At noon, the sun was obscured by clouds, and the world was shrouded in darkness.
The Northern Di garrison on the north wall of Youzhou had just changed shifts. The newly arrived soldiers yawned and leaned against the battlements with their spears.
The siege lasted for half a month. The south was engaged in fierce fighting day and night, while the north was eerily quiet, which made the defending troops relax their guard.
Unbeknownst to them, death had already quietly descended.
The first batch of daredevils led by Liu Yi had already clung to the base of the city wall like geckos and reached the shadowy area on the left side of the city gate.
Sure enough, there were two sentries dozing off in fur coats, who were silently taken care of by the suicide squad members with daggers.
The second batch of Shenji Battalion soldiers, carrying heavy thunderbolt boxes on their backs, moved forward little by little, using the undulating shadows of the city wall as cover.
Each box of thunderclap bombs weighed over a hundred pounds, but the soldiers gritted their teeth and dared not make a sound.
The most dangerous moment has arrived.
The third batch of Shenji Battalion soldiers began placing the thunderbolts.
Following the instructions of the engineers of the Shenji Battalion, they carefully took the thunderbolts out of the box and piled them up in key positions at the city gate.
One hundred pieces are placed at the bottom, close to the door hinge and latch; one hundred pieces are stacked on top of the middle layer; and one hundred pieces are piled up in a cone shape at the top.
The whole process lasted fifteen minutes, and every second felt like a year.
The patrol footsteps above the city wall passed overhead several times. The daredevils held their breath and clung to the wall until the footsteps faded into the distance.
Finally, all three hundred thunderbolts were in place.
The engineers strung together long fuses, extending them all the way to a pit a hundred paces away—that was Liu Yi's command post.
"Withdraw!" Liu Yi ordered in a low voice.
The suicide squad retreated like a tide, taking cover behind pre-selected bunkers.
Liu Yi checked the fuse one last time to make sure it was correct before rolling into the pit and taking out the tinderbox.
His hands were steady, but his heart was pounding like a drum.
Once this fire is lit, it will either leave a mark on history or leave no trace of the body.
"For Hedong!" Liu Yi muttered to himself as he struck a tinderbox.
The moment the flame touched the fuse, with a "whoosh," sparks shot rapidly along the fuse toward the city gate!
"boom--!"
A deafening roar that shook the heavens and the earth!
That wasn't a single explosion, but the destructive sound of three hundred thunderbolts detonating simultaneously.
A huge fireball shot into the sky from the city gate, and the entire ground shook violently!
The shockwave swept across the area like an invisible giant hammer, and even those suicide squad members within a hundred paces who were hiding behind cover were still shaken and bled from their ears and noses.
The north gate of Youzhou was reduced to dust in the explosion!
Fragments of the iron-clad wooden door rained down, and half of the city gate tower collapsed in the explosion, with bricks and stones flying everywhere.
Huge cracks also appeared in the city walls on both sides, and a section of the parapet collapsed!
The Northern Di garrison on the city wall was stunned by the sudden destruction.
The nearest sentry was ripped off the city wall by the shockwave and smashed into a bloody pulp.
The remaining defenders stared in disbelief at what had once been the city gate, now reduced to a huge, burning breach!
"Heavy Cavalry! Charge!" Guo Luo's roar rang out amidst the echoes of the explosion!
A thousand heavy cavalrymen surged out of the woods like a black torrent of steel, heading straight for the burning breach in the city gate.
It was only then that the Northern Barbarian garrison realized what was happening.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" The piercing alarm sounded throughout the city walls.
But it was too late.
The heavy cavalry trampled over the still-burning ruins of the city gate and charged into Youzhou City!
Guo Luo, leading the charge, used his spear to send a Northern Di soldier who was trying to block the gate flying. The torrent of iron cavalry instantly overwhelmed the hastily organized defenses inside the city gate.
"Archers! Fire!" Tang Yanhai ordered simultaneously.
A thousand archers advanced, raining arrows down on both sides of the city walls, suppressing the defenders who were trying to counterattack.
"Infantry! Follow me!"
Zhao Muyun drew his sword and personally led a thousand infantrymen to attack the city gate.
The entire northern city of Youzhou was plunged into chaos.
The deafening explosion echoed throughout the city, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky.
The Northern Di garrison surged in from all directions, but the heavy cavalry battalion repeatedly charged and attacked in the city gate square, and they were unable to organize their formation.
Zhao Muyun led his troops into the city and quickly took control of two streets and alleys near the city gate, using the houses to build a simple defensive line.
"Launch the rocket!"
Zhao Muyun directed the deployment of defenses while shouting loudly.
Three red rockets shot into the sky, exploding in a blinding red light against the leaden gray sky.
At this moment, outside the south city of Youzhou, Yang Yan was discussing matters with his generals in the central command tent. A sudden, earth-shattering explosion caused everyone's expression to change drastically.
What was that sound?
"Report—" The scout rushed into the tent, "North! A huge explosion has occurred in the north of Youzhou! Thick smoke is billowing into the sky! The city gate seems to have been blown open!"
Yang Yan abruptly stood up, an expression of disbelief flashing in his eyes: "It exploded? How is that possible..."
Immediately, he saw a red rocket rising in the northern sky.
"It's Zhao Muyun!" Yang Yan instantly understood everything. "What did he use to blow open the city gate?"
The generals inside the tent looked at each other in disbelief, all stunned by this grand gesture.
To blow open the city gate with firearms—what audacity!
How incredibly insane!
"General, we..." the lieutenant asked in a low voice.
Yang Yan's expression shifted, but he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Order the entire army to launch a general attack! We must break through the city today! Zhao Muyun has already blasted open the north gate for us; how can we let him down!"
With the sound of war drums and the blaring of horns, 100,000 Fengtian troops launched their fiercest attack on the southern city of Youzhou since the start of the war.
Meanwhile, the battle within Youzhou City had reached its climax.
As the shock of the North Gate being blown open gradually subsided, the Northern Di defenders began a frenzied counterattack.
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