Soon, in front of the Third Army camp, the Cambodian army launched a tidal attack after making some preparations.

With armored infantry as the vanguard, sword and shield soldiers guarding the flanks, and followed closely by a large number of Khmer crossbowmen. Due to their disadvantages in range and rate of fire, they needed to be protected within at least 200 steps before launching an attack.

If the crossbows were to suppress Qinghe, the attack distance would need to be shortened to at least one hundred and fifty steps.

In other words, for the Qinghe crossbow, which has a range of up to 300 steps and can be fired continuously by moving the machine, they need to sacrifice more lives to achieve their tactical goals.

Behind the crossbowmen was an attack group composed of spearmen and axemen. They covered the crossbows carried forward by auxiliary soldiers, forming a huge attack group and following the crossbowmen.

Since Qinghe had been well prepared, the crossbows were artificially raised, which resulted in the Khmer crossbows having a considerable disadvantage in range. However, compared to Qinghe's method of fixing the crossbows on the launch pad, the Khmer crossbows that could be carried and maneuvered were not without advantages. Moreover, their task was not to shoot against the Qinghe crossbows, but to destroy Qinghe's fortifications by firing crossbow arrows with armor-piercing heads or iron chains between the two crossbows.

Because the battle had just begun and the distance was far, under the command of the officers, Qinghe's crossbows were first replaced with armor-piercing heads with triangular pyramids in order to improve the efficiency of armor-piercing without increasing the weight.

This was prepared for the Khmer front-row armored infantry and the sword and shield soldiers pushing their large shields forward.

The arrows of the bed crossbow are more than one meter long, which is generally not much different in size from the javelins used by current athletes. Each time it is fired, three arrows are fired in succession. From a high position, each shot can destroy the Khmer's large shield or string two or three armored infantrymen together like a candied haws, and then nail them heavily to the ground, which looks quite scary.

The morale of the Khmer army did not collapse as immediately as everyone expected at the beginning.

One reason was that before the battle, Yang Yizhen issued a generous reward on behalf of the royal family, and the soldiers' pockets were bulging. There was really no reason for them to retreat as soon as the battle started.

Secondly, it was because Yang Yizhen promised a reward as the right prime minister. From killing one person in the battle to being the first to break into the city to taking Ding Lin's head, all of them were clearly marked prices, and there would be no delays.

Thirdly, and most importantly, Qin Shou organized some of his personal soldiers into a supervisory team in front of all the soldiers, and mixed them into the attacking team. If anyone showed any intention of retreating, he would be beheaded directly.

Although they were new recruits, they had memorized the military regulations at the beginning of their training: "If you do not advance when you hear the drum, and do not stop when you hear the gong, and do not raise the flag when it is raised, and do not lower it when it is pressed, it is called rebellion against the army, and those who violate it will be beheaded." Therefore, it was not surprising that the commander behaved like this.

Although in front of the crossbow, the so-called armor, shield, and even personal bravery and courage are all as useless as paper. Even if you can ask a god to possess you, as long as the god comes a little bit slower, he will not be able to save you.

But a mere few dozen crossbows, on such a wide front, could only do a tiny amount to the Khmer attack group. And the fear brought by the bloodshed of the crossbows was far less intense than the fear brought by the supervisory team standing behind with knives, watching him gloomily.

Therefore, the Cambodian army rushed to the first trench despite casualties.

The rest is easy.

There was no need to fill the trench, or jump in and climb back up.

The sword and shield soldiers simply laid down their large shields made of logs, which became a sharp weapon for crossing the trenches.

As for the fence on the other side of the trench, the Khmer crossbows adopted the tactic of lowering, firing, lifting up and running as much as possible, helping the forwards to destroy the fence while reducing their own losses.

If there is barbed wire on the other side of the trench, it is not difficult. Whether you lay down large wooden shields to create a road, or use a crossbow to shoot a crossbow arrow with an iron chain in the middle, you can destroy the barbed wire. Well, at least it looks like the barbed wire has been destroyed.

However, after the leading officer evaluated the number of large shields and crossbow bolts they carried on the spot, he found that the method they adopted was not particularly effective against the layers of barbed wire.

So the turn in front of the battle happened naturally.

This was also part of the agreement beforehand, to find as many weak points of the Qinghe camp as possible to attack, rather than just filling them with people, otherwise no matter how many people there were, there wouldn't be enough to fill them.

This adjustment had an immediate effect, and the Cambodian army's advance speed suddenly accelerated.

Although gathering people together will be more conducive to the attack of bed crossbows and powerful crossbows, as long as the advance speed is fast enough and both sides can shoot at each other or even engage in hand-to-hand combat, then all the sacrifices now will be meaningful.

This was the explanation Qin Shou gave to Yang Yizhen before the war.

Yang Yizhen quickly reached a consensus with Qin Shou on this point. After all, it was not him who would die.

Since this distance is still within the maximum range of the Qinghe crossbow, which is the so-called "last resort of the crossbow", the armor-piercing ability of the Qinghe crossbow has been weakened to the greatest extent, and it cannot effectively cause sufficient damage to the armored infantry and sword and shield soldiers in the front row of the Khmer army. Therefore, the Qinghe defenders who were holding behind the first trench felt tremendous pressure at the first time.

"Report, our troops have broken through the enemy's first line of defense and are advancing deeper. The enemy is organizing forces to counterattack."

On the platform at the rear of the Khmer army, the messenger who had returned from the front line ran over sweating profusely, knelt down on the spot, and reported loudly.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!