The tall bronze shield rang out with a clear and melodious clanging sound after being struck by arrows, a sound that was strangely pleasant amidst the chaos.
"ah...."
Even with prior preparations, many Qin soldiers were still struck by arrows, unable to control their painful roars.
"Very good, continue!"
Seeing the Qin army suffering casualties under the rain of arrows, Jian Zhang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he repeatedly encouraged them, saying, "Brothers, the Qin army is nothing special. Today we will break through and annihilate them all."
Even now, the Wei army still has a numerical advantage, and the key to breaking through the encirclement lies in morale!
Jian Zhang was not afraid of the Qin army's bravery, but he was afraid that his soldiers would lose all hope. Now that the hasty counterattack had been effective, he naturally wanted to take advantage of it to boost the morale and fighting spirit of his soldiers.
As the saying goes, "It's not the fierce tiger that's scary, but the hungry wolf." The Wei army, like a vicious wolf teetering on the brink of life and death, unleashed unparalleled fighting power.
The archers drew their bows and fired fiercely, while the shield bearers slowly advanced forward under the Qin army's rain of arrows. In this way, the battle situation was stabilized.
On the other side.
The Black Dragon Armored Army is engaged in fierce fighting with tens of thousands of Wei troops who have emerged from the mountain gorge. As elite troops, they have not suffered any casualties, but injuries are inevitable.
Because of the mountainous terrain, every inch of the land was stained red with blood. In addition, the trampling of people and horses made the ground extremely muddy and slippery, forcing both sides to abandon their warhorses and fight on the ground.
The disadvantages of the Black Dragon Armored Army soldiers wearing heavy armor became apparent; their movements were severely restricted on this muddy battlefield.
Not only that, but many Black Dragon Armored Army soldiers slipped and fell to the ground, finding it extremely difficult to get up. If the enemy's swordsmen had not been unable to penetrate the heavy armor's defenses, there would have been a huge number of casualties.
"Oh shit!"
By this point in the battle, everything had fallen into disarray. Both sides were fighting with bloodlust, and it was a battle of who was braver and had more endurance to hold out until the end.
In this way, all the pressure was placed on Zhang Han, who was facing the Wei army head-on. Fortunately, the gorge was not very wide, and only a dozen or so people could pass through at a time, which allowed them to withstand the Wei army's attack for a short period of time.
On the mountaintop, the wicked man, occupying a high position, took in the entire battle. Seeing the battle escalate to a fever pitch, his face grew increasingly grim.
War is not child's play, and only now has he truly realized it!
Watching his soldiers fight to the death, many lying in pools of blood, their eyes wide open with ferocious killing intent and resentment, his heart pounded wildly.
These are all living, breathing people!
This battle was the most difficult one he had faced since arriving in this world, a far cry from the previous easy victories. Even the siege of Juancheng hadn't resulted in such heavy casualties!
"Sigh...it's not easy being a lowly soldier!!"
He was overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness. Even if he had unparalleled strength, what could he do? In the end, his personal strength could not control the course of the battle.
“In such chaotic times, only a great ruler can unify the country and bring peace.” Li Balang, standing beside him, also sighed, and then said in a low voice, “General, I have a plan that can break the current deadlock.”
The wicked man glanced sideways and pressed him urgently, "What plan do you have? Tell me quickly!"
Li Balang did not answer immediately, but instead turned and walked towards the dense forest of dead trees behind him. Although the wicked husband was curious about his behavior, he did not rush to ask questions.
“General, this tree is extremely flammable. Even after a large amount is burned, it will still fall into the valley. It will extinguish when it encounters snow, but will still emit thick smoke…” After breaking off a few branches, Li Balang turned to face the wicked husband, his eyes gleaming with cunning.
“It would be difficult to start a large fire to attack in the dead of winter, but compared to burning, the smoke is even more terrifying. It is choking and blinding, making it impossible to breathe. They will be in chaos and will continue to use logs and rolling stones to attack.”
Don't be fooled by Li Balang's flowery language; to put it bluntly, it boils down to this: If I can't burn you, can't I at least fumigate you?
Upon hearing this, the wicked man frowned. He first glanced at the branch in the man's hand, and then looked at the dead trees in the forest behind him. Only then did he realize that the miscellaneous trees and dead branches under those dead trees were actually pine trees.
Upon reaching the summit, he was so busy deploying troops and setting up an ambush that he didn't really observe the surrounding environment carefully, which led to Li Balang teaching him another lesson.
He fell into deep thought, analyzing the feasibility of the plan. Pine trees contain abundant resin, and the mountain forests are inherently cold, with snow that doesn't melt. Although damp, the trees are not difficult to ignite; in fact, the slight dampness inside will increase the amount of smoke after ignition.
"That's feasible, but the smoke will dissipate in the wind. I'm afraid that all the soldiers' efforts will be easily blown away by the wind."
The wicked man's words weren't without merit. Although the heavy snow was gradually subsiding, the wind on the mountain was still howling. If the wind direction was wrong, or too strong, the smoke wouldn't be able to stay in the gorge, and the soldiers would have worked in vain.
Li Balang smiled slightly and replied confidently, "General, rest assured! I have been observing for some time. Perhaps due to the terrain, there is no wind inside the gorge, but the wind is extremely strong on the mountain peak. The thick smoke will surely linger in the gorge for a long time."
"Moreover, these trees are short, making them extremely easy to collect. A thousand or so soldiers could quickly gather a large quantity..."
"Alright, then we'll do as you say!" The wicked man never hesitated in his actions. He pointed to the pine tree in the distance and said, "Send a thousand men to fetch this wood. Make sure you don't mistake it for something else."
The moment the sound faded, over a thousand Qin soldiers rushed into the dense forest not far away, hacking at the pine trees with all their might. When they encountered thinner branches, two or three of them would work together to break them. Their collection speed was terrifying.
Before long, several stacks of pine logs were piled up in front of the wicked man, and more and more pine trees were being delivered.
"Someone, set it on fire!"
The wind was strong on the mountaintop. In order to ignite the pine wood, the soldiers raised their shields to form a wall to block the wind, and some soldiers found dry grass and twigs that had not been damp to use as kindling.
After some effort, the pine logs were successfully ignited, and the fire slowly began to grow. The soldiers immediately removed their shields and let the cold wind blow fiercely on them to intensify the fire.
The soldiers then used the same method to set fire to the other five pine stacks.
Seeing the raging fire, Li Balang immediately said, "Put all the freshly cut pine trees around the fire to dry for a while before adding them in. Quickly, speed it up!"
As more and more pine wood was added to the fire, flames roared high on the mountaintop, and the temperature rose sharply, making the soldiers much more comfortable. The surrounding snow also melted rapidly.
Seeing that it was almost time, Li Balang roared, "Now is the time! Immediately take the completely burning logs and throw them into the gorge. They won't be stunned by the smoke."
The scorching heat made their faces sting, so the soldiers could only wet their faces with cloth and use their spears to pry out the fully burning wood.
Seeing that it was almost time, Li Balang immediately ordered the still-burning logs to be thrown down the gorge.
The cycle repeats itself endlessly.
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