Chapter 219 Shuangzhou City is broken in an instant
"What is Xia Jun doing?"
At the south city gate, the Lord of Shuangzhou touched his chin with one hand, unable to understand at all.
"Is that a catapult?"
No matter how far apart they are, the catapult is huge after all, and it can be seen immediately after being assembled.
"At least more than four hundred steps, can his catapult be thrown so far?"
"How is that possible..."
"Even if it can be thrown so far, its weight must be very low and it cannot threaten the city walls and gates."
"Is this young master not crazy? I think he is a layman, so the commander of the third battalion won't stop him?"
"He's a high-ranking official, so let him have fun. I'm afraid everyone will see him making a fool of himself."
Lord Shuangzhou looked at this scene with an indescribable feeling in his heart.
It felt outrageous and bad at the same time. It was very complicated. He didn't even understand why he felt bad.
After years of fighting, the subtle feeling between life and death was indeed very real, which made him even more confused.
"Am I scared?"
The general shook his head: "Impossible, he is just a junior who is just starting out and doesn't even understand the art of war. Why am I panicking?"
Last night, he regarded Fang Jue as a famous general with mastery of the art of war. However, after waiting all night and with the whole army pressed against him, he felt that this young master had never read the art of war.
The disdain in my heart deepened even more.
"General, they are putting something in the catapult. They are about to shoot at you. Why don't you take cover?"
Someone said: "Even if it is just some broken stones, it will kill people if they are shot."
At this distance, although the catapult cannot threaten the city wall, it can still threaten people.
"Hide for a moment, be careful that Fang Jue is pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger. It will be bad if it is some new weapon." The general still carried out his purpose and could not underestimate his opponent's purpose.
This Fang Jue knew a lot about ordnance and invented firearms that even Luo Shuai coveted. He must have something.
"Hide for a while."
The defenders on the city wall were all a little listless. After guarding for a whole night and showing contempt for Xia's army, not many people really felt that there was a big threat from this distance.
"call out--"
When the catapult ejected, some dense black spots appeared in the sky, varying in size, but all relatively regular.
It doesn't look like gravel.
It wasn't until an earthen jar fell to the ground that anyone could see it clearly.
"Clay?"
"boom!"
Many earthen jars that had not yet fallen suddenly exploded in the air, and a few fell to the ground and shattered.
The sudden roar, like thunder, startled the Shuangzhou defenders.
The flying gravel and ceramics were like flying knives, penetrating the cotton armor of the surrounding soldiers and cutting into the flesh of the soldiers.
Dozens of people were sieved on the spot, and blood mist erupted from their bodies.
"Ah!" Someone was frightened.
"Xia Jun's new weapons?"
"What kind of weapon is this?"
"Impossible, I'm so good at hiding, why did I still get hit?"
The general was lucky and was not hit by the scattered shrapnel. He quickly said: "The shield soldiers are in front, block it!"
There is no need for him to say that the soldiers with shields have already held up thick shields.
But he failed to hold on. After several earthen jars exploded in the surrounding area, the shields could not protect the soldiers. They were hit by flying shrapnel and were covered in blood on the spot.
Most of the shrapnel on the front was still blocked, but those jars exploded not only in one place, but also in all directions and were completely unpreventable.
Everyone was shocked to see it.
"How is that possible?"
The soldiers were all heartbroken, and none of the defenders who were laughing at them just a moment ago could not laugh.
"Counterattack!" the general ordered.
But he found that no one dared to take the lead.
The general said: "General, even if we counterattack, our bows and arrows can't hit that far!"
"Mader!" The general gritted his teeth, watching his own soldiers being suppressed and unable to move. He could only hold his shield above his head and squat on the city wall.
He was so angry that he had never been so cowardly in his life!
"General, it's bad, the Xia army's cavalry is coming!"
"Shoot an arrow for me!" the general gritted his teeth.
"No, General, those pots are too dense. If they don't pop up under the shield, you will die!"
"Hide into the next floor and fight back with bows and arrows at the vents!"
"yes……"
A city wall often has not only the highest level where people can stand.
When some cities are designed, there is more than one layer above the city wall, and it is cheaper to pour it with ice water, so Shuangzhou's outer city wall has two layers.
The lower level was safer, so the commander immediately ordered the retreat to the next level.
"But in this way, we will be passive, and our field of vision and attack range will be greatly reduced." Someone said.
The general gritted his teeth: "I have no choice but to stay here and get beaten. Only then will I realize that I underestimated him!"
…
The ceramic jar was naturally the "grenade" that Fang Jue ordered the people from the Musket Bureau to make in Liangzhou after he was given the secret recipe.
The shell is made of clay, which is tough and can form a large amount of shrapnel when exploded, causing range damage.
Of course, the most important thing is... cheap and solid!
It is definitely better to make it with iron, but it is not necessary. It is too expensive, and making iron is troublesome and time-consuming. Clay can be fired just once.
Originally, he could have put some dirty things in, but Fang Jue didn't do so because he was afraid that if it exploded accidentally, he would be ruined if he hurt one of his own.
However, even if it is just a simplified version, it is powerful enough, and it is a perfect match with the catapult.
"boom--"
Hearing the roar on the city wall ahead, the generals of the Xia army were all dumbfounded.
"Young Master, what is this?" Sun Yi couldn't believe it, "Thunder?"
"Could it be that the general is a god descending to earth and controlling the thunder?" Cheng Jie exclaimed.
Fang Jue quickly corrected: "Don't mess with these gods, this is called fire thunder, and the Musket Bureau can create it."
"I see……"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and many people thought that Fang Jue was stirring up thunder.
"If the explosion continues for a while, they will be suppressed to death."
Fang Jue looked at Zheng Jun: "Go up and break down the city gate for me."
Zheng Jun handed over his hands, carried a large bag of something unknown, and got on his horse.
Sun Yi quickly said: "Young Master, where are we?"
"Let's go together. After the firearms battalion breaks through the city gate, the cavalry will go up to harvest the crops." Fang Jue said calmly.
"Okay!" Sun Yi laughed. He was afraid that if he was not allowed to participate, where would the military merit come from?
Wei Ran and Lin Bei looked at each other, and not wanting to lag behind, they mounted their horses and led the crowd to charge.
…
"General, they are coming!"
Looking out from the vents on the mezzanine of the city wall, tens of thousands of war horses galloped across the plains with a terrifying momentum.
"My mother, more than 10,000 cavalry are coming up?"
"That's not right. Didn't we pour a layer of ice on it? How can their horses run?"
"Look, the hooves of those war horses are all tied with iron spikes!"
Early in the morning, Xia Jun's scouts discovered the ice outside the city, and Fang Jue came up with this method.
Let the cavalry horses wear iron hoof shoes, and the preparations for the journey north can be said to be sufficient.
Horse racing on the ice was something that the North already had a way to do, but Fang Jue just reminded them and all the armies were already prepared for war.
"How can you use troops like this? The cavalry can attack the city? What a joke!" The general was still very unconvinced.
"Shoot an arrow for me!"
There are many vents, but when the vents were first poured, I didn't expect that one day the entire army would have to hide here to export, so it was not enough.
The sporadic flying arrows did hit a few unlucky ones, but tens of thousands of iron hooves had already rushed to the city gate.
They were not in a hurry to attack the city, but were waiting. At the same time, the throwing of earthen jars also stopped, and they suspended indiscriminate attacks for fear of hurting their own cavalry.
"General, they stopped, let's go up and fight back!"
"The weapon must have been used up!"
"So close, these cavalry are targets. Hurry up to the city wall!" The general was excited and thought it was a good time to counterattack.
However, when they were ready to shoot the cavalry from the city wall with their bows and arrows, they suddenly felt a huge tremor.
At the same time, there was a "boom", which stunned many defenders, and their minds were buzzing.
The general was also shaken. In his confusion, he heard someone shouting: "The city gate is cracked!"
"What?" The general was shocked and quickly ordered, "Form up at the city gate, block it, block it for me!"
But then, there was another explosion.
"boom!"
The cracked city gate finally couldn't bear it anymore and collapsed.
Looking at the city gate that collapsed inwards, the Shuangzhou defenders felt a tremor in their hearts.
"How is it possible!" The Lord will find it difficult to accept.
"What should I do, general?" the general asked anxiously.
But the general lost his bearings and kept mumbling: "Impossible, how could it be so fast!"
Even if the city were to be breached, with Shuangzhou's defense and Daxia's military strength, it would be able to hold on for at least three to five days.
How is it possible to destroy the city in an instant?
But the torrent of cavalry pouring in from the city gate forced him to face reality.
