Although Li Moli's catapult had a good range, it was not enough to throw the explosive packs onto the Beifeng Fort area. However, he had not originally intended to throw them directly into the fort area, because what he wanted to send up were not explosive packs or stone bombs, but oil bags.
Throwing the oil bags was naturally a fire attack. The reason for choosing the North Peak to attack with fire was that compared with the South Peak, the vegetation on the North Peak was much more lush - from the waist to the top of the peak it was almost covered in large tracts of green shade, unlike the South Peak where trees only grew in the top area.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh"... Oil sacs were continuously thrown high towards the North Peak. These oil sacs, whose walls were not much thicker than paper, would burst once they hit tree branches, rocks or even got hooked by brambles, and then the sticky oil inside would be spilled among the branches, rocks and haystacks.
With each throw, Li Moli's big throwing train would send ten oil bags the size of a human head to the peak. After a short while, all 160 oil bags prepared in advance were used up...
"Colonel Bailey, I really want to fire a shot at that catapult. I don't know what the hell it's doing throwing catapults around. Is it trying to disgust people?" An artillery commander pointed at the large catapult in front of Beifeng, his teeth itching with hatred.
"I think so too, but it's placed very cleverly, right at the critical distance of our shooting range. We have no way to guarantee accuracy. Besides, the lord also said that we should ignore the one in front of the peak." Bailey said with a smile.
"If we throw a bomb from the North Peak, it will probably hit them. Why are they not making any noise?" the artillery commander couldn't help but mutter.
Bailey smiled but didn't answer, because he knew the reason - Sarres, who also had the identity of a Temple Knight, always obeyed Wu Lai's orders to the point of being almost stubborn. He would definitely do what Wu Lai told him to do, and would never touch anything that Wu Lai hadn't said. And this time, Wu Lai had said, "Don't worry about the ones in front of the peak"...
"Ignite!" Li Moli swung his sword with a grim smile. As soon as he finished speaking, the twelve buglers beside him blew their horns.
When the melodious and empty horn sounded, the long arm of the big throwing train swung out again, and dozens of burning oil-dipped wooden balls were thrown high into the air...
"Colonel Bailey! There is a big fire on the waist of the North Peak!" the observation post on the South Peak shouted.
Bailey was startled, and when he moved his telescope, he saw thick smoke billowing from the waist of the North Peak. His heart skipped a beat...
"Colonel Sares, the enemy is attacking us with fire, and now the middle of the mountain is on fire." The observation sentry on the North Peak ran to Sares and reported.
"Why are you panicking? Have you forgotten the lesson that Grand Priest Saint Wulai taught you?" Sareth frowned. "Mobilize all logistics companies in each battalion and cut a barrier to block the fire fifty steps in front of the artillery area!"
"yes!"
At the same time, Helen's messenger officer was also reporting: "Your Majesty, the flag signal soldiers in front reported that the second legions of the left and right armies have rushed into the bridleway."
Helen nodded, a solemn look flashing across her eyes. She could foresee that what Li Moli's Left Army First Legion had just encountered, the other two legions would also encounter in the future. If she were to defend, she would not be able to abandon such an unpredictable and extremely powerful method.
Just as she nodded, a dull rumble was heard in the distance, and Helen quickly raised her telescope.
"Finally the gun fired." Helen said to herself...
…
Helen was absolutely right. Wu Lai also planted mines on the horse trail, but not as densely as in front of the North and South Peaks. Instead, they were placed selectively because the mines on the horse trail were not intended to kill, but to drive away - to drive the invading enemies together.
Therefore, the mines on the horse trail are buried on both sides of the road.
I have to say that Wu Lai's method was not bad. At least after suffering several setbacks, the Tianjuan Army that rushed into the horse path would rather charge honestly on the horse path than try to climb the earth slope and stone wall on the side to attack.
Eighty thousand men, in two long square formations, completely blocked the horse path that could accommodate two large ox carts passing side by side. Not only were the charging soldiers and weapons pressed against each other, but the speed of the horses of generals and officers at all levels had to be slowed down to a level that was not much faster than walking...
After making sure that all the enemy troops had entered the horse path, Sarres finally gave the order: "Fire where there are many flags."
Where there are many flags, that is naturally where the generals of the Tianjuan Army are - this is a common custom on the mainland. In order to facilitate command, generals usually stay with the military flags and foreign flags. When the flags point forward, it is the order to charge, and when the flags turn back, it means retreat.
There is nothing wrong with doing this, because when charging on the battlefield, no one can rely on word of mouth to issue orders, and the role of flag signal soldiers has been squeezed to a very small level. Instead, it is simpler and clearer to use military flags and foreign flags for command.
But the Woolley Army never followed this tradition because Woolley thought it was a bit silly to do so because the enemy could see the commander's position at a glance.
On the battlefield, the commander is the guarantee of the army's attack and survival. Exposing the position means disregarding the safety of the entire army - at least that's what Woolley thought. Not only did he think so, he also specifically talked about this idea in a class at the military academy.
At the end of the class, Woolley said: "In war, a complete combat system usually consists of five elements: first, command, second, support, third, infrastructure, fourth, population base, and fifth, army. Among these five items, the weakest is the first one. It is the center that maintains the operation of the entire combat system and is the most intensive part of intelligence, information, and technology in the entire combat system. At the same time, it is also the weakest part in combat capability and self-protection capability..."
Sares, Bailey, Putong and others had all heard this lesson, so Sares ordered to fire at the enemy commander without hesitation.
This was a smart and effective way of fighting. After two rounds of volleys, more than ten generals were directly hit. In an instant, people and horses were thrown to the ground, and flags were broken and scattered. The formations of the two Tianjuan armies were immediately in chaos...
"Tong tong tong tong" - six artillery shells were fired from Nanfeng, three of which hit the tail of the squadron, forcing the Tianjuan Army there to rush forward, and the other three shells were scattered and landed in the area where the troops were most concentrated, setting off a bloody storm.
"Charge! Charge!" The Tianjuan army roared with anger. Before the battle, Helen gave the entire army a death order, only to advance and not to retreat.
"You have to charge forward under the enemy's artillery fire, rush to the pass in one breath, and blow open the gate there. When you are fighting with the enemy, the enemy's artillery fire will be ineffective!" Helen said at the time.
Therefore, the artillery fire from the North and South Peaks not only failed to scare the enemy, but instead aroused their bloodiness and hatred.
"Charge! Kill all the Assyrians!"
"Kill all the Assyrians!"
When the passionate and high-pitched slogans sounded, the trumpets of the two major legions of Tianjuan also sounded immediately, and the charge speed of 70,000 to 80,000 people actually became faster.
However, this was exactly what Wu Lai wanted. He was no less eager to decide the outcome as soon as possible than Helen, because he knew very well that with the current conditions of Maritania, it was impossible to engage in a protracted war of attrition with the Tianjuan Army. There were two reasons for this. First, it could not afford the material consumption, and second, the situation did not allow Wu Lai to do so. Because if Tianjuan was given another two or three years, Helen would surely be able to stabilize the situation. By then, everyone everywhere would be looking forward to peace, and it would be difficult for anyone to respond to the call to restore Assyria.
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Helen had actually thought of all these, but she had to come because the appearance and strength of the Wulai army made it impossible for her to implement measures in Assyria with peace of mind to consolidate her rule - this sounded like a joke, she knew it was not advisable to have a quick decisive battle with the enemy, but she still did it.
Do it, because the consequences of not doing it are very serious. Based on Helen's understanding of Wu Lai, if she underestimates him, the best result will be to watch Wu Lai slowly grow stronger in Kayikede, and then take the entire Kayikede into his pocket. Moreover, Wu Lai's actions can also stimulate the "ambitions" of other regions, making some people who are dissatisfied with Tianjuan eager to try and do things that undermine Tianjuan's unification...
The sound of cannon fire continued slowly, and every time it reached her ears, Helen's heart would tighten a little.
The rhythm of the shelling was undoubtedly telling her that the enemy was fighting so calmly, without even the slightest sign of panic.
Was it due to good training? Or was it that Wu Lai was not dead? Helen frowned.
No, it should be because of his well-training. Wu Lai must have died. The snake flower poison kills instantly on contact with blood. He had fallen off his horse that day, so how could he not die?
It would be great if all my soldiers were as well-trained as Wu Lai's soldiers. Helen couldn't help but think so again.
She had no reason not to be envious, because the vast majority of the soldiers stationed on the North and South Peaks, from officers to soldiers, had received strict and standardized training, and their military literacy and psychological quality were far superior to those of the Tianjuan Army. Take this moment for example, on the North and South Peaks, whether it was the artillery positions or fortifications blocking the roads, everyone had an expression of ease and expectation on their faces. In their eyes, what were charging on the horse trail were piles of trophies, piles of military merit books, and the hope of returning to the countryside and living a peaceful and prosperous life in the future.
Looking at the entire continent, I am afraid that only Wu Laijun can come up with such an idea when he has less than 30,000 troops against more than 100,000.
This kind of thinking can be called contempt.
"Bang, bang, bang" - Beifeng's shells kept falling into the enemy's formation, blowing more enemy soldiers into pieces...
"Tongtongtong" - the artillery fire from the South Peak echoed erratically, happily harvesting the lives of the enemy...
Every time a shell from the North and South Peaks landed, it would blow a "pit" in the military formation, and smoke, flesh, and weapon fragments along with soil would splash into the air. Some shells would even be thrown up by more violent explosions before they even landed...
Even so, the Tianjuan Army's charge momentum did not slow down at all. They didn't even have time to pay attention to the wounded soldiers. They just rushed forward, shouting or roaring.
Seeing that the fire on the waist of the North Peak was spreading rapidly upwards, the First Legion of the Left Army also moved. Li Moli raised his sword and pointed, and the 30,000 horses that had retreated to a mile in front of the peak and were gathering and waiting turned around and rushed towards the horse path.
As he rode away, Li Moli's eyes swept across the minefield, where thousands of wounded soldiers were wailing and calling for help beside the piles of corpses. Many of them desperately raised their bodies and waved their hands, or shouted hysterically, while others lay quietly with dull eyes...
Li Moli gritted his teeth and turned his head away, unable to bear to watch any longer. He knew that he could not provide any help to these wounded soldiers now. They had to wait until the end of the war to be treated. In other words, many soldiers would die in pain, helplessness and despair before help arrived.
"Go and ask the main camp to send some people to rescue these brothers." Li Moli took out his Duke's seal and threw it to the guard. After giving the order, he sighed deeply in his heart, because he knew that there was really little hope...