Chapter 623 [First Update]

Li Xi directly ordered people to place the gunpowder barrel on the catapult, and remembered Liu Tan's instructions firmly, and fired it immediately once it was ignited.

When the gunpowder barrel that looked like a wine barrel was placed on the catapult, Li Xi himself was unsure. He always wondered what use could such a small wooden barrel have?

Not only him, even the Wuhuan people standing on the city wall were laughing and chattering. They thought that the Han people were going to pour wine on the city wall and then set it on fire to melt the ice on the wall. They laughed and asked someone to bring water.

The temperature was no longer high enough for the water to freeze, but they could dilute the other party's alcohol, preventing it from burning.

To be on the safe side, they even asked many people to run to the city wall with buckets of water in case of emergency.

If the fire is really lit, even if it cannot burn through the ice wall immediately, the temperature will eventually speed up the collapse of the ice wall. Once the ice wall can no longer hold, they will have to fight the Han people with real swords and guns.

Now they can completely defend the city and consume the enemy. They can eat, drink and sleep well in the city, while the Han people outside can only watch anxiously. They can even find ways to interfere with these Han people and make them exhausted.

So we must defend the city walls first.

More and more soldiers climbed up the city wall. Li Xi saw that the five experimental gunpowder barrels had been tied up, so he took a deep breath and prayed to all the gods in the sky, hoping that they would bless his prince and make sure that what he said was true.

After the people below reported that they were ready, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fire!"

The fuse of the gunpowder barrel was lit, and the catapult quickly threw the gunpowder barrel out. Because these fuses were installed according to the distance calculated by the craftsmen who followed the army, they had not exploded when they were thrown onto the city wall.

And because the gunpowder barrel was strong enough and did not break, the Wuhuan people were curious about what it was, so they sent people to check it out. As soon as they approached, there was a loud bang and everyone near the gunpowder barrel was blown into the sky.

Li Xi stood below and watched the broken arms and legs on the city wall scattering in the air. Gaps appeared on the city wall wherever the gunpowder barrels fell. He could not help but stand there in a daze for a moment.

Liu Tan had told him before that the powder keg was very powerful. It could have blown up the Qilan Kingdom and the port of Jiaozhi Kingdom. But the problem was that he didn't expect that this thing would be so powerful.

Neither Qilan nor Jiaozhi are actually very good at infrastructure. On the contrary, the ethnic groups in these cold regions are much better than them in construction.

After all, in those places, it may not matter even if they have to sleep under the roof of a tent or on the ground. Even in winter, they can just find a cave or build a house with some bamboo and wood to shelter from the wind and rain. Their demand for keeping warm is not particularly great.

But it is different north of Yan State. Without a sturdy and windproof house, humans cannot survive the winter here.

Li Xi had previously thought that the gunpowder barrels would be enough to force back the archers on the city wall. With those archers there, it would be difficult for them to rush through the city wall.

But now he realized that not to mention archers, if there were more gunpowder barrels, he could blow the enemy's city to the sky!

Just as Li Xi was shocked, some soldiers who had come to their senses began to vomit.

The power of the gunpowder barrel was indeed great, but the scene after the explosion was really a bit unbearable to look at. Such a tragic scene was not something that ordinary people could accept, especially since many of the soldiers in this wave were new recruits.

Li Xi was better off. The visual effect of the explosion was quite strong, but in terms of cruelty, he had seen even more cruel scenes.

He turned to the craftsman behind him and said, "Can you blow open the city gate?"

The craftsman immediately responded, "Yes, Your Highness has allowed us to test it."

Li Xi said decisively: "The catapults continue to throw gunpowder barrels to drive back their archers. You take your men to blow up the city gate!"

If it were Liu Tan, he would definitely choose to let the craftsmen wear the best armor to blow up the city gate, or choose to throw it from a distance. After all, it is too dangerous to throw gunpowder barrels at the city wall while sending people to blow up the city gate.

What if the distance is not calculated well and the gunpowder barrel falls and explodes on our own people?

But in Li Xi's opinion, the lives of slaves are not as important as those of craftsmen.

It was also thanks to Liu Tan's rigorous approach that he had people trained in throwing things that required judgment, and the soldiers who threw the gunpowder barrels were transferred from the Northern Border Kingdom. Otherwise, those craftsmen under Li Xi's command would probably have lost their lives.

However, Li Xi's defense seemed a bit unnecessary. He was a little shocked after seeing the power of the gunpowder barrel, not to mention the Wuhuan people whom he had never even heard of.

For a moment, the city walls were covered with blood. Some people didn't know whether they were lucky or unlucky, because they were far away and were affected but not dead yet. They only had the strength to wail.

The Wuhuan city, which had just had the upper hand, seemed to have turned into a hell on earth.

No one dared to go to the city wall again, and Li Xi didn't even need to throw out the gunpowder barrels he had prepared, because there were no archers to interfere from beginning to end.

After the city gate was blown open, Li Xi immediately sent heavy armored soldiers in to occupy advantageous positions such as the city wall. At the same time, he sent out crossbowmen to fight in the city. The most advantageous weapon was not the bow and arrow, but the king of short-range killing - the crossbow.

He had made sufficient preparations, yet things went so smoothly that he was surprised.

After entering the city, the heavily armored soldiers found that the people were staying indoors and did not encounter any resistance at all.

After they climbed up the city wall, the living people they saw were either seriously injured and could hardly survive, or were so scared that they had no power to resist at all.

Li Xi didn't find it strange after hearing the news.

He was mentally prepared, but was still shocked. All his soldiers were stunned on the spot, and some of them have not yet recovered, not to mention the Wuhuan people who were caught off guard.

To be on the safe side, Li Xi ordered his men to first detain the city lord's mansion and all the civilians and soldiers in the city to prevent them from cheating.

This is a very tedious task and it usually takes three or four days to fully understand the situation in the city.

But this time, it only took about a day and a half to get everything done.

Li Xi asked the deputy general in surprise, "Is it really done?"

The deputy general said stupidly, "These Wuhuan people are so scared that they are so obedient. They do whatever they are told to do without any resistance."

Li Xi asked, "Is there a tunnel in the city?"

The deputy general said: "There are some in the City Lord's Mansion, but not many. The brothers have already dragged everyone out."

Li Xi thought about it carefully and found that there was nothing left behind, so he went straight into the city.

After entering the city, he first went to the square where the Wuhuan people were collectively detained. He saw that the Wuhuan people were sitting obediently on the ground, and their brown eyes looking at them revealed infinite fear.

Li Xi took a look and found that these people seemed to have lost their will. Not to mention resisting, they didn't even dare to look at him, so he went straight to the City Lord's Mansion.

Sitting on the throne in the City Lord's Mansion, Li Xi touched the telescope that Liu Tan had given him after he had specifically requested Liu Che. For a moment he was at a loss, feeling that this victory was too easy.

Although this is just one of the Wuhuan cities, there are other cities within a short distance of the royal city.

But he originally planned that it would take about half a month to capture the city, but now it only took... three days?

No, the three days included the logistics time. The actual battle only took one day, and half of that day was wasted because he didn't think of the powder keg at the first time.

Not to mention Li Xi, even the junior officers under him found it unbelievable. They didn't lose a single person. Only some soldiers were slightly injured, and there were no serious injuries. Who would believe it if they told others about it?

But after the initial surprise, carnival followed.

Compared to the generals, the soldiers' thoughts are much simpler - going to the battlefield is unavoidable, and it is better to avoid death if possible.

Before joining the army, everyone had basically told their families their last words. They had also heard that the Northern King's men always had the fewest casualties in battle.

When they came, they thought that the King of the North was leading the team, but they didn't expect it to be Li Xi. They had already given up hope, but found out that they actually survived.

They did not feel shocked at all, but secretly made a clay figure to serve as the King of the North for worship.

Li Xi thought for a moment after recovering from his shock. "We've been preparing for two days. You can drink tonight, but not too much. By the way, have you found out the number of prisoners? Report it to me first so I can write a victory report."

This victory report is to be sent to the King of the North. As for how the King of the North sends it, that is up to him.

Because the battle went smoothly, the situation on the Han side was basically the same as if they had directly taken over the city. There were not many things that needed to be sorted out on their side, so the reports came in very quickly.

Li Xi took the battle report and glanced at it in surprise: "What happened? Didn't you have any conflict with the enemy? How come none of them even had minor injuries? Did you kill them all?"

Li Xi became very alert when he thought of this, because he knew how much Liu Tan hated killing the surrendered soldiers.

Although he was angry, he never asked Li Xi to massacre the city. The only thing he instructed was to wipe out the big Wuhuan families. He always targeted and dealt with the leaders, not the ordinary people, and he didn't really want to exterminate the Wuhuan.

The people below smiled bitterly and said, "How could we dare? After the city gate was blown open, these Wuhuan people surrendered directly. There were some injured soldiers who had climbed the city wall before, but... they were all dealt with by their own people. When we arrived, they were still slaughtering their own people."

Even the knowledgeable Li Xi was stunned: "What?"