At the foot of Great Python Slope, Tubo soldiers had already charged to the front of the Weisheng Army’s fortifications.
There was no declaration of war, no exchange of insults.
The moment the Tubo soldiers arrived, they launched a direct assault on the Great Python Slope defences.
The so-called fortifications were nothing more than a trench dug around the base of Great Python Slope, with the excavated earth piled up along the edge to serve as a temporary wall.
Due to limited time, the trench was not dug very deep, and the earth mound was not piled very high.
Fortunately, Meng Tianhai’s Weisheng Army were not pampered troops. Although their combat strength was inferior to the Iron Tiger Battalion and the Black Armoured Team, they did not flee at the sight of the enemy.
Moreover, bolstered by the victory at Mao’er Mountain and knowing that the Ninth Princess was on Great Python Slope, their morale was still reasonably good.
At Jin Feng’s suggestion, Meng Tianhai had also made some changes to the Weisheng Army’s combat methods.
Every soldier defending the earth wall was issued two or three bamboo poles.
Such things were abundant throughout Sichuan and Shu. Once sharpened, they could be used as long spears.
Moreover, the bamboo was at least three or four metres long, enough to stab enemies to death across the trench.
With the aid of the fortifications and bamboo spears, the Weisheng Army soldiers successfully repelled the first wave of Tubo attacks, even managing to kill a considerable number of enemies in the process.
However, as more and more Tubo soldiers gathered, the pressure on the Weisheng Army grew ever greater. Some of the shallower trenches were at risk of being breached by Tubo soldiers at any moment.
Jin Feng stood midway up the slope, frowning as he watched the scene below.
On this trip to Xichuan City, he had brought a total of one thousand escort masters.
Apart from the Black Armoured Team that Zhang Liang had taken away, the remaining five hundred were all following behind Jin Feng at that moment.
These escort masters wore no black armour, only black escort uniforms. Beneath the uniforms was a set of steel wire inner armour.
Many of the escort masters were carrying large and small black wooden crates.
Jin Feng observed for a while, then turned his head and said: “First company, first rank and second rank, go reinforce position three. Third rank, reinforce position five!”
“Yes!”
A chorus of acknowledgements rose from the escort ranks, and three teams carrying crates rushed down the mountain.
As Jin Feng continued issuing commands, the number of escort masters behind him dwindled rapidly.
By now, the first batch of escort masters had reached position three.
Below position three lay massive boulders, so the trench could only be dug a little over one metre deep.
Although additional earth and stones had been transported from elsewhere to build a higher wall, this spot had been designated by Danzhu as a key breakthrough point and was under far greater pressure than other positions.
The trench, just over one metre deep, had long since been filled with corpses.
Yet more and more Tubo soldiers kept surging forward.
Position three was on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Upon arrival, the male escort masters immediately joined the fight, helping the Weisheng Army defend the earth wall, while the female escort masters swiftly opened the wooden crates.
Moments later, strangely shaped crossbows were lifted onto the wall by the female soldiers.
These were not portable heavy crossbows, but a completely new type of repeating crossbow.
In his previous life, while pursuing graduate studies, Jin Feng’s mentor had been obsessed with crossbows. He had spent over half a year with Jin Feng and a few classmates in the laboratory, poring over countless ancient texts in an attempt to replicate the legendary Zhuge repeating crossbow and wooden ox flowing horse.
The wooden ox flowing horse was never successfully recreated, but the repeating crossbow was.
Although it was unclear whether it matched what Zhuge Liang had made back then, it could indeed achieve multi-shot and rapid fire.
With the aid of computer modelling and calculations in the laboratory, the repeating crossbow that the professor and Jin Feng’s team produced was more scientifically advanced than the historical records of Zhuge’s version, with faster loading and cocking speeds.
Though its power could not compare to a single-shot heavy crossbow and its range was much shorter, it could fire ten arrows in one go.
In this world, there was no Zhuge Liang, nor the professor, but Jin Feng still named this new crossbow the Zhuge repeating crossbow.
It was a tribute to Master Zhuge and to his own professor.
If the single-shot heavy crossbow was akin to a sniper rifle, then the Zhuge repeating crossbow was a light machine gun.
Heavy crossbows were suited for long-range strikes, while the Zhuge repeating crossbow was ideal for the current close-quarters, large-scale battle.
It did not use the thick, spear-like bolts of the heavy crossbow, but ordinary hand crossbow arrows instead.
After the female escort masters placed the Zhuge repeating crossbows on the earth wall, two handled loading, one used a crank to cock it, and one fired.
Each performed their role calmly and efficiently.
“Loading complete!”
“Cocking complete!”
Upon hearing her companions’ confirmations, the female soldier responsible for firing pulled the trigger without hesitation.
In both his previous and current lives, Jin Feng had only tested the Zhuge repeating crossbow in the laboratory.
This was its first appearance on a battlefield, and even Jin Feng was uncertain of its performance.
Midway up the slope, Jin Feng held his telescope, aimed at the enemies in front of the female soldier.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!…
Ten arrows shot out like lightning towards the crowd.
The soldiers in front of position three were so densely packed that not a single arrow missed.
Though the power of the Zhuge repeating crossbow was inferior to the heavy crossbow, it far exceeded that of an ordinary hand crossbow.
At such close range, its lethality was not to be underestimated.
The arrows pierced straight through the first soldier, then continued with barely reduced speed into the second.
Though not as domineering as the heavy crossbow, which could skewer men like candied hawthorn, each arrow still penetrated at least three soldiers before stopping.
In an instant, a fan-shaped empty zone appeared in front of this Zhuge repeating crossbow.
The clamorous battlefield seemed to freeze.
Whether friend or foe, including the female soldier who had fired, everyone was stunned by the immense killing power of the Zhuge repeating crossbow!
This was nothing short of slaughter!
The Tubo soldiers who snapped out of it instinctively moved away from the Zhuge repeating crossbow while searching for shields.
The Great Kang soldiers, meanwhile, cheered excitedly.
With such a divine weapon, what was there to fear from the Tubo troops?
Halfway up the mountain, Jin Feng let out a long sigh of relief.
The so-called retreat to Kan’er Mountain had merely been an excuse to persuade the Ninth Princess to leave.
If they withdrew now, military morale would instantly collapse, and the soldiers would scramble to flee in panic.
At that point, no matter how many tactics Jin Feng had, they would all be useless.
The only option was to hold the position.
Flash bangs were far less effective in daylight and risked injuring their own men. Whether they could hold Great Python Slope, he truly had no confidence.
Although Jin Feng had prepared an escape route for himself, unless it came to the final moment, he had no desire to play the deserter.
The outstanding performance of the Zhuge repeating crossbow temporarily eased the burden on Jin Feng’s mind.
His attention was entirely focused on the battle below when he suddenly heard a series of muffled drumbeats coming from the top of Great Python Slope behind him.
Drumbeats were common on the battlefield, for once fighting began, all manner of sounds blended together. Face-to-face speech might not even be audible, so flags, drums, and gongs were used to convey orders.
But these drumbeats had no rhythm at all, and even Jin Feng, the overall commander, had no idea what they meant.
“Who the hell is randomly beating the drum? Tired of living?”
Cursing inwardly, Jin Feng turned around.
On the largest boulder at the very top of Great Python Slope, a huge war drum over one metre tall had somehow been placed.
The Ninth Princess, dressed in Qing Mulan’s escort uniform, stood before the war drum, striking it forcefully, beat by beat.
Down on the slope, it was not only Jin Feng who was drawn by the drumbeats.
Many Weisheng Army soldiers also turned to look towards the summit.
In the next second, the battlefield erupted.
“Brothers, the Ninth Princess hasn’t fled. She’s drumming for us!”
“That’s clearly a female soldier. How could it be the Ninth Princess?”
“The Ninth Princess visited the camp the day before yesterday and even spoke to me. How could I mistake her? That’s the Ninth Princess. She’s just wearing Mr Jin’s female soldier uniform!”
“Apart from the Ninth Princess, who would dare randomly beat the drum in front of the formation? Not afraid of Mr Jin chopping off their head?”
“The Princess is drumming in person. Even if I die here, it’s worth it!”
“Fight to the death, no retreat!”
