"Forward! Forward! Pull out the stakes! Knock down the fence!"
At this time, the Japanese front team had filled in a section of the first trench, which was about seven or eight paces wide. The leader of the front team was overjoyed when he saw this, and hurriedly waved his knife on horseback, urging his men to rush through the ditch. The wooden fence behind the trench was demolished. According to the reward announced by Brother Zhong before the attack, whoever is the first to cross the trench, or the first to knock down the fence, or even the first to climb the barrier will be awarded the left guard. The official position of a gate captain will be inherited by his son if he dies in battle. If there is no son, he can also be inherited by his younger brother or son-in-law.
So even though people continued to fall down after being hit by arrows, the Japanese still showed amazing bravery. They stepped on the corpses and bundles of firewood, rushed across the trench, began to tie the rope to the fence, and then pulled hard, trying to pull down the fence behind the trench.
"Oops, the enemy is coming!" On the pagoda, Saitama bit his nails subconsciously and said anxiously: "What should I do? What can you do?"
"Don't worry, there are still two trenches!" Wang Wenzuo said calmly: "Your Majesty, you can actually retreat to the pier, which is safer than here!"
Saitama hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "No, you can't see anything at the dock. You can only hear the shouts of killing. I will die of panic. Instead of doing that, it is better to stay here!"
"Okay!" Wang Wenzuo did not insist. He calmly observed the battle situation for a while and said to Cao Wenzong behind him: "Tell Cui Hongdu to gather the scorpions into the gap!"
"Follow the order!"
At this time, under the pull of the Japanese ropes, the fence behind the trench began to shake. The cheers from the Japanese behind the trench were so loud that even the horns of the defenders were suppressed, although stone bullets and arrows continued to fall. , more and more people were injured or even died on the spot, but the hope of victory in front of them encouraged them, so that even the falling arrows and stone bullets were not so scary.
"It's right here, yes, it's right here, push it over, open the support frame! Wind it up!" Behind the barrier, a Tang military captain shouted breathlessly, and his men were pushing the four scorpions to the predetermined position. From the location, less than thirty steps outside the perforation, you can clearly see the Japanese pulling the fence. The crowds are almost as crowded as the streets of Chang'an during the Shangyuan Festival. As the ratchet teeth made a crisp metallic collision sound, the fiber bundles of the four scorpions, which were made of animal tendon and horse hair, were twisted to the maximum limit. The Tang Military Colonel confirmed that the four scorpions had been wound and loaded, and he fiercely He waved his arms downward: "Let go!"
As the trigger was pulled, the huge potential energy stored in the suddenly released torsion spring was released, driving the crossbow arm to bounce outward, and the short spear flew out from the guide rail. When the captain saw the Japanese pulling the rope, he immediately fell down and shouted excitedly: "Quickly, turn the handle and wind it up, I don't believe that flesh and blood can stop the scorpion!"
"Quick, hurry up and keep pulling! What are you afraid of!" the leader of the Japanese front team shouted loudly, but the attacker's morale dropped a lot. Different from the arrows and stone bullets that kept flying, the short spear fired by "Scorpion" The power at close range is not only enough to penetrate the armor, but can even penetrate the bodies of two or three people at once. The dying person is rolling on the ground like a candied haws in pain, begging his companions to give him mercy. This huge visual impact will All the courage I had been feeling was gone.
boom! boom! boom!
After the first salvo, the Scorpions entered the free firing phase. The use of the automatic loading device allowed this torsion spring crossbow to achieve semi-automatic firing. The user only needs to shake the handle and load the short spear or cast By putting lead bullets into a preloaded magazine, the Scorpion can fire continuously at a rate of 8 to 6 times a minute. This rate of fire has already caught up with the speed of ordinary archers. Soon, the Japanese near the gap were wiped out. When many Japanese escaped, they were squeezed into the trench by their companions and impaled by bamboo sticks at the bottom. Panic spread among the crowd like a plague. More and more people dropped their weapons, turned around and fled backwards. The few who tried to stop were pushed down, trampled on, and became victims of failure.
"Bastard!" the lieutenant general spat angrily: "Your Majesty, I will send the next group of people on board immediately! The head of the Tang envoy must be delivered to your horse before dark!"
"No need!" Brother Zhong looked coldly.
You can't see the excitement and anger of the defeated battle at all. Let the defeated soldiers retreat first! "
"What's wrong? Your Majesty?" the deputy general asked in surprise.
"The rebels are well prepared!" Brother Zhongda said: "We just broke through the first trench, and so many people died. There are two more trenches and barriers behind us! It's not that easy!"
"Your Majesty, there are thirty thousand of us!"
"It's useless, everyone has eyes!" Brother Zhongda said with a smile: "If it is easy to capture and a few people die in exchange for official positions, they will indeed be very brave, but if the defense is very tight, If many, many people would die, and even they themselves would die here, then I'm afraid they wouldn't be so brave! The first group of people could fill in the first section of the trench, but the second group of people might not even be able to knock down the fence; The third group of people probably fled in all directions before they reached the edge of the trench."
"I can lead the troops and supervise the battle!"
"Haha!" Brother Zhong laughed: "I'm afraid this is what the Tang Dynasty envoy wants to see. I won't give him a chance. I will pass on the order and ask the soldiers to weave shields and helmets from wicker, cut down trees, and make long plaques. , charge the car, wait until these things are built, and then attack!"
"Katsurogi retreated after so few people were killed?" On the pagoda, Saitama asked in shock and joy as he looked at the enemy troops retreating like a tide.
"So many people?" Wang Wenzuo laughed: "There are at least two to three hundred people on the ground alone. Including the injured, Brother Zhong has lost at least nearly a thousand people. Is this still less?"
"Didn't you say he has 30,000 people? If you remove a thousand people, wouldn't there still be 29,000?" Saitama asked in confusion.
"Your Majesty, that's not how mathematics works!" Wang Wenzuo said with a wry smile: "If I were the eldest brother of Zhongda University, the troops that would lead the battle would definitely be the bravest and most loyal to me. Such an army would definitely be the best among those 30,000 people. Not many. If I read correctly, the leader of this team was hit by an arrow just now. In this way, Brother Zhong has lost more than just a thousand people!"
"How many people are there? Two thousand? Or three thousand?" Saitama asked.
"You can't calculate it like that!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "If you must calculate it, let it take two to three days!"
"Two to three days?" Saitama's eyes sparkled curiously: "How can the army use time to calculate?"
"If I were Brother Zhong, I would rather kill more people than lose time!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "After all, he is not short of people now, but he is short of time. Every day that passes, Baekje's reinforcements are one step closer ; And the greater the possibility of changes occurring in the capital and Asuka-kyo, the more obvious the problem of food shortage will be, which he can definitely think of."
"Yes!" Saitama clenched his fists: "I have issued decrees to all the neighboring countries. In ten days at most, someone will arrive with troops and food!"
"That's for sure!" Wang Wenzuo laughed: "But it's not necessarily which side the newcomers will take, don't you think so?"
Saitama's face changed slightly and he said nothing. Wang Wenzuo's meaning was very clear: Those who came to Asuka Kyo with their troops would definitely not want to stand on the wrong team. If a favorable situation cannot be obtained, the probability of these latecomers siding with the big brother is actually higher.
"Then, why is Katsuragi retreating now?" Saitama's eyes revealed a rare melancholy: "Is there some trick?"
"It should be to make equipment and armor!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "You saw it clearly just now. Most of the enemies don't even have decent shields. He won so smoothly in the past!"
"Then, what should we do?"
"What should we do?" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "Let the women put on leather armor first, replace the soldiers, and let them have a good rest!"
"Women guard the city and men rest?" Saitama asked in surprise.
"Yes, we have fewer people, so we need to conserve the physical strength of the soldiers!" Wang Wenzuo said: "The fewer the soldiers, the less we can only defend without attacking. Real defense consists of clever offenses. Let women pretend to be soldiers. Defending the city can not only save physical strength, but also confuse the enemy into thinking that our army will only defend!"
"Attack?" Saitama asked in surprise: "How can we attack with so few people?"
"His Majesty
, of course, wait until night, the night is the ally of the minority! "
When Cao Wenzong boarded the trestle, darkness shrouded his surroundings. He could hear the sound of water under his feet. The tide beat against the wooden pillars supporting the trestle, and the trestle swayed, as if it would fall apart in the next second, and he would fall into the sea.
"Follow me!" Pingliu turned around and waved to Cao Wenzong. His Tang dialect had a strong accent, but it was not difficult to understand. After all, he could only speak a dozen commonly used sentences until now. Only simple communication can be done.
"Master, will this guy take us over and sell us to the Japanese?" Li Bo's voice came from behind, and Cao Wenzong smiled: "Don't think about it, we also have Japanese here, the one who always stands next to Fujun That woman is a Japanese girl, and she is also the king of the Japanese people!"
"I know this, but I still feel uneasy!" Li Bo whispered: "Most of us are from Kansai, and no one knows how to swim! When we got on the boat, we put our lives in his hands! "
Cao Wenzong did not answer his disciple's complaint and quickened his pace. Li Bo scratched the back of his head and could only follow. Pingliu had already raised the black sail on the boat, and everyone behind him filed into the boat and sat beside the side of the boat. on the bench. Heiroku skillfully untied the cable and moved the rope that tied the sail. Driven by the night wind, the boat left the trestle and sailed towards the sea.
Cao Wenzong put his back close to the side of the boat and held the wooden oar with both hands. His heart rose and fell with the waves. The sea-salt air was inhaled into his lungs and then slowly exhaled. He could hear the sound of seawater hitting the hull, and something flashed through his heart. A strange thought: "I am only separated from death by a three-inch thick board. This is really a ridiculous thing!"
Heiroku stretched out his right hand and let the night wind slide through his fingers, feeling the direction and speed of the sea breeze. He had been a companion in Namba Tsu for seven or eight years and knew the local sea conditions well, but even so, he wanted to fly at night It is not easy to take this boat of people to make a big turn and land behind the enemy's camp. He saw thousands of twinkling campfires appearing to his left, like stars in the sky. He knew this was the enemy's camp, so he adjusted the sail and sailed to the right.
Suddenly, the wind direction changed suddenly. Under the chaotic sea wind, the sails crackled and the ship shook violently. People on the ship clung to the side of the ship and screamed in surprise. Cao Wenzong shouted sharply: "Shut up, do you want to die?"
"Quick, help me lower the sail!" Heiroku pointed at the sail and shouted loudly: "Otherwise the wind is so strong, the boat will be blown to the rocks on the shore!"
Cao Wenzong stood up, lowered his center of gravity and walked to Pingliu. It took him a while to understand what Pingliu meant, and hurried forward to help. It took him a while to lower the sail, and the rocking of the ship quickly weakened. Everyone picked up the wooden oars and started rowing according to Heiroku's instructions. Around the first watch, they followed the tide and slid into a secluded harbor branch. A branching ripple followed the boat. A few minutes later, Heiroku whispered: " We’re here, let’s get off the boat!”
Everyone jumped out of the boat, and the sea water only reached their knees. They pushed the boat to the shore, and then went ashore to rest. After a while, Cao Wenzong stood up and said, "It's almost done, everyone, get up! Take the guys and let's go!"
"It's so cold!" Li Bo complained in a low voice, "My clothes are still wet, and when the sea breeze blows, it feels like I'm naked from head to toe, with nothing on!"
The crowd burst into deep laughter. This vulgar metaphor dispelled the tension in everyone's hearts. Even the bravest person would feel his mouth dry and his hands tight when he was about to kill or be killed.
"That might not be a good thing!" Cao Wenzong sneered, pointing to the misty and flickering light on the enemy camp in front of him. "The windier and colder it gets at night! The sentinels at night will huddle around the fire. A little bit of warmth and a shimmer of light will attract them and not want to leave. However, the fire also makes them blind, so they will not be able to detect us. Whereabouts."
"I hope so!" Li Bo laughed twice.
"The distance is close, put the wood in your mouth, and tie a white cloth to your right arm. You will use this to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy later!" Cao Wenzong said.
Ahead is the Japanese camp! Cao Wenzong squinted her eyes, and she could see a torch moving behind the fence, with flames flying in the wind. The sentinel in a cloak reflects the dim light. Behind him, more tents and fires can be seen.
, a group of people is moving slowly along the fence, that should be the patrol sentry that night.
