Ling Lang was terrified when he saw the Northern Rong soldiers pushing out dozens of carts of oil barrels: "Your Highness, they plan to use fire!"
As the Eastern Chu soldiers cried out in alarm, the Northern Rong soldiers below had already begun setting fire to the city walls and gates.
Looking at the raging fire, Tuoba Xiong felt a surge of joy!
What beautiful flames!
What beautiful, exciting colors!
He deliberately waited until night to launch the fire attack, because only at night could the beautiful colors be better highlighted, and only such colors could restore the soldiers' confidence and boost their morale!
It must be said that Tuoba Xiong was quite shrewd; seeing the raging fire, the Northern Rong soldiers were indeed greatly encouraged.
I've heard that the northern lands are severely short of water; such a fire would surely destroy their cities and kill all the inhabitants.
Their Chanyu (ruler) had a plan: he burned down their city gates and saw what they could use to stop them from entering the city. Once the fire was almost extinguished, they could enter the city and reap the fruits of victory.
Seeing the fire below growing stronger and stronger, Ling Lang became extremely anxious, his face turning ashen.
The Northern Rong soldiers had used fire attacks before, but back then their northern lands were not as water-scarce as they are now.
There is no water left in the entire North. If this fire really starts, then things will be really bad!
The soldiers guarding the city gate below saw the raging fire rushing in from outside and shouted anxiously, "It's bad! They've started burning down the city gate!"
"Your Highness..."
Just as Ling Lang was at his wits' end, he heard Xuan Yuanzhan shout, "Ye Feng!"
"Your Highness," Ye Feng appeared out of nowhere and bowed to Xuan Yuanzhan, saying, "Everything is ready."
Xuanyuan Zhan waved his hand, and a group of soldiers carrying mounds of earth rushed to the front and began dumping soil onto the burning city wall.
The fire that had been raging just moments before was instantly extinguished when that large bag of soil was dumped.
"The fire is out!" Upon seeing the fire extinguished, the soldiers on the city wall were overjoyed.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers carrying soil nearby immediately began dumping soil onto the burning area below.
The fire, which had just been started by the Northern Rong soldiers with oil, was quickly extinguished.
"Great! The fire is out!" The soldiers on the city wall cheered excitedly.
Ling Lang looked at Xuan Yuanzhan excitedly: "So Your Highness had a plan all along. How did Your Highness know they would use fire?"
As soon as the prince went up to the city wall, he ordered his guards to dig the soil!
So the prince had guessed early on that they would use fire, and thus had his guards make preparations in advance.
Moreover, the prince's solution was not to use water, but to use soil!
I must say, Your Highness's idea was absolutely right!
They burned the city walls with oil, and even with the abundant water resources in the north, they might not have been able to extinguish the fires so effectively. But earth could completely cover the flames, and the oil, once soaked in earth, could not be reignited.
The prince's method is truly ingenious! How did he even come up with such a thing?
“The North is short of water. If it were me, I would also use fire!” Xuan Yuanzhan replied expressionlessly.
He probably wouldn't use kerosene. In the extremely water-scarce North, there's no need for kerosene; any dry grass is enough to start a fire.
In the face of extreme water scarcity in the North, his attempt to use water to extinguish the fire was truly a case of "distant water cannot quench a nearby fire." Fortunately, however, water is not the only way to put out a fire.
Back when he was practicing martial arts with his master in the forest, his master would always kick up dirt to put out the firewood pile that was burning for warmth before leaving.
He tried it a few times and found that sand could indeed extinguish fires, so he remembered this point.
The Northern Rong soldiers below were dumbfounded to see that the fire they had just started had been extinguished in such a short time, and that the fire hadn't even been extinguished with a single drop of water.
Such a big fire, started with kerosene, would not have been extinguished even with water, but they put it out with soil.
That's so discouraging!
Tuoba Xiong never expected that his brilliant plan would be broken so quickly, and his face immediately turned extremely ugly.
Seeing that they couldn't throw soil at the city gate, Tuoba Xiong shouted again, "Burn down the city gate! All of you, go burn down the city gate!"
The soldiers who had just been assigned to guard the city walls rushed to burn down the city gates upon hearing the order.
But the city gate is made entirely of iron, so even if they burned it, they wouldn't be able to burn it down in a short time!
Ling Lang had experience with burning down city gates. Although the city gates were made of iron and they couldn't burn them down quickly, the city gates were connected to the city walls with wood around them. So if they burned down the city gates for a long time, the city gates would eventually be damaged.
"Your Highness, should we try to fetch some water from somewhere else?" Ling Lang suggested to Xuan Yuanzhan.
They can't dump soil on the city gate, so they definitely won't be able to extinguish the fire on the city gate anytime soon.
Previously, they would pour water on the wood connecting the city gate and the city wall. The wet wood could not be ignited, so they were not afraid of the Northern Rong soldiers using fire.
However, given the current water shortage in the north, obtaining enough water to thoroughly soak the wood is not easy.
"Your Highness." Just as Ling Lang was about to go find water, Ye Yun rushed over from Baichuan with the remaining Kyoto reserve troops.
Ye Yun glanced at the firelight below, realizing that the Northern Rong soldiers seemed to have used fire. He hurriedly said to Xuan Yuanzhan, "Your Highness, I brought some water from Baichuan. Your Highness may find it useful."
Although the Northern Rong used fire, the prince seemed to have solved the problem with sand.
Before Xuan Yuanzhan could answer, Ling Lang exclaimed with delight, "That's great! We're short of water!"
Xuanyuan Zhan gave Ye Yun a wink, and Ye Yun immediately understood and handed over the water he had brought from Baichuan to Ling Lang.
Ling Lang looked at Xuan Yuanzhan with a mixture of gratitude and complicated emotions.
No wonder the prince wasn't in a hurry; he had already made all the necessary arrangements.
The prince is truly a prophet, an absolute genius!
Ling Lang quickly led the people and water to the city gate to fill the area.
Once Ling Lang had soaked the connecting timbers between the city gate and the city wall with water, the fire outside immediately subsided.
Ling Lang then led his men to block the gaps in the city gate with sand, preventing any of the fire from getting in.
Not only that, Ling Lang also led his soldiers to knock on the iron gate in a regular manner.
Under the soldiers' forceful pounding, the iron gate, which had been doused with tung oil and set ablaze, instantly shattered, scattering like silver flowers from an iron tree.
Sparks landed on the Northern Rong soldiers who were burning the city gate. These soldiers were already covered in tung oil when it was poured on them, and when they came into contact with the sparks, they instantly burst into flames.
"Ah!" In an instant, a monstrous scream resounded throughout the entire city tower.
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