Chapter 299: Let's calm down the soldiers and blow them upside down! Yuan Shao's mentality exploded: This is impossible!

Three days later, in the Chu camp.

Outside the central military tent, Liu Bei was staring at the hill outside the camp with a frown and a cold and disgusted look.

The earthen hill of the Wei army was more than two zhang higher than the wall, so Liu Bei had to look up even though he was far away in the central military camp.

He could clearly see that the Wei army archers on the hill were shooting arrows at their own soldiers at will with a relaxed expression as if they were shooting at a live target.

He could even vaguely see how the enemy mocked the Chu army soldiers for hiding themselves in hiding and not daring to show their heads.

Liu Bei clenched his fists secretly, his brows furrowed into a straight line, and murderous intent gathered in his eyes.

"It's so frustrating. Old thief Yuan is too arrogant. How can we let them suppress us like this?"

"My king, please give the order. Let me lead a team of soldiers to rush out and destroy several of his earthen hills to put a damper on the arrogance of the Wei dogs!"

Zhang Fei was not as calm as Lao Liu. When his temper flared up, he would demand to go to war.

Liu Bei suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and regained his composure:
"Yuan Shao has deployed a large number of troops to guard the earthen hill, waiting for us to rush out and attack his earthen hill so that we can hit his iron wall."

"Yide, don't be impulsive. Be patient for a few more days."

Zhang Fei swallowed his saliva and had to sit down again, drinking several bowls of soup and tea to calm himself down.

Xiao Fang was calm and composed, and said comfortingly:
"Don't be anxious, Yide. I estimate that our Hanwei cannon should be almost finished. It should be ready in the next two days..."

Before he could finish his words of comfort, a man came running over.

"Your Majesty, General Gao sent me to report that the Hanwei Cannon he supervised has been completed and can be used in battle at any time!"

There was a sudden excitement in the big tent.

Xiao Fang smiled and pointed his feather fan outside the camp:
"The progress of the Hanwei Cannon is a few days earlier than I expected. Your Majesty, let's bring it into the camp to calm the soldiers and give the Wei army a surprise."

The gloom on Liu Bei's face disappeared, and he laughed heartily:
"Quickly inform Gao Shun and have him drag our weapon to the camp immediately!"

"I will destroy Yuan Shao's territory and make him suffer the same fate as the Battle of Guandu!"

After the order was given, Liu Bei took his ministers and climbed up the watchtower outside the central military tent to survey the overall situation from a high vantage point.

Half an hour later, thousands of mules and horses, dragging huge machines, drove out of the city gate and headed towards the barrier in the direction of Xiangcheng, south of the camp.

In order to catch the Wei army off guard, all the Hanwei cannons were covered with canvas, so that even the Chu army soldiers could not see their true appearance.

Thus, these forty-plus huge machines were slowly dragged into the fortress under the astonished and speculative gazes of the soldiers in the camp and lined up in a row in the center of the army.

"Prime Minister, the range of this catapult is not as good as that of a strong bow or crossbow."

"We will place this Hanwei cannon near the center of the army. The enemy's arrows will certainly not be able to reach it, but can our stone bullets hit the earthen hill?"

Pang Tong saw the "loophole" and immediately spoke out to remind him.

Liu Bei was reminded and nodded:

"Jinglue, Shiyuan is right. After all, the catapult fires stones, so its range should be smaller than that of a crossbow."

"Should we mobilize some shieldmen to protect this Hanwei cannon and push it forward another twenty steps?"

Everyone judges based on common sense.

After all, it is said that Cao Cao's Thunderbolt Chariot also mobilized thousands of shieldmen to cover the Thunderbolt Chariot and forcibly launch it within the range of enemy arrows, which was how he broke Yuan Shao's earthen hill.

"Don't worry, my king. We will place the Hanwei cannon here."

"If the artillerymen had built it according to the design, the range of this Hanwei Cannon would be longer than that of a bow and crossbow, and it would be enough to destroy the Wei army's earthen hills!"

Xiao Fang flicked his feather fan and smiled confidently.

Everyone looked a little surprised.

This is the first time they have heard of a catapult with a range longer than a crossbow!

Liu Bei then put aside his surprise and said happily:

"Okay, let's listen to Jinglue and place the Hanwei Cannon in the center of the army."

"Pass the order down and prepare for the bombardment."

When the imperial edict was passed down, the soldiers immediately tore off the canvas, revealing the true appearance of more than 40 Hanwei cannons.

This unprecedented siege weapon, which was nearly three people tall and equipped with a counterweight box, immediately caused surprise and discussion among the soldiers in the camp.

Under the command of Gao Shun, the gunners began to laboriously load the bullets with stones that were nearly the size of a bull's head.

Everyone stared with their eyes wide open, eager to see with their own eyes the incredible power of the new catapult invented by their Prime Minister Xiao.

Outside the barrier, on a hill.

At this time, Yuan Shao came to Tushan again to watch with his own eyes how his archers bullied the retreating Chu army.

From time to time, screams could be heard from within the barrier.

That was the dying cry of a Chu soldier who accidentally showed his head and was discovered by archers on the hill, and was shot like a hedgehog by hundreds of arrows.

Every wailing sound made Yuan Shao's mouth corners rise a little.

"Gong Ze, if you can rescue Xian Si and defeat the big-eared thief this time, you will be the chief contributor!"

"I will never forget your contribution."

Yuan Shao stroked his thin beard and glanced at Guo Tu with approval. Guo Tu was secretly proud of himself and pointed at the Chu camp with a sneer:
"I estimate that in half a month at most, the morale of the Big Eared Bandits will plummet to the bottom and they will be forced to ask for peace with the King..."

Yuan Shao also sneered, then turned around and prepared to go down the hill.

Just as he turned around, Ju Su beside him suddenly became alert and pointed at Chu Ying and said:
"Your Majesty, there seems to be some unusual movement in the Chu camp!"

Yuan Shao turned around and looked at the Chu camp again.

In the field of vision, one saw huge monsters being slowly dragged into the Chu camp and deployed at the central army line.

Then, the canvas covering it was lifted, revealing its true appearance.

"What it is?"

Yuan Shao narrowed his eyes, deep suspicion welling up in his eyes.

Guo Tu Fengji and others around were all at a loss as they saw that thing looked familiar but they couldn't guess what it was for a moment.

"Trebuchet!"

Ju Su was the first to see through it and said anxiously:

"Your Majesty, that huge thing must be a trebuchet. Liu Bei secretly built a trebuchet to blast my earthen hill!"

Yuan Shao was shocked and looked carefully again. He found that the huge object looked like a catapult just as Ju Shou said.

However, it was very different from the catapults he knew, both in shape and structure.

Yuan Shao suddenly understood.

It turned out that when faced with his plan of building an earthen hill, Liu Bei was not helpless and just planned to passively accept the attack. Instead, he secretly summoned military craftsmen and built dozens of catapults.

I dragged this catapult into the camp today just to catch him off guard!
Yuan Shao's nerves immediately tensed up and an ominous premonition came over him.

"Your Majesty, the earthen hill is no longer safe. Please evacuate the hill quickly to avoid being injured by the enemy's stone bullets!"

Ju Su reacted the fastest and pulled Yuan Shao down the mountain.

Before Yuan Shao could move, Guo Tu sneered:
"Gong Yu, you are worrying too much. Even if Liu Bei secretly built a catapult, it was not a thunder chariot. Why should we be afraid?"

"Besides, even if it's a Thunderbolt Chariot, it can't hit my earthen hill outside the range of my crossbows!"

"You dragged the king down the mountain in such a hurry. If the soldiers saw you, it would be a loss of the king's dignity."

Faced with Guo Tu's sarcasm, Ju Shou was stunned and speechless.

He suddenly realized that what Guo Tu said was not arrogant and underestimated the enemy, but actually made sense.

The vigilance on Yuan Shao's face disappeared in an instant because of Guo Tu's words.

"You are right. The big-eared thief didn't build the Thunderbolt Chariot. Why should I be afraid?"

Yuan Shao turned around again, glared at the Chu camp with contempt, and snorted coldly:

"I will stand here and watch the big-eared thief's efforts in vain!"

So Yuan Shao not only did not retreat, but stood further forward and ordered the archers to continue shooting arrows at the Chu camp.

After their initial surprise, the thousands of Wei army archers quickly regained their disdain and continued to shoot arrows from their high position, suppressing and teasing the cowering Chu soldiers.

Chu camp, on the watchtower.

Xiao Fang saw every move of the Wei army.

Looking at the enemy's reckless momentum, Xiao Fang sneered:

"The Wei army did not evade or hide, and continued to act recklessly. It seems that they do not take our Hanwei cannon seriously at all."

"Your Majesty, let's blow up the Wei army and their earthen hills together!"

Liu Bei's eyes were as cold as a blade, and he shouted:
"Pass the order, aim the Hanwei cannon at the earthen hill and bombard me to death!"

The order was passed down and the command flag on the watchtower was waving.

Gao Shun immediately issued the bombardment order.

More than forty Hanwei cannons suddenly opened fire.

With the help of the counterweight box, the throwing arm easily threw up the boulder as big as a bull's head.

With a sharp sound of breaking through the air, the huge rock rose into the air, passed over the barrier, and roared towards the earthen hill outside the camp as the Chu army soldiers looked up.

In an instant, it was as if a meteorite fell, flying just beyond the distance of an arrow, and smashing down like an overwhelming force.

Yuan Shao's face turned pale with horror, and the arrogant sneer on his face instantly turned into endless horror.

Guo Tu's face changed, Ju Su's face changed... The entire Wei army was in shock.

Everyone's eyes were wide open as if they were about to burst, as if they had just seen the most bizarre and terrifying scene in their lives.

No one expected that the Chu army's catapults had a range longer than that of powerful bows and crossbows!
Unheard of!
Even during the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao's Thunderbolt Chariot failed to do this!
Moreover, the stone bullets that fell like meteorites seemed to be much larger than the stone bullets of the Thunderbolt Chariot!
Such a heavy stone bullet was launched from a distance of one arrow. What kind of terrifyingly powerful catapult is this?
What frightened them even more was yet to come.

This catapult not only has a very long range, but its accuracy seems to be far better than that of the thunder chariot. There were several earth-shattering noises, and five earth hills on the left and right were hit by the stone bullets!
One of the huge rocks seemed to have eyes. It fell from the sky and smashed towards where Yuan Shao was.

"This is impossible--"

Yuan Shao was so shocked that he stared at the huge rock falling from the sky and forgot to dodge.

(End of this chapter)