Before he could finish his words, the sound of breaking wind came from three directions, and a rain of arrows covered the sky. The flaming arrows were dense like a net and hit people. Flames immediately ignited and could not be extinguished no matter how hard they tried. Screams were heard one after another.
"Raise your shields!" Xiao Ning roared, and the cavalrymen immediately raised their shields to block the flaming arrows flying towards them.
Immediately afterwards, another explosion sounded behind him, and the sound of thunder was like thunder, and broken limbs, flesh and dirt flew everywhere.
Xiao Ning galloped on his horse, looked back at the tragic scene, his eyes red, and wielded his spear to sweep away the arrows, shouting, "Retreat!"
After finally withdrawing from Yangguan Valley and seeing that there were no pursuers behind them, Xiao Ning found a safe place and ordered the team to stop and set up camp.
Looking at the miserable Weining Army, Xiao Ning's face was more solemn than ever before. He ordered the accompanying military doctor to treat the wounded and the captain to count the casualties. He entered the tent with Yu Qizhe, the military advisor, and the captain.
The atmosphere in the tent was very depressing. No one had expected that they would suffer such a heavy defeat before even reaching the city gate, and they didn't even see the enemy.
There were things buried under the Yangguan Valley that could explode like firecrackers. Their power was truly terrifying. After the Weining Army entered the Yangguan Valley, they were like turtles in a jar, at the mercy of others.
There are also burning rocket arrows. After hitting a person, the flames will suddenly shoot up and cannot be extinguished at all.
After a long silence, Xiao Ning's face turned pale. He spoke out with shame, "It was my mistake in leading the army. I shouldn't have underestimated the enemy. We should speed up the march and take the Yangguan Valley route."
Yu Qizhe coughed a few times. He was just affected by the blast, and his internal organs were shaken. If it weren't for his internal strength, he would have coughed up blood. He said, "I have read about the weapons that appeared in Xianyang in the "Wu Bei Zhi". It should be the Fu Di Chong Tian Lei. General Xiao does not need to blame himself. This kind of weapon is not described in detail in the book. No one could have expected that Xianyang would have such weapons."
The military advisor looked at Yu Qizhe and said hopefully, "Since Lord Yu knows the origin of the Buried Earth Thunder, do you know how to break it?"
Yu Qizhe shook his head. "The book only says that this thing is made of gunpowder, makes a sound like thunder, and can flatten a mountain. It doesn't say how to break it. The power of the sky-high thunder is extraordinary. I'm afraid we can only take Xianyang by wits."
Xiao Ning nodded and said, "I will send someone back to Kyoto to deliver a message to see if His Majesty can find a way to crack this thing." He picked up a pen and quickly wrote a letter, then called a cavalryman and asked him to deliver the letter to Kyoto as fast as possible.
Then Xiao Ning said, "The sky-high mines are buried on the ground. If we send out troops again, we must strike them by surprise and pay attention to whether the ground has been tampered with."
Yu Qizhe nodded: "We have to find a way to break the fire arrows." They couldn't learn from Ji Wudao and use the human wall tactic to risk the lives and corpses of the soldiers to break through Xianyang.
The captain in charge of counting the casualties entered the tent and reported with a heavy face, "General, we have more than 3,000 wounded and more than 2,000 dead."
The corners of Xiao Ning's lips were tight. Before they even met, more than 5,000 people had been killed or wounded. He took a deep breath and blamed himself for underestimating the enemy. Before coming, he had said that 30,000 Weining troops against 50,000 Xianyang guards would be enough to break the city.
Little did he know that new weapons had appeared in Xianyang, such as the ground-burst bomb, which he had never heard of.
No wonder no matter how chaotic the capital was, Xianyang remained as stable as a rock and ignored everything. Could it be that this was planned by Emperor Mingzheng long ago?
It was precisely because Xiao Ning suspected this that he hurriedly asked someone to send a letter to Kyoto.
The reason why he did not suspect Cheng Ying was because he did not believe that a eunuch could create such a lethal weapon that caused such heavy casualties.
But Emperor Mingzheng was different. After all, he was an emperor who sat on the throne for more than ten years.
Xiao Ning sighed. He was a general who had experienced many battles, but at this moment he had no idea how to fight next.
These two weapons are extremely deadly, and they are all long-range attacks. The Weining Army has no chance of close combat at all.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside. The faces of several people in the tent changed slightly. They all thought it was an enemy attack and quickly walked out of the tent.
They saw Cheng Ying, dressed in black, riding a horse not far from their camp, followed by a team carrying arrows and holding crossbows.
"Form a battle array!" Xiao Ning gave an order, and the Weining Army immediately straightened their military appearance and formed a battle array to wait.
Cheng Ying stopped at a distance that was neither too far nor too close, and raised his hand slightly. His men beside him shouted loudly: "General Xiao, our governor is willing to negotiate with Jingdu. If you are sincere, you can bring a small team to come over for a detailed discussion."
Xiao Ning exchanged glances with the military advisor and Yu Qizhe. The military advisor frowned and said, "General, be careful of fraud."
"What do you think?" Xiao Ning asked Yu Qizhe.
"I will take people to negotiate. If anything goes wrong, you will immediately bring troops to reinforce." Yu Qizhe said.
The shouting continued. Xiao Ning hesitated for a moment and looked behind Cheng Ying's team. With his eyesight, he didn't see any ambush. He nodded and warned: "If something goes wrong, retreat quickly. Saving your life is the most important thing."
Xiao Ning ordered his captain to bring a group of elite soldiers to accompany Yu Qizhe to negotiate.
Cheng Ying was riding on a horse, the night wind was blowing, lifting the corners of his black robe. He looked expressionlessly at Yu Qizhe as he rode closer on horseback, and his fingers gripping the reins tightened so hard that their fingertips turned slightly white.
It would be so easy to kill this man, but he didn't want Jiaojiao to always be thinking about a dead person.
The dead can never win the fight.
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