Shu City, located in the Ba basin, enjoys a summer-like climate year-round with little rain, making it the nation's granary. Its terrain is treacherous, surrounded by numerous steep mountains, with only one narrow path leading through it. This path is guarded by the Sword Pavilion, where the nation's elite forces are stationed.
As night fell, dark clouds obscured the moon, but the Sword Pavilion remained brightly lit. Countless soldiers in iron armor patrolled the city walls, armed with powerful crossbows and long swords at their hips. The city walls were lined with massive siege crossbows. Qin Xia, observing this scene from a mountaintop with his homemade telescope, couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Damn it, these guys are too well-equipped!" Xiao Lie, beside him, looked at the cylindrical object in his commander's hand with a puzzled expression.
Such a small contraption, and the commander could see the situation at the Sword Pavilion so clearly?
Although they were on the mountaintop, even with his lifelong training in eyesight, he could only barely make out the moving figures on the city wall. The commander truly was a god descended from the heavens!
Feeling Xiao Lie's intense gaze of admiration, Qin Xia turned his head in confusion. Seeing the man's eyes seemingly sparkling as he looked at him, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Why had this guy started acting so strange ever since they arrived in Shu?
He wasn't trying to put on a Sichuan opera for him, was he?
Qin Xia swallowed, noticing Xiao Lie still looking at the telescope in his hand. This thing was just a small toy he had ground out himself after refining glass; was it really necessary to stare at it like that?
After handing the telescope to the other party, he saw the man first kneel on the ground and pray before beginning to use it. Having spent two months with this guy, Qin Xia was already used to such things.
In Giant Deer City, during their rest, he had forged armor and weapons for three thousand men from the remaining iron ore in the city, working three days and three nights without food or sleep. After that, everyone began calling him a god.
Even though he repeatedly emphasized and even began to forbid them from calling him that, these guys still called him commander, but their devout attitude towards him made him no longer want to pursue the issue.
For now, it was better to focus on the Sword Pavilion. The thousand men he had brought earlier combined with Xiao Lie's original four thousand. They left two thousand to guard Giant Deer City, and he and Xiao Lie only brought three thousand men.
But he had just counted three thousand soldiers at the Sword Pavilion. And that didn't even include the weapons those guys were equipped with, which were like night and day compared to his own!
They barely had three hundred bows here, and a hundred of those were left for city defense. Yet, almost every person on the city wall was equipped with a powerful crossbow. Plus, with the enemy defending, their own difficulty increased linearly.
Once on the mountain, Qin Xia finally got a clear view of the Sword Pavilion. If their three thousand men approached, their movements would undoubtedly be exposed.
He turned to look at his soldiers. The surrounding timber seemed barely usable. Making ten large siege trebuchets shouldn't be a problem. He would have these men carry the trebuchets for a direct frontal assault, while he would go around to perform a beheading operation…
Taking the telescope from Xiao Lie, he observed carefully and found that the Sword Pavilion was connected to the mountain range on both sides. That meant he could infiltrate from the mountain to the side. And because of the treacherous mountain terrain here, the defenses on both sides were relatively weak.
This method would work! Relying on his physical strength, he could definitely succeed.
He ordered the entire army to rest in place. They took out tents he had designed based on 21st-century models and set up camp. To prevent the enemy from discovering their tracks, Qin Xia also ordered them not to use any fire.
At this point, the emergency rations he had designed came into play. Like self-heating food from his previous life, the soldiers' bowls and chopsticks were woven from two layers of straw rope, with fish oil coated on the inside to prevent leakage.
Quicklime was placed on the bottom layer, and some dried goods, like the dehydrated vegetables in instant noodles, were placed on the upper layer. His two weeks in Giant Deer had not been in vain.
The soldiers could eat hot food without lighting a fire. Once everyone was settled, it was up to Qin Xia's hands to do other things.
He knocked down nearby trees with a few slaps. To avoid making any noise, he was extremely careful, selecting each tree without any gaps. He took out his custom-made tools from his backpack and began to work.
It was strange to say, but ever since he had transmigrated, he could work for seven days and seven nights without rest or sleep, and he didn't feel the slightest bit of fatigue.
Now, he was even more curious about what was going on with this body.
If it really was his cheat as a transmigrator, then why did he increasingly feel that he and the people around him were not creatures of the same dimension?
As night fell, only Qin Xia remained, slowly working. After all, constantly doing the same mechanical tasks would make his brain rusty, so he took on the night watch himself.
The trebuchets he made could fire three projectiles consecutively. As long as they were used as he instructed, they would definitely attract the enemy's attention for about twenty minutes.
Sometimes when he was tired, he would also traverse through the forest to the connection point between the Sword Pavilion and the mountains, recording the fastest speed he could achieve.
Three minutes. He could cross three gullies to the Sword Pavilion in just three minutes. Now, the biggest problem was that he didn't know the internal structure of the Sword Pavilion.
After finishing the last trebuchet, Qin Xia let out a long breath and picked up the telescope to carefully observe the distant Sword Pavilion.
He noticed that the height of the triangular roof was different from the other roofs, seemingly just enough space for a room. Based on most of the soldiers moving around that area, there must be some important figure there.
He put down the telescope. At dawn, the soldiers behind him also woke up. They looked in shock at the trebuchets that had appeared in the camp. What made Xiao Lie feel most absurd was that these siege engines all had wheels.
To be able to build something of this caliber overnight was incredible. One had to know that in their army before, when they made equipment, they would gather materials on the spot, and after construction, they couldn't move it freely. After one use, it was useless.
He looked disbelievingly at the man silhouetted against the sunlight. He heard Qin Xia, with a serious expression, cup his hands and bow, saying, "In this battle, my life depends on you all!"
"We are willing to go through fire and water for Qin Shuai!" Xiao Lie was the first to bow and shout, followed by all the soldiers behind him, who also bowed and shouted, "We are willing to go through fire and water for Qin Shuai!"
The mornings at the Sword Pavilion were usually peaceful. Although the patrolling soldiers had heard that the nearby Giant Deer City seemed to have fallen, the officials had already sent people to capture the bandits. They thought this matter would be like previous banditry, and they would be defeated within three days!
A sleepy-eyed soldier was just thinking about when his shift would end when he suddenly saw a mass of dark figures appear on the distant horizon. He turned his head and saw that, at some unknown time, a group of soldiers had appeared right under his nose.
Those people were pushing ten huge trebuchets behind them. Before he could even blow the horn, the sound of ropes being cut echoed in his ears, and a massive dark shadow flew directly towards him.
"Enemy attack!" The sound of flying stones smashing a small part of the city wall replaced the horn. Instantly, all the defending soldiers rushed to the siege crossbows. Three or four men pulled the bowstrings with all their might, and with a whoosh, a crossbow bolt flew directly towards the enemy.
However, what no one expected was that the army was not within the range of the siege crossbows. The crossbow bolts only landed precisely in front of the group's feet.
"Th-they... how do they seem to know the crossbow's range?" A cold sweat trickled down the centurion's forehead on the city wall.
Just then, a huge shadow appeared behind him and whispered, "I told them that they could avoid the crossbow bolts there."
"Nani?!" The centurion (with a Fist of the North Star face) turned back in disbelief, only to see a giant had appeared silently behind him!
Qin Xia's eyes held no mercy. He directly swung his guanyu with one hand, cutting off the centurion's head. Blood splattered on the spot. Accompanied by the centurion's dying scream, the soldiers on one side of the Sword Pavilion finally noticed the giant.
They instantly pulled out their crossbows, aiming to shoot, but as soon as they made a move, the man swung two guanyu, each over two meters long, in his hands. If Qin Xia himself were to describe it, he was using them like helicopter propellers.
The soldiers were directly shredded by the guanyu. Qin Xia then ran directly towards the central triangular building.
He had never felt this exhilarating playing 'Dynasty Warriors' on his computer. He was like a dump truck, crashing through everything, and no one could stop him.
"Where did this person come from? I thought it was a speed bump!"
The commotion he caused on one side grew louder and louder. Xiao Lie, holding the telescope, watched his commander go on a rampage with a cold sweat. Hardly anyone on the entire city wall could withstand a single move from him.
At this moment, he was truly grateful that he hadn't stubbornly opposed his commander back then. He probably wouldn't even last a single move against him!
Inside the triangular building, the plump Pavilion Master lay among women, biting his nails. Why was the commotion outside getting louder and louder? Hadn't Prince Fu said that no one would attack here when he sent him to guard it?
Cold sweat trickled down his face. His body odor mixed with a foul smell made the surrounding women want to vomit, but not one of them dared to show any displeasure.
The man they surrounded was the current Emperor's favorite son, Prince Fu. If any of them showed even a hint of displeasure, they would be made into meat paste by him.
At this moment, they could only continuously comfort the man, but this comfort was useless in Prince Fu's eyes. He only wanted to escape now, to quickly leave here and go to his father!
"Father, yes! Father!" Prince Fu, hearing the sound of flying stones hitting the city wall outside, could no longer endure his fear. He pushed the women away like a madman and ran towards the main door.
As long as he returned to his father's side, he would definitely not be afraid anymore!
The memory of the man in dragon robes with a loving expression became Prince Fu's lifeline. He seemed to genuinely believe that he would see his father as soon as he opened the door.
As he approached the door, a massive figure directly crashed through it. Although the sturdy door panel had flown out of its frame, it was still relatively intact. The figure then stepped on the door panel, which was about to fly away.
Prince Fu, who had just approached, was directly crushed to the ground by the door panel. Finally, as Qin Xia leaped with all his might, a crisp sound rang out.
Qin Xia froze, looking down at the blood seeping from under the door panel. Then, looking at the panicked screams of the women in the room, he scratched his head and chuckled, "Sorry, I rushed too fast. I thought that was a speed bump!"