Chapter 144: Strengthened Anti-Arrow Vehicle
"Qianglin, you traitor," Xiu Muye rode up to the battle line and angrily pointed his whip at Qianglin on the wall. "I knew you would betray me."
Qiang Lin did not answer, but picked up his bow and shot an arrow.
His right arm was injured, and he couldn't draw the bow fully, so the arrow just stuck diagonally in the ground in front of Xiu Muye.
Xiu Muye was startled, and he pulled his horse back, shouting, "Don't forget, your family is still in the north. Since you dare to betray us, your entire family will be beheaded by the king."
When Shen Yuexi heard this, her heart couldn't help but hang in the air.
Xiu Muye was right. Everyone has parents. Qiang Lin and the families of these Western Rong soldiers are all in the north. This move will obviously kill them.
But thinking back to what had just happened, Qiang Lin truly had no way to retreat. Xiu Muye hadn't allowed them to wear armor or hold shields, clearly sending them to their deaths. Attack or die, don't attack or die. Xiu Muye had no intention of letting these five thousand men live. If they hadn't lowered the ladders, the last thousand would have been killed or wounded.
Qiang Lin said, "Look around you. They were all once your people."
Xiu Muye ignored Qiang Lin's words and looked around. He shouted, "You dare to betray the king? I'll let you live for now. Once we capture the city, I'll personally chop off your heads."
After shouting, he didn't wait for a response, turned around and rode to the front of the battle, ordering: "Attack, attack!"
The generals tried to persuade him, "Captain, the wall across here isn't very high, but we don't even have a ladder. Even if we get to the bottom of it, we won't be able to climb up."
Without ladders, even if they reached the city walls, they would surely be met with a barrage of rocks. It was said that Captain Danmuji had been killed that way before. Furthermore, these Western Rong soldiers had just killed many of their own men with bows and arrows, and their fighting spirit was low. None of the Western Rong generals were willing to continue the attack.
Xiu Muye held the whip in the air for a long while, then glanced at the generals and saw that everyone was in a low mood. He put down the whip and said:
"What you said makes sense."
He had just forced the soldiers to attack their own people, and everyone was resentful. If he forced them to attack again, and the soldiers mutinied, it would be bad to kill him.
"Then let's go back to camp and wait for General Sumonai's rear guard to arrive with the arrow-proof carts."
He estimated that the shield of the anti-arrow vehicle was almost at the height of the city wall. As long as two ladders were tied behind the shield, it could not only protect against crossbow arrows, but also serve as a siege ladder.
Xiu Muye withdrew his troops back to the camp and ordered the scouts to fly on horseback to inform Sumonai's rear army to speed up their advance and install siege ladders for the anti-arrow vehicles.
Seeing the Western Rong army return to camp, Qiu Liming arranged for soldiers to monitor the movements of the other side on the city wall. He also ordered everyone to evacuate the city and return to the camp on the mountain to rest.
After Qiang Lin bandaged his injured arm, he hurried to the general's tent to find her and said to her:
"Princess, Qiang Lin isn't attacking because he's afraid. He's waiting for General Sumonai's rear guard. They have arrow-proof carts that can protect against crossbows."
"Anti-arrow vehicle?"
Shen Yuexi felt that the name was unlucky. However, in her eyes, what would happen to Qiang Lin's family was more important.
"Qiang Lin, you swore allegiance to me, but what about your family?"
Qiang Lin remained unfazed. He said to Shen Yuexi, "Crown Princess, there's no need to worry about our subordinates. Xiu Muye wouldn't dare do anything directly to our family. He must report this to our king, and our king won't just listen to his one-sided story. Securing the city is the most important thing right now."
Seeing that he understood, Shen Yuexi returned to the topic of the anti-arrow vehicle: "Then tell me about the anti-arrow vehicle."
After Qiang Lin explained to her that the wooden boards of the arrow-proof vehicle were too thick and high for crossbow arrows to penetrate, Shen Yuexi was at a loss.
Her only defenses were the city walls and the repeating crossbows. If the enemy deployed arrow-proof carts, the repeating crossbows would be useless. Furthermore, the enemy had a force of 20,000 men.
Or should we escape first?
The thought flashed through her mind for a moment before she forced it out. She had already decided to protect Xiaogang Village for her husband, Xiao Zhuo, so how could she be easily shaken?
She cast an inquiring gaze towards Qiu Liming: "General Qiu, do you have any good ideas?"
Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. If you don’t have any ideas, just ask for everyone’s opinions.
"Since the arrow-proof chariot is made of wood, it must be afraid of fire," Qiu Liming offered a plan. "Madam, remember the last time we ambushed the enemy's vanguard of a thousand men at Langya Pass?"
"Remember," Shen Yuexi nodded repeatedly, "My husband asked everyone to provide a lot of oil for the fire."
"We can also prepare kerosene now. The anti-arrow vehicles are huge targets and easy to hit with arrows, so we can prepare rockets in advance."
Shen Yuexi thought this was a good idea, and immediately went down the mountain and returned to Xiaogang Village to gather everyone and ask them to donate oil for use in defending the city.
Who knew that everyone would look so sad this time.
Last time, the villagers enthusiastically donated all their oil. Every household had to rely on water for cooking, leaving them with little oil to use. Shen Yuexi spent an entire afternoon gathering a small batch of oil cans. Feeling this was insufficient, Qiu Liming dispatched soldiers to Dongji Town to urgently purchase food and fuel.
At night, the weather suddenly changed. The north wind howled and thick dark clouds covered the sky. If you did not wear thick clothes outdoors, you would shiver with cold.
The weather outside the Great Wall is so capricious and changes so quickly, even though it was only a few degrees above zero before... Is this a cold front moving from the south?
A charcoal brazier was lit in the general's tent, and the tent was shaking in the cold wind.
Shen Yuexi wrapped herself in a thick cloak, warmed her hands by the fire, and stamped her numb feet. She wondered if the weather was even colder, so that the Xirong army in the north would be forced to retreat due to the cold.
This is just a fantasy. The other party is not stupid and must know how to warm themselves by the fire.
In the second half of the night, the soldiers who went to Dongji Town came back and brought good news.
They happened to meet a group of oil dealers in Dongji Town, and immediately spent a large sum of money to buy their oil and brought it back.
With the urgent need resolved, Shen Yuexi breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that replicating her husband Xiao Zhuo's method of burning the narrow pass wasn't impossible.
I'm not the material for a famous general, but I can learn their tactics. This is an essential skill for a researcher, and I can improve myself by learning from others.
There was also good news. General Wei, stationed at the border, learned of the impending attack by the Western Rong army and decided to lead his soldiers in a practice of transporting food and fodder. However, the soldiers, having been away from the border for a long time, accidentally lost their way and left a batch of food and fodder near Xiaogang Village. The villagers of Xiaogang Village discovered this and informed Shen Yuexi.
There was also a piece of paper in the car that said "Thank you for the gun."
Shen Yuexi was deeply moved. She had simply asked Daxiong to make a gun out of materials from the border warehouse, adhering to the principle of reciprocity. She hadn't expected General Wei to come to her rescue at this crucial moment. What a kind man!
Everything was going so well until a scout patrolling from the north brought bad news.
After a day of rapid march, Sumonae's rear army arrived here and joined forces with Xiumuye's army.
Qiu Liming said to her, "Madam, don't be surprised. The weather has turned cold, and they are freezing on the road, so they are just speeding up their march."
"Madam, General, we have another piece of news," the scout added nervously, "The enemy has brought in a number of anti-arrow carts with ladders installed for use in sieges."
Shen Yuexi was not surprised. If the enemy wanted to attack the city, they would definitely prepare things like ladders. They also prepared oil to deal with the enemy.
"Also, they covered the front of the anti-arrow vehicle with iron sheets..."
When Qiu Liming heard this, he jumped up and said, "Such important information, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
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