Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 225 Thunder Car

On the Zouma Ridge, there is Xin Yang Ping Pass.

"Young dog, you have been making a lot of noise all night long, making people sleep uneasy and restless all night." The hot-tempered Jijiu Yang Bo's eyes were red and bloodshot, and he looked towards the Shu soldiers arrayed down the mountain. He cursed and then sighed: "These Shu soldiers came to attack the city again during the day. Are they in a hurry?"

"No matter day or night, whether they are intruding or attacking, the Shu soldiers seem to be anxious... But thinking about it, the Shu soldiers have been blocking our pass for more than ten days, so Liu Zhang's son is naturally anxious." Meng Da confirmed Yang Bo's conjecture. He was in better spirits than Yang Bo. After all, Yang Bo had been on duty at the top of the city last night, guarding against Shu soldiers coming to steal the city. Meng Da slept for several hours last night, and he was young. He is strong and recovers his energy quickly.

Seeing that Yang Bo looked haggard and exhausted, Army Sima Li Xiu asked consolingly: "Yang Jijiu, please go down and sleep for a while. Meng Jun and I are here to watch."

"No, then we have Lao Sima and Meng Jun." Yang Bo didn't refuse. He didn't sleep all night. He was really sleepy and stood at the top of the city. He felt listless and drowsy. He was forced to stay and defend the city. There is not much help, so it is better to go down to the top of the city and have a good rest. Secondly, there is no chance that Shu soldiers will come to the city again tonight to beat gongs and drums. Then he will have to take turns guarding the city.

After Yang Bo gestured to Li Xiu and Meng Da respectively, he strode down the city wall and walked towards the tent.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Listening to the sound of beating drums coming from the bottom of the mountain, seeing the Shu soldiers forming up and marching steadily towards the mountain one after another, Li Xiu looked heavy. Most of the soldiers under his tent had not had a good rest last night. Only in the latter half of the night did I put silk wadding into my ears to block out the sound of the gongs and drums of the Shu soldiers, and then I rested for a few hours.

As the commander of the first army, Li Xiu carefully observed the mental state of his soldiers. He noticed that the sleep-deprived soldiers were not in high spirits. One or two of them yawned with their mouths covered from time to time, and their eyes were not focused. This state It's not a good idea to go down to meet the enemy.

‘There will be a fierce battle today! ’

The soldiers under the tent lacked energy, so Li Xiu, who was a little nervous about today's battle, began to make corresponding arrangements for the Shu soldiers' attack: "Mr. Meng, please go and defend the camp on the left."

Li Xiu said the word "trouble", but his tone was not that of discussing, but that of informing Meng Da.

In fact, as the commander-in-chief of an army, when the drum sounds, the whole army will naturally follow Li Xiu's lead. His words cannot tolerate any doubts or rebellion, just like what he said to Yang Bo before offering wine, with just one command, Yang Bo He went down to the top of the city to rest. If he wanted Meng Da to guard the camp on the left, just give him the same instructions as he did to Yang Bo.

However, Li Xiu had his own considerations here. Firstly, Mengda had a good background and was talented. Secondly, Mengda had devoted himself to making suggestions for him during this period and did not sit on the fence because of the overwhelming power of the Shu army. , can be called a loyal person. Considering Meng Da's ability and moral character comprehensively, he can't be too straightforward like Yang Bo, the martial artist. He needs to use the euphemism of a scholar and be more tolerant in his words.

"Promise." Meng Da took the order here. He didn't say anything about Li Xiu's order. He didn't have much capital to object to Li Xiu's order because he was living under someone else's roof. He could only let it go and let Li Xiu point eastward. Refers to west to west.

Meng Da strode to the camp on the left and led Meng's troops to defend it. Li Xiu then issued an order. He said to Li Eryan, a disciple of the Li family: "Li Er, go to the camp on the right and hold on." .”

"No." Li Er took the order and left.

Just when Li Xiu was commanding the defense, he saw that the Shu soldiers had already ascended the mountain and were almost in front of the camp where he was stationed, preparing for today's strong attack.

"You are so stubborn." Li Xiu complained helplessly. The Shu soldiers had been attacking Xinyang Ping Pass for days. Although it was ineffective, they still attacked regardless of the hardships. They were like stubborn bulls, knowing that there was a wall in front of them. He still wanted to hit his head and bleed heavily before he gave up.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The sound of drums rang loudly, coming from the defending Li Xiu side and the attacking Shu soldiers. The drummers on both sides beat the cowhide drums without mercy, trying to drown out the other side's drums and boost the morale of their own side.

The soldiers of the two sides were now fighting each other. As usual, Colonel Shen Mi, who was trapped in the formation, wore heavy armor and led the sword and axemen. He relied on the firepower of the archers led by Captain Lou Fa to suppress the attack. Destroy the camp at Xinyangpingguan, plan to pull out the fence outside the city of Xinyangpingguan, and get under the city wall of Xinyangpingguan.

Meng Da looked at the Shu soldiers approaching and said it was bad luck. He did not want to fight with the Shu soldiers. He just wanted to sit on the wall and wait and see how the situation would turn out, and stand on the winning side when the winner was about to be decided. He didn't want to end up personally and waste the troops of Meng's tribe. Meng's tribe was the foundation of his life. In this troubled world, only his own children could be trusted and used.

But the situation is not decided by Meng Da. Now the outcome of the Hanzhong and Shu soldiers is not decided. The Shu soldiers are powerful, but they can't take Yangping Pass. They can only look at Hanzhong and sigh. Although Hanzhong can secure the home court, its power is smaller. In the future, It's hard to say. With such a nearly balanced outcome, Meng Da could only hesitate in his heart, not daring to bet easily. If he bet on the wrong thing, he would not only be ruined, but he would bear the fate of the Meng family on his shoulders.

Therefore, Mengda could only command the troops under his tent, and according to his current role, he held on to the camp. He first asked the archers to continuously fire bows and arrows to hinder the approach of the Shu soldiers, and then when the Shu soldiers were approaching, The archers were ordered to retreat, and the spearmen stepped forward, launching a fierce attack on the Shu soldiers through the fence.

……

On top of Jiuyang Pingguan City, Zhang Wei's face was sluggish as he held the Zhitou Grand Ceremony. He had been up almost all night. He just took a rest for a while. At this time, he just wanted to have a good sleep, but when he saw the Shu soldiers starting to attack Xin At Yangping Pass, he was worried, so he forced himself to stand at the top of the city, forcing himself, the coach, to show his energy and set an example for the entire army.

And today is different from the past. In addition to sending troops to attack the new Yangping Pass, the Shu soldiers also formed formations outside the old Yangping Pass. It seems that they plan to attack the old Yangping Pass. They will attack the old and new Yangping Pass together, hoping to capture them all. Amid a thunderous sound of drums, the Shu soldiers pushed out several strange-looking instruments from the formation, slowly but powerfully approaching the old Yangpingguan City.

"What is this?" The second monk, Yang Renzhang, who was offering wine, was confused and asked a question.

Zhang Wei didn't answer. He was also confused. He saw that the equipment rolled out by the Shu soldiers had four wheels underneath, which looked a bit like a car. However, the car did not have a seat for people to sit on. Instead, there were two pillars on the left and right sides of the equipment. There is a long rod in the middle.

After looking through what he had learned and the books he had read, Zhang Wei, who had gained nothing after thinking for a moment, shook his head towards Yang Ren: "Let's see how the Shu soldiers use this thing."

Colonel Yin Pu directed his troops to stop the Pili chariot about 120 steps away from the old Yangpingguan city wall, and stopped awkwardly outside the lethal range of the bow and arrow. Then he let the cannon-fixing men and the cannon-pulling men of the Pili Chariot operate on their own. He only watched quietly from the side as the soldiers nicknamed "cannon-fixing men" and "cannon-pulling men" operated.

But seeing the cannon puller place the polished stone bullets into the bullet hole of the Pili chariot, the cannon-fixing man then visually measured the distance to the old Yangpingguan city wall, and calculated the height of the lower city wall with his eyes, and the cannon-fixing man was doing mental calculations. After a while, he ordered the cannon puller to change the azimuth angle of the Pili car and the height of the gun tip, completed the preparations required before using the Pili car, and waited for the instruction of the school captain Yin Pu.

"It's strange, the Shu soldiers must be crazy." Yang Ren looked at the dazzling operations of the Shu soldiers under the city, as if they were doing it, and he complained without understanding the reason.

Zhang Wei stretched out his hand to support his chin, making a pensive look. He just watched quietly, intending to see what bad fart the Shu soldiers had held for him, so he ran down to the city to let it go today.

Zhang Wei and Yang Ren on the top of the city were confused, and the captain Yin Pu below the city was also a little confused. The weapons in front of him were made by Pu Yuan, a young man from the Pu family in Qiongdu. , the sound is like a thunderbolt, so it was named the Thunderbolt Chariot by Ming Gong. However, because the Pili Chariot had just been transported from the rear to the front of the army yesterday, I had never seen the effectiveness of the Pili Chariot. I couldn't believe the effect of the Pili Chariot at the moment, thinking that it was not as mysterious as Pu Yuan said.

Yin Pu thought that Pu Yuan, as a young man, had no hair on his lips and was not solid in his work. His words must have been exaggerated. However, his father-in-law Liu Zhang only believed in Pu Yuan and ordered him to be here today without some testing. After using them in front of Jiu Yangping Pass to test the power of the Thunderbolt Cart, he had no choice but to push these strange-looking Thunderbolt Carts to the front of the formation.

‘Damn it, it’s none of Naigong’s business if something goes wrong with the Pili driver. Yin Pu suppressed the doubts in his heart and determined that something went wrong. It was not his turn to take the blame. He should let that young boy Pu Yuan take the blame. Secondly, whether the Thunderbolt Car was a divine weapon or a rotten thing, it was decided in just this moment. After getting the result, Yin Pu, who was relieved, waved his hands to the several cannon-fixing people, indicating that they should shoot the stone bullets towards Yangpingguancheng.

After receiving Yin Pu's order, the gunman who fixed the gun immediately issued an order, instructing all the gunmen to hold the gun rope together and pull the gun rope hard at the same time in accordance with the unified command. In an instant, the wood in the middle of the Thunderbolt Car The pole tilted up, and the stone bullets in the bullet hole attached to the wooden pole flew into the air, drawing a beautiful parabola in the air and flying towards the city head of the old Yangping Pass.

In an instant, the stone bullets arrived at the city gate of Jiu Yangping Pass. Yang Ren saw it clearly. He saw a black dot fly out from those strange-looking instruments, and then it got bigger and bigger, turning into a dot as big as a washbasin. The stone bullet appeared in front of him and was about to hit the side of his body.

"Be careful with the grand ceremony." Yang Ren shouted, moving his body and knocking Zhang Wei aside, who was standing still in shock.

Zhang Wei, who was knocked down by Yang Ren, broke away from the state of surprise. A look of fear appeared on his face. He swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva. His whole body was panicked to the extreme. Without him, the stone bullets sent by the Shu soldiers under the city It happened to fly towards him. If Yang Ren hadn't had quick eyesight and quick hands, he threw him to the ground. At this moment, he would have been a zombie thrown to the ground.

Zhang Wei was lucky enough to escape, but the stone bullet flew forward unimpeded and hit one of his guards with a clang. Seeing the stone bullet coming, the guard screamed in his throat. With a sound of fear, half of his head was smashed to pieces by a stone bullet. Looking at the face of this personal guard, even his own mother would not be able to recognize who he was.

"Zhang San." Zhang Wei turned around and saw Zhang San, the servant who had been with him since he was a child and later became his bodyguard, fell to the ground. His head was shattered into pieces, and red and white pieces were scattered on the ground. He yelled uncontrollably at first, trying to wake up Zhang San, and then realized that Zhang San was already dead and couldn't die any more. Zhang Wei's nameless karmic fire burned in his chest.

But it's one thing to be angry. Zhang Wei knew that the most important thing was to save his own life. He couldn't take the lead now, so he stayed close to the inside of the city wall to avoid becoming the next Zhang San.

"Flying stone chariot." Zhang Wei, who was hiding in the corner, said three words fiercely from his mouth. Now he finally knew what the equipment that the Shu soldiers pushed to the front of the formation was. It could fly stones hundreds of steps and fall down. Arriving at the top of the city of his old Yangping Pass, this is not the flying stone chariot recorded in "Fan Li's Art of War" that "the flying stone weighs twelve kilograms, is used as a machine, and travels three hundred steps."

And compared with the flying stone chariot recorded in "Fan Li's Art of War", the flying stone chariot of the Shu soldiers looks better. With four wheels, it can move at will and hit wherever it wants.

Yang Ren, who hid in the corner with Zhang Wei, swallowed. Even though he had been practicing martial arts since he was a child, he was used to seeing life and death, but the death of Zhang San in front of him was really tragic. Most of his head was missing. , his brains shattered all over the floor and splashed on the green bricks on the ground, painting a tragic and strange picture, which really made him feel sad.

"How should we act during the Great Sacrifice?" Yang Ren spoke with trembling, and asked Zhang Wei, wanting to hear what Zhang Wei, the commander-in-chief, advocated.

Zhang Wei calmed down. As the commander-in-chief, he controls Yangping Pass, the lifeblood of Hanzhong. He must not panic at this time. If he panics, his soldiers will lose their courage and the old Yangping Pass will not be able to be defended. .

Zhang Wei spoke slowly, to avoid speaking too fast to reveal the panic in his heart: "Give the order, let the soldiers move around holding the cowhide shield first, so as to avoid being killed by the stone bullets fired by the Shu soldiers. In addition, let the soldiers move as quickly as possible." Bring wooden planks and put them on the city wall to resist the Shu army's stone bullets... In addition, the Shu army only has a few flying stone carts, and only a few stone bullets are sent to the top of the city. The soldiers need to be ordered not to spread rumors in the army. Exaggerate the power of the Shu army's flying stone chariots to prevent the public from panicking."

"No." Yang Ren immediately accepted the order and gave instructions to several soldiers who were delivering the order.

(End of this chapter)