As soon as the gong on the city rang, the soldiers in the first few rows squatted down and raised their wooden shields.
There was just a sharp sound of "dang ding tying", and the flat wooden shield was instantly shot like a large hedgehog.
But the infantry under the city still did not stop, and they moved forward nearly ten steps despite the rain of arrows. Deputy General Yuan Zhaocai ordered the infantry formation to stop, and the soldiers behind the city held their shields and tried their bows.
The infantry commander Yuanyou stood on the ladder in the bow formation, looking at the city carefully through the gap in the shield guarded by his personal guards.
The ladder has four floors and is three feet high, which is higher than the city wall of Qianyuan County. Moreover, the distance is only forty steps, and Yuanyou has good eyesight, so he can see it very clearly.
I saw numerous armored soldiers on the city, with arrows like rain of locusts. Behind the shield soldiers and archers, you could also see the pots and stoves set up, the golden juice with billowing hot smoke, hammering wood, rolling stones, etc. It seemed that Yuan Li
The preparations are extremely sufficient. If we want to attack by force, the losses will be huge.
Yuanyou looked at it very carefully. At the same time, he explained all the things in the city to his soldiers and asked them to record them in a book. At the end, he emphatically explained: "Report to the commander: There are no chariots, crossbows, beds, etc."
Crossbows and the like, I think there is no such thing in Ganyin..."
This is what Li Chengzhi emphatically explained, saying that he must wait and see carefully to see if the rebels have prepared long-range weapons such as stone cannons and crossbows.
As for the reason, he didn't explain it, and Yuanyou didn't know.
Yuan Zhao was testing the firing, Yuan You was watching, and behind Yu's formation, Li Song and Li Zhang led more than a hundred artillerymen to test the catapult.
Because he came in a hurry and marched mostly along the way, Li Song brought only small artillery carriages with him when he went south with Li Chengzhi. They were not only light but could be assembled or disassembled at any time.
But the disadvantage is that it cannot throw heavy objects, and it cannot be thrown very far. Therefore, the biggest effect is that it can throw explosives and the like.
And even for explosive bags and grenades, once they weigh more than twenty kilograms, the delivery distance will be less than thirty steps.
At such a close distance, there is no need for heavy weapons for long-range attacks on the city. Just let the archers shoot arrows to threaten the artillery.
If Yuan Li suddenly gets the idea again and lets the archers fire rockets instead, it will be great fun.
Therefore, Li Chengzhi strictly ordered Li Song that the trebuchet should not be less than 70 steps away from the city. As for the weight of the explosive package that can be thrown, it depends on the effect of the test firing: if twenty kilograms does not work, then ten kilograms; if ten kilograms does not work, then five kilograms.
Anyway, at least you have to throw yourself over the city wall...
After the gun mount was installed and the iron cans, sandbags and other items for the test firing were ready, Li Song asked Li Cong to summon him and asked the concession formation to get out of the way.
Yuan Zhao's face was filled with doubts: How could Li Chengzhi's soldiers come to test the artillery after running into the formation when they were not doing business?
He is over forty years old and can be considered experienced in hundreds of battles. His cousin Yuan Hui served as the governor of Yizhou twice, and he was both Fujun (leading general), and he has put down more rebellions than he can count.
But I have never seen a stone cannon with such a weird structure. It does not require people to pull it, but is fired by a stone drop (counterweight), and can only be operated by five or six people?
But it's a bit too small. The largest one is less than two people tall, and the gun mount is as thin as a child's arm. How heavy can the stone bullets be thrown, and how far can it be thrown?
When Li Song ordered his servants to bring in the sand cans and sandbags for trial throwing, and asked all the infantry in front of the artillery cart to retreat to both sides to get out of the range of the artillery cart, Yuan Zhao was even more confused.
The stone bullet is so small and is sixty or seventy steps away from the city. How much power will it have left when it hits the city wall?
Furthermore, what is the point of letting the infantry get out of the way of the artillery carriage? Are you afraid that if the stone bullet is not thrown, it will hit one of your own people?
It’s a joke. The wooden shield in the infantry’s hand is made of paper?
How much do your stone bullets weigh?
Yuan Zhao was both suspicious and secretly sneered. The soldiers below were even more curious.
They are all elite soldiers of the Guard and have fought in many battles, but this is the first time I have seen such a small artillery carriage.
A brigade commander behind the formation ran up to him out of curiosity: "What's your last name, general?"
"Your surname is Li, and you are not a general, just a retainer in the Marshal's mansion!"
"Then Li joins the army!"
The brigade commander stared at the stone cannon, then looked at Li Zhang and Li Cong standing in front of the cannon cart, and couldn't help but feel happy.
No wonder he found it ridiculous, it was just that these two people were too conspicuous: one was as tall and strong as a mountain, and the other was as thin as a monkey, which made him happy just to look at them.
The brigade commander suppressed his laughter and said cheerfully: "Li Canjun, these stone bullets look so small, maybe only five or six kilograms, how much power can they have? And the men are all wearing full armor, so the artilleryman missed it."
, it will definitely not be able to hurt us, so someone came here just to tell Li Canjun: Just let go and do whatever you want..."
It sounds like he has good intentions, but the smile on the brigade commander's face and the curiosity in his eyes all mean "making a fuss out of a molehill", "making a fuss", and "you are in such trouble".
It is indeed very troublesome and dangerous: after all, Li Song did not say anything in advance, and suddenly giving up the infantry to make way for the artillery was equivalent to a temporary change of formation.
If the guardsmen were not well-trained, but were replaced by county soldiers or state soldiers, this change of formation would probably turn into a mess immediately.
Fortunately, it is a siege, so the enemy troops will not be able to get down for a while. If it is a field battle, the enemy generals will seize the opportunity to rush over and defeat them in one fell swoop.
As soon as he heard this sentence, Li Song understood that this brigade commander should have come under the orders of Shangguan, with good intentions, but in fact he came with complaints.
Well, let me give you a warning first, so that you know why we have to change the formation, and what will happen if this thing really happens to you.
Li Song responded politely with a smile on his face. Then he gave an order to Li Zhang: "Replace with live ammunition, and the range will be halved!"
Li Zhang reacted slower, thinking that Lang Jun was just letting him test the cannon. The sand cans and bags were enough, so why waste live ammunition.
Li Cong, however, was not an ordinary smart person. He responded continuously, first quickly moved the leather pocket at the top of the lever down a few sections, and then put an explosive bag weighing about five or six kilograms into the leather pocket. p>
Seeing him lighting up the torch again, several servants of the Li family around the gun mount immediately dispersed.
The brigade commander was pulled back five or six steps by Li Song, and asked in confusion: "Why retreat, and why do we need to set fire to it... Well, why is this stone bullet still dragging such a long rope?" p>
While he was chattering, the brigade commander saw the skinny monkey-like soldier holding the torch close to the end of the rope. With a "chi" sound, a spark came out, and the end of the rope actually ignited.
Then I saw the young man as strong as a mountain holding a big ax and chopping heavily on the hemp rope connected to the lever.
There was only a "thud" sound, and the hemp rope as thick as an arm was broken. The counterweight stone weighing two hundred kilograms crashed down and landed heavily on the cushion layer. There was another whooshing sound, and a weight about the size of a person's head was heard.
The explosive package flew out like a meteor.
The artillery carriages were all used in fertile fields, and as the commander of the artillery camp, Li Zhang was very familiar with his skills, so his artillery tuning was extremely accurate.
The originally debugged range was sixty feet, and he was planning to try to throw it over the city wall. Now it was reduced by half by Li Cong, and the explosive pack flew to about thirty feet before falling to the ground, and rolled forward for another seven weeks.
Eight steps later, it stopped when it hit the base of the city wall.
The rebels on the top of the city were shooting arrows, and most of them didn't pay attention to the explosive packets thrown at the bottom of the city. Even some people didn't pay much attention when they saw it, but they were just curious about why this thing was sparkling and smoking.
After a pause of about ten breaths, there was a sudden explosion.
Just like lightning in a thunderstorm, a spark flashed out of thin air and disappeared. Then, like a goddess scattering flowers, steel balls and iron nails shot out from the sky, hitting the city wall with a crisp sound of gold and iron. p>
The guards on the nearby city wall seemed to have seen a ghost and could not even shoot arrows.
How could a thunder suddenly explode on such a sunny day and be so close to me?
Ever since the infantry formation of the officers and soldiers took up an siege posture, Yuan Li's eyes never left the dozen trebuchets that fell at the end.
When she saw an object with sparks and a trailing tail being thrown out and flying straight towards the city, Yuan Li's eyes bulged outward.
Lu Yan repeatedly mentioned this object in his letters: it may be the size of a child's head, or it may be the size of a fist... or it may be wrapped in silk cloth, or it may be wrapped in pig iron, with iron beads and nails inside, and it will explode like ten thousand objects.
A volley of arrows shot out, sweeping away like a violent wind within a few feet, leaving not a blade of grass behind...
When it exploded and the smoke cleared, Yuan Li's scalp went numb when she saw the densely packed iron nails embedded in the city wall that emitted cold light.
Is it really thunder?
"Quick... call the archer (sharp archer) and let me shoot the cannon..."
The ignorant are fearless.
He was too far away and couldn’t see clearly. The brigade commander didn’t feel it deeply. He was just wondering why this thing suddenly caught fire when it was smashed against the wall and then disappeared in a flash?
But the movement is quite big...
"This is not a stone bullet, so what on earth can it cause a fire?"
The brigade commander asked, pointing to the ammunition box that was a dozen steps away from the gun mount and protected by several shield-bearing Li family retainers.
Li Song smiled and said: "Thunder..."
Before even saying the word "thunder", Li Song's pupils shrank sharply: "Be careful..."
But how can it be too late?
With a "tied" sound, an armor-piercing arrow hit the brigade commander's iron helmet and was bounced to the ground.
Even so, Li Song was still frightened into a cold sweat: How could the rebel arrows shoot so far?
If it were replaced by rockets and fired more densely, it might be possible to detonate the ammunition box.
He hurriedly ordered: "Retreat...retreat quickly and move the ammunition box ten steps back...the auxiliary soldiers should prepare water bags and wet clothes to put out fires at any time..."
A group of artillerymen flew back to carry the ammunition boxes. Only then did the brigade commander realize. He screamed "Wow" and covered his head again: "It's the shooter, it must be the shooter..." While they were shouting, the front formation suddenly started to move again. Originally, there was only three to five feet of space left for the formation. Under the orders of the captains of each team, they pushed hard to both sides, and in a short time, they left a few feet.
A passage ten feet wide.
Yuanyou kept wiping his cold sweat and scolded Yuan Zhao in his mind: He just forgot the saying in the capital that "Li Chengzhi can attract thunder from the sky". You should have read the imperial newspaper from the past few days, right?<
/p>
At this time, seeing Li's retainers manipulating the artillery carriage behind the formation, no matter how stupid he is, he would have thought of it.
But Yuan Zhao, a fool, still had the time to send his generals to the back of the formation to complain that Li's retainers were messing with his formation?
Do you know that if one of Li's servants misses a little, if one of those things falls into the formation, dozens of people will be killed or injured immediately.
This is only the second step. The most important thing is that no matter how strict the formation is, if you are surprised by this monster that looks like a punishment from heaven, the formation will be in chaos.
Cursing in his heart, Yuanyou directly sent his own soldiers to surrender Yuan Zhao's military talisman...
It was just a false alarm. Li Song calmed down and ordered Li Zhang and others to try the cannon.
There were only twenty of them, and they were all familiar, not newly made, so they were tested very quickly. After seven or eight rounds, the artilleryman had memorized the position, and Li Song ordered the whole team to withdraw the troops and return to the camp.
Seeing that Li Song had finished testing the artillery, Li Chengzhi ordered the front army to retreat. The two thousand infantrymen retreated back to the formation like a tide.
……
Staring at the pile of sandbags and tin cans at her feet, Yuan Li's face turned as green as iron.
No matter how stupid he is, he knows that what Li Chengzhi throws next will definitely be a real guy.
In this case, how can we fight this battle?
"You have all seen it...and seen the power of this thing. According to your opinion, is there any way to prevent it?"
The generals have never seen Lu Yan’s emergency report, and most of them were far away just now. They haven’t even realized what it is. What insights can they have?
A military general held the top of the city and looked down at the grassland that had been blasted by thunder and still had wisps of green smoke: "I think this thing should be a firearm. Among the five elements, water overcomes fire, so water should be used to break it...
”
Water?
Yuan Li's eyes lit up, and she managed to squeeze out a trace of confidence: "Send the order, all the soldiers guarding the city should prepare water bags. If you encounter such a thing, you can pour water on it. I also know that there are many water jars in the city, and this will be used
Made in France..."
"No!"
The generals responded and retired one after another, going to the towers and the city to deliver orders.
Yuan Li glanced south worriedly: Yuan Huai, Yuan Huai, if you can't bring in reinforcements, grandpa will have no choice but to abandon the city and flee...
……
It's just that Li Chengzhi didn't know Yuan Li's idea of "using water to extinguish thunder", otherwise he would have laughed out loud.
That thing is waterproof...
The three of them were still on the ladder. Yang Jun pointed at the infantry returning to the formation and suddenly realized: "I was just thinking, it was just to test the formation, why did you only send out archers and shield soldiers? Now that I think about it, it should be to test the city.
Are there any sharp weapons such as heavy crossbows?"
"Indeed, if the rebels have crossbows or the like, the artillery battalion must be careful. In addition, there is also the intention of letting archers and shield soldiers protect the artillerymen.
Once the artillery carriages have been tested and the artillery array is set up, there is no need to stand in front of the artillery array like today, but just stand behind the artillery array. If the enemy comes to attack, it is not too late to go out to meet the enemy...
Of course, it doesn’t have to be infantry. When you see how the enemy troops are arrayed, you can adapt to the situation. You can switch to cavalry or chariots for support..."
It's really powerful, but it's a little expensive and can't stand a beating...
Yang Jun was thoughtful and asked: "What is the flaming rope tied behind the tail? I didn't hear you talk about it yesterday..."
Li Chengzhi couldn't laugh or cry: "I have already said that I must have reservations, but you still want to get to the bottom of it? That's all, it doesn't hurt to tell you: this is what grass velvet rolled over sulfur is, and it can replace rockets..."
It's not a secret that sulfur is good at igniting fire. Even the Hu people know it. So Yang Jun didn't need to see the real thing, he could guess it with a little thought. Li Chengzhi simply made a favor in advance.
So simple?
Yang Jun nodded and asked: "What about the artillery cart? Although it looks small, it is extremely convenient. It even saves animal power. If it is bigger, even a forty or fifty kilograms of stone bullets should be
Can you deliver a hundred steps?"
Li Chengzhi sighed secretly: Of the people named in history books, none of them are easy to fool.
"That's all, let me show you around!"
Li Chengzhi turned around and went down the ladder, "If the craftsmen can get their hands on it, there is nothing wrong with making some for this battle..."
Hearing this sentence, Li Shao and Yang Jun's eyes suddenly lit up...