The roar of cannons quickly reached a mile away.
Hearing the cannons, the allied forces of Jiaozhou subconsciously paused, wanting to see what was happening ahead.
Accompanying the sound of the cannons, were there not several black dots?
Under the puzzled gaze of the vanguard of the Jiaozhou allied forces, those black dots grew larger as they approached.
Only then did everyone realize that they were several smoking spheres?
Before they could react, those ten solid iron shot balls flew towards the vanguard.
The heavy shield soldiers of the Rejuvenation Sect bore the brunt—
In an instant, thunderous sounds of shattered heavy shields erupted from the flat ground.
Each solid iron shot ball directly shattered the shield, crushing the soldier behind the shield, armor and all—
Accompanied by screams of agony, the surrounding soldiers watched helplessly as each solid iron shot ball destroyed shields in its path and crushed over a dozen soldiers!!
"What kind of sorcery is this?!"
The eyes of the Rejuvenation Sect followers, who had always believed in the heavenly gods of the Rejuvenation Sect, constricted. They instinctively retreated several steps, their faces pale as they gazed at the solid iron balls still slowly rolling on the ground.
In just a moment, over a hundred people had been killed?!
The vanguard, always the best-equipped unit on the battlefield, could not withstand these iron balls?
For these followers who had witnessed the might of the Shenwu Cannon with their own eyes, this was a power akin to destroying heaven and earth!
Even heavy armor, which could at least withstand the longbows of the Great Gan country from a distance, was as brittle as thin paper against these iron balls??
The power of just one volley from ten Shenwu Cannons caused a portion of the Jiaozhou allied forces to halt their advance, disrupting the push from the rear.
Alexander, who had been observing the situation on the front lines from the hillside, was both shocked and fearful. "What are those things?"
Because the distance was too great, he could not see the Shenwu Cannons. He could only see the frontline soldiers suddenly in a commotion, and several phalanxes being scattered by "several black lines" flying in.
At this moment, he could only be thankful that he had not underestimated the enemy and rushed to the front lines to command.
If he were to be struck by these terrifying iron balls, even with his "Sacred Armor," he would surely die!
"Marshal! The enemy is launching iron balls weighing over ten catties, each capable of killing over a dozen of our men!!"
The terrified report from the messenger made Xiao Chang and others exchange glances. "Could it be the Huihui Cannon?"
"Huihui Cannons always preferred to hurl hundred-catty stones, they wouldn't launch these iron balls!" The young master in brocade robes, Xiao Feng, trembled with anger. "Father, we may have fallen for Liang Xiao's scheme again!"
"This must be a new type of weapon from the enemy! Advance immediately, we cannot give them another chance to fire!!" Alexander made a decisive command and urged the army forward.
The Jiaozhou allied forces continued to advance, while the Great Gan army's Shenwu Cannons were cooling down, awaiting reloading.
The vanguard Great Gan Town Guards had already noticed the enemy's situation.
Seeing that the Shenwu Cannons could blast the enemy into mincemeat, the soldiers' morale surged. The longbowmen were the first to nock arrows, preparing for the first volley.
Thousands of arrows whistled through the air in an arc, most of them bypassing the enemy's heavy shields and hitting the spearmen, killing hundreds.
The Jiaozhou allied forces, unwilling to be outdone, also immediately drew their bows and fired, but due to insufficient range, their arrows were shot towards the Great Gan army's vanguard heavy shields.
Coupled with the terrain Liang Xiao had chosen, where the vanguard and center were higher, the vanguard could more easily shield their comrades behind them from arrows, while the Shenwu Cannons in the center could fire conveniently.
Therefore, the first volley of arrows from the Jiaozhou allied forces caused no casualties.
"A bunch of low-caste fools! Your range is shorter than the enemy's, get closer before you fire!"
The officer of the Tianri tribe in charge of commanding the longbowmen roared in anger.
The longbowmen meekly complied, and the army continued to advance.
Alexander and others, observing and commanding from afar, also shook their heads helplessly.
The range of Jiaozhou longbows was about ten zhang shorter than that of the Great Gan longbows, and their power was also inferior.
This was not just a problem with Jiaozhou longbows. The Great Liang country's imitations were the same. They knew they had not fully mastered the craftsmanship of the Great Gan longbows and were merely using their own archers' techniques to forcefully imitate and rush production, sacrificing quality for time and output.
Even so, the power of the longbows still brought them great comfort.
But at this moment, the longbow contingent exposed its disadvantages in numbers and range.
Compared to the thousands of longbows of the Great Gan country, their limited number of longbows was like a drop in the bucket.
And in the rear, there were a large number of new Great Gan bows. During the interval when the Great Gan longbows were being restrung, another volley was fired—
Thousands more arrows were aimed and fired, with half of them bypassing the heavy shield soldiers and killing a large number of spearmen and crossbowmen.
These ordinary crossbowmen couldn't even get close. After firing one arrow within their range, they died on the battlefield with regret.
In just one round of archery exchange, the Jiaozhou allied forces suffered at least 1,500 casualties, not counting those killed by the "iron balls."
For an army of eighty thousand, this might not seem like a fatal loss, but Alexander was already sweating profusely.
If the vanguard suffered too heavily, it could lead to a complete rout of the army!
"Cavalry attack!"
Alexander had no choice but to order the cavalry to charge from both flanks, coordinating with his own troops to harass the Great Gan army and disperse their firepower.
Facing the enemy's cavalry charge, Liang Xiao did not change formation. Instead, he had the Great Gan cavalry on the flanks wait. Both flanks had three thousand men armed with bows and crossbows, and in their saddlebags, they carried large Zhuge repeating crossbows, already strung.
The cavalry was commanded by Zuo Wuji.
The Jiaozhou allied forces were not more than five times the number of the Great Gan army, so they could not launch a full encirclement of the round formation. Otherwise, if the defending army within the city and Zhuo Ying from the east came to reinforce, and they were attacked from both sides, they could be defeated one by one!
However, the Great Gan soldiers still deployed massive heavy shields around the outer perimeter of the round formation, specifically to block enemy cavalry arrows and direct charges.
The Tianri cavalry roared forward, only to face layers of heavy shields and the threat of longbows. In just a quarter of an hour, over a hundred corpses were left behind, and they dared not approach too closely, only able to harass from the outer perimeter.
Zuo Wuji watched the scattered Tianri cavalry from a high vantage point, a cruel smile appearing on his lips. "Bastards, you are all my achievements!"
The silver dragon and gold long spear in his hand shone with a cold glint, itching for battle.
The Great Gan cavalry were already eager to fight, but it was not yet time to charge.
"What is that thing again!!"
At the front of the battlefield, Yue Qingtian's Thunder God Shield, being too conspicuous and having a wooden texture on its surface that made it appear easier to penetrate than the heavy shields wrapped in steel, became the target of the Jiaozhou allied forces' arrows.
But all the longbows and small ballistae that hit the Thunder God Shield shattered upon impact, while the Thunder God Shield remained unharmed!
Alexander, watching from afar, could only clench his teeth as hundreds of his own arrows rained down on the red wooden shield.
"Idiots! That thing is clearly not something arrows can penetrate! Bring me those five ballistae!!"
Xiao Chang quickly reminded him, "Marshal Alexander! If they are spotted by the enemy's sorcerous iron balls, the ballistae will also be in danger!"
"Those are weapons from the Peacock Dynasty, not from Jiaozhou. If they are broken, they will be rebuilt. Do I need to teach you this?" Alexander said angrily.
Xiao Chang had no choice but to transfer the five giant ballistae prepared by the army to the front lines.
The Jiaozhou allied forces, enduring three volleys of arrows from the Great Gan bows and longbows, suffered at least four thousand casualties, and finally reached the Great Gan army's formation.
Facing the Great Gan's round formation, the Jiaozhou allied forces accepted Alexander's death order and intended to break through quickly, so they could only push forward with all their might.