Chapter 1432: War
athtakingly stunning.And behind her stood all the concubines of the palace.Some young princes and princesses, who were still too young to understand, were led by their mothers. The older ones waited b...Chapter 1432: War
Six crimson cannons, their coverings of white cloth removed, stood on the city wall.
The cast iron barrel was black and cold, after being rapidly loaded with shells, it aimed at the position of the trebuchets and fired!
Six deafening booms echoed continuously, the cannons of the red-clad artillery spewing thick plumes of true black smoke.
The shells streaked across the sky like meteors, flying past the Liao army's front lines and heading straight for the trebuchets at their rear.
The cannons of this era are simply inadequate in both power and accuracy.
The cumbersome crimson cannon, if it were to hit its target, relied on the gunner's experience more than anything else. The rest was left to fate.
But the enormous cost of producing red-clad cannons meant that the court couldn't afford to invest much in training gunners, so each shot fired was essentially blind luck.
Under such circumstances, its accuracy can only be described as dismal.
The six cannons of the Crimson Robe regiment unleashed a barrage, six shells in total. Only two were somewhat reliable and managed to injure two catapults. The other four shells killed dozens of people, but the catapults remained unscathed.
The current Red Clad Cannon's gunpowder function is to propel massive solid cannonballs out of the barrel, causing physical damage through the projectile's kinetic energy. The gunpowder itself barely participates in any explosions.
Therefore, its power is also extremely limited.
And, filling it is very troublesome.
One incense stick's time, only one volley is allowed.
Despite its long history, the Red Cannon's inefficiency and unreliability have prevented it from ever truly dominating the battlefield.
Today Li Chen truly saw its limitations.
The catapults on the opposite side numbered eight in total. After enduring a volley from six crimson cannons, they still had the capacity to launch stones again. And as the second barrage of stones was about to descend, the crimson cannons on our side were still loading ammunition.
This efficiency is only useful in positional warfare, against those large, immobile targets.
For example, the Taihe Palace during the chaos in the capital city at that time.
Li Chen furrowed his brows and called over Wu Qingcang, saying, "Immediately find a group of skilled archers with superhuman strength. Have them use arrows carrying the Qin Empire's divine thunder to destroy the Liao army's catapults!"
The city wall was too far from the trebuchets for ordinary means to inflict effective damage. Even the formidable red-clad cannons, known for their intimidation factor, proved unreliable in accuracy. Therefore, Li Chen could only treat Sima as a living doctor who offered no practical solutions.
Before, Chen Tong had sent over a batch of Qin Dynasty Thunderbolts, so Wu Qingcang was no stranger to this thing. Hearing Li Chen's attention, his eyes lit up immediately, and he immediately ordered someone to prepare it.
At this time, the second volley of catapults was already hurtling towards them.
"Your Highness, this place is truly not a suitable place to stay. A gentleman does not stand under a precarious wall. I beg you, Your Highness, to leave the city wall!" Xu Wei said urgently.
Gritting his teeth, Li Chen glanced at the Liao army still surging towards them like a tide and said angrily, "Let's go, down first!"
He knew that staying here at this time wouldn't help, and might even hold them back.
Smart people should make the right choices at the right time. TV dramas with plots where characters knowingly face extreme danger just to showcase a protagonist halo and a heroic persona are simply brain-dead setups.
If Li Chen were to raise his arms and forcibly boost morale on the front lines, the Liao army's archers and catapults would target him in an instant, pouncing on him like rabid dogs.es and understand where the court's bottom line lies.""To assassinate the heir apparent is a crime equal to regicide, surpassing even treason and rebellion. This would be an all-out war with the court...