The curtain soaked in kerosene enveloped a huge ball of fire the moment it came into contact with the rocket.
Before the Goguryeo soldiers had time to pull the curtain off the Eight Ox Crossbows, they were instantly enveloped in fire.
The shrill shouts spread throughout the battlefield outside Cangzhou City.
Dozens of Eight Bull Crossbows were scattered throughout the battlefield, all covered by dozens of huge curtains.
The wind took advantage of the fire, and the curtain of flames spread across the battlefield.
Completely cutting off the retreat route of the soldiers attacking Goguryeo.
The Goguryeo soldiers who had already rushed to the city gate heard the sound coming from behind and turned around to look.
Before they could move, a huge curtain fell from the sky.
Cover all their sight.
Before they could break free, rockets rained down from the sky.
The flames were wrapped in kerosene, instantly igniting all the curtains.
The Goguryeo soldiers below the city tower ran desperately into their own formation, trying to escape with their lives.
The crowd was surging.
Unknown how many people were wrapped in flames, trampled by their companions, and burned to death by the fire.
More people ran back desperately and finally escaped from the fire, but suddenly found that there were more fires in front of them.
The fire has cut off all escape routes.
The Goguryeo soldiers behind them didn't know it yet, so they kept rushing forward, and more people were knocked headlong into the fire.
"General, save me!" a Goguryeo general and Huizhen shouted sadly.
His body was already covered in fire.
"I don't want to die!"
"Get me out!"
"I don't want to be burned alive!"
"help me!"
On the battlefield, there were cries and pleas for mercy.
Huizhen looked at his own soldiers surrounded by fire, and collapsed on the ground with lifeless eyes.
Looking at the tens of thousands of his own soldiers wrapped in fire in front of him, he had no way of rescuing them at the moment.
The remaining Huizhen soldiers saw a sea of fire in front of them.
His companions turned into fire shadows, struggling and fluttering in the sea of fire, but they were gradually swallowed up by the fire.
He was already so frightened that his breathing stopped.
Many Goguryeo soldiers even had their pants wet.
"It's too miserable, I don't want to come again!"
"I want to go home, I want to go home!"
"Mom, I will never come to Tang Kingdom again. They are all evil spirits from hell and can eat people!"
Behind Huizhen, the Goguryeo soldiers looked ahead in fear.
Many people even lost their weapons.
Shouting to go home.
"Too cruel!" Xu Shiji stood on the tower, looking at the fire in front of him, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes.
He also didn't expect that such a strategy would be handed over to Li Jing by Zhao Chen.
The tens of thousands of people brought by Huizhen except the Goguryeo soldiers who did not participate in the siege.
Tens of thousands of people, almost all of them were enveloped by the fire in front of them.
Tens of thousands of people just wailed in the fire and were burned alive in front of their eyes.
Li Jing let out a long breath.
He finally understood why Zhao Chen wrote the words "Hell of Fire" on the note he left for him.
This huge fire in front of us is a hell of fire!
And these being punished are all enemies from Goguryeo!
"Regarding this battle, don't mention to anyone except His Majesty that it was Zhao Chen's idea." Li Jing looked at Xu Shiji and said in a deep voice.
Xu Shiji nodded.
He knew that Li Jing wanted to bear the infamy himself.
Throughout the ages, generals with the title of mass murderer almost never ended well.
Li Jing was afraid that today's battle would hinder Zhao Chen in the future, and would even bring disaster to Zhao Chen's reputation.
"Actually, no one would believe me if I told you."
"Who would have thought that a fire could kill tens of thousands of Yuan Gaisuwen's men!" Xu Shiji said slowly.
Looking at the Goguryeo soldiers struggling in the fire below, Xu Shiji sighed softly.
"Yes, if I hadn't personally directed it, I wouldn't believe it. This is a plan thought up by a young man."
"It's a pity that Huizhen didn't come in, otherwise I could have avenged Uncle Bao!" Li Jing nodded, looking at Huizhen who was slumped on the ground behind the flames in the distance, a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
…
The fire burned all day long.
It was not until evening that the fire slowly extinguished.
Within two hundred steps outside Cangzhou City, there were all charred corpses, exuding a stench.
The soldiers of the Tang Army on the tower all covered their mouths and noses and looked at the corpses on the ground, with expressions of relief on their faces.
Ever since the two armies started fighting, they have been losing battles.
People lost one group after another.
Only today, after a battle, tens of thousands of people on the other side were burned alive.
The remaining fire was extinguished, the sun set over the mountain, and the entire city outside Cangzhou fell into a dead silence.
Only hundreds of Goguryeo corpse collection teams could be seen outside the city collecting the bodies of the burned-to-death soldiers.
Under the dim light, you can even hear crying coming from the distance.
"I didn't expect that this battle would end like this."
"This fire is so fierce!" On the tower, a Tang soldier rubbed his eyes, as if he still couldn't believe it.
"Sure enough, as soon as Duke Wei arrived, the situation was reversed instantly." A soldier sighed.
"Actually, I feel that such a strategy is probably not the idea of Duke Wei. Of course, I am not questioning Duke Wei's ability."
"Really, this plan is too cruel. It seems that Duke Wei has never had such a precedent."
"That one..." the soldier hesitated.
"That one?"
"Are you talking about General Zhao?"
"General Zhao, that is your Majesty's prince, most likely the prince of our Tang Dynasty!"
"But isn't he dead?"
"That's a rumor. Who has seen his body? I heard that someone brought General Qin back to Chang'an. They were a man and a woman."
"You think, between a man and a woman, who else could it be besides General Zhao and his wife?"
"It makes sense. I heard that General Zhao has a very good relationship with General Qin. Maybe this plan is to avenge General Qin!"
"Yes, yes, that's quite possible!"
On the city tower, the Tang Dynasty soldiers were discussing in low voices.
…
The emperor looked at the good news in his hand, his face full of excitement.
Goguryeo's sudden attack worried the emperor for a while, even if Goguryeo could not break the city.
That would also cost them a lot of people!
What I didn't expect was that in today's battle, except for the hundreds of Tang Army soldiers who were shot dead by the Eight Bull Crossbows, there would be no other casualties.
On the contrary, Huizhen brought tens of thousands of people to attack the city, and 70% of them were killed or injured.
Nearly 20,000 people were reduced to coke in the fire.
Since the war between the two countries, there has never been such a victory.
Even since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there have been few such results.
The emperor got down from the bed excitedly, and almost fell to the ground because his body was still relatively weak.
Fortunately, I slowly stood up while holding on to the stool beside me.
After taking two steps slowly, the emperor waved his fist and looked at Li Jing, saying: "Gong Wei is indeed the military god of the Tang Dynasty. He killed tens of thousands of enemies in the first battle, and his contribution is indispensable."
Hearing the emperor's praise of Li Jing, Xu Shiji looked a little embarrassed.
The emperor was obviously very dissatisfied with the results of his appointment as the commander-in-chief of the Tang Dynasty's frontline troops.
Otherwise the emperor would not have said this.
"Military advisor, don't think too much. I have no other intention. I just want to be happy today."
"Yeon Gaesoo-won must be furious because he lost so many people, but the angrier he is, the happier I am."
"You all contributed to today's battle, and I will keep it in my heart."
"When I return to the court one day, I will definitely commend him." The emperor noticed Xu Shiji's expression and comforted him.