"Or should we have them withdraw first..."
In less than fifteen minutes, nearly 2,000 of their own soldiers had been killed or wounded. Qiu Rixin was genuinely distressed at this point.
Although these men lacked high combat quality, in this chaotic era, soldiers were their capital.
If these men were all wiped out, then the two of them would truly be gamblers who had lost everything.
"No, if we let them retreat now, wouldn't the ones who died have died in vain? Haven't they stabilized their position? As long as our battering ram can get through and the city gate is breached, Mingzhou City will be ours!"
Although Lü Shinang was also incredibly pained, he could only harden his heart and say.
"But the casualties..."
"As long as Mingzhou City is taken, among the hundreds of thousands of civilians within the city, do you fear we won't be able to find enough recruits?"
Seeing Lü Shinang's bloodshot eyes, no matter how unwilling Qiu Rixin was, he could only agree for the time being.
After all, the two of them hadn't known each other for just a day or two, and seeing Lü Shinang's current state, he knew that Lü Shinang was becoming overly passionate.
Lü Shinang, normally, appeared quite amiable. But once he set his mind on something, his temper would suddenly become incredibly stubborn.
At such times, let alone Qiu Rixin, even the King of Heaven himself would likely not be appeased.
Although he felt a little unwilling at first, seeing that the casualties of the soldiers were finally starting to ease, Qiu Rixin's heart felt temporarily relieved.
Warfare in the cold weapon era, especially siege warfare, didn't really have many fancy tactics.
Either they would honestly use scaling ladders and fight with human lives, trying to open the city gate from within, or directly use battering rams to break down the gate, or else, they would use earthworks and tunnel from underground.
Of course, the latter method was undoubtedly the most cumbersome.
Regardless of how long it would take to excavate a tunnel at such a cost, just the casualties along the way made them somewhat unable to accept it.
However, fortunately, they had just arrived and had plenty of time to slowly try and fail.
Moreover, they had obtained a battering ram that was a full ten feet tall from the treasury of Taizhou.
As long as this thing could be used, breaking down the city gate might not be an impossible feat.
With a command from Lü Shinang, two thousand-man units, grandly escorting the battering ram, which was like a giant beast, marched towards the south gate of Mingzhou City.
Although this thing was a product of the Wu Yue King's era, after a short period of repair, it was still usable at this time.
"General, look quickly!"
Seeing the battering ram appear among the rebel troops, the soldiers around Han Shizhong immediately became panicked.
Although the city walls of Mingzhou had undergone emergency repairs, the city gate was not something that could be acquired in a short time. This gate had already been in use for nearly seventy years.
Having endured the wind and sun for so many years, who knew if this gate could withstand the impact of the battering ram.
If the city gate fell, then all of them would be in great trouble!
"Prepare oil jars for me and burn it! Prepare the Vanguard, ready to charge at any moment!"
Seeing the menacing approach of the rebels, Han Shizhong had to prepare for both eventualities.
The Vanguard was a group of absolute elites he had selected from five thousand soldiers. These men, after seeing blood, not only showed no fear but also harbored a faint bloodthirsty impulse.
Furthermore, each of them had a foundation in martial arts. Coupled with some of his own spear techniques taught by Han Shizhong, although they might not be comparable to the elite troops of the Western Army, they would definitely be able to fight against these scattered rebel rabble!
"My Lord, aren't we going to take a look?"
Seeing Han Mo staring blankly at the broken trebuchets in the Grand Parade Ground, while hearing the deafening shouts of battle from outside, Jiang Yan asked somewhat anxiously.
"I know you are all hot-blooded men, but what of it? If I send you all to the battlefield, do we have a guaranteed victory?"
Han Mo's words immediately stunned Jiang Yan. It seemed to be true.
Although these men were skilled in martial arts, how much impact could they have on a battlefield with tens of thousands of people?
Moreover, their duty was to protect Han Mo's safety, not to charge into battle.
This was their battlefield!
"Alright, have you found the blacksmiths and carpenters you were looking for? If we can find a way to deal with these trebuchets, that would truly be a great help to them!"
These cumbersome trebuchets were all products of the Wu Yue King's era.
A century of vicissitudes flashed by. These timbers piled up in the arsenal might have been of excellent hardwood in their time, but now they were thoroughly rotten.
Let alone normal use, just getting them from the arsenal to here had already caused three of them to turn into broken wood.
Although Han Mo was not entirely sure if the rebels had such things, if this item truly appeared, then whether the walls of Mingzhou could withstand it was anyone's guess!
This repair was a last-ditch effort. The person in charge of the construction, Li Yueyang, likely had no idea of its effectiveness.
After all, Mingzhou City had not experienced war for nearly a hundred years. At this time, how many heavy blows the city walls could withstand was something they could only hope for from heaven!
"They are all outside. Lord Li has already mobilized all the artisans in the city to work through the night producing arrows for the army!"
Upon hearing Han Mo's words, Jiang Yan quickly replied.
"Let them in!"
Although these trebuchets were ancient, the craftsmanship and principles of the past could still be discerned from the remaining ones.
Outside Mingzhou City, there were several shipyards specifically for building ships, so there was no shortage of good wood. Han Mo had no doubt about restoring these trebuchets. However, if it were just a simple restoration, this thing would not be of much help in defending the city because it was too cumbersome.
To deal with them, the Song army had better methods, namely the Great Song Divine Arm Bow and the Eight Ox Crossbow!
The only thing that worried Han Mo now was the range of this thing!
If the range of this thing exceeded that of the Divine Arm Bow or the Eight Ox Crossbow by too much, then this thing might truly be a serious threat!