At the same time, on the official road leading from Longmen Pass to Wancheng.

Li Hu rode on his horse, his face ashen and grim.

Behind him stretched a long column of soldiers, their banners fluttering in the cold wind, but the soldiers all looked exhausted and walked with faltering steps.

Five days have passed since the troops withdrew from Longmen Pass. They traveled day and night, and both men and horses were exhausted.

What infuriated Li Hu even more was that small groups of Yin troops kept harassing them along the way—shooting arrows, digging traps, and destroying bridges. Although the casualties were not great, they seriously slowed down the march.

"General, Wancheng is just ahead," the lieutenant reported. "Scouts report that the city gates of Wancheng are wide open, and the city is deserted. Something seems amiss."

Li Hu reined in his horse: "An empty city?"

"Yes. The people in the city have disappeared without a trace, and the garrison has also vanished."

Alarm bells rang in Li Hu's mind.

Zhao Muyun's military tactics were cunning, employing the Empty City Stratagem...

Is he trying to lure me into the city?

But then he thought again, Wancheng was a crucial point on the way to Luoyang, and if it was not captured, the army's supply lines would be in danger.

Moreover, Zhao Muyun only had a little over 10,000 men in Dengzhou, and he had to divide his troops to guard against Liu Song. Where would he get the manpower to ambush in Wancheng?

"Has the forward entered the city?" Li Hu asked.

"General Wei has led a thousand men into the city to investigate, and so far there has been no abnormality."

Li Hu pondered for a moment: "Order the central army to accelerate the advance and rest in Wancheng tonight. Have General Wei guard the four gates and strengthen vigilance."

"yes!"

The order was given, and the exhausted Fengtian soldiers were invigorated—they could finally go into the city to rest.

Li Hu gazed at the distant outline of Wancheng, still feeling a sense of unease.

But he had no choice. His 60,000-strong army had been marching continuously, and if they did not rest, they would collapse before the enemy could even attack them.

"Zhao Muyun...you'd better not be in Wancheng," Li Hu muttered through gritted teeth.

......

At 3:45 AM, the central army of the Fengtian Army arrived in Wancheng one after another.

The city gates were wide open, but no soldiers were seen on the city walls, and the city was deathly silent.

Only five thousand vanguard soldiers patrolled the streets, their torches flickering in the cold wind.

"General, there is indeed no one in the city," General Zhang reported. "The granaries are empty, the wells are not poisoned, and the furniture in the houses is still there, but the people are nowhere to be seen."

Li Hu rode into the city and looked around.

The streets were neat and the houses were orderly, so it certainly didn't look like there was an ambush.

"Perhaps the people heard that the army was coming and fled in advance," the lieutenant guessed.

Li Hu nodded: "Order each battalion to enter the city and rest according to their formation. The first battalion will guard the east gate, the second battalion will guard the west gate, the third battalion will guard the south gate, and the fourth battalion will guard the north gate. The rest of you, find civilian houses to rest, and set off at dawn."

Fifty thousand troops surged into Wancheng like a tidal wave.

Soon, the streets and alleys were filled with exhausted soldiers.

They broke into houses, looted food, cooked meals, and some even lay down and slept on the street.

Li Hu settled down at the county government office, but he was still uneasy:

"Send out more scouts to search the area within five miles of the city. Especially to the south, where Zhao Muyun may have set up an ambush in the direction of Dengzhou."

"Don't worry, General, we have already dispatched three scout teams."

Li Hu was slightly relieved, took off his armor, and prepared to take a short rest.

He was too tired.

Since withdrawing troops from Longmen Pass, I have hardly slept a wink.

As soon as I relaxed, a wave of weariness washed over me.

But just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly smelled a strange odor.

It looks like... kerosene?

Li Hu suddenly sat up: "What's that smell?"

The guards also smelled it: "It smells like... flammable oil?"

The two rushed into the courtyard and saw a faint black mist floating in the night sky, and the pungent smell grew stronger and stronger.

"Not good!" Li Hu's expression changed drastically. "We've fallen into a trap! Order the entire army to leave the city immediately!"

But it was too late.

"boom--!"

A loud bang came from the south of the city, followed by a second, a third... Explosions came one after another, and flames shot into the sky.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The Fengtian Army was thrown into chaos.

The soldiers were awakened from their sleep and rushed into the streets in a panic, trampling each other.

Even more terrifying was that the explosions didn't come from outside the city, but from inside—under the eaves, by the wells, at street corners... everywhere was being detonated by thunderbolts.

"Don't panic! Retreat towards the city gate!" Li Hu shouted hoarsely.

But all four city gates had already been blocked.

After the Fengtian Army had all entered the city, Xiao Cheyun ordered his men to seal the city gates with huge stones and iron fences.

The 60,000-strong army was trapped like turtles in a jar.

"set fire!"

On the hill outside the city, Xiao Cheyun gave an order.

Thousands of rockets were fired into the city.

The rocket fell into the pre-splashed flammable oil, instantly igniting a massive fire.

"Boom—!"

The fire spread rapidly like a dragon, following the spilled kerosene.

Wooden houses, piles of firewood, and even the soldiers' clothing all became fuel.

Wancheng was engulfed in flames.

Screams, explosions, and the sounds of collapsing buildings mingled together, like a sonata from hell.

The soldiers of the Fengtian Army fled through the sea of ​​fire, but had nowhere to escape.

Some tried to climb over the city wall, but it was too high; others tried to dig a tunnel, but there wasn't enough time.

Li Hu retreated to the backyard of the county government office under the protection of his personal guards, where the fire was slightly weaker.

But the thick smoke was so thick that it was impossible to open one's eyes.

"General, let's go through the back door!" The guards slashed open the small back gate.

Outside the door was a small alley that had not yet been completely affected by the fire.

Li Hu led several dozen of his personal guards and fled.

They ran along the alley to the city wall and found that a section of the wall had collapsed due to years of disrepair, forming a slope.

"Get out of here!"

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