"So many Thunderbolt cars." Niu Jin exclaimed when he saw the 70 catapults.
"Is Liu Bei planning to use this thing to attack the city?”Niu Jin asked in puzzlement.
Niu Jin was Cao Ren's right-hand man who guarded Jiangling. He was deeply trusted by Cao Ren. When Zhou Yu surrounded Jiangling, Niu Jin led his troops out of the city to fight and was surrounded by the army. Cao Ren risked his life to save Niu Jin, and he was also addressed as a celestial being by Chen Jiao.
That was how he got his nickname, Heavenly Cao.
"The walls of Jiangling City are as thick as several battalions. How can they be broken by stones?" Cao Ren said disdainfully. Once the enemies throw stones, hide under the parapet and don't be in a hurry to show your head.”
"Here."
Liu Bei's army slowly advanced, stopping 500 steps away from Jiangling City. The people on the city walls and below could see each other's faces clearly.
The soldiers of Liu Bei's army split up, and the catapults behind them were pulled forward by donkeys, horses, and manpower.
Seventy catapults were placed in a horizontal line, and the entire southern wall of Jiangling City was within the range of the catapults.
Cao Ren and Niu Jin were lying behind the parapet. Cao Ren's eyes peeked out of the parapet and looked outside the city."Why don't I see any stones? What were those wooden barrels? Could it be that Liu Bei was planning to throw these things in?”
Niu Jin had a good look in his eyes.
Cao Ren and Niu Jin looked at each other. Both of them were veterans of the battlefield. They would be idiots if they didn't understand what was going on.
"Liu Bei is indeed cunning." Cao Ren gritted his teeth.
……
The seventy catapults began to turn the capstan until the lever arm was level with the waist of the soldier who placed the barrel.
After the soldiers placed the wooden barrel that weighed about 20 pounds into the magazine, the captain in charge of the catapult shouted,"Ready."
The seventy catapults were all ready. A gong sounded, and a soldier holding a large mallet beside each catapult swung the mallet down fiercely, smashing the latch down. The capstan instantly loosened, and the rope pulled back, making a whooshing sound.
Cao Ren and Niu Jin quickly hid their heads behind the parapet when they heard the ear-piercing sound.
A few rotten corpses fell on the horse tracks on the city wall, turning into a pile of mud. The pieces of flesh splashed up and covered a radius of two to three feet. A few soldiers who were hiding were splashed by the pieces of flesh and the sticky liquid that emitted a stench, and their faces turned green.
There was also an unlucky fellow whose face was stuck to some unknown piece of flesh. The soldier tore off the rotten flesh on his face in horror and threw it up on the ground.
There were animal corpses and human corpses, most of which were human corpses. These corpses were the corpses of the Cao army that had been transported from Dangyang. There were also Cao soldiers who had died in battle and were buried underground because they had to be dug out of the soil.
Most of the dead animals were wild beasts that had been hunted down. Most of them were crocodiles, dolphins, hippopotamuses, and other large and small animals that the soldiers had shot from the river in the past two days.
Pulling up the corpses was not something that could be seen in public, but in this world, Cao Cao, who ate human flesh to make dried meat, was the best example. Liu Bei was kind enough to return the corpses of Cao Cao's brothers who had died in battle to them. Wasn't it better than Cao Cao?
In this era, there were no pure good people. Liu Bei's benevolence depended on how benevolent he was. If he was benevolent to his enemies, Liu Bei would have died in the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
Just like how Duke Xiang of Song was unable to survive in this chaotic world, Liu Bei was known for his benevolence and virtue. However, he was able to survive in this chaotic world and eventually divide the world into three parts because he was also far more vicious than ordinary people.
There was no doubt about this, and it was not to slander Liu Bei. As an ambitious man, Liu Bei had done many things, but this did not affect Liu Bei's reputation and his glory in history.
"The big-eared thief is truly detestable. This thief has many tricks up his sleeve, and he actually thought of such a method to disgust us.”Cao Ren said angrily.
With a loud bang, the sealed wooden barrel was thrown up the city wall and landed three meters away from where Cao Ren and Niu Jin were hiding. The wooden barrel exploded as soon as it landed, and the feces and urine in the barrel flew everywhere.
Cao Ren and Niu Jin were both stunned. Cao Ren wiped the feces off his face while Niu Jin spat hard. Just as he was about to speak, the wooden bucket exploded.
Their armors were also covered in feces, and some liquid dripped from the armor plates.
"I swear to kill the big-eared thief!" Cao Ren's roar traveled to Xu Yuan.
However, Liu Bei, who was below the city wall, did not hear Cao Ren's thunderous roar.
Liu Bei was wearing armor and riding on a white steed. Sitting in his arms was Liu Chan, Guan Ping and Deng Ai on the left and right. Behind him were knights with white feathers on the left side of their helmets. There were about 200 of them, all wearing iron armor. Each of them was mighty and brave.
"Ask the other soldiers to retreat ten zhang. Any soldier who is involved in the transportation and launching of the projectiles must be isolated and observed for three days.”Liu Chan reminded Liu Bei.
Liu Bei nodded, and a knight immediately passed the order to the former general, Zhang Fei.
The 4,000-strong army turned around and walked forward in an orderly manner for 30 meters before stopping. Then, they turned around and faced Jiangling City.
"The effect might be good. Father, we need to be on guard against Cao Ren sending out cavalry to destroy the catapults.”Liu Chan said with satisfaction.
Liu Bei turned his head to look at Guan Ping, and then at Deng Ai, asking,""If you were to defend the city, what would you do in such a situation?”
"Ignore the catapults and use the cavalry to attack our formation. Then, the infantry will attack from behind. The formation of four thousand infantry will definitely be scattered.
The catapults naturally wouldn't be effective, and our army would be defeated instead, failing to capture Jiangling.”This was Guan Ping's answer, filled with the desire to attack.
"With the mobility of the cavalry, destroy the catapults and then continue to defend the city. They will fight a war of attrition with our army, dragging us down and forcing us to retreat without fighting.”This was Deng Ai's reply. He stuttered and wasted a lot of time, but Liu Bei listened very carefully. He did not interrupt or show any impatience.
"Theoretically, both methods can be done, and once they are done, our army will definitely be defeated.
Then tell me, if Cao Ren does as you say, how will our army break out of this situation?”Liu Bei continued to ask.
In Liu Bei's eyes, these two juniors were unpolished jade, especially Deng Ai.
Liu Bei and Deng Ai had talked for a period of time. Having been around for most of his life and seen most of the heroes in the world, Liu Bei felt that Deng Ai was a piece of unpolished jade that could be made.
There was no need to talk about Guan Ping. He was extremely talented and grew up in the military. He had already experienced many battles in his teens. If he did not die young, he would definitely be a general in the future.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。