In the morning light, the princess, dressed in escort uniform, her long hair flying, beat a war drum taller than herself.
The drumming rhythm was not particularly urgent, but each strike was forceful.
One beat, then another!
It gave a sense of firmness and strength.
Jin Feng looked up, a feeling of shock surging in his heart.
In the feudal era, the imprint of the imperial family ran deep in people’s hearts.
The common people still held great awe for imperial authority.
The Ninth Princess’s action provided an unparalleled boost to morale.
Let alone in Great Kang, even in the history of this world, there had never been a princess who wore military uniform and personally beat the drum on the battlefield.
Now, even if the Weisheng Army soldiers were asked to die, they would willingly do so.
However, the Ninth Princess’s gesture would also provoke Danzhu, spurring him to launch even fiercer attacks.
Behind the opposing lines, Danzhu was furious about the sudden appearance of the Zhuge repeating crossbows.
He truly could not understand how Jin Feng had so many tricks.
Heavy crossbows, trebuchets, flash bangs were one thing, but now there was this new devastating weapon.
Though the repeating crossbows were formidable, by deploying heavy shield soldiers, it was not as if they were completely defenceless.
In truth, if properly prepared, the overall lethality of repeating crossbows was still less than that of heavy trebuchets.
A trebuchet could smash a large area at once, and if hit, even if not killed outright, rescue was basically unnecessary.
Shields were utterly useless against stones hurled from high in the sky.
Fortunately, heavy trebuchets were slow to reload and store energy, and adjusting angles was difficult. Soldiers could dodge the attack range or charge during the loading period.
Once they reached near the trench, the trebuchets would refrain from firing to avoid friendly casualties.
Otherwise, the battle could not be fought at all.
Over the years, minor skirmishes between Tubo and Great Kang had never ceased. Danzhu was not fighting Great Kang forces for the first time and knew their soldiers’ style all too well.
At present, the Weisheng Army still held the advantage of fortifications and were fighting with the wind at their backs, so they could maintain combat effectiveness.
While attacking, the Tubo soldiers were also filling in the trenches.
Once the trenches were levelled, the Weisheng Army would lose their fortification advantage and would certainly not be a match for the battle-hardened Tubo veterans.
At that point, the situation would rapidly reverse.
He would then focus attacks on one spot. As long as he opened a breach and routed one position, it would trigger a chain reaction, quickly leading to a mass rout.
Then it would be his turn to counterattack.
Thus, although Danzhu was surprised and enraged by the Zhuge repeating crossbows, he did not panic.
But just then, he heard the cheers from the Weisheng Army.
Noticing many Weisheng soldiers shouting “Ninth Princess”, Danzhu narrowed his eyes and looked towards the top of Great Python Slope.
Upon seeing the Ninth Princess drumming at the summit, Danzhu abruptly stood up.
As a veteran general, he knew full well what this meant.
For the same army, the difference in combat strength with or without morale was worlds apart.
As long as the Ninth Princess did not die, the Weisheng Army’s morale could not collapse.
All his previous plans would come to nothing.
Forget capturing the Ninth Princess alive; whether he himself could leave Great Kang alive was now in doubt.
In a single instant, Danzhu made his decision!
Better to sever one finger than to injure ten!
He must quickly find a point, breach it at the fastest speed, then ascend the mountain and capture the Ninth Princess.
As long as he took the Ninth Princess, the Weisheng Army would crumble without attack.
Danzhu swiftly scanned the battlefield. After careful consideration, he chose position three.
Though it had Zhuge repeating crossbows, the trench there had already been filled, making it the easiest point to breach.
Woo! Woo woo!
A burly man behind Danzhu blew a cow horn.
Signal soldiers also immediately waved flags, issuing Danzhu’s latest orders.
The deep horn sounds cut through the noisy battlefield, reaching the ears of the frontline Tubo soldiers.
The Tubo soldiers near position three soon mobilised, abandoning their current positions and surging towards the new target.
The pressure on position three instantly multiplied several times!
Under the pressure of life and death, the female soldiers operating the Zhuge repeating crossbows experienced a surge of adrenaline, their movements much faster than before.
All the Zhuge repeating crossbows fired frantically!
Yet the enemy numbers were too great, and even the repeating crossbows could not suppress them.
The battle line steadily advanced towards the trench.
There was a gap between veterans and recruits, just as there was between seasoned generals and novices.
Though Meng Tianhai was older than Danzhu, in terms of actual combat experience, Danzhu outclassed him by far.
By the time Meng Tianhai noticed the anomaly at position three, the Tubo troops were nearly scaling the earth wall.
Jin Feng, however, because of the Zhuge repeating crossbows, had been focusing on position three and spotted Danzhu’s intent first.
He ordered the remaining few dozen escort masters behind him to reinforce immediately, while taking a crossbow from Da Liu’s waist and firing two whistling arrows towards position three.
Two ranks of escort masters rushed to position three, helping the Weisheng Army repel the enemy just as the Tubo soldiers were about to climb the earth wall.
Meng Tianhai finally reacted and began dispatching men to position three.
Position three instantly became the most intense battleground on the entire field.
Every minute, every second, soldiers fell.
Tubo soldiers, Weisheng Army soldiers.
Even several escort masters were killed.
One female soldier responsible for loading stood up too high above the wall and was shot in the neck by an enemy archer.
But in the next second, a new female soldier took her place.
The pile of corpses grew higher and higher, gradually level with the earth wall, eventually even surpassing it.
The Tubo soldiers were long accustomed to such scenes. Stepping on their comrades’ bodies, they launched even fiercer assaults against the Weisheng Army and escort masters.
The Great Kang side had completely lost the fortification advantage. The female soldiers firing from behind the earth wall were now fully exposed to enemy archers.
The number of female soldier casualties soared. One would replace another, only to be shot dead before she could even begin work.
The Zhuge repeating crossbows on the wall fell silent almost simultaneously.
Having already lost the fortification advantage and now deprived of the fire suppression from the Zhuge repeating crossbows, the pressure on the Weisheng Army and male escort masters skyrocketed.
Jin Feng saw that position three was in danger of collapsing at any moment and frowned deeply.
After a moment’s thought, he said gravely: “First squad, it’s your turn!”
His personal guard unit was the only team on Great Python Slope still equipped with black armour.
“Been itching for a fight!”
The first squad leader grinned: “Da Liu, you lot better protect Mr well. If I come back and find him missing even one hair, I won’t be happy!”
“You little rascal, teaching me how to do things?” Da Liu kicked the squad leader in the backside: “Get lost quick, finish off the enemy soon, and come back in one piece!”
“First squad, follow me!”
The squad leader laughed heartily, leading ten personal guards carrying two crates as they charged towards position three.
By now, position three was nearly overrun.
Many Tubo soldiers had already crossed the earth wall.
The fighting had shifted from outside the trench to inside it.
“Brothers, let the enemy see what we’re made of!”
The squad leader reached outside position three and opened the crates.
Inside, thick soft cloth lined the bottom, upon which rows of round iron balls were arranged.
The squad leader lit a fuse with a fire starter.
When the fuse had burned two-thirds of the way, he hurled the iron ball with force.
The iron ball arced over the earth wall, landing among the enemy crowd.
The instant it hit the ground, a “boom” echoed loudly.
All enemies within two zhang of the iron ball were blasted into the air!
Many more were knocked down by the shockwave!
Friend and foe alike turned to look at the explosion site.
