Along with the heavy rain came stronger and stronger winds.
Zhang Liang subconsciously looked at the hot air balloons above his head, which had been floating steadily in the air. At this time, they were all swaying from side to side.
As the wind became stronger and stronger, the hot air balloon swayed more and more.
The wooden frame to which the hot air balloon was tied also creaked as the rope pulled it.
"Let all the hot air balloons land!"
Zhang Liang called the ordering soldiers and said quickly: "Pass the order, the whole army will enter the first level of combat readiness!"
"yes!"
The messenger ran out in the rain.
Da Zhuang lived in the tent next to Zhang Liang, and after hearing his order, he quickly ran out.
"Brother Liang, what's wrong?"
"If I guess correctly, the Eastern Barbarians are about to launch an attack!"
Zhang Liang stood in the rain, frowning: "Dongman Shanyu is worthy of being a veteran. He is indeed rich in experience. In the end, we still fell into his trap."
At this time, he had already figured it out. The Eastern Barbarians had been grazing on the grasslands for generations and had a better understanding of the weather in the north.
The Shanyu of the Eastern Barbarians must have judged that there would be a storm in the past few days, so he set up camp in the east for a confrontation.
When the storm comes, the hot air balloon cannot take off at all, and grenades that need to be ignited with a match rope cannot be used. For the Dongman side, this is the most advantageous time to attack.
Zhang Liang's guess was right. He saw the hot air balloons of the Northern Expeditionary Army landing one after another, and the roar of galloping war horses soon sounded in the east.
"The Eastern Barbarians are coming!"
The Northern Expeditionary Army instantly started running at full speed.
The Shen Gong Battalion immediately rushed to the outermost area with supplies.
"Brother Liang, this weather is very unfavorable for us!"
This time, not only the other officers and bodyguards, but also Da Zhuang became a little worried.
"Sir, he said that it is not a good thing for an escort to fight with a smooth wind all the time, because there is no such thing as a smooth fight all the time!"
Zhang Liang's face became more serious: "We must fight when it is good for us, and we must fight beautifully when it is not good for us. Only in this way can we completely scare the Eastern Barbarians!"
"It makes sense," Da Zhuang nodded, and then asked: "The enemy is coming from the east, and the pressure from the east is a bit strong. Do you want to transfer part of the Shen Gong Battalion from the other three directions to reinforce?"
"No need," Zhang Liang shook his head and said, "Just ask the logistics department to send more supplies."
The roar caused by the galloping war horses became louder and louder, and ten minutes later, the cavalry figures appeared on the grass to the east.
The rain was so heavy that the sight of the escorts was seriously affected. By the time they saw the cavalry, the enemy had already arrived not far from the trench to the east.
Moreover, the enemy came well prepared and knew that the Northern Expeditionary Army had dug horse traps around the position, so they did not launch an immediate charge. Instead, they asked the captive dead soldiers to crawl forward carrying planks on their backs and fill up the horse traps on the grass.
.
"We're in some trouble now!" Da Zhuang became even more worried when he saw this.
Hot air balloons and grenades cannot be used, and the Northern Expeditionary Army's biggest advantages are only heavy crossbows and catapults.
Unlike the northwest and Sichuan, the grassland is full of stones, and catapults have endless ammunition.
There is only green grass and mud on the grassland, and stones are very rare.
Since the rocks are so heavy, the Northern Expeditionary Army cannot carry too many, so they can't throw mud at the enemy, right?
Therefore, in Jin Feng and Zhang Liang's plan, the main purpose of the catapults carried by the Northern Expeditionary Army was to install them on the city wall for defense after recapturing Yuguan City.
The most important long-range weapon during the Northern Expedition was the heavy crossbow.
And crawling is the best way to deal with shooting.
The captive dead soldiers have planks on their backs, making it difficult for ordinary bows and arrows to hurt them, and heavy crossbows can only shoot one-on-one.
At this time, the rain curtain was hazy, and it was not worth mentioning whether it could be shot. It was not cost-effective to use one-on-one shooting.
After all, the supplies carried by the Northern Expeditionary Army were limited, and the heavy crossbow arrows were wasted. What would they use for a general offensive?
"Where's the catapult? Hit them to death!"
Zhang Liang ordered coldly.
Although the catapult was not the main weapon of this Northern Expedition and the number of stones it carried was not large, it was not that it did not carry any stones at all.
Following Zhang Liang's order, Lifu from the logistics department carried baskets of cobblestones into the catapult's throwing basket, and then roared into the area where the captured dead soldiers were.
The reason why cobblestones are used is because they can roll and injure people after they hit the ground, and a galloping horse may get stuck if it steps on them.
The planks on the backs of the captive dead soldiers could block ordinary arrows, but they could not block the impact of cobblestones.
Soon, all the prisoners and dead soldiers trapped in the horse pit were beaten to death.
However, before the bodyguards could be happy, a group of prisoners and dead soldiers climbed over carrying planks on their backs.
"Brother Liang, they are even more scattered this time. This is not the way to go. We don't have many cobblestones. If we try a few more times, they will all be smashed!"
Da Zhuang asked tentatively: "How about sending the reconnaissance company out to kill them?"
The reconnaissance company is an elite group selected by Zhang Liang from various teams, and there is no problem in fighting the Eastern Barbarians one-on-one.
"If we send the reconnaissance company there, we will definitely be bitten by the opponent, and then the Eastern Barbarian Shanyu will definitely take the opportunity to launch a general attack!"
Zhang Liang shook his head and said: "When the reconnaissance company mixes with the enemy, will Shen Gong Battalion fight or not?"
"I almost fell into their trick again!" Da Zhuang suddenly realized after hearing this.
The heavy crossbows of the Shen Gong Battalion do not distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. It would be really troublesome if the reconnaissance company mixes with the enemy.
If you don't fight, you can only watch the enemy rush in front of you, and the Shen Gong Battalion will be completely useless.
If you fight, it will also attack your own scouts.
This kind of behavior will chill the hearts of our own soldiers and damage our own morale. It is also behavior that Jin Feng will never allow.
When Da Zhuang was about to speak, a messenger ran over and shouted breathlessly:
"Report to the commander, Eastern barbarians have also appeared in the northern position!"
Then two more messengers came running.
Eastern barbarian dead warriors also appeared in the west and south.
"We are surrounded!"
At this moment, Da Zhuang finally understood why Zhang Liang did not agree to his proposal to mobilize the Shen Gong Battalion from other directions to reinforce Dongfang.
It turned out that Zhang Liang had already guessed that the other party would do this.
"Brother Liang, what should we do now?" Da Zhuang asked: "We can't just watch the dead men fill up the horse pits and trenches, right?"
The planks on the backs of the captives were not only to protect themselves from arrows, but also to pave the way when they climbed to the trench.
Zhang Liang closed his eyes and thought for a while, then spoke to the messenger: "Order the ministries not to worry about the dead soldiers, let them pave the way, and prepare the Shen Gong Battalion for the first wave of enemy attacks!"
"Yes!" The messenger rode away on horseback.
"We have met our match!"
Zhang Liang looked at Dongfang and sighed.
The weapons made by Jin Feng have great advantages.
Since joining Jin Feng, Zhang Liang has almost always defeated his enemies in every battle.
But this time the Eastern Barbarian Shanyu made him feel the pressure, which also made Zhang Liang a little excited.