Chapter 73 Cover your ears and steal the bell

Twenty strong men with red upper body waved their muscular arms and hit a high war drum. The low sound of war drums suddenly sounded one after another. Although the rhythm was not fast, it hit people's hearts. The heartbeat responded to the drums and became more powerful, pushing a stream of hot blood to the limbs and bones.

Listening to the majestic sound of drums, Sun Feng felt that his temples were pounding, his scalp felt a feeling of numbness, and his hands and feet were also a little swollen. A stream of true qi slowly flowed between the meridians and rattling. This is his first time to command the battle. Although the overall plan has been discussed with his father and uncle countless times, and his experienced uncle will guide him as his deputy, he is still a little nervous. You can command 200,000 troops in the first battle. I think few people in the world can have such an opportunity.

Sun Feng clearly knew that if he could win this battle, his future would be bright, and all this was paved for him by his father.

Sun Feng couldn't help thinking of his uncle Sun Deng. He was also helped by his father step by step. He fought in the battlefield from more than a dozen steps, but now he is nestled in Yuzhang to burn porcelain. It is said that because he is too focused on burning porcelain, his health is very bad, and he coughs up blood at a young age. Sun Feng knew very well that it was not tiring at all. It was angry.

I was very lucky that I didn't meet a father like Sun Quan. On the contrary, my father did everything he could to establish his prestige for him to gain a firm foothold here. And all this was originally his glory, but he gave it to himself without reservation.

I want to win this battle no matter what. Sun Feng clenched his fist, suppressed his excitement, and shouted, "Say order, the two wings begin to attack!"

Du Yu turned around, walked to the stage, stood in the east, waved the flag, and gave orders to the Romans on the left. Quintus got the news, returned to the flag, and then gave the order to attack. Du Yu turned around again, walked to the stage on the west side, and issued an order to attack the Guishuang people on the right. Bo got the order and also gave the order to attack.

The phalanx composed of two Roman legions began to move forward at a neat pace. The front row was a warrior holding a high shield. The shield in their hands was so heavy that they could only take two steps with the drums and stop. Behind them was a row of soldiers with spears. They flattened the spears in their hands, pointed to the front, and set up a spear forest in front of the shielded warriors. Close behind are two rows of Han crossbowmen, holding a clear crossbow in their hands. The arrow branches on the crossbow obliquely point to the front and above, and their fingers are on the crossbow machine, ready to launch at any time.

Behind these four rows of soldiers, there is a siege car driven by slaves. The size of the siege vehicle is huge. The front, left and right sides are covered with thick boards, and the thick wood sticks at least two feet outside the board, which can prevent the enemy from bombarding the boards with crossbows and protect the soldiers hidden in it as much as possible. There are many shooting holes in the board, so that the archers can shoot inside without opening the board. The siege vehicle is divided into four cities. The top floor is a passage for soldiers to the city. The lower two floors are equipped with 200 arrows, and the bottom floor is empty for slaves who promote the siege to hide. Each siege vehicle is equipped with eight huge wheels, and the wheels are also hidden in the body of the car to avoid being attacked by the enemy.

Sixty siege vehicles spread out on the battlefield less than two miles away. The two siege vehicles are about 20 steps apart, maintaining a consistent pace of pace. Although the speed is not fast, the pressure brought by it is very small. Looking at the siege car slowly coming like moving the city wall, the Sassansans in the city couldn't help taking a breath.

Ardahir frowned. Did they have such a shortage of gun stones to force the city with a siege car?

Soon, Aldahir saw the crossbow cannon. Behind the siege car, a row of crossbow cannons were launched. They hid behind the siege car and could only see the long cannon rod. Ardahir frowned. He understood the other party's intention. The siege car was just a bunker. They used this siege car that strengthened their defense as a cover for the crossbow cannon to offset the lack of secret defects of the attacker's crossbow cannon.

Both sides of the siege have crossbow cannons. Because of the great power of crossbow guns, as long as the war begins, both sides will destroy each other's crossbow cannons as soon as possible. The crossbow cannon in the city has an innate advantage in this regard. It can be placed in the city so that the enemy can not see it. The observer of the city wall can check the effect of the blow, and adjust the weight and angle according to this effect. The other party can only estimate the position of these crossbow guns and implement them according to the route of gunstone flight, which is a big gap from what they see with their own eyes. Because the attacker's crossbow gun is not covered, it can only be exposed to the opponent's attack, and the probability of loss far exceeds that of the defending party. Now Sun Feng uses a siege vehicle with super anti-strike ability as an active bunker, which can make up for this disadvantage to a large extent, give more safety to the crossbowers, and make them feel at ease.

Ardahir sighed. He wanted to use the negotiation to delay the time. Now it seems that the goal has not been achieved. The other party also used the negotiation time to do a lot of preparation. He waved his hand and gave the order to attack.

The horn sounded, and with a shout, the crossbow cannons hidden in the city began to roar, and the cannon stones flew over the wall and rushed to the enemies outside the city.

"Stand the shield--" Menno Lufis raised his sword, and the messenger standing beside him waved the colorful flag in his hand. The drummer beat the war drum and passed the order to the ears of the soldiers in the phalanx. The shield walking in the front immediately stopped, stood the giant shield on the ground, supported the pole, and then hid his whole body in the shield. The spear warrior behind him took a step forward and half squatted down. The crossbowmen also caught up and tried to hide themselves under the shield as much as possible.

"Boom--" Most of the heavy cannon stones fell in front of the phalanx, and the earth trembled, passing the power of the cannon stones to everyone's psychology through the earth.

The Roman warriors clenched their teeth and looked at the smoke and dust stirred up by the gun stones in front of the battle. Although they were nervous, they were not panicked.

A cannon stone flew over the head of the phalanx and hit the front side of the siege car. It was blocked by two huge wooden pillars, making a loud noise, and the whole siege car trembled. However, although the protruding continuous bark tree was hit hard, it did not break. After shaking, the whole siege car quickly returned to calm. The aggressive gun stone was bounced out and fell to the ground feebly.

"Forward!" In the gap after the crossbow attack, the Romans accelerated their speed and rushed forward. He ran three or five steps before the next wave of crossbow guns flew. As soon as he heard the reminder of the drums, he immediately stopped to hide himself. They were not impatient. They used the obvious gap between the crossbow cannons to push forward, and finally pushed the siege vehicle within 150 steps from the city wall. After arriving at the position, they no longer moved forward, but retreated to the back of the siege car. The crossbow gunners immediately pushed the crossbow gun into place, and then began to fight back. Some people went to pick up the gun stone that the Sassanians had just hit and reloaded it with the prepared straw bag for later use.

They were in order. Although the Sassanian crossbows began to be powerful, the gun stones were flying in the air, and people were hit from time to time and screamed, they still buried their heads in their own things, just trying to protect themselves from injury.

The crossbow cannon began to roar, throwing bricks or mud balls wrapped in straw into the sky and hitting the lockdown of Taixi. With the siege vehicle in front of them as cover, the safety of the crossbowmen has been greatly improved. They can calmly do their own work and shoot in an orderly manner.

While the Romans launched an attack, the Guishuang also launched an attack. The two sides came and went very lively, and the space cannon stones were intertwined, like flying locusts.

While the soldiers in front of them were fighting, a team of soldiers ran out of the battle of the Romans and the Guishuang people. They did not take weapons, but in groups of two, carrying a stretcher made of two pieces of wood and a piece of cloth, braved the gun stones that could be fatal at any time, and rushed to the middle of the wounded soldiers, skillfully carrying the injured soldiers. Get on the stretcher and then run back and forth. At the rear of the command post, there was a temporary ambulance hospital, and the wounded soldiers were carried in for emergency treatment.

This was also proposed by Lu Xun and Sun Feng. The wounded soldiers wailed on the battlefield, which would not only interfere with the attention of others, but also affect their morale. They were carried down for treatment, and let the medical craftsmen, military records and folk men who accompanied the army take care of them, so that the soldiers could hear less screams in their ears. At the same time, they also felt that even if they suffered If you are injured, you won't wait to die. Instead, you can enjoy the care of those military records, which is very effective in appeasing people's hearts.

Both wings fought, but there was silence in the Han position facing the gate in the middle. The phalanxed Han warriors stood silently outside the range of the Sassanid crossbow cannon. Although they did not move, the silence brought great psychological pressure to the Sassanians at the top of the city. A fiery red pole was hunting in the air, always reminding the Sassanians that they saw a miracle last night.

Did Ahura, the god of light, really abandon Ardahir? Many people are hovering around this idea in their minds.

The Sassanians sent out a few cannon stones, but unfortunately, the range was not enough. Except for stirring up a few waves of smoke and dust, they did not touch the other party. Instead, the rolling cannon stones over the position had a sense of ridiculousness, just like a person singing and dancing, but no one responded. Everyone was as boring as he did not exist. . Aldahir stopped this useless work in time and also treated it with silence.

The attacks on both sides are becoming more and more fierce. After 150 steps, the attacking side of the city just invalidates the Sasian bows and arrows. The two sides only have to attack with crossbow cannons. They both want to use crossbows to gain an advantage before the siege. To some extent, the attacker even had a certain advantage, because the arrows shot from more than 60 siege vehicles actually crossed a distance of 150 steps and shot directly to the head of the city. This far exceeded the expectations of the Sassanians. In the first wave of arrow rain, many Sassanids looking at the head of the city were hit hard.

This makes Ardahir very worried.

Whether they are noble frost people or Romans, their bows and arrows are similar to those of Sassanids. They mainly hold bows. The range of riding bows is 60 or 70 steps. Generally, they are not used at all when attacking the city, while the range of the infantry is about 100 steps, which is the main force in the siege, and the range of torque crossbows can reach more than 200 steps, which is accurate. The surname is also high, but the shooting speed of the torque crossbow is slow. It can only be used as a weapon to attack key targets, but not as a weapon to suppress the surname. The important surname is not even as good as the crossbow cannon.

However, now an arrow with a range of more than 150 steps has been shot from the siege vehicle.

Aldahir knew that the Han people had a weapon called crossbow, which could reach more than 150 steps with human manpower. The farthest one could even be compared with the crossbow cannon. He had seen it under the city of Aksum. But this powerful weapon is usually not provided to others, and even the Allies may not be able to share this sharp weapon.

So, there are only two explanations for the current situation. Either the Han people joined the camp of the Romans and the Guishuang people and took on the task of shooting, or the Han people taught this sharp weapon to the Romans and the Guishuang people. Anyway, this is not a good thing for the Sassanians.

Aldahir is inexplicably a little irritable. Did he really do something wrong? Sun Shao led the four-nation alliance. Does he really plan to make the world peaceful and share wealth?

"Your Majesty, there is no movement in the city yet." A centurman of the Immolong Army hurried up the wall and said in Aldahir's ear. Aldahir raised his eyebrows: "Didn't they come to dig?"

"I don't know." The centurion frowned in confusion: "Can they find out that we are waiting for them?"

"Discovery?" Aldahir sneered, thought for a while, and then said, "It's impossible. Don't relax. I guess they will dig when they start to attack the city to hide the movement.

"Yes." The centurion bowed and retreated.

Ardahir looked at the Han position in the distance and couldn't help sneering. It seems that you also know that you can't hide it from people by digging tunnels. Do you want to cover it up by the sound of the siege? You think I'm a fool, and there's no precautions at all.

Just as Aldahir was secretly complacent, a drum sound suddenly occurred to the Han people's position. Aldahir sneered in his heart and immediately gave the order to prepare for battle.

With the rumble of drums, the siege vehicles covered by shielders, spearmen and crossbowmen were also launched on the Han position. Behind the siege vehicles were also crossbow cannons, which was not much different from the positions of the Romans and the Guishuang people, but the density was much larger and the number of people was much larger. Ardahir did not dare to neglect, and immediately ordered more crossbow cannons to turn around and prepare to compete with the Han people.

Cao Zhi is on the left and Li Yan is on the right. Nearly 20,000 soldiers are arranged on the battlefield, which is particularly scary. Not only are there many Han people, but also the number of siege vehicles and crossbow cannons is obviously larger than that of Romans and Guishuang people. Sun Feng suddenly discharged 40 siege vehicles, 100 crossbow cannons, and the board in front of them is almost crowded together, leaving only space for one person to go, pushing forward like a moving fire wall. The self-evident pressure makes people a little breathless, and the beating pattern seems to make people feel the heat of the flame.

The Han people were particularly arrogant. They kept pushing their positions forward, pushing 150 steps, 100 steps, and then to less than 80 steps. Just when Ardahir thought they would stay, they pushed them within 50 steps with the dense crossbow cannons in the city.

Aldahir was shocked. Is Sun Feng going to attack the city directly like this? He immediately ordered the archers at the head of the city to start shooting to prevent the enemy from approaching further. At the same time, he dropped a large amount of troops near the gate to prevent the other side from forcibly attacking the city.

Right here, the Han people stopped, and the soldiers retreated to the back of the siege car. A hundred crossbow cannons began to power and hit the wall with cannon stones.

The two sides began to fight fiercely. At such a close distance, not only the crossbow cannon began to attack, but also the archers were involved in the battle. The archers in the city kept pulling the bows and releasing arrows, and the crossbows hidden in the siege car were unwilling to show weakness. They poured urgent and dense arrows on the city, and a long arrow shot the wooden shield of the Sas. From time to time, arrows passed through the gap between the shields and shot on the Sassanids. These arrows are very powerful. They can easily shoot through the iron armor worn by the Sassanids. As for the soldiers who only wear leather armor, they are even more miserable. People are constantly shot through by strong arrows, and the blood springs gushed out, making the soldiers next to them pale.

The strong array of arrows of the Han people suppressed the city and the Sassanids couldn't raise their heads, and the situation in the city immediately became tense. Aldahir immediately raised more shields and ordered them to form shields to provide cover for the archers in the city and save the decline. At the same time, the crossbow cannon in the order was transferred to the gate to strengthen the defense of the gate.

Under the command of Aldahir, the Sassanids formed a dense defensive formation at the head of the city. They either relied on the wall or the shield to shoot arrows at the fastest speed and counterattacked with dense arrows, finally saving a little situation.

Cao Zhi saw that the two sides were glued, regardless of the obstruction of the guards, rushed to the top floor of the front siege car, pushed away the top cover, and suddenly appeared on the top of the siege car. Before the modified siege vehicle began to attack the city, there was no one on the top floor. It was covered with thick wooden boards to avoid being broken by the enemy's artillery stones. It was not until it approached the city wall that the top cover was opened, and the soldiers rushed to the head of the city through the closed bridge ladder to fight. Now Cao Zhi suddenly pushed off the top cover and jumped up, and neither side expected it.

The Sassan archers at the top of the city first found the Han general. They said a lot and immediately shot a long arrow.

The long arrow roared, and Cao Zhi's personal guard was so scared that he immediately rushed to Cao Zhi and set up a shield.

"Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!"

Almost in an instant, dozens of long arrows shot on the shield. The two guards only guarded Cao Zhi, but exposed themselves to the enemy's arrow rain, snorted and fell to the ground one after another. The guard who rushed up behind couldn't say much. Several people raised their shields to block the front. The two picked up Cao Zhi and prepared to stuff him back into the siege car. Cao Zhi was furious and struggled desperately. The two guards looked up and saw a black spot flying out of the city, flying in this direction. He knew that the enemy's crossbow cannon had found them. Before he could think about it, he lifted Cao Zhi and stuffed it into the exit and threw them directly.

With a fierce roar, a huge arrow shot first, easily splitting a huge shield, and the rest of the long arrow was unfailing, and then shot through the body of the guard. The guard didn't even open his mouth, and another huge shield shot. The spear-like arrow suddenly cut off his neck and shot fiercely on the top cover of the siege car, making a loud noise. In a moment, another cannon stone flew, smashing the three guards who were in a hurry to escape back to the siege car.

Cao Zhi couldn't defend himself and was suddenly dizzy. He jumped up, but did not scold or look at the personal guards who were severely damaged by the enemy. He rushed to the back of the siege car, stretched out his head, and shouted at the crossbowmen hidden behind the siege car: "Change the oil bomb. "!"

Hearing this, the crossbow gunners immediately threw down the straw bag in their hands and replaced them with the oil tank on the side. Cao Zhi then yelled at the crossbow gunners next to him, and passed out the orders one by one. In a long time, even the crossbow gunners on Li Yan's side were ordered. All of them removed the straw bags and replaced them with oil tanks.

The Sassanites at the top of the city were not aware of the danger. When several oil tanks fell on the wall and smashed to pieces, they also laughed disdain, saying that the Han people bluffed and filled this kind of thing with cannon stones. It was not until the black sticky oil flowed all over the city that they found that the situation was wrong. Sassanids are not unfamiliar with this kind of sticky oil. Such things can often be seen in the desert. Many people also specialize in this kind of oil for lighting. They know that this kind of oil is difficult to extinguish when burned, and the smoke is particularly large.

As soon as Aldahir saw the oil on the ground, he suddenly felt that his scalp was numb. A burst of cool air went straight to the back of his head along the spine. He raised his head and looked at the dense crowd in the city. He opened his mouth and let out a roar:

"Spand up - be careful of the enemy's fire attack-"

It's a pity that he shouted too late.

In fact, there is no need for Aldahir to shout. The Sassan soldiers at the top of the city have realized what is going to happen. They really want to evacuate, but this is not so easy. The oil tanks falling from the sky fell to pieces on the wall one by one. The black and sticky oil flowed everywhere, and the people on the wall were covered with this oil. The Sassanid were so scared that they threw down their weapons and fled everywhere. The military team could not stop the defeat by killing dozens of people. It's just that chaos not only does not help evacuation, but also increases the difficulty of escaping. Countless Sassanids huddle together, pushing each other and crying. They should not only guard against the oil tanks coming from the world, but also guard against their feet. If they are not careful, they will slip. As long as they slip, they will never have a chance to get up again. They can only be supported by the people alive. Stepping to death. In order to escape, many people simply jumped from the five-foot-high city.

As a batch of rockets fell from the sky, they ignited black oil everywhere, and a raging fire broke out at the head of the city. The fire burned more and more fiercely, and quickly spread to the bottom of the city, and the whole gate soon turned into a sea of fire.

Aldahir was stunned.

(to be continued)