On the city wall, Lü Yi stared intently at the hundreds of black cloths concealing the enemy's myriad soldiers in the distance.
The enemy was still advancing, now three li from the city wall!
"The enemy's ballistae must be hidden within! Fire the chuangzi nu (the Great Gan soldiers' alias for the three-bow bed crossbow)!"
The bed crossbow soldiers guarding the three-bow bed crossbows sprang into action. Thirty men simultaneously turned the winches, and then strongmen pulled the triggers with their great axes.
"Puff puff—"
The muffled sound of the air being rent startled Xilalue, who had been observing the enemy.
At that moment, over a hundred of the thousand-plus three-bow bed crossbows had struck the enemy's black cloths, causing immediate chaos.
The remaining three-bow bed crossbows, with their massive arrows, pierced through multiple soldiers along with their shields, killing them instantly!
"Is this the divine crossbow provided by the Marquis of Anguo?" Xilalue's heart trembled.
The soldiers of the Gui Shuang Dynasty had not dared to attack the city for a long time. Today, they had rushed forward like madmen, shielding their ballistae, only to be hit hard by another volley of three-bow bed crossbow fire.
Without a doubt, the soldiers operating and protecting the ballistae under the black cloths had suffered heavy losses, otherwise, the enemy would not have stopped.
These black cloths were meant to expand the protective coverage of the ballistae, preventing the Great Gan soldiers from pinpointing their exact locations.
Yet, the arrows from the three-bow bed crossbows, rending the air, were capable of piercing through multiple men in armor!
"Hold the line! Get close to the city wall, then break through with the ballistae!"
Mars, supervising the battle, was furious and ordered with indignation.
The Gui Shuang Dynasty soldiers raised their shields to block, covering their imitation Great Gan siege engines as they pushed forward with all their might.
From the city wall, a volley of divine arm crossbows followed, killing over a thousand Gui Shuang Dynasty soldiers!
"Prepare the huihui cannons as well!"
At the command, five hundred improved trebuchets from the rear were pushed to the city wall, and large stones, pre-placed, were set in position.
"Such massive huihui cannons..."
Xilalue stared intently at these trebuchets, eager to witness their power firsthand.
Lü Yi had called the ballistae ancient relics—or rather, Liang Xiao had said so, which had wounded him slightly.
The ballista was invented by the Greeks, but it was the Romans who had refined it to its peak, capable of hurling stones weighing nearly sixty jin over two hundred paces!
But the huihui cannons before him were clearly several grades larger than the ballistae; the length of their throwing arms alone exceeded seven zhang!
These huihui cannons had a sling that held the projectile, doubling their power and range. Their strength came from their levers, appropriately weighted counterweights, and the sling.
As their levers released the hooks, the huihui cannons would slowly rotate in a large circle, achieving the velocity that the shorter levers of a trebuchet could reach without any other means.
And the counterweight in front weighed over a thousand jin!
The soldiers first lowered the end that held the ammunition using a winch, pulley, and other combinations. At this point, the other end, attached to the counterweight, rose. After placing the stone, the rope was released, or for those who couldn't, it was simply cut, causing the heavy end to fall and the stone to be launched—
"Enemy approaching within three hundred paces!"
Xilalue heard a soldier's urgent cry, followed by a whistling sound in the sky.
Stones exceeding one hundred and fifty jin arced through the air in parabolic trajectories, crashing heavily into the Gui Shuang Dynasty army—
"Bang!"
Dust flew, and the sounds of explosions and screams were incessant. Xilalue squinted and felt a chill in his heart: "Defeated..."
Forget the ballistae; even the armored soldiers at the front of the Gui Shuang Dynasty army were smashed into meat patties by the stones!
The Gui Shuang Dynasty army, which had endured the fierce barrage of the three-bow bed crossbows to bring nearly a hundred ballistae within range, was now struck by a sudden barrage of stones, causing widespread panic. They turned and fled!
"What is that thing? Could that be the true ballista? Damn it!!" Achilles and Mars on the high ground stared with eyes wide with rage.
The Roman ballistae had once caused their Tianri tribe immense suffering, making them a coveted treasure they longed for, willing to pay any price to replicate it, even if its power was slightly diminished.
But as they approached firing range, before the ballistae could even fire, they were reduced to powder by the stone projectiles from the Great Gan!
"Temporary retreat!"
Without the bombardment of ballistae to cover their advance on the city wall, Mars decisively ordered a retreat.
The Gui Shuang Dynasty, which had surged forward like a tide, was now forced to retreat like a tide.
Yue Yun, on the city wall, seeing the retreat, excitedly said, "Marshal! Your subordinate requests to lead the cavalry to pursue the enemy!"
The other generals clamored to fight.
Lü Yi, confirming that the enemy was not feigning a retreat and hoping to strike a blow while they were down, immediately ordered: "Thirty thousand cavalry to pursue!"
Seeing this, Xilalue could not help but request to join the pursuit with Yue Yun.
If this battle could be won decisively, the Gui Shuang Dynasty would no longer be able to threaten Yumenguan.
The thirty thousand cavalry, after confirming the enemy's retreat, pursued them out of the pass, slaughtering along the way, turning the ground into a river of blood.
The ballistae were largely destroyed and could not be reloaded and fired while moving. The soldiers were eager to retreat and did not wish to face the three-bow bed crossbows, so the Great Gan cavalry only faced the covering fire of enemy crossbows, not the fierce barrage of remaining ballistae.
Amidst the chaos, a contingent of Gui Shuang Dynasty cavalry suddenly emerged from the rear, led by a furious Achilles.
"Do you finally have the courage to fight me to the death?!"
Achilles bared his fangs and personally led the Tianri cavalry into battle.
In the confusion, Yue Yun, wielding his spear, charged directly at Achilles, intending to slay the general and capture the banner.
After less than twenty exchanges, Yue Yun found his spearhead filled with nicks, on the verge of breaking!
"Is this the silver-dragon gold weapon that the Marquis of Anguo spoke of?" Yue Yun was both shocked and enraged.
What truly stunned him, however, was the enemy general's martial skill, which was likely superior to his own, and that long saber was immensely powerful!
Even Nan Jiyun could only fight him to a draw for three hundred rounds!
In this moment of crisis, Xilalue arrived with his troops: "General Yue, leave this man to me!"
Seeing his spearhead severely damaged, Yue Yun had no choice but to withdraw and find a subordinate to exchange for a water-pattern steel spear, ready to support Xilalue at any time.
But soon, Xilalue, whose martial arts were not much inferior to Yue Yun's, was forced to retreat to his own lines after only a few dozen rounds, wielding his silver-dragon gold saber.
The Tianri cavalry, emboldened, rushed towards the Great Gan iron cavalry one after another, but the arrows from the three-bow bed crossbows once again rent the air, targeting the center of the army and preventing the pursuit.
"Retreat for now!"
Xilalue made a decisive decision, and along with Yue Yun, led the troops back towards Yumenguan. Coordinating mounted crossbows with the three-bow bed crossbows and divine arm crossbows on the city walls, they managed to withdraw into the pass, though still suffering over a thousand casualties.
"This man is so valiant, and he possesses a silver-dragon gold saber. He must be the 'invincible Achilles' spoken of by the Tianri cavalry. Even with my silver-dragon gold weapon, I was nearly cut down by him! His bravery is astonishing, truly unrivaled!" Xilalue explained.
"Unrivaled? That remains to be seen!" Lü Yi's expression was grim, and he sighed, "Although our army annihilated at least twenty thousand enemies in this battle, our cavalry also lost over a thousand men. Even if the enemy's entire army was wiped out, it would not be worth the lives of our thousand soldiers!"
"Your subordinate pleads guilty!" The generals who had eagerly requested to fight now hung their heads in shame.
Lü Yi shook his head and said, "You pursued and killed over ten thousand, your merits are great, how can you be blamed? It is I who was not cautious enough, failing to anticipate such fierce resistance from the enemy and such a valiant general to rally their morale. After tending to the bodies of our comrades, we will temporarily hold Yumenguan. We need not engage the enemy head-on. Once the situation in Jiangnan is resolved, someone will come to deal with this man!"
Everyone seemed to understand.
In the capital, after Liang Xiao and Xiao Qing tallied the gold, they immediately arranged to acquire weaving workshops across the country, while also monitoring the border situation.