Dozens of crossbows came one after another, and the "whooshing" sound of the crossbow guns breaking through the air was endless. Unfortunately, the distance was a bit far. Even if the crossbow guns were fired on the trebuchet, at most you would hear a crisp sound, and then they would be dropped by the bullets.

Come.

There will always be a time when the crossbow gun is used up, so what should we do then?

Is it possible to just watch the Wei army approach the city and set up ladders and carriages?

After watching for a while, Yuan Ji's expression calmed down, and he ordered Yu Xiu to stop the crossbow, and shouted again: "Don't panic, wait until the enemy is closer before shooting... Yu Xiu ordered the crossbowmen to set up their shields, first

Cover the crossbow machine..."

Following his order, a harsh sound of gongs sounded from the top of the city. The crossbowmen immediately loosened the string of their crossbows. Then several people worked together to cover the crossbow with a large shield covered with linen.

It was more than a hundred feet away, and the view was not very clear. Li Song was very puzzled: anything that could be lifted by several people must be made of wood. If a rocket, shield and crossbow would be set on fire, why would Yuan Ji bother to do this?

?

Just when he was suspicious, he heard what must be the messengers running back and forth shouting. Li Song paused, with a strange look on his face:

"The Wei thief is about to throw thunder, don't be afraid... This thing sounds very loud, but it is not a thunder from the sky. It is a divine punishment. It is actually a bluff for the enemy... But if you listen to the thunder, you will be safe under the shield."

..."

The voice was so loud that it was shouted seven or eight times. Even Li Chengzhi of the Chinese Army heard it very clearly.

The more Li Song listened, the more he wanted to laugh, thinking that Yuan Ji was really unnecessary: ​​no matter how thick the shield was, after throwing two or three rounds of grenades, it would probably be overturned, so what's the use?

Li Chengzhi was thoughtful.

I really didn’t expect that Yuan Ji was self-taught and knew how to mentally reduce stress?

Everyone can shout slogans, which are nothing more than "win", "fight to the death" and so on. But it is really rare for Gentsugi to reduce the burden on soldiers before the war, which is very targeted and similar to using the "spiritual victory method" to anesthetize soldiers.

.

This should be a common trick used by "Mahayana believers"?

It seems that Yuan Ji has put a lot of thought into it and made adequate preparations. Maybe he will get it right.

Secretly guessing, he looked towards the front of the formation again: Li Song ordered Li Zhang to set up the gun mount, pull up the counterweight, and prepare to drop mines.

Coming...

On the city a hundred feet away, Yuan Ji's pupils shrank like needle eyes, and an uncontrollable fear rose from the bottom of his heart.

But no matter how scared he was, he could only grit his teeth and stand firm. Yuan Ji knew very well that if he dared to retreat from the city, the morale of the defenders in the city would be completely exhausted.

"Yu Xiu!"

"The end is here!"

"Don't wait for the thunder to sound. Send the order immediately and order all the soldiers to fall under their shields."

"No!"

Yu Xiu was very puzzled, but he still responded honestly.

Yuan Luo had no such worries. He was excited and scared at the same time and asked: "How did father see it?"

"Why do you need to see it?"

Yuan Ji pointed towards the city, "Don't look at the enemy's crossbowmen lighting up torches, which are used to draw thunder! Luo'er has no need to be afraid, as my father is here, I will definitely not hurt you at all..."

"The child knows!"

Under the guidance of his mother since childhood, Yuan Luo was much more mature than other children of the same age. He knew very well what his father meant by taking him to stand on the city, so even though his whole body was shaking with fear, he still stood tall and gritted his teeth.

He didn't even dare to blink, for fear that when the thunder hit his head, he wouldn't be able to hide in time.

"Stand up your shield!"

A low shout from his father came from beside him. Yuanluo felt his arms tighten and was pulled by Yuanji to squat down. Then his eyes darkened, and a large shield nearly ten feet wide stood above his head.

It must have just been splashed with water, and from time to time, turbid water droplets dripped from the gaps in the joints of the wooden boards and fell into the neck.

Yuan Luo was shocked by Bing.

"Luo'er, come..."

Yuan Ji stroked the back of his head and let out the hole that was only the size of a fist. "Look more carefully. If you see him a few times, you won't be afraid anymore..."

Yuan Luo responded instinctively, and as soon as his eyes came to the hole, he saw something flying over with a long smoke trailing behind it.

But due to lack of strength, the thing hit half of the city wall and fell down again.

Hearing another "boom", Yuan Luo felt that the whole city was shaking.

"Stand still... Hold still... If you dare to act without permission, you will be killed without mercy, and the nine tribes will be punished..."

Sharp roars rang out from the city, and the sound was so loud that it even suppressed the explosion of grenades.

Hearing the thunderous explosion, seeing the dazzling firelight, and the earthquake like a dragon rolling over, it seemed as if the city wall was about to collapse. The soldiers under the shield were trembling in fear, and they wanted to get up and run away.

But when I think of my parents, wives, and children in the city, as well as the rewards promised by Zhuangshuai a few days ago, I have to grit my teeth and endure it.

As long as they survive a day, regardless of life or death, each soldier will be rewarded with a piece of silk, a pound of gold (copper), and ten pounds of grain.

But if you dare to escape without fighting, your family will be killed...

On the one hand, there are generous rewards, and on the other hand, there are ruthless military skills. With the two superimposed, the fear of "sky thunder" and "divine punishment" does not seem to be that heavy.

It's not like there were no soldiers who were frightened immediately, but as soon as they were about to stand up, they were either held down by their companions beside them, or slashed by Wu Shichang or the like.

This time, Yuan Ji implemented the method of sitting together: if there are escaped soldiers, Wu Shichang will cut off his feet, Shichang will cut off his nose, and the leader of the building will chop off one finger, and all the soldiers with Shichang will be executed.

Moreover, there is a law enforcement team hidden in the stone house under the city wall. They are afraid that they will be shot into hedgehogs before they even get out of the city wall.

Therefore, there has not yet been a large-scale collapse...

A round of grenades has been thrown. According to common sense, the city should be in chaos by now.

But Li Song did not see the defenders running around like headless flies, nor did he hear the heart-rending screams.

On the contrary, the city was completely silent, as if there was no one alive?

Have you seen a ghost?

Li Song opened his eyes wide and looked hard, but except for the smoke and dust raised by the grenade, he could see nothing.

Hearing the guard at his side calling him, saying it was the commander-in-chief's order. Li Song lowered his head and saw that Li Rui was running under the cloud chariot with a red Tangqi on his back.

"The commander-in-chief has an order: There are two artillery brigades. One brigade fires continuously to suppress the defenders on the city. The other brigade moves forward... The two brigades alternate and set up a formation a hundred steps below the city..."

It seems that Lang Jun feels that the artillery battalion's accuracy is too poor, and is preparing to get closer and strike more accurately.

The distance of one hundred feet is indeed quite far. Even though most of the grenades were thrown over the city, only a few hit the city wall, and only a few landed in the wall passage. Even one or two grenades were not enough.

Definitely a fool.

The range has been reduced by nearly half, but the accuracy has more than doubled.

Of course, the threat to the artillerymen and artillery carriages from the crossbows at the top of the city was more than doubled.

Although it is protected by outer armor and the artillery array is extremely sparse, it is still afraid that a blind cat will catch a dead rat. With the impact of a crossbow, it is entirely possible to knock over the trebuchet within a hundred steps.

What's more, what if Yuan Ji opens his mind and uses his own way to retaliate?

At about a hundred paces, archers with stronger arms can throw the rocket over.

If one falls into the grenade box, a gun carriage and several artillerymen will be blown into the sky.

Li Song did not dare to say anything, and hurriedly ordered Li Zhang to act as ordered. Seeing that Li Rui was still under the car, he asked suspiciously: "But Mr. Lang still has an explanation?"

Li Rui nodded and said with a strange expression: "Uncle Sixth, Mr. Lang invites you to watch the battle together!"

Watching the battle?

Who will command the artillery array?

As soon as a thought came into his mind, Li Song suddenly raised his head.

At some point, a watchtower suddenly appeared on the right wing of the front line. There were no flags or banners on the upper floor, and there were not infantry but cavalry downstairs.

The rest of the cavalry were sent by Li Chengzhi to the front of the formation to protect the two wings of the infantry formation. Only one brigade of tiger cavalry was left in the Chinese army to prepare for emergencies.

No need to guess, Lang Jun must be in that watchtower...

Li Song's heart tightened: "But why did I mishandle something that angered Mr. Lang and made me want to change my generals before the battle?"

The war is about to begin, what could be wrong?

Li Rui shook his head and said mysteriously, "I don't know either. But when I came to deliver the order, Lang Jun once joked: If Li Song fights like this, I'm afraid I won't be able to blast open this turtle shell even in the dark!"

Turtle shell?

Lang Jun must be talking about Yuan Ji in the city. He must have made some arrangements. Otherwise, why don't you see any panic among the defenders?

Li Song took three steps and two steps at a time, jumped on his horse, and ran towards the right wing watchtower.

And within these ten breaths, Li Chengche's watchtower advanced about seventy or eighty steps.

More than ten feet further, you can see Li Zhang's artillery soldiers quickly setting up their artillery carriages.

Too close.
To be continued...