In addition to the scorpion crossbow, the trebuchet crossbow used by Huaidong is a counterweight type. A large iron ball is tied to the end of the crossbow tip. The impact of the falling iron ball is used to launch the stone projectiles. A dozen people can operate a heavy-duty crossbow.

Trebuchet crossbow. The old trebuchet crossbow purely uses human or animal power to pull and exert force. A heavy trebuchet crossbow often requires dozens or even hundreds of people to operate.

Defending and attacking a city is not entirely a matter for the generals. A city can only be called a truly heroic city if its citizens organize the people.

If Huaidong builds a hundred heavy-weight trebuchet crossbows, it will only require one or two thousand people to operate them. Since the She family has evacuated all the soldiers and civilians from the city first, even if they build a hundred heavy-weight trebuchet crossbows, even if they do not consider the counterweight type,

The trebuchet crossbow has advantages in terms of accuracy and ease of operation, but Jin'an City does not have enough manpower to operate it.

The few civilians left by the She family in the city had to help use stone and wood arrows to reach the top of the city, and even directly assist the defenders in fighting.

The She family does not have many people left in Jin'an City, which can also be seen from the She family's shortage of population resources.

In the end, Jin'an City was not defended, and the defenders abandoned their baggage and were able to withdraw from the northwest. The people were in a mess and could not withdraw with the army. The She family was obviously reluctant to leave too many Dingkou to Huaidong.

Before the Eastern Fujian War, the population of the eight prefectures of Eastern Fujian was about three million, and the population directly under the control of Jin'an Prefecture was once as high as 800,000.

Even if the entire population of East Fujian were controlled by the She family, the adult population would be less than one million. After these years of brutal wars, the number of adults directly lost in East Fujian due to the war was not far behind, even if it was not 200,000.

At this point, in addition to grain fields, Dingkou has become a resource that the She family is in short supply.

Even if Huaidong does not invade the eastern Fujian coast in the later period, the She family will face the dilemma of having their grain fields abandoned and unable to fully cultivate due to the shortage of labor.

The She family abandoned eastern and southern Fujian, moved their generals and people, and moved their materials inland, but a considerable number of people were still attached to their homeland and refused to move westward.

Quanzhou and the 300,000 Dingkou under Quanzhou Prefecture naturally belong to the entire Huaidong, including the counties in southern Fujian and the three counties in Northeastern Fujian. The new Dingkou in Huaidong is about one million.

After the She family lost Jin'an Prefecture, those who actually moved inland to the upper reaches of Eastern Fujian, including the aborigines of Jian'an Prefecture, probably did not exceed one million. What made the She family even more headache was that the grain fields in the upper reaches of Eastern Fujian were only

It can barely maintain a population of one million, but the maintenance of its hundreds of thousands of troops depends on its war plunder from Jiangxi and other places.

Not to mention other things, the grain fields in the Mindong River Mouth Basin around Jin'an City, Qishan, Gushan, Beifeng Mountain, and Wuhu Mountain alone amount to two million acres. It can be seen that the She family originally considered giving up Jin'an Mansion.

What pain.

Huaidong had prepared a large number of ordnance accessories before the war. Once he decided to make a large-scale stone-throwing crossbow, he would bring in the craftsmen and cut down the wood and materials, and he could build six or seventy crossbows a day under the city.

Even if the supply of stone bullets is low, there is no need to worry. We can build kilns to take soil and sinter it, and then make mud bricks for throwing. The shape is more rounded than stone bullets.

After several days of fighting like this, most of the crenellations at the top of Jin'an City were broken, and two large gaps were destroyed in the south city. Although the defenders were asked to fill the gaps with wooden palisades in time, the defenders were also called upon to do so in the past few days.

The casualties were heavy.

Next, Huaidong soldiers and horses intensified the siege of the city, using strong armor, sharp swords, and thick shields of kerosene to forcefully compete with the defenders at the top of the city inch by inch.

It was not until November 5th that the Zhejiang and Fujian armies finally showed weakness, and six thousand defenders withdrew directly from the Yunqiao at the head of the North City Wall to the western foot of Beifeng Mountain. Only then did the Huaidong Army manage to capture Jin'an City. The North City Gate, which is directly connected to Beifeng Mountain,

It was blocked and it was impossible to leave the city for a while to chase down the fugitives.

Counting the nearly 1,000 wounded soldiers who abandoned their weapons and surrendered in the city, the Huaidong battle wiped out 7,000 enemies and nearly 5,000 casualties. Counting the casualties of the supply soldiers and civilians, they even far exceeded the defenders. This battle can be regarded as

Extremely tragic.

But as long as Jin'an City was successfully captured, Lin Fu could bear the double casualties.

***************

On the night of the fifth day, before the remaining enemies in the city were cleared, Lin Fu couldn't wait to enter Jin'an City. He wanted to arrange everything here urgently and immediately led the main force of Huaidong troops back north.

New bad news kept coming from Mingzhou. Shewenzhuang gathered 30,000 elites in Tongziwu on the 23rd and attacked Yuyan day and night. The general of the Huinan Army died in the battle, and Yushi Village was killed on the 28th.

As soon as it fell, Shewenzhuang marched northward without stopping. Deng Yu had to stop attacking Huangtian Village and personally supervised Feihuang'an, fighting hard with the Zhejiang and Fujian troops in the narrow terrain of Feihuang'an.

Huangtian Village was gained and lost again. Although the news was revealed to Huaidong, this slap hit the Imperial Army in the face hard and also hit Emperor Yongxing hard in the face.

Jiangning refused to believe Chaozhong, and the 30,000 imperial troops could not defend Yuling Pass. He only urged Huaidong's troops in eastern Zhejiang to attack Dongyang, and the Hanghu army to attack Tonglu, in the hope that Huaidong and Hanghu armies could have a common road.

They penetrated the eastern front line in western Zhejiang and relieved the siege of the Huinan Army, but refused to withdraw the main force of the Hanghu Army to defend Ning State.

In addition to gathering 30,000 elites in the Daqingxi Valley north of Tongziwu, the She family also had 20,000 elites in Dongyang, Lanxi, and Quzhou to block Huaidong's troops from advancing westward in eastern Zhejiang. There were also more than 10,000 elites in Tonglu and Chun'an.

Intercept the Hanghu Army.

At the same time, in central Jiangxi, starting from mid-October, She Feixiong had the intention to abandon the outer cities of Yuzhang and concentrate his forces.

Although the outer cities of Yuzhang may be lost to Yue Lengqiu's Jiangzhou in a short period of time, as long as Yuzhang is defended, Jiangxi's fundamental situation cannot be changed. She Feixiong can gather the elites, in addition to firmly defending Yuzhang.

In addition, troops should be sent along Xinjiangxi to support the war in western Zhejiang.

Obviously, the She family is becoming more and more confident in making a big gap from Huizhou and marching directly to Jiangning City.

Yue Lengqiu also realized the danger in Jiangzhou and decisively gave up the invasion of Yuzhang and withdrew his troops back to Jiangzhou. However, he could not take any further action in Jiangzhou.
Chapter completed!