Upon hearing his subordinate's words, Kemolai, standing atop the city wall, turned to gaze at the city shrouded in night, his eyes filled with reluctance.

"Lord of the city, we can't take anything from this city with us. Rather than letting those bastards benefit after we break through the city, we might as well burn it all down so they get nothing!"

Seeing Kemolai's hesitant expression, the official stepped forward again to persuade him.

"Okay, let's do it your way!"

Hearing his subordinates' advice, Kemolai no longer hesitated. He knew that his Ansu City was already finished, and it was better to destroy it than let it fall into the hands of others.

Subsequently, Kemolai left a small group of able-bodied men on the city walls to mislead the enemy troops outside the city, while the rest were sent into the city to make arrangements.

At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), after working tirelessly for most of the night, thousands of able-bodied men finally managed to block all movable items in the city's passageways.

At the south gate, Kemolai looked up at the deep night sky, which was covered with dark clouds and appeared particularly gloomy.

Just then, an official approached Kemolai and said respectfully, "Lord City Lord, everything has been arranged. I have also ordered the north gate to be blocked. Even if the enemy discovers the abnormality inside the city, they will not be able to enter for the time being, and the fire will be able to spread throughout the entire city!"

Kemolai sighed, then closed his eyes: "Light the fire!"

"yes!"

The official agreed, then shouted to the hundreds of young men holding torches not far away, "Light the fire!"

Upon hearing this, the able-bodied men immediately threw out their torches.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Within a few breaths, bursts of fire suddenly rose up within the city, and then quickly spread throughout the entire city.

Feeling the intense heat emanating from the distant flames, Kemolai opened one of his tightly closed eyes, and two tears slid down his cheeks.

The city where you've lived your whole life is now burned down by your own hands. Anyone would feel unbearable pain in that situation.

As the flames drew ever closer, Kemolai's expression twisted with rage. He gritted his teeth and sweared, "Sakqi, I swear here and now, if I ever get the chance, I will grind you to dust and wipe out your entire family!!"

Seeing this, an official stepped forward and said, "Lord City Lord, we should go!"

Let's go!

After taking a deep look at the city, Kemolai led 10,000 able-bodied men away from Ansu City and then, under the cover of night, quickly headed south.

About half an hour later, the fire spread from behind to the entire city of Ansu.

The towering flames illuminated the dim night sky as if it were daytime.

The Parthian army, temporarily stationed in the north of the city, was also awakened by the fire.

Upon hearing the news, Sakqi immediately ran out of his tent.

"That bastard, he really is a traitor, daring to set fire to the place!"

Looking at the raging fire in the distant city and the faint heat waves, Sakqi's face was also terribly gloomy.

The supplies that the army replenished from Xixiang City earlier can only last until tomorrow afternoon at most.

Now that Ansu City has been burned down, the supplies in the city are certainly doomed, and the next city is still nearly a hundred miles away.

Even if the army marches at full speed, it will take at least two days to arrive. Moreover, the soldiers are hungry and cannot continue marching at full speed.

Furthermore, now that the news has spread, the cities ahead will surely be like Ansu City, unwilling to send more troops into the city for reinforcements.

Thinking of the series of possible consequences, Sakqi's face contorted with rage, but also tinged with regret.

Of course, what he regretted was not letting his troops plunder Xixiang City, but rather that he hadn't killed everyone in Xixiang City, which led to the news leaking and putting him in a dilemma.

Now Sakqi has only two choices: either withdraw his troops and retreat to the border camp, and wait for supplies to be prepared before launching another attack; or grit his teeth and continue advancing, using force to resupply the cities along the way.

After a moment's thought, Sarkozy ultimately chose the latter.

He had confidently declared in front of the Parthian king and all his ministers that he would reclaim the southern seas, but now, after marching less than halfway, he had led his army back. What face did he have left?

Of course, what he cared about most was his own act of letting his troops plunder in Xixiang City.

If we can successfully suppress the rebels and invaders, then the matter of looting can be easily covered up, whether it's a big deal or a small deal.

But if he were to retreat without achieving anything, the Left Prime Minister's faction would definitely seize the opportunity to launch an attack and bring him down.

Therefore, whether for his own position and life, or for the interests of the South China Sea, Sakhqi had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue forward, using a great victory to cover up what he had done.

Then, Sakhozzi ordered his personal guards, "Immediately organize the soldiers to put out the fire!"

Soon, a group of soldiers left the camp and ran towards Ansu City.

With the city gates blocked, the soldiers had no choice but to climb up the city walls using long ladders.

As soon as the soldiers climbed onto the city wall, they were hit by waves of heat. The scorching heat made it difficult for them to advance any further, so they had to retreat.

Although Sakho was furious at the sight of the retreating soldiers, he managed to hold back his anger.

The fire burned for half the night, and only gradually died down the next day when it was already light.

Upon entering Ansu City, one is greeted by ruins everywhere.

The soldiers at the rear, looking at the now empty city, all wore expressions of disappointment, and many of them began to consider retreating.

Now, we don't have much food left. If we go any further, we'll go hungry. Nobody wants to fight on an empty stomach.

Noticing the soldiers' unusual behavior, Sakhozzi immediately shouted:

"There's no need to worry. Although we can't replenish our supplies in this city, there are several bandit camps in the mountains surrounding Ansu City, as well as many villages and towns in the vicinity. We can replenish our supplies there."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers around him immediately brightened up, and their previously low morale was instantly restored.

Previously, they had only focused on the city and had indeed overlooked the surrounding villages and towns.

Although the mountain bandits and villages are not as wealthy as those in the city, there are just as many villages. If you visit a few more villages, you can get just as much as you would in the city.

Subsequently, Sakqi dispatched nearly 100,000 troops, divided into ten teams, to head towards several nearby mountain strongholds and surrounding villages and towns.

Driven by the promise of wealth and food, the soldiers acted with extraordinary speed. In just one day, several mountain strongholds in the surrounding mountains were wiped out, and more than a dozen villages and towns within a radius of twenty miles were also raided by the soldiers.

Having already looted once before, the unruly Parthian soldiers showed no mercy to the villagers. They not only robbed everything they could carry, but also burned everything they couldn't take. As for the people, they killed them all.