met free Chapter 148 The Mongol Army's Incendiary Bombs
Chapter 148 The Mongol Army's Incendiary Bombs
If the first day's siege was to test the strength of the Mongol defenders in the city, then the second day was the real attack. The Jin soldiers organized a large number of archers into dense arrow formations, attempting to suppress the Mongol soldiers on the city walls with volleys of arrows.
The battering ram, the siege ladder, and the four massive watchtowers began to slowly approach the city wall.
Naza and Wan Hanzhong stood on the city wall, watching the Mongol soldiers using bows and arrows and other defensive weapons to fight the enemy. Naza asked with some worry, "Sir, how many more days do you think we can hold out?"
Wan Hanzhong glanced at the man and said in a deep voice, "If we want to preserve our strength, we can only defend for three to five days at most. If we defend to the death regardless of the cost, we can definitely hold out for about ten days to half a month."
This Mongol army's southward march was largely organized by individual tribes. The able-bodied soldiers under their command were the most elite of their tribes; if they were all lost here, their tribes would be finished. Don't be fooled by the current apparent unity of the Mongol army against the Jin army; once they return to the Mongolian steppes, they will revert to their previous pattern of fighting fiercely over pastures and water sources.
At this moment, Naza was in a dilemma. If he could not stop the Jin army from attacking the city and the Jin people captured Weizhou, then the tens of thousands of Mongol troops retreating from the direction of Taiyuan Prefecture would all be trapped inside the Great Wall and would never be able to return to the grasslands.
After pondering for a long time, Naza gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, I've made up my mind. We must defend to the death. Even if our tribe no longer exists, the Ongud tribe will still exist. I want to be responsible for our ancestors and set an example for the men of the grasslands."
Upon hearing Naza's decision, Wan Hanzhong couldn't help but re-examine this short, stocky Mongolian man. He smiled and said to him, "Alright, then I'll stay with you and defend Weizhou City to the death."
The fighting on the battlefield had reached a fever pitch. A Jin soldier, a scimitar between his teeth, was about to climb the city wall when a Mongol soldier defending the city stabbed him down with a spear. Before the Mongol soldier could even rejoice, a Jin archer below shot an arrow into his neck, and both men fell from the city wall almost simultaneously.
Another group of Jin soldiers were lining up to climb the city walls. Because the ladders were made of bamboo, only three people could climb at a time. Just as they gathered at the base of the ladders, a large vat of boiling molten gold was poured down from above, and a foul stench accompanied by howls filled the air.
"Golden Juice" was a special weapon frequently used by defenders in ancient cities; strictly speaking, it could be considered an ancient biological weapon. Being doused with it caused not only scalding physical damage but also infection of any existing cuts or wounds. Furthermore, the pungent odor had a psychological impact on the attackers, and this weapon was very easy to obtain; anyone could produce it.
Finally, the watchtower was deployed, its massive body slowly approaching the city wall. Just then, Naza appeared on the city wall and shouted to his Mongol soldiers, "Don't panic! Use burning oil to burn them to death!"
One by one, the soldiers carried over the dark jars in baskets. They lit the tarpaulins on top of the jars with torches, and then the soldiers with strong arms began to throw them at the watchtower.
At first, perhaps due to the force used, the jars containing flammable oil were thrown off course. However, after some adjustments, quite a few jars were successfully thrown onto the watchtower vehicle, instantly causing a raging fire.
Upon seeing this, Wanyan Ping shouted, "Quickly, have someone put out the fire! Get the remaining watchtower carts up to the city wall!"
Despite the Jin soldiers' valiant efforts to extinguish the fire, the specially refined fire oil could not be put out so easily. As the fire grew larger, many Jin soldiers were already engulfed in flames and jumped from the heights. As for the heavily armored Jin soldiers who were preparing to scale the city walls, many of them were suffocated by the thick smoke from the fire. They also wanted to retreat, but unfortunately, the passage below was closed when the fire was moving.
Two of the four watchtower vehicles had already been set on fire. The remaining two, perhaps because they had been fitted with sheet metal, also caught fire, but the fire was quickly extinguished by the Jin soldiers above them using water.
As the watchtower approached, Naza was so anxious he kept stamping his feet. Under the current circumstances, if the Jurchens managed to climb the city wall, the pressure on their defense would increase significantly.
Just then, Wan Hanzhong led a group of men running over. They were dressed in dark blue clothes, and each of them had the words "COFCO Oil" printed on their backs. It turned out that they were guards of COFCO Oil.
Wan Hanzhong: "Then, Chief, quickly step back, we're about to use explosives!"
The guards from COFCO Oils lit their modified explosive charges and threw them with all their might at the approaching watchtower. As the explosive charges collided with the watchtower, the numerous large fishhooks on the outside of the explosive charges successfully snagged the outer layer of the watchtower.
"boom!......"
The massive explosion instantly snapped the watchtower in half, and the Jin soldiers on it were blown to pieces.
Naza and his Mongol soldiers stared in disbelief at the scene before them: Amazing! Mr. Fang is simply a god!
Another watchtower was destroyed in the same way. In addition, the guards of the grain and oil company used their crossbows to unleash a fierce barrage of fire on the Jin soldiers below the city. Their unique armor-piercing arrows were extremely sharp and caused great casualties to the Jin soldiers below the city.
Seeing that the threat from the watchtower was gone, Wan Hanzhong led his guards away again.
These guards were only willing to help because they received a secret message from Bu Liang. Wan Hanzhong and Bu Liang were longtime friends. Last year, Wan Hanzhong was forced by poverty to seek refuge with Bu Liang. After some discussion, Bu Liang sent him to the Mongolian grasslands. Bu Liang gave Wan Hanzhong a mission: to find a boy named Temujin and eliminate him. In addition, Wan Hanzhong was also tasked with instigating conflict between the Mongols and the Jin Dynasty. Any means were acceptable in dealing with the Jin Dynasty.
The explosion was also seen by Wanyan Ping and Yelü Sheng, who were not far away. Although they did not know what kind of weapon the Mongols were using, they guessed that it was probably something like gunpowder.
Wanyan Ping said in a deep voice, "When did the Mongol Tartars become so powerful? Why don't we have weapons like these? Someone go and investigate. That's it for today's battle. Everyone, retreat and rest."
Yelü Sheng also said, "I saw people using similar things when they were mining gold in Dading Prefecture a few years ago, but they weren't this powerful."
As the Jin army retreated, the Mongol soldiers defending the city were exhausted and collapsed on the ground. After only half a day of fighting, the various defensive weapons and supplies stored on the city walls had been almost used up. If the Jin army fought for another half day, they would probably only be able to defend themselves with the weapons they had.