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Volume 2 Set Sail Chapter 142 City Defense Expert

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    Chapter 142 City Defense Expert

    Sun Shao sat down on the throne that once belonged to Varag but now belonged to him. The smile on his face suddenly disappeared, revealing a worried look. He looked at the flattering Varag and sighed:  "My King of Axum, you have done harm to others this time."

    Varag was confused, and the smile on his face was a little stiff: "Why did the king say this?"

    "Don't be deceived by the truth outside. No matter how powerful Tuhu is, how many people can he kill? One hundred thousand Sasanians. This old guy Ardashir really thinks highly of me. He probably brought all the main forces in the country.  "Okay." Sun Shao sighed and said: "If I were not in Aksum City, the worst you could do was surrender to him, and you wouldn't be besieged by the army. Now of course I can't run away, but you will also have to suffer. Do you think it will be detrimental to others?  already?"

    Varag felt proud, but his face was a little embarrassed. He patted his chest and said, "What are you talking about, your Majesty? There are 10,000 elites of your Majesty, plus us Aksumites, there are more than 20,000 people guarding the city.  So what if all the Sasanians come? Is it possible that we can still attack the city of Axum? Don¡¯t worry, my king, I have been renovating the city wall with the help of generals in the past few months. The city of Axum is now very strong, plus we  With sufficient food and water, there will be no problem even if the Sassanids surround us for two years. In two years, even reinforcements from Vietnam should arrive."

    "That's all." Sun Shao rubbed his brows and muttered with a scowl: "If I had known that there were so many Sasanians coming, I should have avoided the limelight first."

    Varag sneered secretly and comforted him a few more times before exiting the palace and returning to his residence. He still maintained a serious expression until he entered the secret room and smiled. The meekness he had just turned into a smile.  Very hard.  Pouring himself a glass and holding it in his hand, he paced back and forth in the long and narrow chamber, gnashing his teeth and talking to himself.

    "The damn Romans actually gave my country of Axum to the Yue people. The damn Yue people took possession of my Aksum and refused to leave. Hey, I can't believe it. Now you can't leave even if you want to. I won't let you.  Give me back all the benefits you swallowed, skin and bones. Emperor of Rome? Huh! It¡¯s really useless. He was beheaded by a barbarian. King of Yue? See how wise you are this time. Reinforcements? Hahaha"

    The more Varag thought about it, the happier he became. He raised his neck and drank the wine in the glass. Then he sat down on the large chair, rested his head on the back of the chair, and looked up at the beautifully decorated roof.  , Chatter sneered.  After a while, he murmured again: "Don't be impatient. Let the Sasanians suffer some hardships first and then contact them. Otherwise, they won't take me seriously."

    Perhaps because he felt that he was too smart, Varag nodded proudly, looked at the empty cup in his hand with unfulfilled interest, and licked his thick lips.  He really wanted to drink another glass of wine, but he knew that these were extraordinary times. If he drank too much, he would be in trouble. Even if he said a word, he might lose all his previous efforts.  Since his contact with Shapur, he has stopped drinking to avoid leaking secrets.  Originally he didn't believe what Shapur said. He had always felt that the Sassanids would not be able to help him recover under the attack of the Romans and Kushans. But now he believed it. The most powerful Romans actually started to make trouble.  The internal strife broke out, allowing the Sassanid people to seize the opportunity and force the Kushan people to surrender. However, the Yue people, who were originally the safest people to stay out of the matter, became the enemies that the Sassanid people paid close attention to.

    Varag had to admit that Shapur's plan was too far-reaching. As early as the Four Nations Alliance, he probably instigated Maximus and laid the most important move.  Now he has not only accomplished his own merits, but also brought Rome into disarray. It can be said that he killed two birds with one stone.  There are benefits to be gained from cooperating with such people.  However, Shapur is too powerful. If he is not allowed to realize the role of his warag, I am afraid that even though he has sworn in the name of Ahura, he will find a way to deny it. By then, not only Egypt will not get it,  He couldn't even get his Axum back.  Wallag carefully weighed the strength of the troops in the city. He felt that it would be difficult for the Sasanians to capture the city of Axum in the short term, and it would be difficult to siege the city alone because the Vietnamese were too rich. Sun Shao had been in Axum for more than half a year.  In time, they brought enough food to support the city for two or three years.  They also dug many new wells and renovated the city. The current city of Aksum can be said to be a strong city.

    Is Axum also going to become Troy?

    Varag sneered, with me, the biggest Trojan horse, even Troy will fall.

    The question now is how to seize the right opportunity and obtain the greatest benefits.

    Varag looked at the roof, carefully considering various possibilities.

    With Wallag¡¯s cooperation and Tu Hu¡¯s heroic battle, Axum, which was originally very tense, has slowly calmed down. The people followed the order and received necessary food and drinking water every day.Women and children were gathered in a safe place, and the men were organized to assist the soldiers guarding the city in moving equipment. After more than half a year of training, the original soldiers in Aksum City have integrated with the Deefeng Battalion and obeyed.  Under the command of Ding Feng, Ding Feng divided them into eight thousand-man teams to take turns defending the city. The ten thousand Destroying Front Battalion left two thousand elites led by Zhou Yin. As Sun Shao's guards, the other eight thousand people were also divided into eight.  A team of a thousand men worked with the Axumites to defend the city.  In order to prevent insufficient troops, he asked Sun Shao to organize the strong slaves in the city. More than two hundred gladiators who were originally proficient in martial arts immediately formed a reserve team and handed it over to Tu Hu to lead personally, ready to rescue any danger.  place, and the others are given to his subordinates for training.  Ding Feng said to them, if you can achieve meritorious service in this war, then you will be free people, and you will even have the opportunity to live a free life in the mainland of Vietnam in the future. You can do whatever you want, and you will no longer be subject to any restrictions.  Human slavery.

    Axum, like Rome, has a large number of slaves. After Sun Shao took control of Axum, he never started to solve the slave problem. Firstly, he did not want to touch the interests of those nobles. Secondly, the time had not come yet, and now he used war as an excuse.  He used force to seize slaves from slave owners. Although the nobles were dissatisfied, they did not dare to move for fear of being punished by Sun Shao for collaborating with the enemy. In addition, Sun Shao immediately promised them that they would be punished after the war.  They reluctantly accepted the corresponding compensation.

    After this cleanup, Sun Shao gained nearly 5,000 more warriors, especially the more than 200 gladiators, who were skilled in killing. If they were incorporated into the army for large-scale combat, they might not be able to play much of a role.  If left to the leadership of Tu Hu and used as a fire brigade, it would definitely be a sharp sword.  These people are used to fighting bravely and only recognize the strong. It is not easy for others to command them. Only Tu Hu has become a hero like Achilles because he killed Alpha and other three warriors in one battle.  , these gladiators were respectful to him, even speaking carefully, lest they offend him and be punched to death by him.

    With so many people defending the city, coupled with sufficient ordnance, food, and water, the city of Axum has almost no flaws.  Varag recalled Sun Shao's worries and was a little confused. What was Sun Shao worried about?  Although the Sasanians have 100,000 people, they are mainly cavalry, and not many are really good at attacking the city. With Aksum's current strength, if the Sasanians want to capture the city, they will suffer terrible losses.  Shapur dared to attack the city partly because of his internal agent, Wallag, and this was something Sun Shao didn't know about. What was he worried about?

    Varag pondered for a long time, going over Sun Shao's words and deeds over and over again. After a long time, a sudden idea flashed and he stood up in surprise: "Is he worried that reinforcements will not come?"

    When he thought of the Sassanid cavalry outside the city, Wallag suddenly realized that what Sun Shao was worried about was not the city, but the Sassanid people guarding outside the city. Probably the Vietnamese reinforcements could not get close to Aksum even if they came.  city, let alone relieve the siege.

    ¡°Hehehehe still wants to deceive me.  Varrag chuckled proudly.  King Yue, King Yue, you only worry about the outside of the city, but you don¡¯t know that it is more dangerous inside the city. Do you really think that Aksum is invulnerable?  Yes, without me, the city of Axum might really be invulnerable. No matter how powerful the Sasanians are, they would never be able to break through the city in a hurry. But you have forgotten that you have taken away my country. How could I still be loyal to you?  Woolen cloth?  Just let you be proud. When that day comes, I will definitely let you know how I feel these days and repay you a hundred times the humiliation I suffered.

    When he thought of that moment, Varag couldn't help but pace around in the secret room.

    Half a month later, Ardashir prepared the siege equipment and received Shapur's reward.  Vietnamese warships appeared on the sea, but after several small-scale contacts, they discovered the light cavalry led by Shapur. They did not dare to fight, and stayed on the beach without going ashore, waiting for the arrival of a large number of reinforcements. It seemed that in the short term  It is difficult to have any large-scale battles in the country.

    Ardashir had anticipated this a long time ago, and he immediately ordered an attack on the city, giving the city a first blow to restore the decadence caused by Alpha's death.  He lined up his 80,000-strong army on all sides and launched attacks at the same time. Once he found out which gate was weakly defended, he immediately led heavy troops to attack it.

    As the melodious horns sounded one after another, the messengers rushed back and forth. The slaves were bare-chested, showing their shiny muscles. They shouted neat chants and pushed the tall trebuchets to the front of the formation.  The archers stood outside the shooting range, ready to attack. The soldiers responsible for attacking the city looked at the city from a distance, suppressing the tension and fear in their hearts.

    Sun Shao sat on the highest city wall, holding up his clairvoyance, looking at Ardashir in the distance through the hanging wooden curtains.  These wooden curtains have just been developed by craftsmen, specifically to deal with trebuchets. All important buildings have such wooden curtains hung outside, some of which are not even higher than one floor.It was like putting a wooden armor on the city of Aksum.

    "The Sasanians must want to defeat the city in one battle, they are very aggressive." Sun Shao joked.

    Wallag, who was standing next to him, smiled and said: "I think they are a dream. There is a king sitting in charge, and the city of Aksum is fortified What kind of soup is that?"

    "It's as solid as gold." Sun Shao added with a smile.

    "I'm so stupid, I haven't learned this word yet." Varag said with shame.

    "Varag, don't belittle yourself, your Chinese level is already very good now." Sun Shao laughed, pointed at the soldiers over there and said: "You have to know, even among the Han people, I am the only one who can know this word.  Not many. You are considered a learned person."

    "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty." Wallag smiled even more happily, pointing to the Sassanid people outside the city and said, "I will accompany the King here today to see how our Yue people beat the Sassanid people to a bloody head.  of."

    "Okay, very good." Sun Shao nodded repeatedly with great satisfaction, looking at Varag with eyes full of admiration and relief, and Varag became more and more respectful.

    The sound of the trumpet became more and more urgent. The Sasanian archers moved forward slowly amidst the sound of the trumpet. At the front was a row of huge shields. Each giant shield was as tall as a person and was carried by two soldiers. The archers then  Hide behind the giant shield and approach the city wall carefully.  In order to cover them, the trebuchets that were already in place began to roar, shooting grass balls soaked in oil into the sky, drawing streaks of flames in the blue sky, and flying towards the city like thunder.

    "Get ready!" Ding Feng waved his hand and gave the order calmly.  The flag soldiers waved the flags in their hands, and the drummers threw away their arms and beat the giant cowhide war drums. The low drum sound echoed over the city of Aksum. The soldiers at the top of the city took their positions, clenched their weapons, and stared intently.  Enemies live closer and closer.  The people under the city hid in designated corners to avoid being hit by the flying fireballs.

    "Boom!" The fireballs hit the wooden curtains covered with rawhide and wet mud one after another. The wooden curtains were shaken violently, making people very worried that they would be smashed, but they miraculously  It was intact, just shook a few times, and then fell back. The fireballs that hit the wooden curtain were partially relieved of their force. Although some still hit the city walls or buildings, they did not achieve the expected effect and just exploded.  Come on, sparks are flying.  The prepared people under the city immediately stepped forward to clean up those places that might cause fire.  The city of Axum is mainly made of earthen walls and stone walls, with not many wooden structures. Most of the houses are also protected, so although the streets seem to be full of flames, the danger is not great.

    Sun Shao observed the city for a while and saw that although the people were busy, they were not in chaos. He couldn't help but nodded secretly. The people of Aksum were used to fighting. This kind of psychological quality was not generally good. Compared with those who were used to it, Sun Shao  People who live in peace are not just one or two strong.

    "Varag, the people of Axum are very calm, you have done a good job." Sun Shao patted Warag affectionately on the shoulder.

    "It's all the king's wisdom." Wallag nodded to Tu Hu in a blink of an eye: "And General Tu's bravery, the people can feel at ease now."

    "Actually." Sun Shao picked up a glass of wine from the table, sipped it with gusto, and said to Varag mysteriously: "I'm not afraid of the Sasanians attacking the city. I'm afraid that the Sasanians will not attack the city."  Siege the city.¡±

    Varag blinked and said with some confusion: "What does this mean, your Majesty? Why are you not afraid of the Sasanians attacking the city, but are you afraid that the Sasanians will not attack the city?"

    "Look, we have so many elite soldiers and the support of so many people. Who does the city of Aksum have to fear? If he attacks the city, we will not suffer any losses. On the contrary, they will suffer great losses. If they cannot attack the city, their morale will be reduced."  He will be hit again. As time goes by, can he still hold on? After fighting for a few months, he can't even touch the city wall, so he can only retreat and the siege is solved, so I am not afraid of him attacking the city. If  If he doesn't attack the city and just keeps surrounding him like this, that's a trouble. Think about it, I only have these troops and no cavalry. If I go out to fight in the city, I will definitely lose. If I don't go out of the city, I can't hurt his bones. The two of them can only  If we can spend so much time, when will we be able to get out of the siege?¡±

    Varag raised his eyebrows and smiled secretly in his heart. Sure enough, he had no hope of reinforcements and could only rely on himself.  According to this, the Sassanid attack on the city was indeed beneficial to him. If nothing else, just look at those wooden curtains. He originally thought that these things that could even be blown by the wind were useless, but now it seems that they are useless against throwing.  The fireball thrown by the stone machine was really effective, at least half of its power was restrained.  But Sun Shao probably didn't expect that although he saved the city of Aksum by doing this, he couldn't save his own life.

    "What the king said is indeed reasonable, but the Sassanid people definitely wouldn't have thought of this."

    "Hahaha, how can these barbarians understand these principles?" Sun Shao pointed out with high spirits.Outside the city, "I'll let you see what my city-defending crossbow looks like when it's in full force."

    Wallag looked along his finger and saw that a dozen defensive crossbows installed on the city wall were adjusting their direction. The crossbowmen leaned in front of the crossbow arms, put their eyes in a clairvoyant, and carefully corrected the direction.  After a while, more than a dozen observers returned to their original positions and raised the green pennants in their hands. The commanding captain on the tower shouted loudly and waved the flags in his hands violently. More than a dozen defenders  The crossbowmen in front of the city's crossbow simultaneously raised the huge wooden hammers in their hands and struck down with all their strength.

    With almost the same loud noise, more than a dozen spear-like crossbow arrows flew out with afterimages. The roar of the crossbow strings was still in my ears. The crossbow arrows had already flown dozens of steps away, and then turned their heads downwards.  Attack several trebuchets in the Sasanian formation.  Wallag noticed that these dozen city-defending crossbows did not fight independently. They seemed to have made arrangements. About three or four city-defending crossbows were aimed at the same target, and they cooperated very well.

    Just when Varrag guessed their intention, more than a dozen crossbow arrows had already flown in front of the catapult stone. Nearly half of the crossbow arrows directly hit the target, and the others were not too far away from the target.  The crossbow arrow that hit the target suddenly burst into flames, and then the trebuchet caught fire, and the crossbow arrows that hit the trebuchet also caught fire. There was a sudden panic in the Sasanian formation and they attacked.  The rhythm has been greatly affected.  But the defenders at the top of the city were greatly encouraged. They adjusted their directions and switched to the next target.

    "Your Majesty Your Majesty, why the fire started?" Varag said in surprise.

    "Secret." Sun Shao said mysteriously: "This is the sky fire specially prepared for the Sasanians. Just watch it, I will make Ardashir suffer."

    When Varag saw Sun Shao, he didn't say anything and didn't dare to ask more, so he had to pay attention secretly.  It seems that I still don¡¯t know much about the Yue people, so I decided to postpone contact with the Sasanians for a while. When the Sasanians are beaten to a pulp by the Yue people, I will give them the news. That will be valuable.  .

    The Sasanians were caught off guard by the counterattack in the city, and several trebuchets were lost at once. Fortunately, they had a large number of trebuchets, and the loss of a few trebuchets did not have a big impact on them.  After the slaves were in a hurry, they replaced the hit trebuchet, pushed on the new one and continued to fire, and fireballs flew into the city one after another.

    Ardashir has been watching the city's reaction, and he felt that something was wrong.  Those fireballs hit the city wall and sparks flew out. They looked very powerful, but he knew that these were just beautiful. No matter how big the fire was, it would not damage the city wall at all. Instead, it would cause trouble to the soldiers attacking the city behind. He had high hopes for it.  If those fireballs flying into the city can cause fires in the city or destroy some major buildings, especially the palace, they will bring panic to the city. At the same time, they can also destroy those highlands suitable for lookout points and affect the city.  Observation of the overall situation.  But now they have been attacking for a long time, and there are not three hundred but two hundred fireballs flying into the city, but there is no sign of fire in the city, and the highest palace is safe and sound.

    Could it be that the things that were beaten so hard that they couldn¡¯t shake played a role?  So what is it that can actually block the fireball thrown by the trebuchet?  Ardashir was confused and puzzled.  He looked towards the palace, which was tightly covered by wooden curtains. He knew that Sun Shao must be watching him there. Maybe he still had a proud smile on his face, but he couldn't think about it.

    While Ardashir was meditating, the archers under the cover of giant shields had already entered the shooting range. They put down their wooden shields, drew their bows and arrows amidst the sound of trumpets, and fired arrows into the city.

    The Sassanids were dominated by cavalry. The most powerful was the heavy armored cavalry. The heavy armored cavalry did not shoot arrows. They relied on strong impact to directly defeat the opponent's formation, especially when facing the Roman infantry phalanx.  most effective.  The light cavalry are mainly mercenaries from subordinate tribes. They use cavalry bows with a range of about sixty or seventy steps. They mainly serve to harass the opponent and create opportunities for the heavy armored cavalry to charge into the formation.  The infantry is an auxiliary unit in the Sasanian organization. They usually do some logistics work and do not have many opportunities to go into battle. They do not have many opportunities to start as the main siege force like today. Most of them are equipped with only hand-held bows.  , the maximum range is about a hundred steps. If they want to attack the enemies at the top of the city, they must get as close to the city wall as possible under the cover of a giant shield.

    And they obviously did not expect that in the eyes of the Han people who are experts in city defense, attacking with such archers is simply a piece of cake. You must know that the worst range of the defenders at the top of the city is about 120 steps.  There are also many three-stone, five-stone, and six-stone crossbows. There are even dozens of exaggerated ten-stone crossbows. The two sides are not on the same starting line in terms of shooting range.

    More importantly, the crossbows of the Yue State are all repeated crossbows improved by Ma Jun and others. Their powerful combat effectiveness has been proven in countless battles. Today,These repeating crossbows will let the Sasanians know what a weapon for city defense is.

    Seeing the Sasanian archers entering the shooting range, Ding Feng showed a sinister smile on his face. He waved his hand and shouted to Yu An: "Send the order, all the crossbowmen fire in an echelon."

    "Here." Yu An's fair face also showed a violent look that was completely inconsistent with his image, and he raised the colorful flag in his hand high.

    Seeing the signal on the city tower, more than a dozen screams sounded from the top of the city at the same time: "Crossbowmen, prepare¡ª¡ª"

    The crossbowmen who were already eager to try held their breath and put their fingers on the crossbow machine.

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