Chapter 326 The Shaking Wall
Thank you very much to Qidian Dad for the 100 reward of [accepting w’s big watermelon]!
......
In Camp Raven, as the horn sounded, all the officers poured into the big tent.
“Map!”
Raven gave the order, and someone hung up the map that had been prepared, and someone else pressed a thumbtack representing Eivor's army on it.
Raven's expression was quite serious: "This time, I want to admit that I made a mistake in judging the battle situation and underestimated the capabilities of the Principality of Eivor."
"Today, there are 7 Ten thousand troops are gathered under the Sigh Wall. Not only is the Sigh Wall in danger, but our retreat has also been cut off. "
The total number of 70,000 troops, including auxiliary soldiers and farmers, is probably more than 200,000.
It is impossible to hide this large-scale troop mobilization from the nobles of Tiehua County where the Sighing Wall is located, and the large-scale changes in food and commodity prices when raising military supplies cannot escape the eyes and ears of the merchants.
And it wasn't until these 70,000 troops came to the city and completely cut off their retreat that Raven got the news.
Looking back from the results, the layout of Eivor Principality this time should be blocking front and rear.
Du Duo sent troops to defeat him and force him to retreat; the 70,000 troops behind him were to ensure that he could not return to the Nord province.
Wonderful and reasonable layout, is there such a master in the Principality of Eivor?
Faced with this kind of military strength, the Eivor people will probably believe that they will be defeated and killed.
That's why the local nobles and businessmen kept strict secrets about themselves, so Du Duo chose to commit suicide in battle.
Once Raven fails, Du Duo and the family behind him who surrendered to him will definitely be uprooted!
Looking around the audience, Raven gently tapped the map:
“Do you think we are in dire straits now?”
Twice heartily in a row. The victory made the morale of the Eagle Army extremely high. When they heard this question, they all puffed up their chests:
"No!"
"Yes." Raven said calmly: "We are indeed in a desperate situation."
"The way back is cut off, and the supplies are also cut off."
"The army's food and fodder, even including the seizures in this battle, can only be consumed for 4 months at most. Once the time is over, we will all starve to death in Eivor."
"You said, There are always more ways than difficulties! ”
Hoyaz was already qualified to attend the meeting. He stood up and said loudly: "The Principality of Eivor has a vast territory. We have the advantage of aerial reconnaissance. We can break it into parts and take food from various places. Even if the Eivor people have more There’s nothing we can do about our local advantage.”
“That’s a good idea.” Raven nodded approvingly: “But that’s the case. Come on, what’s the difference between us and horse thieves?”
“An army that gives up political goals in order to survive is just a group of bandits. No matter how destructive they are, they will be wiped out one day.”
“ At that point, our life and death will be meaningless.”
Hoyaz’s face turned red and he was speechless.
Raven nodded, motioned for him to sit down, and asked loudly:
"Does anyone have any other ways to break the situation?"
The atmosphere was slightly dull, and the officers exchanged looks.
The next person to speak out was Lin Deng, who had just come over.
As Wanda’s deputy, he first glanced at Lancha, another descendant, and then said:
"Sir, I think we can capture Bolan City first."
"Count Tuduo has been newly defeated, Bolan City will not have any decent defense, and Lancha is also in your army, Bolan City The city can be defeated in one battle without even losing anything."
“With Bolan City as the foundation, remote control of the Bolan Gold Mine will provide both money and food, and the advantage of defending the city is far greater than that of fighting in the field.”
Lan Cha’s expression was obviously depressed. Many, gave Linden a hard look, but didn't say much.
Lei Wen nodded lightly: "It's also a good idea, but our numbers are too small, it's difficult to supply our troops, and I'm an outsider."
"Once I am trapped in a lonely city, I will have to face Eivor's continuous attacks. Even if I am really good at using my troops, sooner or later I will be unable to cope with it."
"My lord is right, I think about it. Not careful." Lyndon leaned over and sat down.
Unlike Lancha, he has his own team. If he wants to show his value, he can only show his performance in front of Raven.
At the worst, when Raven is defeated, he can still get the qualification to escape with the Wind King.
Leaven looked around the audience again, confirming that no third person wanted to stand up, and then said:
"That's why I said that we are now pushed to a dead end."
"In 4 months, we only have 4 months."
"If by then, we cannot return To get enough supplies at the High Wall of Sigh, there is only a dead end.”
“Therefore.” Raven pressed his finger on the map and scratched the wall of sighs with his fingernails:
“We can only have one combat direction in the future, and that is to do whatever it takes. Return to the High Wall of Sighs and keep the High Wall of Sighs! ”
"Now, everyone returns to their posts and gathers their soldiers to prepare. Tomorrow morning, we will break out of camp and set off!"
All the officers stood up in unison, responded to the order loudly, and then withdrew one after another.
Leaven's expression remained calm.
The reason for this meeting is not only to pass on the news, but more importantly, Raven wants to dispel the current blind optimism among the Eagle Army.
This is also to dispel your own blind optimism.
During this period of time, Raven has also been sorting out the gains and losses on the battlefield.
And the more he reviewed the game, the more he realized how lucky he was to win so neatly.
If Hoyaz had not made a decisive decision and liberated the hyena's heavy cavalry, then even if Eric entered the scene at the right time, it would have been difficult to directly sway Duduo himself.
If Kuili had not been arrogant enough to reveal his position in the army, but had used a more covert method to release spells, then the situation of the Chinese army would have been shaken.
If Du Duo did not pay too much attention to the Wind King's troops and care too much about the troops in his hands, but chose to concentrate long-range firepower on one of his flanks from the beginning, then it is not known which side will collapse first.
Even if it is not a cloudy day but a heavy rain, then the Wind King's continuous combat capability will be greatly reduced.
In contrast, the Tuduo Army will only abolish 2,000 archers, but the crossbowmen will not be greatly affected.
Now, we are about to face an army of 70,000 people.
With Wanda and Du Duo's lessons learned, the commander of the other side, as long as he is not an idiot, will probably learn from their experience.
This war will be difficult.
Strategically, one can despise the enemy, but the Principality of Eivor has already made such a tough and sophisticated response. If one still has the intention to despise him, then he will only be destroyed.
Therefore, Lei Wen’s goal is not to defeat this 70,000-strong army, but to break through it as much as possible, find an opportunity, and return to the Wall of Sighs!
Early the next morning, the Eagle Army broke out of camp and set off.
Raven was not anxious because his retreat was blocked, but sent out scouts and rushed toward the High Wall of Sighs with absolute caution.
There are still 9 days to go.
...
Sighing Inside the high wall, the defender Howell was standing in the tower, looking out through the lookout.
This is the first time for this young son of a viscount to witness a war of such a scale.
An army of 70,000 people, as well as more than 100,000 logistics personnel, and a total population of 200,000 people formed a densely packed camp several miles away from the sighing high wall.
The 20 camps are connected into an oval with inner and outer layers, which look like a huge eye from a distance.
There are various flags flying above, including the flags of the Principality of Eivor and the flags of nobles at all levels. They are colorful and dizzying.
There are wide passages between each camp, which are enough for large groups of soldiers to pass, and can effectively prevent a fire from damaging all the camps.
Between this camp and the High Wall of Sighs, there is a group of soldiers guarding more than 200 trebuchets, like a spectacle rising from the ground!
“It’s about to start again.” Howell held the hilt of the sword in his hand, his cheeks twitching slightly.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the arms of forty trebuchets dropped heavily, and then were thrown high!
A row of stone bullets pierced the sky, almost instantly spanning hundreds of meters, and bombarded both inside and outside the city wall!
The explosion of boulders hitting the city wall, the collapse of houses, and the scraping of stones bouncing on hard surfaces were heard one after another.
Accompanied by screams and panicked screams.
Bang——
Howell even watched a huge stone hit the battlement in front of him, shattering on the hard wall, and the flying stone fragments hit his chest. He felt a dull phantom pain on his nails.
This is the 6th day of being besieged by the Sigh Wall.
It was also the third day that the opponent launched an attack.
The last batch of logistics troops set off 7 days ago, and now there are only 5,000 defenders from the Xuefeng County Legion in the city, as well as the 500 Eagle Army left by Raven and led by Link.
According to the instructions sent by the Hippogryph Cavalry, they had to persist for at least 6 days before Raven returned.
Can you withstand it?
Howell wasn't sure and just held the hilt of his sword tightly.
Young people are not good at giving up.
However, from the initial panic to the familiarity now, Howell has matured a lot in just 3 days.
At least you won’t be tempted to rush out of the city to fight to the death because of the opponent’s trebuchet attack. The trebuchet continued to throw, round after round.
Two days ago, Howell, at Link's suggestion, erected a trebuchet in the city to bombard the opponent.
But last night, the last trebuchet was destroyed by the opponent, and now it can only be passively beaten, withstanding the bombardment like a non-stop war drum.
Howell sometimes couldn't even tell the difference between the sound of stones falling to the ground and his own heartbeat.
He held a piece of charcoal with his fingers and drew it on the wall.
A group of 4 vertical and 1 horizontal is counted as 5 rounds.
When the six groups finished painting, Howell threw down the charcoal and ordered:
"Let people prepare in the troop transportation road!"
More than 200 trebuchets, about 40 in a group, were placed in the Before the official attack, 30 rounds will be shot every day.
Now that 30 rounds have passed, it’s time for the Eivors to seize the city again.
Eivor's troops wearing blue shirts poured out, like a sudden rising tide.
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There are not 70,000 people, and the front of the battlefield cannot accommodate that many people.
This batch of siege troops that filled the battlefield was only about 20,000 people.
A siege machine was rolled out.
The first thing that appeared was the siege chisel.
This is an instrument that looks like a crossbow, and its working principle is similar. The only difference is that it shoots a siege cone instead of a conventional crossbow arrow.
20 siege chisels are launched together!
The siege cone is 3 meters long, with a flat and wide tip. Behind it is an iron beam as thick as a human leg. If it is shot into the gap in the wall bricks, it can be firmly fixed and become an upward climbing support for infantry. And the fulcrum for fixing the ladder.
When——
Faced with the smooth and solid city wall, most of the siege cones failed, and only a few were deeply embedded in the iron gates.
Then came 20 siege engines and more than 40 ladders.
The siege vehicle is 12 meters high. It is made of huge wood and reinforced with iron cables and nails. It looks like a moving tower.
There are cascading stairs inside. As long as you get close to the city wall, you can secure yourself firmly with the top iron hook, and then the attacker can rush out!
Like a colony of ants guarding the queen, Eivor's army pushed these 20 siege engines and slowly pressed towards the High Wall of Sighs.
And Howell's military order has been carried out. Rows of Xuefeng County soldiers climbed onto the dirty city wall covered with blood and flames, and raised the crossbows in their hands.
They come from different families and territories, and were originally just a ragtag group of people.
But war is the best teacher.
Most people who survive today can clearly judge the distance of the opponent and whether they have entered the shooting range with their naked eyes.
When the blue tide of Eivor surged about 120 meters outside the wall, the soldiers on the city finally raised their heads and started to fight back against the cover of the opponent's trebuchet.
Several flying stones hit the city head.
Some cut off half of the newly emerging soldiers defending the city, leaving only half of their bodies sprayed with blood; others stamped the soldiers on the city wall and turned them into a puddle of flesh.
No matter how scared they were, screaming and roaring, most soldiers still completed their missions.
The crossbows are like rain, and the target is not the marching soldiers, but the siege vehicles that are constantly advancing towards the city wall!
Even though the vehicle had been hung with sandbags beforehand, when dozens or hundreds of enchanted crossbow arrows were fired, the siege vehicle still burst into flames.
Occasionally, crossbow arrows will fall into the crowd, bursting into flames and causing rounds of screaming, but the casualties caused are really limited.
After a salvo, 8 siege vehicles burst into flames, but 12 of them only had some sporadic flames - siege vehicles that had been treated with fireproofing were not so easy to ignite.
The enchanted crossbows left within the High Wall of Sighs are limited, and the round just now was the last reserve.
Therefore, when the refilling was completed and the defenders on the city wall appeared again, they were targeting the soldiers transporting the siege vehicles.
The crossbow arrows fell like locusts, clicking on the shield, and some of them would always pass over the shield.
Each round of crossbow arrows can take away dozens of Eivors, but it has little impact on the vast ant-like siege army.
When the battle line advanced to 80 meters away from the Wall of Sighs, part of Eivor's army stopped and began to build fortifications on the spot.
Sandbags serve as the base, and logs are spread out one by one and gradually raised.
That is the shooting tower.
The shooting tower is specially designed to make up for the gap in shooting range between the upper and lower parts of the city wall. Archers can mount it to effectively attack targets on the city wall.
Every time it was built, Howell would send elite elites to destroy it at night, but every time he attacked the city, he could not avoid the opponent building it again.
When the siege engines were pushed under the walls covered with corpses and traces of gunpowder smoke, Eivor's army had left behind hundreds of corpses.
The sound of roaring boulders in the sky finally stopped.
Shouts and footsteps became the mainstream again.
When tens of thousands of people are together, just the sound of breathing is like a strong wind!
The siege vehicle is close to the city wall. Due to the slope, the closer it gets, the more difficult it becomes.
At this time, wooden poles will be pushed out from the city wall, one section is supported at the end of the city wall, and the other end firmly resists the approach of the siege vehicle.
Soldiers will then come forward, pour buckets of kerosene on them, and then throw out torches.
This process is not safe.
The shooting towers erected in the distance were filled with archers. The arrows pouring from their hands firmly suppressed the crossbowmen on the city top, constantly harvesting the lives of the defenders.
To burn down a siege vehicle, it often takes more than a dozen lives; and if the kerosene rolls down, an entire section of the city wall will begin to burn.
The ladder equipped with iron claws hooked up to the top of the city with a clear metal sound.
The soldiers guarding the city picked up the iron hook and worked together to crook the ladder and overturn it. The arrows shot from the tower made this step particularly difficult.
But there are always more backup plans for defending the city.
The boiling hot oil is poured down the ladder, making a sizzling sound, followed by bursts of screams.
“Ahhhh——”
The attackers who had just climbed up the ladder were covered with blisters, convulsed and fell to the bottom of the city.
Then just one torch can make the entire ladder ablaze!
Stones, rolling logs, and nails were pushed off the city wall, taking away several lives without deliberately aiming.
The most lethal thing is the feces that is boiled until it boils. If it is spilled, whether it is iron armor or leather armor, it will make people miserable!
But there are too many attackers.
Kill one and there will be another, kill one and there will be another.
Even though in just half an hour, a layer of corpses was piled up under the city wall, the number of enemies did not decrease at all.
But the number of defenders on the city walls became smaller and smaller with each passing day.
I killed nearly a thousand enemies and my own losses were around 500.
The defense of the city is getting weaker and weaker.
Finally, a siege vehicle broke through the obstacle, and a wide wooden plank was pulled out from the top to set up on the city head.
The elites appeared in full body armor, wearing blue tabards representing the Principality of Eivor.
The armor on his body is thick and tough, and he holds a dark sword in his hand that shines with a muted metallic light.
Judging from the layers of naturally blooming patterns, it is absolutely extraordinary.
His face was wearing a ferocious wolf-shaped iron mask, shining with a faint cold light.
He jumped to the top of the city with heavy steps.
The moment it landed, more than ten crossbows were aimed and launched.
哚哚哚
The crossbow arrow broke through the armor and pierced his chest, turning him into a hedgehog. The huge force even made him jump on the spot.
But then, the wolf-faced warrior seemed to be unaware. He stepped forward, swung his long sword horizontally, and cut open a thin kite shield. Blood was splashed, and an arm fell on the trail with a scream. superior.
He strode forward and struck out with his sword, ending the life of the armless defender.
More wolf-faced elites poured out of the siege vehicles.
Viewed from a high altitude, the city wall on the north side of Sigh High Wall looks like a piece of bread, dotted with red and black patterns.
Blue mold begins to grow on it.
The battle for the city wall begins!
……
(End of this chapter)