Søren's army's first volley of more than a hundred catapults. A hundred gunpowder bags smashed into the Giant Ballistae and catapults of the Giant Ballistae!
"Boom, boom, boom, boom …"
Giant fireballs and billowing smoke enveloped the entire battlefield.
Gui Xingfu's secret letter had never mentioned the Sky Blasting Thunder.
Therefore, this was the first time the Giant Ballistae's 150,000-strong army had seen such an earth-shattering explosion.
It was as if the earth was shaking.
The explosive power of a total of 25,000 kilograms of gunpowder was extremely shocking!
In the Giant Ballistae's camp, they were torn apart by a huge force like a child's toy and scattered in all directions.
The Giant Ballistae were even worse off as they were smashed into pieces.
The soldiers near the explosion were smashed into pieces.
As for the soldiers who were hundreds of meters away, their bodies were sent flying and they vomited blood.
Countless warhorses were startled and galloped with all their might, causing chaos in the Giant Ballistae's camp.
On Søren's side, a single volley had caused chaos in the Giant Ballistae.
The 150,000-strong army was ashen as they looked at each other.
What, what kind of weapon was that?
Was it the Sky Blasting Thunder? Or was it the Sky Blasting Thunder?
Why was there such a loud sound and such a shocking momentum?
Duke Meng Wei's expression changed completely. He wasn't completely clueless about the Sky Blasting Thunder.
Søren had killed the Yelan Principality's monarch, Grand Duke Lanshi. Although the Dragon Temple had defined it as angering the Dragon, divine lightning descended from the heavens.
But Zhi Li had directly determined that it was Søren's doing. He had used a very special explosive to kill Grand Duke Lanshi.
It wasn't that Zhi Li hadn't seen similar things. The alchemists of the Elf Continent had created a type of liquid and a type of crystal that could produce terrifying explosions.
And these crystals were still being used as aerial signal arrows.
But be it the explosive liquid or the explosive crystal, they were extremely expensive and couldn't be produced on a large scale.
In Zhi Li's view, Søren had used up all the explosives made by his secret Warlocks to kill Grand Duke Lanshi.
Who would have thought that Søren would actually use it on the battlefield, and in such large quantities?
Duke Meng Wei's limbs were a little cold. He knew that this battle was going to be difficult, and he might really have to use his life to pile it on!
…
The smoke dispersed!
Søren and Yuan Shiwei hurriedly checked the damage caused by the first volley.
The Giant Ballistae and Giant Catapults of the Ming Wei Army covered an area of half a square kilometer.
At this moment, the ground was filled with holes. Whether it was the giant ballistae or the catapults, more than thirty percent of them had been destroyed.
Seeing this destructive power, Søren was overjoyed, while Ma Yingwei's heart was bleeding.
The accuracy of the catapult was very poor. It could not even hit the target within four to five hundred meters.
However, the explosion of two to five hundred kilograms of gunpowder was too shocking. Everything within a radius of a few dozen meters was smashed into pieces.
Hundreds of gunpowder bags exploding on a square kilometer of ground was almost like a carpet bombing.
It could be said that the more giant catapults there were, the better the coverage would be.
Of course, the consumption of gunpowder was also extremely shocking!
Søren felt that the gunpowder that had been accumulated for more than a year might be completely used up in this battle.
However, the effect of the griffins' aerial attack was much worse than imagined.
First, it was fine to throw from a few hundred meters up in the air to attack a castle, but it was almost impossible to hit a small or medium-sized target. The error rate was too high.
Moreover, just five griffins were too few to form a carpet bombing.
Most importantly, when attacking Waterfront City, the enemy did not have Dragon Shooters. And in Meng Wei's army, there were dozens of Dragon Shooters, so it was impossible to try to throw gunpowder into the air and behead Duke Meng Wei.
Even if the griffins flew five to six hundred meters high, they would still be shot by the Dragon Shooters.
And if they flew to a height of one to two thousand meters, the error rate would be too high, and the so-called beheading in the air would be meaningless.
Just now, five griffins had launched an aerial attack on the enemy's giant ballistae and catapults. In the end, they were shot by an enemy Dragon Shooter from six hundred meters away, and their necks were pierced. Although they did not die, they were heavily injured.
Therefore, Søren immediately ordered that they would no longer use griffins to fight, but use them to send orders and observe the battlefield.
…
"Your Grace, of the fifty-three giant catapults on our side, nineteen have been destroyed. Of the two thousand three hundred giant ballistae, over seven hundred have been destroyed. The catapults have suffered over three hundred casualties, and the giant ballistae have suffered over nine hundred casualties! "
Duke Meng Wei immediately received the casualty and damage reports.
Immediately, his scalp went numb.
This was only Søren's first volley.
The first volley on his side had caused very little damage to Søren's Wind Thunder Fortress's defensive line.
And Søren's first volley had caused so much damage.
He had to immediately decide whether to withdraw all the catapults and giant ballistae. Otherwise, after just four or five volleys, his long-range weapons would be completely wiped out.
Once all the long-range weapons were withdrawn, they would have to use human lives to pile on, and the number of casualties would be astronomical.
But if they did not withdraw, his giant ballistae and catapults would be in a passive position.
"Don't withdraw …" Duke Meng Wei ordered, "Not only don't withdraw, the siege troops are to immediately prepare to attack the city with the giant ballistae and giant catapults. The first wave of siege troops, attack!"
"Yes!" the deputy commander roared.
Then, the deafening war drums sounded!
"Bam bam bam bam bam …"
"Attack! Attack! "
Immediately, the already assembled siege troops immediately sprinted.
Square formation after square formation, tens of thousands of soldiers charged towards the Wind Thunder Fortress's defensive line like a tide.
"Giant ballistae, change rows of arrows, fire in unison …"
"Giant catapults, fire in unison …"
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh …"
The dense rain of arrows flew over the siege troops' heads like a rainstorm, smashing heavily on the Wind Thunder Fortress's defensive line.
"Puff puff puff puff …"
The soldiers on the city walls fell to the ground one after another, dead.
This time, the giant ballistae of Meng Wei's army no longer shot giant arrows that were three to four meters long, but thin arrows that were two meters long. One giant ballista could shoot ten arrows at once.
Therefore, the second round of firing fired over ten thousand arrows, taking away the lives of over a hundred people in Søren's army.
But the soldiers on the city walls were still like pillars, not moving at all.
At this time, they had to withstand the rain of arrows. If they were really shot, they would be unlucky. If they ran and dodged randomly, the casualties would be even greater.
Søren and Zhuang Zhixuan rode on Gryphons, overlooking the battlefield from a few hundred meters in the air.
Under the cover of the catapults and giant ballistae, Duke Meng Wei's army of tens of thousands of soldiers madly charged towards the city walls.
A total of three square formations, thirty thousand soldiers, carried out the first round of siege, and the black mass surged forward like a tide.
Ten minutes had passed since the first round of firing from the giant catapults on Søren's side. It couldn't be helped, these giant catapults needed at least ten minutes to complete one round of firing.
"Giant catapults, get ready, fire in unison …"
A thunderous roar sounded.
Instantly, over a hundred giant gunpowder bags drew black lines in the air, and once again smashed towards the giant ballistae and giant catapults of Meng Wei's army.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom …"
Another earth-shattering explosion, another soaring fireball, and billowing thick smoke completely covered the entire battlefield.
Meng Wei's army charged from both the giant ballistae and the giant catapults. But they were still affected by the earth-shattering explosion, and the corpses of hundreds of soldiers flew everywhere.
But the thirty thousand soldiers were still getting closer and closer, and very soon, they were only three hundred meters away from the Wind Thunder Fortress' defensive line.
"Load the giant ballistae, get ready, fire …"
The thousands of giant ballistae on the Wind Thunder Fortress' defensive line were all replaced with ten thin arrows.
Instantly, tens of thousands of arrows smashed towards Meng Wei's army like a storm.
"Puff, puff, puff, puff …"
Countless blood splattered, and countless soldiers fell to the ground.
But even with tens of thousands of arrows raining down, they only brought about a thousand casualties.
The remaining twenty-eight thousand soldiers continued to run madly. Everyone knew that at this time, they could only run with all their might, and it was impossible for them to retreat.
"The enemies are two hundred meters away from the city wall! Archers, get ready. Medium Scorpion Catapults, get ready, fire! "Søren roared!
More than twenty thousand soldiers on the city wall suddenly loosened their bowstrings.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh …"
Another round of tens of thousands of arrows rained down, and once again, hundreds of enemy casualties.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh …"
A few hundred medium catapults fired, and a few hundred gunpowder bags arced through the air and smashed into the attacking army!
"Boom, boom, boom, boom …"
Another earth-shattering explosion.
Nearly fifty thousand kilograms of gunpowder exploded within a few thousand meters of the city wall.
Once again, countless soldiers were smashed to pieces, and their corpses flew everywhere.
Thousands of soldiers had lost their lives!
The terrifying explosion happened close by, and countless soldiers stood rooted to the ground as if they had been struck by lightning.
"Don't stop, charge, charge …"
The commander of Meng Wei's army roared with all his might.
Now was the interval between the firing of the catapults by Søren's army, and it was the most precious time. They had to use this time to charge up the city wall.
"Charge, charge …"
Even though the volley of giant ballistae and medium catapults brought about huge casualties to Meng Wei's attacking army. But there were still more than twenty thousand people who charged down the city wall.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!" Countless siege ladders were placed on the city wall.
Giant siege hammers began to pound on the city gate.
Although the gunpowder bags of the catapults were astonishing, the interval between firing was too long, so it was unable to stop the enemy from charging down the city wall.
When Meng Wei in the main camp saw that more than twenty thousand soldiers had started to climb up the city wall, he was instantly overjoyed, and roared: "Second wave, third wave, charge!"
Immediately, another fifty thousand soldiers charged madly under the shocking war drums.
The entire battlefield was filled with killing!
One to two hundred siege ladders were placed on the city wall of the Gale Thunder Fortress.
One after another, Giant Strength Warriors raised a large shield and climbed up the siege ladders.
Behind him was a dense crowd of people.
Countless soldiers, like ants, climbed up the city wall of the Gale Thunder Fortress.
Seeing this scene, Meng Wei was once again overjoyed.
With such an endless stream of climbing the city wall, even though the casualties were incomparably shocking, they could still break through the Gale Thunder Fortress's defense line in the end.
Although Søren's catapult tactics were amazing, their firing speed was too slow!
However … at this moment, a terrifying scene appeared!
When Meng Wei's army rushed down the city wall, it was the beginning of the nightmare!
Countless barrels of kerosene on the city wall smashed down crazily!
Every round of firing by a catapult required time, but manual throwing didn't.
Thousands of strong men in Søren's army threw barrels of kerosene crazily.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh …"
"Bang, bang, bang …"
In a short period of time, thousands of barrels of kerosene were smashed down.
Countless kerosene barrels smashed on the city wall, smashed on the ground, and suddenly shattered, the crude oil inside splashing out.
In a short period of time, the entire ground under the city wall was covered with a thick layer of kerosene.
Almost every soldier in Meng Wei's siege army was splashed with the pungent kerosene.
Then, thousands of small and medium-sized gunpowder bags smashed down.
"Boom, boom, boom …"
The intense explosion ignited the tens of thousands of kerosene barrels that had been smashed down.
Boom, boom, boom!
The sky-shaking conflagration was burning furiously!
Millions of kilograms of kerosene were ignited, causing a shocking sea of fire!
The damage caused by the explosion of gunpowder was one-time, but the burning of kerosene was indeed continuous.
Meng Wei's tens of thousands of siege troops were all squeezed under the city wall, and at this moment, they were instantly surrounded by the entire sea of fire and engulfed!
The four miles under the city wall had turned into a terrifying purgatory.
"Ah … Ah … Ah …"
Shocking and shrill screams rang out.
Countless soldiers screamed, struggled, and fled in the fire!
The sharpest weapon to defend a city was boiling oil.
But in the era of cold weapons, boiling oil was splashed down, at most tens of thousands of kilograms, only hundreds of thousands of kilograms, and it needed to be splashed down countless times over a few days.
After Søren dug a crude oil mine, the kerosene resources were completely endless for the current battlefield.
At one time, tens of thousands of barrels of kerosene, more than a million kilograms, were smashed down.
Looking at the burning hell below.
"Continue to throw …" Søren roared loudly!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh …"
Countless strong men, from the holes in the city wall, frantically threw kerosene barrels.
It was really adding fuel to the fire …
Millions of kilograms of kerosene were poured on the four miles of ground, creating a sea of fire that was hundreds of meters wide and 2,000 meters high.
Duke Meng Wei's tens of thousands of troops were all buried in this sea of fire that was two to three hundred thousand square meters.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh …"
At this moment, the giant catapults on the Wind Thunder Fortress defense line launched the fifth salvo.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom …"
At this moment, the giant ballistae and giant catapults of Meng Wei's army were already scattered. After two hundred thousand kilograms of gunpowder and carpet bombing, there was not a single intact catapult or giant ballista to be found.
Duke Meng Wei was trembling all over, and his limbs were cold!
At this moment, the entire battlefield was covered in thick smoke. Under the city wall, there was a sea of fire.
"Father, quickly sound the gongs to retreat, or the 80,000 troops will all die under the city wall," Jiu You roared loudly.
Duke Meng Wei seemed to suddenly wake up, and he roared, "Retreat, retreat!"
Immediately, hundreds of bells sounded in Meng Wei's army.
This was the signal to retreat!
Then, Duke Meng Wei waited in the thick smoke to see how many troops successfully retreated.
…
He did not know how long he had waited!
The smoke dispersed, and the fire was extinguished!
"Father, only about three thousand people successfully retreated!" Jiu You's son came forward to report.
There were a total of three waves of 80,000 troops that participated in the siege, but only three thousand returned. The rest had all died in battle.
Including the giant ballistae and giant catapults, there were more than five thousand casualties.
In just eight hours, Duke Meng Wei's 150,000 troops had lost eighty-five thousand men, and there were only about sixty thousand left.
More than half of them had died, but they did not even climb up the walls of the Wind Thunder Fortress.
Not only that, but the casualties on Søren's side were almost negligible.
He had used an astronomical amount of kerosene and an astronomical amount of gunpowder in exchange for this earth-shattering victory.
Standing on the commander's platform, Duke Meng Wei looked at Søren on the distant castle. The two were two thousand meters apart.
However, Meng Wei seemed to feel that Søren was laughing!
In just half a day, more than half of his 150,000 troops had died, while Søren's army was not damaged at all.
Duke Meng Wei had never suffered such a crushing defeat!
He should not have been so impatient, he should not have been so eager for quick success. He should have fought steadily and waited for the arrival of Turin Tuo's army.
In that case, he would not have been defeated so miserably!
Meng Wei first felt a sharp pain in his heart, and then it was as if a huge force was tearing his internal organs. His stomach suddenly spasmed, and hot blood gushed out of his stomach and rushed to his throat.
"Puff … …" Boiling hot blood suddenly spurted out.
Then, Meng Wei felt his vision go black, his body was cold, and his head was dizzy.
"Bang!"
Duke Meng Wei's tall body suddenly fell to the ground, and he completely fainted, unconscious!
… …
At the same time!
In a manor in the capital of the Yan Empire!
From the labor pain until now, Zhi Ning had been in pain for more than six hours, but she still did not give birth.
Dystocia!
The baby was strong, but the position of the fetus was not right!
Zhi Ning's screams were completely hoarse.
Prince Ji Min, who was outside the house, was frightened and scared out of his wits.
One moment, he covered his ears and did not dare to stop, and the next moment, he knelt on the ground and prayed desperately.
Inside, midwives, maids, and medical cultivators were constantly shuttling back and forth.
Basins of blood splashed out one after another.
There were already three waves of female medical cultivators rushing over from the Divine Dragon Sacred Hall.
There were also four midwives from the palace of the Yan Empire.
Still, the baby was not born!
Commandery Princess Jinning screamed hysterically at the beginning, but at the end, she was on the verge of death.
Towards the end, Crown Prince Ji Min knelt on the ground and prayed non-stop!
"Whether it's the Dragon, the devil, or any god, please, please hold Zhi Ning, keep her safe, and bless her and her baby!"
"God bless Zhi Ning, bless Zhi Ning!"
"Søren, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you!"
"I, Ji Min, am willing to live ten years, no, twenty years, thirty years! In exchange for the safety of Zhi Ning and her baby! "
"Please, please, please …"
Prince Ji Min, kneeling on the ground, kept trembling, muttering to himself, and kept praying!
Suddenly …
"Ah …" Princess Zhi Ning screamed!
"Wa, wa, wa …" Then, a loud cry came from inside the house!
Finally, the baby was born!
Outside the house, Prince Ji Min's legs went soft, and he directly fell to the ground, his whole body completely wet.
"Wu …" Then, he covered his face, sat on the ground, and cried loudly!
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