Chapter 285
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Chapter 285: Spendthrift’s Toy
“This is truly a spendthrift’s toy.”
Luo Ji remarked with emotion, tapping on the bronze armor plating.
He had to admit, this extravagant thing was indeed resilient.
When pushed onto the battlefield, as an armored vehicle of the cold weapon era, Luo Ji couldn’t deny it was a formidable siege weapon.
However, with the same type of siege tower, if it wasn’t equipped with so much bronze armor plating, he could build 10 siege towers at once and achieve the same effect.
These two siege towers, basically piled up with bronze, had a hint of grandiosity, or to be more direct, they exuded a sense of showing off.
As for cost-effectiveness, there was truly little.
After all, how many weapons and armors could be forged with that much bronze?
How many soldiers could be armed?
But if they could be repaired, he wouldn’t mind making good use of them.
With this thought, Luo Ji casually asked.
“Have you tried moving the wheels from the other siege tower to this one?”
“We have tried.”
As a defending general, Zhao Pan was probably the one who could most deeply feel the threat of this siege tower.
So, after capturing it, he naturally thought about repairing it.
However, the result was greatly disappointing.
After installing the wheels from the other siege tower, this one still largely couldn’t move and couldn’t be used normally.
Upon learning the situation from Zhao Pan, Luo Ji moved two steps closer to examine it carefully.
He quickly discovered the problem, two components were likely missing from the wheel’s joint.
One was a bearing, and the other was a device to secure the wheel.
Only when it was fixed could the wheel, when rotated, drag the entire siege tower forward.
That fixed part had been destroyed when the enemy damaged the wheels.
Given this situation, to make the siege tower move, not only the wheels but also several rows of axles at the bottom, and even the entire chassis, would need to be remade.
This move by the enemy was truly a devastating blow.
The layers of bronze armor plating on top were just pure extravagance, the technology and key lay in the chassis.
It truly wasn’t something that could be repaired just by replacing a wheel.
“In short, drag these two piles of material back to Mirror City and send them to the Military Equipment Research Department.”
“If they are too big to drag, just dismantle the top layers of bronze armor plating, anyway, there’s no technical complexity there.”
With this wasteful item in his hands, there was absolutely no possibility of Zhou Dongnan snatching it back.
He would first hand it over to Ye Xuan for slow research.
If it couldn’t be repaired, melting down these two piles of bronze would still yield resources.
Thus, the matters at Songhe City could be said to have temporarily concluded.
Meanwhile, on the other side, things were proceeding quite smoothly for Guo Jia and his team.
During this period, Wang Tong, the defending general of Songshan City, had been living an incredibly comfortable life.
After Jiang Wei left, he apparently felt he was completely secure and fully relaxed, giving Guo Jia and his forces a perfect opportunity to exploit.
At dawn, a well-timed surprise attack allowed them to easily capture Songshan City’s wall top.
Then, with the city gate open, the city, which had very few garrisoned troops, instantly became a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Guo Zhen, who had charged in with his infantry unit, finally got his wish and cleaved off Wang Tong’s head with an axe, personally avenging his fallen comrades.
With this, the entire iron triangle of Zhou Dongnan’s eastern territory completely fell into Luo Ji’s hands.
After this, the entire total war seemed to enter a brief halftime.
Troop deployments, soldier casualties, and the consumption and damage of military equipment, all these matters required considerable time for adjustment and processing.
However, with Zhao Pan helping him share the workload, Luo Ji wasn’t particularly busy during this time.
He even had time to check on the wall construction of Giant Wood City and White River City in the rear.
Based on the current situation, unless he somehow messed up himself, Zhou Dongnan had no chance of threatening his cities.
The tactical guidelines set from the beginning were progressing exceptionally smoothly.
Thus, to avoid inadvertently getting complacent, it was absolutely crucial to remain calm at critical moments.
Carts filled with grain and military equipment were continuously transported from the rear.
Luo Ji, now composed, was in no hurry.
After all, the mechanics of total war and invasion war were completely different.
For some high-tier players, a total war lasting several years, or even longer, was not uncommon.
Therefore, considering this time span, the two warring sides would only gain the authority to call for outside reinforcements in the third month, and currently, less than half a month had passed.
Days passed.
The battle report of Shangyuan City’s 3,000-strong siege army failing to capture the city was delivered by a dispatch rider to Zhou Dongnan in the Great Zhou Royal City the day after the siege battle ended.
Zhou Dongnan, who was having his meal at the time, overturned the entire table of food upon hearing the news.
3,000 soldiers failed to capture the city, two siege towers, one destroyed, one captured by the enemy, and General Wei Yuan Jiang Wei missing.
At this moment, Zhou Dongnan felt as if he had been stabbed three times.
If not for the recent recuperation that had largely restored his health, this battle report alone would probably have made him faint on the spot!
However, this wasn’t the end.
Two days later, the news of Songshan City’s fall was thoroughly confirmed.
There was no need to check, if Songshan City had fallen, could Jiang Wei, who had gone around to the rear, possibly have escaped?
He was either captured or dead.
Zhou Dongnan felt it was the latter.
The reason was simple, his enmity with Luo Ji was already too deep, and there was no way the other party would let his generals go.
“Have the reinforcements from the rear not arrived yet?!”
The immense pressure undoubtedly made Zhou Dongnan almost lose his composure.
His ‘Great Zhou’ clearly did not consist only of the eastern territory.
Centered on the Great Zhou Royal City, cities were undoubtedly established in all directions.
The forces from the north and south had clearly already been concentrated at Shangyuan City, but the cities located to the west, due to their location and distance, would require some time to mobilize.
Moreover, even if the western forces were assembled, with the remaining troops he currently had, this total war was a dangerous situation for Zhou Dongnan.
To fight a war to this extent and say he wasn’t panicking at all would definitely be a lie.
At this moment, Zhou Dongnan clearly realized that he had to do something, otherwise, he would undoubtedly lose this war.
“Conscription! Issue an order to conscript soldiers from all over the country!”
“But Your Majesty, we only just conscripted 2,000 soldiers a while ago, now, I’m afraid…”
“If you can’t conscript them, then forcibly conscript them! Shangyuan City is the last line of defense on the east side of my Great Zhou. Once it falls, that Luo fellow can directly march all the way to the outside of the Royal City, and then everything will be over!!”
