Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

As night deepened, Li Zhen led Yue Ying to a secluded spot in the city. There, on the flat ground, were several dark shadows. As Yue Ying approached, he saw that they were all covered with thick canvas.

"Wow..."

Li Zhen pulled back one of the canvas panels, revealing a powerful and tall loader parked there.

This loader has been modified; its original bucket has been welded with countless sharp spikes that gleam coldly in the moonlight.

Li Zhen: "This thing is driven like a tractor. Go up and try it out in a bit. Then select twenty soldiers from your men who can drive it. Make sure you master its performance tonight. I estimate that the Jin army suffered a great loss today and will definitely launch a major attack tomorrow."

In addition to the loader, there were also tractors with cabs and two modified heavy trucks. Li Zhen planned to use these modern machines to fight against the Jin army's cavalry tomorrow.

Nothing happened that night, and the next morning, as the sun shone on the land, the Jin army's attack began again.

As dawn broke, unlike their previous fierce offensives, the Jin army seemed to have regained its strong morale overnight.

Under the warm sunlight, they silently pushed forward their siege weapons. Not only did the siege ladders, like dragons probing the sea, point directly at the city walls, but they were also complemented by mobile arrow towers, like hawks in the night, ready to unleash deadly arrows at any moment. The battering rams crashing against the city gates roared like behemoths, unstoppable, proclaiming their challenge to the impregnable walls of Tangyin City.

Yelü Shu, the Jin commander, had a resolute and fanatical glint in his eyes. He had only one thought in his mind—today, he would make Tangyin City tremble at his feet and let the banner of victory fly high on the city walls. He knew that every preparation was a most devout prayer for victory; every piece of equipment was a sharp claw to defeat the enemy.

In the morning light, the Jin army stood in formation, awaiting the sound of war drums, yet an oppressive atmosphere of impending doom permeated the air. Yelü Shu stood at the front of the formation, gazing at Tangyin City, which would soon become the footnote to his glorious achievements, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips.

Yelü Shu's smile, like a fleeting ephemera blooming in the dawn, vanished in an instant, its joy mercilessly swallowed by the sudden storm. Just as his vanguard cavalry, like dark clouds pressing down on the city walls, approached the towering city walls, an ominous crack suddenly appeared in the sky, and a terrifying explosion crashed down.

The explosion, like a thunderbolt from the heavens, not only shook the earth but also instantly froze the fighting spirit permeating the air. Yelü Shu's meticulously prepared siege equipment proved incredibly fragile in the sudden flames and roar; some were twisted and deformed, while others turned into dust, disappearing into the smoke along with the aftershocks of the explosion.

Most chillingly, in the instant of the explosion, hundreds of vibrant lives seemed to be lifted up by an invisible giant hand and hurled violently into the boundless sky, ultimately transforming into raindrops of blood and mangled limbs falling from the heavens. This scene, tragic and shocking, was like nature's merciless mockery of war, and a profound indictment of human greed and slaughter.

Below the city walls, the Jin soldiers, who had just finished their meal, witnessed this chilling scene. They were all horrified, collapsing to their knees in terror, vomiting incessantly. An indescribable sense of despair and fear filled the air. This sudden disaster not only destroyed their material defenses but also planted an indelible shadow in the soldiers' hearts, subtly shifting the balance of the war.

It turned out that last night, in addition to retrieving a large number of modified vehicles from the mysterious space, Li Zhen also ordered Wang Changdao to lead men to plant a large amount of explosives along the Jin army's offensive route. These powerful explosives, used for blasting mountains and rocks, instantly made the Jin soldiers understand why the flowers were so red, and also caused the Jin army's hard-won morale to plummet once again.

Li Zhen saw all of this through his binoculars and asked Wang Changdao in bewilderment, "How much explosives did you plant? How can it be so powerful?"

Wang Changdao scratched his head: "I've put all the explosives you gave me on there."

Li Zhen's pupils contracted. Last night, he had given Wang Changdao a full ton of explosives. It was his fault for being negligent. He only told Wang Changdao to plant the explosives, but he didn't tell him how much to plant. As a result, the idiot planted them all.

Half an hour later, the Jin soldiers cleared their path and charged towards Tangyin City, still brandishing their weapons. They had just witnessed the horrific deaths of their comrades, but under orders from their superiors, they had no choice but to charge forward desperately.

After yesterday's combat practice, Qian Dazhuang was even more adept at using the mortar. With a large supply of shells, he was the first to fire on the Jin soldiers who came into range today.

The cannonballs ripped through the sky, carrying an overwhelming force, and landed precisely in the Jin army's ranks. The explosions rose and fell, as deafening as thunder. Amidst the billowing smoke, the Jin soldiers' formation instantly crumbled, and cries of agony and terror mingled, foreshadowing their doom.

Qian Dazhuang stood beside the artillery position, his eyes blazing as he gazed at the enemy lines gradually collapsing in the distance, a surge of indescribable pride welling up within him.

Today, Li Zhen switched to an assault rifle, his waistband crammed with magazines full of bullets, and two grenades slung over his shoulder. In his combat uniform, Li Zhen instantly became the center of attention for his soldiers; they hadn't expected their commander to be so handsome.

The assault rifle gripped tightly in Li Zhen's hand gleamed with an unusual coldness under the sunlight, clearly no longer an ordinary piece of iron, exuding an indescribable sharpness and ancient charm. This scene quietly attracted Wang Changdao's gaze; his eyes, which usually gleamed with cunning, now revealed a rare hint of longing and envy.

With a thick skin, Wang Changdao strode forward, a fawning smile plastered on his face, attempting to make a request that, in his usual smooth-talking tone, might not seem too unreasonable to him: "Hey, Chief, look at your new thing, it's really tempting! We're brothers, how about I give it a try? Maybe I can unleash even more of its potential?"

The reprimand was like a cold wind, instantly freezing the smile on Wang Changdao's face.

He awkwardly rubbed his hands together, his lips twitching a few times, and finally could only retreat to the side, feeling resentful but helpless.

Wang Changdao stroked the semi-automatic rifle in his hand, and suddenly felt that it didn't taste so good anymore.

The two sides finally clashed at the foot of Tangyin City. Countless Jin soldiers held up ladders against the city wall, and to prevent the guards above from pushing the ladders over, at least a dozen strong Jin soldiers below held the ladders tightly.

Countless composite arrows rained down on the attacking Jin soldiers. At such close range, even the Jin soldiers wearing iron armor could not withstand the damage from the armor-piercing arrows, and they all fell to the ground, unable to get up.

In addition to the Jin soldiers who were currently fighting on the city walls, there was a continuous stream of Jin troops advancing from the rear. Yelü Shu had committed a force of 15,000 men to today's decisive battle, determined to capture Tangyin City.