Great Battle of Jiangxia (2)
Battering-ram carts and catapults.
A mass of siege engines was committed to the field.
The intent was obvious: smash the wall of Bladed War Wagons with the overwhelming destructive power of the Battering-Ram Carts, and then bombard and shatter the Archers and Crossbowmen with a simultaneous salvo from the Thunderclap Catapults.
It was an excellent countermeasure.
The best possible judgment call for breaking Liu Chong's army.
There was a fierce, unmistakable killing intent here—a determination to finally grind every last rebel in the south into dust.
"They've entered range! Load the catapults!"
"All batteries, fire as soon as you're loaded! It's time to pay those filthy rebels back!"
Dozens of catapults were mobilized.
Ten or so soldiers assigned to each catapult hauled on the ropes and lifted the heavy boulders into place.
Dong Zhuo's forces were a cavalry-based corps.
That meant that while they weren't complete outsiders the way they were with naval warfare, they were inevitably somewhat clumsy at siege warfare.
Yet the soldiers loading the catapults moved with seasoned proficiency. That was because they were from the central army, which had a record of capturing numerous cities and fortresses held by the rebels.
Thoom—!!
Loading was complete.
On command, they released the ropes they had been holding taut.
Every catapult opened fire at once. The heavy boulders launched from the catapults traced menacing arcs through the air before crashing down into Liu Chong's camp.
"Gah!"
"I-It's falling this way!!"
The ground shook as columns of dust erupted.
A shockwave slammed through us, strong enough to make a man stagger.
Bladed War Wagons crumpled like scrap metal.
Soldiers caught in the path of the boulders screamed.
The Archers and Crossbowmen who had been preparing to return fire ducked their heads in shock.
The camp of Liu Chong's army, which had held a wall worthy of an Iron Fortress, was reduced to a wreck in an instant. The officers and men of Liu Chong's army trembled all over, terrified that another salvo would come raining down from Dong Zhuo's direction.
"The rebels are panicking! Keep firing!"
"Aim for the Archers and Crossbowmen beyond the wagons!"
The Repeating Crossbows linked to their lever mechanisms.
And the Archers and Crossbowmen screened by infantry escorts.
Dong Zhuo's army concentrated its fire on the Repeating Crossbows and the Archers and Crossbowmen positioned beyond the Bladed War Wagons. As if to prove their intent, every time a heavy boulder dropped, a Repeating Crossbow was smashed to pieces and Archers and Crossbowmen let out piercing screams.
"Elder! The enemy's screams will not cease!"
"At last, the tide of victory that had seemed as distant as fog begins to appear! I can hear the rebels' wails! Bring up every last catapult and sweep away their wagons and Repeating Crossbows!"
The defensive wall crumbled.
The wall that had stood firm as an Iron Fortress was collapsing.
A thunderous roar echoed.
It was the sound of catapult boulders crashing down.
Every time, Bladed War Wagons were destroyed and Archers and Crossbowmen were crushed.
They had seized the momentum.
At long last, they had secured the advantage.
Director of the Palace Gentlemen Li Ru, his face alight with joy, pointed at the dust-shrouded camp of Liu Chong's army. At this, Dong Zhuo was so overjoyed that his corpulent frame practically bounced up and down.
"Elder, we must press the advantage! Deploy the Battering-Ram Carts and Siege Towers at once! The rebels, smothered in dust, are completely panicked by the catapult bombardment!"
"Of course! Is this not the golden opportunity we've earned through the sacrifice of countless officers and men?"
Dong Zhuo hoisted the Ceremonial Axes high.
It was the signal ordering a general assault.
The Battering-Ram Carts and Siege Towers waiting in the rear ranks began their advance, their wheels rumbling imposingly as they churned up clouds of dust. The plan was to completely break through the square formation of Liu Chong's army that had repelled every single offensive so far.
"A huge wooden tower is coming!"
"A-A Siege Tower...! It's a Siege Tower! They've sortied their Siege Towers!"
A tall wooden tower appeared, one that looked down on everything around it.
A Siege Tower,
a siege engine known as a Siege Tower.
As these siege engines, boasting a height of sixty-five chi (about fifteen meters), revealed themselves, pitch-black shadows fell across the field. The officers and men of Liu Chong's army confronting these colossal Siege Towers had no choice but to feel overwhelming terror.
"The Siege Towers have reached the enemy lines and begun their attack!"
"They probably never imagined we'd deploy Siege Towers. Liu Chong's army camp must be a living hell."
The archers firing from the top were merely a supporting attack.
The true purpose of the Siege Tower was psychological pressure.
The rumble of wheels that vibrated through the earth.
A colossal height rivaling the steep walls of a fortress.
Moreover, the Siege Towers were clad in tough leather and reinforced steel plates to defend against enemy strikes.
Rumble—
The halted Siege Towers began moving again,
solely to inflict even greater fear and pressure on Liu Chong's army.
"Now! Hurl the Oil Jars!"
"Throwers, concentrate on the Siege Tower wheels and their lower sections!"
The Siege Towers committed to the front line would keep advancing without stopping until they had completely shattered the main camp of Liu Chong's army.
Just as that intention became clear,
roughly a hundred soldiers blocked the path of the Siege Towers.
It was the Death-Defying Unit of Liu Chong's army.
The soldiers assigned to the Death-Defying Unit swung their Throwing Pouches and hurled the jars. Countless jars smashed against the aggressively advancing Siege Towers, splattering them with a sticky black liquid.
Right after that—
Flaming arrows came flying in, radiating fierce light.
Whoosh—
The sticky black liquid splattered all over the Siege Towers was petroleum, a substance that boasts strong flammability. So, the moment the flaming arrows struck, the flames spread and began burning the Siege Towers.
* * *
A ferocious blaze devoured the Siege Tower that had boasted such a massive height. One after another, the other Siege Towers, starting with the one placed at the very front, were also engulfed in flames.
Had they been ordinary flaming arrows, the leather wrapped around the Siege Towers' bodies would have stopped the fire from spreading.
Petroleum.
Liu Chong's army had used petroleum.
The Siege Towers drenched in the sticky black liquid became dangerously flammable tinder. As if to prove it, a fierce blaze spread with every flaming arrow that struck.
"F-Fire...! Aaagh!"
"The Siege Tower's on fire! Put it out, quickly!"
Thick smoke and intense heat billowed up.
The archers of Dong Zhuo's army, who had been shooting at Liu Chong's army from the top of the Siege Towers, screamed in agony. In the end, the archers who could not bear the heat even plunged and fell from the tops of the Siege Towers.
It was a complete sea of flame.
Most of the Siege Towers committed to the battlefield were exposed to the fire.
Craaash—!!
The Siege Tower, seized by a demon of fire, let out an ominous, thunderous groan.
The pillars that had supported the immense weight collapsed in the flames. And so the colossal Siege Tower, having lost its center, fell with a crash toward the very Dong Zhuo army forces that had deployed the siege engines.
"The Siege Tower is falling! Everyone pull back!"
"Retreat! The whole army, retreat!"
The Siege Tower was collapsing.
The other Siege Towers were the same.
A Siege Tower engulfed in flames would topple and even bring down the one right next to it.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince! It's a success!"
"It is thanks to the combined spirit of every brave commander."
The throwers holding the Oil Jars let out a battle cry and shouted Long Live. At that, Liu Seong-hwi lowered the Iron-Reinforced Bow he had used to shoot the flaming arrow for a moment and nodded.
They had destroyed the Siege Towers.
He watched the sight of the enormous siege weapons collapsing, consumed by flames.
We must ride this momentum and launch a counterattack.
We can only seize the victory if we deal a catastrophic, crippling blow to Dong Zhuo's forces.
"They're panicking! Central Army Commander, lead the cavalry and sweep up the stragglers on the field! We must inflict as much damage as possible!"
The elite cavalry stationed in the main camp of Liu Chong's army were deployed. The cavalry force led by Central Army Commander Taishi Ci clung doggedly to the heels of Dong Zhuo's soldiers fleeing through the flames.
Swish—!
She cut down enemies with her sharp Short Halberds.
The other cavalry were the same.
They relentlessly pursued and hunted down the routed soldiers who were fleeing, showing their backs.
The screams and shouts of routed soldiers echoed wretchedly amidst the flames. Having lost most of their Siege Towers in an instant, Dong Zhuo's army could only watch the one-sided slaughter.
"P-Protect the General of the Guards!"
"Stop them! Stall for as much time as you can!"
Just as the elite cavalry of Liu Chong's army were ravaging the battlefield,
several hundred soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army were spotted isolated in the flames.
It was the Personal Guard Corps of General of the Guards Niu Fu.
Soon, Taishi Ci realized why the Personal Guard Corps escorting Dong Zhuo's son-in-law had become isolated in the fire.
"Liu Chong's army is here?! Clear away the wreckage! I said clear away this wreckage, now!"
The man pinned under the heavy wreckage was armored in a suit of armor dazzlingly decorated with gold. The guards were straining with all their might to rescue the man trapped under the debris.
Niu Fu.
He was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law.
In the midst of commanding the forces, he had been pinned by the wreckage of a Siege Tower.
"Kill them all."
Taishi Ci gave the order.
At that, the elite cavalry charged at the Personal Guard Corps of Dong Zhuo's army.
"A general of Liu Chong's army, I see...! Pull me out of here! If you spare my life, Grand Master Dong will enfeoff you as a feudal lord who commands the realm! A-And he will grant you the glory of guarding the Son of Heaven!"
"Shut your mouth. I serve only one Son of Heaven."
She left the body pinned under the wreckage where it was.
Instead, she cut off the head that had been spouting such nonsense.