Seeing the red flag fall from Liu Jiangsheng's hand, three hundred specially selected stalwart sergeants raised their big hammers high and hit the wooden shaft hard.
"Bang!" There was a sound, and as the ground shook slightly, deafening tremors sounded everywhere. The trebuchet arms were like giant dragons suddenly flying into the sky. The hundreds of kilograms of fireballs whizzed past like meteors falling from the sky. Looking at it, it seemed as if the entire cloud layer above had been shattered, and a daytime fireworks that covered the sky and the sun was staged impressively.
"Sky Fire! That's Sky Fire!
What exactly is a trebuchet? ! Tian Hongbin was horrified, trembling all over as he stared at the series of flaming boulders drawing a perfect arc in the air, "Boom!" "With a loud bang, it hit the city walls everywhere.
In an instant, these heavy fireballs that hit at high speed actually hit the Xizhou city wall until the gravel cracked into pieces. The terrifying sound of "Kacha Kacha" was heard all around, and there were great signs of collapse.
More fierce flames went straight over the city wall and hit the tall tower behind. The fireball exploded on the roof, and the flaming gravel began to fly everywhere. Except for the roof made of forest trees, it was instantly ignited and fell to the ground. Because the rubble was soaked in kerosene and stained with the flesh of dozens of unlucky barbarians, it spread rapidly. Amidst the shocking screams, more than ten feet of the nearby city wall was turned into a living hell.
The barbarian soldiers who had lived in the mountains and worshiped gods for a long time had been shocked to pieces. Instead of running away in panic, they seemed to have fallen into a nightmare. Most of them were instantly sluggish and could not even move their feet. They huddled on the city wall with their ears ringing and dizziness. The people below were shivering, but the Tang army below the city showed no mercy. The second round of fireball attacks came again at high speed, like fire rain from the sky, pouring out all-consuming hatred on the increasingly fragile Xizhou. On the city.
This time Xu concentrated his offensive, and most of the fireballs landed on the city tower accurately. The billowing thick smoke actually covered up the firelight that shot up into the sky, and jumped higher and further, and "boomed" in the large haze. With a bang, the South City Tower, which had stood for fifty years and had its inner rooms engraved with the achievements of the Peng family, could no longer withstand the crazy erosion of the flames and collapsed instantly.
The surrounding barbarian soldiers finally couldn't hold back any longer, and there was no trace of fighting spirit. They all held their heads and looked frightened. They screamed and rushed to the stone steps of the lower city, falling into chaos. The barbarian soldiers pushed and cursed each other, and a pair of bare feet that had been burnt red desperately stepped on their companions, just to get a chance to survive.
As the coach, Tian Hongbin should have shouted to stop him, but he fell into a daze. He opened his mouth half-open and was speechless for a moment. While the sergeants behind him were in a commotion, he stared at the sea of fire around him with his mouth open. There were blood stains everywhere where the rubble collapsed.
In particular, half of the armor on the back had already been burned away, exposing the dark and slightly charred muscles. If Gong Langzhi hadn't extinguished it in time, the deputy governor of Xizhou who had only been in office for less than a day would have melted.
Seeing Tian Hongbin's empty eyes, Gong Langzhi understood in his heart how frightening this horrifying scene was to the young governor, but there was no room for hesitation in a life-or-death situation. After shaking Tian Hongbin frantically for several times without any response, he plucked up the courage to lift up the desperate man. The commander, under the protection of the generals, retreated to the edge of the inner city wall and shouted anxiously: "My sons! Don't panic! Don't panic! Why is our Xizhou city so strong? The Tang army did not dare to attack the city with manpower. A poisonous plan! The huge rocks will eventually be used up, let’s just wait until the fire is finished! My Xizhou city wall only lost a few bricks and stones, so there’s nothing to be afraid of!”
Tian Hongbin seemed to wake up suddenly. He broke away with all his strength, shook his head as if he had just woken up from a dream, and shouted repeatedly: "Gong Dushi is absolutely right! The Tang army can't break through the city wall! He ordered the whole army not to panic and retreat to the inside of the city wall. Escape, be sure to hold on to the city, and those who retreat will be killed immediately!"
Before he finished speaking, the trebuchet under the city began to fire for the third time, and the nightmare reappeared. The same three hundred burning boulders exploded and burned on the already smoke-filled city wall. Salt was added to the wound again. This time, several people were finally killed. The crenellations of the city wall were penetrated, and the ground of the south city wall was riddled with holes. The area within fifty steps of the Tang army was completely burned into a sea of fire that no living thing could enter.
In front of Wu Ping's army, Liu Jiangsheng replaced the black flag in his hand and raised it high. He shouted with blazing eyes: "Add weight, change stones!"
"As you command!"
Thanks to the pre-drill, the sergeants immediately replaced the trebuchet basket with a 120-kilogram boulder that had been burned in the fire, and launched it in unison with a "boom". These even larger and more terrifying stones were fired. The fireball was immediately thrown high and far into the sky, and then landed at a visual distance of 450 steps. It was no different from the data provided by the Langzhou Ordnance Supervision Center. This time, the sky was full of meteors. It flew over the city wall and landed in a neighborhood in Xizhou City!
Under the banner of the Chinese army, Li Yuan, Peng Shiyu and the generals stood on horseback, looking at the Xizhou city head with thick smoke and flames rising into the sky in the distance. Most of the people's faces were no better than those of the barbarians. Where had I seen this before? Waiting for the tragic attack scene, everyone's mind was swaying and they exclaimed in exclamation.
When he saw the southern city tower, which was filled with the glory of the Peng family in the past, collapsed, Peng Shiyu, who was already trembling with fear, secretly felt heartache and couldn't help but said in a deep voice: "Commander, is your trebuchet a gift from ghosts and gods? How come the power is so amazing? If the sea of huge rocks and fire continues like this, not to mention Tian Hongyou, I am afraid that the soldiers and civilians in the city will have no place to stay..."
Li Yuan glanced at Peng Shiyu, who had his head down, and responded calmly: "They are asking for their own death! Tian Hongyou poisoned eight thousand of my soldiers before, and even my sworn brother almost died. A bloody feud. How can I not retaliate? Even if I slaughter the whole city, it will not be an exaggeration!
But you, Governor Peng, have just seen it, but I still have a benevolent heart. Just because I thought it was your Peng family who had been running Xizhou for many years, and I didn't want to kill innocent people indiscriminately, I ordered people to persuade them to surrender many times. As a result, these barbarian soldiers I don’t know whether to live or die, I would rather be buried with Tian! In this case, don't blame me for being ruthless! "
Seeing Peng Shiyu's eyes flickering and his teeth clenched, Li Yuan finally comforted him: "Prince Peng, if such a fire breaks out, it will be difficult for manpower to control it, but it will not destroy the whole city. After all, this Xizhou city still needs to be restored." For you..."
Without waiting for Peng Shiyu to reply, Xu Kuangheng handed over his hand and replied: "Commander, why should you think too much! Don't you know that kindness is not in charge of troops? The two armies fought according to their own means, and casualties are normal! Even if the whole city is destroyed and the people suffer, it is Tian Hongyou's fault. This old thief did it all by himself!
As for Governor Peng, I would like to remind you that this time my commander-in-chief has defied all opinions and personally led his army into dangerous situations to avenge you, which shows our deep friendship with you! This shows that the commander-in-chief values honesty and justice! Previously, you promised that after the three states are pacified, they will change their flags and come under my rule, Wu Ping. I hope you can also keep your word! "
Li Yuan pretended not to hear, and just smiled meaningfully, looking at the fierce battle in the distance. Peng Shiyu took a deep breath and did not dare to refute. He lowered his head on the horse and claimed yes. Then his face darkened and he remained silent. His dry lips were soon bitten with blood stains...
