The order was passed, and not long after, a group of troops led by Zhou Cang came forward from the rear. (Baidu Search Literature Museum)
The Chu army's formation opened like a wave, opening a passage, allowing the group of men and horses to reach directly in front of the formation.
Xu Shu's eyes widened and he looked up from a distance. Like most of the soldiers of the Chu army, Xu Shu was also shocked.
In the field of vision, in addition to the more than a hundred elite Tiger Guards who followed Zhou Cang, there were also more than ten Taoist priests. Moreover, these Taoist priests were also carrying large wooden barrels, and it was unknown what was contained in them.
"Is this your Majesty's plan to destroy the city?" Xu Shu was shocked and confused.
The generals were also greatly surprised, but they didn't know why so many Taoist priests suddenly appeared in their own army. Could it be that the emperor planned to let these Taoist priests attack the city?
"Your Majesty, these Taoist priests..." Xu Shu turned his eyes to Yan Liang.
Yan Liang smiled slightly and pointed his riding whip forward: "Yuan Zhi, look carefully. Don't miss this scene that shocked the world."
Yan Liang's bold words full of mystery made Xu Shu feel more suspicious. He had no choice but to suppress the doubts in his heart and look eagerly in the direction of the enemy city.
Under the gaze of tens of millions of people, Zhou Cang personally led the mixed regiment, using the cover of a large shield to avoid the rain of arrows from the Jin army, and rushed to the foot of Hukou City.
Zhou Cang did not lead his army to attack the city, but led the group of troops to the cave dug by the Chu army.
"Quickly, fill all the barrels in." Zhou Cang shouted, waving his sword in his hand to block the arrows he shot.
The Taoist priests did not allow the soldiers to touch them and personally lifted the large wooden barrels into the cave. Then, a Taoist priest lit a torch and bravely got into the cave.
After a while, the Taoist priests climbed out of the pit. They dropped their torches and shouted nervously: "Hurry, retreat quickly."
Upon seeing this, Zhou Cang immediately led his troops to retreat and waved the red signal flag.
At the Central Military Department, Yan Liang, who was stationed on horseback and looking from a distance, clearly saw Zhou Cang Xinqi. His originally calm mood suddenly became agitated.
"Send an order to all the troops who have captured the city to retreat as quickly as possible." Yan Liang raised his whip and shouted.
Dang! Dang! Dang!
The golden sound came quickly, and the order to retreat spread throughout the country.
The troops who were fighting hard heard the golden sound of retreat and did not dare to stay for a moment. They retreated from Huguan City like an ebbing tide.
When the Jin troops at the top of the city saw the Chu troops retreating, they thought it was their hard fight that had forced the enemy back. They all breathed a sigh of relief and proudly cursed and shouted at the "defeated" Chu troops, showing off their force.
"I told you before. With me, Wang Ling, the pot gate is as stable as Mount Tai. Yan Thief, you finally can't do anything to me. Today is indeed the time when I, Wang Ling, will become famous all over the world, haha~~"
Wang Ling put his hands on his hips, looked at the retreating Chu army from a distance, and laughed wildly with pride.
In the distance, Xu Shu looked at his troops retreating like a tide, but his heart became more and more confused. He racked his brains and could not think of what kind of medicine his emperor was selling in the gourd.
Yan Liang had a sneer at the corner of his mouth, and his Adam's apple moved slowly, as if he was calculating the time.
Finally, he opened his mouth slightly and spit out the word "bang".
Bang!
There was a loud noise that shook the sky, as if the whole world was about to be shattered by the first thunder when chaos first opened.
Thousands of Chu troops trembled at the same time, subconsciously looking towards Huguan City behind them, in the direction where the sound came from.
The Chu army of 70,000 to 80,000 men was instantly stunned and stunned.
Countless pairs of eyes saw that on the east side of Huguan, a fire suddenly burst into the sky. The flames carried dust and rocks and soared into the sky, reaching a height of more than ten feet.
In the firelight and dust mist, the indestructible city wall of Huguan collapsed several feet wide.
Huguan City was defeated instantly!
"How is this possible? What happened!" Xu Shu was so shocked that he could hardly breathe. He looked at Yan Liang in astonishment, trying to seek Yan Liang's explanation.
Yan Liang regained his composure and said calmly: "Yuan Zhi, don't panic, I just used a few barrels of gunpowder to blow up Huguan City."
gunpowder!?
Xu Shu was frightened and confused. This new and unheard term made him even more confused.
Yes, that is indeed gunpowder.
Gunpowder is one of the four great inventions of China. As a time traveler, how could Yan Liang not know about it?
This gunpowder has been around since ancient times. It was originally discovered by Taoist priests who were refining elixirs.
This means that Taoist priests can be said to be the most primitive "chemists".
Among the Taoist priests of Taiping Road, Yan Liang, there should be many Taoist priests who had refined elixirs. Yan Liang then ordered Zhou Cang to summon Taoist priests from several states in the two rivers and gather them together to prepare gunpowder according to the formula given to them by Yan Liang.
In the original history, gunpowder was only produced on a large scale during the Song Dynasty. Nowadays, even basic raw materials are hard to find.
In order to prepare enough gunpowder to blow open the Huguan city wall, Yan Liang ordered the governors of various counties to do their best to collect and purchase these raw materials.
It can be said that Yan Liang barely managed to scrape together a few barrels of gunpowder raw materials in just a few months with the strength of almost half the country.
Yan Liangyuan was also worried that his newly made gunpowder might not be effective and the bombardment of the city would end in failure.
Now it seems that he is still very lucky, and he got his wish and opened a gap in Huguan City.
On Xu Shu's side, Monk Zhang Er was still scratching his head. He couldn't figure out why this "gunpowder" was a divine object that could ignite fire and explode, exerting such huge power.
Yan Liang did not explain much, raised his whip and said sternly: "Attack the whole army, let me enter Huguan and kill all the enemy invaders!"
Dong dong dong~~
The rumble of war drums sounded again, and the sound of attack horns resounded through the sky.
Tens of thousands of soldiers woke up from the shock and rushed out with shouts of death. Full of fighting spirit, they rushed towards the collapsed Huguan City from all directions.
Yan Liang looked at his soldiers like a tide, and thought to himself that this gunpowder was so powerful. If he had known that he should have invented it earlier, wouldn't he have been even more disadvantaged?
"No, fortunately I didn't discover it earlier, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous..." Yan Liang quickly rejected the idea.
Gunpowder is no different than city-busting cannons and repeating crossbows. The manufacture of these complex weapons requires not only detailed drawings, but also the division of labor and cooperation of many craftsmen to produce different parts and finally assemble them successfully.
Even if the enemy captures individual craftsmen, there is no way they can imitate it.
Gunpowder is different. There are only three basic manufacturing raw materials, and the production process is nothing more than a ratio. The enemy can easily obtain manufacturing information, even if they don't know the specific ratio, as long as they know the raw materials. Try it slowly.
If you match, you will be able to match in the end.
When Yan Liang was still weak, the invention of gunpowder would be a temporary power, but it would definitely attract the attention of other powerful princes. If these enemies were given the method to make gunpowder and mass-produced it, the threat to themselves would be even greater.
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Therefore, rushing to invent gunpowder when you are still young is like a three-year-old child with a million dollars in your hands, but it will do more harm than good.
But things are different now. Yan Liang swept across the world, and only one of the thirteen states was left unconquered. Under such a strong force, even if the enemy obtained the method of making gunpowder, what would happen.
You can make gunpowder with the power of just one state, how can you make it better than I can with the power of more than a dozen states?
Gunpowder was invented at this time. It was the right time to conquer the fortified city and dominate the world as soon as possible.
In Yan Liang's state of mind and emotion, countless soldiers of Chu State had already surged through the ditch and rushed towards the gap in Huguan City.
At this time, the Jin army on top of the city was still in a state of disorientation and confusion.
Hundreds of Jin soldiers were blown up into the sky by the powerful impact in that instant explosion, and were blown to pieces.
The surviving Jin soldiers were also frightened to death by the sudden and almost terrifying explosion.
Wang Ling, who was originally proud, was shocked to the ground in an instant, and all his pride and confidence were shaken out of the sky.
Wang Ling pushed the dust off his head and climbed up unsteadily. When he saw the hole in the city wall, he was frightened.
"How is it possible? How did the Chu thieves break through my city wall? The Chu thieves didn't do anything?" The frightened Wang Ling muttered to himself incoherently.
On the left and right, the soldiers were screaming in shock, and all of them were on the verge of mental collapse.
Just when he was in despair, the war drums rumbled again, and the soldiers of Dachu, like countless tigers, pounced on him again.
Seeing the waves of enemies, Wang Ling was frightened again and secretly complained. Once the gap in the city wall was opened, what else could he use to block the Chu army's attack?
While Wang Ling was still thinking about strategies to defend against the enemy, the frightened Jin soldiers on the left and right began to collapse at the sight of the wind, abandoning their helmets and armor, and fled towards the inner city with their heads in their hands.
Wang Ling was furious, drew his sword and shouted: "Anyone who dares to retreat without permission will be killed without mercy. I will stop them all!"
The hoarse roar was quickly drowned in the Chu army's thundering shouts of killing. The frightened Jin army, whose spirits had been shattered by the explosion at that moment, could not care less about Wang Ling's threat.
, just trying to escape without his life.
"Stop, stop all of you, you cowards, don't run away..."
Wang Ling was furious and killed several soldiers who were escaping, but he still could not stop the defeat.
While Wang Lingshang was screaming angrily, hundreds of Chu soldiers had already poured into Huguan City from the gap, swarming up the broken city walls on the left and right.
Veteran general Zhang Ren, carrying a sword in hand, took the lead in attacking the city wall.
But I saw the big knife in Zhang Ren's hand, sweeping left and right like a wheel, and like the autumn wind sweeping down fallen leaves, ruthlessly crushing the enemy soldiers who bumped into them into pieces.
After killing the rebel army, Zhang Ren took a look at Wang Ling, who was shouting and angry.
"My opportunity to make a meritorious deed has finally arrived, haha——" Zhang Ren was full of energy, laughing like thunder, using his sword to tear through the rebel army, and went towards Wang Ling to kill him.
Wang Lingzheng was furious and swung his sword to stop the collapse, and suddenly felt a fierce murderous intention, like a mountain of tai, pressing down on him.
Turning around, he saw a veteran of the Chu army charging towards him unstoppably. The sword in his hand was like the claws of the god of death, wantonly seeking for souls and killing him.
Seeing such a powerful enemy general, Wang Ling's face was instantly filled with fear.