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As the Qin Army's Flat-bottomed Boat staggered into the center of the river, the military commander Zhao Feng, stationed at the defensive crossing, was unaware that he was the only one setting up a bridge. But isn't the purpose of defense to prevent the Qin Army from crossing the river? It doesn't matter whether they are using boats or building bridges! He loudly ordered the Soldiers to shoot arrows at the Floating Bridge while sending someone to fetch some barrels of oil.
The Zhao Army's Thunderbolt Car units indeed had their own firing parameters, and considering their safety, they tried to withdraw as much as possible. If the Catapult's range exceeded one mile, they would position themselves one mile away from the front line. This meant they could not shoot at the forest within thirty meters on the opposite bank.
The Qin Army, considering safety and concealment, had not cut down the trees in the forest thirty to one hundred meters from the riverbank. This meant there were a large number of Qin Army troops hidden within those trees.
As the eyes of the Catapult, the Flag Soldiers on the hillside naturally knew the Thunderbolt Car's range. They needed to wait until the Qin Army reached the center of the river before notifying the prepared Catapult to commence live fire.
The Zhao Army's Defensive Formation set up on the East Bank of Dan Shui River was about fifty meters from the riverbank, making their effective attack range close to either the East Bank or any Qin Army landing. This resulted in relative safety for the Qin Army crossing troops positioned in the middle of Dan Shui River towards the west.
After several days of continuous river crossing operations, all Qin Soldiers knew that this deadly fifty meters was crossed after reaching the center of the river. The transport troops, who had previously been carefree on the Floating Bridge, began to act cautiously, fearing that large stones would come flying again. The force with which these stones were thrown completely disregarded the sturdy defensive boards mounted at the front of their Flat-bottomed Boat.
Unaware of this danger, the Artisans noticed that progress on their work had suddenly slowed down and continued to urge those behind them to speed up.
They were determined! The sooner they died, the sooner they would be reborn!
Having fully understood their situation, some Qin Soldiers decided to go all out and pushed themselves hard. The transport team regained speed and directly crossed through the center of the river, placing both the Floating Bridge's front and Flat-bottomed Boat within Zhao Army's firing range.
As they still did not see any action from behind with their Catapults, Zhao Army members hiding in their Defensive Formation couldn't help but curse. Meanwhile, occasional warning shouts came from Observation Post. "Qin Army moves forward five meters! There are still thirty meters to our riverbank!"
The Flag Soldiers at Observation Post—had they eaten something bad? Zhao Feng looked at the stones in his hand and cursed under his breath. Squinting towards the hillside, he found no one there.
"Qin Army is twenty meters away from our riverbank...!" Before the Soldiers at Observation Post could finish their shout, they fell off their posts.
Hiding behind the wooden wall, the Zhao Soldier peeked out to see a crossbow bolt pierce through the skull of one of their own. Having witnessed such scenes many times, Zhao Feng felt no surprise. He looked up at the whistling Arrow Rain and spat on the ground.
No more waiting! Since you are building a bridge, let's use fire to attack!
Under the Centurion's command, the Crossbowmen began to coat their cloth-wrapped arrowheads with oil. The defensive wall had been built with embrasures, allowing the Soldiers on the wall to shoot arrows. However, it seemed that these openings were mostly occupied by the Qin Army; anyone who carelessly poked their head out would be shot immediately.
The Qin Army's Arrow Formation clearly knew that the Flat-bottomed Boat was at a critical point. Although they could not currently attack the Catapult in the rear, they could seal off the Zhao Army's Defensive Formation on the opposite bank. Thus, they unleashed a relentless barrage of crossbow bolts toward the opposite shore, hoping to provide maximum cover for the bridge-building team.
Zhao Feng attempted to shoot several times but failed, so he reminded his Soldiers to focus on shooting at the Flat-bottomed Boat in the river. However, they were not to use ordinary Arrows but rather fire arrows! If they could ignite that boat, the bridge behind it would also go up in flames. Then there would be nothing left to worry about!
In truth, even without his reminder, the Soldiers were well aware of this. Unfortunately, the suppressive fire from the Qin Army was too fierce. Occasionally, some reckless brothers would poke their heads out to shoot arrows and would indeed end up dead!
At that moment, someone shouted, "The Qin Army is less than fifteen meters from the riverbank!"
Upon hearing this warning, everyone hiding in the Defensive Formation broke into a cold sweat; their hands, which had been nearly frozen, suddenly became damp. Zhao Feng lit the cloth tied to his arrow with a torch and quickly leaned out from the embrasure to shoot at the Qin Army's Flat-bottomed Boat. Just as he heard his Crossbow's Bowstring hum beside him, he hurriedly pulled back to avoid being hit; however, he still received a cut on his right cheek from a Triangular Arrowhead of the Qin State. He reached up to touch the wound and winced in pain.
That risky shot allowed him to see that the tall deck of the Qin Army's ship was almost at the shore. "Target distance sixty meters! Brothers! Let's fight them!"
The significance of this distance was now clear. If the Qin Army completed this bridge, a gap would be torn in Zhao Army's defense line. Once that happened, what had once been a Natural Barrier would no longer exist!
Understanding the stakes involved, Zhao Soldiers stopped hiding and began igniting their oil-coated crossbow bolts as they exposed themselves from behind the embrasures to confirm their targets...
Meng Wu saw that the Flat-bottomed Boat was nearing completion on the opposite bank and noticed fire arrows occasionally flying out from Zhao Army's camp. Building such a long bridge was no easy feat; if it were ignited by Zhao Army's fire arrows, all efforts would be wasted. At this moment, with only ten meters left to cross to reach the opposite bank, even jumping into the water would allow them to swim across! Therefore, he ordered all Cavalry to dismount and took the lead in guiding his Soldiers to run along the bridge toward their goal.
Preparing to utilize the remaining rafts in the troops crossing the river, it was clear that the Flat-bottomed Boat at the bridgehead was safe, indicating that the troublesome Catapult position had encountered issues! Coincidentally, Commander Wang He was also nearby at the ferry, and thus many requested to use the rafts for a strong crossing.
Initially, Wang He was concerned that this might be a trap by the Zhao Army to lure them in, believing that not attacking the Flat-bottomed Boat was merely a tactic to entice the main forces of the Qin Army into the river. After all, how many troops could a small Flat-bottomed Boat carry? For the Zhao Army, having more people was more practical; at least it would be more enjoyable to fight! Just as he hesitated, he suddenly saw Meng Wu leading his Soldiers charging up the bridge.
Right! Weren't Luzi and his team on a secret mission? They must have taken control of the Thunderbolt Car position of Zhao! Realizing this, Wang He no longer hesitated. Opportunities in battle are often fleeting, so they should strike!
"Cross the Dan River! We must seize that Zhao Army Defensive Formation on the opposite bank! Order the Arrow Formation to seal off the gaps! We cannot allow the Zhao Army to launch rockets!"
As the general's orders were issued, one quiet area of the west bank of the Dan Shui River suddenly erupted. A large number of Soldiers burst forth from the woods, desperately running towards the river with their respective Rafts.
“Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom! Boom...”
The long-silent Qin Army War Drum, hidden in the woods for too long, suddenly began to sound off, shaking off all the accumulated snow from the branches above.
As the invigorating drumbeats echoed from behind, the charging Soldiers felt their blood ignite. "Kill! Charge!"
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