Chapter 1318: The Battle of Ji's Family (2) [Two in One]
"What the hell is that?! This ragtag group of people outside the city actually possess such powerful siege weapons?!"
Ji clan guard Ding Hu's eyes almost popped out of his head.
I remember that at first, when the private armies of Chengling King Zhao Shen, Anping Marquis Zhao Tan and others attacked the city, Ding Hu didn't take it seriously: Why should he be afraid of an army that can camp out of nowhere?
But just now, a huge stone bullet landed next to him, knocking down half of the city tower. Seeing a guard killed on the spot by a collapsed beam, Ding Hu could no longer maintain the same mood as before.
Peaceful.
He finally realized something: maybe the army commanded by the group of nobles outside the city was indeed a mob, but these nobles were backed by the towering tree of Su Wang Zhao Run, who was the leader of the Smelting Bureau.
And what kind of existence is the Smelting Bureau? It is the imperial department that now represents the highest technology and craftsmanship in the Wei State.
"Damn it!"
Thinking of this, Ding Hu smashed the wall with his hand and ordered the guards on the left and right: "You two, please quickly invite the prince here."
"Follow the order!"
Ding Hu's guard walked down the city wall without saying a word and headed towards the mansion where Nangong Chen lived in the city.
At the same time, in the city, Nangong Chen was sitting outside the study of his mansion, sitting on the steps and looking at the empty courtyard in trance.
On the left and right, there were several personal guards guarding him without saying a word. After arriving in Timely County, they had seen their eldest son staring blankly at a deserted place more than once.
They speculated that Nangong Chen was probably missing his relatives who were trapped in Suiyang. After Suiyang was stolen by Huan Hu, the Nangong family in the city was placed under house arrest and imprisonment by Huan Hu. Only Nangong Yao's eldest son, Nangong Chen, died because he went on an expedition with his father.
Fortunately escaped.
At this time, in Nangong Chen's mind, his younger brother Nangong Xun was studying in the courtyard. While holding a scroll in his hand, he looked helplessly at a pair of nieces and nephews running and playing around him. They were Nangong Chen's children.
On the other side of the "courtyard", Nangong Chen and Nangong Hua, the mother of the Nangong Xun brothers, were accompanied by several concubines of Nangong Yao and their daughter-in-law, Nangong Chen's main wife, smiling at Nangong in the courtyard.
Xun, an uncle, interacts with his two nieces and nephews.
Secretly discussing with the eldest daughter-in-law, he was thinking about proposing a marriage to Nangong Xunye.
This is the scene of family harmony in Nangong Chen's mind at this time.
I don't know how long it took, but Nangong Chen, who was still smiling warmly just now, gradually had his expression replaced by pain.
Because not long ago, when his father Nangong Yao furiously attacked Suiyang, his younger brother Nangong Xun was thrown directly from the gate tower of Suiyang County by Huan Hu, causing Nangong Chen, who was only sixteen years old, to
My younger brother, who was about to get married, fell to death under the city gate.
But what made Nangong Yao, Nangong Chen and his son furious at that time was that Huan Hu did such vicious behavior, but he didn't want to threaten them at all, as if it was just to kill people and anger them and his son.
Huan Hu, that is a real and outright evil party!
Nangong Chen didn't even dare to imagine whether his children were still alive at this time, or whether they had been viciously killed by Huan Hu; and whether his wives and concubines, even the wives and concubines of his father Nangong Yao, were killed at this time.
Huan Hu occupied and endured hardships.
Every time he thought about the possibility that his mother and wife might be defiled by Huan Hu, that evil party, Nangong Chen couldn't help but tremble all over. He wished he could avenge his father and younger brother as soon as possible and eat Huan Hu alive.
Unexpectedly, Chengling King Zhao Shen and Anping Hou Zhao Tan would attack Jishi County at this time. It was really the wrong time!
At this moment, two of Ding Hu's guards hurried into the palace, cupped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, General Ding (Hu) invited Your Majesty to come to the west gate, saying that he has something important to discuss."
"Ding Hu?"
Nangong Chen was stunned when he heard this, feeling a little confused.
Because in his opinion, with Ding Hu's ability and the strength of his army, it is not difficult at all to defend Jishi County from the rabble outside the city.
Why did Ding Hu order someone to invite him to the west city gate tower?
With many doubts in mind, Nangong Chen took some personal guards, led by the two Ding Hu guards, to the tower of the west city gate.
When he came to the west city gate tower, he was really shocked, because most of the gate tower in front of him collapsed for some unknown reason.
"Ding Hu, what's going on?"
Seeing Ding Hu standing by the wall from a distance, watching the noble private army outside the city, Nangong Chen stepped forward and asked with a frown.
"Your Majesty." Upon hearing this, Ding Hu turned around and saw Nangong Chen. He cupped his fists in greeting and then frowned and said, "It was caused by the catapult of the army outside the city."
Nangong Chen was stunned for a moment, then turned to look outside the city. Sure enough, he saw among the ranks of the noble private troops outside the city, there were vaguely dozens or twenty catapults.
It's just the distance between these catapults and the city wall that makes him a little unbelievable: Those catapults are at least one mile away from the city wall, and they can actually effectively threaten Jishi's city wall?
But he looked around, and when he saw the huge stone bullets above and below the city, he had to accept this incredible thing.
"The war weapons of the Smelting Bureau...?"
Nangong Chen frowned deeply.
At this moment, several dull whistling sounds were heard, and a dozen more stone bullets roared towards him in the air. One of the stone bullets hit the wall stack in front of Nangong Chen, with a snap.
The huge stone bullets smashed into pieces, and a deep pit was created in the wall stacks. A lot of rubble fell from the city walls with a rumble.
"Your Majesty, be careful!"
Ding Hu immediately pulled Nangong Chen behind him.
When Nangong Chen reacted again, he was still frightened, because he saw that the wall stack in front of him had been smashed down, and the flying gravel cut many soldiers nearby, including two
The soldier was hit in the head by gravel on the spot and died.
"Really... threatening the city wall?"
Nangong Chen, who was safe and sound under the protection of several guards, looked at the catapults in the distance outside the city with incredible eyes.
He could see clearly just now that the range of these catapults was indeed more than one mile.
A few days ago, he would not have worried that the private aristocratic army outside the city could really threaten Jishi County, but now, after seeing with his own eyes that several soldiers on the city wall were killed by the catapults of the aristocratic private army outside the city, he had already
Not that calm and composed.
"Your Majesty, if you stay too long, you will lose."
Holding his fists towards Nangong Chen, Ding Hu said in a deep voice: "Please allow the last general to lead the troops to attack and destroy those catapults. Otherwise, the Ji family may not be able to defend it for a long time."
Nangong Chen thought for a moment, frowned and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Ding Hu glanced disdainfully at the private army of nobles outside the city, and said with a chuckle: "Why don't you invite Prince Chengling to visit my Jishi County for a few days? What do you think, Your Majesty?"
What he meant by this seemed to be that he planned to capture Chengling King Zhao Shen, the commander of the aristocratic private army, alive on the battlefield.
"That's an idea..."
Nangong Chen's heart moved slightly, and he said to himself, I am not harming the life of Chengling King Zhao Shen, but I am just using this to coerce the private troops outside the city to retreat in spite of the difficulties. This will not anger the Su King Zhao Run, right?
Thinking of this, Nangong Chen said seriously to Ding Hu: "General Ding, be careful!"
"Be cautious?"
Ding Hu secretly glanced contemptuously at the private army outside the city.
At the same time, in the main formation of the noble private army outside the city, Prince Chengling Zhao Shen, Marquis of Anping Zhao Tan, and a dozen other nobles from the Su-royal Party were looking at the city wall of Jishi County with excitement.
During this period, Lütan Hou Gongsun Che couldn't help but said: "A magic weapon, this is really a magic weapon!"
Hearing this, the nearby nobles of the Su-royal Party nodded. They thought, with such magical weapons in hand, how could they not be able to attack the small Ji family?
"Lord Zhao Shen, when will you give the order to attack the city?" Nan Xihou Zhao Zi was gearing up.
"Nan Xihou, please be patient for a moment." Although Chengling King Zhao Shen was also excited in his heart, he pretended to be calm and said because he did not want to lose his pretense as a commander: "When the catapults knock down a section of the city wall, our troops will swarm forward.
Take down the Ji family in one go!"
Hearing this, the nearby aristocrats of the royal party nodded in approval.
It's just that they haven't thought about one question: Can the private soldiers operating the catapults really accurately target a section of the city wall again and again?
On this issue, the gap between the catapult and the latest war weapon "ballista" developed by the Metallurgical Bureau is reflected: the catapult may be better than the ballista in terms of power, but in terms of accuracy, it is not simple and crude.
Ballista rival.
If the private army had twenty ballistae in hand and aimed at a section of the city wall and bombarded it wildly, I believe that the gap in Jishi's city wall would have been blown out by then.
But unfortunately, the private army only had twenty catapults, and the soldiers who operated these catapults didn't know the landing point of the catapults. They just relied on a method similar to a blind cat encountering a dead mouse to cause damage to the Ji family.
Some damage.
Under such circumstances, Chengling King Zhao Shen fantasized about demolishing Ji's city wall. To be honest, it was unrealistic. If he added two or three times the number of catapults, there might still be a chance.
But having said that, even the few effective bombings where the blind cat encountered the dead mouse still made Ji's Nangong Chen and Ding Hu feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.
No, a moment later, the west city gate of Jishi County opened with a bang, and Jishi guard Ding Hu led three thousand infantry and filed out of the city.
At this time, on the mound to the south of the battlefield, Huan Hu, who was sitting cross-legged, saw this scene and clapped his thighs and laughed loudly: "Hahaha, let me tell you, that Ding Hu won't be able to sit still!"
Seeing Huan Hu's excited, no, probably hungry expression, Chen Shou shook his head slightly.
He thought about just now, when the private army of nobles outside the city used catapults to bombard Jishi, Huan Hu's performance was particularly funny: when the stone bullet accurately hit the city wall of Jishi County, this guy was excited
He slapped his thighs and shouted hello; but when the stone bullet failed to hit the target, this guy shook his head in regret.
If an uninformed person saw this scene, they would probably really think that Huan Hu was with Chengling King Zhao Shen.
Who would have thought that this guy is also a rebel leader.
Shaking his head secretly, Chen Shou poured cold water on the excited Huan Hu: "Ding Hu went out of the city to attack. The private army outside the city may not be able to resist."
When he said this, he seemed to ignore the fact that "there were nearly 30,000 private troops outside the city."
"Not sure." Huan Hu heard this and licked his lips and said, "Since those gentlemen have catapults from the Smelting and Manufacturing Bureau, there is no guarantee that they will not hide other weapons of war..."
After hearing this, Chen Shou did not refute, but just turned his attention to the battlefield.
After all, no matter which side wins or loses among the two sides fighting in the distance, it doesn't matter to him.
While Huan Hu and Chen Shou watched, Ding Hu led 3,000 infantry to attack the 30,000 private troops outside the city.
As soon as the two sides started fighting, the private army was at a disadvantage.
The reason is that Chengling King Zhao Shen was afraid that the twenty catapults would be destroyed by Ding Hu's army, so he panicked and ordered his soldiers to hide them in the rear army. Unexpectedly, this simple order made the front line
The formation of the soldiers was so chaotic that Ding Hu easily killed them.
"Hey, that King Chengling..."
Seeing that the noble private army was at a disadvantage at the beginning, Huan Hu clapped his thighs with annoyance on his face: "You have Zhao Run behind you, so losing a few catapults is nothing. Kill him! Even if all the catapults here are destroyed, as long as
If you kill Ding Hu, the Ji family will not be able to escape from the clutches... Why don't you even understand this?!"
Looking at his annoyed look, it seemed that he wished he could take over the command of the army in place of Chengling King Zhao Shen, which made Chen Shou beside him feel speechless.
I don't know if it has something to do with Huan Hu's "inspiration". The noble private army gradually calmed down the turmoil. In the position of the central army, Anping Marquis Zhao Tan personally commanded and ordered the soldiers of the private army to form a square formation to block Ding Hu's attack.
.
But unfortunately, the combat quality of the private soldiers was really poor. These private soldiers, who had almost no battlefield experience, seemed a little overwhelmed after Ding Hu broke through the formation.
If it was an elite army such as the Shang Shui Army or the Yanling Army, they would quickly reorganize their defense lines at this time. Of course, if it was really the Shang Shui Army or the Yanling Army, it would naturally not be possible for Ding Hu to break through the defense line so easily.
"I'll just say it."
Chen Shou glanced at Huan Hu and said calmly: "The soldiers under Ding Hu are also a powerful force. How can they be matched by those rabble?"
Huan Hu's face was dark and speechless. After a while, he muttered in a low voice: "That King Chengling... if you have any good things, show it quickly! If you don't show it, it will be too late!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that the formation of the noble private army on the battlefield suddenly changed. The soldiers of the central army retreated towards the two wings, which greatly surprised Ding Hu, who was planning to break through in the center.
At this moment, the private army's rear formation rolled out more than a hundred horse-drawn carriages, fifty repeating crossbows, and a hundred machine-operated crossbow boxes, all aimed at the oncoming Ding Hu army.
"What is that?"
Ding Hu didn't react for a while.
At this moment, fifty repeating crossbows and one hundred machine-operated crossbow boxes launched a salvo at the same time.
Pity the soldiers of Ding Hu who were still rushing towards the rear of the private army. In front of these terrible war weapons, they fell to the ground like wheat fields swept by the strong wind. In the blink of an eye, a large area fell to the ground.
Even Ding Hu looked horrified at this moment.
"Shhhh~"
Huan Hu, who was watching the battle on the mound in the south, couldn't help but whistle when he saw this scene and said with a smile: "Hoo ho ho, it's really scary..."
Beside him, Chen Shou frowned and watched this scene.
In fact, he also knew that the private armies of Chengling King Zhao Tan and other nobles of the Suo Wang Party must have hidden other war weapons besides catapults, but he never expected that these war weapons would be so powerful.
You must know that when Ding Hu led his army to break through the front line of the noble private army, the casualties of Ding Hu's army were only a few dozen people, but in just that moment, at least nearly seven or eight hundred of Ding Hu's soldiers were killed, and
This number is still increasing rapidly as those machine crossbow boxes continue to fire crossbow bolts.
"This kind of power...even our Suiyang Army may not be able to withstand it..."
Chen Shou thought secretly.
At this time, Ding Hu, who was on the battlefield, also realized that the noble lord's private army hid war weapons that they could not withstand, and hurriedly ordered a breakthrough to the flank of the private army, probably because he wanted to attack the noble private army's main formation in a roundabout way.
.
It has to be said that Ding Hu is worthy of being Nangong Yao's confidant. He is brave and courageous. When he led the army to kill the soldiers of the noble private army, the latter saw Ding Hu's ferocious face and intimidating momentum.
Everyone is trembling with fear.
"Could this person be Ding Hu? What a fierce general!"
Anping Hou Zhao Tan, who was sitting astride the horse, couldn't help but praise Ding Hu after seeing Ding Hu's overwhelming offensive.
Immediately, he waved to the guards behind him and ordered: "Bring the sniper crossbow."
Upon hearing this, the guard immediately carefully took out a strange-shaped crossbow from the backpack on the horse and handed it to Anping Marquis Zhao Tan.
After Zhao Tan, the Marquis of Anping, took the crossbow, he aimed it at Ding Hu, who was fighting bravely in the distance, and murmured: "It's a pity that the era of fierce generals has long ended..."
As he pulled the trigger, in just a blink of an eye, Ding Hu stumbled suddenly and almost fell to the ground on the spot.
"General!"
The soldiers of Ding Hu's army were shocked and quickly helped Ding Hu up. When they looked at Ding Hu again, they saw blood trickling down his right rib and stained his armor red.
"What? What was that just now?"
Ding Hu looked around in confusion.
Just now, he felt a strong sense of crisis coming over him, but before he could react, he felt as if an arrow had been hit in his ribs.
But when he looked down at his ribs, he found that there was no trace of the arrow there. The arrow had pierced his body directly.
Suddenly, Ding Hu seemed to see something and stared intently at a nobleman in the distance holding a strange crossbow.
"Did the shot miss? What a pity..."
Seeing Ding Hu staring at him intently in the distance, Anping Marquis Zhao Tan couldn't help but feel a little pity.
"Withdraw! Withdraw!"
Following Ding Hu's panicked orders, his troops quickly retreated.
Seeing this, Chengling King Zhao Shen ordered the entire army to attack without hesitation, trying to take advantage of the advantageous situation to capture the Ji family in one go.
But unfortunately, only a wave of arrows was fired from the city wall of Jishi County, which interrupted the morale of the noble private army. After hundreds of casualties, the vast majority of the private soldiers looked fearful.
The ground stopped.
They were so angry that all the nobles of the royal party were furious. What a great opportunity this was!
After that, Chengling King Zhao Shen tried to attack several times, but because the archers on the wall of Jishi County were really difficult to deal with, he regretfully ordered the withdrawal.
After the war, the losses were counted. Although the front and center armies of the noble private army were once broken through by Ding Hu's 3,000 soldiers, the actual number of casualties of the noble private army was not many, only more than 3,000, not as many as last night.
The losses during the bombing of the camp were high because many soldiers of the noble private army were unable to resist the threat of death because they were setting foot on a real battlefield for the first time, so they subconsciously chose to escape.
On the other hand, Ding Hu's 3,000 soldiers lost nearly half, or about 1,500, in this battle.
The noble private army suffered more than 3,000 casualties in exchange for about 1,500 battle losses of Ding Hu's army. Although it still seems a bit ugly, in fact, this is already a very remarkable result. After all, Ding Hu's soldiers
, those are soldiers who have been trained for a long time.
Of course, such achievements were almost entirely due to the war weapons that Chengling King Zhao Shen and others rented from the Smelting Bureau.
In response to this, the nobles of the Su Wang Party not only did not feel ashamed, but were somewhat complacent: Look how wise we are, leasing these war weapons from His Highness King Su early.
"Hahahaha, I actually won the battle, hahahaha..."
Watching Ding Hu fleeing back to Jishi County with the remaining defeated soldiers, watching the noble private soldiers cheering, Huan Hu clapped his thighs with joy.
On the side, Chen Shou said calmly: "Those nobles' private armies, with such war weapons, Jishi County's chances of winning are very small. If Nangong Chen and Ding Hu don't want Jishi to lose, they may really launch a night attack this time
...Only through sneak attacks at night would they have a chance."
"Hmm." Huan Hu nodded with deep understanding, then squinted his eyes and said, "Humph, that fellow Ding Hu is narrow-minded and suffered a loss today. He will definitely lead his troops to attack the nobles' troops at night, and take the opportunity to kill them.
Kill him!...I didn’t like this guy at first.”
"Those nobles may not appreciate it." Chen Shou said calmly, as if he wanted to remind Huan Hu that if the private armies of those nobles captured the Ji family, their next target might be Suiyang.
After hearing this, Huan Hu said with a smile but not a smile: "Thank you? Hahaha, when the time comes, ask that old guy Jin Gou to put Ding Hu's head in the handsome tent of Wei Camp... In this way, those nobles will
, I believe you will accept our goodwill."
Chen Shou frowned slightly and asked doubtfully: "Are you planning to drive these gentlemen to the territory of the Beibo Army?"
"Huh." Huan Hu licked his lips and said, "You talk about joining forces to resist the Wei army, but so far, not even a single person has been seen. Speaking of this verbal covenant, it was not so reassuring from the beginning.
...When the Beibo Army takes action, we will take action again!"
"Hmm." Chen Shou nodded.
That night, Ding Hu led more than a thousand infantry and attempted to attack the private Wei camp of Chengling King Zhao Tan and others at night. However, he unexpectedly fell into an ambush by Chen Shou, who led 500 Suiyang soldiers to ambush Ding Hu.
He went into battle in person and killed Ding Hu.
At dawn the next day, when Chengling Prince Zhao Shen woke up in the commander's tent, he was shocked to see a bloody head lying next to the bed, which was the head of Ding Hu, the guard of Jishi County.
Moreover, there was a piece of white cloth tied to Ding Hu's head, with a line of writing on it: I killed Ding Hu for you, no need to say thank you, Huan Hu.
In an instant, Chengling King Zhao Shen felt cold all over his body, and his back was dripping with cold sweat.
He subconsciously touched his neck, as if to make sure his head was fine.