Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3026 Formula Gunpowder Decisive Trump Card

 Under the Huguan Pass.

After a brief pause for repairs, the two sides started competing again.

 The sound of war drums roared, and Cao's soldiers formed a large formation outside the city and pushed out shield chariots one after another.

Although Jia Qu had fortified most of the villages outside the pass and cleared the fields, so that Cao Jun could not find ready-made planks of wood to make shield vehicles, they also had their own methods.

Huguan Pass is surrounded by mountains, and there are always trees in the depths of the mountain forests. Although the journey is a bit far, over time, Cao's laborers and auxiliary soldiers also cut down a lot of trees. Cao Jun slightly processed the trees and tied them together to form a rough shield cart or large shield. Although these large shields were not very similar in style, they still had the function of shield defense.

This kind of rough shield vehicle tied with thick wood cannot be shot by ordinary ballista vehicles unless it is hit by a stone bullet or burned in the front, and even if the ballista vehicle is hit, it will often lose its power due to this. It was greatly reduced and had no lethal effect on Cao's soldiers hiding behind.

Cao Jun followed the shield chariot and came slowly. It was quite similar to the later model of advancing with tanks and infantry, except that the shield chariot could not fire.

On top of the first few shield vehicles, they were also specially crafted. In addition to installing two more pairs of wheels, the original four-wheeled shield vehicle became an eight-wheeled vehicle, making it easier to push. Some thought was put into the protection, and it was wrapped in a thick layer of cowhide, smeared with mud, and splashed with water. Even if a rocket pierced it, it would not burn.

Of course, other shield vehicles are basically rough. Some are simply like trees tied together. Even the wheels are decorations and cannot turn at all. They can only be carried away by the soldiers behind them...

Jia Qu stood on the Huguan Pass and looked down. Such shield chariots were arrayed and covered the entire battle line. Compared with the last time when Cao Bing attacked the city on a large scale, this time there were many more people and siege equipment. It seemed that Cao Bing was very determined to attack the city.

Seeing such a situation, the defenders on the Huguan Pass couldn't help but become nervous, and the guards standing next to Jia Qu also breathed a little heavily.

Jia Qu ordered the use of catapults to hit a wave remotely...

Both sides have catapults, but the problem is that Cao Jun cannot see the layout of Jia Qu's catapults, but on the contrary, you can see the placement of Cao Jun's catapults in the pass. In the case of one light and one dark, Cao Jun's catapults The loss rate will obviously be much higher than that at Huguan Pass.

Jia Qu also has problems here. After all, the stone bullets are not as endless as in the game. Every time one is consumed, one is missing. Nowadays, some stones in the city have to be dismantled to serve as stone bullets, and this kind of belt The angular stone bullets also caused the accuracy of the catapult to drop significantly again.

On the contrary, the catapults on Cao Jun’s side are not that focused on accuracy. Anyway, the Huguan Pass is so big, as long as it is thrown over it, it will be profitable no matter where it hits...

Hence, it is difficult to say who will take advantage of each other in the ultra-long-range catapult bombardment. It can only be said that from the perspective of battle damage rate, Cao Jun's losses will be greater.

At the middle and long range, before there were shield chariots, Cao Jun was basically out of breath due to the pressure on the passes.

 The condescending shooting of ballistas and powerful crossbows is undoubtedly a nightmare for any assembled battle formation. Cao Jun could hardly talk about restraining the ballistas at the city head, and could only fight for losses. That's right, human lives are used to reduce wear and tear. After all, the ballistae and catapults are the same. They have a certain number of uses. If they are used too much, either there will be a problem here or something will break over there. As of now, there are only five or six ballistae left. Some of them are still functioning normally, while the rest are either broken or in the process of being repaired.

In addition, there is also a large loss of crossbow arrows, which is also very large for both sides.

There is still a certain amount of stock at Huguan Pass, but Cao Jun's side has almost bottomed out.

 In the coverage of the battlefield, almost all arrows and crossbows from both sides were pierced everywhere...

What? Collect it and continue using it?

 It won’t work.

Most arrows and crossbow shafts are made of wood. Under high-speed impact, many of the arrows and crossbow shafts that do not hit the person will break, while those that hit the person will most likely have to break first because of the need to remove the arrow. I took it out again, so it can't be used either. From ancient times to the present, whenever a war breaks out, money flows out like water.

 At the same time, it is not only money that is flowing, but also blood and life.

At this time, Le Jin captured a total of 2,500 regular soldiers and 3,000 auxiliary soldiers of Cao's army who attacked Huguan Pass. In addition, there were a large number of laborers and ordinary people captured from the surrounding areas.

  The most important means is the two hundred elite soldiers standing by behind the array...

Jia Qu is indeed implementing the strategy of strengthening the walls and clearing the country, but it is inevitable that he will be a little clever. Perhaps these great minds are used to confronting the government in Shandong and have not yet been able to adapt and adjust. However, in any case, these great minds are now being used as cannon fodder.

 Cao Jun's attack method is still the old model, without many changes.

 Auxiliary soldiers and laborers pushed the large shields and shield chariots forward. Behind the shield chariots, there were archers with light armor who were good at shooting who followed as cover. Behind the shield car are various climbing equipment, ranging from simple ladders to city climbing vehicles, and those elite heavy infantry wearing iron armor and double-layer armor are at the end of the hidden array.

When the stone bullets roared out from the top of the city, no matter whether they were above or below the city, they all looked up and looked at the flight path of those stone bullets...

　　　Boom! 』

When the stone bullet hit the shield car, the moment seemed to be paused in everyone's senses, and then they saw the shield car shattering into pieces, and screams were accompanied by pieces of wood, sawdust and gravel flying up together. Cao Jun's hard laborers who were hit by rocks and wood lay on the ground. Some were rolling over covered in blood, while others died quietly.

Most of the shield vehicles hit by stone bullets from the front could not escape the result of fragmentation, but most of the stone bullets failed to hit them head-on. Even some stone bullets bounced off the ground and only hit them a second or third time. Due to the substantial attenuation of the kinetic energy of the shield vehicle, it cannot cause complete damage to the shield vehicle.

The hit rate of the catapult itself is low, and because the stone bullets were changed to strips of stones, everything is left to God to roll the dice. However, even if they failed to hit the shield cart, these stone bullets rolled and jumped on the ground. As long as Cao's soldiers were touched, they would at least break their bones and tendons.

 As we moved forward, we entered the killing range of the ballista.

With the roar of the ballista, the thick crossbow gun roared down.

The hit rate this time is much higher than that of the catapult. Basically, five or six out of ten shots can hit...

Among the six crossbows that hit, four of them penetrated and scattered two shield carts, incidentally injuring some Cao soldiers behind the large shields. The other two crossbows blocked the shield of a shield cart. It collapsed, revealing a large gap and losing its concealing effect.

But that was the end of the free-for-all period for the ballistas on the top of the city, because Cao Jun moved forward crazily and soon entered the range of the final short-range bow and arrow. The archers from both sides began to greet each other. Accompanied by brief greetings from both sides with different accents but the same tone, arrows from both sides crossed each other, flying high with a sharp whistling sound, and then turned around and came down.

  Arrows are similar in format to each other, but their effects on both sides are different.

Although many of the battlements on the Huguan Pass were damaged in the initial process of stone bullets hitting each other, there are still many that are intact after all, and even the damaged battlements cannot be penetrated by bows and crossbows. Therefore, on the Huguan Pass, The soldiers on Jia Qu's side only needed to hide behind the battlements in time to avoid most of the damage, but most of the archers on Cao's side were not so lucky.

Although there is a shield chariot for protection, there is a certain height difference between the shield chariot and the city wall. This height difference determines that only a small number of archers who are relatively close to the shield chariot can be protected, and even archers who are further away can be protected. He hid behind the shield car, but he was still exposed, so after the two sides exchanged greetings with arrows and crossbows, a series of screams rang out.

Especially those who push and lift shields, the situation is even worse. There is not even a piece of armor on the body, it is completely real leather and flesh fighting against arrows and crossbows, and when the arrows fall, they are not even qualified to hide behind the shield car, they can only watch the arrows. The crossbow arrow fell and penetrated his body. Some unlucky ones were hit by seven or eight arrows and were nailed directly to the shield cart.

A dozen large wooden shields that had lost their support fell to the ground weakly, but soon another group of laborers were driven up and raised the shields amidst the rain of arrows.

 In a war, the lives of these people are not even as important as a large shield made up of several pieces of wood.

Le Jin's general's flag has been moved to a place eight or nine hundred steps away from the city gate of Huguan Pass.

This is actually a dangerous distance. If the catapult's accuracy is slightly better, it may be possible to hit it. It's a pity that the round stone bullets with small wind resistance in the early days of Huguan are basically exhausted. Although the weight of the stone bullets used now is not reduced, the accuracy and range have been greatly reduced...

 But no matter what, there is still a risk, but Le Jin doesn't mind it.

He even hoped that Jia Qu, who was guarding the city, could send people to sneak attack him, so that he could seize some opportunities, instead of spending his flesh and blood to fight the losses of Huguan Pass like he did now.

That's right, it means replacing it with flesh and blood, and it may not be possible to exchange it.

There are some dark clouds floating slightly in the sky, but the cold wind is always blowing, not too big or too small. I could still eat some multigrain pancakes before, but...

Le Jin's face seemed to be covered with ice and snow, and he was so cold and cold.

Beside him, several drummers beat the war drums to an earth-shattering sound, but Le Jin's heart did not become excited because of this.

 Huguan was stronger and more difficult to attack than he had imagined.

 The green bricks on the outer wall of Huguan Pass were smashed by stone bullets and fell off a lot, but what was exposed under the green bricks was not loess at all.

Le Jin had previously sent people to dig a hole in the wall where the outer layer of blue bricks had been knocked off, but it turned out that they couldn't dig in at all. According to reports from soldiers, although the outer layer of blue bricks at Huguan Pass has fallen off, there is still an unknown layer inside, which looks like stone but not stone, and there are some iron bars running through it...

Who the **** has ever heard that you need to saw iron bars when digging a city wall? !

Le Jin knew that those were the secrets of the Hussar's new city wall that had been passed back by the spies in Tongguan. What Le Jin didn't expect was that the newly built wall was not only in Tongguan, but also in Huguan!

Had I known...

It’s no use knowing it earlier, it’s still coming when it’s time to come!

Looking at the battle ahead, the military marquis beside Le Jin muttered: "The crossbows at Huguan are really sharp... I'm afraid our army will suffer a lot of casualties..."

 Le Jin is silent.

Le Jin’s eyes stayed on the elite soldiers and soldiers behind the wooden shields.

Of course, Le Jin did not expect that these five hundred elite soldiers could conquer Huguan Pass in one fell swoop, but the gunpowder used to cover it was buried under Huguan City, so that shouldn’t be a problem?

 Now, we have to wait a little longer.



 After the kerosene or golden juice in the pot is used up...

Seeing too many dead people will make everything numb.

The wooden shield chariots continued to move forward, dominated by ten shield chariots carefully built by Cao Jun's soldiers. Beside the large shield chariots and behind them were simple large shields made by Cao Jun's soldiers bundled with thick wood. They were densely packed in layers, covering what was behind them. The people pushed closer and closer to the city wall.

Those unarmored labor cannon fodders, under the orders of Cao Jun's supervisory team at the rear, staggered like the living dead and rushed up from the rear, carrying various tools in their hands...

It is said that these people are afraid of death, but in the face of such a tragic situation, they still rush forward bravely. It is said that these people are not afraid of death. However, as soon as they are hurt in any way, they run away screaming.

　　　『Fire oil and golden juice are ready! 』

Jia Qu issued orders in an orderly manner. Jia Qu believed that these shield carts and wooden shields were very threatening. Only by destroying these shield carts could the Cao soldiers behind them have nowhere to hide and become active targets.

On the city wall, there was a row of cauldrons boiling gold juice. The smell enveloped the entire city, causing the surrounding soldiers to lose their sense of smell.

Fire oil can be used against people, but it is mainly used to burn down siege equipment, while gold juice is completely targeted at people.

 The power of golden juice is much greater than that of ordinary boiling water, because golden juice is viscous. The boiling water stained it, and it fell off after shaking it off. It may just be red and swollen with blisters or something, but the gold juice couldn't be shaken off after it was stained. What's more, it also has additional magical attack effects...

 Human beings are undoubtedly smart, especially when it comes to dealing with themselves, and they are willing to spend time thinking about it. Only humans understand the weaknesses of humans best. From pouring gold juice on the heads of war cities in ancient times to poisoning the sea in later generations, they are actually all for the better to eliminate humans themselves.

The thing used to hang the golden juice cauldron is a movable crossbar, which can be pushed to move within a certain range. Then look at the ladder set up over there. There are the most people, so you can move the big cauldron over there, and then Pull the rope tied to the cauldron, and there will be a clatter of "giving everything to everyone".

Of course, you can also use a manual ladle to pour, but whether it is quantity or quality, it is obviously not as spectacular as moving the crossbar and dumping the entire cauldron.

The power of gold juice is quite terrifying. Even if Cao's soldiers react faster and use shields to cover it, as long as the exposed skin is slightly contaminated and not treated in time, it will form incurable ulcers in this era. , until death. Unless after being infected, the injury is treated immediately with the determination of a strong man to cut off his wrist, and the entire burned area is directly shaved off before effective cleaning and bandaging, otherwise once the toxin erodes into the body, it is basically waiting to die.

Le Jin stood on the high platform at the rear, watching the battle on the other side of the city wall. He saw all the stone bullets fired by the Huguan defenders. Some of the stone bullets flew far away and even landed in front of the high platform under his feet. not far away.

 The soldiers died one by one while working hard, and the wooden shield chariot and cloud chariot that were ignited by kerosene became a huge torch.

 The smell of blood and rot, the smell of burnt food and the secretion of hormones are intertwined.

　　　"Master General..." The confidants around Le Jin couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted, "Would you like to reorganize the queue..."

Le Jin shook his head, "Go on, beat the drum!" 』

 The war drums roared again, encouraging the remaining courage.

Cao Jun once again pushed the remaining large shield chariots forward, and the gold juice and kerosene on the city were also consumed in waves of attacks...

　　　This is the moment! Le Jin raised his arms and shouted, "Soldiers step forward quickly to cover and bury the gunpowder!" 』

The elite armored soldiers who have been displayed on the back line are finally moving at this moment. Under the big shield, they are covering the Cao soldiers carrying gunpowder across the battlefield and straight to the city!

Le Jin clenched his fists tightly and widened his eyes. Logically speaking, he should be a veteran on the battlefield. Not only does he not take his own life seriously, he also doesn't take the lives of others seriously. But at this moment, it was as if Le Jin was on the battlefield for the first time, and all he could hear was the pounding of his heartbeat in his chest mixed with the sound of war drums.

 Hurry up and rush over!

They naturally noticed this group of elite soldiers on the Huguan Pass, with arrows whizzing down.

 Many elite soldiers were shot, but not much damage was caused.

 Two layers of heavy armor are indeed an almost impossible task for bows and arrows at medium and long distances.

The ammunition of the catapults and crossbows was also exhausted. One or two scattered crossbows, even if they took away one or two elite soldiers, could not stop the progress of the other soldiers.

 The golden juice has been used up. Even if there is still some, cooking still requires a process...

 It’s definitely too late to pull the trigger now.

Kerosene is very effective against large siege equipment, but when faced with small and fast-moving elite soldiers, it is often unable to cause effective damage.

The armored man who was splashed with fire oil would just retreat back and roll around in the sand. As long as he was not exposed to open flames, he could just go down and take off his armor and that would be it.

Seeing the elite soldiers escorting the gunpowder soldiers rushing under the city gate of Huguan Pass, Le Jin couldn't help but raise his arms and ordered the Chinese army to assemble immediately and stand by. He also immediately got off the high platform and with the help of the guards A second layer of outer armor was put on underneath.

Le Jin felt that as long as gunpowder could blast open the city gate of Huguan Pass, he would naturally have the opportunity to attack directly and seize Huguan Pass!

 (End of this chapter)