Three Kingdoms

The camp of Guanqiu Xinghou Camp under attack was completely damaged. The raging fire that burned all night burned almost everything that could be burned. The watchtowers that once stood at both ends of the camp were black and smoking, almost Light or dark fire heads were beating everywhere.

Guanqiu Xing, who was familiar with military literature, subconsciously avoided the issues that he should have been worried about, because in his mind, there was a problem that he thought was more serious...

If he went back with lost troops and generals, what would Yang Biao think of him, and what would happen to his future?

Just like a gambler who sits at the poker table, when he discovers that he starts to lose money, he often doesn't stop in time, but becomes furious and tries every means to put all his gambling money back in one go!

Don’t these red-eyed gamblers know that even if they press on, most people will still lose, and they will lose worse and faster?

No, they all know it, but they all feel that they belong to the lucky few...

Just like Wuqiu Xing.

The shouts of killing echoed in this world, hitting the Pingyang city wall and then splashing out, as if the collision unleashed boundless murderous intent!

Guanqiu Xing's soldiers kept running back and forth under Pingyang City. Teams of soldiers filled in, and then came back with dead and wounded like a stream of water, like waves hitting the Pingyang City Wall. It’s the same as above. Although the catapults under the city are amazingly powerful, they are just a kind of impact weapon at the moment. There is no accuracy at all. The stone bullets thrown out have no idea how they hit the head of Pingyang City. If there are too many, they will still hit more on the heads of Guanqiuxing's own soldiers.

In the afternoon, Guanqiu Xing's soldiers boarded a small part of the second-ring city wall. Although they were quickly driven down, this almost gave Guanqiu Xing a glimpse of success and made him even more excited. , unknowingly, even he himself moved closer, getting closer to Pingyang City Wall.

With the coach pressing forward, his soldiers naturally have no reason to retreat.

To the side and behind Guanqiu Xing were flags representing various units, stuck on the ground one after another, like a screen made of flags. Among these flags, the most eye-catching ones, apart from Guanqiu Xing’s own Zhongjun command flag, are two bright flying tiger flags, one blue and one red, fluttering in the wind, which exactly represent Guanqiu Xing’s military command. The two most elite soldiers!

Wu Qiu Xing suddenly waved his hand, pulled out a red flying tiger flag, turned to look at Wang Zhong and said: "Wang Junhou! We have been raising troops for many days, but now the defense of Pingyang City is in a state of decline. Can you lead the troops directly?" Attack the east gate! A certain number of stone cannons and cloud towers are here to assist you. We need to board the city within an hour!"

Wang Zhong was stunned for a moment, but finally lowered his head to take the Flying Tiger Flag and turned away.

The arrows from both sides were densely intertwined in the air. At every attack window, countless people were fighting each other to the death. One side was desperately trying to break into Pingyang City, while the other side was desperately trying to stop Guanqiu's troops. Erosion advances. Amidst the sparks flying in the exchange of swords and guns, the battle between cold weapons was undoubtedly the most cruel and violent manifestation. From sunrise to midday, and then from midday to west, the number of casualties of soldiers on both sides soared rapidly. , no one knows how many people have fallen and how many more people will fall during this period of desperate melee at the top of the city!

At the east gate, a catapult had been ignited by rockets. The fire was rising and could no longer be extinguished. The remaining two catapults struggled to hit the stone projectiles against the Pingyang City Wall. They pushed it to such a distance again and again. Even the rough stone cannons had much improved accuracy, and they landed on the city wall with a bang. Everywhere he passed was a bloody mess!

Although Guanqiu Xing attacked Pingyang City with the advantage of its military strength, and as the attacking party, it could choose the location of the attack, and it also had the advantage of being able to concentrate its forces for a surprise attack. However, as a Han Chinese, it was difficult to defend the city. The experience was quite sufficient, so even though Guanqiu Xing had the assistance of siege equipment, he could not quickly open up the situation and achieve a breakthrough. Even the war drums under the city that had been roaring all day now seemed to be a little weak.

As Wang Zhong was a subordinate of Guan Qiu Xing, he naturally had no room for bargaining, because Guan Qiu Xing did not ask for advice, but directly issued military orders, so he had to obey.

We have been attacking for a day now, if this strength is released...

Wang Zhong didn't dare to think too much. He could only yell and urge the soldiers to wait on the ladder and tower to seize the city wall!

Although Wang Zhong struggled to climb the Pingyang Tower under the suppression of catapults and Yun Tower, those Zhengxi infantry in heavy armor, coupled with sharp long weapons, had always been a nightmare for the siege soldiers. Even if Yang Biaoshe spent a lot of money to ration the soldiers in Guanqiu Xing, they still had to climb ladders, so how could they wear heavy armor?

Therefore, in terms of equipment, even though Wang Zhong fought hard and bloody, the Guanqiu soldiers under him were still in a state of embarrassment. The wooden shields in the hands of the Guanqiu soldiers who faced Zhengxi's heavy infantry were destroyed by the sharp swords. He was smashed to pieces. He was wearing only half armor or even no armor and could not withstand the sharp blade. He was killed and staggered, crying and crying. He basically had no power to fight back. If Wang Zhong hadn't fought hard, coupled with the ladder and the With the aid and support of catapults, Guanqiu Xing's soldiers could not reach the top of the city at all!

In order to preserve this piece of territory that had finally been established, under the leadership of Wang Zhong, hundreds of Guanqiu soldiers also fought bloody battles. Every step was bloody. Both sides refused to give in and used all their strength to kill each other everywhere. There was a stalemate for a while.

Unlike Guanqiu Xing, who stood out like a flock of chickens, if Xun Chen was not surrounded by guards carrying large shields and some command flags on his sides, he actually didn't look much different from ordinary soldiers in the Western Expedition.

Of course, if you pay attention to observation, there are actually differences.

Although it is the same helmet and sleeve armor, there is a five-petal pattern inlaid with gold wire on the ear protection on both sides of the seemingly identical helmet. There is also a pattern like this under the shoulders on both sides of the sleeve armor. pattern.

Also available above the belt.

There will be a gold pattern, a silver pattern for the school, a red line for the military commander, a blue line for the camp commander, and a black line for the team leader.

Very simple, but very practical.

When Zheng Xifeiqian came up with such a trick at first, most people were still a little confused, but as time went by, they gradually came to appreciate the mystery, and Xun Chen was naturally one of them.

Especially when there is a melee and the formation is scattered, like now.

Guanqiu Xing had been looking for Xun Chen and others under the city, intending to attack with a catapult. However, when he looked at the top of the city from two hundred steps away, the soldiers of the Zhengxi soldiers all seemed to look the same. For a moment, It was impossible to distinguish Xun Chen's location from time to time, so naturally there was no key area to attack.

In addition, for the melee at the top of the city, even if the queue is broken up, as long as there is a lieutenant colonel in the army saying hello, it will naturally regroup. There is no need to withdraw and regroup as before. The methods are gathered in one place, and the benefits brought by the differences are naturally needless to say.

It's just that the replacement of military equipment has always been a big project, so now, only the soldiers of the Western Expedition near Pingyang are ready. As for those in other places, it still takes some time.

The battle has been going on since dawn. Although the number of soldiers in Guanqiu Xing is larger, people are not invulnerable, especially fighting with cold weapons. It can be said that the consumption of human energy and physical strength is more than that of daily activities. Several times, if it weren't for the fact that most of the infantry sent out by Xun Chen last night were just a guise and didn't exert much strength, the city at this time would have been exhausted by Guanqiu Xing's tidal offensive.

Although there is dry food and water in Xunchen City, there are not many people who can take turns to fill their stomachs in the battle formation. In addition, the energy loss cannot be replenished with just some rations and drinking water, so Xunchen No matter how difficult it is on the city wall, Chen will not be far away from using the less than 2,000 cavalry who have retreated to the city in advance.

But at this moment, Xun Chen watched Guanqiu Xing's soldiers rush forward one after another, and then retreat one after another. He estimated that the momentum of Guanqiu Xing's soldiers was gradually approaching the point of exhaustion... …

"Come up and adjust the crossbow cart!" Xun Chen ordered in a deep voice as he looked at the Guanqiu Xing Formation, which was getting more and more urgent and getting closer to the city.

There is a catapult in Guanqiu, but why is there no relevant research in Huang's workshop?

It's just that under the influence of General Fei Qian of Zhengxi, there is really not much interest in the catapult, which is relatively bulky and has more intimidating power than direct lethality. In addition, the previous research direction has been climbing towards the bow. Crossbow technology tree, so when it comes to large-scale long-range weapons, Huang's workshop still focuses on researching crossbow vehicles.

Although the technology of the catapult is not complicated, the weight of the stone projectiles thrown is also higher, and the power of a single shot is much stronger than that of the ballistae, but the stone projectiles are thrown out of control, and even where they are thrown are not affected. The weapons that I don’t know are not consistent with Fei Qian’s character at all, so what goes up is good, and what goes down must be effective. In addition, although the ballista does not follow a parabolic shooting trajectory, it will sometimes be affected by obstructions, but in the Han Dynasty this In the era before the addition of gunpowder, the effective range that the three-armed six-stringed ballista could achieve by pure physical power was already four hundred steps. If it were the maximum range, it would be five or six hundred steps!

Of course, any airflow in the air will cause deviations in the flight of the crossbow. The farther the distance, the greater the deviation. At the maximum range, the so-called accuracy is basically a joke, and it all depends on luck.

However, as a crossbow gun, it is somewhat different after all. Unlike ordinary crossbow arrows, there is a saying that a strong crossbow cannot penetrate Lu Zhen. Even at the end of the range, the weight of the crossbow gun can still hurt people, but it is not very powerful. That’s it. However, if you are shot at a limb at close range, it is normal for the huge kinetic energy to directly penetrate the torso or even tear the body into pieces.

In fact, if you want to increase the range, it is not impossible, but there is a cause and a result. If you want a long range, you need a stronger crossbow arm, and the crossbow arm in turn requires a greater bow twisting force. For The material of the ballista itself naturally has higher requirements, and if it is all made of iron, the weight, haha...

In addition, Huang's workshop has done experiments. Even if the iron thorn wheel is used for traction, ten people are needed to pull the three-armed crossbow. If it is more reliable, twenty or even thirty people need to be arranged for rotation. Otherwise, when the bow is halfway drawn, the force of the crossbow is released, causing the crossbow arm to hit empty. With just this, the crossbow will be basically scrapped...

All the steel used in the crossbow is made from hundreds of steel. Even so, some parts still need to be made of wood, otherwise it will be too bulky to carry. Even so, the precision requirements for the parts of the crossbow are still very high. , especially the Wangshan, crossbow machine, hanging knife and other parts, some require precision, some require strength, and they all vary. Therefore, for ballista technology, the gold content is extremely high, and it cannot be imitated by just a random person with a drawing.

Of course, the most important thing is that it is also expensive...

During these days, Fei Qian had only deployed fifty ballistas in Pingyang. Originally, most of them were placed in the inner city and were not easily displayed. Now Xunchen also transported twenty of them to the outer city wall. Waiting to give the unsuspecting Guanqiu Xing a drink right now.

The current shooting range is just right. Guanqiu Xing is two arrows away. Normally, even a strong crossbow would be strenuous, but for a crossbow cart, it is just within the shooting range where it can exert its maximum power.

If it were normal, according to Xun Chen's temperament, he would not do such a dirty trick against Guanqiu Xing. Although troubled times are gradually emerging, the ancient customs of the Spring and Autumn Period are still mostly appreciated by noble disciples. The so-called romantic heroism of a majestic formation and a brilliant division, each relying on his own means in the battle, and drinking wine in the next battle, is still very popular. Therefore, towards the opponent Jia Xu naturally felt no psychological burden when doing something like the coach secretly ruthless, but for Xun Chen it was not what he wanted to do.

However, when Xun Chen learned about the Taoshan incident, he could no longer hold back the anger in his heart. In his opinion, not to mention the death of one Guqiu Xing, even if there were ten or hundreds of Guan Qiu Xing, Cai Yong and Cai still need to be buried with everyone!

Therefore, Xun Chen would rather face the threat of Guanqiu Xing's crude catapults and hide the crossbows until the end. All he wanted was to kill with one strike!

A team of sword and shield men stepped forward and blocked the Huang craftsman next to the crossbow that was about to take aim, so that it would not be hurt by the stray arrows. Due to the layout, each crenel can accommodate at most one ballista. On this section of the city wall, only ten can be placed. There was no room for the other ten, so they were transferred to the east gate for support.

"Look!" Xun Chen stood beside the Huang craftsman who was operating the crossbow, and even raised his hands to several craftsmen and said, "After one blow, his army will be in chaos! So there is only one chance to kill him! General Zhengxi will definitely reward you for this beast!"

Huang's craftsman bent down and returned the gift, saying solemnly: "We understand!"

With the sound of a squeaking winch, crossbow guns as thick as a child's arm were placed in greased slots and hung with crossbow strings. Huang's craftsmen began to adjust the angle of the crossbow machine, and stuffed Guanqiu Xing's figure at the foot of the city into the small gap in the lookout mountain...

Seeing that the sun was turning to the west, Guanqiu Xing felt a little anxious in his heart. At this moment, he suddenly heard a "boom". The clear and powerful sound almost covered up the noisy sounds inside and outside the city, penetrating into every room. In the heart of a person present!

Guanqiu Xing's heart shrank suddenly, and he looked up following the sound, only to see a thick black line flying from the top of Pingyang City, heading straight towards here with a roar!