New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Feeling as if something was being thrown down from above, the Jin soldiers with swords and shields immediately raised their wooden shields above their heads.

A series of crackling sounds, like wood and metal clashing, rang out, and the scene that sent a chill down the spines of the Jin soldiers occurred once again.

What was thrown down from the city wall was not caltrops or rolling logs, but rather lumps of iron about the size of a fist.

The iron ball is made up of two semi-circular iron pieces. There is a groove at the waistline, which is tied and fixed with cotton rope. There is a hole at the top, from which a wisp of blue smoke is emanating.

Could it be another explosive weapon?

This question was still lingering in everyone's minds when a sound that followed confirmed their guess.

Although the explosive power of the iron ball was not as great as that of a cloth bag used for long-range attacks, and its small size could not contain deadly iron nails, the iron ball containing gunpowder still shattered into countless pieces like a celestial maiden scattering flowers at the moment of the gunpowder explosion, causing iron pieces to fly everywhere.

A row of explosive iron balls were thrown down from the city wall, and the Jin army, who had risked their lives to avoid the attack of the explosive charges, still could not escape being blown up.

Not far away, countless Jin soldiers were still charging towards the opposite bank from the pontoon bridge. Suddenly, arrows came flying from above and landed straight on the embankment beside the pontoon bridge.

The arrowhead was stuck in the ground, making the entire arrow shaft stand upside down and exposed to the Jin soldiers.

Then someone discovered that the arrows shot by the Song army had a difference from traditional feathered arrows: a paper tube similar to a firecracker was tied below the arrowhead, and smoke was still coming out of the small hole below.

"This arrow will explode too!"

After this wave of attacks, the Song army's three-pronged attack finally revealed its true colors, but the price the Jin army paid for it was far more devastating than the battle of yesterday.

Witnessing the Jin army corpses falling one after another in the explosions, the moat outside the city walls was stained red, and Wanyan Xieye's face had long since turned an unhealthy liver color.

The next instant, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, and amidst the shouts of his guards, his eyes rolled upwards, his body leaned back, and he fell off his horse.

"Ming Jin, withdraw your troops!"

Surrounded by his guards, Wanyan Xie, whose old illness had relapsed, was carried back to his military tent. On the battlefield, which had lost its commander, the Jin army that had managed to survive had long lost the courage to attack and began to flee. Countless soldiers scattered in all directions, with no intention of returning to their camp.

The Jin army below the city completely lost its fighting spirit, and the Song army on the city wall also stopped attacking. The battlefield was a mess, with countless corpses, craters left by explosions, and plumes of smoke still slowly rising.

"May Guangling be victorious!"

The scene left the Song soldiers on the city wall stunned for a moment, and a thunderous cheer erupted from the entire battle line.

The Jin army, which claimed to be invincible and terrified the Song army, was actually defeated. How could they not be overjoyed and weep with joy at such a battle?

In the distance, several warhorses galloped out from the Jin army camp. These generals were gathering their remaining troops. Unfortunately, this time the Jin soldiers were finally terrified of the bombing. Tang Qian estimated that they could only gather less than 60% of their original force.

"Now is the perfect opportunity to raid the camp. Immediately have someone hang a white triangular flag at the south gate."

And just as Tang Qian had predicted, when he heard that his 50,000-strong army had dwindled to less than 20,000, Wanyan Xie, who had just regained consciousness, almost fainted again.

"Their weapons can explode, which is simply unbelievable. The cloth bags are launched by catapults to hunt from a distance, the arrows are used to blow up the pontoon bridges, and the iron balls are enough to send soldiers who charge to the city walls to their doom. Our army simply cannot get onto the city walls."

Let alone climbing the city wall, the soldiers didn't even have a chance to set up a siege ladder.

Wanyan Xieye's plan for today is a two-front war, which is similar to the battle at the North Gate. The Jin army attacking the West Gate has also suffered a one-sided defeat. So far, not a single Song soldier on the city wall has been injured or killed.

This is truly a disgrace.

“However, I have not lost yet.” Forcibly suppressing the sharp pain in his chest, Wanyan Xie also drank a bowl of medicine, his gaze becoming deep. “Even if we only have 20,000 troops now, our army is still several times larger than the Song army in Guangling. Their defensive weapons are indeed terrifyingly lethal, but Tang Qian would never dare to go out of the city to fight against our army. All he can do is rely on the city walls for defense.”

"Does the Grand Marshal mean that our army only needs to surround the city without attacking, and wait for the city's food and supplies to run out, then Guangling City will naturally fall without a fight?"

Although it was somewhat of an unfair victory, it was indeed the only way for the Jin army to turn defeat into victory.

"Send the order down: all units shall disperse and set up camp, completely surrounding Guangling City. Not a single Song person shall be allowed to escape. I, the commander, will starve Tang Qian to death."

Even if there are mountains of grain in the city, they will eventually run out. The Song Dynasty has already moved south, and Tang Qian has no reinforcements. Wanyan Xie is not afraid of fighting a war of attrition outside the city.

"Warfare is based on deception. As long as we can capture Guangling City, who in the world will care about the various methods the Grand Marshal uses?"

Once Wanyan Xieye's helpless move was announced, the generals standing in the military tent breathed a sigh of relief. Their subordinates were all warriors of their own tribes, and who would want to see their people rushing to their deaths?

Just as the messenger rushed out, several more explosions rang in everyone's ears.

By this time, the generals were already on edge. The explosion immediately made them bend down and try to lie prostrate on the ground. Only when they realized that there was a Jin army camp with 10,000 men stationed there did the sudden tension in their hearts slowly subside.

Could it be that the Song army would dare to raid the camp?

The first words spoken by the messenger, who rushed into the tent with a look of panic, made everyone feel as if they had lost their parents.

“A group of Song soldiers outside the camp is throwing iron balls into our camp, killing and wounding countless people.”

Did the Song army really dare to attack the camp?

Wanyan Xie was also furious, then burst into laughter: "Tang Qian held the city firmly and did not come out, so I had no way to deal with him. Now he actually came out of the city to provoke us. He simply does not take our army seriously at all. Soldiers, follow me out of the camp and capture Tang Qian alive. I will skin him alive!"

Before Wanyan Xie could get up and leave the tent to prepare for battle, a messenger rushed in: "The enemy has not entered our camp. When our vanguard charged out, the enemy had already retreated."

Tang Qian was waging a harassment campaign. In the past, Wanyan Xie would have completely disregarded it, but those explosive iron balls thrown into the camp would still cause casualties among the soldiers.

Tang Qian, that little thief, is indeed a despicable scoundrel.