Chapter 18: Exploration (Part 1)

  The first night after the arrival of the Qin army passed peacefully.

  Considering the Qin army had come from afar, Crown Prince Ran originally wanted to launch a night raid to dampen their morale. However, scouts reported that the Qin army was on high alert and it would be difficult to get within five miles of their main camp, so Crown Prince Ran had no choice but to give up.

  The Qin army marched for a long time, and the soldiers were exhausted. Hu Yang also did not plan to engage in a chaotic battle at night where friend and foe could not be distinguished. Thus, both sides tacitly rested and prepared for battle.

  The next day, with the rise of dawn, the Qin army's camp was in full view.

  Huyang is really bold, and he actually deployed the 100,000-strong army separately at the south gate, west gate, and north gate of Ye Wang, with camps stretching for ten miles, setting up anti-cavalry spikes, deer thorns, and iron caltrops everywhere.

  The crown prince sighed, and the Qin army was indeed well-trained. At this time, it was mealtime, but there was not a single sound of noise or disturbance in the large camp of the Qin army, showing how strict the military discipline was.

  The Shangdang County north of Ye Wang, the whole county has no more than 100,000 troops. Leaving aside the 80,000 soldiers needed to defend the city, there are only 20,000 troops that can be sent to reinforce Ye Wang. Therefore, the Crown Prince also instructed the Governor of Shangdang not to send reinforcements to Ye Wang, and being able to hold on to lower Shangdang is a great achievement.

  Perhaps the Qin army was confident enough and didn't care about the enemy troops that might come from Shangdang County behind them. But in this way, the pressure on Ye Wang City increased.

  The prince was not suspicious at all. If Wendi was still in the hands of the Qin army, the Qin army would even dare to surround the city on three sides. After all, the largest reinforcements for Ye Wang must come from the side of Chenggao.

  Just as the Crown Prince was at a loss, the Qin army that had finished breakfast began to assemble. The black army was solemn and in order. Faintly audible were only the officers' shouts of formation.

  Before long, a large army came from afar. Hu Yang stood on the chariot, the loud drums resonating in his ears, looking at the increasingly close Wild King City, he felt a surge of hot blood swirling in his heart.

  The battle of Ye Wang will be his Hu Yang's rise to fame, just like Bai Qi's victory at the Battle of Iguan. And the 100,000-strong army behind him will be his greatest guarantee of victory.

  Huyang suddenly raised his hand, and the herald beside him hastily waved the command flag. The 100,000-strong Qin army stopped in unison, and for a moment, the surging dust and smoke rushed towards Yongwang City like a giant dragon.

  "Just shout." Hu Yang said calmly.

  "Ah!"

  A lone horseman rode past the square formation, running to a place just one arrow's distance from the Wild King City, and shouted loudly: "Listen to the defending army on the city wall! The king of Han is tyrannical and has rebelled against our great Qin. Our king is kind-hearted and does not want to slaughter innocent people, all the blame lies with the king of Han. You have one incense stick's time to surrender, otherwise after breaking into the city, no chicken or dog will be left."

  The crown prince frowned and said to Zhu Hei beside him: "Get this person who speaks wildly shot down for me."

  "Yes!" Zhu Hai replied loudly.

  He finished speaking and picked up a strong bow, aiming at the Qin army envoy under the city.

  In the blink of an eye, the Qin army's messenger fell down with an arrow in him, and his horse was frightened back to its own camp.

  "Hurrah for Great Korea! Hurrah for Great Korea!" The Crown Prince cried out loudly.

  At this time, the Korean army woke up like a dream and shouted wildly: "Great Korea is mighty! Great Korea is mighty!"

  Zhu Hai was born with divine strength, and ordinary strong bows couldn't be used at all. The Crown Prince specially made a ten-stone strong bow for Zhu Hai, who tried it out today and caught the Qin army's envoy off guard, killing him in a surprise attack.

  For a moment, the enormous pressure brought by the Qin army was swept away, and the morale of the Han army was greatly boosted. The Qin army, on the other hand, was left staring in dismay.

  Huyang frowned slightly and said "Beat the drum, advance".

  The Qin army began to set up catapults in an orderly manner, placing the wooden oxen. The archers and crossbowmen formed up in ranks, while the dare-to-die troops gathered waiting for orders.

  Bao Pi saw the Qin army's actions and immediately suggested that the Crown Prince leave the city wall.

  The prince knew that a gentleman does not stand under a precarious wall, and the battle was ruthless. If he stood on the city head, whether he could boost morale is another matter, but soon the Qin army's arrow rain would fall on his head, and to protect himself, he didn't know how many lives would be lost.

  Seeing Taizi Ran listening to his own advice, Bao Yuan was overjoyed. He immediately ordered: "The enemy is about to attack the city, prepare the archers."

  Not long after, Han and Qin's first real confrontation began.

  The first to show their might were the catapults of both sides.

  The Korean army had long since cleared the walls and fields, all houses in the suburbs were demolished, and even slightly larger stones in the wild were transported into the Yeongwol Castle. Therefore, the Qin army's catapults only fired a few rounds before declaring them useless. The Korean army's catapults, on the other hand, went crazy with long-range damage output.

  The first game, a showdown between catapults, Qin army VS Han army, Han army wins.

  The previously effective tactics failed, and the Qin army was not discouraged. Under the command of the central army flag, the officers and hundred officials shouted at their soldiers to speed up. At this time, it was only possible to get as close to the city wall as possible, so that the enemy's catapults would lose their effect.

  But just as the Qin army had barely escaped the deadly kiss of the stone-throwing carts, they were about to face the Han army's world-renowned defensive crossbows.

  The range of the defensive crossbow can reach 800 steps, which is the biggest nightmare in the hearts of every soldier. Unlike catapults, defensive crossbows are set up on the city walls, so their accuracy is higher.

  Once the defensive crossbow hits its target, it often means that a dozen or so infantrymen are nailed to the ground like strings of firecrackers. Phalanx and cluster formations are the favorite of defensive crossbows, as they can cause the greatest casualties.

  The Qin army also had its own countermeasures, which was the siege crossbow.

  After capturing Yiyang in the Battle of Ichi, Qin obtained the manufacturing method for large crossbows. After ingeniously using crossbows for siege warfare, the Qin army unexpectedly discovered that the arrows shot by large crossbows could penetrate several feet into city walls, allowing soldiers to climb up. More importantly, siege crossbows can greatly make up for the weakness of insufficient firepower output at ultra-long distances in the Qin army.

  Then the Qin army's countless siege crossbows fired one after another. The Han army did not show weakness, and with the help of the catapults, they launched a full counterattack. In no time, the Wild King City was like a hedgehog filled with thorns, shocking indeed. However, the Qin army had lost more than two-thirds of their defensive crossbows, while the Han army occupied the advantageous position but only lost four or five defensive crossbows.

  In the second game, Qin army's attack catapult VS Han army's defense catapult, Han army won again.

  The Qin army finally broke into the outer city of Handan after paying a price of over 1,000 men.

  Having dodged the double blow of catapults and defensive crossbows, the surviving Qin soldiers felt extremely lucky. As long as they could charge another 200 paces to reach the city walls and set up cloud ladders, what followed would be easy.

  Every old Qin person deeply believes that when their butcher knife is raised, the armies of the six states will only beg for mercy with a fart and urine.

  Only the Qin army under the city moved with ease, coordinating with each other. Every two Qin soldiers held up their shields, covering their comrades who were carrying the cloud ladders behind them.

  At last, the Qin army was the first to enter the range of the Han army's bows and arrows. The Han army shot arrows from a high position, which were both fast and far-reaching. The Qin archers, who had to shoot upwards, pushed the line forward by forty steps in order to make up for the difference between the two sides.

  But in just forty steps, the Qin army paid a price of more than 500 lives.

  Next, the Qin army let the Han army see why they were invincible in battle.

  Only the Qin army's archers were arranged in small arrays of 50 people by 10 people, and almost every row of archers shot out the arrows in their hands instantly. Then they retreated to the rear of the phalanx in an agreement, on the one hand to replenish the arrows, and on the other hand to replenish their physical strength. At this time, the soldiers in the next row followed up and repeated the actions of the previous row.

  Each Qin army was organized in a strict hierarchical manner, like the components of a machine, fitting together tightly.

  The Korean army on the city wall performed much worse. Although they also tried their best, they were not well-coordinated. An archer would exhaust himself after shooting ten arrows non-stop for a moment. In contrast, the Qin archers had enough time to rest and could shoot arrows for a long time.

  Especially after the completion of the Qin army's watchtower and catapult, the Qin army's archers could shoot down at the Korean military on the city wall. The geographical advantage of the Korean military was immediately wiped out a lot.

  Although the Qin army lost at least two thousand corpses along the way, in the end, under the cover of the Qin army's archers who were not afraid of death, the dare-to-die troops still set up a cloud ladder.

  The war had entered a rhythm familiar to the Qin army.