Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

The mighty army of the Jin Kingdom had already crossed the Liuhe Pass defense line and was heading straight for Chenggao Pass.

If there were large quantities of goods traded with government merchants between the two countries, there would be a chance to enter Liuhe Pass.

Therefore, pre-planting manpower was much easier. With internal and external cooperation, Liuhe Pass was defeated in one blow.

After passing another pass, they could directly threaten the capital.

Now, the army had already reached Chenggao Pass.

The speed of the cavalry was extremely fast, and with their excellent horses, they could arrive in the morning and reach their destination by evening.

However, even so, the continuous march had exhausted both men and horses.

This was a dangerous pass, and it was best to capture it in one go. The current situation was not suitable for combat.

Wutu decisively ordered the entire army to camp on the spot.

Looking at the majestic pass in front of him, Wutu was filled with emotions.

Although the Jin Kingdom had countless cattle and sheep, life was still hard after all.

Having millions in assets, excluding livestock, meant poor risk resistance.

Moreover, many large commodities, such as salt, utensils, tea, and other daily necessities, were in short supply.

The Jing Kingdom's merchants were cunning and monopolized resources, making business extremely difficult in the past.

However, as long as they broke through this pass, this embarrassing situation would become history!

"Your Majesty, should we release the hot air balloons now to scout the enemy's situation?" Paba asked, standing beside him.

Wutu glanced into the distance: "Yes, it doesn't matter if they discover so many people. This is the most difficult pass. Once this pass is broken, the rest will be stable."

"When does Your Majesty plan to start the battle?" Paba asked again.

"Tomorrow. Gather as many people from Liuhe Pass as possible, plunder resources, and head south."

"The weather is getting colder and colder. With so many soldiers and horses, supplies are difficult. Delaying will only be detrimental to our army. Go down and make arrangements. First, send people to cut down trees and collect earth and stones to prepare catapults."

......

"Report!"

A scout burst into the central army tent and knelt down to report: "Your Majesty, Wutu's army has arrived at Chenggao Pass and is now camping in place. They have also released hot air balloons to scout in the sky, without any concealment!"

Emperor Jing looked at the huge map in front of him, without even raising his head, and waved his hand: "Go down."

"Everyone, Wutu has already broken through Liuhe Pass. It seems that the current plan should be to rest and reorganize the troops, and then attack the pass tomorrow or the day after. This situation is not much different from the content of the secret letter sent by Zheng Yi."

"Song Wu, Guo Yang. You two each lead 20,000 soldiers and rush to Chenggao Pass day and night. You must defend it strictly and try to wear them down as much as possible. Do not let Wutu win easily."

"If we arrive too early, and if he wins too easily, he will inevitably become suspicious. Also..."

......

After a night of rest, Wutu's energy had returned to its best state.

He got up just as dawn was breaking and carefully looked at the sheepskin map on the table again. However, his eyes were focused on the area behind Chenggao Pass.

When the news came that the entire army was ready, Wutu no longer hesitated, slammed the table hard, his eyes flashing fiercely, and spat out a word: "Attack!"

The Jin army began to attack.

On Chenggao Pass, the defending general held a telescope and constantly observed the situation, while taking deep breaths.

The defending soldiers were not flustered, after all, they had been informed in advance.

They were told that the Jin army was coming and must be defended strictly, and reinforcements would be sent.

Their top priority now was not to use gunpowder, to defend Chenggao Pass to the death, and to deplete the Jin army's strength.

Heavy cavalry was the key, but it would definitely not appear during the siege.

Only by depleting enough of the other arms of the military, when the two sides' main forces launched a frontal attack, would the Jin Kingdom have a greater chance to bet everything on the cavalry army, and the Divine Machine Battalion would be able to reap more results.

The military and civilians behind the pass moved together, and countless people began to pour onto the city walls.

In order to prevent attacks from the hot air balloons in the sky, such as throwing kerosene or other items from above, the officers and soldiers had already requisitioned a lot of materials from the city.

In addition to raising hot air balloons to attack each other in the sky, they also used tables and wooden boards to transform them into long-legged 'tents' erected on the city walls.

Otherwise, facing an enemy with more than ten times their strength, while defending the city, they would also have to defend against attacks from the sky, which would be really difficult.

The defending officers and soldiers moved extremely quickly. Before the enemy army reached the city, they had already built a wooden 'tunnel' on the city wall.

From a distance, it was a magnificent sight.

The earth was trembling, and the iron hooves, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami, rushed frantically towards Chenggao Pass.

The huge catapults in the rear were also slowly moving to suitable positions.

These catapults were assembled temporarily. During normal battles, only the key components were carried, and the rest of the large frame structure could be built simply.

The catapults began to be used, throwing huge stones far into the city.

The other side also began to form formations and draw their bows and arrows.

Although there was no contact, the attacks of the two sides had already begun.

A large number of heavy cavalry flew as fast as lightning, and in an instant, they reached the moat. Ignoring the rain of arrows above their heads, they untied the ropes on the left and right sides of their horses.

With a vigorous wave of one arm, the sandbags that had been prepared a day in advance quickly sank into the river, and then they turned their horses and galloped away.

First wave... second wave... third wave...

Countless cavalrymen threw countless sandbags into the moat, and the edge of the river gradually began to reveal the sandbags that should have been submerged in the water.

The defending general was shocked and immediately roared: "Stop shooting arrows! Stop shooting arrows! !"

Wutu actually had such courage!

In previous wars, infantry or cannon fodder were used to risk their lives to fill the river with sand and soil, but he directly sent elite troops to do it.

However, the heavy armor was also excellent. The distance from the city wall to the moat was too far to cause casualties to those cavalrymen, and shooting would only waste arrows.

"General! The enemy is filling the river, we can't just watch! !" The defending general's personal soldiers' eyes were tearing apart. Although they had been mentally prepared, they were still inevitably chilled when faced with such an overwhelming offensive and were powerless to do anything.

"Shut up! Pass down the order, conserve your strength, pay attention to dodging flying stones, and prepare to meet the enemy! The enemy's hot air balloons have already come over, go and check the supplies immediately, and let the fire extinguishing team take the dry ash and be ready to put out the fire at any time!" The defending general shouted loudly, and then said: "Looking at this posture, they want to take us down in one fell swoop, we must not let them succeed easily... Thunder stones, rolling logs, and boiling oil, bring them all over!"

The Jin army's momentum was still continuing, and Wutu frowned and stared while riding on his horse.

"I underestimated them. I didn't expect them to have prepared a way to deal with the hot air balloons long ago. This battle may be a little difficult."

Paba said: "Your Majesty doesn't need to worry, this is already within the planned plan. Our arrival is sudden, and the other side must be unprepared. As long as we spare no expense, we will definitely be able to take this pass within five days. The other side's supply of weapons will not be able to keep up, and they will have difficulty resisting when the thunder stones and rolling logs are used up."

Siege... Without gunpowder, this heaven-defying thing, you can only fill it with human lives.

Wutu nodded: "Tell them not to stop! Pass down the order, whoever climbs the city wall will be promoted and given a title!"

......