The scene of Liu Da being beheaded by the sword gave everyone in the city a slight shock.
The government office was completely silent.
Mu Zian led his troops away, leaving only Liu Da's headless corpse lying there quietly, telling the story of what had just happened.
Upon seeing this, Shen Xu sighed deeply and slowly stood up.
"If you all want to live, then from this day forward, prepare to fight to the death."
After saying that, Shen Xu followed Mu Zi'an and left.
Looking at the corpse lying on the ground, everyone present understood that Mu Zi'an was giving them a final warning.
Meanwhile, as the sun rose high in the sky, a small pontoon bridge was completed over the Yong River.
Around noon, a scout rushed in to report.
"Reporting to the Duke of Zhenguo, the vanguard of the Zhou Kingdom outside the city has begun to attempt to cross the river."
"Although the pontoon bridge is very sturdy, we just want them to build a few more."
"The subsequent 300,000 troops will be able to cross the Yong River easily and without hindrance."
At this moment, on the city wall, Zhao Shizhen was directing the soldiers of the Beggars' Army to carry up cannons covered with black cloth.
These cannons, covered in black cloth, were lined up one after another on the city wall.
The soldiers from Xiangcheng around them cast curious glances.
After all, it was the first time they had ever seen this thing, and they were all very curious.
Zhao Shizhen, meanwhile, calmly directed his men to weigh down the cannons with sandbags from the side.
Then boxes of pre-prepared shells were carried up to the city wall.
Some generals were directing their subordinates to check the documents in their hands.
Zhao Shizhen was also constantly writing and drawing, occasionally glancing at the surface of the Yonghe River.
He was calculating the trajectory of the shell at that moment.
Mu Zian's telescope was also handed over to Zhao Shizhen.
This device makes measuring distances much more convenient.
Across the Yong River, the vanguard of the Great Zhou Kingdom numbered a full fifty thousand.
At this moment, they gathered densely on the shore, as a mournful horn sounded.
Fifty thousand troops stepped onto the pontoon bridge and launched an attack on Xiangcheng.
Immediately, a rain of arrows rained down from the sky above the city walls.
However, the distance between the two sides was too great, and the arrows were unable to inflict effective damage.
"Shieldbearers! Push up!"
A captain from the Zhou Kingdom roared.
Immediately, dozens of soldiers wielding giant shields raised their shields and stood at the forefront, braving the rain of arrows.
The 50,000-strong army, like a black torrent, continued to advance along the pontoon bridge.
Seeing this, Shen Xu hurriedly spoke to Mu Zi'an beside him.
"Lord Zhenguo! The enemy army is about to attack!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Zian's face remained expressionless; he simply remained silent.
"etc!"
As the arrows rained down and were blocked by shields, the 50,000-strong army advanced at an extremely rapid pace.
Before long, they had reached the center of the pontoon bridge.
Upon seeing this, Shen Xu immediately clasped his hands in greeting.
"The Duke of Zhenguo and his men are about to land! Once they get on the riverbank and set up camp, it will be difficult to break through the bridge."
However, Mu Zian's face remained calm and unhurried.
"wait."
As soon as he uttered a single word, Shen Xu's expression turned somewhat pale.
There are currently many people living in Xiangcheng. If the attack on the city causes a popular uprising, the consequences will be unimaginable.
The civil and military officials of Xiangcheng around them were also very anxious, but none of them dared to say a word.
The scene of beheading Liu Da not long ago is still fresh in my mind.
Just as Shen Xu was about to urge the Zhou army to cross two-thirds of the pontoon bridge, he suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the city wall.
In the next instant, a jet-black iron ball traced a graceful arc in mid-air before crashing heavily onto the river surface not far from the pontoon bridge.
Suddenly, a huge splash of water erupted from the riverbank.
The ripples spread out, causing even the originally stable pontoon bridge on the river to begin to sway.
Several Zhou vanguard soldiers lost their footing and fell directly into the river, where they were immediately submerged.
Zhao Shizhen began testing the cannons.
On the city wall, Zhao Shizhen put down his binoculars and gave the order.
"Adjust the cannon barrel three points to the left."
As Zhao Shizhen finished speaking, several gunners immediately adjusted the direction of the cannons according to his instructions.
All of this seemed perfectly ordinary.
However, the deafening sound startled Shen Xu, who was standing next to Mu Zi'an, and all the cultural relics of Xiangcheng, causing them to break out in a cold sweat.
"What...what is this?"
Shen Xu stared incredulously at the cannon that had just spewed out flames and smoke and asked.
Mu Zian said calmly.
"Just a tool for killing."
These few simple words, however, exuded boundless killing intent from Shen Xu.
At that moment, Zhou Jun on the pontoon bridge was also startled by this cannon shot.
However, now that two-thirds of the camp has crossed the river, there is no turning back.
Urged on by the captain beside him, Zhou Jun, who had stopped, immediately rushed back to the riverbank on the other side of the Yong River.
Boom! Another loud explosion!
The shells fired exploded near the pontoon bridge.
The powerful impact blasted all of Zhou's soldiers at the center of the explosion away.
In an instant, the river surface was dyed a deep red.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Shizhen stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting to Mu Zian.
"Reporting to the Duke of Zhenguo, the direction of the cannons has been calibrated."
Mu Zian nodded upon hearing this, then turned around and said.
"Let the generals prepare."
"Yes, sir!"
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