flstandardbreds Chapter 357 Pan Zhang's Doomsday (Part 2)
Chapter 357 Pan Zhang's Doomsday (Part 2)
Pan Zhang was startled by the sudden scream from his personal guard. He instinctively turned his head to look in the direction the guard was pointing, and his expression changed slightly after seeing what it was.
A strange carriage was seen rushing towards the camp gate. There were no horses pulling the carriage, only a huge, sharpened log protruding from the front.
The sharpened giant log instinctively reminded him of a battering ram. That damned Guan Xing actually used a cart frame to hoist a battering ram towards the camp gate?
How did he come up with such a heinous method? What should we do?
It should be noted that there were no horse traps near the camp gate. After all, the best defense is offense. Pan Zhang was even planning to break out of the camp if things went badly. How could he possibly set up horse traps at the camp gate to block his way?
The lack of horse traps at the camp gate naturally made it a weak point in the defense. The weaker the point, the stronger the defense needed to be. Therefore, Pan Zhang built five arrow towers at the camp gate. Each arrow tower had three platforms. Five archers were stationed on the bottom two platforms for protection, and ten archers were stationed on the top platform. As soon as the enemy approached the camp gate, they would be hit by a rain of arrows from the defenders.
In addition, many spearmen and swordsmen were arranged to prepare for long-range thrusts and close-quarters combat.
This is only the outer perimeter. After entering the camp gate, there is another gate. Between the two gates, a defensive structure similar to a barbican is formed by deer antlers and arrow towers. The same arrangement is repeated at the barbican gate, but with even more arrow towers and troops.
Pan Zhang was right; he was indeed very experienced in defense, and the camp's defensive facilities and troop deployment were virtually impeccable.
With such a configuration, if the Han army were to launch an attack from the front of the camp gate, it would be tantamount to suicide. But now, the damned Han army actually brought in this tortoise cart, rendering all the long-range means that he had prepared useless. Guan Anguo, what is in your head? Where did you learn so many strange and ingenious tricks?
While Pan Zhang was full of complaints, the Han soldiers pushing the carts were not idle. They quickly arrived at the camp with the four-wheeled carts designed and supervised by Guan Xing. After determining the distance to the camp gate through a small hole the size of a fingertip, the soldiers inside the carts decisively exerted their strength and pushed the carts hard against the camp gate.
The gates of the temporary camp in the wild were not as luxurious as those of the capital city. They were not made of solid wood but were made of a fence pieced together from wood. The connection between the gate and the wall was a weak point. When the battering ram hit the gate, it shook violently on the spot.
Seeing that the impact was effective, the soldiers inside the vehicle were greatly encouraged. They retreated a few meters and rammed into the vehicle again.
Faced with the Han army's brutal charge, the Wu troops above and below the arrow tower could only watch helplessly. The chariots were completely blocked, with only the tip of the battering ram showing. The thick wooden planks were impenetrable to arrows, spears, and steel blades. What could the Wu troops do but watch?
This specially made turtle-shaped vehicle is equivalent to a tank or armored vehicle in the Han Dynasty, and even more ruthless than a tank, because there are meter-long blades stuck in the outside of the vehicle walls. If Wu Jun rushes up to intercept it, he will be cut by the moving blades. Although he will not be cut in two instantly, he will be injured. Under such circumstances, who would dare to go up?
This isn't a battering ram, it's practically a hedgehog! It has the defense of a tortoise shell and the attack power of a hedgehog, making it impossible for anyone to bite into it.
The Han army ignored all that and kept pushing the carts backward, ramming them again and again. After eight rammings, the Wu army's camp gate finally gave way and collapsed with a piercing sound. The antlers connecting the camp gate also tilted severely.
Then, the Han soldiers inside the chariot worked together to lift the wheels onto the fallen camp gate, stepped on the gate, rushed into the camp, turned around, and rammed westward, preparing to strike the deer antlers in front.
Behind the camp gate is a fortified village similar to a barbican, but the fortified village is not a barbican. It has no walls, only deer antlers. As long as the deer antlers blocking the way are knocked over, creating a gap in the antlers that can lead into the camp, Pan Zhang's painstakingly built fortified village will be ruined.
The tortoise-shaped cart entered the camp and crashed into the western deer antlers, preparing to break through the camp to meet up with Deng Hong. Not long after entering the camp, a second tortoise-shaped cart rushed in, followed by a third. Behind the third tortoise-shaped cart were hundreds of Han soldiers armed with swords and shields, ready for battle. The sight made the Wu army's scalp tingle.
Meanwhile, the first tortoise-shaped chariot that entered the camp bypassed the arrow tower and charged towards the antlers, crashing into them hard. The battering ram, its tip already worn down, struck the antlers, causing them to shake violently. At the same time, the Wu soldiers' emotions fluctuated wildly. The sound of the battering ram striking the antlers made their hearts pound, but no one stepped forward. They really didn't know what to do with this spiky tortoise-shaped chariot.
At the same time, the second tortoise-shaped cart rushed into the camp, but instead of hitting the deer antlers, it crashed straight into the Wu army's arrow tower in front of them. The Wu soldiers on the tower looked drastically different and cried out in their hearts, "Damn Han army, are you sick in the head? This is an arrow tower! You just crashed into it like that?"
The tortoise-shaped cart successfully crashed into the arrow tower, causing it to shake slightly. This caused the Wu soldiers on the tower to also shake, giving them a thrilling experience of living upstairs but encountering an earthquake.
Some Wu soldiers, unwilling to be hit, shook the cart and decisively drew their bows, nocked arrows, and released the strings, attempting to shoot through the tortoise cart and kill the Han soldiers pushing it inside. However, the arrows only penetrated half an inch into the cart wall before becoming immobile, truly a case of a blind man lighting a lamp and wasting his time.
The Han soldiers inside the tortoise-shaped carts did not realize they were being attacked. After the impact, they quickly retreated and charged forward again, crashing into the arrow towers ahead like mad bulls.
The arrow towers were not fortresses, but merely platforms for the defenders to launch long-range attacks from a high vantage point. Therefore, they were not very sturdy, and even their foundations were makeshift. Nevertheless, it would not have been easy for ordinary soldiers to push them down, but what could they do when they encountered the armored forces of the Han army?
Under the fierce onslaught of the Han army, the arrow tower collapsed after only seven rounds, taking down the Wu soldiers on it as well, causing the Wu soldiers below to change their expressions.
Thump...
The arrow tower crashed to the ground with no force, the loud noise like a heavy hammer blow to the hearts of the Wu army below, who were all dumbfounded.
Soon, a third tortoise-shaped cart arrived and rushed toward the arrow tower as well. The Wu archers on the arrow tower, fearing that they would suffer the same fate as those on the upper arrow tower, hurriedly climbed down the ladder and fled.
The Han army, which followed the tortoise carts, saw that the Wu army was stunned by the tortoise carts and decisively launched an attack in the direction of the first tortoise cart. The nearby Wu army rushed up to fight back, and the two sides soon clashed.
However, Wu Jun's morale had been significantly damaged by the tortoise-shaped chariots, and he was no match for the ferocious Han army. He was quickly defeated and forced to retreat.
The Han army did not linger in battle. After repelling the Wu army's resistance, they decisively charged into the gap created by the tortoise-shaped cart and rushed to the front to join Deng Hong.
At the same time, Deng Hong also rushed into the camp on specially made wooden planks and engaged in fierce fighting with Wu's army. Hearing the shouts of battle, he turned around and shouted with joy, "Brothers, the camp gate has been breached! Our reinforcements have arrived! Fight with me..."
Wu Jun heard the shouts and turned to look. He saw that the antlers of Wengzhai had been smashed open, and the Han army was charging towards him through the opening. He panicked on the spot.
Pan Zhang, who was on the watchtower, panicked and hurriedly ordered, "Zheng Qi, take your men to block the breach in Wengzhai and drive the Han army back."
After saying this, he quickly climbed down from the arrow tower and led his personal guards to personally charge towards the gap in the antler-shaped barrier, attempting to plug the gap and stabilize the battle situation.
The best way to defend the camp was naturally to keep the enemy out of the camp, but the Han army's attack was too sharp. They easily broke into the camp and instantly destroyed the defensive facilities that Pan Zhang had carefully built, such as horse traps and arrow towers, forcing Pan Zhang to engage in hand-to-hand combat in advance.
Pan Zhang was busy defending against the Han army in front, and naturally neglected what was behind him.
Deep within the camp behind him, Li Tong, who was recuperating on his bed, listened intently to the sounds outside his tent and sent two trusted men, Shi Tou and Gou Dan, to keep watch outside.
As the shouts of battle outside the tent grew closer and more intense, Li Tong was pondering whether to act immediately when Gou Dan rushed into the camp excitedly and said, "Brother, the Han army is attacking too fiercely! They've already breached the camp, and General Pan has been forced to come down from the arrow tower."
He couldn't wander around the military camp, so he could only watch from outside the tent. The tent was deep inside the camp, so he couldn't see much. But he didn't need to see too much; he just needed to keep an eye on Pan Zhang.
Pan Zhang was standing atop the arrow tower, a high vantage point that made him easily visible. Similarly, if Pan Zhang disappeared, he would be the first to notice.
Now that Pan Zhang has disappeared, it naturally means that the war situation has worsened, and their beloved General Pan can no longer stay on the arrow tower.
Li Tong was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately stood up, saying, "Let's go, let's act now, otherwise General Guan Xing will blame us if we delay."