders like ants!

At the same time, the catapult changed its position and refocused.

"Smash them to death!" The captain jumped off his horse, drew his sword and chopped them down himself.

bang——

The rope was cut, and the wooden spoon, which had been twisted to the extreme, suddenly bounced up. The terrifying force shook the entire riprap base.

Irregular stone bullets flew across the sky, drawing long trajectories, accompanied by the shouts of the cavalry shooting below and the Tang soldiers climbing the city walls.

With a loud bang, the stone bullets hit the crowd of Sakpruit soldiers who were rushing to the wall climbing point.

Several people were hit directly, and flesh and blood splattered everywhere in an instant. In the diffuse blood mist, a pool of broken corpses could be seen on the ground.

The Sakprut soldiers in the city were also pushing the scorpion-tailed cannon to adjust the angle and fight back. Then, stone bullets flew over the city wall and flew towards this side. The soldier operating the scorpion-tailed cannon immediately screamed and ran away quickly. In an instant, there was a loud bang, and the entire scorpion-tailed cannon was smashed to pieces, with fragments scattered all over the ground.

Outside the city, the battle to climb the city wall has already begun, and cavalry harassment and containment have also begun.

As soon as the battle started, Su Chen attacked with all his strength!
"Tell Han Xin not to hold back on his strength, but to attack with all his might!"

Ling Qi galloped out.

Soon, with the sound of horns, the blades on the catapult array kept slashing down, breaking the ropes, and then they were pulled and tied again, stone bullets were placed, and the ropes were cut by the blades again.

Stone bullets as big as millstones flew out one after another, rushing into the sky, passing through the gradually rising autumn sun, and falling towards the city wall in the distance where people were running.

Boom boom——

Boom boom boom——

Four thousand men were divided into twenty ladders and climbed up like a colony of ants attacking a city wall. The spears from above stabbed frantically downwards, but were dodged and blocked by shields. The Tang soldiers on the ladders held knives in their mouths and raised their crossbows to shoot indiscriminately.

More Sakpruit soldiers were constantly pouring in from the city walls, and the conscripted Nongma civilians were panicked and terrified, gathering together holding wooden sticks, leaving everything to fate.

The legion archers holding bows hid behind the battlements and shields, listening to the impact of stone bullets and the metal clanging of flying arrows. They were gasping for breath, their nerves were stretched to the extreme, and the fingers that were drawing the bows were already covered in blood.

The tense nerves of an archer in the legion snapped, and he let out a loud "Ah!", drew an arrow, stood up suddenly, and was about to shoot towards the city.

The next second, the millstone-sized shadow in the eyes suddenly enlarged.

boom!
The parapet in front of him was hit directly by the stone bullet, and the protruding parapet collapsed and broke instantly. The splashing stone pieces were like the blade of a knife, cutting the archer's neck. The stone bullet that knocked down the parapet bounced up with the remaining force.

He jumped over the falling corpse and crashed into a group of civilians carrying rocks who were running towards this side, and in an instant, people and horses fell to the ground.

They were writhing on the ground, covered in blood, groaning in pain, and the ground was covered in broken and crushed limbs, forming a horrible crimson color.

Countless noisy and chaotic sounds extended backwards, and beyond this section of the city wall was a huge and magnificent city.

The streets and alleys in the neatly stacked buildings were already empty. Civilians were hiding in their homes. Men were huddled in corners holding their wives and children, quietly listening to the hysterical sounds of fighting coming from the walls.

Then, a huge roar sounded not far from their street. The child in her arms ran to the window curiously and saw through the gap that a stone bullet was embedded in a two-story earthen building opposite.

The civilians in the houses rushed to the streets in fear, dragging their wives and children...

In the sky, many stone bullets flew over the city walls where fierce fighting was taking place and fell towards the city. The streets near the city walls and the scorpion-tailed cannon positions were immediately thrown into chaos.

Facing the crazy offensive from the Eastern Empire.

The Nongma City, which has stood for more than a hundred years, seems to be crumbling at this moment.

(End of this chapter)