Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1199 – Heroic Spirit
8th month, 9th day, evening.
Great Xia’s 200 thousand Guards Legion Corps cavalry appeared at the border of Jingdu Province, causing an uproar.
The Battle of Jin was the focus of the entire battle of the mid plains and was the pinnacle battle of the Battle of China. It would decide the powers in China, so everyone focused on it.
Not only the China region players, but even the entire world was paying attention to this huge battle.
Around Great Jin, Great Xia fought a battle of intellect and skill with the six country alliance, giving the players the fight of the century. At the 8th month, 8th day, the six countries alliance with Great Zhou at the helm still held an advantage.
Jingdu still stood tall, while Great Jin was on the verge of being wiped out.
Silver Hand was naturally delighted, cheering for this hard-fought victory. Even Azure Badge heaved a sigh of relief, as they did not wish for Great Xia to truly unify China.
However, in just one day, the battle situation faced a sharp turn, which caught the tongue of everyone.
The panicked Di Chen prepared the border for battle. At the same time, he ordered Wuqi to come back to save the capital. He also thought of other methods to see if he could find more reinforcements to defend Handan City.
This was a sleepless night for Handan City.
…
The next morning, the well-rested Great Xia Guards Legion Corps officially charged into Great Zhou.
Their first target was Great Zhou’s grain hub at the border – Pingshan City. All the frontline resources that Great Zhou transported basically went through this city, and this was their overall logistics base.
Since it was a logistics base, there were troops defending it.
Truthfully, even if the frontlines were at a standstill, Pingshan City would still have 50 thousand troops defending. Now, they had a total of a legion in strength to defend the city.
Great Xia’s Guards Legion Corps consisted entirely of cavalry, so could they siege the city?
At least the Great Zhou defending general did not think so.
Although Pingshan City could not be considered a huge city, and it did not have city protection rivers, it had five meter high city walls. The Great Xia Guards Legion Corps did not have infantry and did not have siege weapons, so how would they even breakthrough the city?
Even if they wanted to copy the Mongol cavalry’s psychological battle, it was too rushed.
Putting it bluntly, Pingshan City had 80% and above of the grain of the Great Zhou army. The safety of this city directly concerned the outcome of the Battle of Jin.
Even if Great Xia’s Guards Legion Corps killed all the civilians in the surrounding villages, Pingshan City would not surrender.
Di Chen was not worried that Pingshan City could not be defended but that the Guards Legion Corps would go around Pingshan City and head right into the core area of Jingdu Province, charging right for Handan City.
If they did that, the Pingshan City defending troops would not dare to intercept them out of the city. If they were careless, they might fall for a trap.
However, the actions of the Guards Legion Corps once again surprised Di Chen. For some reason, early in the morning, the Great Xia Guards Legion Corps surrounded the south, north, and west directions of the city and left the east empty.
“Wow, they really are going to siege. Aren’t they a little too confident?”
The Pingshan City defending general stood on the city wall. Looking out at the majestic Great Xia Guards Legion Corps, uneasiness rose up in his heart for the first time. The Great Xia Guards Legion Corps were no fools, and they would not waste time doing something they did not have confidence in.
“Do they have a secret weapon?”
He actually guessed it correctly.
After the Guards Legion Corps formed up outside the city, at the backlines of each legion, there were movement. Behind the normal cavalry was the legion’s subordinate iron armored cavalry regiment.
Qiongzhou’s iron armored cavalry bases were on the right track since a long time ago. As the trump card of the entire army, the Guards Legion Corps were naturally the first to have a direct iron armored cavalry regiment.
There were two reasons for doing that.
First, to use these troops as super heavy armored cavalry. They would be thrown into the battle at the crucial moment to take down the most difficult enemies.
Secondly, to help the army carry the heavy equipment.
Compared to war horses, although the iron armored beasts were weaker in terms of stamina, in terms of carrying weight, they were miles better. Their size meant that they could even drag some heavy machines.
The secret weapons of the Guards Legion Corps were carried by this regiment.
Under the command of the engineer soldiers, the soldiers took down weird shaped parts from the iron armored beasts. In the hands of five artisans, they were formed into a giant arcubalista.
To say that it was giant was not an exaggeration.
The three bow arcubalistas were considered the biggest amongst all crossbows, but this giant arcubalista was actually three times in size.
More amazingly, with the development of the Mohists, it could be split up into hundreds of parts. After taking it apart, the iron armored beasts could easily transport it.
Only beasts like the iron armored beasts could manage to drag these for long periods of time. One must know that to strengthen the explosiveness of the arcubalista, more than half of the parts were made of steel and not normal wood.
As it was too cumbersome, each legion only brought one.
Very quickly, the assembled giant arcubalistas were pushed to the front and were aimed at the three city gates.
“What monster is that?”
How could the Great Zhou army ever have seen such a giant arcubalista? They could not help but chatter about it. Although they could not deduce the killing strength of the arcubalista, just that arm thick arrow was enough to make them shiver.
The generals were calm, chiding, “What are you all afraid of? No matter how strong it is, there’s only one. Can it shoot through the city wall? By the time that happens, the battle would be long over.”
When the soldiers heard that, they all felt that it made sense.
In actuality, in every siege, there would be hundreds of siege weapons prepared. They had never heard of anyone using a single weird-looking arcubalista to take down a city.
Thinking about it, that was true.
However, were matters really that simple?
Just as the defending troops were defending on the city wall, the giant arcubalistas were pushed forward under the protection of the cavalry to 600 meters away from the city gates before they stopped.
At this distance, only the arc shots from the archers on the city wall would be able to cause any threat to the Guards Legion Corps.
As a trump card force, the light armored cavalry of the Guards Legion Corps all had shields. Carrying it above their heads, the arrows shot from the city walls were like scratching an itch. It was difficult for such attacks to be effective.
Whilst speaking, the giant arcubalistas were in place.
“Aim!”
Compared to the three bow arcubalistas, the giant arcubalista’s aiming system was modified. Under the command of an experience commander, the precision could be controlled to within a meter.
As such, amazingly, one could accurately hit the target.
“Fire!”
Along with the order being given, the crossbow started to work and gave out rumbling noises. To obtain enough energy, the rotating mechanism actually had a steam engine within it.
Following which, one could only hear a ‘Xiu!’ as an arm thick arrow broke through the air, arcing in the air and smashing into the city gate like a homing missile. It was like a drill as it punctured the wooden city gate. Only half of the arrow was left exposed.
Even if Pingshan City was not a huge city, the city gates were made using large pieces of wood and were 35 centimeters thick. On the outside, it was wrapped with a layer of iron, and even if one used a siege hammer, one would find it difficult to breakthrough.
This giant crossbow had actually caused the arrow to pierce through the iron skin and stab into the door. Just a little more, and it would have pierced through.
“This….”
When the defending soldiers saw that, all their mouths hung agape.
While they were stunned, the cavalry at the front moved. A cavalry soldier in the middle pulled a long chain, dragging it on the ground as he charged at the gate under the protection of his brothers.
Under the feet of the cavalry was a huge stack of chains that were close to half a person tall. It was at least 500 meters long.
On the other end was a stabilizing mechanism that was similar to the bar on a chariot but longer such that it could tie eight war horses.
“Quick, stop them!”
When the city defending general saw that, although he did not know what the enemy was planning, he felt threatened and ordered the soldiers to kill the charging cavalry.
All of a sudden, arrows rained down.
Under the closely packed arrow rain, even the strong Great Xia Guards Legion Corps could not hold on. Casualties quickly started to appear as there were cavalry being shot down from their horses, unlikely to survive.
The Guards Legion Corps were brave, and they did not care, continuing to charge right at the city gates.
The arrow rain became more and more closely packed such that one could not see any gaps. Even as his brothers beside him fell, the soldier in the middle hauling the chain remained expressionless, staring right at the city gate and the arrow that had pierced through.
They were getting closer and closer to the city gate.
Once the cavalry were only five meters away, a large number of rocks rolled down from above. With the help of gravity, the huge stones crushed and killed any cavalry it struck.
Some unlucky ones were directly squashed into meat paste, and even their warhorses died.
Apart from stone, scalding hot oil was poured down. Even with armor protecting them, the warhorses could not withstand that. The moment hot oil touched them, they were frightened and started to hop around.
Luckily, the Great Xia cavalry used only heavy armored cavalry for this. Not only were the cavalry themselves wearing full armor, but even their war horses had protective gear and only had small amounts of skin revealed.
If not, they would not even be able to get close to the city gate.
When they got closer, what awaited them was a piece of rolling wood that swept across a large area. This made the advance of the cavalry really arduous, and their casualties continued to grow.
“Get off your horses!”
Along with the captain giving the order, the surviving cavalry pulled onto their reigns. The war horses neighed, uneasily kicking up the dirt beneath their hooves and causing smoke and dirt to rise.
After getting off their horse, they quickly gathered together, placing the shields on their shoulders and joining together. They lowered their heads and used all their strength to resist the impact of the stone and rolling wood.
The scalding hot oil dripped down from the gaps and fell onto their head and faces.
The Guards Legion Corps soldiers were true men. At the crucial moment, they displayed respectable heroic spirit. Being splashed by such hot oil, blisters of varying sizes appeared on their faces.
However, they did not make a sound and did not even frown. They bore the pain as they moved in an orderly manner toward the city gate. They moved to finish the last two meters, the most arduous and dangerous two meters.
They were only inches away from the city gate.
“Cover!”
The captain said as he lugged the chain toward the arrow that pierced the city gate.
