Stone projectiles exploded, sending shards flying!
The Thor's Shield, with its built-in support, required no further propping from Yue Qingtian. Yue Qingtian himself remained unharmed, while the Thor's Shield was merely driven three inches into the ground by the impact.
It remained completely undamaged, bearing only the dust from the shattered stones on its surface!
The Heaven-Sun Tribe and Spring Rejuvenation Sect heavy shield bearers at the forefront saw the situation clearly and stood frozen in disbelief.
In contrast, the Great Gan soldiers around Yue Qingtian cheered, their morale soaring!
Yue Qingtian's brief departure did not disrupt the formation, as heavy shields were already positioned behind him to provide cover. Upon his return, the substitute shield bearer quickly retreated, and the front line re-established its original formation.
At this moment, all the divine arm crossbows received their orders. Taking advantage of the divine martial cannons destroying the shields in front of the ballistae, they fired in unison.
Thousands of large crossbow bolts tore through the air, quickly eliminating the soldiers surrounding the four ballistae and clearing the area!
Although Alexander and his men could not see the specifics of the Thor's Shield from afar, they were dismayed to find that the stone projectiles had not shattered Yue Qingtian and his shield, causing them to feel dizzy and infuriated.
"Such astonishing catapulting, and it couldn't penetrate a single shield!" Xiao Che gritted his teeth.
Alexander knew there was no time for hesitation. Suppressing his shock, he immediately relayed an order: "Abandon the attempt to kill the red-shielded soldier. Push the ballistae forward immediately and break through from other directions. We absolutely cannot let the enemy's iron balls hit us again!"
The order was swiftly carried out, and the last ballista began to move, fearing it would be destroyed by the divine martial cannons.
The divine martial cannons were cooling down, and Liang Xiao could not move them temporarily. He could only order the divine arm crossbows to fire another volley, targeting the sides of the ballistae.
While the divine arm crossbows were powerful, they could not simultaneously penetrate shields and kill soldiers through armor at a distance of over two hundred paces. Therefore, they had to rely on longbows for lobbing projectiles.
However, the movement of the ballistae also took time, providing a buffer for the divine martial cannons.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Longbowmen and Great Gan archers launched another volley, targeting the enemy's rear formations.
The Jiaozhou allied forces, subjected to the dense barrage of arrows, were thrown into disarray and confusion.
The Jiaozhou allied forces' longbowmen were almost wiped out. The few survivors were forced to retreat from the battlefield, daring not to advance further.
After all, the divine arm crossbows were strategically positioned on higher ground, protecting the divine martial cannons while also allowing for angle adjustments. They could barely bypass the enemy's heavy shield bearers to directly target spearmen and archers, causing heavy casualties!
As the divine martial cannons finished cooling, the enemy's ballistae were moved thirty zhang north to reload.
Concurrently, the scorpion crossbowmen from the rear were also approaching and finally entered range.
Liang Xiao personally led the adjustment of angles, specifically targeting the ballistae.
"Fire in sequence! After hitting them, target those large crossbowmen!"
The Shadow Guards also noticed the peculiar scorpion crossbows, their expressions solemn.
The first shot was ignited!
It only killed a group of scorpion crossbowmen ten zhang beside the ballista, failing to hit the ballista itself.
"Boom, boom!"
The ballista's stone projectile was finally launched. This time, they abandoned Yue Qingtian and aimed directly at the Great Gan guards' heavy shield soldiers.
"Boom!"
With a deafening sound, the Great Gan heavy shield soldier staggered back several steps, vomited blood on the spot, and fell dead!
A reserve comrade from the rear immediately filled the gap, and battleground adjusters quickly dragged his corpse to the rear.
Liang Xiao watched with burning rage and turned to order, "Second shot!"
The second divine martial cannon fired, deviating by five zhang, narrowly missing the shield in front of the ballista!
"Quick! Keep moving!"
The ballista commander, realizing the situation, and having tasted the advantage of mobile fire, immediately ordered the ballista to relocate.
"Third shot!"
Another shot, again deviating by five zhang, landed where the ballista had been!
Liang Xiao observed the situation, his expression changing, and he ran to adjust the angle of the tenth divine martial cannon: "Fire!"
With a command, the Shadow Guards ignited the cannon, which fired a solid iron ball.
"Bang!"
It finally hit and pierced the shield in front of the ballista, then struck the ballista's support.
Instantly, the ballista was snapped in half, and several crossbowmen behind it were crushed on the spot!
The Jiaozhou allied forces wailed incessantly, their morale plummeting.
This was their last divine weapon for destroying the enemy's defenses, and it had been destroyed!
In contrast, the Shadow Guards were both surprised and delighted. The remaining divine martial cannons all fired.
Solid iron balls rained down on the scorpion crossbow troops, swiftly reaping lives, crushing dozens of men, and shattering four scorpion crossbows in their path!
"What kind of weapon is this??"
Alexander and his men had limited visibility and could not see the divine martial cannons three li away. They could only vaguely observe the front lines and obtain real-time battle reports from their messengers.
They also dared not get too close, as the Great Gan still possessed three-bowbed ballistae, which could fire arrows from a distance and kill them directly.
"The enemy's magical iron balls seem inexhaustible, capable of firing ten at a time!"
Upon hearing this intelligence, Alexander became as agitated as an ant on a hot pan and immediately ordered, "Recall the troops from the eastern mountain pass to attack together!"
"If those troops are recalled, the enemy forces stationed at the mountain pass might also reinforce and pursue!" warned King Jinpao, Xiao Che.
"We must kill Liang Xiao, we must!!" Alexander roared, grabbing Xiao Che by the collar.
Xiao Che could only suppress his anger and nodded.
They also understood that if Liang Xiao were not killed, the allied forces would likely be annihilated by this man sooner or later!
Seeing the sudden awkward atmosphere between Alexander and Xiao Che, Xiao Chang quickly smoothed things over: "Liang Xiao is indeed a target that must be killed. Even if all twelve thousand elite troops are lost today, killing Liang Xiao would make this trip worthwhile! Soldiers can be replenished, but the opportunity to kill Liang Xiao comes only in this battle!"
Xiao Che nodded with a bitter expression.
No one present, except for Xiao Chang and Xiao Chan, hated Liang Xiao more than him.
It was Liang Xiao who, in the battles of Lu Prefecture defense and the pacification of Western Sichuan, led his troops to destroy nearly a hundred thousand of his Sun-Moon Army, causing him to lose the capital to contend for the central plains and forcing him to rebuild his strength for several years.
It was General Tian, who harbored Liang Xiao, who had severed his son's arm!
They had also suspected if Liang Xiao was General Tian himself, but facing such a genius, they could hardly believe he possessed invincible might.
In less than an hour, the battlefield was strewn with corpses.
However, the Great Gan's losses were mainly among the second-tier heavy spearmen and a few Great Gan archers.
The first-tier heavy shield bearers, protected by their shield walls, plate armor, and steel helmets, suffered the fewest casualties among the three types of troops.
The Jiaozhou allied forces had already lost over ten thousand men and still refused to retreat. Alexander continued to command a fierce assault, attempting to achieve victory through sheer numbers.
Alexander clearly understood his predicament; he had to win, no matter what. Otherwise, if this Great Gan army returned to Lu Prefecture and recovered, it would erupt with astonishing fighting power again!
They absolutely did not want to face this well-disciplined army again; they had to annihilate it here!
Liang Xiao's troops, meanwhile, fought to the death without retreating, handling the situation with ease.
Before the battle, the soldiers had carried rations and sufficient arrows, prepared for nine battles a day.
No matter what, they would deliver a heavy blow to this rebel army and usher in the prelude to the Great Gan's strategic counter-offensive from the south of the Yangtze River.