The crowd was both shocked and delighted.
Liang Xiao examined the Da Qian Bow in his hand, roughly understanding its principle, and then placed the Bu Ren Armor ninety zhang away to test it again.
"Huh? Marquis, this time the longbow still penetrated one layer, but the Da Qian Bow can only barely shoot through one layer. It's clearly not as deep as the longbow..."
Liang Xiao explained, "The two powerful bows each have their own characteristics. The Da Qian Bow is relatively heavy, suitable for medium to close-range trajectory shots, while the longbow is more suited for medium to long-range and they can complement each other. Compared to this longbow, the Da Qian Bow is more suitable for using heavy arrows."
The crowd suddenly understood.
Liang Xiao immediately found Zhuo Wulüe and, along with Huang Xing, submitted a memorial.
Upon learning of the extraordinary power of the Da Qian Bow, Xiao Qing was overjoyed and readily approved: "Approved! Order the Bureau of Military Equipment to pre-manufacture twenty thousand units, and if the Ministry of Works has any improvements, continue mass production with the improved model!"
The Bureau of Military Equipment received the order and immediately prepared materials, commencing urgent work.
Several days later, on the border of the Kushan Dynasty, brothers from the Tianri clan, the similarly featured Marshal Mars and "The Invincible" Achilles, were gazing eastward from a high mountain.
"That land, every time it faces a moment of crisis, someone always turns the tide, it's unbelievable," Mars said with a sinister expression, gnashing his teeth.
Achilles, however, appeared calm and collected, "Once our clan has integrated the West, they will inevitably be annihilated under the iron hooves of the Tianri cavalry!"
At that moment, with their extraordinary eyesight, the brothers spotted a remnant cavalry force in the distance, all dust-covered, arriving at the foot of the dirt mountain.
"Diwal, you lost? Give me an explanation!" Achilles glared furiously at the dejected General Diwal, like a lion ready to pounce.
"While we were slaughtering the Western Regions' various states, we encountered an equal number of Da Qian cavalry. They were all clad in white robes and armor, and used a type of crossbow that could shoot more than a dozen arrows at once, defeating us..."
Diwal reported with a trembling voice, causing the brothers' expressions to grow increasingly grim.
"The Greeks we annihilated also used such crossbows, but they were not enough to penetrate your armor!" Mars frowned.
"We were ordered to conduct a surprise raid and were fatigued from the long journey; we were truly no match for them..." Diwal complained aggrievedly.
Achilles coldly asked, "What were the casualties of both armies?"
"Our army lost over eight thousand men. The enemy's losses..." Diwal was about to vaguely state a number when he suddenly met Achilles' murderous gaze, shivered, and immediately reported truthfully, "The enemy's losses were likely less than five hundred!"
"What?!" Achilles immediately leaped onto his horse, whip in hand, intending to charge over and cut Diwal down, but was stopped by Mars' spear.
"The white-robed troops they encountered, could they be the Da Qian country's white-robed soldiers? If so, then we were indeed careless this time and should have decisively dispatched the Tianri elite cavalry to engage them."
Achilles sneered, "White-robed soldiers, how dare they be worthy of engaging the Tianri elite cavalry? I will lead the regular troops and fight them to the death in the western territories, forcing out Da Qian's Liang Xiao and General Tian! It just so happens that you can deal with Liang Xiao, and I will deal with General Tian!"
"But! Lord Achilles, the enemy's crossbows are too powerful. You cannot simply charge into battle recklessly, lest you be injured by the pervasive crossbow bolts..." Diwal hurriedly warned.
Achilles frowned and was about to reprimand him when Mars waved his hand.
"We have gained intelligence on Da Qian's military equipment, and we are currently imitating longbows with yew wood. As for the other type of triple-person powerful crossbow, it cannot be replicated in a short time. However... His Majesty has sent people to study the history of various Western countries and has recovered some Western military equipment that can be put to use!"
As he spoke, Mars whipped his horse towards the generals at the foot of the mountain, and his subordinates immediately pushed out several types of military equipment from the tent.
Everyone looked closely.
The first device was a small ballista, shaped like a giant scorpion lying in wait on the ground, which first caught everyone's attention.
"Is this a ballista?" Achilles asked doubtfully.
"No, to be precise, it is a small catapult. I had the surrendered Roman artisans restore the Roman scorpion crossbow. Its power should be comparable, capable of firing both crossbow bolts and stones."
Mars explained, dismounted, strung the scorpion crossbow, placed a stone into it, and pointed it into the distance—
"Crack!"
After a crisp explosion, the crowd looked closely. The mountain wall fifty zhang away had been struck by the stone, less than palm-sized, creating a small hole.
"Small volume, portable, and not heavily reliant on crossbow bolts; it's indeed a good weapon," Achilles praised.
"Ordinary armor cannot withstand a single powerful shot from the scorpion crossbow. Even if it cannot penetrate the armor, the impact force alone is enough to seriously injure them, or even kill them on the spot," Mars explained with a calm expression.
The Tianri cavalry were both shocked and delighted, and then looked at another giant machine that resembled a trebuchet.
This machine had a sturdy support frame, with the main beam placed on the frame. The front sides were equipped with two torsion spring assemblies, each driving a bow arm. The bow arm was connected to a bowstring at its end. The middle of the bowstring was a woven net bag for holding projectiles. It was a projectile device using the torsion generated by two tightened horsehair ropes or animal tendons as power, driving the bow arm to propel projectiles, arrows, or spears.
"This is a true catapult. It is said to originate from Greece and can propel stone balls weighing over fifty jin to a distance of one hundred and twenty zhang. Once hit by it, let alone people, even horses would be crushed to a pulp!" Mars said, and immediately ordered stones to be thrown.
A huge stone ball was placed in the net bag, and three soldiers spun the winch with all their might—
"Rumble!"
The mountain wall one hundred and twenty zhang away was hit by the stone ball, causing a small-scale tremor. Cracks spread, and the stone ball was deeply embedded in the mountain wall!
The Tianri cavalry were greatly shaken, and then everyone raised their swords and spears and cheered.
As for other military equipment such as crossbows and heavy armor, they were also successively unveiled and put into use by the army.
"The Tianri clan is willing to pay any price to annihilate Da Qian, absorbing the advantages of various European countries for their own use. With catapults and scorpion crossbows, they have retaliated against the Westerners. His Majesty has completely annihilated the remnants of the Roman Empire! When the troops we dispatched from the Holy Land finish clearing out the remnants of various European countries, we can gather at the Kushan Dynasty for a decisive battle with Da Qian!"
"By then, the Xianbei, Da Liang, Nan Man, Jiao Zhou, and the Peacock Dynasty, under our teachings, will also attack successively, forcing Da Qian to be overwhelmed. I want to see how many 'An Guo Hou' and 'General Tian' they have! Achilles, the miracle of personal bravery dominating the battlefield will be a thing of the past."
Achilles merely sneered, galloped to the foot of the mountain, dismounted, and roared, "Throw stones at me!"
The stone throwers looked at each other.
Mars immediately ordered, "He is protected by divine artifacts and has nothing to fear, so let him taste the power of the catapult."
A fifty-jin stone ball descended from the sky, whistling through the air.
"It missed..." everyone said awkwardly.
Because the stone throwers dared not exert their full strength, the stone clearly missed Achilles and was about to land in front of him.
At that moment, Achilles lunged forward with a ferocious expression and swung his long saber at the flying stone ball.
With a bang, the stone ball shattered on the spot, but Achilles was only shaken back five steps!
"Achilles!!"
Achilles' miraculous feat caused the Tianri cavalry to roar his name, and everyone dismounted to pay homage.