Without any time to say anything to Xu Qing, Chen Ze led Meng Yang and others to the tower.

The sound of the trumpet continued, and Chen Ze rushed up to the watchtower at the highest point of the city building, snatched the crude telescope from the sentry's hand, and looked in the direction indicated by the soldiers.

In the sparse woods about one mile away from the west city gate, a unit without flags and marching forward in a phalanx could be vaguely seen.

This unit formed a dense marching array, headed by swords and shields, followed by spearmen. There were cavalry on both sides of the formation patrolling back and forth. In the middle of the formation, Chen Ze saw three big vehicles!

They were three huge catapults that were more than twice as big as the trebuchets on the city tower. Each catapult was pulled hard by eight horses, and around the catapults, there were at least a thousand archers.

Guard with bow.

In addition, Chen Ze also saw that behind the catapult, three huge towers with a height of ten meters, almost as high as the city wall, were also slowly advancing with the movement of the phalanx.

Siege tower!

Chen Ze frowned slightly. How long had these guys been preparing? Not only the catapult, but also the siege tower!

A siege tower is not just a simple ladder like a ladder. The ladder can be easily knocked down by the defenders to prevent the enemy from climbing up the city wall.

This thing is a movable bunker. The tower body is covered with thick and moist animal skins, which can not only prevent bows and arrows, but also fire. Even the stone bullets fired by trebuchets cannot destroy it in one or two shots.

The space inside the siege tower is large enough to accommodate hundreds of soldiers hiding inside, and it is as high as ten meters. As long as it is close to the city wall, the soldiers on it can jump up to the tower and attack the defending city.

The threat from the other side is huge.

To deal with siege towers, the best way is to use trebuchets, but the precise hit rate of this thing is really hard to describe. If there is not a sufficient number of trebuchets to fire volleys, it will be difficult to cause fatal damage to siege towers.

What's even worse is that there are many hidden arrow holes on the siege tower. The soldiers inside can shoot arrows in the tower to kill the enemy. Therefore, even if you want to send troops out of the city to block their approach, the price you need to pay is very high.

Xiyun City cannot dig a moat due to geological reasons. Once the siege towers collide, the defenders in the city alone may not be able to deal with it.

This thing is totally a tank!

Compared to the siege tower, the five siege rams next to it are nothing.

After a rough sweep, the forest was crowded with people. Even if the number was less than seven thousand, five or six thousand would still be unable to escape.

After observing the enemy's formation, Chen Ze was about to use his binoculars to look in another direction when someone hurried up from the observation tower.

"Sir, my subordinates have sent people to get the trebuchets according to your instructions, but the five on top..."

The person who came up was Xu Qing. After arranging the manpower, he was also worried. At this moment, the sentry had issued a warning, which meant that the enemy was coming. However, at this juncture, the counselor actually asked to dismantle the trebuchet. What did he think?

It’s inappropriate!

Xu Qing even once suspected that this guy was not a spy sent by the enemy, right?

"Just do as I say."

Chen Ze frowned slightly and had to put down the telescope first and took out the military aircraft token from his arms again.

"That's...okay."

Xu Qing lowered his head and sighed, and had no choice but to wave his hand back. A dozen engineers who also suspected that he had heard wrongly dispersed to carry out the order.

"What about them?"

The moment he lowered his head, Xu Qing saw the scene outside the city gate and couldn't help but raise his hand.

Outside the city gate, hundreds of soldiers were working while looking up at the city tower from time to time, with anxiety written on their faces.

These people were the 500 weak soldiers sent out by Chen Ze in advance when they were in the barracks. The task Chen Ze gave them was to bring shovels and shovels and dig trenches within 500 meters in front of the West City Gate.

The reason why it is called a trench instead of a trench is because of Chen Ze's request.

He does not ask how deep or how wide the trenches should be dug, but that they must be numerous and long enough!

This requirement is very simple. Considering the loose soil around Xiyun City, the soldiers can plow a trench in the ground even if one person pushes forward with a shovel. Ten people can go back and forth two or three times to make a trench thirty centimeters deep.

Fifty centimeters wide, a trench can be formed across the entire official road out of the city.

At this time, the team of 500 people was working in full swing. When Xu Qing saw them, the open area in front of the city gate looked like a farmland that had just been reclaimed, and they were just short of planting a few seedlings.

But what's the use?

Xu Qing sighed slightly in his heart, he could guess what Chen Ze was thinking.

These trenches are shallow and narrow, and ordinary people can cross them with just one step. Even if there are many of them... how difficult is it to run in the fields?

Therefore, Chen Ze's purpose was to hinder the advancement of large siege equipment such as catapults.

Whether it is a catapult or a siege tower, they all have a common feature, that is, they are very large but also very heavy. If they do not install wheels underneath and just rely on human power to drag them, I am afraid that everyone will be exhausted when they reach the city gate.

I'm exhausted, so there's no need to fight this battle.

These trenches are used to deal with siege equipment. People can cross them, but what about catapults?

Dance too?

The idea is correct, but Xu Qing's sigh is also exactly the same.

The idea of ​​digging trenches to block the wheels of catapults was not something that only Chen Ze could think of, but of course the siege party would also consider it.

Therefore, the army will be equipped with an engineering force. They usually walk at the end of the team to protect the food, grass and baggage. During war, they are responsible for clearing obstacles. Before the commander is about to order the siege, they will carry sandbags and move the trenches under the protection of sword and shield hands.

Fill it in, and at least create a few paths so that siege equipment can move forward normally.

The trench that Chen Ze ordered people to dig was too shallow and narrow. Let alone sandbags, if the sword and shield men covered the trench with their giant shields, wouldn't it be a passage?

After all, he is still too young and has too little experience, so such a trench will not help at all.

Xu Qing was sighing, but Chen Ze would not pay attention to him. After ordering people to open the city gate and let the five hundred people in, he raised the telescope again and observed carefully, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Ignoring the bitter-faced Xu Qing, Chen Ze went straight down to the watchtower. He first checked the progress of dismantling the trebuchet, then gathered Meng Yang and others together and gave some instructions in a low voice.

Xu Qing was left standing alone on the watchtower, messy in the wind.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth, stamped his feet on the spot, turned around and rushed down the tower, looked up at Chen Ze deeply, then galloped towards the city.
Chapter completed!