Chapter 556: Wits and Courage

"Run, run, run for your lives..."

The Northern Di soldier's body slowly collapsed, and the pupils of the Xiliang soldier beside him kept dilating.

Then he heard a series of "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sounds of things piercing the air.

The soldiers around him kept screaming and falling; looking around, there was no one left standing within ten meters of him.

Some died instantly, while other soldiers had fresh blood gushing continuously from their chests and necks.

And the soldiers with leg injuries kept wailing in agony.

Finally, he covered his ears, unable to take it anymore, and ran backward.

But after running only five meters, a Curved Blade slashed across his throat.

"No retreating! Those who retreat die!" the Northern Di soldier raised the Curved Blade in his hand.

His face was full of ferocity.

In terror, the Xiliang soldiers who wanted to flee immediately stopped their feet and had no choice but to continue moving forward.

One hundred and fifty meters, one hundred meters, fifty meters.

The closer they got to the city wall, the greater their casualties.

Especially within fifty meters, the Yanguan soldiers' muskets seemed to have eyes.

Every time they fired, their casualties increased exponentially.

At this moment, only a mere five or six hundred people remained of the first wave of six thousand charging soldiers.

Looking back at the corpses covering the ground, even the Northern Di soldiers felt a chill in their hearts.

This was not attacking a city; it was more like sending themselves to their deaths.

Looking up at the Yanguan City wall, within fifty meters, they could clearly see the Yanguan soldiers holding muskets and aiming at them.

As soon as fire flashed from the muskets in their hands, they would be dead.

"Woo— woo— woo—"

The horn for retreat suddenly sounded.

The moment they heard it, the Northern Di soldiers and Xiliang soldiers dropped their Scaling Ladders and ran back without caring about anything else.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The gunfire behind them continued, and the people around them kept dwindling.

But when they returned to the camp, only two hundred or so remained.

At the entrance of the camp.

Gultu, Korchin, Gule, and Wuyan all had faces as cold as frost.

Cavalry coming and going kept relaying the situation on the battlefield to them.

Seeing that the first wave of charging soldiers had suffered massive casualties in a short time, Gultu immediately ordered a retreat.

Although they were the Dare-to-Die Royal Tent, they were not there to throw their lives away.

The ultimate goal was still to take Yanguan; they could not be reckless.

"What exactly is going on?" Gultu ordered the only surviving centurion to be brought over.

"Muskets, their muskets can kill from two hundred paces away!" The centurion's pupils were still dilating from fear.

"Two hundred meters away!" Gultu was shocked.

During the Jinzhuzhizhan, they, the Northern Di, had witnessed Yan Wang's muskets.

In the Northwest War, the Great Song army had also used muskets.

It was just that the range of the muskets back then was no more than a hundred meters.

And the rate of fire was not even as good as bows and arrows.

They, the Northern Di people, had been skilled in archery and horsemanship since childhood, and almost everyone was an archer; although they found these muskets curious, they had never thought of replacing bows and arrows with muskets.

"Great Administrator, our archers were almost wiped out before they even got within a hundred meters; there can be no mistake," the centurion added.

The other three heard this and looked toward Gultu.

Korchin said, "If that is the case, this must be Yan Wang's new type of firearm."

"Great Administrator, we cannot keep fighting like this; it hasn't even been half a day, and six thousand men are gone," Gule said.

He wanted to be a Northern Di, but watching the Xiliang soldiers die one by one, he did not feel good inside either.

Wuyan did not speak; he recalled the Jinzhuzhizhan.

At that time, the Yanzhou troops suddenly brought out muskets, causing massive casualties to their Xiliang elites.

Now this scene seemed to be repeating itself; he looked toward Yanguan.

He suddenly felt a strong sense of fear, as if it were a man-eating giant beast straddling the earth.

But he knew clearly that they had to continue this battle.

The plague had caused Yanzhou heavy losses, and Yanguan was also at its weakest.

Right now, Yanguan could still keep them out by relying on Yan Wang's new firearms.

Once Yan Wang recovered, would the Ningjin Dusi still be able to hold on?

"Even if Yan Wang's soldiers have new firearms, this battle must continue. If we do not take Yanguan while it is at its weakest, we will never have another chance," Gultu said.

He and Wuyan were thinking the same thing.

Yan Wang had grown too fast; they had been able to feel it during the years they had been competing with Yan Wang.

The new firearms that appeared this time exceeded his understanding even more.

If Yan Wang were given more time, no one could predict what he would grow into.

At this moment, he finally understood the anxiety in the Khan's heart.

Korchin nodded and said, "It is just that we cannot fight like this. Wolves on the Grassland often attack packs at night because that is when the hunter's vision is at its worst."

"The Khorchin Great King is right; the advantage of the Yan Wang's soldiers is their firearms, but using firearms requires eyes. In the dark, although our archers are not of much use, their musketeers are not of much use either," Gule revealed a cruel smile.

After a pause, he continued: "Most importantly, Yanguan at this moment, after the plague, must only have a small number of soldiers; in hand-to-hand combat, they are no match."

Gurtu and Wuyan both nodded upon hearing this.

Choosing the night would greatly reduce the effectiveness of both sides' ranged weapons.

But it would be worse for the Yanguan soldiers who relied on firearms.

Having decided on this matter, Gurtu immediately lowered his banners and silenced his drums.

He let the second batch of six thousand siege soldiers rest, preparing to attack the city at night.

At the same time.

The ramparts of Yanguan City were filled with a relaxed and joyful atmosphere.

In this battle, the power of the Rifled Musket was fully displayed.

This brought tremendous confidence to the generals and soldiers.

After all, they only had sixty thousand men, yet they had to face four hundred thousand Northern Di soldiers.

"Why have these Northern Di stopped fighting?" Mo Yu looked through the Telescope and saw the Northern Di withdrawing their troops to the camp, showing a puzzled expression.

"They must have been scared off by the beating," Lv Chang said with a blade of grass in his mouth.

His eyes glanced from time to time at the Rifled Muskets in the soldiers' hands.

He and the soldiers under his command were all wearing heavy armor, waiting for the Northern Di soldiers to climb the city wall so they could engage in slaughter.

But clearly, they would not have that opportunity.

However, he was not disappointed, because he was becoming increasingly interested in the Rifled Musket.

He did not feel that the musketeers had stolen his thunder.

"When things are unusual, there must be a demon," Chang Wei pondered aloud.

Then he and Mo Yu said almost in unison, "They might be preparing for a night battle."

It was not that they could predict the enemy's moves in advance, but rather that this was a tactic proposed by the Blue Team commander after being defeated by Rifled Muskets during the simulation of the Ningjin Battle.

This was equivalent to them having fought a siege battle from the perspective of the Northern Di.

"Having witnessed the power of our new-style firearms, they will certainly adjust their tactics," Mo Yu said.

Now, he felt more and more that the small command room of the Military Academy contained infinite wisdom.

Before the battle, they already had several sets of plans in their minds.

"Leave the night battle to us Heavy Infantry," Lv Chang's spirits lifted, eager to try.

Mo Yu nodded; at night, it was indeed necessary for Lv Chang and his men to guard the city wall.

It was just that he had campaigned with his father for many years, had experienced many night battles, and had learned a lot of things at the Military Academy.

How could he let his side's advantage disappear in the dark of night?

Lv Chang was only the final safeguard, and he would make the Northern Di understand that their Prince's Personal Army was even better at night battles.