Country color

Chapter 424 Secret Weapon
On the other side of the river, Zhang Xuansu watched Xia Jun quickly pass by the pontoon bridge and join the offensive on the north bank.

1000 heavy armored soldiers gained a foothold on the north bank, and then 2000 light armored infantry soldiers of the Xia Army, wearing red jackets and yellow turbans, crossed the river one after another, holding long spears and bows and arrows.

Seeing it, Zhang Xuansu turned to Dou Jiande and said: "Your Majesty, the enemy army has been defending Yishui for a long time. If we capture the beachhead so easily, then in my opinion, there must be fraud in it."

After hearing this, Dou Jiande asked: "Zhang Aiqing, where do you think the enemy's tricks lie?"

Zhang Xuansu was at a loss for words, thought for a while and said: "This humble minister doesn't know yet, but just thinks it's wrong."

Nayan Song Zhengben sneered and said: "Our army fought bloody battles by the river and has gained an advantage. Zhang Huangmen won't make our army give up everything we have obtained now and go back to the river just because Zhang Huangmen feels wrong."

Dou Jiande nodded and said: "Zhang Aiqing, what Song Nayan said is reasonable. The current situation of the battle is favorable for our army. If we suddenly retreat across the river, the army's morale may be shaken."
After Dou Jiande finished speaking, several generals said one after another: "Our army is five times larger than the Youzhou army. Even if there is an ambush from ten sides, why should we be afraid?"

Zhang Xuansu stopped talking at the moment, as a courtier, he only needs to fulfill his duty of persuasion, as for His Majesty to listen or not, it is his decision.

At this time on the river bank, Wang Fubao led the Xia army to start a counterattack. The sword and shield soldiers were outside, the spearmen were second, and the archers were behind, arranged in a cone formation.More and more Xia Jun who crossed the river in the back joined the circle.

Wang Fubao charged forward with an iron spear in hand, unstoppable, and there was no one in front of him as his three-in-one general.And he was followed by twenty or thirty veterans of the Xia army. These veterans were wearing heavy armor, and each of them was a brave man who had experienced hundreds of battles. They protected each other with their lives around Wang Fubao.

This was the case with Wang Fubao back then. He led hundreds of elite Xia troops at the head of a horse and succeeded in surprise attacking Xue Shixiong's Zuo Yuwei army.

Although Wang Fubao was brave, the Youzhou army also resisted desperately. The soldiers on both sides fought with their lives.The short blades of the steel knives stabbed each other, and the soldiers tried their best. At the edge of the two armies, it was like a huge meat grinder, twisting the jumping soldiers into a pile of lifeless flesh.

The corpses were piled up layer by layer under their feet. The soldiers of the two armies still marched on the mud at first, and then they marched on the stumps and pieces of flesh.The soldier thought from the bottom of his heart that he should stand firm first, otherwise he would become a part of the mountain of corpses and blood after being stabbed by his opponent if his footing was unstable.

Up to now, with Wang Fubao's bravery, he can only advance twenty steps, and it will be difficult to advance further.He waved his long spear, secretly startled, this Youzhou army is not only tenacious in combat, but also well-trained, and they cooperate with each other very tacitly, far better than the court officers and soldiers he has dealt with in the past, even the government soldiers that Xue Shixiong trained at the beginning are not like this tough.

Not only Wang Fubao in the battle, but even the soldiers of the Xia army watching the battle by the river were stunned. How long has it been since they fought such a tough battle? Xue Shixiong was defeated in their hands, and the army that has been winning battles will have arrogance and look down on other opponents.

But now the Youzhou Army's bravery and fighting skills surprised Xia Jun.Who is Wang Fubao, the number one general of the Xia army?He and the soldiers under his command are the first-class elites of the Xia army, but they are evenly matched against the enemy army on the opposite side. However, the well-trained and tacitly coordinated tactics of the Youzhou army are deeply impressed in their minds,
Dou Jiande was also silent, Ling Jing saw the solemn expression on Dou Jiande's face, and said: "Yanzhao has many generous and elegiac men, this is the legacy of Yandan, the soldiers are comparable to the sharp soldiers of Guanzhong, they are the heroes of the world, and Li Chongjiu's Mansion soldiers, their drills are different from those of the imperial court. If the imperial soldiers do not fight or go to war, they will farm in spring, summer and autumn, and review and train in winter. At most, the drills will be less than a hundred days. Soldiers are usually not engaged in production, and they spend more than [-] days of drills every year, so they are so elite."

Hearing Ling Jing's words, Liu Heita and other generals couldn't help but asked in shock: "Li Chongjiu raises so many soldiers, how can there be so much expenses?"

In the eyes of general Xia Jun, a completely out-of-production standing army is only possible with the soldiers around the general.For such a general like Liu Heitai, the number of soldiers in his retinue is only a few hundred.

Ling Jing said: "Li Chongjiu has Youzhou, the wealth of the two counties of Taiyuan, and Huaihuang, and the money and food obtained from the exchange between the two towns of Yuyi and the Fanren, and also borrowed from the people, so there is so much money and food to support soldiers. There are only more than 3 soldiers in the prefecture."

Dou Jiande glanced at Ling Jing, and said: "But my Xia army has 10 horses, and there is only one Wang Fubao."

As the battle progressed, Wang Fubao, the only one among the [-] troops hailed by Dou Jiande, also fell into a bitter battle. The Youzhou Army's shield formation and spear formation greatly offset his personal bravery and made him fall into exhaustion. .

Wang Fubao is also a human being, when his strength is exhausted, now his panting intensifies, he immediately steps back a few steps, let the lieutenant go up to him, and take a breath by himself.As soon as Wang Fubao was tired, Xia Jun's attack momentum also temporarily stopped.

Li Chongjiu, who was watching the battle as the coach, saw this scene and said: "The Xia army's offensive is exhausted, but there are already [-] people crossing the river. If we persist, I'm afraid the front army will not be able to resist."

Ji Chuan said at the side: "Exactly, although there is a plan to lure Xia Jun to add more troops, I don't think General Wang can continue to fight. Otherwise, if our army retreats, the eight-point cannon will not be able to reach Xia Jun's pontoon bridge." .”

Li Chongjiu nodded, and said: "Master, immediately blow the horn and order Zhou Shu to assist them in shooting Shizhi bombs."

250 steps away from the river, Zhou Shuzuo and Li Zuojiang, leading hundreds of soldiers, stood in front of eight cannons.

Zhou Shuzuo was in front of several newcomers in the craftsman workshop, and said: "The last time I attacked Taiyuan County, I used this big guy to blow up the city tower! Don't panic, isn't it because the smell of blood is stronger here, so there is peace. It is generally operated on the school field, and if you hit it correctly, you will be rewarded heavily."

Several new craftsmen nodded one after another, but their faces were still pale without blood, which is the general expression of those who have just experienced the battlefield.

Zhou Shuzuo looked like he had experienced many battles, snorted and said, "Don't embarrass me."

A craftsman said: "Shu Zuo, I really need to use stone bullets in a while. This is our craftsman's workshop. It was only developed two months ago. I bought [-] catties of stone resin. At the beginning, Shuzuo said it was too expensive, and we only shot three shots in the past two months. Now if we really want to shoot the remaining fifteen shots, I am afraid that something will happen. "
"If there is any mistake, I will kill you," Zhou Shuzuo roared, "It's not like you haven't seen it before on the school field, but this time you hit it, and it burned a large area. If you want to shoot far, I don't blame you , if the shot is close, our soldiers are burned, and the formation is messed up, you and I have to take it for questioning, and beheading it a hundred times is not enough."

The young craftsman was so intimidated by Zhou Shuzuo that he almost fainted from fright.

Li Zuojiang is a good old man, he immediately said: "Don't worry, just do it step by step according to what you said at the beginning."

Although Li Zuojiang said so, there was another young craftsman who complained: "This thing is so dangerous, why did Lord Gu ask us to make it in the workshop, and it will be good for us to master it in a few months. , now sharpen the gun in front of the battle, in case you hurt yourself, what to do."
Zhou Shuzuo narrowed his eyes, and said: "What do you know, what kind of person Shanggu Gong is, you, a stupid donkey, can figure it out. Who would have thought that this stone grease would stink when it was used as an oil lamp on weekdays, but it is used as a weapon. , but so powerful, what kind of foresight is this, compared with it, what is it to take such a risk?"

Everyone was aware of the power of the stone bullet, and they all nodded at the same time.

This stone grease has a strange smell when it burns. It is not used for lighting lamps or cooking. It is usually a western region person. I don't dislike it, but I don't need it for leisure.But one day when Li Chongjiu saw this thing in the Youzhou market, he called it crude oil, and ordered Zhou Shuzuo to buy it all and use it to refine oil bombs.

Zhou Shuzuo was skeptical at first, but he heard from Li Chongjiu that all the princes in the Western Regions used this weapon to fight wars and burn ships. It took three months to finally develop it, and today it is ready to be launched with the eight-point cannon with a super long range.

"Shanggu has an order to shoot stone bullets!"

"Promise!" Zhou Shuzuo agreed, and shouted immediately, "Cheer up your spirits, you didn't test the gun, just shoot me all the tartar bullets."

Following Zhou Shuzuo's roar, the craftsmen in the workshop and hundreds of soldiers from the village began to operate.

The eight guns with eight shoots were stripped off, revealing their ferocious features.

Dou Jiande, who was watching the battle from a distance, couldn't help being surprised, and asked Song Zhengben, Zhang Xuansu, and Ling Jing: "The three lovers are well-informed, what are these things?"

Zhang Xuansu looked carefully for a while, and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, this is a stone throwing machine, but the Youzhou Army has done so much, so it can't be seen at a glance."

Song Zhengben said with a sneer: "The Youzhou army's catapults are obviously intended to hurl stones and break our pontoon bridge. Unfortunately, the river is so wide. With several catapults, how can they hit it? Then send soldiers into the water, and it will be repaired without any effort."

Ling Jing also said: "That's right, if the other party took it out just now when our army was crossing the river, I would still have scruples, but now the whole thing is done, our army has [-] soldiers crossing the river, it is useless to take it."

Dou Jiande nodded after hearing this, but there was a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart. The same was true for Zhang Xuansu. He knew that the method of the Youzhou Army could never be aimless. The eight-pointed cannon must have a magical effect that he could not think of. .

PS: Happy New Year, now bow to each other and wish everyone a happy new year. I wish you all a happy new year!
(End of this chapter)