Upon hearing Fu Guang's words, Suhebalu looked towards the city wall and indeed saw several figures walking up the wall of Tianshui City. Two people, one in red and one in black, were walking in front. Although their faces were not clearly visible, judging from their positions, they should be of high status.
But even if people come, so what? Their sudden attack on the city is all about taking advantage of the time difference.
As long as they fight fast enough, the large reinforcements from Daqi won't arrive. Even the emperor of Daqi might not have heard the news yet!
Even if two people come, they are just city defense troops from nearby cities, a few thousand at most. They have an army of 100,000. Are we afraid of them?
So, Sukhbaatar said disdainfully
"What Han Zhongyu, what Xie Yushu, no matter how powerful they are, how can a mere few people withstand my 100,000-strong army?"
Don't boost others' morale while diminishing your own!
Fuguang Qidao
"Have you forgotten why we launched our attack ahead of schedule? It was because the Great Qi had a secret weapon that we didn't know about—the repeating crossbow!"
And this repeating crossbow was presented by the woman in red on the city wall. With her here, do you think the repeating crossbow might have already been set up on the city wall?
We've never witnessed the power of a repeating crossbow before. Charging in recklessly would only send our brothers to their deaths in vain!
Sukhbaatar pondered for a moment, then looked at the city wall. It seemed there weren't many more guards on it than before, and he couldn't help but speak.
"Okay, I'll take it as her setting up the crossbow you mentioned, waiting for us!"
But look at how many people are on the city wall, and how many are we?
You said that crossbow can fire ten arrows in a row. Even if there are ten times more soldiers on her city wall, do you think we should still fight this battle?
If we fight, we must charge forward and break down the city gates. How can we back down just because we're afraid they have crossbows?
If you don't fight, even if you drag your feet for a few days, she won't withdraw her crossbows. Instead, she'll let them wait for the Qi reinforcements to arrive!
It would be a case of losing more than you gain!
"We might as well keep fighting. It'll be a good opportunity for me to see whether her broken crossbows are any better, or my iron cavalry is!"
Sukhbaatar was telling the truth, and Fuguang had nothing to say. In the end, he could only order another batch of archers to come up and take turns shooting arrows at the city wall to cover the people below as they rammed the city gate.
At the same time, Xie Yushu and Han Zhongyu were also observing the Tatar army.
Zhao Jie, the former deputy commander of the Tianshui City garrison, said to Han Zhongyu
"The main generals attacking the city below are Sukhbaatar, known as the Tiger of the Steppe. His deputy is said to be a prince of the Tatars. The two vanguards on the left and right are Xiong Guoer and Husmun, who are also famous for their bravery in battle. As for the others, we haven't fought them yet, so we don't know their strength!"
With Zhao Jie's introduction, everyone's attention turned to him.
The moment Qiu Shuang looked at Fu Guang, her eyes narrowed slightly. Although the distance was great and she couldn't even see what the person's features looked like, she still instinctively felt that the person's figure was him, Chen Da, whom she hated to the bone.
Thinking of her brothers who died tragically in the manor and the cold dagger stuck in her body, Qiu Shuang leaped to the nearest crossbow, snatched it, and fired an arrow straight at Fu Guang.
Ten sharp arrows shot towards Fu Guang with lightning speed!
The force was unstoppable, and several people fell down in the blink of an eye. Fu Guang was also hit in the shoulder and fell off his horse!
Perhaps because their positions were close enough, out of ten arrows, six hit the target, three missed, and one was knocked away by Sukhbaatar.
Even so, it was enough to shock them. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Fu Guang quickly rolled over and hid behind the horse, shouting...
"A repeating crossbow, it must be a repeating crossbow!"
Be careful, everyone!
Sukhbaatar was secretly shocked as he looked at the soldier lying on the ground, riddled with bullets. He was amazed at the power of the repeating crossbow!
But precisely because of this, Sukhbaatar became even more determined to fight and take Tianshui City in the shortest possible time.
Otherwise, when the reinforcements arrive, who knows how many of these crossbows they will have to face, and the losses will be even more incalculable!
Thinking of this, Sukhbaatar immediately gave the order.
"Archers, get ready! Fire!"
Vanguard, charge! Make sure to break down the city gate before nightfall!
Whoever enters the city first will be richly rewarded by this general!
As soon as Sukhbaatar finished speaking, the Tatar army launched another attack.
Several chariots loaded with large, thick logs were pushed at high speed, attempting to use their momentum to ram open the city gate.
At the same time, several rows of archers began to take turns firing arrows at the city wall.
Arrows rained down on the city walls!
On the city wall, Qiu Shuang fired the first crossbow bolt and immediately reported to Xie Yushu.
"Princess, I believe the deputy general is Chen Da!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Yushu immediately said
"Everyone, load your arrows, get ready!"
Almost simultaneously, as the archers on the opposite side began to nock their arrows, Han Zhongyu also gave the order.
"All repeating crossbows, aim at the enemy archers and suppress their arrow rain; hidden arrows, fire continuously at the enemy generals and vanguard; ordinary archers, deal with the enemy troops charging and crashing into the gate."
"Release the arrows!"
The advantage of defending a city lies in its high ground, which makes fighting easier.
As the arrows rained down from below, the soldiers on the city wall suffered casualties, but with the city wall as cover, the losses were not significant.
In contrast, the Tatar archers, with their rows of crossbowmen, could almost always fall down with a single shot fired.
More than two hundred crossbows on the city wall fired simultaneously, and after several rounds, a large number of archers on the opposite side were killed.
There were also four or five hundred people using hidden arrows. Although these hidden arrows were short and light, they were quite powerful and difficult to defend against. These hundreds of hidden arrows seemed to have eyes, locking onto Sukhbaatar and all the elites around him and shooting at them.
Only a few skilled fighters with quick reflexes were able to deflect the hidden arrows; most others were completely defenseless.
The other archers focused only on the charging troops, who were destined to be cannon fodder. The closer they got, the easier they were to aim at them, making them practically sitting ducks.
Suhbaru also planned to quickly take Tianshui City, then use it as a rear base, march south into the heart of the Great Qi, and then head straight for the capital.
Once they clashed, it became clear who was better.
Siege warfare is inherently a tough and demanding task, requiring a great deal of manpower and strength. They relied on sheer numbers and a strategy of attrition to gain the confidence to breach Tianshui City.
But now!
The fighting power of Tianshui City has doubled since the introduction of the repeating crossbow.
Arrows rained down from the city walls as if they were free. The defenders held the advantage, making it no exaggeration to say that one man could hold off ten thousand. For a time, the people below were unable to mount an effective counterattack. Instead, their own army was being beaten and screaming in despair.
Seeing the casualties mounting and realizing that continuing the fight would only lead to more needless deaths, Sukhbaatar, in a fit of rage, ordered a retreat and planned to fight another day.
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