The cavalry of both armies' flanks, the Tianri cavalry, were also continuously harassing, but facing the longbowmen and Da Gan archers, they were unable to cause effective interference.
The cavalry of the Da Gan Kingdom, also wielding Da Gan bows, specifically targeted enemy cavalry.
These Tianri cavalry were better equipped, with minimal gaps in their armor, clearly designed to defend against the scattered barrage of Zhuge repeating crossbows.
Therefore, Liang Xiao had issued an order in advance that the Da Gan cavalry only carried two thousand Zhuge repeating crossbows, with rations and quivers in their saddlebags for the convenience of the entire army's supply.
Even so, the Da Gan bow could still penetrate several inches of armor at close range, killing some of the enemy's heavily armored cavalry.
The iron armor that the Tianri cavalry prided themselves on, facing the alternating volleys of Da Gan bows, longbows, and Shen Bi bows, suffered increasing casualties and finally had to give up close harassment, switching to long-range attrition.
The heavy shield infantry could not be broken through by their cavalry charges. Battlefield ambushes, harassment, and attrition were their most crucial roles.
But facing this steadily advancing Da Gan army, their cavalry tactics, which had swept across the world, were stretched thin due to insufficient archery range, and their morale was increasingly low.
In contrast, the Da Gan soldiers were almost all high-spirited.
The overwhelming power of their own crossbows and Shenwu cannons greatly boosted their confidence.
After all, the one leading them into battle was the Marquis of Anguo of Da Gan, who had repeatedly achieved battle damage ratios of one to dozens. They were fully confident of winning this battle and striking a heavy blow against the enemy!
As the two armies faced each other, the eastern city of Luzhou was assembling troops, ready to sortie and provide support at any time.
Luzhou City could not be lost, but their scouts rushed back with urgent news, confirming that the enemy's main forces were heading towards Liang Xiao and Zhuo Ying. Therefore, Luzhou could mobilize a unit to reinforce Liang Xiao.
After all, the enemy had been marching and fighting for a day. It was entirely sufficient for the Da Gan Kingdom to have only twenty to thirty thousand men guarding Luzhou City for a day.
The scorpion crossbows also arrived at the front lines under the protection of the shield infantry, enduring the crossbow bolts and beginning to launch small stone projectiles.
"Clang!"
The crisp sounds were continuous, and a large number of stone projectiles rained down, finally bypassing the heavy shield infantry and falling into the Da Gan army's heavy-armored spearmen.
Most of these heavy-armored spearmen wore infantry armor and steel helmets, but they were still significantly disturbed by the impact of the stone projectiles.
Two soldiers were even hit in the eye by stone fragments, and the shattered stone fragments, following the gaps, struck an eyeball, blood splattering everywhere, and they were sent back by their comrades for urgent medical treatment!
"Bow your heads! Beware of the enemy's stones!"
The officers and generals nearby immediately issued military orders. All the heavy-armored spearmen slightly lowered their heads, so that the stones could only hit their helmets at most and could not be shot into their eyes from an aerial angle.
In front of each longbowman and Da Gan archer was a large diagonally placed shield, protecting the archers' safety. Therefore, these archers were fearless of stone projectiles, and moreover, they were at a greater distance, almost out of the range of the stone projectiles.
Liang Xiao continued to observe everything and listen to all directions, commanding the Shenwu cannons and Shen Bi bows to destroy the remaining scorpion crossbows.
These scorpion crossbows did not seem to be able to penetrate iron armor, but the impact force and fragments from the stone projectiles could still injure or even kill soldiers, and the noisy, rain-like explosions also affected the spearmen's concentration in assassinating the enemy in front.
"Rumble!"
The Shenwu cannon fired again, killing a large number of scorpion crossbows.
Some scorpion crossbow soldiers whose front shields were only blown off faced the crossfire of the Shen Bi bows and died on the spot!
The siege weapons that the Tianri tribe prided themselves on, which had been invincible in the Peacock Dynasty and the West, were unable to be deployed against the Da Gan Kingdom's layered defenses and range advantage, and were almost wiped out!
The surviving hundreds of scorpion crossbows, fearing the Shen Bi bows and Shenwu cannons, were forced to move and fire on the battlefield, harassing the enemy, but with little effect.
After Liang Xiao repeatedly confirmed that the enemy's scorpion crossbows were no longer a threat, he then mobilized six hundred Shen Bi bows to the flanks to shoot down and deter the Tianri cavalry.
The Shenwu cannons were still cooling, loading ammunition, and firing. The Shadow Guards had the spirit of not giving up until all their ammunition was expended.
Each Shenwu cannon was loaded with about ten catties of gunpowder, but they had brought two hundred barrels of gunpowder, totaling ten thousand catties!
Of course, the Shenwu cannons could not fire a hundred shots in a day; fifty shots a day was already the limit, as there was not enough cold water for cooling on site. The remaining ammunition was for subsequent days.
"Boom!"
The Shenwu cannons continued to bombard the enemy's heavy and ranged troops in the rear.
After an hour of engagement, the Shenwu cannons had fired twenty-five shots, specifically targeting the enemy's key units.
This was already the limit for the first-generation Shenwu cannons. The Shenwu cannons had finally run out of the surrounding cold water and were forced into sustained cooling.
The Shen Bi bows on both sides, with their greater range advantage, began to shoot down the Tianri cavalry and the local cavalry of Jiaozhou.
"Pfft!"
The Tianri cavalry that got slightly closer than two hundred paces, once hit by a Shen Bi bow's crossbow bolt, were directly shot through their iron armor and fell off their horses on the spot!
The Shen Bi bows shifted their positions, putting greater pressure on the Jiaozhou allied cavalry, who were forced to retreat further back. They looked threatening but were actually helpless.
Their bows and crossbows had a considerable range, but in comparison, they were useless.
Even with their strong mobility, they were still shot down by the three types of Da Gan crossbow bolts.
The battlefield became increasingly stalemated, but it was clear that the Da Gan army held an absolute defensive advantage, waiting for the enemy to retreat to finish them off.
Alexander and others were terrified, but at this point, they were trapped.
Retreat would lead to a complete rout, and the losses would be immeasurable.
And they were counting on killing Liang Xiao here, regardless of the cost!
This unit had been dragged into a quagmire by the Da Gan soldiers, unable to launch a more effective breakthrough or extricate themselves from the mire, and could only remain in a stalemate.
They hoped that the Da Gan Kingdom's crossbow bolts would be depleted, or that the archers would shoot until they were exhausted.
But the Da Gan army's crossbow bolts were abundant, and they had already considered the situation of archers becoming exhausted. Therefore, after the two sides engaged in close combat, they divided into four groups of archers who took turns shooting, ensuring that their side always had long-range firepower to suppress the enemy's support in the middle and rear.
Alexander looked at the increasingly anxious battlefield in the distance, the flesh on his face twitching, and took a deep breath.
Based on his past military experience, he could see that the defeat of the Jiaozhou allied forces was only a matter of time.
The Da Gan soldiers were not the undisciplined rabble he had swept across Eurasia in the past. On the contrary, they were an unprecedentedly strong enemy.
He admitted that he had not underestimated them, and had taken into account the enemy's crossbows and military strength before the battle.
But the enemy's military equipment was simply too excellent, and their morale was soaring. Any single soldier picked out would be an elite among elites in the Jiaozhou allied forces!
"Why are the armies of Da Gan so powerful! Wasn't the Da Gan army undisciplined and poorly equipped before? Why did they deceive our tribe!!"
Enraged and humiliated, Alexander grabbed the Southern King by the collar and roared hysterically.