Chapter 205: Artillery Strike

"Yan Wang!"

Yuan Li's venomous gaze pierced through the smoke of the battlefield to land on the army clad in Silver Armor.

Yes, this was the Yan King Army.

He would never forget these Silver Armors for as long as he lived.

"We were so close; if we had only broken into Yanguan, we would have won," Yuan Li muttered as if delirious.

From midnight until now, although the wall of Nan Cheng had collapsed.

The soldiers of Yanguan had been fighting them to the death at the breach the entire time.

At present, the Yuan Family Army had yet to break through this defensive line to enter Yanguan in force.

Therefore, this was not enough.

Because only by killing toward the northern wall from the rear and disrupting the defense of the Yanguan garrison could the Northern Di grand army successfully enter the pass.

And only then would their Yuan Family truly achieve victory.

"Yuan Xiu, hold them back!" Yuan Li pointed at the approaching Yan King Army, "At any cost."

Yuan Xiu nodded solemnly.

Drawing his sword, he spurred his Warhorse and headed west.

Dozens of generals followed behind him, shouting orders incessantly.

The troops on the western flank of the Yuan Family Army formation immediately turned to face the Yan King Army.

On a vast, open field, the two great armies moved toward each other like pieces on a chessboard.

"Artillery to the flanks, establish artillery positions, and fire in a cross-pattern."

Zhao Xu sat on his Warhorse atop a slightly elevated mound.

As the Wangfu Army continued to advance, he and core generals like Chang Wei remained stationed there to command the battle.

Messengers continuously delivered his orders into the ranks.

The artillerymen immediately led their Warhorses to the flanks of the formation, unloaded the Artillery, and aimed the muzzles at the Yuan Family formation.

At the same time, two battalions of spearmen stopped on each side of the artillery positions, responsible for protecting the artillerymen.

Once the artillery positions were constructed, Zhao Xu ordered the soldiers to stop advancing.

At this moment, the Yuan Family formation was still five hundred meters away from them.

"Heavy Cavalry prepare, Light Cavalry to the flanks."

"Artillery, load Grape Shot."

"..."

Zhao Xu issued order after order in an orderly fashion.

This Grape Shot was the special Cannonball he had had Wang Chong manufacture during this period.

Unlike a single large projectile, this Grape Shot was composed of many small iron balls, bundled with cloth into a cylindrical shape.

At the base of the Cannonball was an iron disc with the same diameter as the cannon's bore.

When fired, the Gunpowder would propel the iron disc, and the Grape Shot would fly out under the force.

Due to the immense power of the Gunpowder, these iron beads would fly out of the cloth wrapping, striking an entire area like flowers scattered by a goddess.

And the cross-fire would make the damage area reach its maximum, just like the cross-fire of a Machine Gun.

With all preparations complete, the battlefield fell silent once more, with only the faint sounds of slaughter from Yanguan drifting over.

Chang Wei's gaze kept darting toward Yanguan; he was very anxious.

Every minute and every second was critical now.

If it were him, he would immediately order the entire army to attack, engage the Yuan Family soldiers in a bitter struggle, and then kill their way to Yanguan.

But now that the command was in the hands of Yan Wang, he could only sigh repeatedly.

Zhao Xu glanced at Chang Wei; he knew what Chang Wei was thinking.

It was just that a reckless charge would only cause the two armies to quickly become entangled.

In that case, he would be unable to unleash the true power of the Artillery.

The Yuan Family was currently on a path of no return.

From the Yuan Family generals down to the soldiers, everyone was aware of this, so their will to fight was not weak.

Falling into hand-to-hand combat would only delay the time he had to save Yanguan.

"Might! Might! Might!"

The Yuan Family soldiers formed tight formations, advancing like blocks of ants, while simultaneously chanting in low voices.

The Wangfu Army was also formed into a Large Horizontal Formation of blocks, facing the Yuan Family formation head-on.

If one followed the traditional tactics of the cold-weapon era.

After closing the distance, both sides would launch a charge and mix together in hand-to-hand combat.

At this moment, that was exactly what the Yuan Family Army intended.

Their formation was orderly, and the steps taken by the soldiers were almost identical in length to ensure the formation would not fall into chaos.

Four hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

Two hundred meters...

Zhao Xu was calculating the distance between the two sides.

Just as they reached two hundred meters, the Yuan Family Cavalry suddenly flanked them from both sides, with five thousand Cavalry in each wing.

"Your Highness!" Chang Wei could no longer hold back.

Once the Yuan Family Cavalry flanked them and circled to the rear, they would be under attack from both front and back.

Zhao Xu did not speak, and the Prince's Army remained as motionless as a mountain.

Chang Wei let out an "Eh," and closed his eyes.

One hundred meters!

At this moment, the Yuan Family Cavalry, which had been galloping at a steady pace, suddenly accelerated, attempting a rapid flanking maneuver.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu shouted, "Fire!"

"Fire!" Upon hearing this, Chang Wei immediately stomped his feet and yelled.

The order was passed down.

Following the "Boom, boom, boom" of the thunderous roars, the earth seemed to tremble slightly at this instant.

On the artillery positions on both flanks, the Artillery spat out tongues of fire.

Grape Shot burst from the muzzles, flying like a fishing net of iron beads toward the galloping Yuan Family Cavalry.

When the sound of the artillery rang out, the mounts of the Yuan Family Cavalry were all startled.

Many horses reared up their front hooves, instinctively wanting to flee.

The Yuan Family Cavalry were likewise panicked by the thunderous sound, letting the horses throw them off.

The same question popped into their minds: "What kind of devilish thing is this?"

However, the thinking of many among them was immediately brought to an end.

In the few breaths of time after the firelight and smoke rose, the black iron beads tore them and their mounts apart like a violent storm.

Before the Yuan Family Cavalry could even react, clusters of blood mist exploded from their bodies.

Some lost arms, some lost legs, and others lost their heads.

There were even some who were instantly torn to pieces.

In an instant, the Yuan Family Cavalry in the front fell in rows like dominoes.

"What is going on?" The Yuan Family Cavalry in the rear urgently pulled tight on their horses' reins.

As the cavalry in front fell one after another, their field of vision suddenly opened up.

But gazing at the severed limbs and remains covering the ground, they felt as if their breathing was about to stop.

Yet before they could recover their senses, firelight and smoke lit up once again not far away.

The stunned Yuan Family Cavalry were torn apart once more.

At this time, the Yuan Family Cavalry finally realized something was wrong.

Regardless of what those things emitting light and thunderous sounds were.

There was no doubt that these things would destroy them as easily as slaughtering chickens.

And they were unable to put up any resistance.

Seeing the flesh and blood on the ground, the Yuan Family Cavalry could no longer take it; screaming, they reined in their horses and fled.

"This..."

Chang Wei and a group of generals were all stunned dumb.

Under two rounds of artillery fire, over a thousand Yuan Family Cavalry had fallen forever.

This was simply like a shovel striking into an anthill.

Not to mention the Yuan Family Cavalry, even they had palms full of cold sweat.

They had only heard Yan Wang speak of this kind of Cannonball, but had never seen the actual effect.

Now that they had seen it with their own eyes, they finally understood why Yan Wang was so composed.

The charge of the Yuan Family Cavalry was crushed in just two rounds of artillery fire.

But Zhao Xu's nerves were still taut; their true goal was to hold Yanguan.

And before holding Yanguan, he had to completely defeat the Yuan Family Army.

Therefore, as the Yuan Family Cavalry fell into chaos and scrambled to flee, he immediately ordered the Artilleryman to aim all Artillery at the area two hundred meters away.