Chapter 367 Attacking Yecheng, Ying Bu’s caution!

Chapter 367 Attacking Yecheng, Ying Bu’s caution!

Without any hesitation, Li Xin took a deep breath and immediately gave orders to his subordinates: "Go and investigate the situation quickly!" He knew very well that this abnormal phenomenon was not ordinary and the cause must be found out as soon as possible to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.

Hearing Li Xin's order, the soldiers in the courtyard looked at each other, their faces also showing panic that could not be concealed. However, the military order was like a mountain, and although they were terrified, these well-trained soldiers still took the order without hesitation and prepared to go to various places to check the news.

Just as the messenger turned around and left, suddenly, another earth-shattering explosion sounded. "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom..." This series of deafening noises spread throughout the city like thunder.

The sudden second explosion made Li Xin's already tense nerves tremble again, and his expression changed slightly. As a veteran general, Li Xin had experienced natural disasters such as earthquakes. But the sound and vibration caused by this explosion were completely different from the past, and its power and impact far exceeded his expectations.

What made Li Xin even more uneasy was that judging from the direction of the two noises, they seemed to come from the camp inside the city. Although Yecheng was a county city, its size was limited. If it was just a coincidence, how could it be concentrated in this key location twice in a row? An ominous premonition gradually surged into Li Xin's mind, making him feel that this matter was more serious.

At the same time, Li Xin began to feel uneasy. This special feeling was like the panic and helplessness before death.

"Report! The camp south of the city is now completely engulfed in flames, with flames shooting up into the sky and thick smoke billowing! Countless soldiers in the camp have been killed or injured, the tragic scene is simply shocking! The number of casualties is so huge that it is difficult to estimate and count!"

As time passed, a soldier clad in black armor and covered in blood stumbled and staggered to the gate of the government office, reporting the shocking news in a hoarse voice.

"What...what!?" Hearing this, Li Xin, who was sitting in the hall, stood up suddenly, his face full of astonishment, his eyes wide open, and his mouth opened as wide as if an egg could be stuffed in. He thought to himself: There are more than 10,000 soldiers stationed in the south camp to rest, and now they have suffered such a catastrophe, with heavy casualties. What should we do? Thinking of this, Li Xin could no longer suppress his anxiety and worry, and immediately decided to rush to the scene to check the truth and find out the truth of the matter and the severity of the situation.

Just as Li Xin was about to step out of the main hall, a deafening roar suddenly exploded behind him without any warning. "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

The loud noises were like thunderbolts from the blue sky, causing pain in the eardrums and dizziness. Then, a jaw-dropping scene appeared - violent explosions occurred in various parts of the mansion almost at the same time. In an instant, flames splashed, smoke filled the air, bricks and rubble flew everywhere, and the entire government office was completely engulfed by the surging flames in the blink of an eye. The messenger who was standing at the gate of the government office just now was caught off guard and was pushed several meters away by the powerful shock wave generated by the explosion. Finally, he fell heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

When the soldiers, who were in a daze, finally stood up with difficulty, they were instantly shocked by the extremely horrific scene in front of them, their mouths opened so wide that they could hardly close! The entire government office was completely engulfed by the blazing flames, with flames rising into the sky and thick smoke billowing.

As for Li Xin's personal soldiers who were supposed to be stationed in this mansion, as well as some generals who had just been summoned here by Li Xin not long ago, they had already been reduced to ashes in the sudden fire, disappearing without a trace, and not even a trace could be found.

The entire Yecheng was like being dropped by a heavy bomb, and instantly fell into extreme chaos and panic. Li Xin died unfortunately, and at the same time, many officers in the city also died in the government office. After this night's catastrophe, the original 30,000-strong garrison troops now only have more than 10,000 people, and the number of wounded is countless. However, the loss of troops is only one aspect, and the more serious problem is the deep fear in people's hearts. After all, something as mysterious and powerful as black gunpowder is simply unheard of and unseen by the people of Daqin!

Gao Yao had already secretly sent out a group of trusted people. These people were not responsible for any specific matters, but were honest businessmen. They even cooperated very well after the imperial army entered the city. After the explosion, their task was to spread rumors.

Soon, all kinds of rumors about Fusu spread like a tide in the city. Some people claimed that this disaster was a punishment from God for Fusu. It was because he had caused chaos in the Qin Dynasty and lost the support of the people, especially because he insisted on conquering the southern border, which angered the gods and the people, so God sent down this disaster as a warning.

These rumors quickly spread throughout the city. The army, which was already in a panic due to the natural disaster, was now in great disarray. The soldiers whispered to each other, talking about the future, and were full of confusion and fear. This kind of thing is not actually the ignorance of the ancients. Just like the things that we thought were impossible or even science fiction when we were young, many of them are slowly being realized after we grow up. Attributing some impossible things to theology is also one of the ways humans often choose. This is one of the reasons why it is said that the end of science is theology.

The general in charge of defending the city was in an unprecedented dilemma. He had to try his best to stabilize the restless army, and at the same time, he had to send people to the surrounding areas for help as quickly as possible. However, time was running out, and it was still unknown whether the rescue could arrive in time.

What gave the general a headache was how to inform the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan of what happened in Yecheng. The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan led 10,000 elite soldiers to attack Guilin County. His actions were kept highly confidential in order to avoid being noticed by the enemy as much as possible. Even when Li Xin was still alive, it was not easy to contact Yi Xiaochuan smoothly, let alone now that Li Xin was dead.

Ying Bu, who resolutely dispatched troops under Gao Yao's strict order, was now leading his army to approach Yecheng without stopping. Along the way, Ying Bu was extremely alert and cautious, fearing that he would fall into the ambush carefully arranged by the imperial army. To Ying Bu's surprise, they did not even see the shadow of an ambush along the way.

In fact, all this was due to Li Xin's military order. Originally, according to normal strategic deployment, it would not be difficult to set up a heavy army to encircle Ying Bu, but Li Xin had other plans in mind. The battle of the vanguard army had already shown Ying Bu's extraordinaryness. If the attack was launched too early, he would most likely find a gap to escape. Therefore, Li Xin decided to hold his troops in place and deliberately let Ying Bu drive straight in until he arrived at the foot of Yecheng City, and then suddenly attack him to catch him off guard.

Li Xin had good reasons for being so confident. You know, Ying Bu led only 10,000 men, while Yecheng had a full 30,000 strong army stationed there. Even if Li Xin did not dispatch reinforcements, he firmly believed that the existing forces in the city would be enough to wipe out Ying Bu's 10,000 men. Moreover, after experiencing all the twists and turns before, Li Xin no longer dared to underestimate the enemy.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. Just when Li Xin was waiting with great confidence for the moment to implement his perfect plan, who could have expected that a sudden change would completely disrupt all the arrangements? Before the plan was implemented, Li Xin died before he could accomplish his goal.

When Ying Bu arrived at Yecheng, he immediately deployed his troops and prepared to fight with the enemy. Ying Bu was not stupid. Since he had chosen to act according to Gao Yao's orders, he naturally had to find a way to win. When his own troops were not as strong as the enemy's, he still wanted to attack and capture Yecheng. Fighting with the enemy was undoubtedly a very good way to boost his own morale and undermine the enemy's morale.

It was just that Ye Cheng had been shouting for an entire hour, but there was no reaction at all. This special reaction made Ying Bu confused for a while. Ying Bu had sent a large number of scouts to surround Ye Cheng. Originally, Ying Bu thought that this was Li Xin's strategy and did not respond. In fact, he was using ambushes to surround himself. However, the scouts searched the area within a radius of ten miles back and forth, but did not find any ambush. It was completely unnecessary to search further. Within the area of ​​ten miles, Ying Bu could easily break through even if there was an encirclement. If he was surrounded again, Ying Bu might as well kill himself.

The more the imperial army refused to fight, the more Ying Bu became confused. He really couldn't understand why the imperial army acted this way. After thinking hard and to no avail, Ying Bu decided not to sit and wait for death, but to go into battle himself to find out the truth.

When he was on the battlefield and observed the imperial army closely, he finally noticed something unusual. The soldiers on the top of the city were still defending the city, but they all looked haggard and listless, without any of their former majesty and momentum. Their movements were slow and weak, as if they were just mechanically carrying out their defensive tasks.

Ying Bu was suspicious, so he asked the general who had just challenged him for details. According to the general, since his army showed up, he had never seen the enemy's commander. Hearing this, Ying Bu became more suspicious. At this time, a thought gradually emerged in his mind - could this matter be related to Gao Yao?