In the battle three days ago, Ma Wei suffered a crushing defeat, vomiting blood and fainting. When he woke up, he immediately set up a defensive position to continue besieging the Wind Thunder Fortress and restricting Søren's main force.
After resting for three days, he could already get up and walk.
Tonight, he received another shocking piece of bad news, and it was the second time.
First, all the bridges on the Tianshui River were destroyed, the army guarding the river was annihilated, and the army's retreat was cut off.
Then, the army's rations were attacked by Søren's griffins and burned to the ground.
Stimulated by these two pieces of bad news, Ma Wei could not hold it in anymore. He vomited blood again and fainted!
Actually, the burning of the rations was very serious, but it was not too serious either.
Although Duke Ma Wei's body had not recovered and his energy was low, he still had many elite officials and generals under him. He had predicted and deduced that the rations might be burned, so he had already separated a portion of the rations and distributed it to the army camps.
He also sent a few thousand soldiers to dig holes and hide the rations.
Therefore, although most of the rations were burned, there were only sixty thousand soldiers left in the army. The rations distributed were barely enough to last them for ten days, enough to last until Turin Tuo's army arrived.
These elites could first store the rations and ensure that the army did not starve. But they could not predict people's hearts, and could not predict how great the damage to the army's morale would be if the rations were burned.
That night, after receiving the news that their retreat was cut off and their rations were burned, Ma Wei's army panicked. The rumors became more and more ridiculous.
There was even a small-scale mutiny. A few thousand soldiers ignored the orders of their superiors and insisted on crossing the river to escape.
Of course, this small mutiny was eventually suppressed by the experienced generals. This army had been led by Ma Wei for many years. They were still united and did not cause serious consequences.
But no matter how the generals comforted them, no matter how they denied the rumors that the rations were enough, the surviving sixty thousand soldiers were still in a state of panic, their morale extremely low.
…
The second day after Ma Wei's rations were burned.
At this time, Duke Turin Tuo's two hundred thousand soldiers were still one thousand and four hundred miles away from Tianshui City. They would arrive in about eleven days.
It was already late at night, and Ma Wei's sixty thousand soldiers were sleeping.
Dozens of Dragon Archers stared at the sky. Thousands of soldiers patrolled everywhere, full of absolute vigilance.
At this moment!
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh …"
Søren's Gryphon Aerial Strike came again!
This time, it was no longer four or five, but fourteen!
Because a few days ago, Søren had sent a letter to Gao Yin asking for more griffins.
Today, Gao Yin's reinforcements of ten griffins had already flown to Gale Thunder Fortress' defense line.
The entire Raging Wave Kingdom had a total of more than 20 griffins, and now he had mobilized more than half of them.
Therefore, there were a total of fourteen griffins in this wave of aerial attacks on Jie Wei's camp.
"Another gunpowder bag from the sky!"
The dozens of Dragon Archers from Ma Wei's army were going crazy. They were very powerful, they could even hit targets hundreds of meters away.
But it was night time, and he couldn't even see his own fingers. Moreover, if the arrow was shot into the sky, due to gravity, the momentum would be exhausted after reaching a maximum of 400 meters. The arrow that was shot out would have no power at all.
These damn griffins were flying at an altitude of four to five hundred meters.
At this height, the Gryphon Riders didn't expect to hit anything. They just threw the gunpowder bags randomly.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh …"
Explosions were everywhere in Ma Wei's camp of sixty thousand soldiers, one after another, shaking the sky and earth.
Everywhere was in chaos.
Moreover, the worst thing was that these griffins were specifically targeting the cavalry camp to bomb.
Originally, Ma Wei's army of one hundred and fifty thousand had 20,000 cavalry.
After the battle a few days ago, there were only sixty thousand soldiers left, but the twenty thousand cavalry were almost unharmed. They were Ma Wei's greatest combat power.
The camp of the twenty thousand cavalry spanned several miles. With twenty to thirty thousand warhorses gathered together, there was no need to aim at all. They could just throw the gunpowder bags down.
The warhorses were the most timid. After a series of explosions, tens of thousands of warhorses were frightened and ran wildly.
Tens of thousands of warhorses were frightened. How shocking was the battle array? It was like a raging wave, crashing madly.
The entire Ma Wei's camp was in a mess from the collision.
God knew how many soldiers died under the hooves of the horses.
The sixty thousand soldiers couldn't sleep for the whole night, desperately avoiding the frightened warhorses. Moreover, they had to be on tenterhooks, fearing that if they were unlucky, the gunpowder bags next to them would explode and they would die.
This bombing lasted for a full eight hours, only stopping when it was almost dawn.
And the tens of thousands of cavalry spent a few hours to suppress the frightened warhorses back to camp and calm them down.
…
The next morning, Ma Wei, who had woken up, discussed how to deal with Søren's night air raids.
The deputy commander of the army said, "Your Excellency, Søren's air raids last night caused more than six hundred direct casualties. However, more than three thousand soldiers were trampled to death by the warhorses, and nearly two thousand warhorses were lost! "
Hearing this loss, Duke Ma Wei's heart twitched in pain.
Ma Wei frowned and said, "Tonight, Søren will definitely launch another air raid. How should we deal with this situation? If tens of thousands of warhorses are frightened again, the entire camp will be destroyed again. "
The generals below were silent for a moment.
Then, Jiu You said, "Father, can we distribute the cavalry to the various camps like rations? Our entire camp stretches for dozens of miles. If Søren launches another air raid, even if the warhorses are frightened, the scale will be much smaller. "
Immediately, a commander of ten thousand said, "Absolutely not. The cavalry must be in scale to unleash their power. If we distribute the cavalry to the various camps, if Søren goes out of the city to fight, our twenty thousand cavalry won't be able to gather in time. The consequences will be unimaginable! "
Jiu You said, "If we don't do this, the warhorses will be frightened after a few consecutive nights of air raids. By then, how many cavalry will we have left and how much combat power will we have?"
As soon as this was said, the commander of ten thousand was speechless.
Warhorses were very delicate things. After being frightened several times in a row and not eating or sleeping well for a few days and nights, their combat power could be considered to be crippled.
Moreover, tens of thousands of warhorses were frightened last night and trampled on them, trampling thousands of soldiers to death, and losing two thousand warhorses.
If there were a few more such horse raids, these twenty thousand warhorses would all be crippled in four or five days at most.
Si Wei gritted his teeth in hatred. Because there were too few griffins, they were completely flashy and no one would really use them on the battlefield. Therefore, they were mostly used by the king's honor guards.
But he didn't expect that Søren's Sky Blasting Thunder and the griffins could produce such a great power.
What was even more absurd was that the twenty griffins of the Raging Wave Kingdom were all in the hands of the king. Zhi Li didn't have a single one.
At this moment, even if Si Wei had four or five griffins, Søren didn't dare to be so arrogant. Every air raid was like entering an uninhabited land.
He wanted to send a message to Zhi Li and ask him to find a way to get a few griffins. But after some thought, he gave up and destroyed the Suo Clan. This was because Zhi Li could either borrow from the Hidden Island or the Yan Empire. By the time Zhi Li got the griffins, Turin Tuo's army would have already arrived at Tianshui City.
Of course, they could also borrow from the Dragon Temple. But in the entire Fengdu Dragon Temple, there were only two or three griffins. If they were killed on the battlefield by Si Wei, the consequences would be very serious!
Taking a deep breath, Duke Si Wei ordered, "Follow Jiu You's method. Scatter the 20,000 cavalrymen into six or seven camps. This way, even if the warhorses cause a commotion in the camp, it won't cause that big of a consequence. And every night, the cavalrymen must protect their warhorses when they sleep. Cover their warhorses' ears and comfort them at all times. "
"Yes, sir!" the two cavalry captains said.
Even though it was harmful to scatter the 20,000 cavalrymen into different camps, there was no other way. They had to choose the lesser of two evils.
For the rest of the day, Si Wei's camp was tossed and turned again. 20,000 cavalrymen and nearly 30,000 warhorses began to scatter into different camps.
The original 20,000 cavalrymen that were condensed into a fist were sprinkled here and there like sprinkling peppers. They were scattered across dozens of square kilometers of camps.
It was already dark when they finally finished scattering the cavalrymen into different camps!
…
After nightfall!
Si Wei's army, which had been tossing and turning for a day and a night, entered dreamland.
Unsurprisingly, Søren's air raid came again!
However, this time, only five griffins came!
"Boom, boom, boom …"
Endless bombardment.
One moment, gunpowder packs were thrown down, and the next moment, kerosene barrels were thrown down.
It was indeed effective for the cavalrymen to scatter into different camps. There was no longer a large-scale situation where the warhorses were startled and caused a commotion in the camp.
At most, a few hundred or a thousand warhorses were startled and ran around, which was easier to control.
However, it was impossible for Si Wei's army to sleep. With the continuous sounds of explosions, it was impossible for them to fall asleep.
Of course, if it was just noise, it would be easy to deal with it. They could just plug their ears with cotton. The key was that the explosions caused the earth and mountains to shake. No one knew if the Sky Blasting Thunder would explode above their heads in the next second.
If they fell asleep, they would turn into ashes and be smashed into pieces.
Under such fear, even the most heartless person would not be able to sleep.
Moreover, Søren was even more despicable!
This air raid and bombardment would never end.
The 14 griffins were divided into three batches. Each time, the bombardment lasted for four hours.
24 hours a day, non-stop bombardment!
Of course, this had a great impact on his own soldiers within the Sky Thunder Fortress' defense line. Therefore, the 25,000 cavalries of Søren's army had already retreated to dozens of miles away.
As for the guards within the fortress, they stuffed cotton into their mouths to sleep every night.
Luckily, the explosions were a few miles away from the Wind Thunder Fortress' defense line, and they did not have to worry about the Sky Blasting Thunder falling on their heads. Although they would lose sleep, it was not to the extent that they could not sleep at all.
But Si Wei's 60,000 troops were miserable. 24 hours a day, they had no time to sleep at all.
Søren's 14 griffins, divided into batches, bombarded and harassed continuously 24 hours a day.
This made Si Wei's army live like a year, as if they were in hell.
Duke Si Wei could no longer get up from the bed. He had lost a lot of weight. His originally black hair had already turned white.
…
Three days and three nights!
Søren's air raid and bombardment lasted for a full three days and three nights. Even if the 14 griffins were fed with premium beef every day, they had lost a lot of weight!
And Duke Si Wei's 60,000 troops were really in hell.
They couldn't sleep for three days and three nights. Almost all of them had dark circles under their eyes and were emaciated.
At this time, they didn't have to worry about running out of rations anymore. Because a few thousand warhorses had died, they couldn't even finish the meat.
But after not sleeping for a few days, they couldn't eat anything at all. The patrolling soldiers felt dizzy, and their legs felt weak. Cold sweat broke out all over their bodies, and they couldn't even hold the weapons in their hands.
Not only that, many soldiers started to escape!
They couldn't take the torture anymore. Some jumped into the Sky Water River and planned to swim across the river to escape.
But on the other side of the river was Yan Yan's 8,000 troops.
These soldiers either drowned in the river or were shot to death by arrows before they could reach the shore.
Since they couldn't escape across the river, they fled towards the mountains on both sides.
At the start, there were only a few hundreds of people escaping. But as time went by, more and more people escaped.
Half of Duke Si Wei's hair had turned white. He was in a semi-conscious state. He often sat up abruptly and said, "How much time has passed? How much longer until Tu Lingtuo arrives? "
Sometimes, even though less than an hour had passed, he felt like an entire day had passed.
He was determined to kill the soldiers who started to escape. He sent his trusted warriors to guard the mountain entrances. If they found any deserters, they would immediately kill them.
Then he would constantly say, "Hold on for a few more days, just a few more days. Tu Lingtuo's army is coming!"
Halfway through, Duke Si Wei sent a letter to White Cloud County. He asked the county to send troops to attack Yan Yan's army on the other side of the river.
White Cloud County obeyed and immediately gathered two to three thousand men.
But this time, Duke Si Wei had gathered a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers. He had squeezed out all the soldiers in the southeast province. What was left were only second-rate troops.
The two to three thousand soldiers from White Cloud County were wiped out by Yan Yan's one thousand cavalry in less than an hour. They cried like ghosts and howled like wolves as they fled.
…
Søren's shameless bombardment had already entered the fourth day!
At this time, Tu Lingtuo's army of two hundred thousand was still more than eight hundred li from Sky Wolf Pass. They would arrive in about six days!
Duke Si Wei was constantly thinking about the time. Six days, six days, six days!
As long as he endured for another six days, this hellish day would be over!
But as time passed, Duke Si Wei's heart became colder and colder. That kind of uneasy despair spread all over his body.
What he regretted the most was not attacking the Wind Thunder Fortress' defense line in a hurry. Instead, he regretted not retreating back to White Cloud County after the defeat.
That way, although he would have been completely defeated, he would not have died.
If he could not even keep his life, how could he be conferred the title of King? He was really blinded by greed. Didn't he decide to stay back and continue to besiege the Wind Thunder Fortress' defense line?
He had completely forced himself into a dead end!
Although he still had more than fifty thousand soldiers, these fifty thousand soldiers had not slept for a few days. Even standing still would cause them to tremble. How could they have the strength to fight?
…
In the second half of the bombardment on the fourth day!
Suddenly, Søren sent out all fourteen griffins. He also used four to five hundred kilograms of huge gunpowder bags.
Moreover, this time, he did not go deep into Si Wei's camp. Instead, he bombarded the outer edge of the camp.
He bombarded the camp's wooden walls, fences, ravines, barricades, and other fortifications!
This bombardment lasted for six hours. Nearly fifty thousand kilograms of gunpowder were thrown. Then, nearly fifty thousand kilograms of kerosene were thrown.
After daybreak, the bombardment stopped!
Looking at the fortifications of Si Wei's camp, they had been completely destroyed. It was a piece of flat ground.
Everyone knew that the final battle had arrived!
Because the continuous bombardment had stopped.
During these four days and four nights, the sound of explosions rang continuously. At this time, it finally quieted down completely!
Si Wei was completely uneasy. He knew that Søren was going to hang the last noose on him.
This was the last peace before he died!
"Assemble the army, assemble the cavalry …" Si Wei ordered loudly!
Søren's final attack was coming. The final strangulation was coming!
But …
The entire camp was in disorder. Countless soldiers were lying on the ground. They could not be woken up no matter how hard they tried!
They had not slept for a few days. Once they fell asleep in this rare silence, even God would not be able to wake them up!
The officers punched and kicked, trying their best to wake up the sleeping soldiers.
…
At the same time!
Inside the Wind Thunder Fortress' defense line, Søren's twenty-five thousand cavalrymen, who had rested for nearly ten days, were assembling for the final time.
Among them, there were twenty thousand cavalrymen from Rouran City and five thousand cavalrymen from Tianshui City!
These twenty thousand cavalrymen had retreated more than ten to twenty kilometers. They were not disturbed by the explosions. They had rested until they were fat and strong. Their fighting spirit was already unbearable. They were like starving beasts that were about to come out of their cages and bite people.
Søren stood at the highest point of the fortress and looked at the endless and fierce cavalrymen!
"Rumble …"
Dozens of strong men turned the capstans at the same time.
The gates of the Wind Thunder Fortress' defense line, which had never been opened, were slowly opened.
The huge gates, which were more than two feet thick, were wrapped in thick iron sheets and weighed five thousand kilograms.
There were two such huge gates, one on the outside and one on the inside!
The two huge gates were opened, like a devil opening its mouth!
"Attack, annihilate Si Wei's army, kill Si Wei!" Søren roared!
Shocking war drums sounded!
Twenty-five thousand cavalrymen rushed out of the Wind Thunder Fortress' defense line like a tide and charged towards Si Wei's camp.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom …"
Twenty-five thousand cavalrymen charged towards Si Wei's army of fifty thousand. However, they were like raging waves, like fierce tigers that were released from their cages!
They were carrying out the final strangulation on Si Wei!
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