The iron balls were hand grenades made by Jin Feng.
In his previous life, although he had interned at a military industrial unit, he had mainly been responsible for the mechanical parts, not specialised research into gunpowder.
Thus, Jin Feng only knew the several ingredients for making gunpowder, but not the detailed proportion data. Everything had to be explored slowly.
Moreover, gunpowder was different from flash bangs.
Making flash bangs, even if something went wrong, at worst one would be blinded by the flash.
But gunpowder was a high-level dangerous substance. If mishandled, it could explode, so Jin Feng had to experiment with extreme caution.
Progress was therefore very slow, and to this day he had not found the most suitable proportion.
Mass production had always been impossible.
This battle in Xichuan was too important, concerning his own life and fortune as well as the Ninth Princess’s, so he had risked bringing some along.
All the way, they were kept separately, handled with utmost care, for fear of any jolt or bump.
Fortunately, luck held, and there were no problems on the journey. They arrived safely here.
In truth, the hand grenades produced by his half-baked skills had rather ordinary power, completely incomparable to those of his previous life.
But the spectacle was immense.
The enormous explosion noise could be heard across the entire battlefield.
And the flames that shot towards the sky.
For people who had never witnessed an explosion, the visual impact was extremely shocking.
Added to that, the Tubo soldiers were extremely densely packed, completely shoulder to shoulder, and had no idea how to take cover.
In such circumstances, throwing one hand grenade produced an effect that spoke for itself.
It directly blasted away a large swathe!
Even Jin Feng himself had not expected one hand grenade to kill so many people.
Half the battlefield fell silent for a moment, countless soldiers temporarily halting their fighting to turn and look towards position three.
Even the drumming from the summit paused briefly.
Upon seeing the flames still rising and the Tubo soldiers tumbling through the air with them, soldiers on both sides were stunned.
When had they ever seen such a scene!
“By the Great Immortal of Divine Light above, the Black Armoured Team really knows sorcery!”
“This is not sorcery. This is the method of heavenly gods. It is divine thunder descending!”
“The Black Armoured Team has truly received the protection of the Great Immortal of Divine Light. Last night seven-coloured divine light appeared over Great Python Slope, and today they have the weapons of heavenly gods!”
“They have heavenly gods helping them. If we keep attacking, will we not be punished by the gods?”
“We are already being punished by the heavenly gods. I have fought the Great Kang people before, and it was never this difficult!”
“Yes, I have fought the Great Kang people several times too. They never held out for more than the time to burn one incense stick. This time the terrain is the simplest, but we have been fighting until now, lost so many men, and still not taken it. It must be the heavenly gods helping the Great Kang people!”
“By the Great Immortal of Divine Light above, I did not mean to offend you!”
…
Most Tubo soldiers were superstitious. Having been harassed by the escort masters for so long recently, their hearts were already uneasy. Now having personally witnessed the power of the hand grenades, the panic in their hearts was imaginable.
Many put down their swords and knelt on the ground, kowtowing, terrified of angering the heavenly gods.
Behind the lines, Danzhu’s face was also filled with horror.
“What is this thing?”
Like the flash bangs, hand grenades completely exceeded his comprehension.
In terms of actual battlefield utility, the flash bangs Jin Feng made were more effective than hand grenades.
Once the enemy was blinded, one’s own side could reap them at will.
But hand grenades made a huge noise and had strong visual effects. Their deterrent impact far exceeded their actual damage.
At this moment, morale on the Tubo side plummeted to its lowest point.
Many battle-hardened Tubo veterans, who did not even fear death, now felt the urge to retreat.
If not for long-established military discipline, a mass rout might already have occurred!
“I must find a way quickly!”
Danzhu was so anxious that cold sweat broke out.
He understood better than Jin Feng how severe the consequences of the hand grenades would be!
Yet for the moment, he could think of no way to counter them.
If only Wizard Zhe were here, at least there would be someone to discuss countermeasures with.
Unfortunately, Wizard Zhe had no attention to spare for him now.
Outside the west city gate, the intensity of the fighting was no less than at position three.
As overall commander of the battle, Wizard Zhe was also fully occupied.
The events here had to be traced back to last night.
With both the Ninth Princess and Qing Mulan at Great Python Slope, Qing Xinyao could not possibly remain unconcerned.
These past days, Qing Xinyao had eaten and slept on the west city wall, never leaving for a moment.
He had also instructed his personal guards to watch the Tubo main camp and Great Python Slope around the clock. No matter the time, any anomaly was to be reported to him immediately.
Last night, he had not slept at all.
Because yesterday afternoon he had received a pigeon message from the Qing Yuan Army, learning that tonight the Qing Yuan Army would attack the east city gate.
Only two thousand Tubo soldiers were blockading the east gate, naturally not warranting Qing Xinyao’s personal command.
He dispatched a lieutenant with men to cooperate with the Qing Yuan Army, while he himself remained guarding the west city wall.
From nightfall onwards, he had constantly observed the activity below.
To ensure Han Feng’s safety, very few people knew of the undercover plan, so Qing Xinyao naturally was unaware of it.
But he had a hunch that since Jin Feng had planned actions at the east gate and Mao’er Mountain, there were likely further moves to come.
Thus, the forces gathered at the west gate were greater than at the east gate.
If an emergency arose outside the city, he could reinforce Great Python Slope at the first opportunity.
Jin Feng did not disappoint him. Before fighting had even started at the east gate or Bao’er Mountain, the Tubo main camp fell into chaos first.
Seeing the common people seize the military horse camp and even lead away all of Danzhu’s war horses, Qing Xinyao was so excited he nearly shouted out.
This move was too ruthless!
It meant Jin Feng had directly crippled both of Danzhu’s legs without deploying a single soldier from Great Python Slope.
Not only ruthless, but cunning.
A traditional general like Qing Xinyao could never have conceived such a method even if beaten to death.
Next, Qing Xinyao saw a unit carrying torches leave Great Python Slope and head north.
Though this was Jin Feng’s temporary decision and had not been communicated to Qing Xinyao in advance, Qing Xinyao was no fool. He quickly judged that Jin Feng might intend to strike the north gate and immediately dispatched a unit to hurry there.
If fighting broke out, this unit could provide timely coordination.
Who would have thought that before the unit was even in position, scouts reported that the Tubo soldiers blockading the north gate had withdrawn.
Qing Xinyao guessed Danzhu’s intention and was about to find a way to notify Great Python Slope when he saw soldiers beginning to assemble in the Tubo main camp.
Qing Xinyao sensed something amiss at once and immediately ordered the forces at the west gate to prepare for battle.
But Danzhu’s movements were faster than he had anticipated. Before preparations here were complete, Danzhu had already led his great army charging towards Great Python Slope.
Seeing the smoke pillars in the west, Qing Xinyao nearly went mad with anxiety. He opened the west city gate at once and personally led his troops charging out.
The stone bridge over the moat had been demolished before Danzhu’s arrival, so only the drawbridge could be used.
As soon as the drawbridge was lowered on this side, Wizard Zhe arrived with his men.
One side was desperate to rush reinforcements to Great Python Slope, the other determined to block them.
Thus, both sides engaged in a brutal life-and-death struggle over the drawbridge.
