allonlinenovel Chapter 145 Improved Watchtower Vehicle
Chapter 145 Improved Watchtower Vehicle
Wanyan Ping smiled and said to the many craftsmen, "You've all worked hard. The reason I summoned you here is because there's an important matter that I need you to handle."
As he spoke, he placed a drawing of a siege watchtower in front of everyone. The craftsmen were very familiar with siege watchtowers, but the one that the Prince of Zhennan showed them seemed different from the ones they had seen before.
This blueprint was purchased by Wanyan Ping from a merchant from the Abbasid Caliphate in Xuzhou for a large sum of money. The watchtowers depicted on the blueprints are actually siege weapons used by Western armies in the Middle Ages. They were equipped with arrow emplacements for archers and geared ladders for scaling the walls. Once the ladders were lowered, the enemy could not push them away or move them because the internal gears would lock them firmly in place.
After examining it for a long time, an old carpenter asked, "How long will Your Highness need it?"
Wanyan Ping smiled and said, "We must complete five within three days, because we will launch a general offensive against these Mongols in three days. Success or failure will depend on your skills."
The old carpenter said, "Three days is too short. We don't have enough manpower. Even if we don't eat, drink, or sleep, we still can't finish it."
Wanyan Ping: "Hehehe... It's alright. I will transfer three thousand soldiers to you later. These people will be under your command for the time being. Although they can't do delicate work, they can handle heavy lifting and carrying tasks without any problems."
After arranging things here, Wanyan Ping summoned the captain of the Golden Feather Guard: "See if we can send someone into the city in the next few days to support us when we attack."
The captain of the guard was in a dilemma, because the first thing the Mongol army did after capturing Zhengding Prefecture was to massacre the city. At this time, there were probably only a few hundred people still alive in the city. In addition, the hairstyles of the Jurchens were different from those of the Han people, so it would be very risky to rush in.
After a while, the captain of the guard said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will go down and select men. I dare not say more, but it should not be a problem for a dozen or twenty men to sneak into the city."
As night fell, activity was heard from an underground river near the city wall in the eastern district of Zhen Ding Prefecture. A dozen or so Golden Feather Guards dressed in black endured the stench and the icy cold water as they slowly entered the city through the foul-smelling river.
Because a large number of civilian corpses were thrown into the river when the Mongol army massacred the city, the river was full of rotting corpses. Fortunately, these Golden Feather Guards were strictly trained; otherwise, ordinary soldiers would probably have been suffocated by the stench.
After they had all left the river, the leader of the men in black began to take off his wet clothes and put on clean clothes from an oilcloth bag.
"Everyone, hurry up! Even though there are no patrol teams here, we still need to be careful."
After they changed their clothes, the moonlight began to penetrate the empty house. They needed to find a secluded place to hide before they could investigate the situation of the Mongol army.
As they passed a house, they heard the lewd laughter of Mongol soldiers and the cries of several women coming from the courtyard. The leader of the Golden Feather Guard raised his hand to signal everyone to stop, and he immediately jumped onto the courtyard wall to quietly observe inside.
In the large courtyard, a large pile of wooden furniture was burning, and the roaring bonfire illuminated the naked Mongol soldiers venting their lust on several Han women. Several other naked women lay on the ground, seemingly tortured to death. The leader of the Golden Feather Guard, seeing that the courtyard was filled with ordinary Mongol soldiers and no high-ranking officers, jumped down from the wall without making a sound.
"Boss, what's the situation inside?"
The leader of the Golden Feather Guard chuckled and said, "It's nothing, just a bunch of Mongols having fun. But these barbarians are barbaric, their way of having fun is different from ours, which is tough on these women. Let's go, let's look further ahead, it's quite close to the city wall, we need to find where the Mongols store their grain."
In this chaotic and tragic era, whether it was the Jin Dynasty, the Mongols, or even the Western Xia, they all brutally oppressed and tormented the Han Chinese people. Every time they invaded the border, they would abduct large numbers of people, killing the old and young in the process, keeping only the able-bodied men and women. These abducted Han Chinese would become their slaves, working the land and tending livestock for them until they were tortured to death.
After three days of thorough preparation, Wanyan Ping personally led 70,000 Jin troops to assemble outside the south gate of Zhen Ding Prefecture. Five tall watchtowers stood in the Jin army camp, filled with Jin soldiers waiting to attack the city.
The Mongol army on the city wall was also ready to go. They kept carrying all kinds of defensive weapons onto the city wall, from hot oil and gold juice to wooden sticks and stones. Anything that could kill the Jurchens was brought up.
With Wanyan Ping's order, 30,000 elite Jin infantrymen launched an attack on the city gate.
The sounds of war drums and horns echoed across the battlefield outside the city. Once the Jin soldiers were within range of their arrows, the Mongol soldiers on the city walls launched the first attack.
Countless arrows rained down on the battlefield. The Mongols, skilled in horsemanship and archery from a young age, were incredibly accurate. Although the Jurchens below wore armor, their vulnerable faces and joints became easy targets for the Mongol soldiers.
Under the first volley of arrows, hundreds of Jin soldiers fell on their way to the front. The Jin soldiers behind roared and quickened their pace, shields in hand. Although Mongol arrows awaited them in front, there were also Jin army supervisors behind them. If they retreated without orders, the supervisors' scimitars would mercilessly cut them down.
With the 30,000 Jin soldiers drawing the Mongol army's fire, the five watchtowers were slowly approaching the city wall. The Mongol general guarding the city sensed something was wrong when he saw this. Although he didn't know what those big things were for, he knew he couldn't let them get closer.
"Dangdang..."
Countless arrows struck the watchtower, only to be deflected by the outer iron sheath, seemingly causing no real damage. However, as the watchtower drew closer, the Jin archers on it began firing at the Mongol soldiers on the city wall. Unlike the power of arrows, at this distance, the crossbow's destructive power far exceeded that of bows and arrows, and since crossbows could fire in rapid succession, they could suppress the Mongol archers in a wide area.
The watchtowers were built to be taller than the city walls, allowing the Jin soldiers to fire from above, putting the Mongol soldiers at a disadvantage.
As Wanyan Ping rode his warhorse, he watched the watchtowers approaching the city walls, his heart pounding with tension. At that moment, one of the watchtowers had already been hit by a Mongol ballista, and the burning oil had ignited a massive fire on it, causing many Jin soldiers to jump from the flames.
"Bah!"
As the wooden planks were lowered, the first watchtower was successfully completed. Countless heavily armored Jin soldiers charged madly towards the city wall, stepping on the thick planks. The Mongol soldiers in leather armor were no match for them and fell one after another in pools of blood.