"Marshal Mars, are we truly going to launch a preemptive strike?" John asked with a grimace.
Mars roared, "Can't you see their attacks? Ten times more ferocious than the Huihui cannons, and beyond their range! Our city walls struggle against the Huihui cannons, and once hit by such weapons, they will surely collapse. If we don't attack proactively and suffer defeat within the city walls, it will be too late to retreat. We'll lose countless men just from trampling each other!"
The Tianri cavalry generals on the side echoed, "Marshal Caesar is dead, but the enemy army with so many infantry, to have fought their way here, must be exhausted. If we charge with all our might, there's still a chance! Bring your Britannian infantry too, and charge the enemy camp together, to slay Liang Xiao!"
John suddenly understood and immediately complied.
The Britannian infantry followed closely behind the Tianri tribal forces.
The Tianri tribe launched their all-out assault, with over two hundred thousand troops pouring out like a surging tsunami!
The Da Gan army did not immediately charge.
They had traveled nearly eighty li, and were indeed somewhat fatigued.
But for this battle, Da Gan had gathered over a million pack animals and supply carts in the western regions, and similarly over a million laborers!
Even the infantry had traveled by carriage and spare horses for forced marches.
In the past, fighting against a superior force after a long march would have been almost impossible to win.
Gathering a million vehicles and laborers was something people dared not even imagine.
Times had changed!
But the vast number of Shenbi bows, longbows, and flintlock guns in the rear, along with improved Huihui cannons and Shenwu cannons, gave the Da Gan soldiers sufficient confidence.
Even the three-bow bed crossbows were left behind to guard the city due to their cumbersome nature and unsuitability for forced marches.
"Boom!"
Before the Tianri tribal troops could approach, seven hundred Shenwu cannons unleashed their might first, commencing a new round of bombardment.
The Tianri soldiers only saw black spheres flying towards them, instantly piercing through thousands of men and horses, and those hit had no time to evacuate or resist!
"Marshal! Our army has already adopted scattered formations, yet we still cannot withstand the enemy's demonic iron balls!"
Mars, watching from the highlands as his vanguard was decimated, trembled with rage.
But he knew this was their only chance to turn the tide!
"The Da Gan army's ability to march here undetected with tens of thousands of infantry is enough to demonstrate their mobilization capabilities! If our army cannot seize the opportunity of their exhaustion, once they regain their strength, we will be utterly defeated and will never be able to set foot on Da Gan territory again!"
"Charge! No matter the cost, kill them all!"
The Shenbi bows and Huihui cannons followed closely, and even the flintlock gunners dismounted to fire volleys under the cover of shield-bearers.
The sound of the wind could not drown out the roars of all the ultimate weapons of this era.
Arrows flew like locusts, and guns rained down!
Liang Xiao, stationed on the central highlands, held the Sunset Bow, with the Sky Dragon Breaking City Halberd by his side. Flanked by loyal shadow guards, all wore excited expressions.
Centuries of animosity, one of the root causes of Da Gan's turmoil, would be resolved here, creating a thousand years of peace for their descendants!
Almost all the soldiers present were seasoned veterans who had personally experienced the earth-shattering changes in Da Gan, liberated from a century of humiliation, killed enemies, earned merits, returned home, and were respected by the populace.
The current Da Gan gave them the conviction to shed blood and sacrifice their lives.
The hardship of a mere few tens of li march, aided by vehicles, was insignificant to them.
All the melee troops were waiting for the moment the enemy's charge horns would sound – the most beautiful call they had ever heard in their lives, just like the bloody battles in the wilderness of yesteryear.
The longbowmen continuously rained arrows, their ample supply allowing them to expend ammunition without restraint, striving to kill the enemy.
Even with their eagerness to earn merit, the longbowmen remained focused on their aim.
The sky-obscuring arrows were still remarkably conspicuous under the setting sun.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The sound of air being pierced was incessant, as countless arrows shot towards the enemy's vanguard. Some flew over the fragmented shield walls, piercing directly into the crowd.
Before the Tianri tribal troops could even approach the Da Gan army, they had already suffered at least ten thousand casualties!
"Tianri Elite Cavalry, charge!!"
With Mars' command, the heavily armored cavalry of the Tianri Elite Cavalry roared forward, charging towards the Da Gan formation under the cover of their own Huihui cannons.
Infantry and horse archers followed closely, their roars shaking the heavens.
They had already realized that those "demonic iron balls" could destroy city walls and force them to either fight, retreat, or be routed!
"Iron Guard Shield Formation!"
Yue Qingtian personally braved the arrows, holding the Thunder God Shield, standing like an iron tower in the center of the shield wall.
The shield wall remained tight. Thanks to Da Gan's increasingly mature steel industry, all shields were now reinforced with iron and hardened cowhide on the surface, capable of completely withstanding ranged fire from bows and crossbows.
Even at close range, Da Gan bows could not easily penetrate them.
Of the Tianri tribe's arrows, only a few flew over the shield walls, causing minimal casualties; the rest were blocked by the layers of shield walls.
Their imitated longbows could barely match the range of Da Gan bows, but their power was slightly inferior. The imitated Da Gan bows, due to climatic issues, were far inferior in power and range to the true Da Gan bows, which were composite bows.
Combined with Da Gan's firearms assisting in breaking defenses, the casualty ratio caused by bows and arrows between the two sides was more than ten to one!
Mars had excellent eyesight. Although he couldn't see the details of the battlefield, he could at least vaguely grasp the situation of the engagement.
He noticed that the front lines of his army were already in minor disarray, with large numbers of heavy cavalry falling.
The Shenwu cannons fired another round, and over twenty thousand heavy cavalry, before even reaching the front lines, bore the brunt of it, with nearly two thousand men and horses pierced through, still on their horses!
"What weapon is that?"
Mars was terrified, his eyes filled with confusion, and an ominous premonition washed over him.
If it were just Da Gan's bows and arrows, the Tianri Elite Cavalry could have withstood them.
But facing these strange demonic iron balls, the Tianri Elite Cavalry seemed like paper, suffering casualties at an unprecedented speed!
Relying on his keen battlefield intuition, he understood that with about ten more volleys of these demonic iron balls, the Tianri Elite Cavalry would surely be routed, leading to a collapse of morale and the army scattering in large numbers.
Especially with the Kushan Dynasty having tens of thousands of slave soldiers, even though these converts desperately wanted to prove that their allegiance to the Tianri tribe was a wise choice.
What truly filled him with inexplicable fear were the rows of soldiers holding "long sticks" who dismounted to fire, just as Caesar's remnants had reported.
"Crack!"
Inside the shield wall, flintlock gunners mounted their horses to fire and dismounted to reload under the cover of the shield wall. Even the Tianri heavy cavalry, once they approached the Da Gan formation, would fall in droves facing the gunners' volleys.
"Is this the weapon that killed Caesar?"
Mars, shocked, roared, "Quickly send an urgent message to the Xiongnu Empire for reinforcements! We will fight them to the death, capture their weapons, and absolutely cannot let them return alive!!"
The Tianri tribe did not retreat despite the casualties on the front line; instead, their eyes turned bloodshot as they charged towards the Da Gan formation, advancing like a furious storm!