At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 250
Most of the buildings in Thanh Hoa City are made of wood. It is midsummer at this time, the sky is dry and everything is dry, and they will burn when exposed to fire.

The flames of war at the South City Gate quickly spread to the city. The fire blazed and shot straight into the sky, with thick smoke billowing, covering the sky and the sun.

The city has long been in chaos, with defenders and civilians fleeing everywhere.

Under the continuous bombardment of the Ming army's artillery, very few people could survive in the area around the South City Gate.

Even if they were lucky enough not to be killed by the explosion, they still couldn't escape the fire, and even if they escaped the fire, they couldn't avoid trampling on each other. Even if they were lucky, they escaped all of these. The billowing smoke is the deadliest thing!
As a result, many people were not burned to death or trampled to death, but suffocated to death under the cover of thick smoke.

Some people tried to put out the fire, but the fire was too big to rush to the street.

The Ming army's shelling finally stopped, but they did not enter the city, because the entire Qinghua city had been turned into a sea of ​​flames.

The fleeing people bumped around in the thick smoke, and they couldn't tell the direction. Some people fainted and fell to the ground after running. Occasionally, a few people covered in fire would utter pitiful screams. Dancing wildly.

There are four city gates in Qinghua City, all of which have been locked.

In order to prevent the Ming army from having an internal response in the city, Li Sicheng specially ordered craftsmen to build a huge iron chain, and personally took charge of the keys. On weekdays, even the city defenses were not qualified to open the door.

Now that the south gate was attacked, many people frantically flocked to the other three gates, trying to escape, but found that the huge iron chain originally used to resist the Ming army could not be opened at all.

The solid Tsinghua City has now become the last barrier that trapped thousands of soldiers and civilians.

…………

Under the North City Gate, it was also crowded with people.

"Open the door, open the door!"

Countless remnants of defeated generals crowded under the city gate, shouting hysterically.

Although in the daytime, they still vowed to let the Ming army have a taste of their strength, to make the Ming army repeat the mistakes of the past, they even flaunted their might, thinking that the Ming army in the district would be as panic-stricken as it was decades ago. Withdrawal.

But now, amidst the flames and thick smoke, before the locked city gate, they fell one by one, like harvested wheat.

When Li Sicheng and his son arrived at the North City Gate, it was already completely surrounded.

The commander of the imperial guards drew out his knife and shouted: "Get out of the way, everyone out of the way!"

No one could listen in at all, and everyone crowded tightly in front of the city gate, even if they died, they would die here.

In desperation, the commander of the imperial guard waved his hand, and the guard behind him stepped forward and cut down several people in a row.

However, it didn't work.

Seeing that the guards were about to continue killing people, Li Bin hurriedly shouted: "I have the key to the city gate, let me open it!"

Finally, in the chaotic crowd, someone heard the word key.

Everyone gave way one after another, Li Bin led people forward, opened the city gate, and then fled all the way north.

…………

Outside the south city gate, the Ming army's position.

Chen Ying looked at the burning Tsinghua City, but there was no relaxed expression on his face.

"Your Highness, why don't you block the other city gates and only attack the south gate, the bandit chieftain might abandon the city and flee!"

Zhu Qiyu was silent for a moment, and then asked back: "There is an idiom in the ancients, which is called opening the net, do you know what it means?"

Chen Ying was stunned for a moment, and said, "Isn't it the meaning of letting people live, but...why let them go?"

Zhu Qiyu said: "This allusion has a long history. It is said that at the end of the Xia Dynasty, Chengtang went out hunting and saw a field surrounded by nets. A hunter was praying. They came from the sky, came from the ground, and came from all directions. , come into my snare."

Chen Ying couldn't help but nodded and said, "Since it's hunting, it should be so."

"However, Cheng Tang said, you have wiped out all the beasts in this way, and then removed the net on three sides, saying, if you want to go to the left, go to the left, if you want to go to the right, go to the right, if you don't want to go Yes, let’s go to the Internet cafe!”

Chen Ying was very puzzled and frowned tightly.

Zhu Qiyu asked, "Guess what happened?"

"I reckon that Cheng Tang was... beaten up by a hunter?"

"of course not!"

Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said: "This incident has spread to the ears of all the princes, and they all said that Cheng Tang is so benevolent to the extreme, that even animals have been favored by him. But at this time, Xia Jie is implementing tyranny , licentious and immoral. Therefore, Shang Tang raised his troops and led the princes to attack Xia, and finally succeeded and established the Shang Dynasty."

Chen Ying was still puzzled, and asked: "On the battlefield, the benevolence towards the enemy is the cruelty towards oneself. If he wins, it means that he is powerful. Why are you talking about benevolence and not benevolence..."

"You're right!"

Zhu Qiyu smiled suddenly, and said: "I used to think that this story was about the invincibility of the benevolent, but the emperor told me that benevolence is only superficial, and the real reason is to prevent trapped beasts from reluctance. They are still animals, and when they are desperate, they will try their best to fight back. However, if the enemy leaves a glimmer of hope for survival, they will only think about how to escape. For our army, it can not only achieve strategic intentions, but also maximize To reduce one's own casualties, there is another idiom called poor gangsters, don't chase, and this is the truth."

Chen Ying is also a veteran of the battlefield, so he naturally understands this truth, but he still has a question: "However, if you let the bandit chief go, there will be endless troubles!"

Zhu Qiyu said disapprovingly: "Let's go, so what's the problem? After Qinghua and Shenglong are captured, Annan will fall completely. What kind of storm can a mere king of subjugation and a dog bereaved? Now we have to consider, It is how to manage it in the future. I had no experience in the past and spent a lot of manpower and material resources. In the end, I had no choice but to withdraw the army..."

The order to abandon Annan was given by Emperor Xuanzong, so on this topic, just stop at the end.

Chen Ying asked again: "What should we do now?"

Looking at the soaring flames, Zhu Qiyu asked, "How much ammunition is left?"

Chen Ying replied: "There are still two hundred shells, about 150 mines and grenades, and enough ammunition for rifles."

When they came out of the capital, the Shenji Battalion carried a total of [-] shells and [-] mines and grenades. After the battle, there are not many left.

Especially tonight when fighting Tsinghua City, the firepower was fully fired, and more than 1000 two hundred shells were consumed.

You know, the cost of a blooming bomb is 300 taels of silver, and more than 1000 taels of silver is more than 30 taels!
This is just the cost price, and it belongs to the kind that even the rich can't buy.

Money is what is fought in war. In the past, it was judged who had more soldiers and who had more food and grass. To put it bluntly, these are also silver.

During the Renxuan period, the Ming Dynasty changed its trend of expansion, voluntarily abandoned Annan and Nuer Gandusi, and began to adopt a strategy of recuperation, because the Yongle Dynasty spent too much money, and the people of the world could no longer afford it.

The most important thing in the Ming Dynasty today is money. Ever since the emperor came back from Tumubao, he first investigated Wang Zhenyu's party, then wiped out the Jiangnan smuggling group, and even copied the Confucius family in Qufu. He has already made a lot of money.

More than 30 taels of silver was thrown into a battle, which is just a trivial matter.

Of course, as far as An Nanguo was concerned, no matter how much money he had, he couldn't exchange for the Flying Tiger Cannon and Flowering Bullets.

This is the power of technology!
Zhu Qiyu thought for a while, and ordered: "The two hundred shells are reserved to fight Shenglong, send the order down, rest in place, and enter the city when the fire is extinguished!"

To attack Shenglong City, two hundred shells are definitely not enough, but Zhang Fu's 10 troops are still there.

It is enough to concentrate firepower and blast open a city gate!

(End of this chapter)