Most of the buildings in Qinghua City are made of wooden structures. It is midsummer, and the weather is dry and things are burning when they encounter fire.

The war at the South City Gate quickly spread into the city, with a huge fire burning wildly and heading straight into the sky, and thick smoke rolling, covering the sky and the sun.

The city was already in chaos, with defenders and people running away everywhere.

Under the continuous bombing of Ming army artillery, there were only a few people who could survive in the Nanchengmen area.

Even if you are lucky enough to be killed, you can't escape the fire. If you avoid the fire, you can't escape the trampling of each other. Even if you are lucky, you can't escape these things. The rolling smoke is the most deadly!

So many people were not burned to death or trampled to death, but were suffocated to death under the cover of thick smoke.

Some people tried to put out the fire, but the fire was too big to extinguish it.

The Ming army's artillery finally stopped, but they did not enter the city because the entire Qinghua City had turned into a sea of ​​fire.

The escaped people were rushing around in the thick smoke, and they could no longer tell the direction. Some people fainted and fell to the ground while running. Occasionally, a few people covered in fire would scream and run wildly with their hands and feet.

Qinghua City has four gates, all of which have been locked long ago.

In order to prevent the Ming army from being in charge in the city, Li Sicheng specially ordered craftsmen to build huge iron chains and personally take charge of the keys. On weekdays, even the city defense is not qualified to open the door.

Now that the South City Gate is attacked, many people are crazily rushing to the other three city gates, trying to escape from the sky, but find that this huge iron chain originally used to resist the Ming army cannot be opened at all.

The solid Qinghua City has now become the last barrier to trap thousands of soldiers and civilians.

…………

The gate of the North City was also crowded with people.

"Open the door, open it quickly!"

Countless defeated generals were crowded under the city gate and shouted hysterically.

Although in the daytime, they still vowed to let the Ming army taste their power and to let the Ming army repeat the mistakes they had back then. They even showed off their power, believing that the Ming army would withdraw their troops in a panic as decades ago.

But now, among the flames and smoke, in front of the locked city gate, they fell one after another, like harvested wheat.

When Li Sicheng and his son arrived at the North City Gate, they were surrounded and blocked.

The commander of the Imperial Guard drew his sword and shouted: "Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

No one could hear it at all. Everyone was tightly blocked in front of the city gate. Even if they died, they would die here.

In desperation, the commander of the Imperial Guard waved, and the Imperial Guard behind him stepped forward and chopped several people in a row.

However, it did not work.

Seeing that the guards were about to continue killing people, Li Yan hurriedly shouted: "The key to the city gate is here, let me open the door!"

Finally, in the chaotic crowd, someone heard the word "key".

Everyone made way out. Li Yan led his men forward, opened the city gate, and then fled northward.

…………

Outside the south gate, the Ming army's position.

Chen Ying looked at the burning Qinghua City, but there was no relaxed expression on his face.

"Your Highness, why don't you block other city gates and only attack the South Gate? The thief chief is likely to abandon the city and escape!"

Zhu Qiyu was silent for a moment, then asked back: "There was an idiom in ancient times, which is called "One of the Internet, do you know what it means?"

Chen Ying was stunned for a moment and said, "Didn't it mean to let people go? But... why should I let them go?"

Zhu Qiyu said: "This allusion has been around for a long time. It is about the late Xia Dynasty when Cheng Tang went out to hunt and saw a net of scattered nets on all sides of the countryside. A hunter was praying that those who came from the sky, those who came from the earth, and those who came from all directions entered my net."

Chen Ying couldn't help but nodded and said, "Since it's hunting, it should be like this."

"But Cheng Tang said, "You will wipe out all the animals, then remove the net from three sides, and said, if you want to go to the left, go to the left, if you want to go to the right, go to the right, if you don't want to run, go to the Internet cafe!"

Chen Ying was puzzled and frowned tightly.

Zhu Qiyu asked, "Guess, what's the result?"

"I guess that Cheng Tang was beaten by the hunter...?"

"Of course not!"

Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said, "This incident reached the ears of all the princes. They all said that Cheng Tang was so kind that even the beasts received his favor. At this time, Xia Jie was tyrannical and lewd and unruly. So Shang Tang raised his troops and led the princes to attack Xia, and finally succeeded and established the Shang Dynasty."

Chen Ying was still puzzled and asked: "On the battlefield, benevolence towards the enemy is cruelty towards himself. If he wins, he means he is awesome. What kind of benevolence or unkind..."

"You're right!"

Zhu Qiyu suddenly smiled and said, "I used to think that this story is about the invincible of benevolence, but the emperor told me that when I was open to the Internet, benevolence is just the surface. The real reason is to prevent trapped beasts from fighting. Whether it is a human or an animal, if you are desperate, you will do your best to fight back. However, if the enemy leaves a glimmer of hope for life, they will only think about how to escape. For our army, it can not only achieve strategic intentions, but also minimize their casualties. There is also an idiom called "Don't chase the enemy, which is the reason."

Chen Ying has also been through the battlefield for a long time, so he naturally understands this truth, but he still has a question: "But if the thief chief is released, there will be endless troubles!"

Zhu Qiyu disagreed and said, "What's wrong with leaving? After conquering Qinghua and Shenglong, Annan fell completely. What can a mere king of a devastated country and a dog of a family have caused trouble? What we need to consider now is how to manage it in the future. In the past, we had no experience and consumed a lot of manpower and material resources, but in the end we had no choice but to withdraw our troops..."

The order to give up Annan was given by Emperor Xuanzong, so on this topic, just click it.

Chen Ying asked again: "What should we do now?"

Looking at the flames soaring into the sky, Zhu Qiyu asked, "How much ammunition is left?"

Chen Ying replied: "There are still two hundred shells, landmines and roughly one hundred and fifty grenades, and the rifle's ammunition is sufficient."

When he came out of the capital, the Shenji Camp carried a total of 6,000 shells and 2,000 mines and grenades. Until now, there are not many left.

Especially tonight, the firepower was fully launched and more than 1,200 shells were consumed.

You know, the cost of a flowering bullet is 300 taels of silver, more than 1,200 tons, more than 300,000 taels!

This is just the cost price, which is something that even if you have money, you can't buy it.

The battle is about money. In the past, it was determined by who had more soldiers and who had more food and grass. To put it bluntly, these were also money.

During the Renxuan period, the Ming Dynasty changed its expansion trend and took the initiative to give up Annan and Nuergandusi, and began to adopt the strategy of rest and recuperation because the Yongle Dynasty spent too much money and the people of the world could no longer afford it.

What the Ming Dynasty today lacks most is silver. Since the emperor returned from Tumu Fort, he first investigated Wang Zhen's remaining party, purged the Jiangnan smuggling group, and also confiscated the Confucius family in Qufu, and had already made a lot of money.

More than 300,000 taels of silver were poured into a battle, but it was just a little bit.

Of course, for Annan, no matter how much money there is, it cannot be exchanged for flying tiger cannons and flowering bullets.

This is the power of technology!

Zhu Qiyu thought for a while and ordered: "The two hundred shells were kept for the Dragon, and the order was sent to the place to rest, wait until the fire is extinguished, and enter the city!"

Attacking Shenglong City, two hundred shells were definitely not enough, but there were Zhang Fu's 100,000 troops there.
Chapter completed!