The brief tranquility finally passed, and a few days later, violent storms began to sweep through Sishui Pass, the focus of the human world's struggle.
As the drums for the Zhou army to launch an attack sounded, and when the two generals were confronting each other in front of the pass just now, Ji Fa's slogans of justice and benevolence were replaced by actual actions of blood and killing.
The merchant army was led by Han Sheng, the son of the commander-in-chief. The leader of the battle was still the cavalry. However, after the Zhou army suffered from the cavalry, they also learned the lesson. They formed an array with special giant shields to defend on one side.
While marching slowly, they counterattacked with crossbows. The horse archers had seen the power of the giant shield array and did not dare to advance lightly. Moreover, the range of the crossbows was as powerful as ordinary bows and arrows. Wen Zhong immediately ordered the drums to be beaten and ordered the horse archers to
Withdrew with the merchant army.
Just when the Zhou army thought they could have an unimpeded road and slowly approached the Sishui Pass, the sound of machine gunfire on the city wall sounded frequently, and tens of thousands of spear-like crossbow arrows rained down on the Zhou army. Although the giant shield could
The arrows used to defend the cavalry were unable to withstand the terrifying power of the crossbow bolts, and the target itself was so large that when hit by the crossbow bolts, they were shattered into pieces as if they were devastating.
"Bed crossbow!" Jiang Ziya, who was supervising the battle in the rear army, exclaimed. He did not expect that the Shang army also possessed such a terrifying weapon. You must know that the Zhou army's bed crossbow was provided by the unlucky man "Yi Jiang"
, there is not even the pattern of the magic weapon brought by Yang Ren. Although it has been transformed by Yang Ren and its power has been greatly increased, the original is still "Yi Jiang". Why does the Shang army have it, and there are so many of them? Could it be that there are still others around King Wu?
Is there a traitor? Ji Fa thought the same way and cast his eyes on several nearby ministers.
Seeing Ji Fa and Jiang Ziya's suspicious expressions, Yang Ren understood what they were thinking and said, "I once told the king that there were other secret patterns in the Shen Weapon that day. Even I didn't know about them. I guess this thing must be
It is the secret magic weapon in the magic weapon workshop."
Feng Li frowned, pointed at the front army and shouted: "Your Majesty! The Shang Army's crossbows are definitely not the same as our army's crossbows. I just made a rough estimate and found that the range of the Shang Army's crossbows is about three hundred strides, and it has already reached
We are close to the shooting range of that catapult! I never expected that the Shen Weapon Factory would have such a terrifying weapon!"
When Ji Fa heard Feng Li's words, his suspicion disappeared, but he was secretly frightened. A round of crossbow bolts came down, and a lot of the Zhou army's giant shields were destroyed. The nasty horse archers rushed up again, using the enemy's defensive power.
When it weakened, they fired arrows one after another, causing heavy casualties to the Western Zhou army.
When Ji Fa saw this, he hurriedly asked: "Sir, I didn't expect that Dachang had such a rare thing. What should we do now? Should we withdraw our troops?"
Seeing that Ji Fa's first thought was him instead of Jiang Ziya in the critical moment, Feng Li's eyes flashed with a trace of unknown amusement and said: "No! Our army is damaged at this time, but its morale is still usable. If we retreat
, those horse archers are extremely mobile, if we pursue them, our army will be completely defeated. At this time, the two armies meet on a narrow road, and the brave one will win! Your Majesty, you must not retreat!"
"When we meet on a narrow road, the brave one will win!" Jiang Ziya praised sincerely and said: "Everything Mr. Feng said is reasonable. The king must not be timid. He must order his soldiers to march forward bravely."
Hearing this, Ji Fa nodded without saying much and let Jiang Ziya take command. The Shang cavalry archers fired arrows in a round, injuring many enemies. Just as he was getting excited, he suddenly saw that the Zhou army was advancing very quickly instead of retreating.
At this time, strange sounds were heard, as if something that had been strongly compressed was being thrown out.
The answer was immediately revealed. Countless stone bullets fell from the air and hit the Merchant Army formation behind the horse archers, causing numerous casualties. At the same time, after the Zhou army's crossbows were loaded, they started shooting together with the archers. Although the bows
The cavalry was highly mobile, but with crossbows in front and catapults in the back, it was difficult to withstand it and suffered a lot of losses. Wen Zhong knew that training the cavalry was not easy, so he ordered the suspension bridge to be lowered and ordered the merchant army to quickly withdraw to Guanzhong. Han Sheng received the order.
With the sound of drums, Jiang Ziya quickly organized the merchant army to return to the city. Seeing that the merchant army retreated, Jiang Ziya quickly ordered the front army to rush forward. Facing the enemy troops coming in like a tide, the horse archers fired arrows to stop the Zhou army from advancing, while retreating quickly.
At this time, that strange sound sounded again. The same terrifying boulder falling from the sky fell into the crowd. Even if it was not hit, the debris flying on the ground was enough to kill people. But this time the sound was
Coming from Sishui Pass, the target is the surging Zhou army.
"It is indeed a catapult!" Feng Li shook his head and sighed, "No wonder I always have an uneasy feeling. The bed crossbow before was just returned, but the catapult now is indeed weird! Could it be that there really is something around the king..."
Although Feng Biao didn't finish what he said, why didn't Ji Fa understand what he meant? The problem is that this catapult is his biggest secret weapon. Even Feng Biao and Yang Ren only learned about it during the battle at Jinji Ridge.
.After this thing was used that day, he secretly took it back. Even Feng Li and Yang Ren only got the name and never saw the detailed structure. Several of them malfunctioned and were burned on the spot in Jinjiling. Why did they discuss it?
Is there a military meeting?”
Could it be that Nayi Jiang was kidnapped by the merchants? Judging from the number of crossbows and catapults on the other side, it does not match the time when Yi Jiang was captured. Could it be that Jiang Ziya leaked the secret? But Jiang Ziya was under the authority of the great saint.
How could it be that he was destined to abandon the Shangzhou Zhou Dynasty? Ji Fa suddenly thought: his younger brother Ji Dan was responsible for the supervision of the catapult at that time. Later, there were rumors that he would give up his position to his younger brother who had more outstanding talents.
Suspicion arose in his mind, and he deprived Ji Dan of his real power without any emotion, and sent someone to monitor him. Could it be that Ji Dan was dissatisfied with his handling, or jealous of the position of King Wu, so...
"I heard that Xiaoyaozi, the great Shang's national master, was called a strange man at that time. Many of the strange objects from the hands of the emperor actually came from his hands. It is said that any object can exert a more powerful effect once it is in his hands. No wonder the Shang army
The bed crossbow is so powerful!" Yang Ren also lost no time in exclaiming from the side: "Xiaoyaozi is amazingly talented. In terms of weapons alone, he is far better than me, and I am really not as good as him!"
Xiaoyaozi? Ji Fa couldn't help but look envious in his eyes, but he comforted him: "The doctor is also a talented person, how can he belittle himself? It is really a great blessing for the lonely king to have you and Mr. Feng... to help each other."
.In the future, if the great cause of the solitary king is accomplished, he will be able to be granted the title of feudal lord, and his family name will shine brightly!"
Feng Biao smiled disapprovingly and shook his head. Ji Fa knew that Feng Biao was aloof by nature and did not want fame and fortune, so he comforted him a few words, but unexpectedly Feng Biao was secretly laughing at his wishful thinking.
Not to mention Ji Fa's scheming, although Jiang Ziya was surprised by the Merchant Army's use of catapults, he had an arrow on the string and had to launch it. He immediately ordered the army to spread out their formation, try to avoid falling rocks, and at the same time ordered his own catapults to move forward.
Under the cover of catapults, the cavalry finally withdrew completely into the city. The drawbridge was retracted and the city gates were closed tightly, completely in a defensive position.
Next, the heavy and reverberating sound of the catapults was heard. The two sides began to launch catapults at each other, and the roar was endless. Zhou Junsheng believed that the catapults had a certain degree of maneuverability and could aim at fixed targets.
The purpose was to destroy the city wall and fill up the water trench (moat), but the merchant army's catapult was more powerful and had a longer range. Hundreds of kilograms of boulders were thrown up high and hit the ground hard, destroying the solid
Several potholes two or three meters deep were smashed into the ground, and there was no luck for the victims. Even the scattered and splashing gravel used its last strength to greedily harvest lives.
Although the launch of the catapult is relatively slow, if it is only one or two stones, you can escape early, but if it is used on a large scale at the same time, the lethality is quite terrifying. For a time, the pace of the war slowed down, but
The pressure and destructive power caused are unprecedentedly powerful.
Due to the defeat of Jinjiling, Wen Zhong expected that the Western Zhou Dynasty would use catapults to attack the city, so he specially thickened the city wall. Although most of the closed fixed catapult points were destroyed by the Zhou army, the catapults in the rear could follow the instructions of the sergeants.
The observed azimuth and angle, under the control of the commanding general, accurately struck the enemy. The Zhou army's catapults were also damaged a lot under the attack of the merchant army, and what was terrible was that after a period of attack and defense, the stone bombs
Gradually there is not enough.
As early as a few days ago, under Wen Zhong's order, the soldiers and civilians of Sishui Pass had transported as many nearby stones into the city as possible. At that time, people, including many sergeants, were still wondering why the Grand Master wanted these stones.
What are useless stones used for? Now some people suddenly realize that these stones really have "big uses".
Jiang Ziya learned about the crisis of insufficient "cannonballs" and knew that it must be related to the merchant army. He was secretly frightened and ordered the catapult to slowly retreat after firing the last stone shells. The front army, which had been preparing for a long time, began a formal assault.
In accordance with Jiang Ziya's instructions, the former army of the Western Zhou Dynasty spread out their formation, braving falling rocks and crossbow bolts along the way, and gradually rushed towards the front of the Sishui Pass. At this time, they only heard the order from the gate, and thousands of arrows were fired towards the pass like raindrops.
Sprinkle.
People kept falling in the front line, like straws cut by a sickle, they fell one after another. This sickle harvested living life. Under Jiang Ziya's order, the front army quickly formed a protective shield array. This protective shield array
It is not the kind of giant shield array used to limit the space of horse archers, but a special kind of light copper shields pieced together to protect the top of the head while moving to avoid arrow damage. This protective shield array is like wearing a
Like long snakes in bronze armor, they approached. Although the people in front were inevitably injured by arrows, the casualties had been reduced a lot. The "armored vehicles" that had been destroyed by Wu Wenhua last time also appeared one after another, taking the lead in rushing.
He got out, braved the rain of arrows, and drove to the moat. A long board stretched out from the front of the car, slowly lowered and unfolded, releasing a kind of flying bridge.
This kind of flying bridge is very simple to make. It uses two long logs with wooden boards nailed on them. The front section is gradually extended to a sufficient length and dropped at the right position. It is built on the other side of the river ditch to form a simple trench bridge. The catapult was originally not
The moat has not been filled in yet, and now with this kind of flying bridge, the moat can just be passed.
Although many trench bridges like this were defeated by the crossbow bolts of bed crossbows, they still successfully built bridges across the moat. The Zhou army was not a mob and had received extremely strict training. The casualties in front not only did not make the Zhou people
His cowardice aroused the ferocity of revenge, and he rushed forward despite the rain of arrows and crossbows. With more and more moats and bridges, more and more Zhou troops began to cross the moat. At the same time, the troops behind
The ladder is also gradually approaching.
This kind of ladder was actually made by Cai Yan, and is much improved than the "hook aid" of this era. The entire ladder consists of three parts: wheels, ladder body, and hook. The ladder body can be tilted up and down, and can be lifted along the way by manpower.
It was set up on the city wall; there was a hook at the top of the ladder, which was used to hook the edge of the city; when necessary, wheels could be installed under the ladder body for movement. Because the ladder was very heavy, when passing through the trench bridge, it encountered the bows and arrows of the merchant army.
Focused attacks, some even fell into the moat halfway, but a few were still transported across the moat at the risk of death.
There were flying arrows all the way up and down the pass, and from time to time someone fell down or fell from the city wall. The ladder was carried all the way, and after paying a heavy price, the ladder finally got close to the city wall.
With the ladder in hand, the Zhou army began to climb up the city desperately, and the ballista behind the Zhou army also adjusted its shooting angle, and cooperated with the archers behind it to fire towards the city wall. For a time, arrows were flying all over the city.
Unable to take the lead, the casualties of the merchant army gradually increased.
While fighting back, the merchant army controlled and adjusted the distance of the catapult so that it could effectively continue to attack the city. At the same time, it hit the ladder with a frame with a crossbar, destroying the ladder. From time to time, soldiers came up from the ladder.
Fall.
Even so, there were still many Zhou troops flocking to them, and there were more and more ladders crossing the moat. Gradually, sergeants began to climb up the pass, but they were quickly eliminated by the soldiers guarding the pass. The merchant army began to climb up the female wall.
They used wood, rocks, and rolling oil to attack Guanxia, causing heavy casualties to the Zhou army.
At this time, another large chariot began to appear. This chariot was pushed by twenty-four people per chariot and used eight wheels. There were flags and drums on the chariot. It carried several warriors and was equipped with spears, halberds, and crossbows. It was for external use.
Covered by thick leather, this chariot was not designed by Cai Yan, but designed by Jiang Ziya himself, named Lu Gong Cha, and could be used to attack cities and conquer passes.
The chariot was almost as high as the pass. It was leaning against the city wall. The Zhou troops in the chariot rushed out and climbed up the pass. Suddenly, a giant man appeared at Sishui Pass, wearing heavy armor and holding a sword in his hand.
Holding an exaggerated iron griddle, this person is naturally Wu Wenhua. Wu Wenhua didn't care about the closed Zhou army, he just swung the iron grapnel in his hand quickly. No matter whether it was a ladder or Lu Gong's car, all of them collapsed when they encountered that exaggerated iron grapnel.
.The closed Zhou army had no time to rush to the city gate and was already killed.
Even the car that was approaching the city gate was staggered by Wu Wenhua and could not get close.
Both sides were furious. From a distance, they looked like two black swarms of ants, fighting each other without fear of death. Broken limbs and broken walls, flesh and blood flying everywhere, and dead bodies everywhere under the barrier.
Under the so-called rules of heaven, isn't life just like ants?
Huang Feihu panted and came to the front of the Chinese army Jiang Ziya and said: "Prime Minister! Sishui Pass is extremely strong. The enemy troops are defending in danger, waiting for work, and they have strange weapons. Our catapults have no stone bullets to use, although they are superior in strength.
, but we are at a disadvantage. Now our soldiers have suffered heavy casualties, so I still ask the Prime Minister to withdraw the troops."
Jiang Ziya also didn't expect that the fighting power of Bishui Pass was so strong. The most important thing is that the catapult, which his side relies on the most, can no longer determine the outcome of the battle, and the advantages of "advanced" equipment such as crossbows and ladders cannot be reflected. Although in There is a certain advantage in numbers, but attacking fortresses and fighting in the field are two different things.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War" once said: The method of attacking a city is a last resort. It takes three months to repair the oars, culls, and equipment; In other words, if one-third of the soldiers are killed but the city is not taken out, the attack will be a disaster.
To achieve victory in a war, the most ideal thing is "conquering the enemy", the next best thing is "conquering the enemy", the third best thing is "conquering the army", and the last thing, as a last resort, is "attacking the city" Both "attacking the army" and "siege the city" pushed the war into a stage of intense violent confrontation. "Fighting the army" refers to field battles, and "attacking the city" is exactly the situation in which the two armies are facing each other today.
Bishui Pass was the first barrier for Dashang when facing Xiqi. It was also a large-scale pass, but it was still different from a city. It could not be surrounded or raided from all sides. If it was a strong attack, it could only be carried out from the front.
Dashang's advantages on the defensive side are also obvious: first of all, it has geographical advantages. Relying on strong passes and dangerous obstacles, one person can defeat several enemies. In terms of ordnance and weapons, he can also exert greater power, let alone Nowadays, the merchant army has the advantage of advanced weapons.
Secondly, it has the advantage of popular support. The merchant army is in a defensive posture, and the Western Zhou Dynasty is the invader, and the Western Zhou Dynasty implements a slavery system. If it is captured, not only the captured soldiers, but also the property of many civilians will be confiscated, and they will return to the past. A life of hard slavery is absolutely unacceptable in the hearts of the merchants and soldiers. This can better inspire the determination and morale of the soldiers and civilians to resist the enemy, and stimulate the fighting spirit of the soldiers and civilians to fight for survival. When the interests of the upper and lower are related and life and death are shared, only Being able to unite as one, fight for one's own survival, and fight against the odds, the energy inspired by this is immeasurable.
Furthermore, the merchant army has local advantages. Fighting in the city can maximize the potential of war and mobilize public support. If the food and baggage are sufficient, there will be no problem of long-distance transportation.
Facing the sudden increase in casualties, Ji Fa's expression became more and more gloomy. Jiang Ziya knew that if he continued to attack like this, even if he could finally capture Sishui Pass, the army would probably suffer heavy losses, let alone the rest of the battle. In the end, He gave the order to retreat.
If Zhou Jun was still fighting with ferocity and bloodiness just now, then the order to retreat made the last will to support the fighting spirit disappear without a trace. To be precise, it was only at this time that Zhou Jun woke up, and his bloodthirsty eyes gradually It faded away, and was replaced by the fear of facing countless casualties among the robes. Seeing the enemy troops finally retreating, Sishui Gate erupted with thunderous cheers.
Jiang Ziya did have some tricks up his sleeve. Although the Zhou army retreated and their formation remained stable, they did not get much benefit when Wen Zhong ordered his troops to leave the pass to pursue.
The battlefield after the war was completely silent, with corpses strewn all over the place. Even the corpse collectors who cleaned the battlefield and were accustomed to seeing life and death could not remain truly numb.
In this madness of human nature, the value of life has long been lost. War will always be the deepest pain of mankind.