Battlefield of All Sides

Chapter 281 Night Attack
Under the dark night, Li Mu and several soldiers carried the catapult and pushed it into an ox cart.

Only the throwing pole of the trebuchet is made of hardwood, and the stones in the load-bearing frame are also unloaded. When the time comes, it will be filled with local materials. It is not difficult to lift the whole vehicle onto the bullock cart, and Li Mu and others also set off quickly.

While many soldiers were passing by quickly, Li Mu couldn't find Hu Yanzan, so he could only follow the veterans who came to make contact.

After a very bumpy and long journey, Li Mu and others stopped, and an old soldier ran to Li Mu, pointing to the location where many large lanterns were hung on the city wall not far away.

That was because Youzhou City was on guard against sneak attacks.

Li Mu immediately ordered a group of soldiers to start unloading the catapults, and then filled the wooden boxes with large stones and wet soil. Several catapults were arranged intensively.

"Captain, let's see what I got?"

Shuan Zi hurriedly picked up two wooden barrels and ran to Li Mu's side, and pulled Li Mu to look excitedly. Li Mu looked through the moonlight and saw that there was something dark inside the barrel. He lowered his head and asked, Li Mu raised his head suddenly.

"Black fire oil!" Shuanzi said with a smile, "It was given by the Gunpowder Camp. They said they dug it up somewhere nearby, and it will burn at one o'clock."

Li Mu looked at the black thing in amazement, but nodded in satisfaction at the moment, telling everyone to speed up and find some stones for backup.

At this time, there was a harsh knocking sound from the top of the city. It was the defenders at the top of the city who had discovered the situation below and were sounding a gong to warn.

Li Mu stared at the top of the city. Someone was throwing a torch from above, illuminating the bottom of the city, and then there was the sound of noisy people.

After a while, he saw a lot of people attacking the city. Li Mu made a decisive decision and turned his head to let everyone throw the stones out.

The creaking sound of several trebuchets suddenly sounded, and several large stones were thrown out. The trajectory of the stones could not be seen in the darkness, and the noisy battlefield sound drowned out the sound of the stones exploding.

It was like a stone had hit the pitch-black cotton, without even a chance to hear the sound.

Li Mu didn't have time to feel emotional, but immediately ordered the soldiers behind him to speed up the loading of stones, and there were already flickering figures under the city.

This night attack was not sudden, but the offensive was extremely fierce.

There were several rounds of throwing stones, almost once every two to three minutes, but at this time the attack on the top of the city became more and more violent, and someone could even be seen falling from the top of the city.

Li Mu didn't see the effect of his catapult at the moment, so he ordered the soldiers to stop loading stones and ordered the soldiers to push the catapult forward.

"Push forward fifty steps, Shuanzi, bring your kerosene too!" Li Mu shouted backward while helping push the cart.

The catapult moved forward tens of meters with difficulty, and then Li Mu ordered the soldiers to load the stones, then broke off the branches of the nearby bushes, dipped them in the bucket, and wiped the stones on the net bag.

"Budou is not fireproof, you fire it when you light it, and you must be careful not to catch fire!" Li Mu said generally, holding a bucket and brushing kerosene onto the big rocks in the cloth pocket.

The soldiers all came back to their senses, and several soldiers lit the torches, ready to throw stones with high spirits.

The torch touched the stones in the cloth pocket, and at Li Mu's order, several huge stones were thrown out instantly.

The stone braving the blazing fire finally had a bright trajectory this time. Li Mu could easily see the flames streaking a bright trajectory in the sky, and then falling far into Youzhou City.

Some large stones fell faster and hit the city wall, or just hit the battlements. Li Mu saw the stones splashing in the crowd, and Li Mu felt that he could hear the screams of the soldiers on the city wall .

However, the soldiers who saw this effect cheered one after another, moved the stones harder and began to project.

The flaming stones seemed to have boosted the morale of the Song army, but not long after, there was a bang, and several burning stones rolled to Li Mu's feet. Several soldiers anxiously checked the catapult, cursing road.

"Damn it, the cloth pocket is burnt through, do we have anything else?"

Several soldiers were busy working, but then another soldier shouted: "The stone is gone, look for another stone."

"The kerosene is gone." Shuan Zi also said beside him at this time.

Gradually, the sound of the five catapults stopped, and the soldiers hurriedly climbed onto the catapults. The whole area was in chaos, and all the catapults stopped working.

But at this moment, Shuanzi pointed in the direction of the city, and Li Mu looked quickly, but saw that the figures on the top of the city were much less flickering, and there were torches retreating under the city wall.

The crisp sound of golden gongs and clangs resounded throughout the battlefield, and bursts of cheers erupted from the top of the city.

"Everyone retreat!"

Everyone who was urgently repairing the catapult stopped when they heard the sound, and looked at the position not far away. At this time, soldiers passed by the crowd one after another quickly.

Li Mu held a soldier, the soldier looked a little panicked, but when he saw Li Mu's majestic appearance, he quickly stared at Li Mu with wide eyes.

"What's going on ahead?"

Li Mu asked, the soldier turned his head to look behind him, swallowed his saliva and said, "The gang of Liao people organized Minyong to go up the city wall. The stones smashed a big hole, but those people took their lives blocked up."

"Hey, bad luck, bad luck! I almost climbed up, but was forced to retreat again."

After the soldier finished speaking, he cupped his hands with the long knife and continued to walk back.

Li Mu looked at the back of the other party leaving, and was also stunned at the moment, so he could only order the soldiers to push the catapult back to the camp.

……

"Bad luck! Those damn Handerang and Yelu Guli both climbed up to the city wall again last night, and the barbican has been completely knocked down. This is the last one!"

Hu Yanzan took the cup and slammed it on the ground, his face was full of anger, and he even gritted his teeth.

Li Mu sat next to him and concentrated on finishing the mutton on the plate. At this time, Hu Yanzan finally calmed down. Looking at Yang Mu, he sighed with emotion.

"Thanks to your catapult, last night was actually pretty good. I heard that a stone directly opened the gap, and some soldiers climbed up through the gap."

"Especially the stone that was on fire, smashed into the city, the fire probably burned not long ago last night."

When Hu Yanzan said this, there was a bit of relief in his eyes. He affirmed Li Mu's work and felt that he had thought of new things and methods in this battle.

"You need to work harder. Although we attacked once last night, we will definitely attack again today. Your number of catapults is still too few."

Li Mu nodded, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, "I know about this, but a new thing may be needed."

"It used to be a cloth pocket on the catapult, but the fire would burn through it immediately, and watering it was useless."

"We need leather, cowhide, sheepskin, horsehide."

Li Mu looked at Hu Yanzan and said, but Hu Yanzan frowned, looked at Li Mu, and thought for a moment.

"Okay, I'll help you find it later."

"Not enough, I need more kerosene, and the best smooth round stone."

Li Mu stood up and said to Hu Yanzan, then suddenly changed his tone.

"General, if the catapult is used properly, I believe the casualties will be greatly reduced."

……

(End of this chapter)