Chapter 659: Fierce Battle (Part 1)
Even though Qin Lei found the best solution, due to the level of productivity, the speed of hand-made production alone is really outrageous.
From the launch of the first artillery in the winter of the third year of Tianyou to the three and a half years today, the Qin army has tried its best to produce more than 200 Folang machines and forty red-clothed cannons. The only thing that is gratifying is that as the craftsmen become more and more skilled, they have shortened the time for producing one Folang machine in seven days and one red-clothed cannon in one month to three and fifteen days, which should be able to supplement the loss in the war.
Qin Lei knew very well that due to the crude manufacturing process, the power of the cannons was not as high as the eighteenth century, so he unreservedly brought more than 250 long and short cannons to Hulao Pass and bombarded the strong city with fierce fire.
Can there be more ants to kill elephants, let alone cannons? More than 200 long and short cannons are divided into five groups and are intensively fired at five different targets. Although the accuracy needs to be improved, there are always more than a dozen shells hitting the target in each volley. No matter how strong the arrow tower is, it is broken and shaking. The luckless one collapses in the first volley, and few shooters inside escape.
This fierce weapon, paired with more than a thousand catapult cars and thousands of high-speed crossbows, forms a terrifying three-dimensional crossfire network... The flying fire meteor emitted by the catapult car covers the city head indiscriminately and ignites a raging fire; the cannons focus on attacking arrow towers and bunkers, and the giant crossbow greets the crowd exposed on the city head. These three attack waves swept across the city head like hurricanes and rainstorms.
In just half an hour, the arrow towers on the top of the city were destroyed, and the grand city gate tower was even more greeted by the Qin army. Left less than a quarter of an hour after Chen Liefeng moved his command post, it collapsed into ruins.
Under the cover of unprecedentedly powerful firepower, Qin soldiers began to push large vehicles to the wide moat in front of the pass. Chen Liefeng in the city gate tower could see clearly and quickly ordered everyone to take their place and attack the Qin army that filled the river.
But people could no longer stand on the top of the city, and all the targets of activities would be attacked like hail by the Qin army. The supervisory officers killed several Qi soldiers who were flinched and finally chased them from the cover, and even they were smashed and shot to death by hundreds of them. The scared soldiers retreated like a tide, and no matter how the supervisory team drove them, they would never step beyond the line.
Seeing this situation, Chen Liefeng also knew that his subordinates were really powerless. If they insisted on forcing, they would have no effect except for increasing casualties. He could only grit his teeth and said, "Stop." He then watched the moat that blocked the enemy soldiers and allowed the enemy to fiddle with them at will.
The Qin army's river filling technology was quite advanced. It took only half an hour to build more than a dozen wide floating bridges. Seeing that the passage had been completed, Prince Yong, who had been waiting for a long time, waved his order flag and shouted: "Strike!"
The inspiring sound of war drums rumbling, and the Fourth Army's leading infantry division unfolded in the attack, either surrounded by siege cars and movable arrow towers, or held up the moving ladders, shouted loudly, and swarmed quickly to pass the floating bridge on the river.
But the Qin army's catapult cart had to stop... The flying fire meteors thrown by these big guys were fierce, but they were too lacking in accuracy. If they didn't stop, even without the Qi army's defense, the Qin army's siege troops would be smashed to pieces.
In order to avoid accidental injury, the Qin army's Folang aircraft also stopped firing, while the red-clothed cannon raised its elevation angle and relied on its long range to drive the shells across the city wall and into the Hulao City. Only thousands of precisely strike crossbows were still firing desperately at the top of the city, trying to maintain the suppression of the aligned army.
But shells and flying fire meteors are the source of pressure. Once these two killing weapons stopped, Qi Jun suddenly felt that the pressure was greatly reduced. A sharp whistle sounded on the city head. A large number of Qi soldiers hiding under the city wall rushed up and sent the newly prepared rolling wood, pounding wood, arrows, boiling oil and other materials to the city head. Chen Liefeng also placed a thousand box crossbows onto the west city wall. This is a powerful city-defense weapon unique to Qi. It can penetrate any armor and even a shield cannot be stopped. If it weren't for every launch, it would take a certain amount of time to reinstall crossbows, and these box crossbows alone could block the Qin army's offensive.
As soon as the Qin army crossed the river, the Qi army was basically in place, and a fierce offensive and defensive battle began.
The Qi army officers ran back and forth on the city wall, waving the sword in their hands, and ordered their soldiers to scatter waves of arrows. There were too many Qin troops under the city, and they could shoot them with just one shot. They saw blood splashing under the city, each representing a living life.
At this distance, the rolling stone pounding wood was actually even more terrifying. The Qi army threw the grinder-sized stones and heavy pounding wood with iron nails from the top of the city, and fell into the Qin army formation in a blink of an eye. After smashing the Qin army in the front row to pieces, it continued to roll back with its strong inertia. Wherever it passed, it would inevitably be full of brains and blood, which was a terrible sight. For a moment, screams, moans, and cries under the city were one after another, causing the Qi army soldiers who had been defeated since the war to exclaim.
Although the losses were very heavy, the Qin army still stubbornly leaned the huge car-style ladder towards the city, and the tower car finally entered the range. The shooters on the shooting tower began to shoot wildly, wanting to suppress the enemies in the city to reduce the damage of the siege comrades.
Coupled with the concentrated support of the crossbows in the distance, the Qi army suffered heavy losses, and dumplings fell from the city, falling to pieces. But all the Qi people knew clearly where Hulao Pass was, and no one retreated. The soldiers in the back team were on standby at any time. As long as the front was tight, they would make up without hesitation, and there was no need to threaten the team.
There were too many Qin troops siegeing the city, and there were as many as 200 ladder trucks alone. Although half of them were destroyed before reaching the city wall, the remaining one hundred were finally approaching the city. The weakness of this ladder truck is that it is bulky in its style, but its advantages are also prominent... With its steady body, once it leans against the city wall, it cannot be pushed away, forming a strong passage with a large slope, greatly reducing the difficulty of soldiers siegeing the city.
The first wave of attackers held iron shields and raindrop-like arrows, half-running along the ladder and climbed half-climbing along the ladder, and soon reached mid-air. But the strength of the Qi army was guarding the city. They calmly put the millstone-sized rolling stones on the ladder, and the stone rolled down the sloped ladder. Any cloud ladder with stones on it would be severely injured, with few left... This was really a bit self-contained. If it were that kind of simple cloud ladder, it would not be so miserable.
Seeing this, Qin Li immediately ordered the cavalry to advance. The predecessor of the Fourth Army's Cavalry Division was the skillful and fierce Longxiang Army. They all brought their own strong bows and crossbows. When they received the order, they understood it and approached the city wall to use the crossbow to suppress the enemy's enemy.
This move worked immediately. Accompanied by the rain of arrows, the Qi army suddenly suffered heavy casualties, and the officers and soldiers standing at the forefront were like crops falling down, and all were injured in a blink of an eye.
As one goes up and down, the Qin army suddenly felt that the pressure was greatly reduced. Without the command of the commander, the infantry generals shouted and reorganized the troops to attack the city.
Seeing this, Chen Liefeng no longer hid his strength. He ordered a red flag to rise. Soon, a sound of whining and breaking wind sounded, stones as big as a pot flew out of the city wall and fell into the Qin cavalry formation. Unpredictable, many cavalrymen were smashed into meat paste by people and horses. What's even more terrifying is that the stones would actually break, and after landing, the debris would be like a knife, which would hurt the surrounding Qin army.
This move was immediately effective and immediately had a strong deterrent effect. The Longxiong cavalry had to turn the horse's head and distance it from the range of the catapult cart, so they did not dare to get too close. Although there was no threat of huge rocks, the suppression of the city head became useless.
The soldiers of the Qi army's rear team immediately added to the position and launched a fierce blockade again at the city.
However, the Qin army under the city was already red in their eyes. They held their shields with their hands high, biting sharp blades in their mouths, and braved the rolling wood, stones and even oil from the city wall, climbing up crazily. Finally, someone broke through the defense and rushed up the city wall!
The soldiers of the Qi army were prepared for a long time. When they saw someone coming up, they would poke several spears of six feet through and then throw them high down the city wall. Everyone knew that once the Qin army gained a firm foothold, it would be the time for the entire army to be wiped out.
Under the full lethality of the Qi army, the Qin army attacked the city several times, but was driven down several times, and the casualties continued to rise.
This made Qin Lei, who was watching the battle from a distance, feel very distressed, but the commander-in-chief of the siege was Qin Li. As long as he did not stop, the siege would not stop for a moment.
He saw that the retreating troops gathered again and organized attacks again. Qin Li even went to the front line and organized attacks himself within the attack range of the Qi army. In this way, the morale of the officers and soldiers who had begun to decline rose again.
Chapter completed!