Chapter 488: Divine Machine Cannon

In September, King of Jin Li Xuanqing led his army to Wancheng.

The other three armies, Liu Zhenghui and Wang Yao led their troops to Yong'an in Shuzhong, Lü Qin to Xiakou, and Li Yaoshi to Suixian.

Faced with Xiangyang, which was destined to be a tough nut to crack, Li Xuanqing did not rush to take action. Instead, he waited until the other three armies began to launch their attacks.

He ordered Li Daliang, the governor of Jingzhou, to lead his troops to besiege Fancheng, but he himself did not rush to the Xiangfan battlefield, but was waiting for a special team.

This team was called the "Shenji Army" and was directly under the jurisdiction of the Tiance Prefecture. It had five battalions in total. This time, three battalions of 1,500 people came from Luoyang. They were all craftsmen who were good at making equipment. They were specially trained by Li Yuanhui in recent years for attacking cities.

The leader of the team was Dou Shi, who was also Li Xuanqing's cousin and the son of Empress Taimu's brother Dou Guang. The first thing Dou Shi said when he saw Li Xuanqing was: "Third cousin, fourth cousin said that no matter what, I must take this Jianghu Battalion back after the battle."

Li Xuanqing laughed when he heard this: "Hahaha, Silang is so petty. They are just a few craftsmen, but you treat them like treasures."

Dou Shi said: "Third cousin, you don't know that these craftsmen are now military personnel, and many of them have official positions, including lieutenants and captains."

Li Xuanqing laughed in silence, "Silang actually acted like this? Then I'd like to see what these people are capable of. Wancheng is left to you and General Zu. Jiulang, this battle is of great importance. The food and fodder in the direction of Luoyang are the key to this war."

In fact, Li Xuanqing was more waiting for his younger cousin to tell him this. At this moment, he didn't know how much help Li Yuanhui's support team, called the Shenji Army, would give him.

Dou Shi said: "Don't worry, cousin, we will ensure that there will be a steady supply of food and money."

Li Yuanhui sent Dou Shi here, not only to lead this carpenter team, but also to coordinate the supply of food and grass for the entire Wei army in Wancheng. A considerable part of the food and grass had to be supplied by Yuzhou, and without anyone from the Qi Palace here, many things would be difficult to handle.

Dou Shi was sent by Li Si to reassure Li San that the one who transports grain for you is our cousin, and we are all family, so you can fight with confidence and eat as much grain as you want.

On the second day, Li Xuanqing, with his own personal army and the team he jokingly called the "Carpenter Army", set out for the Xiangfan battlefield.

Seeing that all the members of this team were riding donkey carts or ox carts, and some were riding horses and mules, Li Xuanqing was puzzled. Were the craftsmen under Silang treated too well? He knew the importance of craftsmen, but was he overemphasizing them?
But he couldn't have any dissatisfaction at this time. After all, these were guest troops. Could these people make any siege weapons?
When they arrived at the outskirts of Xiangfan, Li Xuanqing ordered someone to pass a message to them, asking them to make equipment. On the other hand, he personally climbed up to a high place to see the terrain of Xiangfan and began to discuss siege strategies with his staff.

For several days, Li Xuanqing had no time to take care of these carpenters, and thought they could make ladders and well guardrails.

But the arrival of these carpenters brought him some small shock.

"How many?"

"Two hundred and fifty steps back to your highness."

"you sure?"

"Your Highness, I dare not lie to you. Please move over and watch for yourself."

Li Xuanqing, who was handling military affairs in the big tent, stood up at this moment and immediately went outside the camp with others to watch the scene of the Shenji Army firing a new catapult.

Then he measured the distance himself with his feet and looked at the huge stone bullet that was several feet deep in the ground.

"Hahaha, Silang, you're not giving me 1,500 craftsmen, you're clearly giving me an army of 100,000. With this weapon, Xiangfan will surely be conquered by me!"

Shan Xiongxin, Cheng Zhijie, Cui Xiaotong, Yao Yi and other confidants of Prince Jin's Palace were also amazed by this weapon.

Liu Zongxun, Yin Qiao, Dou Cong, Zhang Pinggao, Zhao Wenke and others who came upon hearing the news also looked incredulous.

But after they saw the new catapult firing, they understood the outcome of the battle. They thought it was natural that the battle of Xiangfan would last for a year or two, or even longer.

But with this new type of catapult called "Shenji Cannon", if it can hold out for the people in the city for half a year, it would mean that they are all useless.

It's so magical.

The siege weapon originally known as the "Huihui Cannon" was mainly made by Alawadin and Yismain. Both of them were Huihui people from the Western Regions, so the cannon was named the Western Region Cannon and the Huihui Cannon. Because it was first used in the attack on Xiangyang and Fancheng, it was also called the Xiangyang Cannon.

Li Yuanhui relied on his memory and his own superficial knowledge of mechanics, and worked with a group of craftsmen for a long time before he finally made this thing.

The siege weapon that appeared hundreds of years in advance appeared in the place where it was supposed to be used six or seven hundred years later. Maybe it was God's will.

Liu Bingding, the captain of the Shenji Army, looked quite complacent when he saw the surprised expressions of the senior officials.

When faced with questions from a group of high-ranking officials, he kept silent.

"I beg you to forgive me, generals. This divine cannon was made after His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi took out the blueprints and worked with several of us craftsmen for several months. It has become as powerful as it is today. His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi has ordered us not to reveal the secrets. I beg you generals not to embarrass me."

A craftsman could call himself a "lower general" in front of a group of generals. You can't even begin to describe how proud Liu Bingding was.

After Li Sanlang recovered from his shock and excitement, he immediately ordered everyone present to keep their mouths shut and not reveal any information about the range of the "Magic Cannon".

On the other hand, he called together all the craftsmen in the army and said to Liu Bingding, "I will give you one month. After one month, I want 100 stone-throwing machines. You can use all the military supplies and manpower. Can you do it?"

Liu Bingding thought carefully after hearing this and said, "Your Highness, yes."

Li Sanlang nodded and said, "Okay, in a month, if these 100 catapults are completed, I will recommend you to be the Lieutenant General!"

Liu Bingding immediately said happily: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lieutenant General, what a high position this is! He is just a carpenter. Because he is quite smart and learned a few characters when he was young, the King of Qi would never dare to make him a lieutenant. How could the King of Jin make him Lieutenant General?

This is overwhelming wealth.
Great wealth was waiting for him, and a torrential rain of arrows and stone cannons was falling on the heads of the Wei army in Linzhang.

Li Yaoshi's army of more than 50,000 soldiers marched from Sui County. In order to support the navy to open the Yangtze and Han River waterways, Li Yaoshi ordered Xu Qiande's troops to attack Linzhang. He led the army to attack Dunkou.

Xu Qiande's troops also had a 500-man Shenji Army team, so in fact, the first battle of the "Shenji Cannon" was in the forest.

The rain of arrows and stone cannons caused huge casualties and panic to the Wei army in Linzhang City.

Lei Shimeng, who was guarding the forest barrier, had no choice but to lead his troops out of the city to fight.

Twenty thousand Wei troops lined up outside Linzhang City, and Xu Qiande led twenty thousand Tang troops to engage in battle with them.

Tang Zhonglang Jiang Duan Xiaoxian and Lan Yu personally led hundreds of selected cavalry to harass the Wei army's flanks.

Xu Qiande personally led the vanguard to attack the Wei army. The battle was fierce and lasted until noon, when the Wei army finally collapsed in the fierce battle.

General Fu Weixue personally led hundreds of elite cavalrymen into the enemy camp, captured the Western Wei general Lei Shimeng alive, and killed the Western Expedition General Han Xiu in battle, causing the Wei army to be completely defeated.

In this battle, the Tang army beheaded 4,000 enemies and captured 7,000. The remaining Western Wei troops were all defeated and fled. Linzhang City fell into the hands of the Tang army, which also meant that the entrances to the Han River and the Yangtze River were opened.

The Tang army’s navy could attack the heartland of the Western Wei Dynasty from the Han River.

For the Western Wei Dynasty, the loss of Linzhang, an important stronghold, was like kicking open half of the door.

And there is less than half a month left before the war officially starts.

The other half of the gate is the entrance to the tunnel.

The Wei navy had been completely suppressed by the Tang army and was afraid to go out.

With the fall of Linzhang, Xu Qiande led more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry to Dunkou, also bringing the Shenji Army.

Half a month later, the stone cannon landed in the city of Dunkou.

It just passed through the roof of the tower and landed beside the Grand Commander Martin Jingzhen. Even the veteran general who had experienced hundreds of battles was terrified at the sight of the catapult hundreds of steps away.

(End of this chapter)