Chapter 350 The Battle of Guanzhong (Part 3)

While camps were being built here, Gao Xianzhi was not idle either, dispatching two columns of troops led by Zhao Meng and Li Siye to strike at the eastern and southern sides of Chang'an.

Within half a month, they captured Gaoling, Lantian, and Hu County surrounding Chang'an.

Because Gao Xianzhi moved quickly and Chang'an was surrounded so tightly that not even water could leak through, news never managed to get out.

It wasn't until more than half a month later that Gao Long noticed Chang'an had been slow to send grain and fodder; he sent Scouts back to investigate and finally learned what had happened.

Turning back time to more than half a month ago, at the end of the ninth month of the twentieth year of the Great Qian, with the arrival of Gao Long, the Northern Liang Army's desperate encirclement of the big fish, Gao Yuan, officially began.

Before this, Gao Bing had already ordered the construction of siege engines: two linchong siege towers, over twenty ladder trucks, a dozen catapults, and a large number of wooden ladders; it could be said he spared no expense.

Chu Yue looked at the rapidly thinning forest outside, pouting as she couldn't help but complain.

"No wonder this place will become the Loess Plateau in the future. It's all because of people like you fighting wars; these beautiful forests have all been chopped down."

Gao Yuan smiled and rubbed the little girl's head.

"How about after we win, Brother-in-law takes you here to plant trees and create a forest?"

Chu Yue nodded happily, then continued to raise her binoculars to watch the increasing number of enemy troops and siege engines outside the city.

"Brother-in-law, I heard you invented these linchong siege towers and ladder trucks. They just took them and used them like that; did they pay any patent fees?"

Gao Yuan was observing the enemy's movements with his binoculars. Hearing Chu Yue's question, he chuckled.

"Don't worry, those patent fees will be collected back twofold very soon."

Regarding these siege engines he had plagiarized into this world, how could Gao Yuan not have a way to deal with them?

However, those methods were no longer needed because he had explosive packs. With this ultimate weapon, no matter what siege engine it was, a single explosive pack thrown over would instantly blow it to pieces.

"What a pity, what a pity the Red-Coat Cannonss aren't here. Otherwise, one shot could blast these siege engines into wooden splinters."

From the perspective of siege and defense, if devices like the linchong siege towers and ladder trucks were on the third floor, then the Red-Coat Cannonss were in the atmosphere—it was a complete dimensional strike.

Looking from afar at Gao Yuan standing under his magnificent great banner, Gao Long saw him as a massive piece of fat meat, wishing he could pounce and take a bite right now.

Gao Yuan also clearly saw Gao Long through his binoculars. To be fair, his "cheap" elder brother was indeed quite handsome and capable, with a system rating as high as S.

The last wild S-rank was the First Prince of Toungoo, Bayinnaung, but that guy's grave grass was already three feet tall.

"In my world, I won't allow such a badass person to exist."

Gao Yuan made a silent resolution. No matter how one looked at it, his cheap elder brother's only end could be as a dead man.

As the thundering war drums sounded, the Northern Liang Army began to advance slowly. Those heavy siege engines were also dragged into attack range by oxen, horses, and manpower.

The catapults outside the city were the first to show their power, as stones weighing twenty to thirty catties whistled through the air toward the city walls.

Without needing an order, the soldiers on the city walls worked together to lift heavy wooden planks over their heads.

It had to be said that the accuracy of these traditional catapults was truly poor. Over a dozen catapults fired together, but only three stones reached the wall, and all of them hit the wooden planks with a dull thud.

The soldiers holding the planks were a bit dazed from the impact, but others immediately took over their posts, allowing their comrades to go down and recover.

As the Northern Liang Army drew closer to the walls, the catapults could no longer attack, and both sides began to exchange volleys of arrows.

However, with heavy infantry providing cover, most of these aimless volleys were in vain. Only a few unlucky souls were hit and injured, and none were fatal.

These light long-range strikes were purely for testing each other; the main event was yet to come.

Accompanied by the sound of grinding machinery, the ladder trucks were the first to lean against the city walls. Then, with heavy infantry holding shields in front, the Northern Liang Army soldiers began to advance toward the top, while hundreds of wooden ladders were raised.

The most brutal battle of offense and defense began...

Xia Luqi had already been assigned by Gao Yuan to lead a group of elites to roam the various gates, specifically responsible for slaying the enemy troops who climbed onto the walls.

Meanwhile, Gao Yuan himself guarded the East Gate, where the enemy's offensive was fiercest. At this moment, he held the lingbao bow and began to pick off the soldiers on the ladder trucks from the side.

The heavy infantry were wrapped in iron armor like tin cans, making them hard to kill. Gao Yuan specifically targeted the soldiers behind them and the officers shouting commands below the city.

Without the soldiers behind them, those heavy infantry were like tanks without infantry cover. Once they finally rushed onto the wall, they would immediately fall into an encirclement.

Wearing dozens of catties of iron armor, once they fell, it was very difficult to get back up without help. They could only watch helplessly as the Qian Army soldiers pounced, flipped up their helmets, and with one strike... their world ended.

Since the ladder trucks failed to make a breakthrough, the Northern Liang Army soldiers on the wooden ladders were in for a rough time as an overwhelming number of stones and logs crashed down on them.

Soon, the base of the city wall was stained red with blood, and corpses were scattered everywhere.

After about fifteen minutes of fighting, the tall and heavy linchong siege towers finally approached the city walls. Gao Yuan immediately shouted.

"explosive packs!"

Several soldiers immediately carried explosive packs to the edge of the wall, lit them, and threw them toward the bottom of the linchong siege towers.

"Boom..."

After several loud explosions, the oxen and horses dragging the linchong siege towers were blown to pieces. The wheels of one tower were destroyed, and its hide covering was torn apart by the shockwave, leaving it completely paralyzed.

Without the cover of the hides, the soldiers inside the linchong siege tower instantly became sitting ducks. They were targeted by the archers in the arrow towers and suffered heavy casualties.

The fate of the two linchong siege towers was basically the same. The only difference was that the one at the West Gate managed to lower its gangplank, but the roaring Northern Liang Army soldiers who rushed out encountered a god of slaughter holding dual maces—Xia Luqi.

No matter how large a linchong siege tower was or how many soldiers it could hide, the gangplank was only so wide; at most, only four or five soldiers could rush across at a time.

This was the favorite scenario for a fierce general like Xia Luqi.

As the saying goes, "two fists are no match for four hands." Even the most powerful general would be unable to hold out against hundreds of people rushing at once.

But the current situation was different. These Northern Liang Army soldiers rushed up one by one, which was no different from delivering military merits to Xia Luqi.

In less than fifteen minutes, dozens of people had already fallen under Xia Luqi's terrifying pair of gold-inlaid four-edged maces.

This pair of maces was custom-made by someone sent by Zhao Xiyao after her enthronement. They were fitted with magnificent dragon-swallowing hilts. Two pairs were made in total, one for Gao Yuan and one for Xia Luqi. This was the first time they had seen blood on the battlefield.

With the god of slaughter Xia Luqi standing guard, the soldiers hiding in the linchong siege tower no longer dared to step forward, each of them hesitating.

Seeing his chance, Xia Luqi immediately had people pour oil and burn the wooden gangplank. Now, this linchong siege tower was also completely scrapped.

On the first day of the siege, the two linchong siege towers that they had high hopes for were both destroyed, which pained Gao Long immensely.

A linchong siege tower not only required a large number of craftsmen to spend a lot of time building it, but it also required a large amount of sturdy timber, iron parts, and cowhide—all of which cost money and grain.

To have them all scrapped in one day, how could Gao Long not be heartbroken?