Chapter 383

On the surface, Zhuge Liang showed him a good deal of respect.

But whenever the two of them disagreed, Zhuge Liang's opinion still had to take precedence.

That was because, whenever Ying Su was absent, Zhuge Liang spoke for Ying Su himself!

"Prime Minister, if you have any way to stop them from attacking the city, then say it." Ying Zheng said lightly.

"I have no way to stop them from attacking the city, only measures to respond with."

"I believe that sending Li Yuanba into battle now would be too early."

"Because our city walls have been reinforced and blessed with cannons, it will not be easy for anyone to break in!"

"If we send Li Yuanba into battle at the slightest provocation, it will only make them think this is our one and only trump card."

"Once Li Yuanba is no longer at our side, they will act without restraint against us. And their current behavior proves exactly that!"

"They must believe Li Yuanba is still up north, or even that something happened to him during the campaign against the Xiongnu — only then would they dare this mad assault on the city."

"For now, let us hold the line and watch. Let them learn that even without Li Yuanba, we are not prey for them to covet!"

Zhuge Liang analyzed.

"Now the enemy attacks from all four sides. If we wait until we can no longer hold and only then send Li Yuanba out, I fear it will be too late!"

Ying Zheng said.

"We will not fail to hold!"

Zhuge Liang's tone was firm.

He had personally tested the power of the cannons himself.

Before the cannons, flesh and blood simply could not withstand them.

As long as the cannonballs held out, however many came, that many would die!

Seeing Zhuge Liang brimming with confidence, Ying Zheng said no more.

Meanwhile, outside the city, the army was launching a fierce assault under General Meng Tian's command!

Soldiers pushed tall siege wagons toward the base of the city wall.

Meanwhile, the defenders atop the wall kept shooting arrows down at them.

Arrows rained down on the base of the wall like drops of rain, but with little effect.

That was because the attacking soldiers all held tall shields above their heads.

At the very front were burly soldiers, each one hoisting a giant shield as tall as a man.

These giant shields moved like walking walls, advancing forward slowly but steadily.

The vast majority of arrows fired at them were blocked by the giant shields.

"Cease firing arrows!"

"Wait until they reach the base of the wall, then crush them with stones!"

The commanders on the wall issued new orders.

Each of the four sides of the wall had a main general in charge of its defense.

These four main generals found it hard to communicate with one another, yet they all issued similar orders at the same time.

The reason was simple — Zhuge Liang had told them in advance about the things that might happen and how to respond to them.

Outside Xianyanggong, fighting raged on all four sides at once, yet the course of battle was strikingly uniform.

When the siege ladders and battering rams had been pushed up to the base of the wall, the defending soldiers immediately hurled down the stones and logs they had prepared in advance.

These heavy objects were not something shields could defend against.

Stones weighing dozens of jin thrown down from such heights smashed some shields to pieces on the spot.

Even when a shield did not break, the tremendous impact of the blow would still crush the soldier behind it to death!

"A hundred gold pieces to whoever scales the wall!"

A captain shouted loudly from below the wall.

Spurred on by such a rich reward, the soldiers' spirits instantly lifted, and they scrambled desperately up the siege ladders already in place.

In truth, these men knew the chance of claiming the reward was slim.

Whoever charged up the wall first would surely be killed by the defenders!

But the problem was that if they did not charge, they would be killed by the overseers.

Either way meant death, so they might as well charge with everything they had — who knew, they might just make it onto the wall and live.

Just as the attacking soldiers scrambled desperately upward, the defenders on the wall were not idle either.

Some hurled stones and wooden blocks, while others poured boiling water down below!

For a moment, screams rose on all sides — the very first wave of attackers simply failed to make it onto the wall!

On the main Chenglou, Ying Zheng watched the fierce fighting in the distance, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

As the founding emperor who had conquered the six kingdoms, when it came to warfare he relied on the generals under his command.

He himself seldom gave specific orders on the battlefield.

When it came to deploying troops and to the specifics of attacking and defending cities, he freely admitted he was no match for men like Wang Jian and General Meng Tian.

But being inferior to those top-tier generals did not mean he was inferior to other commanders.

Ying Zheng was confident that even if he took command in person, he could still rank as a first-rate commander.

If the present situation dragged on any longer, the stones, logs, and boiling water prepared on the wall would be exhausted.

When that happened, the wall was bound to be breached by the attackers.

That would lead to a brutal close-quarters melee.

The cannons on the wall would become useless ornaments!

By then, even sending Li Yuanba into battle would be too late to turn the tide!

Because no matter how formidable Li Yuanba is, he cannot split himself into multiple bodies.

Amidst a million-strong army, Li Yuanba must either protect his own leader or go kill enemies; he cannot attend to both.

And given Ying Su's nature, he would certainly have instructed Li Yuanba to prioritize protecting his own leader beforehand.

The reason for this was not for Ying Zheng's sake, but for the sake of people like Zhuge Liang and Xiao He!

Ying Zheng realized that in Ying Su's heart, his own father was not as important as people like Zhuge Liang!

Just as Ying Zheng was lost in his thoughts, a deafening boom interrupted them.

Boom...

The first cannon fired!

Red flames erupted from the cannon barrel; a cannonball soared into the air and flew straight at the soldiers outside the city walls!

Before the cannonball could hit the ground, several more deafening booms followed.

The cannons atop the surrounding city walls began to fire!

The cannonballs sped through the air, emitting a piercing shriek.

When they struck the ground, they unleashed violent explosions.

In an instant, flames shot skyward.

The massive army outside the city was scattered in all directions.

Wherever the cannonballs landed, dozens died in a single blast!

"The power is actually this great!"

Below the city, on a small earthen mound, General Meng Tian stared in shock at the spot where the cannonball had landed.

He had heard of the cannon's power before.

But he had never seen it with his own eyes.

Therefore, he had no clear concept of the cannon's destructive capability.

In his original imagination, a cannon should be nothing more than an oversized crossbow.

Though powerful, it could kill at most two or three people at a time.

But judging by the reaction of the soldiers near the impact site, wouldn't a single shot kill or wound dozens?

"Quick, order the soldiers to scatter! That will reduce the casualties!"

Wei Pao shouted.

He had seen it too.

Any soldier within ten-plus meters of where the cannonball landed would almost certainly be wiped out!

If the soldiers did not stand so close together, the number of those killed by the cannonballs would be far fewer.

"General Meng, quickly order the soldiers to scatter!"