While keeping a distance from them, use arrows to suppress them.
Since it was getting late and it was difficult to see how many people were on the other side, the defenders of the two gates did not take the initiative to fight.
Instead, a signal of enemy attack was sent to the other two gates and the scout troops in the city.
Wang Zhizhong's people didn't know why, but since the order was like this, they had to carry it out.
He had no choice but to bite the bullet and face the densely packed bows and arrows of the Ming cavalry. He stepped forward and fired a round of rockets into the city.
Then he stopped stopping and ran towards the southeast.
At this time, the deputy general who took over the 50,000 vanguard army was stunned, staring blankly at the direction in which the enemy army was leaving and the hundreds of corpses lying on the ground.
Are these people sick? Are they braving their own arrows just to give their side a spectacular rocket show?
Just as he was thinking about it, a fire suddenly broke out in the city, and the rockets ignited the dry firewood and hay that had been doused with kerosene in the corner.
The gunpowder and saltpeter buried on the roof were ignited.
With the blessing of these flammable materials, the flames instantly shot up to the height of a room, and the crackling sound echoed through the night sky.
The flames spread very quickly, reaching the entire city in just a few breaths.
The entire city of Zhongzhou was engulfed in flames, directly lighting up half of the night sky.
The deputy general and the others stared at everything in front of them with their eyes wide open in horror.
A feeling of surviving a disaster suddenly arose in my heart.
Regarding Surile's decision not to enter the city, everyone expressed their wisdom and correctness.
Just now, everyone was complaining in private. They had been marching hastily all day and were not allowed to enter the city to rest.
Now it seems that this choice was so correct.
After rejoicing, the deputy general ordered the soldiers to count the number of casualties, but the answer came back that there were no casualties.
It turned out that the defenders of the two southeastern gates reacted immediately when they saw the enemy troops rushing out of the mountains and forests.
First, the troops were ordered to leave the city gate and keep a safe distance from the enemy.
Taking advantage of the fact that the prairie cavalry is good at riding and shooting and has a long range of hard bows, it has been suppressing the enemy.
And promptly released enemy attack signal bombs into the city and the four gates.
Due to Su Rile's previous instructions not to entangle the enemy, once the enemy attacked, he would move closer to the main force and there was no need to panic.
Therefore, when the signal was launched, the scouts in the city immediately evacuated to the northwest gates.
Together with the defenders of the two northwest gates, they withdrew from Zhongzhou City in an orderly manner and met outside the city, ready to respond to the defenders of the two southeast gates at any time.
Therefore, Wang Zhizhong's 20,000 men worked on the ambush fortifications for a whole afternoon, which was completely lonely.
Not only was there not a single enemy killed, but six or seven hundred people were shot to death by random arrows from the defenders at the two southeastern gates.
According to the statistics of various sect leaders, the biggest casualty of this enemy attack was that two scouts in the city ran too fast and fell down and broke their knees.
The deputy general immediately ordered to recall the scouts and assemble the troops. The army covered each other and slowly joined the main force.
He also sent messengers to contact the commander-in-chief and tell them as soon as possible when this happened.
At this time, the main force behind them also saw the monstrous flames emanating from Zhongzhou City from a distance.
He quickly quickened his pace.
Less than five miles away from Zhongzhou City, I met soldiers who came to deliver the order.
After some reporting, the three of them learned that the enemy had placed a large number of flammable objects in Zhongzhou City.
He also sent an army to ambush in the mountains and forests outside the city. When his own army entered the city to rest, they fired thousands of arrows.
Turn your army of 250,000 into 250,000 roast ducks.
Thanks to Su Rile's deployment, the enemy's 20,000 ambush troops were forced out by the scouts and had to attack the city in advance.
But because of Su Rile's order, the 50,000 vanguard troops did not enter the city to rest. Such a sneak attack did not cause any losses at all.
The biggest casualty was that two scouts fell down and broke their knees because they retreated too quickly.
Dai Qin and Li Qi couldn't help laughing when they listened to the report of the messenger.
"Xiang Tianxing, Xiang Tianxing, this old boy is really wilted and bad!" Li Qi smiled and patted Su Rile on the shoulder.
"My dear nephew... Well done! Thanks to your caution, we have avoided such losses. Not bad."
Then someone said enviously to Dai Qin: "My lord... you have a good son!"
"Hahaha... It's a coincidence, it's just a coincidence..." Dai Qin said modestly, but his eyes were full of pride.
...
The fire in Zhongzhou soared into the sky. Li Qi and Dai Qin were originally prepared to pursue them, but they were afraid of being ambushed at night. They had no choice but to order the troops to camp.
Be vigilant and guard against enemy sneak attacks, and pursue them as soon as daybreak.
Xiang Tianxing, on the other hand, had already gone a long way. At this time, they were camping on a flat place.
He secretly calculated in his mind that judging by the time, the enemy had already entered Zhongzhou City.
I don’t know if Wang Zhizhong succeeded...
Regardless of whether they succeeded or not, doing so would delay their pursuit.
In the end, it can also serve as an intimidation effect, making the enemy think that there will be an ambush ahead and not dare to pursue it with all their strength.
At the same time, setting Zhongzhou City on fire and burning it to a white ground can also maximize their efforts to organize repairs and obtain supplies.
Although he had emptied Zhongzhou City of food when he evacuated, who knows if that unruly man might have hidden some secretly.
Xiang Tianxing fell asleep while secretly praising his decision.
In the next few days, before dawn, he gave the order to break camp early.
The whole army rushed slowly and hurriedly, and finally arrived at the junction of Zhongzhou and Dongzhou three days later.
This place is a small plain called Huxiao River, which is the only way to Dongzhou.
After passing Huxiao River, there is a small county in front called Linchuan County. As long as you pass Linchuan County, you will enter the territory of Dongzhou.
Although this place is the connection between the two states, it was not taken seriously when it was under the rule of Daxia.
Later, Xiang Tianxing rebelled and sent troops from Yanzhou to attack Zhongzhou, but did not pay attention to this place.
Therefore, this strategically contested place connecting two states has always been an ordinary small county town.
Without weapons, there must be a lot of supplies in the city.
Xiang Tianxing finally breathed a sigh of relief and was filled with joy. He ordered his troops to speed up and collect some food in the county for supplies.
For the first time, he agreed to the troops' request for revision and ordered them to garrison the county seat and rest until tomorrow morning before setting off again.
Upon hearing this, all the troops were overjoyed, and the vanguard immediately set off and galloped towards Linchuan County.
After recovering from his injuries, Xiang Yang was the vanguard of the march.
Days of running around had already exhausted him physically and mentally. He was recovering from a serious injury and was not yet able to withstand such bumps.
After hearing that his father agreed to allow the troops to recuperate for half a day, he was overjoyed and led the vanguard directly to Linchuan.
In a short while, the short tower of Linchuan gradually appeared in front of us.
But the city gate was tightly closed and the drawbridge was closed.
What's even more strange is that when Xiang Yang looked from a distance while sitting on his horse, there was no defender on the low city wall.