The stone path on the mountainside was full of heavily armored soldiers. Looking down from above, the road was almost completely covered with people. But no matter how many people there were, it was useless. The gap was only so big. There were only more than 20 people attacking in front, and 16 of them were carrying the stone. There were two long stones in front and back, and eight people each carried them. The soldiers bent their backs, protected the stones, and attacked again slowly under the arrows.
It is very difficult to dig out such a large rolling stone, and the Shu army will not have too many. Deputy Commander Wang Hanju said, I forgot to ask the prisoners how many rolling stones they have. Why not send someone down the mountain to bring the prisoners up and ask
Zhou Tong pondered: Do we have to wait until the Shu army finishes rolling the stones? Even if we can wait, the defenders will seal the gate after they roll the stones. How can we attack the city when the city wall is built on the mountain pass
Wang Hanju frowned and said: Commander Zhou has far-sighted thoughts. It is indeed very troublesome. We have no siege equipment; even if we did, it would be difficult to attack the city in this terrain.
Zhou Tong said coldly: "Guo Du Dian Jian is waiting at the foot of the mountain. We must take down this military camp today."
Zhou Tong looked up at the high city wall, arrows kept flying out like black dots in the air. He pondered two key things in his mind: it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, so the merit was particularly convincing; Guo Shao was at the foot of the mountain, watching him fight hard and make achievements, which was a rare opportunity. If he thought about it from the perspective of archery skills, all external conditions were very suitable and he just needed to strike hard.
In this world, when the person in power supervises the battle, the soldiers will work extra hard. This is the reason. The superiors are usually military generals who understand battle formations and military affairs. If the soldiers perform well in front of them, they will be appreciated and everyone will have hope. This is also the reason why dynasties change frequently. If the emperor is a person living in the deep palace, a weak person or a child, the soldiers will not be willing to obey them. Because they think that no one knows that they are working hard in the front, and it is all up to the civil officials to talk, so of course they will not obey. Warriors only obey the strong on the battlefield.
Guo Shao had already given Zhou Tong the chance. Zhou Tong stood at the intersection with his head held high, his left hand gripping the knife handle tighter and tighter, his knuckles turning white from the force.
He is 41 years old this year, and he knows that the opportunity that has come late will not come again. Zhou Tong thought to himself: I am a hopeless person, and I have forgotten the dream of making great achievements and rising to prominence when I was young. I have been in a state of decline again and again, and I have unknowingly reached middle age. The helplessness of reality has forced me to accept my fate. If I continue to be in such a state of decline as before, Zhou Tong has seen the fate of the old soldiers in the Hebei horse farm, who drink every day and are not angry when being mocked and insulted. They are full of decadence and boredom, and even a few jokes have a sour smell.
A real man, no matter his age, lives on a breath. At this moment, Zhou Tong felt that the excitement that had been dormant for many years was ignited again. Although he was getting older, the throbbing heart in his heart was still boiling with blood.
If we fail, we will die. Zhou Tong suddenly shouted, "The first capital leader Zhang Jiankui."
A tall and strong man carrying a big axe on his back stepped forward and bowed, saying: I am here.
Zhou Tongdao: Bring your men with me and follow me to attack the Shu stronghold.
"Yes, I command you." Zhang Jiankui responded straightforwardly.
Deputy Commander Wang Hanju hurriedly advised: General Zhou is the leader of the soldiers, don't take risks yourself, I am willing to fight in place of General Zhou.
Zhou Tongdao: If I die, you will take over as the commander temporarily.
Zhou Tong led his troops to rush forward in a long and loose formation. After two attacks, the front army had already approached more than 20 steps. Arrows whistled overhead, and Zhou Tong felt a heavy nail on his helmet. He reached out and touched it. There was a small dent on the helmet from the iron arrow, but the iron plate of the helmet was relatively thick and had been repeatedly forged, so it was not damaged at all.
At this time, people on the wall picked up stones and threw them down, but the stones were heavy and could only be thrown a few steps away, hitting the stone steps and jumping down. A stone flew towards a soldier who was carrying a stone, and his shoulder was on the wooden stick so he couldn't dodge. With a bang, the soldier hit his face and hit his mask. With a scream, the soldier staggered in pain, his body tilted, and he reached out his hands to dig in the air twice but couldn't grab anything. His center of gravity was unstable and he accidentally fell down the mountain next to him. The soldier was still screaming when he fell, and his shouts echoed between the towering cliffs.
Zhou Tong couldn't help but turn his head and look down. The bottom of the mountain seemed to be bottomless. His legs felt a little weak for a moment, so he stared and gritted his teeth. In this narrow place, there was no sight of the spectacular battle formation with huge crowds of people, and even the shouts seemed a little empty and lonely, but the danger was no less than on the battlefield.
Zhou Tong took out his bow and arrow and aimed it at a Shu soldier who was holding a stone. With a snap, the bowstring rang and the man screamed and fell down. The Zhou soldiers took up their bows and crossbows and fired back at a dozen steps away.
The sound of wood rubbing against each other could be heard, and the stone cannons behind the city wall were fired one after another. Stones and arrows flew everywhere on the mountain road, and the Zhou army soldiers slowly approached, and many people were injured by stones. Everyone couldn't move too fast while carrying the stone slabs. People didn't dare to give up the stone slabs, because the dog hole could roll out stones at any time, and no one could stop the heavy weight.
It was only a dozen steps away. Because Zhou Tong brought 40 or 50 people up, there seemed to be more people on the mountain road, and they were not afraid of the arrows approaching. The Shu army finally couldn't hold back. There was a heavy rolling sound in the dog hole. The Shu soldiers pushed another rolling stone to the door. They might know that the Zhou army carried the stone to knock the rolling stone away. They couldn't let the rolling stone crush all the Zhou soldiers along the concave mountain road, but at least they could repel the soldiers who were approaching immediately, and then use stone cannons, stones, bows and crossbows and other long-range defenses.
Zhou Tong suddenly shouted: "Don't panic, those who are lifting stones, remember my previous order. The two people in front should walk two steps inside before putting it down, and the one behind should just put it down and don't run away."
The soldiers who were carrying the stone put it down as ordered, but the soldiers in front and behind turned and ran away. They were all born by their parents. It was so scary to have a huge rock rolling down their heads. It seemed that they were almost certain to die. Not many people were willing to stand there. The Zhou army soldiers were brave, but they were not completely fearless.
With a loud bang, it hit the first stone. Because the front part of the stone was tilted inward, the round stone immediately deviated and jumped up. The stone was hit hard on the slope and slid backwards rapidly, hitting the second stone that was placed vertically with a bang. Both stones slid down. Zhou Tong did not run away. He watched the movement of the stone and dodged, then shouted: Kill!
Zhou Tong led the charge, and the captain Zhang Jiankui followed behind him with a big axe in hand. When the nearby soldiers saw the commander rushing forward, they turned around and rushed to follow.
Zhou Tong, who was throwing stones from above, turned around and shouted.
The Shu army was only ten steps away, and there was no time to push the rolling stone again. They hurriedly pushed the city gate to close it. Zhou Tong saw a leg exposed behind the door. He paused for a moment, and hurriedly drew his bow and shot an arrow, hitting the man's calf. Sure enough, a soldier screamed in pain and fell down.
The big man Zhang Jiankui took advantage of Zhou Tong's arrow shooting and rushed forward to the front. With more than 50 kilograms of armor, a heavy axe and pendants, Zhang Jiankui ran like a cow, panting heavily.
He ran to the gate, which had just closed. With a loud bang, his shoulder slammed against the heavy wooden door, and the city wall almost shook. Some debris and dust fell from the arched door and showered Zhang Jiankui. The gate shook a few times and was just bolted by a wooden beam. There was another loud bang, and Zhang Jiankui still failed to break open the gate, but only a large gap appeared in the wooden bolt door.
At this time, Zhou Tong and others had already rushed to the foot of the city, using bows and arrows to shoot at the Shu soldiers who were leaning forward and trying to hit people with stones. Several Zhou soldiers wanted to go up to help break down the door, but Zhang Jiankui shouted: "Get out of the way!"
He took out the axe, swung it with a loud bang, and smashed it into the wooden beam in the crack of the door. With a click, the wooden beam broke. Seeing this, Zhou Tong rushed forward with several soldiers and immediately broke open the city gate. Kill Zhou Tong with his eyes wide open and shouted.
The Zhou army soldiers' eyes widened immediately, and they saw that the city wall was densely packed with Shu soldiers, running towards them from not far away. Zhou Tong had only a few people around him, and when he turned around, he saw that there were still many Shu soldiers on the city wall.
Zhou Tong shouted with red eyes: I died on the battlefield today.
After finally rushing up, Zhang Jiankui's stiff beard almost stood up due to his excitement. He exhaled a long breath, threw away the axe, and picked up a wooden spear from the ground. The axe was too heavy and could not be used for a long battle.
Amid the shouts, the Shu soldiers rushed forward from several directions with their numbers, and seemed ready to chop the Zhou soldiers into pieces. Zhang Jiankui shook his spear, and a scream was heard. The spear head pierced the chest of the Shu soldier in the front, and blood splattered when it was pulled out. At this time, the Shu soldiers on both wings rushed forward and stabbed from several directions with their spears. A Shu general shouted: Kill them and drive them out of the city gate. There will be a huge reward.
Several spears pierced Zhang Jiankui's armor with clangs and stabs. Zhang Jiankui yelled and swung his spear. Zhou Tong shouted: "Don't expose your back in the small circle formation." He called for the elite troops to defend around and he himself stood in the middle with bows and arrows. The dozen people who came in first were very quick to surround the formation at the command. They were all veterans of hundreds of battles and were very familiar with the techniques of the battle formation.
The Zhou army had few soldiers and no special weapons, while the Shu army had many soldiers and they attacked them with long weapons. Many Zhou soldiers were shot, but fortunately they had plate armor to protect them from sharp weapons. Their moving parts would suffer some minor injuries, but they were difficult to kill.
At this moment, a strong Shu soldier came up with a long-handled copper hammer and smashed it down. There was no place to hide around. There was a clang of metal hitting each other, sparks flew, and a Zhou soldier fell to the ground with a scream.
Seeing this, Zhou Tong pulled the bowstring to its full extent and released an arrow, hitting the Shu soldier in the chest. The guy screamed and tried to raise the bronze hammer, but finally failed to swing it. He heard another scream, and Zhou Tong turned around and saw that a soldier was hit by an arrow in the back. The arrow went straight through the chain mail. The soldier held up his body with the spear and did not fall. The Shu soldiers on the city wall were shooting arrows, and most of the arrows flew onto the plate armor and made a clanging sound.
The Zhou army soldiers in full armor were like a lone boat caught in the raging waves. The disparity in strength was beyond calculation, but they were not swallowed up. More Zhou army soldiers poured in through the open city gates. The commanders were all inside. The Zhou army soldiers were very brave.
Apart from the shouting, the only sounds around were the heavy sounds of metal colliding, which seemed to form a rough and cruel music.
It's the last day of the month. Xifeng knows that I won't be able to update enough this month, so I'm sorry to ask for votes. But if there are book friends who are willing to help keep their place on the monthly ticket list, I suggest you buy the Green Apple, the one that costs 100 Zongheng coins. I've personally tested it and it's more cost-effective.