Three Kingdoms Eschatology

Seeing this, Zhao Yun thought to himself, there is nothing to do. As a forward, he did not carry heavy siege equipment such as a counterweight trebuchet.Moreover, the strength of the troops in the city is unclear, and it may be far more than his 3000 men. Even if they can enter the city, they may not be able to defeat the defenders in the city.In this way, we can only wait for the arrival of the Chinese army and the rear army.Thinking of this, he ordered the soldiers of the Liang Army to find a place with abundant water within ten miles in front of the west gate of Byzantium to set up camp, and wait for the main force to come while monitoring the enemy's movement in the city.

……

Apennines Province, New Palace in Rome.Macrinus was drinking and having fun with dozens of his concubines of various skin colors, playing and laughing, completely forgetting the unfavorable battle situation ahead.

Originally, the Roman emperor had different meanings from the emperors of Persia and even Middle Earth.Literally speaking, it means supreme commander in Latin.And there is also the title of the first citizen at the back, which is a kind of honorific title, and it also limits the scope of the emperor who is not separated from the citizen.

So in a sense, the Roman emperor was just an official position.But Macrinus wanted to be an emperor like the one in the East. What he wanted was not to hold great power, but to be supreme, not to be the first citizen, but to have a status similar to a god.

In order to achieve this goal, after he stole the position of Roman emperor, he used the matter under his crotch as a breakthrough point.Monogamy was widely practiced in Rome, and even the emperor could only have one queen.However, he claimed that he could marry unlimited concubines under the pretext that he was an African Mao Talia and had his own tribal traditions.This is not only for his personal satisfaction, but also a temptation to break through the Roman law.

In order to accommodate these harem concubines, he requisitioned a public building in Rome and expanded it as his new palace.

After this goal succeeded, he tried to get officials to declare that he was not bound by any human laws and had unlimited power.However, this attempt was strongly opposed by the Senate, and just at this time Alexander had openly declared himself emperor, fighting against him.Only then did he restrain himself temporarily.However, these actions of his have quietly cultivated a large number of opponents in the Roman political circle, but he did not express it publicly because of his force and power.

However, Macrinus was self-aware of this, so when Liang Guo and Alexander's coalition forces approached him step by step, he did not dare to leave the city of Rome with his two most trusted legions. Drinking and having fun in the palace all day long.

At this time, a Roman messenger broke into the hall and reported: "Your Majesty, there are continuous urgent military reports ahead. The enemy has captured Ankara and is approaching the city of Byzantium."

Makrinus's face suddenly turned livid, and he said in surprise: "What? They conquered Ankara, and they came to the city of Byzantium. Didn't they capture the Hatay Fortress a few days ago? In just a few days, they Can it advance thousands of miles and capture Ankara, which is guarded by a whole legion? This is impossible."

"Return to Your Majesty, this is all true news. The head of the Ankara Legion has died."

Macrinus waved his hand to make the orderer retreat, and then leaned back in his chair with a pale face.I thought to myself, this time I have to go out in person, otherwise the enemy army will capture Byzantium and cross the Black Sea Strait.Then from there to the city of Rome, everyone will fall to Alexander's side.I can only lead two legions to defend an isolated city, and defeat is a matter of time.

Chapter 963

Reluctantly, Macrinus left the free and easy home of the city of Rome, and took one and a half of his legions to the port thirty miles west of the city of Rome.From here they will take the sea route to Byzantine Fortress for reinforcements.

Originally, he planned to take both legions away, but he was afraid that without the army to guard them, those veteran nobles would "rebel" in the city of Rome after he left.

But if he only took away one legion, he was afraid that it would not be enough to defeat the coalition forces of Alexander and Liang Guo.After thinking about it, he left five battalions of his Guards in the city of Rome, and secretly ordered the generals who stayed behind to kill anyone in the city who dared to plot something wrong.

At the port, nearly 7000 people boarded the large galley warships of the Apennine Fleet one after another, and sailed to the sea outside the port.

The commander of the Apennines fleet was not a confidant of Macrinus and was not under his control.When the war in North Africa was in full swing a few months ago, Makrinus ordered the Apennine fleet to attack coastal towns in several provinces in North Africa to cooperate with the Bedouins.The commander of the fleet didn't take it seriously at all, and was perfunctory.

Despite this, the Apennines Fleet still recognized the Roman Emperor Macrinus after all, so things for face still have to be done.

At the moment, Macrinus asked the Apennine fleet to carry his army to Asia Minor.The commander of the fleet thought that this would not deplete the strength of his own fleet.This time, it was Macrinus who led the troops himself. If he refused directly, both sides would not be able to get down.So he followed the order carefully.

On the shore of the port, a bearded fisherman squatted on the shore, licking melon seeds.There is already a pile of melon seed skins on the ground near him.His public identity is a Median businessman from the southwest of the Caspian Sea, and he was recruited by Liang Guo as a spy a few years ago.

While nibbling melon seeds, he kept sweeping his eyes towards the sea surface, as if he was observing the floats, but in fact he was observing the actions of the warships in the sea.

After the Roman ships were gone, he hurriedly put away his fishing rod and basket, untied his mount tied to a nearby tree, jumped on his horse and galloped away.A few quarters of an hour later, three carrier pigeons soared into the sky from a certain courtyard in Rome.Their destinations are all pigeon lofts in Ankara.This time, three carrier pigeons were used to send the letter in one breath, which shows that the spy station attaches great importance to this information, and I am afraid that the carrier pigeons will not deliver the letter because of the meaning.

……

As early as when Macrinus assembled the expeditionary army outside Rome, the coalition forces of Alexander and Liang had already gathered under the city of Byzantium.More than [-] soldiers and horses blocked the four gates of Byzantium.Dozens of heavy counterweight trebuchets have been lined up in front of the east gate of the Byzantine Fortress.

Following the general's order, boulders were thrown towards Jiancheng.The stones hit the wall with a crisp sound, and the stone chips were scattered everywhere.However, after the boulder is bounced, it leaves a pit on the wall, which is bigger than that left by the ballista stone bullet.But there was no crack at all on the wall.

After an hour-long bombardment, the walls of the entire Byzantine Fortress were battered, but it remained unmoved.Ma Chao said angrily: "If I had known that this catapult was so strong, I should have dispatched the largest giant trebuchet."

Zhao Yun repeatedly shook his head and said: "Our largest giant trebuchet manufacturing workshop is in Tenglong City, Myanmar. It is transported by sea, and its largest and heaviest parts must be transported by large ships with deep draft, and at most it can be transported to Wuci Port in the Persian Gulf. How much manpower and material resources would it take to travel thousands of miles from Wuci Port to transport it here? This is simply unrealistic."

Alexander also said: "Even if it can be transported here, it may not be useful. The two generals don't know that the Byzantine city wall is not only built with large chunks of granite, but also with cement, which is a very effective glue. mixture."

Ma Chao asked back: "Cement? What is this? Is it better than glutinous rice mortar?"

Alexander replied: "This is a construction adhesive made of lime, volcanic ash, sand mixed with some butter mixed with water. I don't know how effective it is compared to the glutinous rice mortar in your Far East, but I know this thing The adhesion to masonry is extremely strong. The masonry bonded by it is as indestructible as a whole. However, the cost of building a house with this thing is extremely high. Byzantium used it to build strength because the castle fortress was against the Roman Empire. It’s too important.”

Ma Chao frowned and said, "So, we have no choice but to attack by force?" After that, he looked up at the Byzantine Fortress, and then said: "If we attack such a tall fortress by force, how many soldiers and horses will be lost?" .”

Zhao Yun said: "It won't work on the ground, we can think of other ways."

Ma Chao responded: "Did Zilong say that he attacked the city from the water or from the air? But although we are close to the coast, the coast is full of cliffs more than ten battles high, and the wind is high and the waves are rough. If we think of a way from the air, we have ten The rest of the airships, this number can be used for reconnaissance, and it is no different from the siege and the ground with the building vehicles."

Zhao Yun shook his head and said, "No, someone is talking about digging tunnels from the ground and attacking the city."

After the translator recounted their conversation to Alexander, Alexander said: "Digging tunnels to attack the city is a way, but the geology here is not very suitable for digging tunnels, because there are many underground rocks. Digging can be done, but it will take a long time to complete. .I estimate that it will take about two months."

Zhao Yun sighed and said, "If a strong attack is to take Byzantium, a certain person will have to sacrifice 5000 to [-] troops, which is about one-third of our total strength. In addition to the loss of so many troops, the worse thing is that we still have Morale will be lost. Therefore, even if we storm Byzantium and cross the sea, it will be difficult for us to move forward. We have an old saying in Middle-earth that it takes two months to dig a tunnel in exchange for reducing The casualties are worth it."

Alexander pondered for a while, then spread his hands and said, "That's all."

After everyone's discussion, it has been decided to immediately arrange for heavy soldiers, civilian husbands, etc. to dig tunnels secretly.At the same time, Zhao Yun also informed Feng Yu who was far away in Taixifeng in the form of a relay of flying pigeons.

Half a month later, when Alexander, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, and the Roman generals were inspecting the progress of the tunnel excavation, Liang Jun's fast riders came to report--nearly [-] troops of Macrinus were coming across the sea by boat.The source of the news is the pigeon house of the Ankara post station of Chen's espionage network.

Hearing this news, everyone's faces changed, and Alexander said with a livid face, "We can't stay here for long, we must withdraw our troops immediately, otherwise the whole army will be wiped out!"

Chapter 964 The Secret Weapon That Breaks the City

When Ma Chao saw that Alexander said that he would withdraw his troops, he immediately asked anxiously, "Why did your majesty say that? Where are we going to withdraw?"

Alexander highlighted a few words: "Need to withdraw to Hatay Fortress."

Ma Chao became even more anxious, and said: "That means we have to give up the entire province of Asia Minor. But we fought so hard. Let alone the loss and sacrifice of so many soldiers, the tunnel alone has been dug for more than half a month. At this time, the troops are withdrawn." We've lost all our efforts!"

Alexander explained with a livid face: "I don't want to withdraw either, but now that Makrinus' fleet is departing from Apennines, they will inevitably land on any beach in Asia Minor behind us, and they may even directly capture Hatay Fortress. No matter what you do , they will cut off the supply line that has stretched to more than 2000 miles behind us. At this time, the cities and towns in Asia Minor have no food surplus. If we force all places to collect food, we can only accelerate their fall to the side of Macrinus. So , We have a fortified city in front of us, and we have a large army flanking us in the back, which can only be the result of the annihilation of the entire army."

Zhao Yun, who had been silent all this time, nodded and said: "Your Majesty is right. But if we capture this Byzantine Fort in a short time, do we still need to retreat?"

Alexander pondered for a few breaths and said, "If we can take Byzantium in a short time, of course we don't need to retreat. Because according to the information provided by the local officials in Asia Minor and the information we have, it shows that the forces of Macrinus are in the process of retreating. , searched all the surplus food from all over the place. They didn't have enough ferries, and General Zhao Yun marched fast. So it was difficult for them to transport so much food and grass across the Black Sea Strait, so these food and grass can only be stored in Byzantine city. As long as we can capture Byzantium, and ensure that the food and grass are intact. Then our army will be able to hold on to this fortified city for a long time, and rely on it to attack the army led by Macrinus himself, no matter where he lands. And Macrinus However, Si needs a long supply of sea transportation. After a long time, he will not be able to consume it. In fact, he is not stupid. He should be able to think of this. When we conquer Byzantium, he will definitely give up his previous plan. The problem is ..."

Speaking of this, Alexander paused, looked at Zhao Yun again, and said seriously: "The problem is how can we quickly conquer Byzantium now? The Roman Navy's galley warships cannot continue to sail in the sea and land from Apennines to Asia Minor for more than 2000 miles. The oarsmen and sailors have to go ashore to rest on time, and the ships have to stop to replenish supplies. So it takes about 20 days for them to reach the landing point. And our tunnel will take forty or fifty days to be dug."

Zhao Yun frowned and said: "In this case, we can only give up the tricky method and launch a strong attack on Byzantium. We will rely on the lives of the soldiers and generals to see if we can take this fortified city within fifteen days."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present fell silent.Everyone knows what that means.Ma Chao was the first to break the silence, and said to Alexandra: "Then we will organize the Xiandeng Death Squadron to attack the city. The Liang army and your army will each contribute half. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Alexander was about to answer, but a soldier from Liang Jun entered the tent and said to Zhao Yun, "General, the Holy Spirit sent a messenger to send an urgent message! General, please take a look."

Zhao Yun took the letter, and after reading it, he said to everyone with joy on his face: "You don't need to worry, and we don't have to sacrifice the lives of a large number of soldiers. I, Emperor Liang, sent a troop from Taixifeng more than ten days ago to escort A batch of sharp siege weapons arrived. The emperor said in a letter that with these sharp weapons, Byzantium would be defeated soon."

Everyone was relieved after hearing this, but Alexander and some Roman generals still had a little doubt on their faces.

Three days later, the reinforcements sent by Feng Yu arrived. In fact, they only had more than a thousand people, escorting nearly a hundred carts.Those carts were not the special baggage carts for the Liang army, but the four-horse carts of the Romans, which were filled with boxes of different sizes.There are also cylindrical objects wrapped in sackcloth.

All the generals watching on the side were wondering what kind of "siege weapon" was installed on this car that could quickly break through the city of Byzantium.I thought about everything from the equipment for destroying the city wall to the auxiliary equipment for climbing the city, but I couldn't figure out why.

Zhao Yun first asked the battalion captain who was leading the army, what was the purpose of the things they brought, and how could they break through the city.

The captain of the battalion replied respectfully: "General, this thing is specially used to destroy the enemy's city walls. Its power can be described as unstoppable. Any solid city wall is like mud and rubble in front of it."

A Roman officer next to him heard what the interpreter said, and mumbled, "What secret weapon? It's just a heavy-duty trebuchet. There are at most three or four of these one hundred carts. If you want to blow the city away, then What year and month will it be bombarded... ".He was glared at by Alexander, and he stopped talking immediately, not daring to speak again.But the people present, including General Liang Jun, actually had the same doubts as him in their hearts.

At dawn the next day, thirty columns made of copper and iron with a length of eight feet were lined up in a row outside the fifty battles in front of the Byzantine city wall.They have an average diameter of more than one foot, and the front end is slightly smaller and the rear end is slightly larger.And they are also placed on a fixed base.Each artifact is cared for by seven people.

The Liang-Luo Allied Forces also lined up their troops in the rear, one to prevent the enemy from rushing out of the city, and the other to make it easier to launch an attack immediately after the city is broken.This army formation was arranged according to the opinions of the battalion captain of the Liang Army's secret weapon force.He asked the army to be at least a hundred battles away from his row of copper and iron pillars.These things can be dangerous because they are so close.

The generals of both the Roman army and the Liang army were even more confused. They said that this thing was a ballista without a bowstring, and that it was a trebuchet without an arm.How can such a short copper and iron pillar that cannot be moved destroy the city wall?How can it cause danger to nearby people and horses?Ma Chao also shook his head again and again.Although Zhao Yun couldn't figure it out, he still had confidence in Feng Yu, so he just watched silently.

At this time, some of the soldiers began to stuff bags of unknown materials into the copper and iron pillars.Only then did everyone know that the copper and iron pillar was hollow, but it was actually a cylinder.Then they saw the soldier finally stuff another "iron ball" into the tube.Another soldier lit a torch.

Only the corporal leaders of each group of soldiers issued orders one after another: "Let go", and the soldiers holding the torch moved the torch towards the tail of the copper and iron cylinders.I saw white smoke rising from the buttocks of these tubes.The soldiers who took care of them ran back together, and quickly lay down on the ground, covering their ears with their hands.

Afterwards, the soldiers of Rome and Liang, who had been away from battle for a long time, saw the most unforgettable scene in their lives.Loud noises like thunder rang in their ears one after another...

Chapter 965 The Age of Firearms

After a thunderous bang, the guards hiding behind the walls of the Byzantine city suddenly felt the city wall shaking under their feet.The shock was far greater than that experienced by Liang Jun's heavy trebuchet before.

After the stone collapsed and the bricks were cracked, a crater the size of a bowl suddenly appeared on the city wall, and countless emissive cracks spread out from the dent.

Alexander, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and others could feel the deafening sound even outside the battle, and they couldn't help blocking their ears with their hands.

As the roar continued to sound, they could see small black dots flying out of the tube called artillery at high speed and shooting towards the Byzantine city wall.This is naturally the lead ball that was finally stuffed into the cannon by those soldiers, and the scientific name is shell.

Its speed is much faster than the arrows shot by bows and arrows and the stone bullets shot by ballistas.Almost in the blink of an eye, it flew dozens of battles away and bombarded the city wall.The naked eye could see that after it hit the stone wall, the scattered stone chips and dust mixed into a small cloud of dust and rose into the air.Some projectiles also hit the metal gate of the Byzantine East Gate, immediately denting a fist-sized pit on the metal surface of the gate.

Half an hour later, Zhao Yun ordered his soldiers to call the battalion captain of the artillery team, and asked himself: "You estimate how long it will take you artillery to knock down this city wall!"

The captain of the battalion looked a little embarrassed at this time, and he clasped his fists and replied, "General Qi, the last general underestimated the strength of the city walls. When I was testing these artillery in Taixifeng earlier, whether it was ordinary The adobe city wall is still a stone-covered city wall and a brick-covered city wall. Dozens of cannons are fired in turn, and it will collapse after hundreds of cannons in two or three hours. But..."

Zhao Yun said a little impatiently: "Just tell me when the Byzantine city walls are expected to be knocked down, don't talk about other nonsense."

The captain of the battalion frowned and said: "Return to the general, continue to bombard, and it should be able to collapse in two or three days."

In fact, shortly after Feng Yu captured Taixifeng and discovered the source of saltpeter in the Greek fire workshop, gunpowder was born under the guidance of Feng Yu.

But Feng Yu did not intend to make gunpowder popular in the army.The first reason is that it is intended to be used as a strategic material and technology for long-term strict secrecy. If gunpowder weapons used by individual soldiers are installed in the entire army, it is obviously impossible to keep the secret.Because the formula of this black gunpowder is very simple, if outsiders take some samples of the gunpowder, find some experienced eastern alchemists or western alchemists, and they can easily analyze the gunpowder formula.The second reason is that these primitive single-soldier thermal weapons are not necessarily easy to use. For example, the thunderbolt that uses gunpowder to achieve an explosive effect may not be as effective as the blasting bomb that uses oil and gas as explosives.Firearms, in current state of manufacture and quality.If it is used as a long-range weapon, a hundred musketeers are not as good as a longbowman.If fired at close range, although its power is much greater than that of individual ballistas, the shooting speed is more than twenty times slower.

So Feng Yu only intends to temporarily tinker with an application of gunpowder---cannon.Feng Yu drew a rough draft of this cannon based on his memory, and handed it to some Persian craftsmen, asking them to complete the manufacture of the first generation of cannon.It's just that it's easy to build a cannon, but it's not so easy to create a powerful cannon.

In the secret workshop, these Persian craftsmen made hundreds of samples and tested hundreds of times before they were done.But as a first-generation product, its performance and quality are still far from imitating the historical red cannons in the original world.

After listening to the reply from the Commandant of the Camp, Zhao Yun nodded and then suddenly thought of something, and asked, "I saw that you need to use a kind of ash-powder-like raw material for bombardment. Have you brought enough of these materials? Enough for continuous Two or three days of bombardment?"

The captain of the camp replied again: "General Qi, we brought fifty or sixty carts of gunpowder, which should be enough. It's just that the shells fired are too heavy to carry. We need to call some brothers to help us Recycled and reused."

"It doesn't matter. I will arrange someone to do it." Zhao Yun replied.At this moment, there was a loud exclamation from the sound of the rumbling guns, and the hundreds of heavy riders beside Zhao Yun had galloped on their horses and rushed straight to the foot of the Byzantine city.

It turned out that the defenders in the city saw that the situation was not good, and knew that if the enemy bombarded them for a long time, the city wall would be destroyed sooner or later.They organized a cavalry to rush out of the city suddenly to raid Liang Jun's artillery position.He intends to destroy these weird and powerful weapons of Liang Jun before Liang Jun has time to react.

but.Liang Jun had already prepared for this, and the soldiers who fired the cannons and filled the gunpowder fled back one after another with their backpacks full of gunpowder on their backs.Some barrels that have already been loaded simply ignite the cannon twist directly.

There were loud bangs, and several lead bullets flew out.It hit a Roman soldier impartially.After the cloud of blood dissipated, only the half-drawn corpse below the chest remained on the horse's back, and then fell off the horse like a broken sack.Several war horses were also frightened by the loud noise, and ran wildly, no matter how the riders on the horses shouted, they would not stop walking.The shell didn't stop, and hit the chest of a horse behind. The bloody and bloody corpse of the horse fell to the ground as if suddenly stopped, but the Roman cavalry on the horse flew out.

The rest of the Roman cavalry finally rushed to the Liang Army artillery position in fear.Some of them stabbed into the barrel of the artillery with their lances, probably thinking that there was some key component like the torsion spring of the ballista inside, and as long as they were broken, the artillery could be scrapped.

Some stuffed the torches that had been prepared long ago into the barrel of the artillery, or threw them into the storage place not far behind the artillery.However, these piled items are solid projectiles made of lead and iron, but there is no gunpowder piled up.

The gunpowder depot was carefully protected behind the Liang army's formation a hundred battles away in order to prevent the artillery from exploding and causing martyrdom.When the artillery bombarded, there were always people from the artillery team carrying it forward with their back baskets.Therefore, such a move by the Byzantine defenders is naturally useless.

While they were doing these useless efforts, Liang Jun's heavy cavalry also rushed forward.Naturally, these Roman cavalry were not the opponents of Liang Jun's heavy cavalry. In less than two rounds, they were picked by these heavy cavalry with lances and smashed with maces, causing dozens of hundreds of casualties.Immediately, he dropped a pile of corpses and lost his master's horse, and retreated back to the city in defeat.Some Liang Army heavy cavalry chased after them, but when they approached the city gate, the arrows from the scorpion crossbows on the city wall rushed down the city, forcing the heavy cavalry to give up their pursuit.The heavy metal gate of the east gate of Byzantine City closed again with a loud bang.

Chapter 966 Iron Military Regulations Bomb Explosion

Outside the city of Byzantium, the previous state was restored again.Thirty artillery pieces continued to bombard the Byzantine city walls.Time between reloads between rounds of shelling.The infantry of Liang Jun and Alexander had to wear large shields to resist the arrows flying down from the top of the city, but they picked up and recovered the lead-iron projectiles and reused them for the artillerymen.

Another round of bombardment was over, and although the Byzantine city wall had been bombarded with mottled potholes, it hadn't shown the slightest sign of collapsing.Groups of coalition infantry once again formed a tortoise shell formation and walked quickly down the city. Their eyes scanned the ground back and forth, hoping to find as many shells as possible.When they were less than twenty battles away from the city wall, the arrows fired by those scorpion crossbows poured down again as expected, making a sound like a shower of rain.

At this moment, Zhao Yun heard a commotion coming from behind his army formation.He turned his head and saw that there seemed to be a conflict between Liang Jun's soldiers and Alexander's men.He hurriedly turned his horse's head to the scene of the incident.

I saw some Liang soldiers and some Roman soldiers pushing each other.The interpreter was not by his side, so he couldn't understand the words of the Roman army, but he could hear the words of the Liang army soldiers clearly.

"You are not allowed to come near here, go!"

"You don't understand people's language, don't you? Don't get close to this place. If you get closer, don't blame us for being rude!"

"They can't understand our words, but they should know knives. Brothers draw out knives, and if they get closer, they will kill without mercy."

Just as Zhao Yun wanted to speak, he heard a yell: "Everyone stop, what are you doing!" Hearing this yell, Liang Jun and the Roman soldiers stopped pushing.Zhao Yun saw that it was Ma Chao who shouted.

Liang Jun looked at Zhao Yun and Ma Chao, and hurriedly explained: "To the two generals, when the Holy Majesty formed our special army, he established two iron rules. One is that the gunpowder is not allowed to leak into the hands of outsiders at any time. Otherwise, it will be punished according to the crime of dereliction of duty according to the military law. Second, no one is allowed to approach these gunpowder materials at any time, otherwise we have the right to kill without mercy. Even Liang Guozhong, even people with identities like the two generals Allowed. Moreover, when the Holy Majesty personally sent out to help the two generals break through the city, he specifically instructed these two military rules. But now these Roman soldiers are causing trouble unreasonably, insisting on getting close to our dozens of carts of gunpowder. That's why it happened Such a fight."

Zhao Yun suddenly realized, nodded and said: "So that's how it is!" Ma Chao was already yelling at the Roman soldiers at the side: "Get out of here quickly. There is no mercy for thieves and murderers. If it wasn't for the sake of your emperor Alexander, I would have done it now." !"

Naturally, the Roman soldiers couldn't understand what he said, but they knew from his fierce expression that the other party had issued a warning.Zhao Yun tugged on Ma Chao's sleeve, signaling him to calm down.Just then, an interpreter ran over panting.Zhao Yun said to the interpreter: "Tell these friendly soldiers quickly. These things are our military secrets, and no one is allowed to approach them, otherwise they will be killed without mercy."

The translator babbled to these Roman soldiers in Latin, but they still had no intention of retreating. They exchanged glances with each other, obviously trying to secretly reach a tacit agreement on the next move.At this time, Alexander walked over in a square step, and said with a haha: "My soldiers are just very curious, so they want to see what kind of rare item this powerful thing of your army is. But none of them have malicious intentions. They don’t want to offend you, please don’t blame the two generals.”

Although Zhao Yun knew that Alexander must have been thinking about gunpowder and sent someone to get some samples, he didn't want the soldiers in charge of the gunpowder to find out, so the conflict broke out.But it was impossible for him to point this out naively, and he also responded with a haha: "Your Majesty, I don't blame your generals. It is said that those who don't know are not guilty. Since it was a misunderstanding, it is better for the soldiers to leave now." .”

Alexander then waved his hands and murmured a few words in Latin, and the Roman soldiers immediately retreated cleanly and returned to their respective teams.

But Alexander himself did not give up and said to Zhao Yun and Ma Chao: "I am very curious, and I really want to see this powerful item for myself. Can the two generals make it easier? But the two generals don't worry. , I know this is a secret of your army, and I promise not to take this thing away at all. I just want to see it up close with my own eyes."

Zhao Yun declined with a smile, "It's useless for your majesty to beg me. Maybe your majesty didn't hear what our artillery battalion commander said just now. He said that even General Ma Chao and Mr. A military order from the Son of Heaven. My order is like a mountain, let alone a military order from the Son of Heaven. No one can touch these items. I still hope that Your Majesty will forgive me."

Hearing this, Alexander had no choice but to say a few more polite words, and left bored.At this time, the sound of cannons rumbled like thunder.The artillery in front has been loaded, and a new round of shelling has begun.

Suddenly, after a loud bang that was different from the previous cannon, there was a burst of exclamation and noise in the army formation.At the same time, Zhao Yun felt the ground tremble, which was much stronger than when the artillery was fired before.He was overjoyed, thinking that the walls of Byzantium had collapsed.But then he was disappointed to see that the city was still standing in place.Then he saw that a cannon had fallen off its base and flew to a place more than ten battles behind, and the barrel was lying on the ground like a cracked rotten bamboo tube.

"What happened? Quickly call the captain of the artillery team for questioning." Zhao Yun asked.

After a while, the captain of the artillery team came up and said, "General Qi, it's our artillery that exploded."

"Bomb?"

The captain said with a sad face: "It's just that the barrels will burst after being used for a long time. The first batch of artillery can be used for more than two hours, and it is qualified if it fires more than ten shots. But I didn't expect that the city is so strong that it needs two or three days of continuous bombardment. Destroy. Just... when the general asked me just now, I... I forgot this again..." His voice became smaller and smaller, like a child who has done something wrong.

Only then did Zhao Yun suddenly understand why they would hide behind dozens of battles and lie on the ground every time they fired a cannon.It turns out that the quality of the barrel cannot be guaranteed at all.

At this moment, there were two more abnormal loud noises, and two more cannons exploded one after another.Zhao Yun hurriedly shouted: "It seems that the lifespan of these cannon barrels has expired, don't continue to bombard them, otherwise all the artillery will be destroyed."

The rumbling gunfire stopped abruptly, and Zhao Yun's eyebrows were already knit into a pimple.Ma Chao and Alexander also came after hearing the news, and they all sighed after learning about the situation.