Chapter 849
Chapter 849
That night, five thousand of Count Austin's men became sappers, bringing earth and large stones to fill the massive craters from the day's explosions, clearing a path for the main army.
At dawn, two thousand elite warriors shed their heavy armor, equipped themselves lightly, and set out. They began to climb the cliff faces on both sides, intending to circle around and launch a surprise attack from behind the walls of Chunhua Pass, ready to slaughter the enemy.
The next day, before the sun rose, all the large craters in front of the three-thousand-meter-long walls of Chunhua Pass had been filled. Count Austin once again stood on high ground, commanding the battlefield.
“Army, attack the fortress! Kill every last Easterner on those walls!”
As his command fell, a horn sounded.
Bwoooooo.
His elite warriors charged the fortress once more. But it was different from yesterday. Yesterday, an army of ten thousand had charged in an orderly formation, but today, three thousand men charged, scattered in all directions.
“Slaughter them! Advance, advance.”
Three thousand men charged across the death zone from yesterday's explosions. Even though the large craters had been filled, the remnants of severed limbs were scattered everywhere, along with bright red blood and dark, reddish entrails. The charging three thousand held their breath, praying ceaselessly to the heavens.
‘It can't explode again. It absolutely can't.’
In truth, all the explosives buried underground had already detonated, and it was impossible to bury that many again in such a short time. The three thousand men passed smoothly through the death zone where the explosions had occurred and quickly reached the base of the walls. Success. Reaching the base of the walls was success. The enemy numbered less than five hundred, meaning each person had to defend an average of six meters of wall, and there were no logs or rocks prepared for defense here. Therefore, even three thousand men could easily breach these weak walls and slaughter all the Easterners.
The bloodshot eyes of the charging three thousand were filled with a bone-deep resentment and killing intent. They charged, and charged, drawing ever closer to the walls. Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters, and soon, only fifty meters remained.
‘Soon. Soon we can kill all those Easterners. We must sever all their heads and limbs, so that even if they fall into hell, they won't be able to reassemble their bodies. Kill them, kill them!’
But Count Austin, watching the scene unfold, grew a little suspicious.
‘Why haven't those Easterners fired their bows to counterattack, even when we're this close?’
But just then, the defenders on the walls of Chunhua Pass took out an iron ball. It was a primitive version of a grenade. Some were cased in iron, some in wood, and some were even wrapped in silk. Each primitive grenade contained about three hundred grams of explosive and hundreds of shrapnel fragments. Each grenade weighed around two thousand grams. That would be too heavy for a modern army, but it was suitable for Shen Lang's warriors. They could throw the grenades thirty to forty meters.
“What is that?”
Count Austin instantly felt another ominous premonition rise within him.
Meanwhile, on the walls, Zhang Chunhua looked extremely tense. Two officers bellowed their commands with imposing voices.
“Ready!”
Five hundred defenders raised their grenades high.
“Ignite!”
At the command, the five hundred men lit the fuses in an orderly fashion. As time ticked by, Zhang Chunhua was so tense she could barely breathe. These grenades were extremely dangerous to both friend and foe. The slightest carelessness could cause them to explode in hand, leading to unimaginable consequences. The grenade fuses were all made to the same length, so everyone's movements had to be perfectly synchronized. Throw too early, and the enemy might catch and throw them back; throw too late, and they would explode in their hands.
“Throw!”
As the two officers commanded forcefully, the five hundred defenders on the wall threw in unison.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Five hundred primitive grenades, sputtering sparks, arced through the air and fell upon Count Austin's army. Count Austin instinctively shouted.
“Get down, get down!”
Half of his three thousand men continued to charge forward, but the other half immediately obeyed the command and dropped to the ground.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Another series of stunning explosions followed. They weren't as earth-shattering as yesterday's, but the sound was still deafening enough to pierce eardrums. Another terrifying slaughter unfolded. In an instant, a violent gale swept through the area, and countless charging soldiers were immediately sent flying by the blasts. Once again, severed limbs flew through the air, and men were thrown meters away like scarecrows, spewing bright red blood in mid-air. What was even more terrifying about this situation was that these grenades contained shrapnel. They were like an upgraded version of a 'storm of fire,' as countless fragments shot out madly at the enemy like a downpour. Their power was astonishing, like a torrential rain beating down on a sandy beach, leaving it riddled with countless holes. Count Austin's soldiers were struck by the shrapnel, their bodies instantly riddled with holes.
* * *
A few minutes later, the chaos subsided once again. Count Austin had expected his three thousand men to be annihilated again in this assault, but to his surprise, soldiers began to crawl back to their feet. The grenades were extremely powerful, killing or maiming any soldier within a ten-meter radius of the blast. However, human strength had its limits; they couldn't be thrown very far, nor could they create a carpet-bombing effect. Moreover, Mulan City didn't have that large a supply of explosives yet. Count Austin's three thousand men suffered over fifty percent casualties from this grenade attack. Of course, this was an astonishing result, but it wasn't enough. The thousand or so men who had luckily survived the battlefield climbed up with dazed expressions. They were alive, but many had been deafened, their vision turned black, and they were vomiting. It was a classic concussion.
After a long while, they looked toward Count Austin.
‘Do we still have to keep attacking the fortress?’
But at that moment,
Rumble, rumble...
This time, another explosion was heard from the mountains. The sound wasn't loud, as its purpose wasn't to kill the enemy but to serve as an alarm. Shen Lang's defenders, anticipating that the enemy might climb the mountains on either side of the pass to secretly march around and attack from the rear, had buried a large number of 'thunder mercuries' in the mountains. This substance was extremely sensitive and would explode just by being stepped on. The sound of the explosion was a signal to Zhang Chunhua, alerting her that the enemy was climbing the mountains on both sides to circle around for a rear attack.
* * *
Count Austin now had two choices. One was to order his army to continue charging until they reached the three-thousand-meter-long wall. The other was to temporarily halt the attack.
“Halt the attack for now! Halt the attack!”
At Count Austin's command, the thousand or so lucky survivors quickly retreated. The second assault on Chunhua Pass had failed. However, Count Austin did not look terribly discouraged; instead, he seemed almost relieved. Shen Lang's army was formidable, and they had used many strange tactics, but this was likely the extent of their methods. The only trump card the five hundred defenders on the wall now had was that exploding iron ball. The weapon had astonishing power, but it also had clear flaws. First, it couldn't be thrown very far by human strength, and second, it was extremely dangerous, as it could explode on their own side at any moment. It wouldn't be difficult to find a way to suppress these iron balls.
“Your Reverence, how many catapults, 'Wrath of the Fire God,' and flying fire arrows do we have left?”
The priestess of the Fire God felt a sense of existential doubt at that moment.
‘We are the ones who serve the Fire God, so why is the enemy's 'Wrath of the Fire God' more advanced and powerful than ours?’
Hearing Count Austin's question, she answered bitterly.
“Due to yesterday's massive explosion, we couldn't retrieve a dozen or so catapults in time, so we only have thirteen left. We don't have many fire arrows left either, less than a hundred cartloads.”
“That will be enough. We can use these to suppress the enemy. What we need is time, so we'll use the catapults to hurl the Wrath of the Fire God at them. Even if we can't aim accurately enough to kill them, at least amidst such explosions, the enemy won't dare to throw those exploding iron balls. That will buy us precious time, and with just a moment, our army can rush the walls. Once that happens, the battle will be over, and we will easily slaughter them all.”
One had to admit that Count Austin was a brilliant commander. Despite seeing a secret weapon like a grenade for the first time, he was able to make an accurate judgment. His thinking was correct. If they used catapults to hurl a large number of explosive bundles onto the walls, explosions would go off everywhere. Then, Shen Lang's defenders on the wall wouldn't even dare to take out their grenades, let alone throw them. This was because every grenade contained thunder mercury, which was so sensitive it could explode at any time. Therefore, by suppressing the firepower on the walls with catapults, they could completely neutralize the trump card of Shen Lang's army.
* * *
Four hours later. Thirteen catapults were pushed by soldiers and set up three hundred and thirty meters from the walls of Chunhua Pass, and fifty carts for launching fire arrows were also brought to a distance of four hundred meters. This was a very safe distance that Count Austin had carefully calculated.
“Ready! Fire!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Count Austin's thirteen catapults unleashed their power, forcefully launching the explosive bundles. A moment later, the Fire God Sect's fire arrow carts also displayed a stunning scene.
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh.
Hundreds of fire arrows were launched madly, drawing long tails of smoke in the air as they shot toward the three-thousand-meter-long walls of Chunhua Pass. Standing on high ground, Count Austin once again witnessed the Eastern defenders on the walls of Chunhua Pass taking cover. As expected, they couldn't bring out the exploding iron balls. His tactic was a success.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Fire God Sect's explosives detonated once again above and below the walls. The thick smoke of black powder instantly enveloped the entire wall, and countless fire arrows were shot wildly towards it. Although they didn't score direct hits, the dense smoke of the black powder covered the entire wall, and the barrage of fire arrows successfully suppressed the enemy's firepower.
“Army, charge! Take that wall and kill every last Easterner on it!”
At Count Austin's command, his army of ten thousand charged fiercely toward the walls of Chunhua Pass like a crashing wave.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The catapults fired twice more, and explosive bundles once again detonated above and below the walls, suppressing the enemy's firepower. The ten thousand men also charged madly, but Shen Lang's army dared not throw any more grenades. The army drew closer and closer to the walls, until only thirty meters remained.
“Cease throwing and firing!”
Count Austin ordered a halt to the explosive attacks. By then, it was too late for the defenders on the wall to bring out their grenades.
Success! He could take this three-thousand-meter wall. Although his army had not yet climbed onto the walls, Count Austin could already see the outcome.