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At night, Licheng was quiet, and the moonlight in the city seemed very dim. The mountains to the east blocked the moonlight and threw huge shadows into the city. In the dim night, the soldiers fell asleep one after another. Only the guards on the top of the city were paced back and forth, staring vigilantly outside the city.

The Cao army relied on the beacon tower in the south. Although they knew that the war was about to break out, everyone was lucky. Perhaps the enemy would kill from Chen Cang Road to Guanzhong. After all, it was not far from Chen Cang Road from Wudu County.

So they have been paying attention to the beacon towers. The beacon towers report safety every morning and dusk, and no abnormal flames ignited, which calmed down the soldiers guarding the city.

Just behind a forest around the east of the city, an army of more than a thousand people was running quickly towards the mountain. This mountain army from Shu, each soldier grew up in the mountains and was good at climbing mountains with heavy loads. Each soldier carried heavy equipment, led by general Zhang Ren, and rushed along the mountain under the guidance of scout Ren Ping.

This mountain was originally nameless, and was named after the construction of Licheng at the foot of the west. It was called Lidong Mountain. Licheng was actually built on the hillside of this mountain. The terrain was very high and it was located at a high height, guarding the only way to go north to Qishan.

Zhang Ren led the soldiers to run, and half an hour later, they came to a slightly gentle hillside, which was already above Licheng. This was Pang Tong's plan. He discovered the weakness of Licheng, that is, to build it on the mountain, so that his army could go up the mountain to condescend to the heights, and instead control the city, making Licheng's advantage suddenly a disadvantage.

This is also the most commonly used terrain to win in mountain wars. However, the city builders also considered this disadvantage, so Licheng was not close to the cliff, and slowly moved up from a slope, which gave the hillside about fifty steps away from the city, and could not shoot into the city with a bow and arrow.

But if you use throwing weapons that exceed two steps, then this distance will have no effect. Of course, it is impossible for ordinary troops to carry heavy weapons such as large stone catapults to the mountain, but since Jingzhou has a craftsman, this has become possible.

The catapult invented by Ma Jun was not only far away but built sturdy and durable, but also fully considered the convenience of transportation and made the catapult very easy to disassemble and assemble. Only two soldiers could carry a large catapult and be used at any time in the mountains.

The thousand-mountain soldiers carried five heavy trench machines, which could throw dozens of kilograms of heavy objects out of four steps. The throwing rod was four feet long. This was the only part that required ten soldiers to carry and run.

Zhang Ren found the open space in the attack city. With his order, the fortification soldier began to quickly assemble the giant catapult.

One hour later, five giant-like catapults stood on the hillside. Zhang Ren looked into the city and could vaguely see the dense tents in the city. He smiled coldly and ordered: "Prepare the fireball."

This time, the Han army used fireballs, soaked in linen cloth and wrapped them layer by layer, forming a large ball with a diameter of more than 40 kilograms and can be thrown four steps away.

Five huge fireballs were placed in the copper pocket, and the soldiers pulled back and threw the rod to hook the wooden frame. At this time, the soldiers began to push the winch, squeaking and tensing.

The soldiers raised their torches and lit five big balls. The five big balls began to burn. The burning flames seemed particularly dazzling at night. Zhao Yun, who was ambushing in the woods in the distance, could see clearly, and his fists slowly clenched.

Zhang Ren looked at both sides and was ready. He shouted, "Start the fireball."

The soldiers pulled the iron hook and pulled the rope of the throwing rod without any pulling force. The throwing rod suddenly popped out forward. Five big, bright and burning fireballs rose into the air, and the fireballs rolled in the night sky and smashed straight into Licheng...

Licheng was still asleep, including the soldiers guarding the city walls. None of them expected that the danger had come quietly, and they did not expect that the danger would fall from the sky.

When the soldiers guarding the city suddenly found a bright red fireball above their heads, it was too late. The fireball slammed into the city and smashed several tents. The huge fireball rolled on the ground, rushed into the tent group and lit one tent after another.

The defenders on the city wall exclaimed loudly, and the alarm bell rang. Many soldiers ran out of the tent barefoot, watching the tent burning in horror. Dozens of tents had been lit. The fire took advantage of the wind and the fire burned more and more rapidly. Ya Jiang Shan was rushing on a horse. He shouted in a hurry: "Drop the tent quickly."

He had realized that it was not a fire from the sky, but an enemy attacking the city on the mountain, but they had no preparation in advance, which made him anxious and waved his sword and shouted: "All soldiers came out of the tent."

At this moment, five more fireballs fell from the sky and roared into the tent group in the west. Dozens of large tents were quickly ignited, and more than a dozen residential shops were also ignited by the fire, and the flames were burning and spreading rapidly.

The broken tents burning out of control were blown into the air by the wind, and fires were burning everywhere in the city, and thick smoke filled the city. The soldiers ran around, shouting in horror and crying sounded throughout the city.

At this time, Zhao Yun's army was in a forest two miles away from the west of the city. Although they were at a low place, they had already seen the fires coming out of the city and the thick smoke. Zhao Yun couldn't help but praise Pang Tong: "The military advisor is indeed powerful. He forced Cao's army out of Licheng without any effort."

Pang Tong smiled proudly, "This is called the time and place are not as good as the place. Cao's army built a city on the mountain. Although it is condescending, it also leaves hidden dangers. The place is not as good as the people. We have the most powerful catapult, which is doomed to the destruction of Licheng. Cao's army supports it for at most half an hour, and the general is ready to attack."

Zhao Yun nodded and turned around and shouted: "Send the order and prepare to attack."

"Prepare to attack"

After passing the orders one by one, the nine thousand Han troops were tense and eager to try.

At this time, what was thrown from the mountain was no longer a fireball, but turned into buckets of turmeric oil, forty kilograms per bucket, and buckets of turmeric oil fell from the sky and smashed into the city.

The wooden barrel fell to the ground and tinder oil splashed everywhere, which further fueled the fire. At this time, the entire city of Licheng was covered by a fire, and the upper houses were ignited, and the fire was raging, rushing to the sky more than ten feet high.

The soldiers were scared and as the fire grew bigger and bigger, soldiers began to flee. Soon, the city gate opened, and countless soldiers and families rushed out of the city. Many young women stumbled and cried.

Dan Ting was so anxious that he ordered the soldiers to go to the south city to hide. He had already discovered a clue, that is, the fireballs thrown from the mountain could not rush to the southern end of the city. The southern end was ignited by the fire, which was entirely because of the fragments of the tent. As long as he escaped to the city wall, he could escape the disaster.

Although Shan Ting discovered a way to escape, not many soldiers followed his command. At this time, everyone knew that only by escaping from the city would be safe. The instinct of escape made more and more soldiers flee outside the city.

"General, go quickly"

Several soldiers shouted to Shan Ting, "Brothers have all escaped from the city."

Seeing that the crying around him was no longer heard, and the figures were running less and less. There were only one more soldiers on duty next to him. At this time, he knew that the situation was already hopeless, so he had to sigh and turn around and shout to the soldiers: "There will be an ambush outside the city, and everyone can follow me to break out of the encirclement."

Dan thrust his horse and ran towards the north city gate. The north city gate was wide open, and all the soldiers and people had fled. He rode his horse out, and the soldiers Yu from behind also rushed out of the city gate.

At this time, the Han army had surrounded the two city gates, north and south. As soon as the Cao army soldiers escaped, they were immediately surrounded by the Han army. Most of the Cao army soldiers woke up from their sleep, without wearing armor, without weapons, and even barefoot. In addition, they were panicked and surrounded by the enemy. They knelt on the ground and surrendered, and no one dared to resist.

Ya general Shanting led Yu soldiers to run out from the north gate. He knew that there must be an enemy outside. At this time, he could only rely on his war horses to see if he could break out of the siege. Shanting saw an enemy stop in front of him. The official road was kneeling with surrendered soldiers. He waved his spear and shouted, "Those who blocked me will die."

As soon as he finished speaking, a general appeared from the slanting stalker. He was eight feet tall and held a big knife in his hand, shouting like a thunderbolt: "Wei Yan is here"

Wei Yan's galloping horse was like thunder, and instantly rushed to Shan Ting. He raised his sword and fell. The big sword passed by like lightning. Shan Ting couldn't dodge. The head was chopped several feet away, and the dead body fell from the horse.

Since the main general died, the soldiers Yu who escaped with Shan Ting were scared to death. They threw down their weapons and knelt down and raised their hands to surrender.

The sky gradually became brighter and the fire in Licheng was extinguished. A fire burned the military city to white ground. Several people were swallowed by the fire. More than 2,000 soldiers and people escaped from the city, but were all captured by the Han army. The Han army only paid the price of slightly injured several people. This battle was exciting.

Zhao Yun immediately ordered people to send prisoners of war and the people back to Wudu to ask for merit. At this time, Pang Tong urged him to come forward and smiled, "General Zhao, I have something to discuss with the general."

This battle made Zhao Yun admire Pang Tong very much. When he followed Liu Bei in the past, he could not feel anything about Pang Tong. Uncle Liu was not satisfied with Pang Tong and was often indifferent to him.

But this battle completely changed Zhao Yun's view of Pang Tong. He finally discovered that Pang Tong was really a piece of beautiful jade. He was once hidden in a stone, but Uncle Liu could not find it, but Liu Jing was a skilled craftsman. He fully carved Pang Tong's beautiful jade.

Zhao Yun clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Pang, please tell me."

Pang Tong also liked Zhao Yun very much. Zhao Yun was humble and respected him enough, which made Pang Tong find dignity. At this time, Pang Tong was not satisfied with the victory of this battle.

He smiled and said, "There is a pass ten miles ahead, called Bailong Valley. There is a military camp with remaining troops stationed in the village. Although it is not as difficult as Licheng, I can easily take down this military camp by using a little trick."

Zhao Yun was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed and said, "Please give instructions from the military advisor."
Chapter completed!