Chapter 55: Rivers of Blood

Mu Ying's heart beat wildly as he watched the huge Linchong chariot getting closer and closer to the Songming city wall.

If they move forward a little bit, no more than fifty steps at most, the Ming army archers in the giant chariots will be able to start suppressing the archers on the city wall. If they move forward another hundred steps, both the archers in the Ming army's heavy infantry and the cavalry will be able to use their power to suppress the concentrated shooting.

By that time, no matter how powerful the crossbow formation of Songming City was, it would be useless. Once Lin Chong's giant chariot approached the city wall, Songming City would almost be in his pocket.

Thinking of this, Mu Ying felt a little regretful that he did not use all the thirty giant chariots he brought with him at once. If he could really win the battle in one go, he would definitely have a great reputation in front of Zhu Yuanzhang when he returned.

After this battle, even if the commander-in-chief was Fu Youde, Mu Ying's achievements would not be diminished in the slightest. It is possible that Zhu Yuanzhang would be so happy that he would let him rule Yunnan and Yunnan in the future and enjoy the life of a vassal king.

Here, Mu Ying was dreaming of his Spring and Autumn period. On top of the city wall, Shangguan Wan'er looked at the approaching Lin Chong's giant chariot with a smile, nodded slightly, and waved behind her, "Let's eat!"

Following an order, shouts continued from above the city wall where Shangguan Wan'er was, followed by countless crossbows, which poured down towards the outside of the city with earth-shaking sounds of breaking through the air.

Nearly a hundred crossbows were firing non-stop. One quiver contained fifty crossbows, and all of them were fired in just a few breaths.

In an instant, nearly five thousand crossbows shot out and shot towards the Ming army. The scene was truly spectacular.

Perhaps the numbers alone seem a little pale, so let me give you a simple analogy. It is like a group of ants moving when a sudden rainstorm falls from the sky.

The key point is that this "rainstorm" is not an ordinary rainstorm. The crossbows shot from the city wall where Shangguan Wan'er is located will explode the moment they hit any material, emitting a deafening explosion and flames shooting into the sky.

In Mu Ying's eyes, no crossbow or gun could destroy it. The huge chariot covered with thick cowhide and iron sheets was like a building block under a hurricane under the violent explosion, and was easily torn apart by the surging shock wave of the explosion.

In front of the explosive crossbows, the Linchong giant chariot was like paper and had no resistance at all. What was even more bizarre was that some crossbows accurately shot into the observation hole on the first floor of the Linchong giant chariot.

The crossbow penetrated the observation hole and stabbed into the bottom base, then exploded inside the Linchong giant chariot, igniting a large amount of explosives stored at the bottom of the Linchong giant chariot, resulting in an even more terrifying explosion.

A giant chariot that was more than ten meters high instantly turned into a fireball and then exploded in all directions.

There were nearly a thousand Ming army officers and soldiers in the giant chariot of Linchong. Some of them were swallowed by the flames before they could even scream. More of them were covered in flames and fled in all directions howling. Many were thrown out by the shock wave of the explosion and crashed heavily into the Ming army formation.

For a moment, the attacking Ming army was in chaos. No one had expected to encounter such a blow. How could a crossbow explode? The problem was that at such a close distance, the Ming army had no defense at all.

The huge chariot that could have been used as a cover became a target, and the remaining people were within the range of the crossbows. Whether they wanted to escape or continue the attack, they would have to pay a very painful price.

Just one round of volleys from Shangguan Wan'er's side, with nearly 5,000 crossbows, completely destroyed ten giant chariots of the Ming army, and more than 10,000 Ming soldiers died on the spot.

"Fuck, that bitch Shangguan only cares about eating meat, brothers, drink soup!" Pan Feng on the nearby city wall saw this scene, was stunned for a moment, and then became a little exasperated, yelling at the crossbowmen to shoot.

Then a new round of crossbow shooting began, and this time it was the three city walls. One volley covered the area with tens of thousands of crossbows. The Ming army that had just suffered a setback in attacking the city had no time to catch their breath before the crossbows came again.

This time, the crossbows that came were still capable of causing explosions. The Ming army attacking the city immediately fell into chaos. The cavalry, who were ordered by Mu Ying to keep a distance from the infantry, also suffered this time.

In just a blink of an eye, the Ming cavalry, who had made the right decision and turned their horses around to escape, were killed by flying crossbows by the thousands, and almost all of them, including their horses, were blown into pieces.

The entire battlefield immediately became a purgatory belonging only to the Ming army. This time there were no densely packed crossbows like a forest. Everywhere was covered in blood and scarlet. The battlefield was truly a river of blood, without a trace of emptiness.

"Uh..." Mu Ying was dumbfounded after seeing this scene and couldn't utter a word. Fu Youde, Zhu Di and others gasped, feeling scared but also relieved at the same time.

The crossbow formation in Songming City was so terrifying. Fortunately, they did not follow Mu Ying in the attack, otherwise, it would not be just Mu Ying's army that was lying on the battlefield.

Even such a tall chariot was overturned, and the cavalry had already fled, but in the end, a piece of flesh was torn off by them. Fighting with such an opponent can definitely be said to be anyone's nightmare.

Be it Fu Youde, Zhu Di, Mu Ying, or the newcomer to the battlefield, Prince Zhou Zhu Su, they had all experienced countless life and death situations on the battlefield, but in all these years, they had never seen, let alone heard of, a crossbow formation with such terrifying power.

How were the enemy's crossbows made? How could they not even withstand the impact of the giant chariot? If all the enemy's defensive weapons were crossbows, what was the point of the fight?

Fu Youde and Zhu Di were both veteran generals who had fought on many battlefields. They could definitely see that if what they wanted was really done, the 500,000 Ming troops behind them would probably be killed here, and they might not be able to get close to the enemy's city wall!

Everyone was stunned by the power of the special crossbows fired by Shangguan Wan'er and others, especially the troops who served as the vanguard of the siege. Their eyes were no longer filled with fearlessness, but with panic and anxiety.

Most of the vanguard troops in ancient sieges were death row prisoners or desperate criminals who had signed death warrants. They were all reckless men who were used to licking blood on the tip of a knife. They didn't care about life and death and would just go up and do it.

But even so, it doesn't mean they are brainless. When they know it is a dead end, they still continue to rush forward with their heads covered. There is an essential difference between recklessness and suicide.

In the eyes of all Ming troops, Songming City is now a ferocious beast waiting to devour human lives. Anyone who goes there will die, and there is no second choice.

Faced with this situation, Fu Youde and others also began to feel uneasy. After all, the current battle situation was something no one had expected.

The crossbow formation of Songming City was so powerful that it was completely beyond Fu Youde's imagination. He hesitated for a moment.