Chapter 2036 - 2034: The Times Have Changed

Since both parties have already set the agreement, Xiang Yu was no longer worried. The next day he led 400,000 troops to Hangu Pass.

However, this time Hangu Pass was completely different from when the gates were wide open before. The entire gate was tightly shut. Moreover, on the city walls, the people didn’t see their familiar archers and crossbows; instead, strange black thick tubes protruded from the battlements, pointing straight to the ground, and behind these thick tubes stood something like a large shield, looking particularly bizarre.

In addition to this, there were flags fluttering in the wind on the city head.

"It’s indeed a flag without words; it seems that the other side really intends to hold their ground here."

Seeing this, Fan Zeng also stretched out his hand to touch his beard, then commented in a low voice. Hearing Fan Zeng’s comment, Xiang Yu slightly frowned, remaining silent.

The so-called flag without words refers to the banner of Fang Zheng’s rebel army. In this era, generally, the flags of various countries were printed with the surname or the country’s name, like Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, and so on. However, Fang Zheng’s rebel army’s banner was unique, using a red flag as the base, with a giant five-pointed star crossed with a sickle and hammer painted in the center.

Because of this, among the feudal lords, Fang Zheng’s flag was called "the flag without words," and Fang Zheng’s army was known as "the army without words." On one hand, this was factual; on the other hand, it was a way to secretly belittle the opponent. After all, only those of low status did not understand literature, implying that Fang Zheng’s side consisted of uncultured lower-class people.

At this moment, the entire Hangu Pass was shrouded in a deathly silence, without people or noise, but the crowd could see shadows through the gap of those gigantic iron shields, proving there were indeed people behind.

"Siege!!"

Xiang Yu looked at the deathly silent Hangu Pass in front of him with some anxiety. Although Fang Zheng claimed he wouldn’t use Musical Magic, using 40,000 men against 400,000 and still appearing so confident made Xiang Yu hardly believe Fang Zheng was merely putting on a show.

"Dong dong dong dong dong!!!"

Quickly, the sound of war drums rang out, and then the soldiers immediately pushed the siege weaponry forward. Originally, this was the time when the opposite side should release arrows to block, yet Hangu Pass silently watched, without the slightest response as if no one was there at all.

The situation is not right, but why exactly is it not right?

Xiang Yu, after all, was a battle-hardened general with his own set of grasp and judgment of the situation. At the moment, he saw the soldiers advancing so smoothly, yet his internal unease was unceasing. Could it be that there are hidden troops around, or is there some kind of trap?

But if talking about hidden troops, the terrain of Hangu Pass leaves nowhere to hide; as for traps, the current area is entirely open, and siege warfare rarely deploys cavalry first. Even if there are tripwires and ditches, what use are they?

While Xiang Yu was pondering arduously, a strange phenomenon suddenly occurred.

"Boom!!"

Just as those soldiers pushing the siege equipment had barely passed half the battlefield, suddenly a thundering boom was heard, and the next moment people saw a flash of fire among the soldiers pushing the battering ram and siege tower forward. Subsequently, the ground exploded instantly, blowing the strong siege equipment and the soldiers to fragments.

People watched as the soldiers’ bloody mangled limbs flew and fell, "splatting" onto the ground, making the soldiers at the rear shiver. And before they could regain their composure, several more thunderous roars erupted, followed by another wave of flames engulfing the front siege troops, causing massive casualties in a matter of moments.

"What on earth is happening?"

"Could it be thunder and lightning?"

Witnessing this incredible scene, the crowd commented one after another, while Xiang Yu subconsciously looked up at the sky, but it was entirely azure without a single dark cloud in sight. The sunshine was bright, obviously a pleasant day of wind and sun, yet where did the thunder come from?

Thinking of this, Xiang Yu couldn’t help but recall Fang Zheng’s words before leaving yesterday, feeling uneasy in his mind, but still, he hardened his heart to issue the order.

"Continue attacking!!"

"Dong dong dong dong!!"

The war drums continued, and soon, the first wave of siege troops was completely lost, but the second wave immediately pushed the siege equipment forward, yet they fared no better; the second wave of siege troops advanced barely 300 meters further than the first before utterly collapsing, and the third wave refused to go up despite the supervisor’s furious whipping.

This couldn’t be blamed on them; the scene before was too bizarre, and those deaths by explosion were one thing, but the number of limbs blown off with cries of pain, even some soldiers were lifted by the explosion wind and ended up falling backward into the troop formation. Just looking at the grotesque corpses was enough to drop the morale to rock bottom.

"There must be something wrong with the ground."

By this time Xiang Yu also realized it, though he didn’t know what Fang Zheng had done, it was certain the opponent had worked some tricks on the ground, causing those soldiers to explode when passing through.

"Direct breakthrough!"

Siege weaponry of this era was already very complete. Besides the frequently seen battering ram and siege tower used in films and games, there were naturally stone throwers, and a special equipment called Ge. It appeared like a magnified crossbow, with arrows three meters long, driven by dozens of soldiers to pull full the bowstring.

And such a giant arrow, once shot, it was nearly unstoppable. This time Xiang Yu knew he would attack Hangu Pass, so naturally, he did not forget these long-range siege weapons.

Previously Xiang Yu didn’t use these to conduct the main offensive, primarily fearing Hangu Pass would be damaged too badly and be hard to repair. If it was possible to charge in and capture it directly, that would be best. However, now it seemed directly occupying Hangu Pass was not feasible, so Xiang Yu had no choice but to adopt the second plan.

Soon, as Xiang Yu gave an order, the soldiers behind him immediately got busy. However, just at this moment, Xiang Yu suddenly saw a flash of light on the Hangu Pass wall in the distance, and then...

"Boom!!"

In just a moment, the siege weapons at the rear were instantly engulfed in flames, and several stone throwers were directly blown into a pile of debris.

"What happened? What is going on?"

At this time, not only Xiang Yu was dumbfounded, but the other soldiers were also in an uproar. Before they could figure out what was happening, a series of flames erupted with a whistling sound, completely enveloping the soldiers who had set up their positions.

In the blink of an eye, the four hundred thousand strong army turned into a chaotic mess. No one expected to face such an attack, and the roaring sounds and flames accompanied by impact stirred the most primal fear in humans. Even the well-trained elite soldiers were bewildered in such circumstances, let alone the feudal lords’ army soldiers.

"Retreat, retreat immediately!"

Xiang Yu, being able to become the Grand General, was naturally not foolish. Knowing that the situation was unclear, continuing forward would lead to complete collapse, so he tugged his battle horse urgently and gave the order. Soon, the bugle call for retreat sounded, and then the four hundred thousand strong army immediately withdrew, far away from Hangu Pass.

Thus, the siege battle on the first day ended hastily.

"Hehehe."

Watching the retreating army, Fang Zheng standing on the wall chuckled. For a transmigrator, manufacturing firearms was a necessity, let alone Fang Zheng. Given the current production technology and science, black gunpowder was not a difficult thing to control, just that in terms of devices, it could only be improvised.

For instance, the mines Fang Zheng set outside Hangu Pass were actually based on Ming Dynasty products, using a stone shell, then filled with gunpowder, with mechanisms as the impact device. These cannons were the same; even with the current technology, they couldn’t cast the kind of cannon with a long range like the future, but they far surpassed the shooting distance of trebuchets of this era, enough to deal with most armies of this era.

After all, the era has changed, Master.

However, for Fang Zheng, what he brought to Xiang Yu was not just cannons and mines.

"What exactly is going on with Fang Zheng?!"

Xiang Zhuang returned angrily to the camp, complaining to Xiang Yu.

"Didn’t he promise Elder Brother not to use any Divine Skills or Demon Art? This is deceiving!"

"No, he didn’t deceive us. This is indeed not any Divine Skills or Demon Art."

Upon hearing Xiang Zhuang’s complaint, Xiang Yu shook his head, then put down the piece of metal.

"Do you know what this is?"

"What is this? A piece of metal? A shield?"

Xiang Zhuang took the metal piece that Xiang Yu handed to her, examining it carefully. It was an arc-shaped piece of metal, appearing like part of a shield, but upon closer inspection, Xiang Zhuang felt it was somewhat different...

"I don’t know what this is either, but I saw it clearly before. The peculiar cylindrical object on the wall emitted a flame, and then a black iron ball flew out, directly hitting the ground and bursting... hmm, really strange."

Xiang Yu was also instructed by Xiang Shaolong, having cultivated the internal cultivation methods. Thus, Xiang Yu was not only sensitive in this matter but also far surpassing ordinary people. At the initial attack, Xiang Yu exercised his inner strength through his eyes and easily saw the bizarre scene on Hangu Pass wall.

"Isn’t that still Demon Art?"

"Young Master Fang never breaks his word. I think this must be something we don’t yet recognize."

Thinking of this, Xiang Yu couldn’t help but recall the story Fang Zheng told him yesterday about ancestors eating raw meat and wearing animal skins, using stone axes... perhaps this is what it meant.

It’s just that I don’t know what means Young Master Fang used.

"Hmph!"

Watching Xiang Yu absorbed in looking at that piece of metal, Xiang Zhuang was also so angry that she stamped her foot and ran out. Today’s bad start made her very unhappy, especially hearing the rumors among the surrounding soldiers, which made Xiang Zhuang even angrier.

Oh yes!

Thinking of this, Xiang Zhuang’s eyes lit up.

How about sneaking into Hangu Pass myself and killing that guy? I can’t beat him in a normal fight, but I don’t believe I can’t kill him in a surprise attack?!