mesbooks Chapter 426 The Power of the Crossbow
Chapter 426 The Power of the Crossbow
That night, Shen Yi didn't go any further and just slept soundly in the same spot. He did the same thing during the day.
Zhang Liao waited five miles away for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack while Shen Yi was on his way. However, Shen Yi did not move all day, clearly intending to wear him down, which put him in an awkward position.
Both sides had been baking in the sun all day. By evening, Zhuge Qian could no longer bear it and said worriedly, "General, this can't go on. Our supplies are not as plentiful as Guan Xing's, and we can't outlast them."
The Han army carried their own provisions, while the Wei army's cavalry could not carry much and needed to be transported from the rear, making them prone to unforeseen events. The longer the delay, the greater the possibility of unforeseen events. Therefore, they could not outlast the Han army in terms of patience.
Zhang Liao pondered, "That won't do. We can't let Guan Xing have it too easy. You lead a thousand cavalrymen in a charge, but remember not to actually charge through. Charge to within about two hundred meters of the Han army camp and then turn back. Then charge and retreat again, using this to demoralize the Han army."
"The Han army will be nervous when they see our cavalry charging into their archery range. They will be eager to set up their formation and be on high alert. But what will they feel when they find that we have retreated? They will relax and grumble as they lower their guard, right?"
"After they lower their guard, we'll do it again. By using this method to constantly undermine the morale of the Han army, we'll create the illusion that we won't attack but will only probe. After repeating this several times, when the Han army sees us charging, they'll probably think we're just making a feint again and thus lower their guard or even ignore us. At that time, when we go all out to attack, it will surely have a miraculous effect."
Zhuge Qian said excitedly, "General, you are brilliant! I'll go right away."
Soon, Zhuge Qian personally led over a thousand cavalrymen to attack the Han army. The huge shock of the cavalrymen immediately caught Shen Yi's attention, and Shen Yi dared not be negligent and hurriedly ordered a state of alert.
Under Shen Yi's command, the archers quickly stepped forward, drew their bows, and prepared to unleash a volley of arrows as soon as the Wei army approached. However, the Wei cavalry suddenly reined in their horses and turned back at an even faster pace than they had come. This left Hao Yu, who was already in an attacking stance, speechless. He muttered under his breath, "Are the Wei soldiers crazy? What are they doing in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
Shen Yi, however, keenly sensed the danger and frowned, saying, "Zhang Liao is trying to test our mentality. After this happens three or five times, will we still be as vigilant as before?"
Hao Yu didn't understand the intricacies of the situation for a moment and asked in astonishment, "What do you mean?"
Shen Yi couldn't help but worry about his intelligence and said helplessly, "Do you remember the story of the boy who cried wolf that General Guan told us? No one will believe the same lie if it is repeated many times. After the Wei army makes a feint attack many times, we will definitely think that the next one will be another feint attack and thus relax our vigilance and lower our guard. But what if the Wei army suddenly turns the feint attack into the main attack? Can we still resist if we are not on guard?"
Hao Yu understood, stomped his foot and cursed, "Damn it, Zhang Liao! You're one of the Five Tiger Generals, why don't you dare to charge directly and fight us head-on? What do we do now?"
Shen Yi said fiercely, "We must teach the Wei army a lesson and break their hopes of using feigned attacks to demoralize us. Distribute all the ballistae along the edge of the camp, and fire arrows as soon as you see Wei soldiers. Kill as many as you can."
In addition to the ten triple-bow crossbows he had transferred from Da Mo, the army also had dozens of ordinary crossbows captured from Lu Xun. The range of ordinary crossbows was also over 500 paces. If the Wei army dared to charge into the 200-meter range, they would be doomed.
Hao Yu immediately went to prepare. Half an hour later, the Wei cavalry attacked again, but instead of coming from the same direction, they changed direction. Hao Yu didn't care about this. After the Wei army charged to within about 300 meters of the position, he immediately ordered them to fire arrows.
Shen Yi distributed the limited number of ballistae in the Han army throughout the camp, so only two ballistae were available for the time being. With Hao Yu's order, the two ballistae shot towards the Wei army like shooting stars streaking across the night sky with a piercing whistling sound.
This time, Zhuge Qian was leading the team again. Zhuge Qian, who was charging forward, was startled by the sudden sound of something cutting through the air. He quickly looked up and saw a dark shadow shooting towards him at an unparalleled speed. His pupils shrank to pinpoints in fright.
At the critical moment, the muscle memory and instinct formed over many years of battle saved his life. Seeing the crossbow coming, Zhuge Qian instinctively dodged to the side, and the arrow grazed his left arm and flew backward.
The Wei cavalry behind were not so lucky. Not only were they shot straight in the chest, but the ballistae also pierced through their chests and shot into the cavalry behind them. It took three people to kill before the ballistae were exhausted.
The other ballista was a triple-bow ballista, which was more powerful and shot through four people before stopping.
Hearing the screams around him, Zhuge Qian, still in shock, dared not charge any further and turned to retreat. As he retreated, he did not forget to take two crossbow bolts with him. These things were too precious, and the Han army must not have many. Taking one of them away would reduce the Han army's supply.
Seeing the Wei army retreat, Hao Yu couldn't help but raise his middle finger at their retreating figures and curse, "Is that all?"
Shen Yi slapped the back of his head and scolded, "What are you spacing out for? Go and bring those two horses back to me."
Just now, two arrows killed seven Wei cavalrymen. As the cavalrymen died, their warhorses were also frightened. Some ran away, some followed the main force, and two stood helplessly and mournfully beside their masters' corpses, not knowing what to do. Two horses are still horses, and when faced with such a situation, there was no reason to abandon them.
Furthermore, I've already lost two ballistae; I must find a way to make up for it.
Hao Yu slunk off to fetch his horse. At the same time, Zhuge Qian returned to the camp and handed two crossbow bolts to Zhang Liao, saying, “General, these two bolts are clearly different. The new bolts are longer and thicker than the old ones, and the arrowheads are much sharper. If I’m not mistaken, the Han army must have created a more powerful crossbow.”
Ballistae and catapults were heavy firepower weapons on the battlefield. Given that the Wei army had the advanced experience of Liu Ye in improving catapults, it is not surprising that the Han army improved ballistae.
Zhang Liao frowned as he held the new arrow and said, "It seems that Guan Xing is a tough nut to crack. Let's send him out of the country politely and let them use these ballistae to attack Yu Fan. Don't leave him behind to cause trouble for us."
Zhang Liao knew that the Han army wouldn't have many of these powerful ballistae, but so what? He couldn't let his soldiers risk their lives to deplete the Han army's ballistae.
Moreover, his current target is Yu Han, not the main force of the Han army led by Guan Xing. There is no need to trade one for one with the Han army. It is not too late to deal with the Han army when the Han army takes Nanchang and turns back to reinforce Yu Han.
Even if the Han army captures Nanchang, there will inevitably be casualties. In addition, the physical strength and morale will be lower than they are now due to the long journey.
“Look…” Zhuge Qian turned and left to find the army doctor to bandage his wounds.
At the same time, Shen Yi summoned his generals and said, "After what just happened, the Wei army will most likely not attack again tonight. Order all units to remain vigilant and advance slowly."
They were on their way to attack Nanchang to support Guan Xing, not to engage in a prolonged standoff with Zhang Liao. So they couldn't stay there indefinitely and had to seize every opportunity to move on.
Under Shen Yi's command, tens of thousands of troops, like the mythical beast Xuanwu carrying a mountain on its back, advanced at a snail's pace while maintaining a defensive posture, carrying a large amount of supplies.
This commotion was quickly reported to Zhang Liao by Wei scouts. However, Zhang Liao did not pursue them but instead ordered the army to sleep and rest, as they were exhausted after a long day of fighting.
After a night of trekking, Shen Yi managed to walk twenty miles. At dawn, he set up camp on the spot and ordered half of the army to rest while the other half remained on guard.
Twenty li is a short distance for cavalry. After waking up and eating his fill, Zhang Liao soon reappeared near the Han army camp. However, he was wary of the Han army's ballistae and did not dare to attack. Instead, he stood five li away, using this to create psychological pressure on the Han army.