Chapter 157 Young Ma Chao
After Pang De was shot and fell off his horse, no one on his side dared to move for a long time.
Why that crossbow arrow could hit the target accurately even though it was shot from over a thousand steps away was not only a question that Pang De wanted to ask before he died, but also a question that everyone on his side wanted to ask.
The Han Dynasty's skills in using crossbows or other types of crossbows have indeed made great progress.
These heavy crossbows also played a miraculous role in resisting the invasion of foreign Xiongnu invaders.
But even the Six Hundred Steps Crossbow can only rely on the existence of the dial to shoot in one direction as much as possible, and try to make the arrows fired by the heavy crossbow shoot in the same direction as much as possible.
In the chaos in the border areas in recent years, there are very few crossbows suitable for combat.
Compared with crossbows, bows and arrows are more in line with battlefield needs.
But this crossbow arrow that came across did not give anyone a chance to respond, and it completely broke their cognition!
Pang De was still wearing the sturdy armor given by Ma Teng, but it did not stop the crossbow arrow from penetrating him.
This was just like the situation where the Bingzhou army led by Qiao Yan suddenly reached the gate of Longxi County, making people feel like they were being helped by ghosts and gods.
Hearing the sound of the cavalry and chariots advancing again, Pang De's guards came to their senses as if awakened from a dream. They hurriedly carried his body onto the horses and fled hastily towards Zhan County.
But when they sent someone to inform Ma Teng of Pang De's death, they closed the gate of Zhan County and climbed up the city wall to guard it again, they saw the team that came from afar approaching the city and staying about 800 steps away from the city wall.
Zhan County is named after its meaning of "western barrier". Regardless of the later evolution of the word "Zhan", at least it is still a qualified defense city today.
Even though Pang De died, these soldiers, out of loyalty to Ma Teng, still manned the crossbows on the city walls to guard against Qiao Yan's attack.
But six hundred steps is the range of an ordinary crossbow. At such a distance, they cannot hit the opponent!
Just when they were almost helpless against their opponents, another crossbow arrow came through the air, and with its brutal and precise posture, it knocked down the general flag with the word "Pang" on the top of the city wall.
The flag fell slowly, so that the person who happened to be standing under it dared not move.
His body was stiff, and he vaguely felt a strong wind passing over his head, reminding him of the life-and-death situation he was in.
When he looked in the direction of the Bingzhou army, he saw several more crossbows being launched from the enemy's team.
He couldn't help but gasp.
What's the point of fighting?
How to fight this?
With the precise strikes of the enemy's crossbows that fell from the sky, anyone who dared to show their head on the city wall would inevitably become a victim of the crossbow shooting.
With these crossbows, the Bingzhou Army was able to suppress the city with firepower to create opportunities for other soldiers to attack the city.
If the first arrow that hit Pang De might have been just a coincidence, then what about the arrow that hit the general's flag?
It is obviously the shooting mode of the opposite side's crossbow!
Under such circumstances, they would never be able to hold out until Ma Teng led his troops to support them.
This is not them being alarmist.
But a shout loud enough for them to hear came from the other side.
"Your Majesty has ordered that the city be opened without killing anyone..."
The soldiers on the city wall looked at each other.
This shout from many soldiers on the other side reached their ears. In front of the effect caused by the two crossbows and heavy arrows, it was definitely not just the momentum caused by the large number of soldiers on the other side.
It is precisely to take advantage of the current situation.
I don't know who said at this time: "How about surrender?"
If there is still a main general on their side who can make a decision, perhaps he can restrain the option of surrender.
However, Pang De's death completely disrupted the defense arrangements of Zhan County, and made the Liangzhou soldiers, who were accustomed to obeying the strong, more inclined to surrender to the enemy rather than defend the city.
Moreover, if we have to count, Ma Teng and Han Sui were both rebels in Liang Province. It was only because Dong Zhuo came to power that they had the opportunity to become generals.
The Bingzhou governor under the city and the General Huangfu who was traveling with him were the real Han royal army!
Even if they surrendered to the enemy, it could still be said that they were influenced by the anti-enemy army.
It’s better to surrender!
Qiao Yan did not give the order to shoot the third arrow, but she saw the drawbridge over the moat in front of her was lowered and the gate of Zhan County opened in front of her.
Then the defenders in the city filed out of the city gate.
These people took off their armor and weapons and performed a qualified surrender.
Qiao Yan waved his hand and ordered the soldiers to retreat from the crossbows.
Without losing a single soldier, we took over Zhan County, which was a good start for entering Longxi County!
This made a smile appear on her face.
"Your Excellency's move of taking the initiative is truly powerful." Xun You said as he rode his horse into the city.
Qiao Yan replied, "That's all thanks to Military Advisor Xun's judgment. Given the situation in Longxi County, the defenders of Zhan County must not just protect themselves in the city to prevent us from changing our route."
Pang De Pang Lingming was indeed a leader among the generals of Liang Province. Unfortunately, when Qiao Yan had to build up his reputation and deterrence to attack Ma Teng and Han Sui, whether he could grow into a military general who could break through the enemy's lines and was extremely brave was no longer important in Qiao Yan's criteria.
What matters is the effect that this person's death can have.
She and Xun You smiled at each other, and couldn't help but sigh in their hearts that having a military advisor who can analyze the situation and judge the enemy's movements before a battle, if combined with the development and upgrade of weapons, the effect brought about is definitely not just one plus one.
Even though the bed crossbow was only a semi-finished product.
Good, semi-finished product.
The range of the bed crossbow was 1,200 steps. With the heavy crossbow materials of the Han Dynasty, it inevitably faced problems such as a large number of operators and severe vibrations of the crossbow itself.
It is not easy to add a scope to a crossbow.
Ma Jun, Ma Lun and others calculated for a long time and only took out this one. The rest of the crossbows were still in their original state and were just used to support the scene.
Even if a scope is installed, it is not easy to achieve accurate strikes with the crossbow.
Just like a gunner at sea bombarding an enemy ship, the only one who can hit the vital point is an experienced shooter.
Ever since the birth of this crossbow with more accurate scales and sights, the seven soldiers who trained with this crossbow have always been training on how to accurately hit the opponent.
It has been more than half a year since we started training, and we have finally fired two arrows on this official battlefield.
But these two arrows are enough!
As long as Qiao Yan didn't say it, no one would come to specifically ask how many of these bed crossbows, which could be considered a killer weapon against the enemy, there were.
After it completed the killing of Pound today, will it play its role at another time?
No matter how fierce the warriors of Liangzhou are, they have to show this characteristic within the range of bows and arrows, or in close combat.
When faced with such a heavy crossbow falling from the sky, one will always be subconsciously afraid.
The rapid charge of cavalry will indeed effectively reduce the hit rate of this weapon, but who can be sure that if Qiao Yan can use this attack method today, he will use another one tomorrow.
She looked at Pang De's body that the soldiers were carrying and said, "Bury him."
Most of the Han people in the border areas took up official positions in counties when they were young, and Pang De was no exception, just like Zhang Liao and Zhang Yang.
He is still just a young man in his early twenties.
But when he chose Ma Teng's side, he was destined to be her enemy.
How to deal with the enemy——
The initiative must be in her hands!
I just don't know how Ma Teng will react at this moment...
Ma Teng never thought that Qiao Yan's sudden attack on the army was not aimed at Han Sui, against whom she had issued a declaration of war!
Han Sui and Fu Gan had a feud over the murder of their fathers. Qiao Yan sent Fu Gan as an envoy. According to the inherent understanding of the people in Liangzhou, this meant that they had to take revenge first.
On the surface, Ma Teng expressed his common hatred for the enemy with Han Sui, but after returning to Longxi County, his own territory, he almost wanted to see Han Sui's fun first.
If Han Sui could take advantage of the terrain of Kuiyuan Gorge and consume Qiao Yan's troops just like he did when he defeated Sun Jian and Zhou Shen in his early years, wouldn't that be giving him an opportunity to profit from it?
Who knew that instead of hearing the news that Qiao Yan was heading straight for Jincheng County from the Yellow River route, he heard the news that she was attacking Zhan County first.
Ma Teng's hand loosened subconsciously and the wine glass in his hand fell to the ground.
Whether Han Sui will lose his head because of his previous joke is still unknown at the moment, but Ma Teng has to fight the Bingzhou army first!
Challenge this team that can capture Gaoping City overnight and reach Longxi County silently!
He grabbed the soldier who reported the news by the collar and asked, "What did Ling Ming say? How many people does he need to support him?"
Pang De's ability to command troops was among the best under Ma Teng. Before Ma Teng himself officially met Qiao Yan, he was still very convinced of Pang De's judgment.
However, he soon realized that his actions were too drastic and withdrew his hand.
The soldier who reported the news replied, "According to the information obtained by Pang Changshi, Qiao Bingzhou's troops number about 13,000, with more than 3,000 cavalry. He will send someone to report the specific combat strength later. Please ask the general to first guard Weiyuan to prevent the enemy from dividing its troops and invading."
"Yes, we should be more careful..." Ma Teng thought, "Send someone to call Meng Qi!"
Ma Chao is already fifteen years old this year and has always been known for his bravery. If the troops are to be divided, he will naturally be the number one choice.
But before Ma Chao arrived, the second batch of messengers from Zhan County had already arrived.
Seeing the visitor with a sad face and a frightened look, Ma Teng had a bad feeling before he even heard the other party speak.
Before he could ask what happened, the man replied in a trembling voice: "Pang Changshi... Pang Changshi died at the hands of Qiao Bingzhou. A crossbow arrow came from 1,200 steps away and directly shot Pang Changshi, killing him on the spot."
The heavy arrows fired by the bed crossbow can even reach two meters in length in extreme cases. The one used by Qiao Yan is only one meter long in order to pursue shooting speed.
But the damage caused by this kind of arrow is not comparable to that caused by arrows used with ordinary bows.
Ma Teng could tell the special nature of this weapon from the fact that Pang De died on the spot.
He subconsciously took a step back and fell back onto the couch where he had been sitting before, a look of helplessness emerging on his face.
The messenger in front of him was genuinely panicking, and probably no one would play such a joke on him.
Even though Ma Teng felt that his decisiveness in choosing to follow the bandits and get his current position showed that he was a hero, he could not help but fall into confusion at this moment.
Qiao Yan came suddenly, and Pang De died even more suddenly!
This meant that before Ma Teng had time to feel sad about the death of his right-hand man, he had to worry about his own head first.
One thousand two hundred steps!
What a concept!
He finally remembered another thing at this time, and asked, "What's the situation in Zhan County now?"
The messenger replied, "Before I came, all the soldiers were guarding the city gates, so the county defense may not have been breached yet. If the general rushes to help as soon as possible, the barrier can still be maintained."
Before he could finish his words, he heard a voice interrupt him: "No! Zhan County must have been lost."
Ma Teng looked in the direction of the voice and asked, "Why did Meng Qi say that?"
The man had a handsome face. Although he was still a teenager, he had an arrogant look. He met Ma Teng's gaze and replied confidently: "Qiao Bingzhou is leading his troops westward. He can kill Ling Ming first with such a heavy crossbow, and he will surely destroy the defense of Zhan County. If Ling Ming is still alive, Zhan County may be able to hold out until my father's reinforcements arrive. But Ling Ming is dead, and there is no one else who can stop Qiao Bingzhou. Under the current situation, it is better to protect yourself!"
Who else could the person who spoke be if not Ma Chao, the son of Ma Teng!
Ma Chao's words "it is better to protect yourself" clearly explained the thoughts of the people of Liangzhou.
Ma Teng was not unaware of this truth, but once Zhan County was lost, the next step would be for the Bingzhou Army to march straight in.
If the enemy could pass Hanyang, they must have solved the rebellion of the Qiang people and established a marching route from Gaoping to Hanyang.
This meant that she was not just casually advancing into the heart of Liangzhou, but was clearly sweeping in with an elite force.
He now has two choices.
Or you can hold Lintao and defend it.
But judging from the situation around Gaoping that Qiao Yan had recovered, if Ma Teng had stayed in the city, the enemy would probably not have been forced to withdraw after two months of siege due to lack of food from a long expedition. Instead, they would have first annexed Longxi County until only the isolated island of Lintao was left.
Or you can choose to join Han Sui directly.
If they joined forces, guarding the Tao River which flows from Longxi to Jincheng on the one hand, and Kuiyuan Gorge on the other hand, perhaps they could still save themselves.
But this also means that he has to face the situation of living under someone else's roof, and may even be forced all the way to Huangzhong to escape Liangzhou.
These two choices became like a joke in the face of Qiao Yan's powerful first move.
Ma Chao could hear that his father's tone was vague and weak when he made these two choices.
He asked: "In Mengqi's opinion, which one should we choose?"
"I don't choose any of them!" Ma Chao replied.
Facing Ma Teng's inquiring gaze, Ma Chao continued, "What is the relationship between father and Han Sui? I don't need to say more. If it is really that we are desperate and have to seek refuge with him, how good will it be?"
Although Ma Teng did not answer, his silence was enough to reveal his attitude.
Maybe the troops were not combined and were swallowed up by Han Sui first.
Just like what he had done to Bian Zhang and Beigong Boyu earlier.
Ma Chao asked again: "How much hatred do you have with Qiao Bingzhou?"
No.
Ma Teng can give this answer with certainty.
When Fu Xie died, he had just been forced to surrender to the enemy during a mutiny in Geng Bi's military camp, so it had nothing to do with him.
He asked tentatively: "You mean, we should just vote for Qiao Bingzhou?"
"No! We can't surrender directly." Ma Chao's young arrogance was clearly visible in this sentence. "The enemy is still some distance away from Lintao. Father, please give me two thousand cavalrymen. I want to stop them on the way!"
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