Tibet

Two hundred firebirds rushed into the city, and shouts suddenly broke out in the city. Most of the houses in the county were old and basically made of wood, which could easily burn down.

Ashina Chengqing also arranged for more than 10,000 people to be divided into 400 groups to prepare to put out the fire at any time. Each person held a bamboo broom, a bucket and a wet bedding. The firebirds of the Tang Army flew into the city, and the soldiers immediately rushed to put out the fire. .

It did have a certain effect. Two hundred firebirds flew into the city. Each group of soldiers rushed to extinguish the nearest firebird. Soon, the two hundred firebirds were extinguished and more than one hundred and thirty were extinguished.

However, more than 70 firebirds still set fire to the houses, and more than 70 fire spots appeared in the city.

Immediately afterwards, another two hundred firebirds flew into the city. This time, the soldiers had a little difficulty in putting out the fire. The fire in front was not extinguished, and the fire in the back started again.

The Yan army soldiers barely extinguished more than 70 firebirds and fire spots, but more than 120 firebirds still set fire to the house.

What's worse is that the wind picked up at night, the north wind howled, and the fire started to burn in large areas. The fire-fighting soldiers were burned and retreated continuously, and they could no longer defeat the raging fire.

Gao Xiuyan also saw that the situation was not good, so he galloped towards the county government office, and happened to see the general Ashina Chengqing on the steps, "Captain, the fire has taken hold, and the brothers can no longer put out the fire!"

Ashina Chengqing thought very carefully, but the fire really burned, and the shocking fire still made him a little scared. He quickly ordered: "Order the soldiers to assemble at the City God's Temple, and let Xiao Si Come and see me with Li Chengdan!"

"Follow the order!"

Gao Xiuying galloped away on horseback.

Looking at the rapidly spreading fire, Ashina Chengqing felt a little regretful now. He should have followed Li Chengdan's advice and evacuated the county first, so that at least some of his troops could be saved.

Although he regretted it in his heart, he would not say it out loud. How could he show his decision-making mistakes in front of the soldiers.

At this time, two cavalry commanders, Xiao Si and Li Chengdan, galloped over on horseback. They clasped their fists on their horses and said, "See you, Lieutenant!"

Xiao Si is a Khitan, commanding 5,000 Khitan cavalry, and Li Chengdan is a Xi, commanding 5,000 cavalry. Of course, there are no more than 10,000 cavalry under their command, with only more than 6,000 left.

They looked down on the Han people and looked down on the Han soldiers, so they didn't buy it at all when Gao Xiuyan led the two of them to break up the rear.

Their immediate boss was Sun Xiaozhe. Sun Xiaozhe was seriously injured and was sent back to Chang'an. The two of them were personally led by Ashina Chengqing. Ashina Chengqing was the national master and was able to move them around.

Ashina Chengqing ordered the two of them, "You lead the cavalry to try the North City Gate. If the North City Gate can retreat, notify me immediately!"

Li Chengdan curled his lips secretly. He persuaded him to retreat during the day and was scolded by him. Now he knew that the problem was serious.

They felt contempt in their hearts, but the two of them did not dare to disobey the order. In fact, they also wanted to break out and retreat north. It was too dangerous to stay in the city.

The two immediately clasped their fists and said, "Follow the order!"

Their cavalry has already assembled on the street. Although the fire is fierce and can be tolerated now, they are afraid that the smoke will rise and the men and horses will not be able to stand it.

"Attack!"

Xiao Si shouted loudly, and the six thousand cavalry galloped towards the north gate. They were definitely not testing, they were just trying to break out of the city. What did it matter to them whether the infantry behind them could follow up?

The North City Gate has been opened, the drawbridge is slowly lowered, and the two thousand heavy armored infantry surrounding the North City Gate have heard the sound of horse hooves galloping at the city gate, and began to line up and surround them in a semicircle.

When the city gate opened, two thousand Mo swords rushed forward on the ground. Suddenly there was a cold shadow of sword light and murderous intent.

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, and they rushed out of the city gate in an instant. The one running at the front was the right general Xiao Si. When he saw the opponent's formation dozens of steps away, it turned out to be the Mo Dao formation. He was frightened to death, but he was already Unable to look back, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and shout wildly: "Kill -"

He swung the mace club and hit the commander of the Mo Dao army on the opposite side fiercely.

The eyes of General Mo Dao's black spear flashed with cruelty like a wild wolf. He waved his Mo Dao, and the sword's sharp cold light flashed, and blood burst out. The war horse under Xiao Si's crotch lost its head and turned into a headless horse. The war horse fell to the ground, throwing Xiao Si out, and the mace was also hit on the side. Xiao Si rolled to the ground, but he could not get up again. Several Mo knives came down together, and Xiao Si was chopped into countless pieces.

The cavalry behind them rushed up like a wild wave, but the Mo Dao army was like a huge towering rock, splitting the waves into pieces. The broken corpses piled up quickly, and the flesh and blood were mixed together, making it difficult to distinguish between men and horses. A large amount of blood was as small as a small amount of blood. It flows into the moat like a stream, dyeing the moat in the Beicheng area red.

At this time, the Tang Army's crossbow troops on both sides fired together, and the crossbow arrows were like a rapid rain. The cavalry running out of the city tumbled into the moat. The number of cavalry running across the suspension bridge also decreased rapidly, greatly reducing the pressure on the heavy armored infantry.

In less than a quarter of an hour, more than a thousand cavalry had been killed, and the corpses were piled up like a hill. The cavalry in the city could no longer rush out. Li Chengdan had no choice but to turn around and run towards the city.

At this time, the city was already in flames, the flames were rising into the sky, thick smoke was filling the air, and the air was burning hot. The streets were also covered in thick smoke, nothing could be seen, and the people and horses were choked and couldn't breathe.

Many war horses went crazy, neighed sadly, ran wildly with all four hooves, and rushed into the sea of ​​​​fire with their cavalry.

Groups of war horses fell to the ground and suffocated to death. The soldiers lay on the ground, holding their throats with their hands, coughing desperately, and gradually couldn't breathe and fainted.

Only the city gate was slightly better. When Li Chengdan saw that there was no way to survive back to the city, he yelled, "Come out and live or die!"

They rushed with all their strength, trampling and running among the piles of corpses. The corpses were trampled to pieces, but they were still rushed over the suspension bridge and scattered in all directions. At this time, the heavy armored infantry had already retreated dozens of steps, forming a circle. Semicircular, with a large open space in the middle.

The advantage of this is that the cavalry can disperse and escape, and the impact is not only concentrated on the front, but also puts too much pressure on the front.

But the result was the same. The cavalry scattered in all directions, but they could not escape the strangulation of Mo Dao's formation. The last few thousand cavalry escaped, but they also perished in the light of swords and blood and rain of arrows. Li Chengdan was wounded by more than three hundred people. The arrow fell into the moat. The moat was very shallow. The moat at the north gate had been filled with corpses. Li Chengdan and his horse fell heavily on the pile of corpses like hedgehogs.

The North City breakout failed and the entire cavalry army was wiped out. Ashina Chengqing could no longer get these two news. Fire engulfed the entire county. Tens of thousands of soldiers gathered in an open space of dozens of acres. The soldiers squatted or sat, every day. Everyone covered their mouths and noses with wet linen cloths and waited silently for the fire to end.

This is indeed a way. If you are in a sea of ​​​​fire, you can escape by creating an open space in advance, but you must also pay attention to smoke prevention.

Unfortunately, Ashina Chengqing met Li Ye. Li Ye had long expected that he would have this escape plan. At the top of the west city, several Tang Army scouts confirmed the target and fired a rocket into the air.

The three hundred cyclone cannons waiting on the opposite side of the west moat fired together. Fireballs in clay pots were fired into the city like raindrops. The fireballs fell from the sky and crackled into the crowd. The crowd suddenly ignited a fire. What's more terrible, ten thousand people. The cavalry fired arrows into the city at the same time. The arrows were like a rapid rain, mixed with fireballs and shot towards the crowd.

The Yan army was in chaos, running away in panic. Countless people were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, or their bodies were ignited with fire, and they ran wildly wailing.

Five thousand crossbowmen from the north city also climbed onto the city wall, raised their crossbows and fired arrows at the Yan soldiers below the city. Many soldiers were afraid that the fire would not be strong enough, so they threw down bundles of wheat straw to increase the intensity of the fire.

The city was filled with thick smoke. Standing on the city wall, you could only see the billowing smoke and could not see the situation inside the city. The soldiers of the Tang Army could only blindly raise their crossbows and shoot into the city.

There was not much fire in the direction of the South City Gate, and a large number of soldiers fled to the South City Gate to survive.

The south city gate opened. Li Ye changed his plan and ordered that surrender be accepted. The soldiers shouted in unison: "Put down your weapons, and those who surrender will have their lives spared!"

For a moment, countless soldiers were seen running out to surrender with their hands raised and crying.