The Tyrant of the Great Qian Dynasty: Not only will I refuse to arrange a marriage alliance, but I w

The Northern Barbarian Camp, Central Commander's Tent.

No one dared to breathe loudly inside the tent.

Hu Yanba sat in the main seat, looking at the corpses being carried back, especially the soldiers who had been shot by the Divine Arm Crossbow. His face grew increasingly gloomy.

Those wounds were all terrifying holes that ran from front to back.

Several soldiers were even pinned to the ground, shield and all.

This power was beyond his understanding of crossbows.

A general standing below, his face still showing lingering fear, bowed and reported, "Great Chanyu, those crossbows on the city wall are simply too powerful! They can easily pierce our warriors' leather armor and rattan shields from a distance of a hundred paces! Brothers... brothers, we can't even get close!"

His voice was filled with fear.

Another hot-tempered commander, upon hearing this, stepped forward defiantly. He pounded his chest and shouted, "So what if they have crossbows? I don't believe they have that many! They must have a limited number! As long as we're not afraid to die, and we use our lives to fill the gaps, we'll eventually reach the top of the wall! Great Chanyu, next time we attack, please let me personally lead the troops! I guarantee I can take that section of the wall for you!"

He advocated using a more intense offensive, regardless of casualties, to offset the enemy's weapon advantage.

"Using human lives to fill the gaps?"

Huyan Ba ​​coldly raised his head and glanced at the commander.

That look in his eyes was the gaze of a lone wolf before hunting, which frightened the commander into immediately shutting his mouth, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"My 400,000 Northern Barbarian warriors are not inexhaustible! Today, just a probing attack, we've already lost 3,000 elite troops! If we fight like you suggest every time, before the capital even falls, my warriors will be wiped out by you, you fool!"

Hu Yanba's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

He rejected this most foolish and inefficient tactic.

The atmosphere inside the command tent fell silent once again.

Just then, an old man in a gray robe, who looked like a strategist, stepped out from the ranks of the generals.

He first bowed to Huyan Ba, and then slowly began to offer his advice.

"Great Chanyu, although the crossbow is powerful, it is not without its weaknesses."

All eyes were on him.

The old man stroked his beard and continued, "From what I've observed, those powerful crossbows on the city wall are difficult to cock, and after each volley, there's always a considerable gap. That gap is our opportunity."

"We can organize a suicide squad, select the strongest warriors in the army, and have them all carry specially made heavy shields, placing them at the very front of the formation. Their mission is not to kill the enemy, but to use their shields and bodies to draw away and wear down the enemy's first volley of crossbow bolts."

"Once they finish their volley, our main force, hidden behind them, will follow at full speed. While they're frantically reloading their crossbows, our main force can charge to the city walls without any hindrance!"

This tactic is both insidious and effective.

Simply put, it means using a heavily armed force as a human shield to create a window of opportunity for the main force to charge ahead.

Huyan Ba's eyes lit up.

This method works!

"Good! That's settled!" He immediately made the decision and issued the order, "Select five thousand of the strongest soldiers from the entire army to form a heavy shield battalion! Give them the best armor and the thickest shields! I want them to be like a wall, pressing down on the city walls!"

The order was carried out swiftly.

Just an hour later, the afternoon sun was blazing.

The war drums of the Northern Barbarians sounded for the third time.

Leading the way were no longer ordinary infantrymen, but the newly formed heavy shield battalion.

Five thousand tall and strong barbarian soldiers, each holding an iron shield that was almost half a person's height.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, shield to shield, forming an impenetrable shield wall.

Looking from the city wall, it resembled a black tortoise, slowly and hesitantly but firmly advancing towards the north city wall.

On the city wall, Chen Baipao, who was in charge of commanding the Shenji Battalion, frowned slightly when he saw the enemy's new formation.

He could see through the other party's intentions.

But he still had confidence in the power of the Divine Arm Crossbow.

"Shenji Battalion, prepare!"

Five hundred crossbowmen lined up again.

"put!"

Once the "iron turtle" was within firing range, Chen Baipao decisively gave the order.

In the first round, five hundred crossbow bolts, accompanied by the hum of death, whistled out.

"Jingle bells!"

The crossbow bolts struck the shield formation, producing a series of dense, metallic clanging sounds.

The outermost iron shields were pierced through in an instant.

However, the power of the crossbow bolts was greatly reduced after penetrating the first layer of shield.

They then crashed into the shields raised by the soldiers on the second and third levels.

In the end, only a few crossbow bolts pierced through the numerous obstacles, causing extremely limited casualties to the shield formation.

The barbarian soldiers' shield formation actually worked!

Upon seeing this, the barbarian soldiers in the shield formation erupted in a suppressed cheer.

Their fear had largely dissipated, and they were able to advance at a faster pace.

From the top of the city wall, Su Zhe took in all of this.

Instead of worry, his face showed amusement.

He instructed Chen Baipao beside him:

Tell them to switch to the "triple strike".

"Three-stage attack?" Although Chen Baipao was somewhat puzzled, he still conveyed this strange order.

The Shenji Battalion soldiers, upon receiving the order, did not hesitate for a moment.

The group of 500 people quickly split into three teams, each with about 160 people.

At the officer's command, the first squad of soldiers stepped forward, aimed, and fired!

More than 160 crossbow bolts were fired at the shield formation.

Although their numbers were fewer, they still caused some chaos to the shield formation.

After the first team finished firing, they stepped back and began the tense but orderly process of loading crossbow bolts.

At the same time, a second team of soldiers stepped forward and filled their positions.

Aim, fire!

More than 160 crossbow bolts followed closely behind.

Next up was the third team.

When the third squad finished firing and stepped back to reload, the soldiers of the first squad had already finished reloading and stepped forward again, ready to fire again.

In this way, the firing of the Divine Arm Crossbow changed from a burst of powerful but intermittent fire to a continuous and relentless barrage of deadly attacks with diminished power each time!

"Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—"

The whistling sound of crossbow bolts piercing the air was no longer a one-off event, but a continuous background noise.

The barbarian soldiers' shield formation was completely stunned.

They thought that once they held off one wave, everything would be fine, but they never expected that the deadly crossbow bolts would come one after another, without end!

Their shields can block one or two, but not a third or a fourth!

Under the relentless onslaught, one after another, heavy shield soldiers fell with screams of agony.

Their bodies were pierced by crossbow bolts, and blood flowed from the gaps in their shields.

Small gaps began to appear on the shield wall.

The crossbowmen then concentrated their firepower on these gaps, tearing them open even wider.

The persistent buzzing sound and the horrific sight of their comrades falling after being shot through brought these heavy shield soldiers even greater fear than during the first volley.

It was a kind of torment, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water.

Death is drawing ever closer, yet there is nowhere to escape it.

In the end, this heavy shield battalion, on which Huyan Ba ​​had placed high hopes, completely collapsed when it was still fifty paces away from the city wall.

"I can't hold on any longer!"

"Devil! They are devils!"

Someone shouted first, then threw down their shield and turned to run away.

This action immediately ignited panic throughout the entire army.

The soldiers threw down their heavy shields, crying and scrambling to turn and run away.

They collided violently with the main force that was preparing to follow up with the charge, causing even greater chaos and stampedes.

"Seize the opportunity!"

On the city wall, Su Zhe keenly seized this opportunity.

"Order! All archers in the city, fire freely! Use up all your arrows!"

"Swish, swish, swish!"

On the city wall, all the archers unleashed their arrows without reservation at the enemy army below, which was already in complete disarray.

Arrows rained down, like the scythe of death, covering the chaotic enemy forces.

Screams rose and fell.

The second siege ended in failure in a manner even more humiliating than the first.

Huyan Ba ​​witnessed the entire process firsthand in front of the Northern Barbarian camp.

He watched as his meticulously planned tactics became a joke under the opponent's strange shooting style.

He watched as his elite soldiers were shot down like targets, and finally fled in disarray.

"Bang!"

In a fit of rage, he smashed the bronze wine cup in his hand onto the ground, shattering it into pieces.

He finally understood that conventional siege tactics were no longer effective against this heavily armed city.

That kid named Su Zhe was like a hedgehog covered in sharp quills, making it impossible for him to bite him.

He raised his head, his cold gaze sweeping over the towering city walls and looking south towards the capital.

"It seems we can only rely on our 'friends' in the city."

His voice was filled with a bloodthirsty killing intent.

"Send the order: the entire army shall retreat five li and set up camp! Tonight at midnight, the whole army shall have a hearty meal and prepare... for a resounding victory!"