novelhk Page 1603
Page 1603
"Ma Lin, assign one hundred crossbowmen to deal with the arrow towers."
"Yes!"
Ma Lin immediately equipped a hundred-man squad with the Divine Arm Crossbow.
Stepping on the iron rings,
Use all your strength to wind up the drum.
After stopping at the arrow tower outside the city,
Squads of Western Xia soldiers then climbed up.
Soon, Western Xia archers appeared on the arrow tower.
However, what awaited them was the Divine Arm Crossbow.
They have just shown themselves.
One after another, sharp arrows pierced through the air.
A distance of sixty paces
The crossbow was powerful enough to pierce iron armor.
Not to mention the archers' leather armor.
A soldier had just stood up,
He was then shot in the chest by an arrow.
The powerful arrow then veered backward.
He fell from the arrow tower with a scream.
Smash down several of the archers lined up below.
Under the fire of the crossbow,
The watchtowers were completely useless.
However, the Western Xia people kept climbing upwards.
They were clearly determined to deplete the arrows of the Divine Arm Crossbow.
Meanwhile, the Western Xia people in the distance were digging up soil and stuffing it into their bags.
Last night, Renli and his group decided to use civilians to fill the moat.
He then sent people to inform the nearby residents.
Each household should prepare five cloth bags.
At the same time, all persons aged 15 and above were selected.
The people in the nearby towns, fearing being caught in the crossfire, had already fled.
The rest were all fierce warriors from various tribes.
Not many people ran away because of this recruitment notice.
Soon, the people below the city walls began carrying sacks of earth towards the moat.
Renli also sent several thousand archers to provide cover.
Although Zhao Yuan mobilized a thousand men
However, it was not enough to defend the entire city wall.
Therefore, the focus was solely on strengthening defenses near the breach.
The more distant moats were left to be filled in by the Western Xia people.
Just like yesterday,
The archers of Daliang completely overwhelmed the archers below the city.
Occasionally, the archers would cluster together.
Several fire bombs were also thrown from the city walls.
They slaughtered archers and laborers in droves.
Chapter 1915 Internal Strife
Today, it is the Dingzhou troops who are responsible for protecting the civilians.
The garrison commander of Dingzhou watched as his troops were suppressed.
In less than half an hour,
The casualties had already exceeded a thousand, and he couldn't help but exclaim anxiously.
"The matter of consuming Han Chinese arrows,"
"It's better to leave it to the people."
"All of us Tanguts can draw bows and shoot arrows,"
"Let them fill in the moat,"
"Then we'll attack the city."
"Otherwise, the moat wouldn't have been filled in yet,"
"More than half of my men have been killed or wounded."
Renli, however, was waiting for someone with a bad reputation, and nodded.
"Since the general says so,"
"Then let the common people replace your department's duties."
Renli was well-versed in Chinese classical studies.
Knowing the importance of public opinion,
Therefore, although this result was already known,
But he still didn't want to bring it up.
The garrison commander of Dingzhou was a typical Tangut.
In his opinion,
The greatest asset is the military power one holds.
As long as you have troops
Regardless of how the situation changes,
He can always protect his own interests.
Soon, the archers below the city were replaced by Tangut people.
However, the common people's tolerance is clearly not as high as that of the soldiers.
After realizing this was a suicide mission,
Many people began to linger outside the range of the archers on the city wall.
Upon seeing this, the people responsible for filling the moat...
They also started a strike.
In the end, Renli had no choice but to order his troops to force the people forward.
.....
The sun is shining,
Smoke was already rising from the chimneys in the city.
The food smelled delicious.
However, the fighting never ceased at the South Gate.
The Western Xia army continuously conscripted people from afar.
Then they drove them to fill in the moat.
The Tanguts were fierce and brave.
The conscripted civilians have clashed with Renli's army several times.
In recent years, the population of the Tangut people has increased daily.
The system of universal conscription has also been abolished.
The Tangut people were also accustomed to farming and paying taxes.
Soldiers are paid.
They paid their dues in grain.
The task of waging war should be undertaken by soldiers.
Now, however, they are receiving a salary and taking a break.
Those who pay their taxes go to war.
The fierce Tangut people were naturally unwilling to suffer this loss.
Those forced to use bows and arrows to suppress the archers on the city walls and the able-bodied men climbing the arrow towers were especially unruly.
They charged several times but were suppressed by the city walls.
Countless dead and injured
Those who followed were unwilling to go and die.
He grabbed his weapon and charged at the supervising soldiers.
In the beginning, Renli only needed to send out a single army to quell the unrest among the able-bodied men.
But later on...
The number of corpses piling up below the city walls was increasing.
The stench of blood in the air grew stronger and stronger.
The wildness of the Tangut people was thus unleashed.
The able-bodied men ignored the large army waiting in formation behind them.
They began shooting down the supervising soldiers.
Compared to the people on the city wall,
People on the ground naturally found it much easier to shoot.
Many soldiers were caught off guard.
He was shot and fell to the ground.
The able-bodied men nearby picked up weapons and began fighting with the supervising soldiers.
Renli dispatched a troop of soldiers to suppress the rebellion.
Unexpectedly, some of the soldiers from the same tribe sided with the able-bodied men.
They joined in the fighting.
The Tangut people below the city walls began to kill each other.
Only then were those on the city wall able to rest for a moment.
Zhao Yuan lifted the lid of the bucket.
Grab a water ladle from the bucket,
I scooped up a ladle of water,
The ice inside had completely melted.
Under the scorching sun,