The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 245: Firing from such a distance?
Guwei is coming!

Ten miles away from the city, they set up camp.

Be prepared to take steady steps.

Several generals under his command included the Khitan Baliyuanshan, the Tieli Luyuantiao, and the Han surrendered general Zhang Cheng. Zhang Cheng was the deputy general of Weizhou Yan Gao. After Yan Gao fled south, Zhang Cheng led his people to surrender to the Jin and joined the army that attacked Jiaoshui County.

Except for Zhang Cheng, everyone present had suffered losses at the hands of the rebel army, so everyone put "stability" first.

Gu Wei sat upright in the central military tent and said, "Everyone, this time, we must proceed cautiously and steadily. We cannot let the palace thieves use strange weapons to take advantage of us again."

Zhang Cheng couldn't help but speak up: "The Song army used to advance steadily, why are they rebelling now?"

Everyone present rolled their eyes at him, as if to say: You know nothing.

Guwei: "How many new-style trebuchets have been built?"

Bali Yuanshan said, "Forty-five units already, and the craftsmen are still working hard on it."

Gu Wei nodded. "Build as many as possible. The more the better. In this battle, we must first use the trebuchets. Once the trebuchets determine the winner, then the other legions can be deployed."

Zhang Cheng couldn't help himself and raised his hand to speak: "Wasn't it all over with just one charge from the Iron Pagoda?"

Gu Wei rolled his eyes, too lazy to explain.

On the contrary, Bali Yuanshan had the demeanor of a great general and was very approachable. He explained to Zhang Cheng, "Iron Pagodas usually don't go into battle at the beginning, but only at the critical moment."

Knowing when to deploy the Iron Pagoda on the battlefield is a science.

They often appear on the battlefield when the battle is at its most stalemate and difficult, fiercely attacking the vital points of the enemy's army. Once the Iron Pagoda takes action, it is often devastating, crushing the enemy army in one blow.

Bali Yuanshan: "By the way, did you know we are building a chariot recently?"

Zhang Cheng nodded: "I know, a huge wooden cart."

Bali Yuanshan: "We learned this from our enemies. When a battle is imminent, they will undoubtedly deploy a large number of these wooden plank carts. If we don't use the catapults to knock over the planks first, the Iron Pagoda will be blocked by these chariots even if we charge forward."

Zhang Cheng suddenly realized.

Although the chariots could not harm the Iron Pagoda, their huge size could cause the Iron Pagoda to trip even if they were placed across the battlefield as obstacles, which was really annoying.

However, these are all meaningless noise!

Everyone present was full of confidence in the Iron Pagoda.

On horseback, the Iron Pagoda is a top-tier heavy cavalryman; dismounted, it becomes a top-tier heavy infantryman. A pile of wooden carts can't stop the Iron Pagoda; nothing in the world can.

"By the way, where's that cricket?" Gu Wei asked, "Did you find him?"

"Found him!" Bali Yuanshan said, "After repelling Lu Yuantiao in Mizhou, that guy led his troops to Jiaoshui County and has been circling not far from our main army. When we have few scouts, he'll charge us. When our scouts are in large groups, he'll retreat and watch from a distance. His horse is too fast for our scouts to catch up. Besides him, they also have some people dressed in fancy clothes, like actors on the stage, holding various ceremonial weapons, and they're circling our main army. A small group of cavalry is no match for them, but the main army can't catch them."

Gu Wei cursed angrily, "These damn guys are blocking our Rangers."

With the cricket distracting them, the Jin army's most powerful cavalry tactic of harassing the countryside was completely useless, and the small group of cavalry was just delivering food to the enemy.

"They're forcing us to engage in a head-on battle. That's perfect, let's have a head-on battle." Gu Wei: "Build ten more catapults and go fight."
-
At noon, two massive armies deployed outside the west gate of Jiaoshui County. On the rebel side, Madam Gong Er and Wu Zhan commanded the central army, while Zhao Shi, Qi Chongli, the Thirty-Second Eunuch, and other observers accompanied Madam Gong Er.

Wu Jialiang led the left army and deployed it on the south side.

Zhang Yong led the right army and deployed it on the north side.

The front rows of the three armies were filled with a large number of chariots, and huge wooden planks were spliced ​​together to form three huge wooden walls.

Interestingly, the opponent also has a large number of tanks.

Gu Wei led three hundred Iron Buddhas and sat in the center of the army. He also had three thousand Crooked Horsemen, who were divided into two cavalry groups of fifteen hundred people and stationed on both wings.

In front of them was a large number of infantry, divided into three teams, with the Khitans led by Bali Yuanshan in the middle.

Because the Khitans are relatively easy to use and have made great contributions to the Jin Dynasty in recent years, the status of the Khitan soldiers has risen. They now have a nice name, called "乣军", and have become one of the main infantry forces of the Jin Dynasty.

The Tieli people led by Lu Yuantiao were on the left wing, and the Han army led by Zhang Cheng were on the right wing.

These three Han army units were just like the rebel army on the opposite side. A large number of chariots were set up in the front row, and large pieces of thick wooden boards were spliced ​​together to form huge wooden walls.

The two armies faced each other with a large number of wooden boards erected, which was a quite funny scene.

Qi Chongli and the Thirty-Second Eunuch were both a little confused: "Do wars always involve standing wooden planks like this now? Why are both sides doing this?"

Yue Wenxuan laughed and said, "This is all because of the firearms."

This style of painting was supposed to appear hundreds of years later, but Yue Wenxuan's butterfly wings flapped, bringing the shield chariot into being hundreds of years earlier. The Jin army, which originally loved to play cavalry, was forced to fight with door panels erected.

It’s a pity that he hasn’t developed a heavy machine gun yet, otherwise the Jin army on the opposite side would have to learn to sing and dance.

"Move forward slowly!" Baliyuanshan ordered loudly.

The Khitans, Tieli people, and Han soldiers pushed the catapults and began to move forward slowly.

The last time the old-style catapults fought against the counterweight catapults, the Jin soldiers suffered a great loss. But this time they also had counterweight catapults, and they no longer had the disadvantage of range. So the battle would be a matter of "financial resources" and "morale".

Guwei was still very confident in this regard. Behind him was a huge country, countless craftsmen and laborers. The broken catapults could be rebuilt tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and so on. The bandit army, which only had Denglai and Lai states as logistics, would be defeated.

"Go forward and trade with them!" Gu Wei roared, "Two catapults for one, and we'll win."

And at the same time...

Madam Gong Er waved her hand and said, "Four large cannons, prepare to fire, aim at the enemy catapults."

"Huh? Are you going to fire from such a distance?"

Qi Chongli and the Thirty-Second Eunuch were both stunned...

The enemy is now very far away!
In order to leave space for the catapults to hit each other, the Jin army did not line up one arrow away this time, but lined up one mile away. The opposite side's catapults had just started to move, which meant they were at least one mile away from them. Why would they fire from such a distance?

(End of this chapter)