The Lion Kingdom had sent half of their elite soldiers to destroy the Tang Army's fleet and South Tianzhu's army in order to achieve victory in one blow. There were five to six thousand soldiers on the sea route and even more soldiers on land. There were twenty thousand soldiers. It was a very large army.
Logically speaking, the movement of such a large number of soldiers should have caused a huge commotion and should have been easily discovered. However, the Lion Kingdom had cleverly made use of the dense forest to hide their soldiers very well. Furthermore, there were a few scouts at the front and back of the main force. Once these vigilant soldiers discovered an outsider, they would immediately kill the outsider to ensure that the information would not be leaked.
In order to attack South Tianzhu at any time, the Lion Kingdom had already deployed their main elite forces on the land of South Tianzhu. That was why they were able to arrive at the outskirts of the Garigal Port so quickly.
At this moment, the twenty thousand soldiers were happily admiring the scenery and the huge flames coming from the direction of the Garigal Port. Of course, there were also the sounds of explosions from time to time. Those were the sounds of the steam cannons of the Tang Dynasty destroying the enemy. Of course, there were also the sounds of some merchant ships exploding. However, the army of the Lion Kingdom couldn't tell these apart. They all thought that these were the necessary sounds of explosions after the merchant ships and facilities in the port were burned.
"General, our army has achieved a great victory. The Garigal Port has become a sea of fire. The merciless flames are devouring the enemy's warships and reaping their lives. What are we waiting for? Attack!"
The subordinates were very excited and strongly requested to participate in the battle.
The general on land was also very excited. He looked at the fire that was burning more and more fiercely in the distance and ordered, "Pass down my orders. All troops attack and take down Garigal in one go. We must take over Garigal before the navy."
Whoever took down Garigal Port first would naturally get the credit. Therefore, the soldiers on land and sea worked very hard. They all wanted to get the most credit for taking down the city.
After the military order was given, the elite troops of the Lion Kingdom split into three groups and charged towards the port of Caligar. Each group had five thousand troops, and the remaining five thousand troops were responsible for holding the line.
Due to the lack of time to prepare, the 20,000 soldiers of the Lion Kingdom did not have time to prepare heavy siege weapons. They only prepared light siege weapons such as ladders, heavy crossbows, battering rams, and larger shields. These were the most basic equipment for attacking a city, so they had to be equipped.
The sudden attack of 20,000 soldiers and horses was naturally very loud. Because of this, they were soon discovered by the Tang Army scouts on the city wall.
Seeing the movement in the forest in the distance, the Tang dynasty scouts hurriedly used their binoculars to observe more carefully. They soon discovered that the other party was a huge army.
"General, the soldiers of the Lion Kingdom are coming. There are at least ten thousand of them."
The scout of the Tang Army immediately reported the situation.
Li Feiyu turned around and looked into the distance. He nodded and said, "They are coming. Pass down my orders. Tell the soldiers to prepare for battle. We must teach the invading troops of the Lion Kingdom a lesson."
"Yes, General."
The Tang Army soldiers immediately began to prepare for battle. They also ordered the South Tianzhu troops who were helping to defend the city to enter their respective positions.
The more than ten thousand elites of the Lion Kingdom quickly rushed over. It was a magnificent sight. Their numbers were far greater than the defending Tang Army and South Tianzhu troops.
"Soldiers, prepare for battle. Don't be in a hurry to shoot arrows. Wait for the Lion Kingdom's troops to come closer before shooting."
Li Feiyu personally commanded the soldiers not to expose their true combat power too early and not to waste arrows.
Although the Tang dynasty already had firearms and artillery units at this time, and it was not technically difficult to develop small firearms, they could only develop the initial firearms. The initial firearms did not have many advantages compared to bows and swords. Moreover, the cost of maintenance was very high. Therefore, Ang Lee gave up on developing firearms and continued to use the improved bows as the main long-range weapon for individual soldiers. In this era, bows and crossbows were not synonymous with backwardness. They were still very powerful.
If they only relied on bows and crossbows to defend the city wall, the pressure would be very great. However, the Tang Army had already prepared handheld bombs. These powerful grenade weapons would definitely be able to kill and injure the attacking troops of the Lion Kingdom. Thus, they would be able to defend the small port city of Garigal.
The more than ten thousand elite troops of the Lion Kingdom did not encounter any resistance. They approached the city wall of Garigal in South Tianzhu. They raised their ladders and were ready to launch a fierce attack.
"Release the arrows, release the arrows immediately."
Li Feiyu loudly ordered the soldiers under his command to start fighting the enemy.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh …"
Suddenly, a rain of arrows poured down on the advancing troops of the Lion Kingdom, causing a lot of damage to the Lion Kingdom's troops.
The Tang Army understood the power of grenade weapons. Therefore, they did not feel nervous at all when they resisted. They all knew that it was impossible for the Lion Kingdom's troops to climb up the city wall. The troops of the South Tianzhu did not understand grenade weapons. When they saw the black mass of the Lion Kingdom's troops charging towards them, they were trembling with fear. If it were not for the Tang dynasty's troops supervising the battle from behind, they would have most likely abandoned the city.
The Lion Kingdom had many troops attacking them. Losing a group of troops was not a big deal to them. Moreover, under the cover of the shields, their losses were not very high. A large number of soldiers had rushed to the bottom of the city wall. The ladders were also quickly hooked onto the city wall. It seemed that they would break through the city wall in one fell swoop.
"Rolling logs, stones, throw them down."
The order was given again.
These heavy siege weapons were quite powerful. A large number of stones and large logs caused a lot of damage to the troops of the Lion Kingdom who had rushed to the bottom of the city wall.
However, these losses were all borne by the attacking side. Therefore, the troops of the Lion Kingdom did not mind. They continued to attack the city wall. The chariots also rushed towards the city gate, showing that they would not stop until the city was breached.
According to this conventional defense method, the city could only withstand one or two waves of attacks at most. After that, the city would be in danger of falling.
After all, the advantage of the Lion Kingdom's troops was too obvious. Under such an absolute advantage in numbers, if the defending side did not have enough troops, it would be difficult to complete the task of defending the city.
In order to reduce the losses, Li Feiyu let the troops of the South Tianzhu defend at the forefront. This could reduce the losses of the Tang dynasty's troops as much as possible.
"General, our troops have suffered close to a hundred casualties. More than ten of them are seriously injured. The troops of the South Tianzhu have suffered even more casualties. What are we waiting for? Let's use our trump card!"
Seeing that the soldiers were tired and the casualties were increasing, his subordinates were anxious and wanted to use the grenade launchers.
Li Feiyu said, "I have already ordered the main fleet at sea to reinforce and surround the back of the troops of the Lion Kingdom. We will definitely achieve a glorious victory in this battle. Alright, use the grenade launchers."
"Yes, General."
The subordinate replied happily.
"Wait, let the troops in the city send 500 reinforcements. Everyone bring up a box of ammunition."
Li Feiyu was worried that there would not be enough ammunition to defend the city. He ordered the troops in the city to bring up a large amount of ammunition. This was because defending the city would definitely consume a large amount of ammunition. If there was not enough ammunition, the pressure of defending the city would be too great.
Outside the city, the general of the Lion Kingdom looked at the troops attacking the city. He was very pleased. He could see that there were not many troops defending the city. It seemed like they would not be able to hold on for much longer. As long as the city was taken down, his contribution would undoubtedly be great.
"General, should we send the remaining troops into the siege as well? This way, we can take down the city in one go."
The general of the Lion Kingdom suggested.
The general nodded and said, "Alright, the enemy is on the verge of collapse. Send all the troops forward. We must take down the city in one go."
The 5,000 troops of the Lion Kingdom also charged forward. This way, they would form an even greater force. If the troops defending the city did not have their trump card, they would definitely face great pressure.
"General, the Lion Kingdom has sent all their troops forward. It seems like they are really staking everything on this one throw!"
The general looked at the backup troops of the Lion Kingdom and was shocked.
Li Feiyu said happily, "That's great. I was afraid that they would not come to die. Our reinforcements are here. Later, we will attack from afar. We must severely injure the troops of the Lion Kingdom."
The so-called attack from afar referred to the distance of the projectiles. After all, not all the troops of the Lion Kingdom were gathered below the city walls. Some of them were further away, stretching for a few hundred steps. If they threw the projectiles with their arms, they could only cover a small area of the city. The troops of the Lion Kingdom that were further away would not be harmed. If they wanted to make up for the lack of manpower, they had to rely on the power of the catapults. First, they would ignite the projectiles and then shoot them out. This way, they could injure the troops of the Lion Kingdom further away and achieve a better result.
Of course, the cannons were undoubtedly the ones that could shoot the furthest. However, the cannons were not here. It was not practical to remove the cannons from the battleships. Those cannons were designed for the battleships and were difficult to transport up the city walls. They also did not have enough manpower to do so. As such, they could only use the most primitive catapults.
The 5,000 troops of the Lion Kingdom rushed forward quickly. Furthermore, all of them charged towards the same place and formed a local advantage.
"Throw the projectiles immediately. Use the shortest amount of time to shoot them out."
The order was given at the most critical moment.
The 1,500 soldiers of the Tang Army immediately began to ignite the projectiles and threw them out in a large area. According to the preset distance, the projectiles were thrown out one by one. Those who had catapults next to them quickly ignited more than a dozen projectiles and then threw them out together. Thus, the projectiles were scattered among the enemy troops in a large area.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom …"
A large number of projectiles were thrown out in a very short period of time. The dense explosion sounds were all connected together. It was even denser than firecrackers, but the sound was louder and the effect was more shocking.
Because the sound of the explosion was too loud and too dense, it covered the large-scale screams of the injured soldiers of the Lion Kingdom. Only the sound of the explosion could be heard, but not the screams.
The large-scale explosion set off a large amount of smoke and covered a large area outside the city walls. In other words, the soldiers of the Tang Army standing on the city walls could not see the situation below clearly. They could only vaguely hear the screams below.
The commanding general of the Lion Kingdom, who was watching the battle from a distance, was completely stunned. He had never seen such a big battle. Because he was relatively far away, he could only hear the continuous sound of the explosion, but he could not see his subordinates. He did not know what happened to his subordinates.
The Tang Army had stored a large number of projectiles. If they were all thrown out at once, the result of the battle would certainly be great. The soldiers of the Lion Kingdom, who had not reacted at all, suffered heavy losses. The soldiers who were not injured were also completely stunned. Their ears were buzzing, and they could not even tell the direction of the battle.
"General, what kind of weapon is this? It's so loud, and there's so much smoke. We can't see the situation in front of us clearly. I don't know if our soldiers have climbed up the city walls."
His subordinate looked at the large amount of smoke in front of him and said nervously.
The commanding general frowned. He was also very nervous. What he was most afraid of was that the smoke was poisonous. If that was the case, none of his 20,000 subordinates would be left. If that was the case, he would be completely finished, and so would the entire Lion Kingdom.
"They're retreating. The soldiers are retreating. What's going on?"
Soon, the uninjured soldiers of the Lion Kingdom identified the direction and began to retreat. No matter what order they received, at this moment, they had to retreat. This battle was really impossible to continue. The opponent's weapon was too powerful. A short attack caused them to suffer heavy losses. Looking at their comrades who were badly mutilated, the surviving soldiers no longer had the confidence to continue fighting.
"General, are we going to lose just like that? We lost, and we suffered heavy losses."
The subordinate said sadly.
After the thick smoke dispersed, everyone could see what was happening on the battlefield. More than half of the 10,000 elite soldiers of the Lion Kingdom had been killed. Only five to six thousand managed to stagger back. The rest were either dead or unable to move due to their injuries. They could only howl in pain at the foot of the city walls.
Seeing such a scene, the commanding general of the Lion Kingdom naturally broke down. Their main elite force, the hope of the entire Lion Kingdom, was lost just like that. This undoubtedly had a far-reaching impact on the Lion Kingdom. It was very likely that they would have to give up the port that they had already occupied. Of course, it could be even worse.
Li Feiyu stood on the city wall and looked at the casualties of the Lion Kingdom below. He sighed in his heart. The reason why the Tang Dynasty army could inflict heavy losses on the elites of the Lion Kingdom with a small number of soldiers was because of the black gunpowder invented by Ang Lee. Without Ang Lee's contribution, the Tang Dynasty army would never have been able to defend the city.
"General, it would be great if we had a few cannons. After a round of bombardment, the remaining five to six thousand enemies would be finished."
The commanding general of the Tang Dynasty army said happily.
"Don't worry! These guys definitely can't run back to the Lion Kingdom. Our main force is already on the way. They have received orders to directly attack the South Tianzhu port occupied by the Lion Kingdom and cut off the retreat of the Lion Kingdom army. What awaits them is only surrender or death. "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
