"Let's begin!"
After the success of the gunpowder and grenades, Li Shimin could not help but look forward to it.
Meton nodded, picked up the blue flag on the viewing platform in front of him and waved it. Immediately, more than a dozen cavalry soldiers carrying five huge barrels of gunpowder and shields rushed to the front of the city gate at the fastest speed. They piled the barrels of gunpowder in front of the city gate, lit the fuses, and suddenly retreated, hiding in the holes that were dug in advance.
"Boom!"
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, with a flash of fire, the sturdy city gate was like paper paste, a big hole was blown out. Through the gradually thinning smoke, Li Shimin could actually see the trees at the city gate clearly.
The hearts of the generals sank, and they suddenly felt cold all over. They secretly warned themselves that in the future, when they were defending the city, they must seal the city gate. If they were really careless and the city gate was blown open, the consequences could be imagined.
"Sure enough, you didn't let me down," Li Shimin said after standing for a long time.
"The cost of this explosive pack is one thousand taels," Meton said again.
"Not to mention one thousand taels, even ten thousand taels is worth it." At this moment, Li Shimin no longer cared about the price. In the past sieges, breaking through the city gates almost represented the fall of this level. A thousand taels of silver to break through a city, there was no other business in the world that was so cost-effective.
Hou Junji on the side was a little jealous. "In a real war, the city gates are sealed. At most, it can be used to blow up the city gate once, and it still depends on luck."
Many generals nodded. If gunpowder weapons were to appear in the world, it would certainly shock the world. No matter which city was besieged by the Tang Army, they would probably learn a lesson and seal the city gate tightly.
In other words, although gunpowder weapons seemed to be extraordinarily effective to attack the city gate, they could only be used once. If they were unlucky and encountered a cautious general, they might not even be able to use it once.
"That's right! If the city gate is sealed, this kind of powerful gunpowder is effective on the city gate, but I'm afraid it's like scratching an itch through a boot to the city wall! " Zhangsun Shunde hit the nail on the head. Although he believed in the supremacy of cavalry, he had been on the battlefield for a long time and was keenly aware of the flaws.
"You can't say that. If it's a surprise attack, the defenders won't be able to block the gate in time. They still have a chance to break through," Cheng Yaojin retorted. However, he also knew that this chance was very slim.
Li Shimin was also surprised when he heard this. Although this method of attacking the city gate had a miraculous effect, it was still far from the effect of destroying the city as described by Meton.
"Generals, you are right. Attacking the city gate is indeed up to the will of the heavens. However, I have prepared a big gift that will definitely not disappoint you all."
Meton caught a glimpse of Xue Rengui's signal from the corner of his eye. He smiled mysteriously and unfurled the red flag in front of him.
All the generals were shocked. They stared at the city walls. Meton had given them too much of a shock. They couldn't help but look forward to it.
However, they didn't know if it was because they were paying too much attention or because of other reasons, but they felt that after a long time, there was still no movement. They couldn't help but look at Meton with doubtful eyes.
"Merton, this is the big gift you were talking about." Hou Junji looked at Meton with a sarcastic expression.
Many generals also looked at Meton with dissatisfaction. They were all nobles with illustrious backgrounds. Meton's actions made them feel like he was playing with them.
Meton smiled awkwardly. The flaws of this primitive gunpowder were very obvious. It wasn't like there weren't any problems. He smiled awkwardly and was about to explain when a sudden tremor came from the ground, accompanied by a huge roar.
"Earth Dragon Overturning!"
The generals were shocked. Before they could react, the scene in front of them stunned them. They saw that the city wall they had just stepped on collapsed with a roar.
After a long time, the smoke dissipated. Everyone was still stunned, looking ahead in horror. Hou Junji's sarcastic smile suddenly froze on his face.
"City Destroying Pass!" Everyone's hearts were in their throats. Even Modun was trembling all over. Although he had expected this to happen, he was still shocked.
The generals' hair stood on end. They were like fierce beasts that had encountered their natural enemy.
This kind of weapon, which was comparable to the power of gods, could be said to be the greatest nemesis of traditional generals. Their martial strength and military intelligence couldn't help but be overshadowed by this kind of gunpowder weapon.
The people of the country loved to build city walls. City walls were a country's strongest defense. Since primitive society, people learned to use stones to block caves to protect themselves. The pace of building city walls had never stopped. Every village had a stronghold, every county had a city wall. The bigger the city, the taller and longer the city wall, which led to the creation of the world-famous Great Wall.
With a city wall, it meant safety. No matter the time, if one wanted to conquer a city with a city wall, the price to pay was too great.
All the generals believed that they could take down such a tall city wall, but without thousands of lives, it wouldn't be enough. However, in the hands of Mo Jiazi, the city wall was destroyed with just a roar.
However, it wasn't just the ten-zhang wall that was destroyed. More importantly, it was the city in the hearts of the generals. They had always believed in the strongest defense, but now, a flaw had finally appeared. This meant that the military strategy books and strategies they had always believed in were also flawed.
"There's no need to fix the Old Man's military strategy book." Li Jing lamented. It wasn't because his military strategy book was perfect, but because he had to rewrite it.
Today's demonstration by the Firearms Bureau could be said to be a subversive blow to the militarists. Although the Three-Section Strike was strange, it was only an improvement on the crossbow. It was still within the scope of everyone's understanding.
However, the appearance of gunpowder weapons was revolutionary to the militarists. First of all, the value of individual bravery would be greatly reduced. The factor that determined the victory of a war would be shifted from military force to weapons.
After all, there was no difference in the power of a powerful gunpowder bomb in the hands of a well-trained soldier and in the hands of an ordinary person. In the face of a gunpowder bomb, the chances of survival of the two people were almost equal.
Secondly, even the city wall couldn't withstand the attack of gunpowder. The Tang Dynasty was the country that had built the most city walls. Fortunately, gunpowder was in the hands of the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise, the Tang Dynasty would be in a very bad situation.
Li Shimin couldn't help but look at Meton. The imperial court had wiped out the External Alchemy Sect in one fell swoop. The saying that the elixirs were poisonous made the External Alchemy Sect empty among the people, which put an end to the methods of obtaining gunpowder.
Meton had personally submitted a memorial to establish the Firearms Bureau under his direct jurisdiction. This ensured the secrecy of gunpowder to the greatest extent. It could be said that he had great foresight.
"The cost of this item …"
Before Meton could finish, Li Shimin waved his hand and stopped Meton from continuing.
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