With Jiang Qin's booming voice and the waving of the command flag, the thirty crystal cannons were the first to unleash their power.
With the roar of cannons, one after another, the pre-prepared shells flew directly out of the long, thick, black cannon barrel.
Powerful kinetic energy, ingenious formations, and complex runes endowed these projectiles with a high initial velocity. Even at a distance of several miles, they still maintained a speed of two kilometers per second.
At such speed, even a grandmaster would likely not be able to dodge a direct hit.
(Actually, in an open space, a master could dodge it by telepathy while fully focused.)
However, this was a battlefield, teeming with people and filled with deadly intent. The telepathic warning system, sensing the omnipresent threat, rendered it ineffective. Without this warning, facing artillery fire was simply a matter of luck.
With a loud bang, it really exploded this time!
The small cannonball, reinforced by layers of arrays, finally hit its target. In that instant, it exploded!
When the thick smoke dissipated, a massive crater, over ten meters deep and tens of meters wide, was revealed. The soldiers within the crater had vanished completely, reduced to ashes that mingled with the soil.
Soldiers within a radius of several hundred meters were also affected. Under the influence of the strong wind, many cavalrymen were completely thrown to the ground, horse and rider.
And then, that was it. These unfortunate cavalrymen were either killed instantly by the shockwave or trampled to death by the cavalry charging up from behind!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Thirty consecutive explosions blasted the once dense formation into utter chaos.
Imagine, one cannon shot, and within a radius of two or three hundred meters, there would be virtually no survivors. In classical feudal times, the blow to morale would be extremely devastating!
This is why the Crystal Cannon is listed as a national strategic asset!
However, at this moment, facing this group of barbarian cavalrymen who were clearly not of sound mind and were out of sorts, the morale-dampening effect of the crystal cannons was completely ineffective!
No matter how powerful the crystal cannons were, the cavalrymen remained silent, as if they were a group of dead men, completely unaffected.
They charged as before, maintaining the same formation without alteration. They remained as dense and compact as ever. At most, there were considerable casualties.
However, it was clear that the opposing commander did not care about the lives of these barbarian cavalrymen! Therefore, accompanied by the heavy sound of cannon fire, the cavalry charged even faster!
Before long, they arrived at the bottom of the hillside. Facing a slope with an incline of thirty degrees, the cavalrymen ignored it, neither dismounting nor slowing down, and charged up the hillside on their warhorses.
"Balloon ready...Ready...Fire!"
With a whoosh, countless specially made arrows, each as thick as a forearm and ten feet long, were launched from the hillside downwards.
The powerful arrows, carrying immense kinetic energy, pierced directly through the cavalrymen who were charging upwards on their warhorses.
Often, a single powerful arrow can easily pierce through several people, like a string of gourds.
With a hiss, a large amount of blood and bits of flesh flew into the air and scattered across the ground. In an instant, the entire battlefield was incredibly bloody!
However, these cavalrymen remained fearless, their expressions unchanged. Clearly, at this point, they were no longer human. Brains are a good thing, but unfortunately, they had lost them!
In addition to these cavalrymen, there were also many Taoist priests in the army. They acted like priests, casting spells from time to time, making the cavalrymen even stronger and their skin more rosy.
"These cavalrymen are completely out of their minds and show no fear of death whatsoever. What follows is going to be a tough battle."
"Don't worry, this is just our first line of defense! According to the terrain, there is a river that is 100 meters wide just five miles away. That will be our second line of defense. Even if we have to retreat, there is no need to worry."
Next came the close-quarters combat. Of course, the defending side still held the advantage. After all, atop the hill stood a ten-zhang-high city wall. They could hold it for the time being!
Fortunately, the terrain here is good. The area below the hillside is not very wide, so even a million cavalrymen would not be much different from an army of 100,000 in a short period of time.
In this way, it's still possible for 20,000 militiamen to fight with full concentration for three hours! Otherwise, if they could really deploy all of them, what would be the point of fighting?!
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Chapter 41: The Seven-Day War – Heavy Casualties
In the courtyard, Taishi Ci was giving Lin Yang a detailed account of the intelligence from the front lines. Guo Jia was also present, listening attentively.
After all, he wasn't a pure scholar like those in the Song or Ming dynasties. When it came to military strategy or warfare, Guo Jia was far superior to Lin Yang.
Therefore, when listening to Taishi Ci's story, Lin Yang did most of the following: he opened his eyes wide and listened attentively to show that he was paying close attention.
Then, every now and then, when Taishi Ci's sermon reached a climax, he would nod in agreement, indicating that he understood. Sometimes, he would even have to smile appropriately to show his support.
Gradually, Lin Yang began to feel that he was no different from that legendary salted fish who could only shout "666"!
"666..."
Well, of course, that's impossible. Shouting it out to someone's face would be far too disrespectful. So, I'll just have to shout it out in my head.
"The war has been going on for seven days now. We have also learned a lot about the enemy. In these seven days, another two thousand state soldiers and ten thousand county soldiers have been demobilized and returned home. In addition, more than a thousand heroes have answered the call and are receiving basic training."
"Overall, the current situation is quite encouraging. Every day, our strength is growing rapidly! Therefore, although the enemy is also very powerful now, with a strong army, we are not afraid. Now, let me give you the detailed intelligence."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang immediately took a sip of tea, nodded, and indicated that he understood. Seeing this, Taishi Ci continued speaking.
"On the first day, the first line of defense under the command of Colonel Jiang Qin inflicted at least 100,000 casualties on the enemy. However, more than half of his own 20,000 militiamen were also killed or wounded. Half of the 3,000 county soldiers were killed in action, and the rest were all wounded."
"Even Captain Jiang himself was seriously wounded, yet he charged into battle several times despite his injuries, boosting morale. His comrade, Vice Captain Zhou Tai, also performed bravely this time. He even killed a local general on the spot, I think his name was Helian Bobo."
"This battle was the enemy's first wave of attack. They were completely fearless of casualties and spared no effort. The attack was indeed very fierce. Fortunately, although we suffered heavy losses in the end, we managed to hold on. We held on for three hours before we retreated."
"Before leaving, they also destroyed the crystal cannons and ballistae, leaving nothing for the enemy, such as arrows and armor. Overall, the two captains performed very well. If it weren't for their repeated acts of bravery, this battle might have been dangerous," Taishi Ci said with a smile.
It's clear that Taishi Ci thinks highly of these two. And that makes sense, given they were important generals of the Wu Kingdom in history. Many readers familiar with the Three Kingdoms period can even recount stories and legends about Zhou Tai.
However, to be honest, even though he had been mentally prepared, Lin Yang was still somewhat surprised by the sudden large number of casualties.
After all, in the Han Dynasty, even a militiaman possessed internal energy and had practiced a few moves.
Despite their status as mere militiamen, in terms of strength, if placed in the world of Swordsman, each of them would be at least on par with Linghu Chong, a master who had just graduated from the beginner's village.