Arrows from the Jiazhou allied forces' archers, finally able to bypass the heavy shields of the Great Qian town guards, landed on the spearmen.
"Bang bang bang—"
The arrows were still deflected by the plate armor on the spearmen!
The Great Qian kingdom's steel industry was maturing, its treasury full of gold, and its artisans willing to accept employment. It could now equip every vanguard soldier with a set of plate armor, body armor, and a helmet!
The Great Qian vanguard was immediately squeezed by the Jiazhou allied forces' advance, and spearmen from both sides thrust their spears through the gaps.
However, the first exchange between the armored troops did not result in significant casualties for either side, as both were protected by heavy armor.
At this moment, the ten cooled Shenwu cannons finally commenced their second volley.
Another deafening roar, startling the Jiazhou allied forces.
The enemy instinctively retreated a step, looking up at the sky with apprehension. As expected, they saw ten black dots flying towards them again...
This time, they landed directly on the Jiazhou allied forces' longbowmen!
Longbowmen, clad in leather armor and wearing helmets, faced a simultaneous volley from ten Shenwu cannons. In an instant, over two hundred were crushed!
Because they were closer to the Shenwu cannons and lacked the weakening effect of iron armor and shields against the impact of solid iron balls, the Jiazhou allied forces suffered thirty percent more casualties than the first time!
But what was truly fatal was the devastating blow to the longbow corps. At least twenty longbows were shattered, causing the Jiazhou allied forces to lose a portion of their ranged fire support.
Longbowmen were originally specially trained strongmen. After their deaths, nearby crossbowmen picked up the longbows. Except for a few who were substitute longbowmen, the others were too weak to draw the bows and could only quickly send them to the rear.
"Again?!"
Alexander, from a distance, finally exploded in rage.
He prided himself as a top military strategist of the Tianri tribe, surpassing the great ruler of the Macedonian Empire, and took pride in bearing his name.
But faced with such superior weaponry from the Great Qian kingdom, he realized his military command suddenly seemed ridiculously inadequate.
He was certain that the Great Qian kingdom's weaponry was developing rapidly, surpassing that of other nations by a whole tier. Their tactics were also exceptionally skilled, and their soldiers' quality and combat effectiveness far exceeded those of other nations!
They were also attempting to replicate the plate armor, but their production capacity was pitifully low compared to the Great Qian. 138 Reading Network
It required both steel, artisans, and money.
As for forging more resilient body armor with refined steel, it was merely a pipe dream. The Tianri tribe had to abandon replication. After all, steel body armor only offered slightly better defense than plate armor and was far from a performance advantage.
However, the steel required for steel plate armor was too rare. Wrought iron could also be used, but it was far less resistant to impact than steel plate armor.
But the current situation was that armored soldiers were being crushed, along with their armor and shields, by the enemy's iron balls – it was a miracle!
Xiao Chang, Xiao Che, and others exchanged glances, then swallowed hard, their scalps tingling.
Such terrifying weapons were even more dangerous than the trebuchets!
Trebuchets, at least, could be seen and dodged, offering a chance of survival. Dispersing the troops could reduce casualties.
But these iron balls flew in a straight line, unstoppable, and if unimpeded, they could travel even farther, continuing their carnage until enough targets were hit!
Unless there was no one along the entire trajectory of the iron ball, which was impossible on the battlefield due to the ball's incredible speed.
It completely relied on human lives to weaken its power!
It seemed unrelated to distance?
They saw clearly that the longbowmen were more scattered than the heavy shield soldiers, yet they were still hit by iron balls from afar. The distance they were hit from was three times that of the heavy-armored soldiers hit previously.
People of this era could not yet describe principles like kinetic energy or momentum, but they could vaguely discern the problem.
These iron balls were unstoppable. Without anything to weaken their power, they could only pray they didn't hit any targets!
Xiao Chang was at his wit's end and murmured, "Could this be another thing Liang Xiao cooked up..."
"Liang Xiao?!" Alexander's expression changed drastically. Gritting his teeth, he hissed, "He must be commanding the enemy. Today, even if our army suffers over fifty thousand casualties, we must kill this man, understand!"
Xiao Che nodded repeatedly, "Ballistas and scorpion crossbows will soon approach the enemy. Perhaps we can kill Liang Xiao with a single shot from a ballista!"
Everyone's eyes lit up, then they pursed their lips and said nothing.
They realized that at this moment, they could only place their hopes on something so improbable.
"First, hit that red heavy shield soldier with a cannonball!" Alexander said, his face grim.
Yue Qingtian's Thunder God Shield had caused hundreds of arrows from the Jiazhou allied forces to be wasted, and he couldn't let it go.
After all, the Jiazhou allied forces had yet to breach the Great Qian's circular formation.
The Great Qian's longbows and their own bows began another volley. This time, as the distance between the two sides narrowed, the arrows flew directly behind the enemy's heavy shield soldiers, killing a large number of crossbowmen.
The Jiazhou allied forces, unable to breach the Great Qian army's front line, could only keep their rear crossbowmen on standby. Otherwise, firing crossbows at the finely crafted shields would be futile, effectively rendering them without ranged fire support.
The front line attempted to seize the Great Qian soldiers' shields, but the latter also had numerous heavy-armored spearmen specifically targeting those trying to snatch shields. They had to give up.
However, the Jiazhou allied forces fell into a vicious cycle. The crossbowmen were forced to remain on standby, relying only on archers' volleys. But these ordinary archers lacked the range of the longbowmen, and the results were minimal.
If they couldn't kill the soldiers behind the heavy shield soldiers, they might be stuck in this stalemate...
Meanwhile, the Great Qian army had a large number of longbows and their own bows, plus the "demonic iron balls" to aid them, holding a significant advantage!
At this moment, they realized how laughable and pathetic their idea of defeating the enemy with numerical superiority was.
The disparity in military equipment, especially ranged weapons, was not as apparent during normal city sieges. But in this close-quarters combat, they realized: the Great Qian's archery was sufficient to cut through their formations, directly turning them into isolated units!
The Great Qian soldiers, unlike the Jiazhou allied forces, did not attempt to seize enemy shields but maintained a strict defense.
As the battle raged, the Jiazhou allied forces noticed an iron wire connecting the Great Qian soldiers' shields, which led them to discover an even more horrifying fact.
The numerous connected shields had formed a shield wall, which was the true reason the enemy couldn't seize their shields!
In reality, these specially made shields had a movable iron hook on each inner side. After twisting the hooks of two shields together, they could be securely locked to each other.
With the strength of just a few men, it was impossible to move the connected shield wall simultaneously!
And because these iron hooks were pulled taut, it was impossible for the enemy to disengage them on the battlefield in a short time.
The formation of the Great Qian shield wall was quickly reported to Alexander in the rear by the Jiazhou allied forces.
Alexander's expression grew increasingly grim.
These iron hooks, which he considered utterly pointless, had proven unexpectedly effective in the field.
If the Great Qian army were to rout, these shields would also be difficult to dismantle and recover.
But the problem was, they couldn't breach the shield wall at all!
If the Jiazhou allied forces were to retreat rashly, their morale would plummet, and they would panic, leading to heavy casualties from the enemy's pursuit. They could only halt their advance and then organize a retreat!
Just as the Jiazhou leaders were at a loss, five giant ballistas finally reached the front lines, and over a thousand replicated Roman scorpion crossbows finally approached firing range.