kingnovel Chapter 1981 Applying Pressure Directly
Chapter 1981 Applying Pressure Directly
After arranging the surprise attack, Xue Huaide took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the generals in the tent once more. His face was filled with murderous intent, and his voice boomed like the sound of war drums: "All generals, heed my command!"
"The general is here!"
All the generals stood up straight and responded in unison, their voices shaking the roof tiles.
"Archery battalion, prepare enough arrows and occupy the high ground!"
"Shield Battalion, inspect the heavy shields of the large towers and form an advancing formation!"
"The supply battalion, move the siege equipment, especially the ladders and battering rams, to the front lines!"
"Strongmen Battalion, move logs and boulders, prepare for close combat!"
Every time Xue Huaide gave an order, a general would immediately obey.
"I will personally oversee the central command and direct the overall operation! In half an hour, the entire army will launch an attack, with the target being—the Tang army's main camp!"
"Give me a good beating, strike hard to show my strength and power, and make Wang Zhongsi think that I, Xue Huaide, am determined to raze his camp to the ground today!"
"Yes, sir! Raze the enemy camp to the ground!!"
The generals were filled with fervor, roaring as they accepted the order and set off, their footsteps thundering like lightning.
With each order, the entire Chu army camp began to operate like a wound-up war machine, operating with unprecedented efficiency.
Soldiers ran, officers shouted, the clanging of weapons and the neighing of warhorses intertwined to create a stirring symphony before the great battle.
Xue Huaide and Jia Yu exchanged a glance, both seeing solemnity and determination in each other's eyes.
With both open and covert attacks, a bloody battle that will determine the fate of Luoxia Mountain and even the entire eastern front has begun!
The half-hour preparation time passed in the blink of an eye.
As the dawn's light completely dispelled the darkness and clearly outlined the majestic silhouette of Luoxia Mountain, the war drums of the Chu army camp suddenly roared like thunder that had been building up for a long time!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The deep, rhythmic drumbeats resonated in the hearts of every soldier, echoing throughout the valley and clearly reaching the Tang army camp across the valley, where soldiers stood ready for battle.
"All troops—attack!"
With a command from Xue Huaide under the central command, the Chu army, which had been waiting in the wings, surged forth like a flood bursting its banks!
The archer battalion, located at the rear of the formation, was the first to unleash their power.
Thousands of powerful bows and crossbows were drawn simultaneously, the sound of the bowstrings vibrating merging into a chilling buzz.
"Fire arrows!"
“Swish, swish, swish—!”
In an instant, black arrows, like a dense swarm of locusts, soared into the air, drawing countless deadly arcs and whistling through the air as they rained down on the Tang army camp!
Arrows rained down on fences, watchtowers, tents, and any area where soldiers might hide.
"Raise your shields! Take cover!"
Inside the Tang army camp, Liu Hongji, who was in charge of frontline command, roared at the top of his lungs.
The well-trained Tang infantrymen quickly raised their tall shields or took cover using fortifications and supply wagons.
Arrows clattered against shields and wooden walls, like a sudden rain pounding on lotus leaves, interspersed with muffled groans and screams from those struck.
The first volley of arrows had barely subsided when the Chu army's infantry formations began to advance steadily forward.
"Shield Battalion, advance!"
The heavily armored shield bearers at the very front slammed their massive shield towers, each taller than a person, onto the ground, forming a moving steel wall that slowly rolled forward.
From the gaps between the shields, countless spears gleamed with a cold light.
The entire formation resembled a giant, spiked steel hedgehog, approaching the Tang army camp with an unparalleled sense of oppression.
"Archers, aim at the gaps in the enemy shields and the advancing troops behind them, fire freely!"
Tang general Gongsun Wei stood atop a fortified watchtower and calmly issued orders.
His beard and hair fluttered slightly in the morning breeze, and although his face was full of worry, he remained calm and composed.
Tang archers launched precise counterattacks from the firing ports of the camp fences and from the watchtowers.
Arrows darted cunningly into the gaps in the Chu army's shields, or flew over the shield wall and landed in the ranks of the Chu soldiers following behind. Chu soldiers fell to the ground, constantly struck by arrows, but the entire wave of attack did not stop.
"Set up ladders! Charge the battering rams forward!"
As the Chu army approached the camp's trenches and palisades, the real bloody battle began!
Countless heavy ladders were carried by the strong men of the Warriors' Battalion, braving the arrows and rolling logs and stones pouring down from the stockade walls, and they struggled to erect them on the walls.
The burly Chu soldiers, clad in double-layered heavy armor, with steel swords in their mouths, climbed the cloud ladder like monkeys!
"Roll the log! Release it!"
"Golden broth! Is it boiling yet? Pour it over quickly!"
The defenses in the Tang army's camp were equally fierce.
Huge logs and boulders were pushed down, crushing the Chu soldiers and their ladders as they climbed the ladder.
Scalding hot, foul-smelling molten gold poured down from the wall, tearing flesh and causing screams of agony upon contact.
Furthermore, Tang soldiers, armed with long forks, vigorously pushed down the ladders that had already been placed on the wall.
The battlefield instantly transformed into a gigantic grinder of flesh and blood, where lives were being extinguished every single moment.
With its superior numbers and morale, the Chu army launched wave after wave of attacks, like a tireless tide, constantly assaulting the Tang army's camps.
The Tang army, relying on its strong fortifications and unwavering will, refused to yield an inch of ground, using arrows, rolling stones, hot oil, and their own flesh and blood to build a deadly defensive line.
Holding a long sword, Liu Hongji personally supervised the battle at the breach in the camp wall. He rushed to wherever the danger was, his body already soaked in blood, indistinguishable between the enemy's and his own.
He roared and cleaved a Chu soldier who had just emerged from the wall with a single stroke.
Gongsun Wei, stationed at the central command, continuously dispatched reserve forces to fill the breached defenses, while strictly ordering all troops not to leave their camps to launch a counterattack without authorization!
"Hold the line! All of you, hold the line! Without the general's orders, anyone who dares to leave the camp will be court-martialed!"
Liu Hongji's roar could still be clearly heard amidst the chaos of the battlefield.
They knew that the camp's strength had been halved due to the detachment of troops for rescue, and that going out to fight in the field would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.
Only by relying on this well-established fortification can we deplete the Chu army to the maximum extent and buy time.
Xue Huaide stood in the center of the army, calmly observing the battle situation.
He saw that the Tang army was putting up an exceptionally strong resistance, and the camp was difficult to capture for a while, but this was exactly what he had expected.
His main purpose was to contain them!
"Order! Catapults, advance and concentrate your fire on the enemy's left flank wall!"
"Archers, keep the pressure down! Tell the men that everyone who breaks through this camp will be rewarded!"
Xue Huaide continued to issue orders, maintaining strong offensive pressure.
For a time, the battlefield was locked in a brutal stalemate.
The Chu army launched a series of attacks, but was repeatedly repelled by the Tang army, which relied on its fortified camps.
The Tang army defended tenaciously, but under the Chu army's relentless attacks, their defenses were on the verge of collapse, with several dangerous situations arising.
Bodies piled up at the foot of the camp wall, blood stained the ground, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and gunpowder.
The shouts of soldiers from both sides, the clash of weapons, the wails of the dying, the sound of war drums and horns—all these sounds mingled together to form a tragic yet magnificent war symphony.
On the main battlefield of Luoxia Mountain, the balance of victory swayed slightly amidst the bloody tug-of-war, making it difficult to determine the winner for the time being.
Everyone knows that the key to determining the outcome of this battle does not lie in a direct assault here.
Rather, it was the surprise attack by the quietly bypassing force, and the encirclement and annihilation battle fifty miles away that revolved around the life and death of Helian Wujiu.