Chapter 43

Before he could say anything more with Xu Qing, Chen Ze led Meng Yang and others to the city tower.

The sound of the horn continued. Chen Ze rushed up the watchtower at the top of the city building with an arrow, grabbed the coarse telescope in the sentry's hand and looked in the direction indicated by the soldiers.

In the Selah woods about a mile away from the west gate, a troop without a flag could be seen moving forward in a square array.

The troops were arranged in a dense marching array, led by sword shield and hand shield, followed by spearmen. There were cavalry shuttling back and forth on both sides of the formation, and Chen Ze saw three big guys in the middle of the formation!

There were three huge catapults that were more than twice as big as the catapult on the upper floor of the city. Each catapult was pulled by eight horses. Around the catapult, there were at least thousands of archers holding bows.

In addition, Chen Ze also saw that in the rear of the catapult, three huge towers up to 10 meters high, almost as high as the city wall, were also moving slowly with the movement of the square array.

Siege Tower!

Chen Ze frowned slightly. How long have these guys prepared? Not only the catapult, but also the siege tower!

The siege tower is not like a ladder, but a simple ladder. It can be easily pushed down by the garrison to prevent the enemy from climbing the wall.

This thing is a movable bunker. The tower is covered with thick and wet animal skin. It can not only prevent the accumulation of bows and arrows, but also prevent fire. Even the stone bullets fired by the stone catapult can't destroy it with one or two rounds.

The internal space of the siege tower is large enough to accommodate hundreds of soldiers to hide in it, and its height is up to 10 meters. As long as it is close to the city wall, the soldiers above can jump up to the city tower, which is a great threat to the defenders.

The best way to deal with the siege tower is on the catapult, but the accurate hit rate of this thing is really hard to say. Without a sufficient number of catapults, it is difficult to cause fatal damage to the siege tower.

What's more, there are many hidden arrow holes on the siege tower. The soldiers inside can shoot arrows to kill the enemy in the tower. Therefore, even if they want to send troops out of the city to stop them from approaching, they need to pay a great price.

Xiyun city cannot excavate the moat due to geological reasons. Once the siege tower collides, the defenders in the city are afraid they can't deal with it.

This thing is a tank!

Compared with the siege tower, the five siege hammers next to it are nothing.

After a rough sweep, the woods were crowded. Even if it was less than 7000, five or six thousand could not run.

After observing the enemy array, Chen Ze was about to use his telescope to look in another direction. Someone hurried up under the watchtower.

"My Lord, my subordinates have sent for the catapult as you ordered, but the five above..."

The person who came up was Xu Qing. He was also worried after the arrangement was completed. At the moment, the sentry had issued a warning, which meant that the enemy was coming, but at this point, the counselor asked to dismantle the catapult. It's not appropriate to think!

Even Xu Qing once suspected that this guy was not a spy sent by the enemy?

"Just do what I say."

Chen Ze frowned slightly and had to put down his telescope first and touch the military aircraft token again from his arms.

"This... Okay."

Xu Qing bowed his head and sighed, so he had to wave back. A dozen engineering soldiers who also suspected that they had heard wrong had no choice but to disperse and execute the order.

"What about them?"

At the moment of lowering his head, Xu Qing saw the scene outside the city gate and couldn't help pointing out.

Outside the city gate, hundreds of soldiers are working, looking up at the city building from time to time, their faces full of anxiety.

These people were the five hundred weak soldiers sent out by Chen Ze in advance in the barracks, and Chen Ze's task was to dig shovels with shovel shovels and five hundred meters in front of the west gate.

The reason why it is called a trench rather than a trench is because of Chen Ze's request.

He did not ask how deep and wide the trench was dug, but that it must be long enough!

This requirement is very simple. In the loose soil around Yuncheng in the west, the soldiers can plow a ditch on the ground even if they push forward against the shovel. Ten people can go back and forth two or three times, one 30 cm deep and 50 cm wide, and the ditch across the whole official road out of the city can be formed.

At this moment, the team of 500 people was working in full swing. When Xu Qing saw them, the open area in front of the city gate was like a newly reclaimed farmland, so he almost planted seedlings.

But what's the use?

Xu Qing sighed slightly. He could guess Chen Ze's idea.

These trenches are shallow and narrow. Ordinary people can cross them with a single step, even if there are a large number... What is the difficulty of running in the fields?

Therefore, Chen Ze's purpose is to hinder the progress of large siege equipment such as catapults.

Both the catapult and the siege tower have a common feature, that is, they are large but also heavy. If you don't install wheels under them and pull hard tugs by manpower alone, I'm afraid people will be tired to death when they come to the city gate, so you don't have to fight this battle.

These trenches are used to deal with siege equipment. Can people cross over and throw stone carts?

Jump, too?

The idea is right, but Xu Qing's sigh is exactly the same.

Chen Ze is not the only one who can think of digging trenches to block the wheels of the stone catapult, but the party who attacked the city will certainly consider it.

Therefore, the army will be equipped with an engineer, who will walk at the end of the team in peacetime to protect food and supplies, and bear the responsibility of removing obstacles in wartime. Before the commander is ready to order the siege, they will carry sandbags, fill the trenches under the protection of knife and shield hands, and fill at least a few paths for the siege equipment to move forward normally.

The trench that Chen Ze ordered people to dig was too shallow and narrow. Let alone sandbags, those knife shield hands covered the huge shield in their hands. Isn't that a channel?

In the end, they are still too young and have too little experience. Such trenches do not help at all.

Xu Qing sighed. Chen Ze didn't pay any attention to him. After telling people to open the gate and let the 500 people in, he raised his telescope again and observed it carefully. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Without taking care of Xu Qing's bitter face, Chen Ze went straight down the watchtower, first checked the progress of dismantling the catapult, and then gathered Meng Yang and others together and gave orders.

Only Xu Qing was left standing disorderly in the windward of the watchtower.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally clenched his teeth, stamped his feet in place, turned and flew down the city tower, looked up deeply at Chen Zehou, and galloped to the city.

Just as he was about to disappear at the end of the street, Chen Ze, who ordered Meng Yang and others, looked at him, and a smile seemed to appear on the corner of his mouth.