Riding on the griffin, Duke Turingtuo saw countless boulders piled up on the empty ground in front of the Wind Thunder Fortress walls.
Late last night, Turingtuo heard a scout report that there were strange noises in the Wind Thunder Fortress. He immediately ordered the scout to investigate.
After paying the price of hundreds of lives, the scout reported that Søren's army was transporting boulders to the battlefield outside the walls, trying to create obstacles on the battlefield to stop the army from attacking the fortress.
At that time, Turingtuo hesitated. Should he send cavalry to stop Søren?
Søren's army was too close to the Wind Thunder Fortress walls, completely within the attack range of all the cannons and catapults. If he sent too many cavalry, it would be suicide. If he sent too few cavalry, it would be useless, and they would still die.
Besides, it would be difficult for Søren to change anything in just a few hours.
This morning, Turingtuo and Zhi Li climbed high to take a look. Sure enough, a few hundred meters in front of the Wind Thunder Fortress defense line, there were obstacles made of boulders everywhere.
The tallest was only half a man's height, and it was completely messy!
Riding on the griffin and looking down from the sky, these boulder obstacles were also very sparse.
Zhi Li immediately laughed. "Søren is really at his wit's end. How can a few boulders stop my army of hundreds of thousands?"
He completely ignored the messy boulders, and it seemed that they couldn't stop him.
Besides, the arrow was already nocked and had to be released. Time was not on Zhi Li's side!
With every day that passed, there might be people surrendering to Søren. The longer the delay, the more trouble.
The appearance of these boulders didn't affect Zhi Li's will to fight. The army of hundreds of thousands was still charging crazily!
…
Standing on the city wall, Søren felt his feet shaking. Looking at the soldiers around him, their faces were a little pale.
Looking at the hundreds of thousands of soldiers surging over, it was like an endless tide.
At this moment, the sturdy defense line of the Wind Thunder Fortress seemed especially fragile.
Taking a deep breath, Søren looked behind him. Tens of thousands of soldiers were lined up on the ground behind the city wall.
In the entire Tianshui City, Søren could mobilize about one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers. Among them, one hundred thousand were placed in the defensive line of the Wind Thunder Fortress, while the other one hundred thousand were fighting against the four hundred thousand Zhi Li.
Of these 100,000 soldiers, 30,000 were spread out on the city walls. Among them, 15,000 were from the Rock Bandits Legion and 15,000 were from the Suo Clan's city guards.
The remaining seventy thousand were all in the open space behind the city walls.
Ten thousand Luan Yang's Revenge Army, fifteen thousand Rock Bandits, and forty-five thousand Southeast New Army.
The Southeast New Army was reorganized from the captives of the Jiuwei Southeast Army. Søren was most worried about this army.
As expected, the forty-five thousand soldiers of the Southeast New Army turned pale and blue. Their bodies were even trembling slightly.
They must have been filled with fear and reverie.
After these people were captured by Søren, they actually had a good life. Their pay was doubled, their weapons were better, their armor was better, and even their food was better.
Therefore, they had a certain degree of gratitude towards Søren. But in terms of loyalty? It was hard to overestimate it. Especially in a life and death situation, anything could happen.
On the contrary, Luan Yang's Revenge Army had bloodshot eyes and sinister faces. They were filled with the desire to fight. They wanted to wash away their shame.
Especially Tu Liyang, he went to Søren several times and asked him to arrange for Luan Yang's Revenge Army to be the vanguard.
From Søren's point of view, Luan Yang's Revenge Army's fighting spirit was excellent, but their fighting strength was average. Therefore, they couldn't be the vanguard.
The ones defending the city walls could only be the most loyal and elite Suo Clan's city guards and the most ferocious Rock Bandits Legion!
When the Rock Bandits Legion heard the tsunami-like shouts of the enemy outside, they immediately trembled with excitement.
They were going to fight and kill. Moreover, there were so many of them.
This was too satisfying, too satisfying!
"Hahaha …" The Rock Bandits Legion on the city walls had already started to use their knives to cut their faces and ignite their fighting spirit.
The Rock Bandits Legion below the city walls couldn't sit still anymore. They let out a series of strange cries and started to lick their blades with their tongues.
"Ga Ga …"
"Wuwuwu …"
Seeing that the Rock Bandits Legion seemed to be celebrating a festival, the Southeast New Army couldn't help but relax a little.
One of the soldiers turned around and realized that they were all familiar faces. He couldn't help but say to a fellow villager beside him, "Actually, although Marquis Søren is a little arrogant, he's not a bad person. The reorganization didn't disrupt us. We are all together."
…
"Fight to the death! Those who retreat will die!"
"Heavenly Retribution Søren!"
The charging Zhi Li Legion had already entered the firing range of the cannons!
"Open fire … open fire … open fire …"
Søren gave the order!
"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"
A few hundred cannons let out a series of loud noises, covering the tsunami-like shouts of the Zhi Li Legion.
Then, a few hundred solid bullets shot out like black lightning!
At this time, there was no need to aim at all. The entire battlefield was on a flat ground between two mountains. It was only about four miles wide.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were densely packed like a swarm of ants. They could hit them even with their eyes closed.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh …"
A few hundred solid bullets suddenly rushed out a few hundred streaks of blood. Everywhere they passed, corpses and bones were sent flying.
At most, a single bullet could kill a few dozen people!
A single round of bombardment would cause a few thousand casualties.
However, to an army of 400,000 soldiers, it was like a drop in the ocean. Like a splash in a pond, it quickly disappeared.
The preparation time for each round of firing was too long. Even though Søren's cannoneers were skilled enough, they still needed around six to seven minutes.
When the rapid-fire cannons arrived, that would be the real blessing.
Søren imagined in his mind that if he had a few hundred rapid-fire cannons, all using self-propelled bullets and high explosives, he would be able to kill all of them. If he had Maxim guns, he wouldn't need too many, just a hundred would be enough!
If he had Maxim guns, he wouldn't need too many, just a hundred would be enough! Søren dared to guarantee that these 400,000 people would be killed within a few hours.
Unfortunately, Søren didn't have any of these!
Not to mention the rapid-fire cannons and Maxim guns, which he wouldn't have in his lifetime, he wouldn't have high explosives for a very long time.
His only hope at the moment was that the boulder obstacles in front of him could be effective!
…
The hundreds of thousands of soldiers were still charging forward.
They were only two miles away from the defense line of Gale Thunder Fortress.
From here on, the ground in front of them would no longer be flat.
Last night, Søren's head was refreshed after he slept with Jung Yeon, and he suddenly had an idea.
So, he sent out tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of pack horses to transport the boulders that hadn't been used up to build the defense line of Gale Thunder Fortress to the outside of the city wall. He placed them randomly to create obstacles on the battlefield.
There were pros and cons to placing these things. The cons were that it would affect the damage of the cannons and catapults, and it couldn't completely stop Zhi Li's army. It could only delay them.
But what was the most important thing for Søren?
It was time!
The interval between the firing of the cannons and catapults was too long, so he had to create obstacles to delay the enemy's speed and time.
For Søren, time was more precious than gold.
Soon, the vanguard of Zhi Li's army had rushed within one mile. There were all kinds of obstacles here, and they were even more densely packed.
The soldiers carrying the siege ladders could still move freely and helplessly, but now they had to make hundreds of turns, and their speed was even slower.
"Catapults, launch!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh …"
Hundreds of giant catapults suddenly launched.
This time, they were all primitive cluster bombs. There were countless lead bullets and steel bullets in the hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder bags.
The huge gunpowder balls drew an arc in the air.
They fell into the ocean of enemy troops.
"Boom, boom, boom …"
An earth-shattering explosion!
That frightening scene appeared once again!
As if a metal storm had blown past, nearly a million steel balls and lead bullets suddenly exploded.
The entire area was completely empty!
Because in this area, there were giant boulders placed everywhere. After countless steel balls and lead bullets hit them, they bounced back and caused secondary damage.
A cloud of blood suddenly soared in the air.
After a long while, people got up one after another!
"Charge, charge, charge …"
The officer at the side shouted with all his might!
Immediately, the soldiers covered in blood continued to charge forward.
Some of them slowed down, while others fell to the ground after taking a few steps and never got up again.
The countless troops behind them were still charging forward crazily.
However, within 800 meters of the city wall, they were immediately blocked by countless boulders. It was as if a huge wave had slammed onto a reef, and then directly stopped.
Instantly, the entire army's charging formation was in chaos!
…
Søren's strategy was to pile up boulders at a distance of 800 to 150 meters from the city wall.
This way, the enemies within 800 meters would be hit with solid cannons.
The enemies within 100 to 500 meters would be hit with catapults.
The enemies within 150 meters would be hit with cannons and scorpion catapults.
This kind of obstacle division tactic was originally Søren's whimsical idea. He thought that it might have a miraculous effect, but it would be difficult to fundamentally change the situation of the battle.
However, he did not expect it to have such a huge effect.
If the number of people was small, the impact would not be too great. They could just directly pass through the obstacles.
However, once Zhi Li's army of hundreds of thousands started charging, it was impossible to stop.
The front wanted to stop, but the back kept pushing forward. Moreover, this was a siege army that needed to carry siege ladders that were more than 10 meters long.
In an instant, the entire army was completely stuck in these obstacle areas. Not only did they slow down, but they were also crowded together.
On the battlefield, time was extremely precious, especially to Søren. Every minute was like gold.
Because of his catapults and cannons, he could complete one shot every six to seven minutes.
…
On the battlefield, Zhi Li's army was clearly divided into three parts by Søren.
The first part had already charged within 150 meters and had already attacked the city wall. There were very few people in this part, only about twenty to thirty thousand.
The second part was stuck in the eight-hundred-meter-tall boulder obstacle. It was very crowded and very slow. There were tens of thousands of people there.
The third part was 800 meters away from the Gale Thunder Fortress wall. There were hundreds of thousands of people who had completely slowed down, waiting for the army in front to pass through the boulder obstacle.
The eight-hundred-meter-tall boulder obstacle was like a filter that reduced the number of enemies. It was also like a speed bump that bought the most precious time for Søren.
Soon, the hundreds of cannons in the Gale Thunder Fortress defense line were ready for the second round of bombardment!
At this moment, twenty to thirty thousand people had already rushed to the city wall.
"Scorpion catapults, ready to launch!" Søren gave the order.
Hundreds of small and medium-sized Scorpion catapults launched, throwing out gunpowder balls that weighed several kilograms.
This kind of catapult was launched by elasticity, so it was only about 100 meters away. But it had the advantage of being small and fast.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Hundreds of gunpowder balls flew more than 100 meters and smashed into the twenty to thirty thousand people who had rushed to the city wall.
"Boom, boom, boom …"
The violent explosions shot out countless steel balls and lead bullets.
Thousands of lives were taken.
Soon, the second round of bombardment was ready!
However, Søren didn't use the cannons to attack the twenty to thirty thousand people under the city wall. Instead, he used solid cannons to attack the enemies 800 meters away.
Because the enemies there were more crowded, they could cause more crazy damage.
As for the twenty to thirty thousand people under the city wall, let them come!
"Boom, boom, boom, boom …"
Hundreds of cannons roared again!
Hundreds of solid iron balls, like lightning, streaked across the air with a sharp whistle, and smashed toward the enemies 800 meters away!
Because of the boulder obstacle in front, the army here was already crowded, and people were everywhere!
After hundreds of iron balls smashed in!
"Swoosh …"
Hundreds of bloody paths were plowed open.
Søren's bombardment caused unprecedented damage.
Innumerable enemies had their bodies torn to shreds, dying a violent death.
Because of the tragic way they died, people's expressions changed!
…
At this time, Zhi Li's army at the front had already rushed to the bottom of the city wall.
After two rounds of killing, about twenty thousand people rushed to the bottom of the city wall, but Zhi Li's army still continued to pass through the obstacles and rushed to the bottom of the city wall.
"Climb the city wall, climb the city wall!"
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
After a series of loud sounds, hundreds of siege ladders were added to the city wall, and countless soldiers climbed up like ants.
For this war, Feng Li had even specially modified the siege ladders. Half of the siege ladders were welded with iron bars.
Although such siege ladders were very heavy and needed more than ten strong men to carry them, they were very strong and not afraid of fire.
The leader of the siege ladders had a huge fire shield on his head.
Out of every three people, one was wearing a fire-resistant cloak!
"Bang, bang, bang …"
On the city wall, countless barrels of kerosene fell down.
Then, countless fire arrows were shot down.
Instantly, the entire ground under the city wall was burning.
"Ah … Ah … Ah …"
The soldiers who didn't have fire-resistant cloaks immediately let out shocking screams once they were burned by the fire.
They struggled in the raging fire, and soon fell to the ground, dead!
"Climb, climb, climb …"
The elite Dragon Guards completely ignored the terrible screams around them, and the fire that filled the sky below them, and climbed up crazily!
Finally …
In this desperate craze, less than two hours after the start of today's battle, Zhi Li's army paid the price of fifty to sixty thousand casualties and finally climbed the city wall of the Wind Thunder Fortress for the first time!
The battle had entered the cruelest stage of hand-to-hand combat!
The ten thousand Rock Bandits on the city wall were like wild beasts, waving their swords and killing.
…
At this time, Søren closed his eyes!
Although the cruelest battle had just begun, he could vaguely see that he was going to win this battle!
And the main reason for this victory was actually that inconspicuous group of giant stone obstacles.
Slowing down the enemy's speed and reducing the number of enemies allowed the entire battle to enter a very subtle rhythm.
This group of giant stone obstacles divided the battlefield into three parts. This allowed Søren's most elite weapons to reach their maximum lethality.
Cannons for long-range attacks, catapults for medium-range attacks, and scorpion catapults for short-range attacks. The Rock Bandits engaged in close combat!
Once the battle entered this kind of rhythm, then they would really win!
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