Chapter 138: Paradox

Years later, when Wanyan Wushu looked up at the sky by the Yellow River, he could not help but recall that sunny winter morning.

In this world, the significance of some things often only reveals itself after the dust has settled, even many years later; while for some meaningful things, just how meaningful they are may never have a definitive answer until the end of time.

But back on that day, under the warm winter sun, when dozens of fist-sized mud balls smashed onto the command platform of the Jin army camp, the direct results were absolutely quantifiable.

The projectiles whistled in. Wanyan Wushu, standing at the very front, turned around along their trajectory with a look of bewilderment and curiosity—and was immediately splattered with blood. A mud ball flew over his head and struck the chest of Chilihui, the Myriad Household commander standing diagonally behind him, slamming him heavily to the ground so that blood sprayed from all seven orifices!

Truly spraying blood!

Living in chaotic times, all were seasoned military men. Those on the command platform had often seen the gruesome sight of an armored warrior being bludgeoned to death on the battlefield... From the outside, the armor might look intact and the corpse stable, but lifting the visor would reveal blood already flowing from the seven orifices; if the chest or back were injured, the internal organs would likely be reduced to a mushy mess.

Compared to a fist-sized iron hammer, what kind of power must a fist-sized mud ball flying from several hundred paces away possess?

In fact, in Wanyan Wushu's blood-streaked vision, that mud ball destined for the history books slammed the veteran Jin general and Myriad Household commander Chilihui heavily onto the rammed-earth floor of the command platform, then rolled across his face, bounced off his helmet, and struck a Meng'an commander behind Chilihui with red bloodstains, bounced a second time, landed a third time, and finally shattered—yet clearly splattered onto the leg of another Meng'an commander, who immediately fell to the ground wailing.

All of this happened and ended in an instant. Of those still alive on the command platform, only a handful could snap back to their senses at that moment. Most, like Wanyan Wushu, had witnessed this sudden change at the closest distance but still looked somewhat dazed... They truly had no idea how things had turned out this way. Everything had been fine just moments ago!

Fortunately, the bystanders saw clearly. Below the platform, hundreds of Jurchen armored warriors who had come to their senses charged madly up the rammed-earth high platform, desperately dragging down the high-ranking officers who stood there in shock, panic, or bewilderment.

This action seemed commendable at the time, but from a hindsight perspective, it was harmful rather than beneficial—because the casualties from that volley had already been inflicted, and the Song army could not possibly launch a second strike in a short time. Instead, countless wounded died on the spot from trampling and dragging, or had their light injuries turned severe.

It must be known that among these wounded, aside from a very few personal guards, the lowest rank was at least Mouke, and most were even at the Meng'an level... Puli Yan didn't even qualify to be up there.

Of course, hindsight is hindsight. After those dozens of mud balls, the Fourth Prince Wanyan Wushu and his men, surrounded and protected by their personal guards behind the command platform, still looked somewhat dazed... He was no longer confused, but he could hardly believe his eyes, because before him lay more than twenty corpses, all of them familiar faces.

Relatively speaking, the Zhao Emperor on the city wall was not so immersed. He had only been excited for a moment when he fired; once the mud balls landed, he immediately lost interest.

After all, from such a distance, he could only see that the crowd there had suffered some damage and then fallen into chaos. He couldn't make out the specific results, and the plain mud projectiles had no special visual effects, seeming insufficient in lethality.

Indeed, the incompetent engineering dog, aside from adding winches to the trebuchets and using lever principles to create a counterweight design, had no technological achievements beyond the era... Not even gunpowder could be stuffed into the mud balls, because he didn't know how to add a fuse to ensure stable deflagration, nor could he achieve the sealing required for gunpowder... Not that he hadn't tried, but he had failed countless times.

Thus, gunpowder in the incompetent Zhao Emperor's hands was still used roughly as an accelerant. It could only be said that it burned more violently than the gunpowder of the opposing Jin army, perhaps achieving some miraculous effects in specific situations. The so-called envisioned "explosive shells" were merely something to imagine; for now, mud balls served as the substitute for that "explosive" effect.

Of course, at this point, the Zhao Emperor didn't think too much. In his view, no matter what, siege engines like these were enough to change the mode of siege warfare in this cold-weapon era. Since his side had seized the advantage in artillery warfare, it was sufficient to gamble everything here in Nanyang.

In fact, the reason Chen Gui, Minister Chen, had gained the Zhao Emperor's extraordinary trust from the very first day, even entrusting him with his life and safety, was that before his audience with the emperor—when he was still serving as the Pacification Commissioner—he had submitted a lengthy memorial to the Zhao Emperor.

In that memorial, a siege manual of several thousand characters with a clear structure, one could clearly discern his military thinking... One was elastic defense in depth—the principle being that more layers were better than fewer, and flexibility was better than rigidity. The other was that city defense design should prioritize anti-artillery measures, with counterattack methods also centered on artillery warfare.

And if one examined it closely, one would find that even the elastic defense in depth itself was actually a targeted reform of old-style siege methods, based on the new military phenomenon of large-scale artillery deployment.

This military philosophy of "artillery warfare is king" was undoubtedly an absolute political correctness for a time traveler.

Thus came half a month of forbearance and today's furious bombardment.

On the city wall, morale was high, but the Zhao Emperor, accustomed to watching war blockbusters, insisted that the accompanying civil and military officials walk slowly down the wall with him. Then, with his back to the wall, he stood with his hands at his sides, like a schoolboy being punished... But this was the best way to avoid projectiles from the siege engines outside the city.

For the rest of the morning and afternoon, projectiles whistled continuously, flying back and forth over the Nanyang city wall, causing countless officials to look up like schoolboys, occasionally gasping in surprise.

But clearly, the Jin army's siege engines, though not inferior in number, were far less efficient in firing than the Song army's engines inside the city. Most projectiles flew from inside the city to outside... This was natural. The appearance of counterweight trebuchets seemed only to save manpower, but in fact, the evolution they brought was comprehensive.

For example, with dozens of men no longer needed to pull in front, space could be saved to build a triangular defensive fortification in front of the trebuchet.

For another example, the rated mass of the counterweight effectively ensured the stability of the force, making the trebuchet's launch more accurate. The laborers only needed to add a specific amount of counterweight according to the officers' instructions and adjust the angle in advance... The angles and counterweights were based on results from large-scale experiments conducted before the Jin army's arrival. Many experienced laborers might not understand the principles, but they had it in their minds.

For yet another example, the winch for the counterweight made the trebuchet's launch faster, making it easier to achieve volley fire...

Not to mention that the Song army had demonstrated a simple technology from the start—different types of projectiles. Stone projectiles for destroying the enemy's siege engines and mud projectiles with longer range and an "explosive" effect, specifically for hitting people—the combination of the two was far more than one plus one.

Faster, stronger, better defensive capability, longer range, more accurate—all together, it was comprehensive suppression.

Thus, after the first volley ambushed the Jin army's command platform, the Song army's trebuchets fired continuously throughout the morning, completely smashing the newly erected Jin artillery positions in a crushing manner.

Relatively speaking, on the Nanyang city wall, following Chen Gui's requirements, all unnecessary high towers and watchtowers had been removed. The top surface of the wall was also slightly narrow, but the parapets were specially thickened, allowing the soldiers on the wall to lean against the parapets to avoid projectiles while continuously observing the enemy's artillery positions... Until the Jin artillery positions completely collapsed and lost their attack capability, the losses on the wall were negligible.

By the afternoon, after confirming that the Jin artillery positions were useless, the Zhao Emperor re-ascended the wall, only to find it dull again, because since the start of the Nanyang siege, the Jin army camp outside the city had fallen into complete silence for the first time.

No provocations, no cavalry shuttling back and forth to blockade, no armored overseers harshly berating laborers and Han troops, no bustling engineering works, not even wailing or shouting. The previously bustling artillery positions were completely empty, with only a pile of broken wood. As for the command platform directly ahead, it was utterly bare, with even the flags removed!

But what could be said? Without a doubt, this was a great victory for the Song army!

So, with the Zhao Emperor excluded, the city of Nanyang was still filled with cheers and jubilation, while the Jin camp remained silent as a grave.

Setting aside the Zhao Emperor's boredom, as for Wanyan Wushu... Here, it must be emphasized, speaking honestly, today's battle was not Wanyan Wushu's fault. This Jin commander-in-chief had made no mistakes! The Fourth Prince had considered the artillery issue. He knew that siege warfare relied on artillery, and after suffering from wishful thinking at Xiacai, he had prepared early for a sustained artillery battle this time, even preparing so many siege engines?! If you replaced him with anyone else, they couldn't have done better, because anyone else would also be unable to understand why the Song army's trebuchets were so accurate, so fast, and so far-reaching this time.

Moreover, he now had no time to consider the artillery issue, because a huge dilemma lay before him.

"How many?"

In the central command tent far to the north, far from the front line, Wanyan Wushu looked up blankly.

"Besides General Chilihui, the Myriad Household commander, seven Meng'an and four Mouke were killed in action," a Han staff officer said cautiously. "In addition, six Meng'an and two Mouke were severely wounded and unable to fight..."

That was the effect of those dozens of mud balls. The Zhao Emperor had endured for half a month just for this one volley.

"Since the Grand Ancestor raised the army, such a tragic event has never been heard of," Wanyan Balisu, whose arm had been splattered by a mud ball fragment, said angrily after a long silence, though it was unclear at whom his anger was directed.

"This is not the time to think about that!" another Myriad Household commander, Han Chang, suddenly retorted. "What we need to think about now is, according to military law, should we execute another seven or eight Meng'an and several dozen Mouke?!"

Balisu looked up in shock, finally realizing why the tent was silent, yet he felt something was absurdly wrong... If they were really executed, wouldn't half the army's high-ranking officers be lost for nothing? Then there would be no need to fight this battle, right?

Had dozens of mud balls from Nanyang city defeated the Jin army's forty thousand main forces?

But Jurchen military law had been set like an iron rule from the very beginning, hadn't it?! Were Chilihui and those seven Meng'an not legitimately killed in action?! If a commanding officer died in battle, his direct subordinates should be beheaded, right?

Everyone in the tent looked at the Fourth Prince, whose face was covered in bloodstains, half in fear, half in expectation. Balisu and Han Chang both stared nervously at their commander-in-chief.

"I... I..." Wanyan Wushu finally spoke, gritting his teeth under the gaze of the entire tent. "It doesn't count as killed in action! Absolutely cannot count! I will take full responsibility! I pardon you all!"

From Balisu and Han Chang on down, everyone was relieved. But for some reason, the two leaders—the very two Myriad Household commanders who had just found the situation absurd—exchanged a glance and instead felt a sense of loss.

Because no matter how reasonable, how justified, or how much the procedure was patched up, it could not conceal the fact that this was the first time the Jin army had systematically evaded military law on a large scale... Once this precedent was set, what would the future hold? And even if this hurdle was passed, what was to be done about the Nanyang city before them? Could it still be taken?