Ziyad's men were still attacking the city, and in this situation, he could not fall. If his commander fell, his men would fall into disarray, and the siege would end in a crushing defeat.
Therefore, after returning to a safe spot at the rear, Seiyad immediately pushed away the guards beside him and found a horse to ride. He wanted to tell his subordinates that he was fine and that he wasn't injured. This was to stabilize the morale of the troops.
After a brief period of turmoil, Ziyad's forces were able to regain order. The several thousand soldiers were much more reassured when they saw that their commander was fine.
In the rear, Abu Muslim was greatly relieved by this sight. If Ziyad had been injured, he would have been forced to order the army to withdraw and temporarily halt the siege.
The soldiers on the walls couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that their assault had failed to kill the enemy commander. However, not being able to force the enemy commander to retreat in such a sorry state could be considered a success. At the very least, they had been able to rejoice for a while.
After tasting the sweetness of the catapults and ballistae, the defending generals didn't think too much and immediately ordered the catapults and ballistae to attack the attacking troops outside the city. This was to prevent the attacking troops from filling up the river bit by bit and protect the safety of the city.
The catapults were made of large boulders and the ballistae were powerful enough to penetrate shields. When these heavy weapons were put into use, they immediately caused a lot of damage to the attacking side. Originally, the crossbows and ballistae only caused a few hundred casualties. But after the ballistae and catapults were put into use, the damage to the attacking side was much greater. The number of casualties increased by several times, and the number of deaths started to increase.
The main problem was that the attacking side's formation had been completely broken. Without a formation, attacking the city would not be very efficient. This was a very serious problem. It meant that the attacking side would be at a disadvantage. If this continued, the attacking side would suffer great losses.
Seeing that the assault was not going well, Ziyad helplessly ordered a retreat. They would first retreat and reorganize, and once they had figured out a better tactic, they would attack again.
Once the order to retreat was given, Ziyad's attackers began to withdraw, gradually breaking away from the defenders. The defenders were afraid of the Khorasan cavalry outside, so they did not dare to open the walls and pursue. They could only watch as the attackers retreated.
However, after all, the defense was successful. The defending soldiers were all very excited. They shouted and celebrated that they had repelled the enemy.
In this battle, both sides suffered some losses. However, in terms of overall strength, the losses on both sides were not that great. The attacking side had more than a thousand casualties, while the defending side had less casualties, only about three to five hundred. Moreover, most of them were injured by the siege's catapults, and not by the crossbows.
After the defenders won, they held a small celebration to raise the army's morale and prepare for an even crueler battle.
Meanwhile, the attackers returned to their camp to rest and reorganize, their morale clearly rather low.
Ziyad went to meet with Abu Muslim so that they could discuss a new plan for attacking the city.
Since ancient times, many weapons were created through practice. They were learned through constant competition between attackers and defenders. Therefore, if there was no war, there would be no development of weapons. Only with war could weapons be developed accordingly.
After a series of feints, Ziyad had successfully tested out the defensive weapons of the defenders. At the same time, he had demonstrated that the previous tactic was extremely undesirable and that a new plan of attack was needed.
"General, our army suffered significant casualties in this battle, and the main casualties were caused by the enemy's heavy ballistae and catapults. The giant ballistae have extremely long range and can pierce through shields. Even my mount was killed by one of them. This is a ballista bolt, and it's just too big."
Ziyad complained the moment he entered the room, and then he handed over a ballista bolt he had picked up on the road to Abu Muslim.
Abu Muslim took the thick and long ballista bolt and sighed. "This kind of ballista definitely doesn't belong to Altik. For example, it was given to them by the Tang dynasty, and this has created a massive problem for our siege. However, the mission Harry gave us was to exterminate Altik, so no matter how difficult it is, we have to take the city."
Since his superior had made his stance clear, Ziyad would not object. After thinking for a while, he softly said, "General, Archeng is not as easy to take as we thought. If we want to take the city, we need to think of a better siege strategy."
"Of course. I won't gamble with the lives of my soldiers. The current siege strategy is definitely not good. We need to think of a better plan. Do you have any good ideas?"
Abu Muslim asked.
After thinking for a long time, Ziyad finally said, "General, the enemy is able to inflict heavy casualties on our army because they rely on their catapults and ballistae. Our shields simply can't stop these weapons. Can we build something that can stop the ballistae and catapults?"
Ziyad already had a plan when he made this suggestion, but he didn't know if it would really work, so he didn't dare to say it out loud.
Abu Muslim thought for a few moments before saying, "Ziyad, since you've already made this suggestion, do you have a more reliable plan? Speak."
Seiyad said, "General, in today's battle, the enemy is only relying on catapults and ballistae. As long as we can withstand these two weapons, our soldiers won't suffer many casualties. My idea is to modify the siege car and remove the siege hammer. I also want to reinforce the top and front so that it can withstand the attacks of the boulders and ballistae. In addition, dozens of sandbags can be piled up inside the siege car. When they are pushed to the moat, the sandbags can be pushed into the moat from the small opening at the front. From there, the moat will be filled up step by step. This way, we can complete our plan of filling the moat with minimal casualties."
"If we want to withstand the force of the boulder falling from a high altitude, the wooden plank at the top needs to be thick enough. Also, we have to build a bigger battering ram. The existing battering rams are too small, so they definitely won't work. We still need to build them again. Seiyad, you'll be in charge!"
Abu Muslim understood what Ziyad was saying. This sort of defensive fortress was completely capable of stopping the attacks of the catapults and ballistae. As long as it was sturdy enough, it would be of enormous use. It just needed time to build.
After receiving the order, Ziyad immediately found a few carpenters and told them of his idea. He also requested that they use the existing siege vehicle as a blueprint and make the necessary modifications to meet the requirements of filling the moat.
In truth, the improved siege vehicle Ziyad wanted to build could be considered a primitive tank. Because it was sturdy enough, cold weapons would find it very difficult to destroy, so it would still be very powerful.
Because the materials were already available and there were enough craftsmen, they only needed one or two days to build the first batch of vehicles.
In order to resist the huge impact, the roof of the vehicle was designed in the shape of a ridge. The front part of the vehicle was concave inwards, which made it very convenient to throw sandbags into the moat. It could also increase the defensive power of the vehicle after being hit. If the vehicle was slanted outwards like a normal vehicle, when it was hit by a boulder, the point of impact would be in a vertical state. This was very disadvantageous to the defense. It was very likely that the front plate would be broken, and such a huge transport vehicle would become useless.
The roof and front of the vehicle were not only thicker, but in order to further strengthen the structure, many parts of the vehicle had been reinforced with tendons. This would make it even more resistant to the attacks of boulders and ballistae.
In the center of the thick wooden board at the front, there was a small opening that could be opened. The width of the opening was enough for a sandbag to pass through. The sandbag could be thrown through the baffle, and since the baffle was slanted inward, it was easier to throw the sandbag into the moat.
Ziyad spent the entire day instructing the craftsmen so that they could carefully complete each part so that they could finally assemble the vehicles.
Because Ziyad was personally supervising the work, all one thousand craftsmen worked extremely hard. Not a single one of them dared to slack off. This ensured that the super-heavy transport vehicles could be completed on time.
When the six super-heavy transport vehicles were built, Seiyad nodded in satisfaction and immediately went in to take a look. Then, he got twenty soldiers to push them forward. Although the speed was relatively slow, it was enough as long as they could push them forward. After all, he had plenty of troops under him. He just needed to change the group of people every time he transported them.
The twenty soldiers had to enter from the back, and then ten people on each side were responsible for pushing the vehicles forward. In the center was a shelf for sandbags, and fifty sandbags could be placed at a time.
With the protection of the thick wooden boards, the twenty soldiers didn't need to worry about being attacked, and transporting fifty sandbags at a time was rather efficient.
"General, we've built six vehicles for the first batch, and the soldiers are currently testing them. It's quite easy for twenty soldiers to push them."
Ziyad hurriedly called out to Abu Muslim when he saw him walk over.
Abu Muslim tapped the heavy transport vehicle with his sheath to get a feel for its strength, and then he said in satisfaction, "Not bad, it seems very sturdy. However, whether or not this thing is sturdy will need to be tested on the battlefield. It's already afternoon, so let's go to battle! Fill the river in the north and have ten thousand cavalry hold the rear. Prepare ten times the number of soldiers pushing the vehicles. "
"Yes, General."
Ziyad replied.
One vehicle required twenty people, so six vehicles required one hundred and twenty people. Ten times the number required one thousand and two hundred people. Besides the soldiers to transport the vehicles, they also needed people to prepare the sandbags and another three hundred people, for a total of one thousand and five hundred people. The ten thousand cavalry were to hold the rear and prevent the soldiers in the city from suddenly charging out and attacking the transport vehicles.
Because each transport vehicle was rather large, it had many wheels. Each vehicle had twenty wheels, divided into five groups at the front and back, the same number as the number of operators.
With so many wheels, it was very good to ensure the passage of the vehicle, so that such a large vehicle would not sink into the mud.
However, the vehicles of this era had yet to realize the ability to turn. In other words, the vehicles had to be forcefully pulled when turning. Thus, most vehicles had two wheels. If there were many wheels at the front and back, turning would be a major problem.
After Ang Lee appeared in the Tang Dynasty, the problem of turning vehicles had been solved. However, Arabia did not have such advanced technology, so turning vehicles was a major problem.
However, Ziyad had many soldiers under his command. When it came time to turn a vehicle, he only needed to have a large number of soldiers push it. This was especially true before an attack, where the vehicles would be moving in a straight line.
When the vehicles were unloaded, the speed of pushing was relatively fast. Moreover, because they were still far from the city wall, people could get on both the outside and the back. Originally, there were twenty people pushing the vehicles. Now, there were fifty people on each vehicle. Naturally, the speed of pushing was very fast.
The place where Ziyad asked the craftsmen to work was not far from Archeng. It was only a few miles away. Thus, the soldiers quickly pushed the six heavy transport vehicles to a place not far from the city wall.
Ziyad already knew the shooting range of the catapults and ballistae. Therefore, he asked the cavalry to line up at a position twice the shooting range of the ballistae. He also stayed there.
The six transport vehicles and one thousand and five hundred soldiers continued to move forward and stopped close to the shooting range of the ballistae. However, they had to ensure that the ballistae would not hit them.
Then, the soldiers began to prepare sandbags in batches and dig up the mud. Then, they loaded the bags one by one into the transport vehicles.
The soldiers in charge of defense on the city wall naturally saw the heavy transport vehicles. They did not know what these vehicles were for. After all, they had never seen such things before. Naturally, they did not know what they were for.
After the six vehicles were filled with fifty bags of mud, twenty soldiers entered the vehicles and pushed them step by step toward the moat.
"The enemy wants to fill the moat. Catapults, attack immediately."
The soldiers guarding the city wall immediately ordered to get rid of the advancing transport vehicles.
The precision of the catapults was not very good. Most of the stones fell on the open ground, and at least a small number of stones fell on the roof of the vehicles. However, after being strengthened, the vehicles were not afraid of the stone attack at all. There was no trace of damage at all. The vehicles continued to move forward. Only one of the wheels was blocked by a stone and temporarily stopped. However, the soldiers inside easily pushed the stone away with wooden sticks. They even moved a few stones into the vehicle and placed them on top of the sandbags. In this way, these stones could be used to fill the river.
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