Chapter 162: Head-on Collision

Stationed in the military camp and watching the frontline troops conduct the siege operation, Shibi Khagan, seeing his forces meeting with setbacks and facing heavy resistance, furrowed his brows and asked Tuoba Shishu, who stood beside him, "What kind of devilry are the Han people using? Could this be some sort of witchcraft? How else could our brave warriors attempting to scale the walls suffer such catastrophic casualties?"

Upon hearing Shibi Khagan's inquiry, Tuoba Shishu was left speechless, not knowing how to respond. Stammering, he could only offer a vague reply, "I am not entirely certain what device the Han people are employing here. However, judging by appearances, this contraption requires someone to operate it manually. Therefore, if we can somehow manage to kill all the Han defenders atop the city wall, there shouldn't, there shouldn't be any further threat to us."

"Then tell me, how do we propose to kill the Han people on the ramparts right now?" Shibi Khagan said with a hint of helplessness as he gazed at the distant battlefield. "Our brave warriors cannot scale the walls, and our volleys of arrows are completely blocked by those canopy-like shields of theirs. We currently have no effective means to inflict casualties upon the defenders up there."

"Khagan, should we perhaps bring the catapults we brought along straight to the frontlines?" Tuoba Shishu suggested after a brief moment of reflection. "We can have them bombard the defenders on the wall so that they are too preoccupied to hinder the advance of our storming parties."

The catapults he spoke of had actually been given to the Eastern Turks earlier that year when the main army was stationed along the border with Goguryeo. The people of Goguryeo had presented them as a token of goodwill and a formidable siege weapon. However, these catapults were far too complex for Goguryeo to manufacture on their own. The few machines they offered as tribute had been abandoned within Goguryeo territory years earlier by the Sui armies during the Sui-Goguryeo wars. Over the years, Goguryeo had cherished these heavy siege engines—which they were incapable of producing themselves—and maintained them meticulously. Yet, this time, to ensure that Goguryeo would not be overrun and destroyed by the Eastern Turks, they had reluctantly parted with these prized catapults captured from the Sui forces and gifted them to the Eastern Turks.

At that time, Shibi Khagan had already secretly resolved to exact vengeance upon the Han people, but he was severely hampered by a critical lack of heavy siege equipment within his own ranks. Consequently, he immediately accepted the tribute from Goguryeo while simultaneously withdrawing the Eastern Turkic forces from their border. Shibi Khagan had also grown quite fond of these trebuchets. In order to breach the Great Wall defense line in a single, decisive blow, he had brought all dozen or so of these engines along with the army.

Hearing Tuoba Shishu’s proposal, Shibi Khagan pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement. He immediately summoned his subordinates and ordered them to assemble the accompanying catapults and push them to the frontlines to bombard the defenders atop the wall.

Following his command, a group of resourceful Turks wheeled dozens of wooden carts outside the camp. They swiftly assembled the full catapults, and the waiting strongmen loaded stone projectiles into the slings. After a rough sighting, the aiming crew signaled for a preliminary test fire.

At the command of the Turkic commander, more than a dozen catapults discharged simultaneously, hurling a volley of stone boulders high into the air toward the Great Wall defensive line.

The piercing sound of heavy objects tearing through the sky instantly seized the attention of everyone on both sides of the conflict. Abandoning whatever tasks they were performing, soldiers turned their heads and looked up toward the heavens. Dozens of small black specks steadily grew larger, clearly hurtling directly toward the Great Wall.

As the roaring sound in the air intensified, those dark shapes drew closer and closer to the ramparts. Panic broke out among the Turkic troops assaulting the walls below. They frantically searched for safe places to hide, only to realize that at the very foot of the Great Wall, there was no shelter whatsoever.

In stark contrast, the garrison soldiers stationed atop the Great Wall—though facing the impending bombardment with pale faces, trembling legs, and some even shivering from head to toe—gritted their teeth and stood steadfastly at their posts, refusing to succumb to panic.

Before long—a mere blink of an eye in the span of an aerial trajectory—the boulders hurled by the enemy catapults descended. Aside from a few projectiles from more accurately aimed engines that struck the stonework of the Great Wall itself, the rest crashed indiscriminately into the ground at the base of the wall. In an instant, flesh and blood flew amid the assaulting Turkic ranks as soldiers scrambled in all directions to flee for their lives.

Zhang Deqing, who had just rushed up to the ramparts, leaned out over the battlements to inspect the wall struck by the boulders. Seeing no fatal structural damage, he let out a long sigh of relief. Turning to the garrison commanders on the wall, he said, "Look, this is the consequence of not reading the user manual. The biggest flaw with these catapults is their extremely unstable ballistic trajectory. No one can accurately control their landing spots; they can only manage a general area. Now do you understand why the instructors at the military academy kept telling you to exercise extreme caution when using trebuchets?"

Zhang Deqing’s appearance and smiling demeanor effectively calmed the panic that had rippled through the soldiers on the wall due to the bombardment. Yet, despite his relaxed exterior, Zhang Deqing knew very well in his heart that if the Turkic catapults were not neutralized swiftly, the Turks might actually stumble upon success and easily capture the Great Wall. Should the Turks break through to the south and slaughter the populace, the blame would brand him as a historic sinner through the ages. Therefore, he instructed the officer beside him, "Order the artillery camp to give them a taste of their own medicine and smash their catapults to pieces."

The subordinate faithfully relayed Zhang Deqing’s order to the artillery camp stationed behind the southern sector of the Great Wall. Upon receiving the command, the artillery camp immediately swung into action, assembling all of the trebuchets in their own camp and firing a salvo of test shots toward the Turkic siege positions outside the wall.

With the assistance of observation posts stationed atop the ramparts, the well-trained artillery soldiers adjusted their aim, and by the second volley, they landed stone projectiles directly upon the heads of the Turkic catapult battery. One particular trebuchet, which had just been loaded and was preparing to fire, took a direct hit from a boulder hurtling from the direction of the Great Wall. The stone meant for the fortifications instead flew sideways, violently crashing into the nearby Turkic crew and knocking them all to the ground. Their chests caved inward, and blood gushed from their mouths; it was clear none of them would survive.

Once assembled, the trebuchets used by the Turks could not be moved an inch unless completely dismantled and reassembled. Consequently, even under the fierce counter-bombardment from the Great Wall, they had no choice but to grit their teeth, hold their ground, and continue shelling the ramparts, hoping either to receive an order to retreat before their machines were completely destroyed or to inflict as many casualties as possible upon the defenders.