The attack was launched at the four gates of the Roman city at the same time. Under the cover of crossbows, tens of thousands of Han soldiers rushed to the head of the city. Concentrated to the south gate, they even used cavalry to attack the city’s head by shooting. The sound of horseshoes and war drums concealed the sound of tunnel excavation outside the city, which convinced Caracalla that the main direction of the Han army's attack was the South Gate, and the other three gates were just feint attacks.
Caracalla couldn't wait to mobilize the main force of the Qin army to the south gate. Although the Han army changed its main attack and feint several times in the battle yesterday, the city of Rome is strong, and Caracalla is not worried that any wall will fall in a short period of time. He has time to re-adjust and deploy, just like yesterday. . However, Caracalla still assembled heavy troops to the south gate, just to guard against the tunnels dug by the Han.
Most of the soldiers transferred to the south gate were concentrated on both sides of the trench, holding giant axes and broad swords, watching the trench in front of them nervously, for fear that the Han soldiers would jump out of the tunnel abruptly.
More than half an hour passed, and a strange trumpet sound suddenly came from outside the city. The Han soldiers who were still violently impacting the south gate of Rome went down like a tide, and even the ladders and vehicles used for siege were not abandoned. Up.
Caracalla stood on the head of the city, watching the Han army retreat, full of suspicion. If the Han army were to change the main attack direction, it would only reduce the intensity of the attack, but it should not withdraw. Moreover, the infantry retreated to the back of the cavalry.
Qin Jun didn't have a treasure like a telescope, and even if he did, the dust raised by the horse gallop completely blocked his vision. However, although Caracalla could not see the movement of the Han army, it did not prevent him from reasoning. Reminiscent of yesterday’s discovery, Caracalla concluded that the tunnel of the Han army was almost complete, and the siege troops who had withdrawn were preparing to enter the tunnel and attack Rome, and these cavalry drove back and forth in order to continue to cover up the sound of digging the tunnel.
Caracalla immediately ordered: "Release the water!"
It turned out that after one night, Caracalla came up with an excellent way to deal with the tunnel, that is, to fill the trench with water. As long as the Han army digs through the tunnel, water will flow in, drowning all the Han soldiers inside. Although there is no decent pond around the trench, and there is no small river to divert water, Caracalla has its own solution.
Rome was one of the largest cities in the world at that time. In addition to 200,000 troops, there were more than one million people in the city. Caracalla gathered more than a hundred thousand young men on both sides of the trench. Everyone prepared two buckets full of water. After he gave an order, they poured water into the trench. The reason why the trench was not filled with water in advance was because Caracalla was worried about being discovered by the Han army and losing this great opportunity to hit the Han army hard.
At this moment, the Han cavalry galloping outside the city began to retreat. The sound of horses hoofs became smaller and smaller, and the fine work under the city wall did not hear the sound of the Han army digging tunnels. Can't understand why the Han army is still waiting for the opportunity
Suddenly, Caracalla heard a loud noise, and then the whole earth seemed to tremble. Caracalla hadn’t understood what had happened, and felt that his feet were loose, and the strong Roman wall instantly collapsed. Caracalla, who was standing on the top of the city, also fell along with a large pile of rocks and could not stand up again. .
It turned out that Liu Xin didn't plan to dig the tunnel into Rome, but just dug under the southern wall of Rome, and then used a secret weapon-gunpowder.
The research institute actually produced gunpowder long ago and made improvements. However, the role of gunpowder has always been limited to the production of fireworks and firecrackers. Liu Xin also thought about producing artillery and firearms, but due to the limitation of smelting level, the firearms produced are prone to blasting accidents and are simply unusable. However, during this expedition to Daqin, Liu Xin still carried a large amount of gunpowder in the army.
This time, because the city of Rome was too strong, even the trebuchet could not be shaken, Liu Xin had a whim, and wanted to try if the gunpowder could blow up the walls. When the local road was dug under the southern wall of Rome, gunpowder was also buried in it. Since there was no fuse, in order to ignite the gunpowder, some soldiers volunteered to act as death squads. With a loud noise, even if these soldiers were not killed on the spot, they were all buried in the collapsed tunnel, with no possibility of surviving.
It was the sacrifices of these soldiers that led to the collapse of the entire southern wall of Rome. Not only did the defenders on the front of the city suffer heavy casualties following the collapse of the wall, but also the soldiers of the Qin Army who were guarding the trenches and those who went to the trenches. The young man who was in the middle of the water was also buried alive under the ruins in an instant, and few escaped.
The cavalry of the Han army who had retreated shouted in unison, braved the dust and smoke from the collapse of the city wall, rushed into the city of Rome, and the city was broken!
However, the ensuing battle was not easy. More than 50,000 soldiers of the Qin Army died because of the collapse of the city wall. In addition to the soldiers of the Qin Army who died under the attack of the trebuchet, 80,000 soldiers of the Qin Army have been killed, but the remaining more than 100,000 Qin soldiers are still killed. Stubbornly resisted, refused to surrender, and fought fierce and cruel street fighting with the Han army. The whole battle lasted until the evening before it gradually subsided. The corpses of soldiers from both sides were everywhere in Rome, and the air was filled with a sickening smell of blood.
After paying more than 20,000 casualties, the Han army finally completely controlled the city of Rome. The remaining Da Qin army no longer resisted, but abandoned their helmets and armor and hid in the homes of the people. The Han army has strict military discipline, and it is absolutely not allowed to invade ordinary people. However, this battle against the city of Rome was the heaviest loss in the history of the Han army. Except for the Sixth Corps who went to teach Parthia, the other three regular regiments suffered more than 30% of casualties. The red-eyed Han soldiers began to hunt young men from house to house in Rome. As soon as they were found to be soldiers, they were immediately put to death, and many innocent people were also slaughtered.
Liu Xin kept a sober mind and immediately ordered the purge of military discipline. This is the case. Nearly 100,000 people in the city of Rome have been killed by angry Han soldiers. These soldiers were supposed to be punished by military law, but Liu Xin took into account their feelings, and after all, they killed Daqin people, and they could be regarded as revenge for those merchants who died innocently, so he pardoned them.
However, Liu Xin was not so kind to the Daqin officials and nobles in Rome, and all their property would be confiscated to make up for the losses of the Han army in this siege. At the same time, Liu Xin sent envoys to various provinces and asked them to declare independence.