Inside the Shuozhou government office, the lights were on full display.
Han Zhong dismissed his attendants, leaving only the trusted envoy sent by Tian Qing.
He repeatedly stroked Zhao Muyun's secret letter, which contained only six words: "Focus on destroying the enemy, and do not be distracted."
Every word seemed to carry the Grand Commander's decisiveness and immense weight.
"How many elite troops can Governor Tian spare?" Han Zhong asked in a deep voice, his eyes piercing.
"Reporting to Lord Han, my general has secretly assembled five thousand infantry and cavalry, all skilled warriors from Yunzhou. They will arrive at their designated positions in three days and await your command," the envoy replied respectfully.
"Good!" Han Zhong lightly slammed his fist on the table. "Tell Governor Tian to proceed according to plan, targeting the right flank supply route and weak points of Tufa Wuhu! General Murong's three thousand light cavalry will cooperate with his operation."
He paused, then lowered his voice: "How much of the 'Thunderclap Bomb' and 'Fire Oil' needed by the Divine Machine Battalion have arrived?"
"Five hundred thunderbolts and three hundred cans of flammable oil have been secretly transported to our location and are being guarded by reliable personnel."
A glint flashed in Han Zhong's eyes: "That's enough! In this battle, we'll show these barbaric barbarians what the might of Heaven is all about!"
He walked to the map and pointed to Yinzhou: "Order Tong Gu and Zhong Meng to feign weakness and lure the enemy deep into our territory! We must prepare a 'grand gift' for Tuoba Wuhu under the walls of Yinzhou!"
A biting wind howled atop the city walls of Yinzhou.
Tong Gu frowned as he looked at the ever-growing number of Northern Di camps outside the city, which resembled locusts.
Zhong Meng paced anxiously to the side.
"Uncle Tong, what exactly does Lord Han mean? Does he want us to hold out for a few more days and retreat a few more steps? I, Old Zhong, have had enough of this bullshit! Let's just open the gates and charge in, and have a good fight!"
Zhong Meng inherited his father Zhong Dahu's genes, and had a loud voice full of resentment.
Tong Gu glared at him: "Mengzi, calm down! Lord Han always plans his troops carefully before he acts. Since the Grand Commander has put him in charge of the Hedong campaign, he must have a deeper meaning. We should just follow orders."
"A deeper meaning? If it continues to have such a deeper meaning, the Tartars will soon have filled in the moats outside the city!"
Zhong Meng grumbled in dissatisfaction, but managed to suppress his anger.
At this moment, a bodyguard hurried up and whispered, "Generals, Lord Han has sent a secret letter!"
Tong Gu quickly took it, unfolded it, and finally showed a look of relief mixed with determination on his face.
He handed the letter to Zhong Meng: "Look, Lord Han's 'gift' has arrived. Our chance has come!"
Zhong Meng leaned closer; although he wasn't very literate, he could understand the key information:
"Thunderclap...Fire Oil...Counterattack..."
He slammed his hand on the crenellations of the city wall, sending dust flying.
"Hahaha! Good! The day has finally come! I, Old Zhong, am going to personally blow up a few Tartars!"
......
Three days later, at dawn, a thick fog blanketed the area outside Yinzhou City.
Tufa Wuhu believed the time was right. The "smooth" siege over the past few days led him to conclude that the Yinzhou defenders were at their last gasp.
He personally oversaw the operation, and 25,000 troops were mobilized to launch an unprecedented and fierce attack.
Bugles sounded throughout the camps, war drums thundered, and countless Northern Di soldiers surged towards the walls of Yinzhou like a black tide, carrying ladders and pushing battering rams.
"Charge into Yinzhou, and let your swords not be sheathed for three days!"
The bald-headed Wu Hu shouted from behind, igniting the ferocity in the bones of the Northern Di soldiers.
Arrows, logs, and stones rained down again from the city walls, but seemed sparser than in the previous days.
On several occasions, the Northern Barbarian vanguard had even climbed onto the city walls and engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the defenders.
Although they were eventually repelled, it only made the bald-headed Wu Hu below the city even more convinced that Yinzhou was about to fall!
"Give it your all! The city is about to fall! Warriors, the first to reach the top of the city wall will be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces and a hundred servants!" Bald-haired Wu Hu roared, brandishing his sword.
More and more Northern Di soldiers surged frantically toward the city walls, especially toward the city gates. The huge battering rams, propelled by the dense crowd, slammed into the iron-clad city gates again and again, producing dull, deafening noises.
Inside the city gate, the commander of the five hundred Shenji Battalion soldiers calmly observed the battlefield through the slits.
He observed that the Northern Di army's formation had become unusually dense at the front due to the competition for merit, with the follow-up troops also crowded onto the relatively narrow frontal battlefield.
"It's time to make our move!"
He nodded slightly to the messenger beside him.
Three red signal rockets whistled as they shot into the still-smoky sky.
On the city wall, the Shenji Battalion soldiers, who had been holding back, finally moved.
They worked in pairs, one person lighting the fuse and the other throwing it.
The dark, melon-shaped thunderbolts, crackling with burning sparks, traced arcs as they struck the most densely populated area beneath the city wall.
The first thunderclap exploded in the crowd!
"boom!!!"
A deafening roar, unlike anything that could be heard from ordinary bows and crossbows or stone cannons, suddenly erupted!
Flames and thick smoke instantly engulfed an area of several feet in radius, and shattered pieces of iron shot out in all directions like the scythe of death!
The Northern Di soldiers at the center of the explosion were torn apart before they could even scream. Those a little further away were also thrown by the shockwave, their tendons and bones broken. Those even further away were hit by flying shrapnel and fell to the ground screaming.
This completely incomprehensible attack stunned all the Northern Di soldiers who heard the loud noise and saw the horrific scene, halting their charge.
However, this is just the beginning.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!"
Immediately afterwards, dozens, even hundreds, of thunderbolts, like deathly lightning strikes, exploded one after another above, at the feet, and among the crowds of the Northern Di attacking troops!
In an instant, the area beneath Yinzhou City seemed to have become a purgatory ravaged by the Thunder God!
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