flstandardbreds Chapter 394 Lu Xun's Doomsday (3)
Chapter 394 Lu Xun's Doomsday (3)
There's a famous saying on the battlefield: "Infantry charge, artillery bombards; after the artillery bombards, infantry charge."
The same applies to warfare with cold weapons. When attacking enemy strongholds or cities, long-range weapons such as bows, arrows, crossbows, and catapults would be used to suppress enemy firepower and attack enemy deployments, thereby creating conditions for sword and shield soldiers to charge.
Lu Xun did the same, ordering the shield bearers to cover the archers as they advanced. Once they were within range of the Han army's arrows, the shield bearers quickly formed a shield formation to protect the archers. The archers, on the other hand, lay on the ground with their feet braced against the bows and pulled back the bowstrings to launch the arrows into the sky. The catapults, due to their range, were mixed in with the archers and operated together.
The ballista was different; it had a range of five or six hundred paces, so there was no need for it to mingle with the archers and catapults. It could simply hide behind them. Lu Xun even built several platforms on the mountain walls on both sides of the mountain to set up the ballista for long-range attacks, creating crossfire against the Han army. This setup was terrifying to look at.
At the same time, Guan Xing was also observing Lu Xun's movements from the arrow tower behind the third trench. He couldn't help but sneer as he watched the Wu army's shield soldiers and archers pressing in and the ballistae on the mountain walls on both sides.
Although he did not leave the camp last night to stop Lu Xun from building weapons, he was not idle either. He also sent troops into the mountains to cut down trees and built many weapons specifically to resist Wu's long-range attacks.
Moreover, Guan Xing was influenced by the Yiwu small commodities market of later generations, and the weapons he created were highly targeted. In other words, Guan Xing's weapons were tailor-made for Lu Xun.
For example, behind the antlers are those large wooden boxes, two and a half meters high, three meters wide, and five meters long, with arched tops. Hundreds of these boxes are lined up along the antlers, with five fist-sized holes on the side closest to the antlers, just big enough for the spear shafts of the spearmen to pass through. The spearmen can hide in the boxes and ignore all kinds of attacks from the Wu army to thrust with peace of mind.
The spearmen in the front row are the most vulnerable, with no cover or protection. They are almost powerless against the enemy's ranged attacks, as the range of arrows is too far. If they encounter peerless warriors like Zhao Yun and Guan Yu who are skilled at charging into battle, their fate will be even more tragic.
But with this large wooden box that resembled a coffin, things were different. To block the Wu army's ballistae, Guan Xing piled up two layers of wood, making the box thicker than a palm. It wouldn't be easy for the ballistae to shoot through it, let alone arrows. Unless all the Wu army's archers were like Huang Zhong, who could hit a target from a hundred paces, they could forget about shooting through the wooden box.
The catapult could be damaged if it was knocked down by a stone, so Guan Xing designed the top of the box to be arched, and the wooden box as a whole was wider at the bottom and narrower at the top. This way, the stone could be dissipated a lot of force when it hit the top. At the same time, because it was arched, the stone would slide down the slope to the ground when it hit the top, instead of falling on the top of the box and adding weight to the wooden box.
In addition, four wheels were attached to the bottom of the wooden box, which was temporarily fixed to the ground with buckles. When the Wu army stormed into the camp, the soldiers inside the box would immediately remove the buckles, throw out their spears, turn the wooden box into a war chariot, and push the wooden box to charge through the Wu army's formation.
Behind the wooden crates stood many bamboo rafts, each several meters long, supported by brackets to form a triangular ramp resembling a roof. The Han soldiers with swords and shields were currently hiding behind the bamboo rafts. If the Wu army launched a ranged attack, the Han soldiers would hide behind the bamboo rafts to avoid it. If the Wu army began to charge, the Han soldiers would rush out of the bamboo rafts to engage in close combat with the Wu army.
In addition, the Han army also had catapults, but they were all deployed on the second line of defense. Due to their limited range, they could only be used when the Wu army charged.
Faced with the Han army's tortoise-shell defense, Lu Xun was also powerless, but since things had come to this point, he had no other choice but to fight desperately, so he personally beat the war drums and issued the latest orders.
At Lu Xun's command, countless arrows mixed with stones rained down on the Han army like a torrential downpour. The arrows easily pierced the Han army's wooden boxes and bamboo rafts, turning them into pincushions. The stones bounced off the boxes and rafts and fell to the ground, posing no threat whatsoever to the protective gear that Guan Xing had meticulously crafted.
The ballistae were indeed powerful, easily piercing through the palm-thick wooden crates. However, the number of ballistae was limited, and the Han soldiers inside the crates were either crouching on the ground with their heads in their hands or lying directly on the ground. Therefore, the ballistae did not cause them much casualties after piercing the crate walls. Wu's long-range attack was like throwing a wink at a blind man; it was a complete waste of effort.
Nevertheless, Liu Zan, standing next to Guan Xing, still grinned and said, "The ballista is too powerful. If only we had ballistae."
Ballistae are heavy siege weapons, difficult to manufacture and heavy, so infiltration troops cannot carry them. They were not captured from Pan Zhang and Zhuge Jin either. Therefore, Guan Xing has no ballistae available at the moment and can only passively take hits when facing Wu's ballistae.
Guan Xing calmly smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Lu Xun has been attacking Da Mo for more than ten days. He probably has very few arrows left, whether they are special crossbow arrows or ordinary arrows. He can't last more than a few rounds."
"Besides, these arrows stuck in the wooden boxes and bamboo rafts will become ours. We'll collect them tonight and send them back to Lu Xun tomorrow."
Liu Zan: "..."
Back then, Zhuge Liang borrowed arrows with straw boats, and now you're borrowing arrows with wooden boxes. Why are all the generals of Shu Han so fond of coveting other people's things?
However, it seems that Guan Xing has not contributed any of the troops, money, or provisions he has used since the start of the war; they have all been contributed by the Wu army.
Wu Jun has already provided troops, horses, money, and provisions, so contributing a few more arrows doesn't seem like much.
Guan Xing looked at the arrows shooting at him, his smile brighter than if he had won the lottery.
In contrast, Lu Xun had a completely different feeling. Looking at the wooden boxes and bamboo rafts in front of the Han army that he had riddled with thorns, his face was ashen. He asked worriedly, "How many arrows and crossbow bolts do we have left?"
Ding Feng said with a wry smile, "We only have 50,000 arrows left, and even fewer crossbow bolts, less than 300."
Fifty thousand arrows may sound like a lot, but if they are distributed among five thousand archers, each archer will only have ten arrows.
Lu Xun gritted his teeth and said, "Leave 10,000 arrows and 100 crossbow bolts as reserves. Shoot the rest out. Also, tell the catapults to stop hitting those broken wooden boxes and aim them all at the fresh soil in front of the deer antlers. Get the horse traps out first."
The catapult immediately adjusted its range, and countless stones rained down on the new soil in front of the deer antlers. That was the location of the horse trap, which was covered with bamboo poles and leaves and then a thin layer of new soil. It couldn't withstand the heavy blows of the boulders, and soon the horse trap was smashed open with countless holes, revealing its true form.
Lu Xun then ordered the archers to retreat and the swordsmen to charge. Behind the swordsmen were many Wu soldiers carrying bamboo rafts, preparing to use the rafts to cover the horse traps and pass through the Han army's traps.
Looking at the half-meter-high wheels on the Han army's wooden crates, and then at the hardship of his own soldiers carrying bamboo rafts in the charge, Lu Xun slapped his forehead and cursed, "I'm so stupid! Why didn't I think to put two wheels under the bamboo rafts? Ding Feng, you go to the front line and command the soldiers carrying the bamboo rafts. Tell them to wait until the Han army's spears are thrust out before they move. Put the bamboo rafts directly on the Han army's spear shafts. I want to see if these spearmen in the crates can withstand the weight of the bamboo rafts!"
The spear itself is not heavy, and anyone can lift it if they pick it up from the middle. But it's a different story if they pick it up from the shaft. In that case, the soldier holding the spear not only has to bear the weight of the spear itself, but also the force of the shaft falling downwards. Even if he could lift the spear in this situation, he wouldn't be able to hold it for long. That's why the spear is placed on the antlers for leverage.
Resting the spear shaft on the deer antlers does make things much easier, but what if a row of bamboo rafts were added to the spear tip, and another person stood on the raft? Would the Han soldiers inside the wagon still be able to maintain their thrusting posture?
Not only would it not work, it might even tip over the wooden crate, since the gun barrel comes out from inside the crate. In another sense, the gun barrel and the crate are one unit. If the gun barrel tilts, the crate will naturally be lifted up.
“Yes…” Ding Feng rushed out to the front line.
Lu Xun ordered again, "All ballistae, cease firing. Wait until the Han army's spearmen thrust forward before aiming at the wooden crates and firing hard."