On the evening of the 9th of August.
Great Xia's 200,000 imperial cavalry appeared at the border of the Great Zhou Dynasty's capital province, causing an uproar.
The battle of Great Jin was the prelude to the war in the Central Plains. It was the pinnacle of China's struggle for hegemony, and it was the key battle that determined China's hegemony.
Not only China's players, but players from all over the world were paying attention to this battle.
Great Xia and the Six Nation Alliance fought a battle of wits and courage around the Great Jin Dynasty, giving the players an exciting epic battle. As of the 8th of August, the Six Nation Alliance, led by Great Zhou, still had the upper hand.
The capital was still standing, but Great Jin was on the verge of extinction.
The Silver Hand was elated, cheering for such a hard-won victory. Even the Azure Emblem heaved a sigh of relief, not wishing for Great Xia to really unify China.
But in just one day, the situation of the war took a turn for the worse, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
The panicking Di Chen ordered the borders to prepare for war, and ordered Wu Qi to return to provide reinforcements. At the same time, he had other ideas, such as finding reinforcements to protect Handan City.
That night, no one slept in Handan City.
…
The next morning, the well-rested Great Xia imperial army officially entered the Great Zhou territory.
Their first target was the grain transfer station set up by the Great Zhou at the border, Pingshan City. Most of the Great Zhou's grain and supplies transported to the frontlines were transshipped through this city. It was the main logistics base of the Great Zhou army.
Since it was a logistics base, it was impossible for there to be no soldiers stationed there.
In fact, even at the most stalemate at the frontlines, there were 50,000 troops stationed in Pingshan City. Now, there was an entire army guarding Pingshan City.
The Great Xia imperial army was composed entirely of cavalry. Could they break through this city?
At least the defending general of the Great Zhou army thought that it was impossible.
Pingshan City was not a big city, nor did it have a moat, but it had a five-meter high wall. The Great Xia imperial army had neither infantry nor siege weapons, so how could they break through the city?
Even if the Great Xia imperial army wanted to imitate the Mongolian cavalry's White Terror psychological warfare, it was too hasty.
To put it bluntly, Pingshan City contained more than 80% of the Great Zhou army's rations. The safety of this city was directly related to the success or failure of the Great Jin war.
Even if the imperial guards of Great Xia slaughtered all the commoners in the surrounding villages, Pingshan City would never surrender.
Di Chen panicked, not because he was afraid that Pingshan City could not be defended, but because he was worried that the Imperial Army of Xia would bypass Pingshan City and enter the hinterland of Jingdu Province, heading straight for Handan City.
If that was the case, the garrison of Flat Mountain City wouldn't dare to come out of the city to intercept them. If they weren't careful, they would fall into the enemy's trap.
However, the Great Xia Imperial Army's next move once again subverted Di Chen and the others' judgment. For some reason, early in the morning, the Great Xia Imperial Army surrounded the south, north, and west sides of Flat Mountain City, leaving only the east side open.
"What's wrong? Are you really going to attack the city? Aren't you being a little too confident?"
The general guarding Pingshan City stood at the top of the city wall and gazed at the Great Xia imperial guards who were in their prime. For the first time, he felt a tinge of unease in his heart. The imperial guards of Great Xia weren't fools, and they wouldn't waste their precious time on something they weren't confident in.
"Could it be that he has some sort of secret weapon?"
He really guessed it correctly.
After the imperial guards of Great Xia got into formation outside the city, there was movement at the rear of every legion. Behind the regular cavalry was the Ironback Cavalry Brigade, which was directly under the legion.
The Ironback Base in Jingzhou had long been on the right track and had reached a certain scale. As the trump card of the entire army, the imperial guards were naturally the first army to be equipped with an Ironback Cavalry Brigade.
There were two reasons for doing this.
First, it was to be a super heavy cavalry that could be deployed in critical battles to fight the toughest enemies.
Second, it was to act as a transport team for the entire army.
Compared to warhorses, the Ironbacks might be a little worse in terms of endurance, but in terms of carrying loads, they were definitely much better than warhorses. Given their huge size, they could even carry some large equipment.
The secret weapon of the imperial guards to attack Flat Mountain City was carried by this brigade.
Under the command of the engineers, the soldiers removed the strange-shaped parts from the Ironbacks one after another, and then assembled them into a giant bed crossbow at a speed visible to the naked eye in the hands of five craftsmen.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that it was giant.
The Three Bow Eight Bulls Bed Crossbow was the largest among the crossbow machines, but this giant bed crossbow was three times the size of the Three Bow Eight Bulls Bed Crossbow. How could people not be dumbfounded?
What was more ingenious was that under the research of the Mo family, this set of equipment could be disassembled into hundreds of parts, and after disassembling, it could be easily transported by the Ironbacks.
Only a fierce beast like the Ironbacks could carry it for a long time. It must be noted that in order to increase the explosive power of the bed crossbow, more than half of the parts were made of steel instead of conventional wood.
Because it was too heavy, each legion only carried one.
Soon, the assembled giant bed crossbow was pushed to the front line and aimed at the three city gates.
"What kind of monster is that?"
The Great Zhou Army on the city wall had never seen such a huge crossbow machine, and they couldn't help but point at it. Although they couldn't judge the lethality of the crossbow machine, just the crossbow bolts as thick as an arm were enough to make people's scalps tingle.
The officers were calm and scolded, "What are you afraid of? No matter how powerful that thing is, there is only one. Can it shoot through the city wall? If that's the case, it will be too late. "
When the soldiers heard this, they felt that it made sense.
Indeed, in every siege, there were hundreds or thousands of siege weapons prepared, and they had never heard of a strange bed crossbow being able to take down a city.
It was not wrong to think that way.
But was it really that simple?
Just as the defenders on the city wall were discussing, the giant bed crossbow had already advanced 600 meters from the city gate under the cover of the cavalry, and then stopped.
At this distance, it was difficult to pose a threat to the imperial guards except for the archers on the city wall.
As the trump card of the Great Xia Imperial Army, the light cavalry of the Great Xia Imperial Army were equipped with shields, and when they raised them above their heads, the scattered arrows shot from the city wall were like tickles, and it was difficult for them to be effective.
While they were talking, the giant bed crossbow was already in place.
"Aim!"
Compared with the Three Bows Eight Bulls Bed Crossbow, the aiming system of the giant bed crossbow had also been greatly improved. Under the command of an experienced operator, the accuracy could be controlled within one meter.
This was very impressive, and it could carry out accurate strikes.
"Fire!"
Following the command, the crossbow started to rumble and emit a series of roars. It turned out that in order to obtain sufficient kinetic energy, the transmission device was actually equipped with a small steam engine.
Then, with a swoosh, a sharp arrow as thick as an arm pierced through the air. It drew an arc in the air and accurately hit the city gate like a missile. Then, like a drill bit, it drilled into the wooden city gate, leaving only half of it exposed.
Even though Pingshan City wasn't a big city, the city gate was still made of huge logs that were 35 centimeters thick and covered with a layer of iron sheet. Even if a siege awl was used, it would be difficult to destroy it.
This giant bed crossbow was so impressive that the arrow easily drilled through the iron sheet and drilled into the gate. It almost drilled through the entire gate.
"This …"
When the defenders on the city wall saw this, they were all dumbfounded.
Just as the defenders were in a daze, the front row of the imperial guards moved. The cavalryman in the middle held a long iron chain in his hand and dragged it on the ground. Under the cover of his companions, he rushed towards the city gate.
Under the feet of the cavalryman, the iron chain was coiled into a huge pile that was half the height of a human and at least 500 meters long.
The other end of the iron chain was connected to a balancing device that was similar to a harness on a carriage. However, it was longer than a harness and could hold a total of eight warhorses.
"Quick, stop them!"
When the defender saw this, he instinctively felt threatened even though he didn't know what the enemy's intentions were. Hence, he gave the order to kill the cavalrymen.
In an instant, there was a downpour of arrows.
Under the dense rain of arrows, even the valiant imperial guards of Great Xia couldn't withstand it. Very soon, there were casualties, and the cavalrymen were continuously shot down from their horses. It was obvious that they wouldn't be able to survive.
The imperial guards were also ferocious. They didn't care about anything else and rushed straight towards the city gate.
The rain of arrows became denser and denser, and there were almost no gaps. His companions fell one after another, but the cavalryman in the middle who was holding onto the iron chain remained expressionless as he stared at the city gate in front of him and the arrows that drilled into the city gate.
They were getting closer and closer to the city gate.
When the cavalrymen were only five meters away from the city gate, a large number of stones rolled down from the top of the city wall. Under the influence of gravity, the huge stones whistled through the air. Whichever cavalryman was hit by the stones would be finished.
Some of the unlucky ones were directly smashed into meat paste, and even the warhorses under them suffered a calamity.
Other than the stones, there was also boiling hot oil that poured down. Even though the cavalrymen were protected by armor, the warhorses couldn't stand it. Once the hot oil touched them, they would immediately be frightened and jump around.
Fortunately, the imperial guards of Great Xia were all heavily armored cavalrymen. Not only were the cavalrymen fully armored, but even the warhorses were also equipped with protective gear. Only a small part of their skin was exposed.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to get close to the city gate.
If they got closer, they would be greeted by even more unreasonable huge rolling logs. A single log could sweep through a large area, making it increasingly difficult for the cavalrymen to advance, and the number of casualties continued to increase.
"Dismount!"
When they really reached the foot of the city gate, the warhorses became a burden.
Following the command of the captain, the surviving dozen cavalrymen pulled on the reins in unison. The warhorses neighed and anxiously dug at the yellow soil on the ground, stirring up smoke and dust.
After dismounting, everyone quickly gathered together, placed the shields on their shoulders, and joined them together. They lowered their heads and used all their strength to resist the impact of the rolling logs and stones on the shields.
Boiling hot oil dripped down from the gaps of the shields, dripping onto their heads and faces.
The imperial guards were indeed real men. At the critical moment, they displayed an awe-inspiring heroic spirit. When such hot oil was poured down on their heads, blisters of all sizes immediately appeared on their faces.
But they didn't even make a sound. They didn't even frown. They endured the pain and moved toward the city gate in unison. They walked the last two meters, which was also the most difficult and dangerous two meters.
They were only a short distance away from the city gate.
"Cover!"
As the captain spoke, he pulled the metal chain and walked towards the crossbow that had drilled into the city gate.
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