Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"General, all the brothers have been wiped out. It's so tragic, sob sob sob..."

"General, think of a way quickly! These people all have sorcery, and we can't even get within a hundred paces of them."

At dawn, a group of Western Xia generals who had withdrawn from the port knelt down before Helian Qianjun, weeping bitterly.

Since they joined the army, they had never fought such a frustrating battle.

They charged dozens of times, but never managed to get within a hundred paces of the enemy.

The enemy's dense firepower crushed all of his offensive efforts.

Many Western Xia generals were so enraged when they saw their brave and skilled subordinates fall one by one on the way forward, with corpses piling up like mountains, that they vomited blood on the spot.

They couldn't believe that these warriors, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, were seasoned veterans, and possessed extraordinary strength, had died so meaninglessly before they could even demonstrate their full potential.

Helian Qianjun's face was ashen, almost rusty.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a situation. In the past, even if the number of casualties exceeded one percent, he would have ordered the generals to be beheaded and their heads displayed to the public.

But he had witnessed the battle last night. The warriors of Xia Kingdom were incredibly brave, charging forward recklessly time and time again despite the enemy's heavy firepower.

But each time, they were forcefully blocked by weapons they had never seen before.

Even more remarkably, the entire attacking force fell on their way forward, with not a single person retreating.

According to rough estimates, at least tens of thousands of Xia Kingdom warriors died in last night's battle, and thousands more were injured and are lying in their camps awaiting emergency treatment.

This is just an estimate; if we look into it more closely…

"When did human life become so fragile?"

Helian Qianjun dared not think any further.

The port of Luoyang has become a giant meat grinder; once someone gets caught in it, all they get is blood and gore.

He turned to the scholar and said, "Strategist, think of a solution. What should we do for now?"

The enemy's weapons can easily pierce the warrior's armor. What methods can be used to counteract the threat of these weapons?

The scholar pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "General, after my analysis last night..."

The enemy was so strong entirely because of the spark-shooting weapons they possessed.

Within a hundred paces, these things are both ruthless and accurate, preventing our warriors from getting close.

To retake the port, a multi-pronged approach must be taken simultaneously to have any hope of breaking through their defenses.

How to proceed?

"First, quickly manufacture catapults and place them outside the enemy's weapon range to fire volleys at the port defenses."

"Second, build shield carts, cover the carts with clay, and then have the soldiers slowly advance from behind. Once they are within twenty paces, the skilled archers in the army will fire in unison, which will surely break through the enemy's defenses in one fell swoop."

"Also, quickly send someone to Xulong Mountain to invite the Blood Fiend Alliance to come and oversee the situation, just in case."

Helian Qianjun nodded after listening to the Confucian scholar's advice.

"Men, immediately carry out the strategist's orders and make sure the work is completed before noon. If you need more people, you can recruit them from Luoyang!"

"Also, immediately send someone to invite the Blood Fiend Ancestor!"

The Western Xia army immediately went to work, but Helian Qianjun never expected that the Blood Fiend Alliance had already gone to the underworld to report to the authorities before them.

……

Inside the port of Luoyang, after a night of fighting, the temperament of the new army soldiers underwent a dramatic change.

Although many people felt nauseous and vomiting at the sight of the mountains of corpses piled up in front of the lines and the strong smell of blood.

But after experiencing the baptism of war, everyone's fear of war was eliminated.

Because when tactics and techniques become less complex and no longer require a long period of refinement to produce a qualitative change, everyone's psychology will undergo drastic changes.

The firearms in the hands of the Imperial Guards could easily take down a veteran who had trained hard for decades and had rich combat experience, giving them the confidence to dominate the battlefield.

Ye Hui shook his numb arm and said to Wu Jie, who was eating a steamed bun next to him, "I don't know how many we took out last night. It was pitch black, and we couldn't see anything."

Wu Jie didn't even look up: "It's enough to kill these beasts. Look at the enemy corpses lying there. I doubt anyone would have guessed that this was just the result of midnight."

Ye Hui sighed, "Yes, I'm only now truly understanding."

What does it mean to have one general's success built on the bones of ten thousand? Such a battle would have been unthinkable in the past.

Wu Jie ate a bite of pickled vegetables with his steamed bun, then stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "We're almost out of bullets. I'll go get two more boxes. Take it easy, you're about to break the crank handle."

"Let's carry a couple more boxes. I haven't had enough yet. This Gatling gun is really useful, but it's a bit hard on the hands."

"It's better to risk your life than risk your hands. Just wait and see."

After Wu Jie finished speaking, he got up to carry the ammunition.

Meanwhile, Lü Meng and Zhang Dingbian were discussing the next tactical arrangements.

"It's dawn. If I'm not mistaken, the enemy will launch another attack before noon at the latest. How much ammunition do we have left?"

"We've only fired one volley of mortar shells; we still have plenty of ammunition, and enough rifle bullets as well."

"Those machine gun bullets are like they're free; we lost half our stock in just one night."

"It's alright, enough is enough. The instructor said that once we're on the battlefield, we shouldn't worry about ammunition. We should just throw it like crazy. Human life is the most precious thing."

“I understand the reasoning, but it’s too wasteful. You know what? I just did the math, and wow, we spent tens of thousands of taels of silver on ammunition in just one night.”

"I told you not to think about these things. Focus on the upcoming battle. What kind of attack do you think the enemy will use?"

"We'll definitely use cover to advance, what other method could we use?"

Zhang Dingbian said with absolute confidence.

"Besides that, we can use crossbows or catapults for long-range suppression."

However, these two things are not only inaccurate and low-altitude, but also extremely cumbersome. If they appear, just bombard them with artillery fire.

Lu Meng nodded in agreement: "Alright, let's proceed according to plan. With this kind of firepower configuration, there's really no need to worry about so many unnecessary things."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dingbian stretched and yawned: "Why don't we take a break now? We've been listening to firecrackers all night, it must be tiring."

"You rest first, I'll keep watch, and I'll call you if anything happens."

"Okay, just call me when you get tired."

After saying that, Zhang Dingbian took out a cotton blanket from his backpack, found a low emplacement, and lay down.

Soon after, thunderous snoring filled the air.

The morning passed peacefully until noon.

"Jie—"

A sharp, metallic whistle rang out from within the defensive line.

Zhang Dingbian immediately snapped out of it, did a somersault, clapped his hands, and shouted.

"Enemy attack! Prepare for combat! All units return to their posts!"

In fact, he didn't need to give the order; the Imperial Guards had already returned to their posts, weapons in hand, ready to defend against the enemy.

A line of shield vehicles is slowly approaching the defensive line.

"Hey, I knew it!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Dingbian waved excitedly.

"I'll beat the shit out of you."

At this moment, the slave soldiers behind the shield carts were gritting their teeth and pushing the shield carts forward with all their might.

Their status in the Western Xia army was like that of pigs and dogs. They were all forcibly conscripted from the people of Guanzhong region and were ultimately just expendable resources.

This is also a major limitation of cavalry civilization, because elite troops are scarce, and once they die, they are gone forever, making it impossible to continuously replenish them.

To mitigate the losses of elite troops on the battlefield, cavalry-dominated nations typically used slaves as human shields to clear the way for their forces.

For example, the Green Standard Army established by Ma Yao had an extremely low level of training, yet it had not been reorganized for over a hundred years. This was because they were basically used as cannon fodder for the Manchu and Mongol Eight Banners cavalry.

After all, the Manchu and Mongol cavalry were precious; every one that died was one less, and they simply couldn't afford to lose them. Although these Manchu and Mongol cavalry had also fallen into disarray and were now vulnerable, they were still stronger than the Green Standard Army at the time.

"Hurry up! Don't dawdle!"

The Western Xia soldiers behind them kept urging the slaves in front of them on, often beating and scolding them, treating them as if they were not human beings at all.

The slaves could only suppress their fear and push the heavy shield carts forward step by step.

After entering the area within fifty paces, the Western Xia soldiers simultaneously nocked their sharp wolf-tooth arrows onto their bowstrings.

In the distance, twenty catapults also advanced to a position of two hundred paces.

The Western Xia soldiers commanded civilians captured from Luoyang to laboriously stuff stones weighing over twenty kilograms into ammunition pouches, ready to be launched at any moment.

but……

The Imperial Guard, however, launched the first attack.

"Artillery battalion, first team, visibility 220 meters, adjust elevation angle!"

"fire!"

Boom——

Twenty-five individual mortars emitted a whistling, piercing sound.

The Western Xia officer in charge of directing the catapults stared dumbfounded at the grenades falling from mid-air, his mouth agape, unable to react.

boom--

Instantly, the grenades landed and exploded, completely destroying the long-range force that had been painstakingly assembled.

"Ah~"

Upon witnessing this scene, Helian Qianjun slammed his fist against the wall.

"I didn't expect them to have this trick up their sleeve. Who are they? How do they have so many weapons?"

The Confucian scholar standing to the side was also stunned, as this situation was something he had never expected.

To his utter surprise, his plan had already failed halfway before it even began to take effect. His face contorted into a colorful array of expressions, making for a truly spectacular display.

Now, the catapults have been mostly destroyed, and the only thing left to rely on is the shield wagon formation.

But can the shield vehicles really break through the port's defenses?