Since Zhang He led his army to Jieting, Liu Feng has been waiting for the Wei army to launch an attack on the Han army camp.
However, for several days in a row, the Wei army in the opposite camp never launched an attack.
Wei Jun's silence did not make Liu Feng lower his guard, but instead there was a faint worry in his heart.
Liu Feng speculated that Zhang He was planning a big event.
Liu Feng did not speculate wrongly.
Just a few days after he led his army to Jieting, Zhang He looked at the huge siege equipment assembled in front of him in the camp, with a satisfied smile on his face.
The siege equipment in front of Zhang He was called a "catapult" in the world.
As the name suggests, this is a machine that can eject boulders.
But in Cao Wei, catapults also had another resounding name - thunderbolt chariots.
Zhang He looked at an old man standing under the tall Thunderbolt Car with searching eyes, and he asked:
"Master Ma, is the improved Thunderbolt Car really usable?"
Facing Zhang He's inquiry, the old man known as Ma Shilang showed a confident smile on his face and replied:
"Zuo, don't worry, General Zuo, Jun never speaks nonsense."
After receiving Ma Jun's answer, the smile on Zhang He's face grew wider.
Zhang He had extraordinary trust in the old man named Ma Jun in front of him.
Ma Jun, courtesy name Deheng, was a Fufeng person.
Although Ma Jun was born into a poor family, he had profound attainments in mechanics.
Over the years, Ma Jun invented and improved many machines in the Central Plains and Guanzhong areas, which played a considerable role in promoting the development of Wei's productivity.
Because of Ma Jun's achievements, people at the time praised Ma Jun as "the most famous person in the world".
The most important thing is that Ma Jun's talent in machinery is not limited to civilian applications.
Ma Jun's achievements in transforming military machinery are also among the best in the world.
Other Wei generals may not understand this well, but Zhang He, who has led his army in Guanzhong for many years, knows this.
Of course, Zhang He was not the only one who knew about Ma Jun's talents, both in the Wei government and in the public.
Otherwise, Ma Jun, who was born into a poor family, would not have been able to get the position of minister.
However, due to Ma Jun's poor background and the fact that his talents were mainly reflected in his "exotic skills", many Wei ministers had considerable resistance to the reuse of Ma Jun.
But Zhang He, who has always been practical in character, treats Ma Jun very differently.
Because of this, Ma Jun originally served as a minister in Luoyang, but as soon as Zhang He arrived in Luoyang, he immediately asked Cao Rui for Ma Jun to be an army follower.
Although Cao Rui was puzzled by Zhang He's move, at the moment he needed Zhang He to help him break through the street pavilion, so he naturally would not refuse Zhang He's request, which was as small as it could be.
Zhang He believed that with Ma Jun's extraordinary ability in transforming military equipment, his assistance would give the Wei army a considerable advantage in the Jieting battlefield.
Now is the time to prove Zhang He's idea.
Zhang He said to Man Chong on the side: "Our army is ready to attack!"
After receiving the attack signal from the general Zhang He, Man Chong, the deputy general wearing armor, immediately ordered the drummers in the army to beat the war drums.
When the high-pitched military drums sounded, tens of thousands of Wei troops in the Wei army camp immediately took action.
Because the drums of the Wei army were too loud, Liu Feng soon heard the drums from the Wei army camp.
If you hear the drum, attack!
As a veteran, Liu Feng stood up almost reflexively.
Without the slightest hesitation, Liu Feng also issued an order to the entire army to fight.
During this period of time, Liu Feng did not relax his vigilance against the Wei army at all. Liu Feng's caution kept the Han army in a state of combat readiness at all times.
So when Liu Feng's order spread throughout the army, tens of thousands of Han troops in the Han army's camp quickly returned to their posts under the command of their respective generals, holding weapons in their hands and waiting for the Wei army's attack.
Liu Feng also personally took Ding Feng, Deng Ai, and Jiang Wei to the observation deck behind the camp gate, watching every move of the Wei army.
When Liu Feng arrived at the observation deck, he discovered that the gate of the Wei army camp, which had been closed for days, had been completely opened.
From the wide camp gate, groups of energetic Wei troops were walking out one after another.
A few quarters of an hour later, the Wei army who was the first to walk out of the camp gate transformed into regular square formations under Liu Feng's gaze and walked step by step towards the camp at his feet.
The sound of tens of thousands of Wei army's footsteps, from far to near, was like muffled thunder in the sky, constantly hitting the hearts of Liu Feng and all the Han soldiers.
Taking the lead is a tactic often used by veterans.
If the Han army were not elite, then the tens of thousands of thunderous footsteps on the ground alone would cause panic in the hearts of the Han army.
However, the morale of the Han army was not shaken by Zhang He's first move.
The Han troops who could participate in the Northern Expedition were naturally elite.
Moreover, with a great victory in Liangzhou ahead, the morale of the Han army will only be higher than that of the Wei army.
In this case, Zhang He's first move could not have a big effect.
On the contrary, it stimulated the fighting spirit in the hearts of the Han army.
The Han troops guarding the camp looked at the approaching Wei troops, and their eyes gradually became firm.
Regardless of the size of the Wei army, they are the ones with the advantage in today's battlefield with their forts as a barrier.
But just when Liu Feng thought that the Wei army would continue to advance into the shooting range of the Han army's archers, the Wei army's actions exceeded Liu Feng's expectations.
Tens of thousands of Wei troops stopped advancing when they were two hundred steps away from the Han camp.
This is just outside the farthest range of arrows in the world.
Shortly after tens of thousands of Wei troops took their stand, Liu Feng, who was high enough to see far away, saw a dozen huge siege vehicles appearing behind the infantry square of tens of thousands of Wei troops.
Liu Feng recognized at a glance that the dozens of huge siege equipment were catapults.
Pushed by the Wei army, the catapults gradually came to the rear of the Wei army's infantry formation.
Liu Feng realized that Zhang He probably wanted to use a catapult to attack the Han army camp.
But even if he realized this, Liu Feng didn't have much worry in his heart.
During the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao used an upgraded version of the catapult, the Thunderbolt Chariot, to destroy the buildings of Yuan Jun's camp.
Because he knew that Wei Jun had such a powerful weapon, Liu Feng took precautions early.
The moment he saw the Wei army launching a catapult, Liu Feng immediately ordered the Han army to hang wet cowhide on the camp wall.
Although the thunderbolt chariot improved by Liu Ye was more powerful than ordinary catapults, it still had many disadvantages.
The biggest drawback of the Pili car is that it can only have a single engine.
A single shot means that the catapult's firing efficiency is not high, and firing once is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.
This shortcoming fundamentally limits the power of the Pili Car, and there is no high upper limit.
Otherwise, what would Cao Cao do with his surprise attack on Wuchao back then?
Just open the way with a thunderbolt car and crush Yuan Jun.
The shortcomings of the Pili Car were also noticed by Yuan Shao back then and he came up with a way to restrain the Pili Car.
Yuan Shao's method was to hang wet cowhide on the camp wall.
Wet cowhide has strong toughness. When the Thunderbolt Car can only fire a single shot, the wet cowhide is tough enough to protect the camp wall from the boulders emitted by the Thunderbolt Car.
After ordering the Han army to hang wet cowhide on the camp wall, Liu Feng turned his attention to the dozen catapults.
Liu Feng was a little confused. Yuan Shao had already figured out how to crack the Thunderbolt Chariot back then, so why did Zhang He repeat the same trick today?
But soon, Liu Feng had more and more doubts in his heart.
I saw a dozen catapults stopping a few hundred steps away from the Han army's camp, and then many Wei soldiers were loading huge stones into the wooden wheels of the catapults.
After seeing this scene, not only Liu Feng was puzzled, but even Ding Feng and others looked at each other.
According to common sense, the maximum range of today's catapults is two hundred steps away.
But the Wei army's catapult was at least three hundred steps away from the Han army's camp.
At such a long distance, could the stones launched by the catapult hit the Han army camp?
In addition, most of the catapults in the world were shaped like large scales, but the dozen or so catapults shipped out by the Wei army today had wooden wheels hanging on them, which looked nondescript. Why was this?
Just when Liu Feng and others felt confused, the catapult loaded with huge rocks began to launch in the direction of the Han army's camp.
As the sound of thunder echoed through the sky, dozens of huge rocks slammed into the Han army's camp wall under the disbelieving eyes of the Han army.
The distance of more than 300 steps did not prevent the boulders launched by the Wei army's catapults from falling on the wall of the Han army's camp.
After easily crossing a distance of 300 steps, huge stones hit the wet cowhide in front of the wall of the Han army's camp with unrivaled force.
Due to the fierce force of the boulder, although the extremely tough wet cowhide was not directly broken by the boulder, the surface of the wet cowhide inevitably left deep dents.
The Wei army's catapult suddenly had a range of 300 steps, which already surprised Liu Feng and several Han generals, but what surprised Liu Feng and the others even more was still behind.
I saw a dozen Wei army catapults launching a second round of boulders almost a moment after launching the first round of boulders.
Dozens of boulders hit the wet cowhide in front of the wall of the Han army camp hard for the second time with unparalleled momentum.
And because it suffered two heavy blows in a short period of time, the dents on the wet cowhide became deeper and deeper, and there were more and more dents.
Just when Liu Feng and others were worried about this scene, the Wei army's third round of stone-throwing offensive roared in.
Deafening crashes resounded over the Han army camp, making the faces of all the Han soldiers slowly turn pale.
If it continues to be hit like this, how long can the wet cowhide last?
Compared with the worries in the hearts of ordinary soldiers, Liu Feng and several Han generals on the observation tower thought more.
Wet cowhide can temporarily block the boulders of the Wei army's catapults, but what about the camp wall that is not protected by wet cowhide?
When this dangerous idea emerged in the minds of Liu Feng and others, the sharp-eyed Deng Ai was the first to exclaim:
"The enemy's catapult has turned!"
Deng Ai's exclamation was like dragging the Han army into an eternal hell.
I was really busy at the end of the month, so this chapter was a little short.
When I have more time, I will try to update.
Thank you for your continued support.
