Chapter 508: Besieging Fengyi County (XVI)

The city walls today were not as sturdy as iron like everyone thought. They were not built with regular boulders, but with materials like stones, yellow mud, glutinous rice, glutinous rice juice and lime. Chengan District was just a relatively remote district in the north. How sturdy could the city walls be?

It could block ordinary attacks without a problem, but it was somewhat insufficient to counter Jiang Pengji’s improved catapults.

Moreover, it was a giant catapult. In theory, it could even make a deep hole in the city walls of Shangjing that year, let alone the city walls of Chengan District. The city walls were solid, but the power of the extraterrestrial objects was beyond imagination.

Even a demolition crew was not that cruel!

Except for Jiang Pengji, Zhang Ping and the audience in the streaming room, no one knew that the catapult was actually that powerful.

Jintian Wugengya: “Damn it. The streamer’s catapult keeps making me think about the counterweight trebuchet used during Mongolia’s attack on Xiangyang City. It’s also a counterweight catapult… It’s said that the counterweight trebuchet is extremely powerful. It can pit a hole that’s more than two meters deep in the ground…”

Zheshi Diyigeng: “Hey, isn’t the counterweight trebuchet the prototype of the streamer’s catapult?”

Yiye Chengzhou: “I’m not very sure about that. I’ve watched the streaming of those few days. The streamer has modified it based on the existing foundation. Anyway, a liberal arts student can’t understand such a complicated design sketch. All I know is that the streamer had a very long discussion with Zhang Ping of the Mohists…”

Jiang Nongqin calmly commanded the troops on the catapult to shoot five consecutive rounds. The city walls were already heavily damaged and there were many casualties on the city walls. The Tsing Yi Army were short of bows and arrows and lost the commanding elevation with the advantageous terrain. They could not effectively resist the attack.

Jiang Pengji ordered the troops on the catapult to stop for the time being. She consecutively issued several military orders. More than ten lift ladders were pushed out from the military array.

The ladders in that era were just ladders that were stronger and longer. They did not have the function to protect the vanguard of a siege.

In a siege, the besieging party would often suffer a greater loss than the defending party because the besieging party must place themselves in the defending party’s area of attack if they wanted to get close to the city walls. The defending party would have a geographical advantage. The besieging party often had to stack their troops up to set up the ladder, and then attack the city walls by force or break the city gates. There was naturally a very high rate of death and injury.

Of course, if the besieging party chose to dig a tunnel and sneak into the city, it would be another matter.

She planned to attack the city with violence. She was too lazy to get someone to dig a tunnel like a vole.

Jiang Pengji referred to the existing materials and literature in that era when building the ladder. Using those as a basis, she built the ladder.

There were round hardwood rollers under the lift ladder. They could be used as solid wheels which could facilitate the movement of the entire ladder.

Why did the ladder have a lifting function?

She had two considerations.

First of all, the ladder was too massive. It could easily alert the enemy scouts and reveal the secrets of their own armaments. If the ladder could be folded, the possibility of it being exposed would be greatly reduced. The defending party thought that she did not prepare any siege weapons, so they might let down their guard.

Secondly, the heights of the city walls of that era were not the same. Some city walls were towering and grandiose, like those in Shangjing City once upon a time. Some city walls were just a mound higher than a cob wall. The lift ladder could adjust its height according to the condition of the wall.

Apart from these details, the biggest breakthrough was the structure of the base of the ladder. People could hide in it.

The troops could hide inside or under the ladder when pushing the ladder. They could use the heavy shields to resist the attacks from the city walls. With shelter, even if the enemy shot a storm of arrows, the troops pushing the ladder could still successfully lean the ladder up against the city walls.

The Tsing Yi Army on the city walls had been wiped out. Their successors could not take their places in time, so it was the least dangerous to enter the city now.

She issued a military order. A horn with a different rhythm resonated once again.

The infantrt of the vanguard who held their battling spirit in climbed up the ladder first. They were faster than monkeys.

Was there a man who would not want to make contributions?

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Especially when the female soldiers were more agile than their male counterparts, the male soldiers would be embarrassed if they did not live up to expectations.

It was already a little late when the Tsing Yi Army asked for support. Pulling out their big knives, the troops clad in leather armor hacked at their enemy.

There was a tangled warfare on the city walls. More and more troops climbed up the city walls with the help of the ladder, gradually gaining the upper hand by having more people.

Even though the Tsing Yi Army did not have a leader, there were still many small chieftains.

It was already too late for them to escape. They could only have a slim chance of survival by trying to guard the city gates and block as many troops outside as possible.

People with discerning eyes could see that the number of troops who could climb up the ladders in a short period of time was limited. As long as the defense at the city gates was not broken through and more people were dispatched to handle the troops on the city walls, the Tsing Yi Army might be able to defend Chengan District… Well, that was quite a beautiful imagination.

More than ten soldiers were lifting a log with a wide circumference and getting ready to battle the tightly shut city gate.

“One… Two… Three!”

“One… Two… Three!”

“One… Two… Three!”

The troops counted quietly. They would exert their strength together on the count of three.

The catapult which smashed the city walls earlier had more or less obliterated the city walls. After the troops had pounded the city gate together over ten times, the city gate broke open at the sound, revealing more than 100 members of the Tsing Yi Army and various obstacles behind the gate. The military force of both parties were fighting at the city gates. The sound of slaughtering was unceasing.

Blood splattered. Stumps and broken bones were everywhere.

The blood that flowed out formed a small stream, like a meandering, red snake.

The Tsing Yi Army was utterly routed in the battle at the city gates. They could not resist or attack effectively at all.

The troops broke the city gate open. More than ten wheeled war chariots with strange structures were about to come in handy.

The war chariots looked very simple. The real appearances of the war chariots were revealed when the coverings were lifted.

Twenty one spears which were seven to eight feet long were affixed to the war chariots. Their tips were very pointed. The two sides of the war chariots were fully affixed with sharp, short blades.

The troops retreated upon seeing them and ordered their rear comrades to push the war chariots to the front of the array and dash into the city.

Such war chariots were specially used for street battles after the city was besieged. They were like hedgehogs with pointed spines, making it difficult for the enemy to approach them.

The Tsing Yi Army did not have a leader. The small chieftains did not even have the time to flee, let alone organizing to form an effective defense on the battlefield.

The troops on Jiang Pengji’s side demolished the tall walls outside and made their way into the city with ease, leaving a bloody track along the way. The members of the Tsing Yi Army fled whenever they saw the soldiers. They even stampeded to a corner where they were stepped on. They looked utterly terrified and despaired.

Compared to the members of the Tsing Yi Army who had not eaten well for many days, Jiang Pengji did not treat her troops harshly.

Not to mention how good the food was, at least she would not let anyone starve and endure the torments of hunger on the battlefield.

Meng Hun had not seen blood for a very long time. When the city was besieged, he took the lead and charged forward.

Li Yun was unwilling to admit himself outdone. He rode on his horse and dashed past the city gate of Chengan District. With the advantage of being nimble, he killed many members of the Tsing Yi Army who were unable to escape in time. He wielded his silver spear numerous times, causing blood to splatter dazzlingly. The blood even turned his white horse into a red horse.

Jiang Pengji was eager for action, but two pairs of eyes were staring at her. If she dared to dash forward to kill, they would then kill themselves.