"What the hell is that?! This rabble outside the city has such a siege weapon?!"

Ding Hu's eyes were about to pop out.

I remember that at the beginning, when the private army of Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, Zhao Tan, the marquis of Anping, and others attacked the city, Ding Hu didn't care: an army that would camp for some reason, why be afraid?

But just now, a huge stone bullet landed beside him, knocking down half of the city tower - seeing a guard being smashed to death on the spot by the collapsed beam, Ding Hu's mood could no longer maintain Fang Cai's peace.

He finally realized one thing: maybe the group of nobles outside the city, the army under their command was indeed a rabble, but these nobles backed the towering tree of King Su Zhao Run, and King Su Zhao Run, who was in charge of the Smelting Bureau. And what kind of existence is the Metallurgical Bureau? It was the imperial court office that now represents the highest technology of the Wei State.

"Damn it!"

Thinking of this, Ding Hu smashed the wall with his hand, and ordered the left and right guards: "You two quickly invite the prince here." ”

"Obey!"

Ding Hu's guards walked down the city wall without saying a word, and walked towards the mansion where Nangong Chen lived in the city.

At the same time, inside the city, Nangong Chen was sitting on the steps outside the study of his mansion, staring at the empty courtyard with his eyes intent.

On the left and right, there were several personal guards guarding beside them, not saying a word—after coming to Timely County, they had seen their sons in a daze at no one more than once.

They speculated that Nangong Chen was mostly thinking about his relatives who were trapped in Suiyang - after Suiyang was stolen by Huan Hu, Nangong Yi in the city was placed under house arrest and imprisoned by Huan Hu, and only Nangong Yao's eldest son, Nangong Chen, escaped by luck because he went out with his father.

At this time, in Nangong Chen's mind, his younger brother Nangong Xun was studying in the courtyard, holding the scroll in his hand, and at the same time looking at the pair of nieces and nephews running and playing around him with helpless eyes - that was Nangong Chen's children.

On the other side of the "courtyard", Nangong Chen, the mother of Nangong Chen and Nangong Xun, was smiling at the interaction between Nangong Xun and his two nephews and nieces in the courtyard, accompanied by several concubines and daughters-in-law of Nangong Yao, that is, Nangong Chen's main room.

secretly discussed with his eldest daughter-in-law, thinking about telling Nangong Xun a family matter.

This is the scene of family harmony in Nangong Chen's mind at this time.

I don't know how long it took, Nangong Chen, who was still showing a warm smile, gradually replaced the expression on his face with pain.

Because a while ago, when his father Nangong Yao attacked Suiyang in a rage, his younger brother Nangong Xun was thrown directly from the city gate tower of Suiyang County by Huan Hu, causing Nangong Chen's younger brother, who was only sixteen years old and was about to get married, fell to death under the city gate.

And what made Nangong Yao and Nangong Chen's father and son angry at that time was that Huan Hu made such a vicious move, but he didn't want to threaten them at all, as if it was purely to kill people and provoke their father and son.

Huan Hu, that's a real, downright evil party!

Nangong Chen didn't even dare to imagine whether his pair of children were still alive at this time, or if they had been viciously killed by Huan Hu; And his wife and concubine, even his father Nangong Yao's wife and concubine, whether they were occupied by Huan Hu at this time, is a matter of compromise.

Whenever he thought that his mother and wife might be tainted by Huan Hu's evil party, Nangong Chen couldn't help but tremble, eager to avenge his father and younger brother as soon as possible, and devour Huan Hu alive.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, and Zhao Tan, the marquis of Anping, would attack Jishi County at this time. - What a bad time!

At this time, two of Ding Hu's guards hurriedly rushed into the mansion, clasped their fists and said: "Shizi, General Ding (Hu) invited Shizi to the West City Gate, saying that there is something important to discuss." ”

"Ding Hu?"

Nangong Chen was stunned when he heard this, feeling a little puzzled.

Because in his opinion, with Ding Hu's ability and the strength of the army under his command, it is not a difficult thing at all to hold Jishi County in the hands of the rabble outside the city.

Why did Ding Hu order someone to invite him to the West City Gate Tower?

With many doubts, Nangong Chen took some personal guards, and under the leadership of the two Ding Hu guards, came to the city tower of the West City Gate.

When he came to the tower of the West City Gate, he was really startled, because the gate tower in front of him at this time had collapsed for some reason.

"Ding Hu, what's going on?"

Seeing Ding Hu standing by the battlements from a distance and watching the aristocratic private army outside the city, Nangong Chen stepped forward and asked with a frown.

"Shizi." When Ding Hu heard this, he turned around and saw Nangong Chen, clasped his fists and saluted, and then frowned and said, "It's caused by the catapults of the army outside the city." ”

Nangong Chen was stunned, turned his head to look outside the city, and sure enough, he saw that there were more than ten or twenty catapults in the ranks of the noble private army outside the city.

It's just that the distance between these catapults and the city wall makes him a little unbelievable: those catapults are at least a mile away from the city wall, and they can effectively threaten his own city wall?

But when he looked around, and when he saw the huge stone bullets above and below the city, he had to accept this incredible thing.

"The War Weapon of the Smelting Bureau...... Is it? ”

Nangong Chen frowned deeply.

And at this moment, I suddenly heard a few dull whistling sounds, and in the oncoming air, more than a dozen stone bullets whistled, one of which hit the wall battlement in front of Nangong Chen, and with a snap, the huge stone bullet shattered, and the wall battlement was also smashed out of a deep pit, and there was a lot of rubble falling from the city wall.

"Be careful!"

Ding Hu immediately pulled Nangong Chen behind him.

And when Nangong Chen reacted again, he had palpitations, because he saw that the wall buttress in front of him just now had been smashed at this time, and the flying rubble cut many soldiers in the vicinity, and two soldiers were hit through the head by the gravel on the spot, and they died.

"Really...... Threatens the city walls?'

Nangong Chen, who was safe and sound under the protection of several guards, looked at the catapults in the distance outside the city with an incredible gaze.

Only then did he see clearly that the range of these catapults was indeed more than a mile.

If a few days ago, he was not worried that the noble private army outside the city could really threaten his own county, but now, seeing with his own eyes that several soldiers on the city wall were killed by the stone throwing carts of the noble private army outside the city, he no longer had that composure.

"The son of the world, if you keep it for a long time, you will lose."

Hugging his fist towards Nangong Chen, Ding Hu said in a deep voice: "Please allow the last general to lead his troops to attack and destroy those catapults, otherwise, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the Ji clan to defend for a long time." ”

Nangong Chen pondered for a moment, frowned and asked, "What are you going to do?" ”

I saw Ding Hu glance at the aristocratic private army outside the city contemptuously, and said with a chuckle: "Why don't you invite that King Chengling to my own county for a few days, what does the prince think?" ”

What he meant by this seemed to be that he planned to capture Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, the commander of the aristocratic private army, alive on the battlefield.

"That's ...... idea."

Nangong Chen's heart moved slightly, and he said in his heart, I don't harm the life of Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, but just use this to coerce these private troops outside the city to retreat in spite of the difficulties, this will not anger that Su King Zhao Run, right?

Thinking of this, Nangong Chen Zhengse said to Ding Hu: "General Ding, be careful!" ”

"Cautious?"

Ding Hu secretly glanced contemptuously at the private army outside the city.

At the same time, in the main formation of the aristocratic private army outside the city, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, Zhao Tan, the marquis of Anping, and more than a dozen other noble gate lords of the Suwang Party were looking at the city wall of Jishi County with excitement.

During this period, Sun Che, the Marquis of Lutan, couldn't help but say: "Divine weapon, this is really a divine weapon!" ”

Hearing this, the nearby noble gate lords of the Suwang Party nodded one after another, they thought to themselves, with such a divine weapon in hand, how could they not be able to attack a small Ji clan?

"Lord Zhao Shen, when will you order the siege of the city?" Nan Xi Hou Zhao Zhi was gearing up.

"Nan Xihou, don't be impatient." Although Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, was also excited in his heart, because he didn't want to lose the boss's shelf, he pretended to say indifferently: "When the catapult collapses a section of the city wall, our army will rush up and take down his own clan in one go!" ”

Hearing this, the nearby noble gate lords of the Suwang Party nodded their heads in approval.

It's just that they didn't think about a question: can the private soldiers who operate the catapults really aim at a section of the city wall with unmistakable accuracy?

In this regard, the gap between the catapult and the latest war weapon "ballista" developed by the Smelting Bureau is reflected: the catapult may be superior to the ballista in terms of power, but in terms of accuracy, it is not the opponent of the simple and crude ballista.

If the private army had twenty ballistas in their hands and were aiming at a section of the city wall to bombard indiscriminately, it is believed that the wall of the Ji clan had already been blasted out of the gap at this time.

But unfortunately, the private army had twenty catapults in their hands, and the soldiers who operated these catapults did not know what to throw objects on, and they simply relied on the way a blind cat touched a dead mouse to cause some damage to their own clan.

In this case, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, fantasized about destroying his own city wall, which is indeed unrealistic to be honest - adding two or three times the number of catapults, there may still be a chance.

But then again, even the few effective bombardments when the blind cat encountered the dead mouse made Nangong Chen and Ding Hu of his clan like great enemies.

No, a moment later, the west gate of Ji's County suddenly opened, and Ding Hu, the guard of Ji's clan, led three thousand foot soldiers out of the city.

At this time, on the mound south of the battlefield, Huan Hu, who was sitting cross-legged, saw this scene, patted his thigh and laughed: "Hahaha, I'll just say, that Ding Hu can't sit still!" ”

Seeing Huan Hu's excited, no, it should be a hungry expression, Chen Zhan shook his head slightly.

He thought of Fang Cai, and when Fang Cai was bombarding the Ji clan with a catapult by the private army of nobles outside the city, Huan Hu's performance was particularly funny: when the stone bullet accurately hit the city wall of Ji County, this guy excitedly patted his thigh and shouted hello; And when the stone bullet failed to hit the target, the guy shook his head again and again, shaking his head in regret.

If people who don't know see this scene, most of them really think that Huan Hu is the person who went all the way with Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling.

Who would have thought that this guy was also a rebel leader.

Shaking his head secretly, Chen Zhan poured cold water on Huan Hu, who was full of excitement: "Ding Hu went out of the city to meet the attack, and the private army outside the city may not be able to parry." ”

When he said this, he seemed to ignore the fact that "there were nearly 30,000 private troops outside the city."

"Not necessarily." Hearing this, Huan Hu licked his lips and said, "Since those masters have catapults from the Smelting Bureau, it is hard to guarantee that there will be no other war weapons hidden......

Hearing this, Chen Hunt did not refute it, but just set his eyes on the battlefield.

After all, the two sides that were fighting in the distance, whether either side won or lost, it didn't matter to him.

Under the watchful eyes of Huan Hu and Chen Hunt, Ding Hu led 3,000 foot soldiers to attack the 30,000 private troops outside the city.

As soon as the two sides fought, the private army fell into disadvantage.

The reason is that Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, was afraid that the twenty catapults would be destroyed by Ding Hu's army, so he panicked and ordered the soldiers to hide them in the rear army.

"Hey, that Chengling King......"

Seeing that the aristocratic private army was at a disadvantage at the beginning, Huan Hu patted his thigh with a face full of chagrin: "You have Zhao Run's support behind you, what is the loss of a few catapults?" Kill him! Even if all the catapults here are destroyed, as long as you kill Ding Hu, the Ji clan will not be able to escape from the palm of your hand...... Why don't you even understand this truth?! ”

Looking at his annoyed appearance, it seemed that he was eager to command the army instead of Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, which made Chen Hunt, who was beside him, speechless.

I don't know if it has anything to do with Huan Hu's 'incentive', the aristocratic private army gradually calmed down the riots, and in the position of the Chinese army, Zhao Tan, the Marquis of Anping, personally commanded and ordered the soldiers of the private army to form a phalanx to block Ding Hu's attack.

But unfortunately, the combat quality of the private soldiers is really poor, and these private soldiers with almost no battlefield experience are a little overwhelmed after being broken through the formation by Ding Hu.

If it was an elite army such as the Shang Shui Army and the Yan Ling Army, they would quickly reorganize the defense line at this time - of course, if it was really the Shang Shui Army and the Yan Ling Army, it would naturally be impossible for Ding Hu to break through the defense line so easily.

"I'll just say it."

Chen Zhan glanced at Huan Hu and said lightly: "The soldiers under Ding Hu are also a strong force, how can those rabble be able to match?" ”

Huan Hu couldn't speak with a dark face, and only after half a sound did he muttered in a low voice: "That Chengling King...... Something good is coming out quickly! If it doesn't come out, it's too late! ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw that the noble private army on the battlefield suddenly changed its formation, and the soldiers of the Chinese army retreated towards the two wings one after another, which made Ding Hu, who was planning to break through in the center, very suspicious.

At this moment, the rear of the private army launched more than 100 horse-drawn carriages similar to pack goods, 50 repeater crossbows, and 100 machine crossbow boxes, all aimed at the oncoming Ding Hu army.

"What's that?"

Ding Hu didn't react for a while.

And at this moment, fifty repeating crossbows and one hundred machine crossbow boxes simultaneously launched a salvo.

Pity the soldiers of Ding Hu, who were still rushing to the rear of the private army, fell to the ground like a wheat field swept by a strong wind in front of these terrible weapons of war, and in the blink of an eye, a large number of them fell.

Even if it was Ding Hu, his face was full of horror at this time.

"Shhh

Huan Hu, who was watching the battle on the southern mound, couldn't help but whistle when he saw this scene, and said with a smile: "Ho ho, it's really scary......

Beside him, Chen Zhan looked at this scene with a frown.

In fact, he also knew that among the private armies of the nobles of the Suwang Party, Zhao Tan, the king of Chengling, there must still be other war weapons hidden except for catapults, but he never expected that the power of these war weapons would be so huge.

You must know that when Ding Hu led the army to break through the front line of the aristocratic private army, the casualties of Ding Hu's army were only a few dozen, but just now, at least nearly seven or eight hundred Ding Hu soldiers were killed, and this number is still increasing rapidly as those crossbow boxes continue to fire crossbow arrows.

"This power...... Even if it's my Suiyang Army, I'm afraid I won't be able to resist it......

Chen Hunt thought secretly.

At this time, Ding Hu, who was on the battlefield, also realized that this noble lord's private army was hiding war weapons that they could not parry, and hurriedly ordered to break through to the flank of the private army, probably wanting to attack the home of the noble private army in a roundabout way.

I have to say that Ding Hu is worthy of being Nangong Yao's confidant and favorite general, brave and brave, when he took the lead in leading the army to kill the soldiers of the aristocratic private army, the latter saw Ding Hu's hideous face and compelling momentum, and they all trembled.

"This person, could it be Ding Hu? What a fierce general! ”

Zhao Tan, Marquis of Anping, who was sitting on the horse, couldn't help but praise Ding Hu after seeing his overwhelming offensive.

Immediately, he beckoned to the guards behind him and ordered, "Bring a sniper." ”

When the guard heard this, he immediately carefully took out a strange-shaped crossbow from the backpack on the horse's back and handed it to Zhao Tan, Marquis of Anping.

I saw that after Zhao Tan, the Marquis of Anping, took the crossbow, he aimed it at Ding Hu, who was fighting bravely in the distance, and muttered: "It's a pity that the era of fierce generals has long ended......"

As he pulled the trigger, it was only a blink of an eye that he saw that Ding Hu suddenly stumbled and almost fell to the ground on the spot.

"General!"

The soldiers of Ding Hu's army were shocked, and hurriedly helped Ding Hu up, and when they looked at Ding Hu again, they saw that Ding Hu's right rib was stained with red armor with a trickle of blood.

"What? What the hell is that?'

Ding Hu looked around in disbelief.

Just now, he only felt a strong sense of crisis hit his heart, but before he could react, he felt as if he had been hit by an arrow in his ribs.

But when he looked down at his ribs, he found that there was no trace of the arrow at all—the arrow pierced his body.

Suddenly, Ding Hu seemed to see something, staring intently at a nobleman holding a strange crossbow in the distance.

"Did you miss it?" It's a pity ......

Seeing Ding Hu staring at him intently in the distance, Anping Marquis Zhao Tan couldn't help but feel a little pity.

"Withdraw! Remove! ”

With Ding Hu's panicked order, his army quickly retreated.

Seeing this, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, did not hesitate to order the whole army to attack, trying to take advantage of the advantageous situation to take down his own clan in one go.

But unfortunately, only a wave of arrows was fired from the city wall of Jishi County, which interrupted the morale of the noble private army, and after hundreds of casualties, the vast majority of the private soldiers stopped in fear.

He was so angry that he was so angry that the nobles of the royal party jumped like thunder - what a great opportunity this is!

After that, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, tried to attack a few more times, but because the archers on the wall of his county were really difficult, he regretfully ordered the withdrawal of his troops.

After the war, counting the losses, although the front army and the Chinese army of the aristocratic private army were once broken through by Ding Hu's 3,000 soldiers, but in fact, the real casualties of the aristocratic private army were not much, only more than 3,000, and they were not as much as the losses when the camp was bombed last night - because there were many soldiers of the noble private army, because they were still unable to resist the threat of death because they set foot on the real battlefield for the first time, so they subconsciously chose to flee.

On the other hand, Ding Hu's 3,000 soldiers lost nearly half of them in this battle, that is, about 1,500 people.

The aristocratic private army exchanged more than 3,000 casualties for about 1,500 battle losses of Ding Hu's army, although it still seems a little ugly, but in fact, this is already a very remarkable result - after all, Ding Hu's soldiers are long-trained soldiers.

Of course, to achieve such results, almost all of them relied on the war weapons that Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, and others rented from the Smelting Bureau.

And in this regard, the nobles of the Su Wang Party not only felt ashamed, but were a little complacent: You see how wise we are, we have already lent this batch of war weapons to His Royal Highness the King of Su.

"Hahahaha, I actually won, hahahaha......"

Watching Ding Hu flee back to Jishi County with the remnants of the defeated soldiers, and watching those aristocratic private troops cheering, Huan Hu patted his thighs and was overjoyed.

On the side, Chen Zhan said lightly: "Those nobles' private armies, there are such war weapons, and the chances of winning in Ji's county are very small, if Nangong Chen and Ding Hu don't want their own clan to lose, I'm afraid this time they will really attack at night...... Only by sneak attack at night, they have a chance. ”

"Hmm." Huan Hu nodded thoughtfully, then squinted his eyes and said: "Hmph, Ding Hu is narrow-minded, and he suffered a loss today, so he will definitely personally lead the troops to attack the army of those noble lords at night, and just take the opportunity to kill him!" …… I didn't like this guy at the beginning. ”

"Those aristocratic lords don't necessarily appreciate it." Chen Zhan said lightly, as if he wanted to remind Huan Hu that if those nobles' private armies defeated their own clan, the other party's next target might be Suiyang.

Hearing this, Huan Hu said with a smile: "Appreciation? Hehehe, when the time comes, call the old guy Jin Gou and put Ding Hu's head in Wei Ying's handsome tent...... In this way, those noble lords believe that they will accept our kindness. ”

Chen Zhan frowned slightly, and asked suspiciously, "Are you planning to drive these masters to the territory of the Northern Gang Army?" ”

"Huh." Huan Hu licked his lips and said, "What are you talking about joining forces to resist the Wei army, but so far, I can't even see a single figure." Speaking of which, this verbal covenant was not so reassuring from the beginning. …… When the Northern Army takes action, let's see the opportunity to act again! ”

"Hmm." Chen Zhan nodded.

That night, Ding Hu really led more than 1,000 foot soldiers to attack the private army Wei camp of Zhao Tan, the king of Chengling, and others at night, but he did not expect to be ambushed by Chen Hunt, who led 500 Suiyang soldiers to ambush Ding Hu, and personally went into battle to kill Ding Hu.

The next day, when the sky was bright, when Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, woke up in the handsome tent, he was shocked to see that there was a bloody head next to the couch, which was the head of Ding Hu, the guard of his county.

And on Ding Hu's head, there is also a white cloth tied with a line of words written on it: Ding Hu, I killed it for you, no need to thank you, Huan Hu.

In an instant, Zhao Shen, the king of Chengling, only felt cold all over his body, and his back was drenched in cold sweat.

He subconsciously touched his neck, as if to make sure his head was safe.