My brother Ying Zheng, who dares to kill me?.

Chapter 749: The family is gone in the fight, but the mortgage is still there! Fire is the real art!
Looking up at the pottery jars that drew perfect parabolas above his head, Zhao Yi's eyes were filled with confusion and a bit of ridicule: "Is the Qin army's catapult... crooked?"

"Hahaha~ People say that the catapult built by Qin Chang'an Jun is a treasured weapon for attacking cities, and the Qin State has kept it strictly secret."

"From my point of view, it is nothing special."

"Not only can it not damage the walls of Handan City, it can't even hit Handan City."

"What's the point of that?"

A total of 1,200 pottery jars were thrown into the sky.

But not a single pottery jar fell on the city wall.

This is simply outrageous!

Sima Shang's heart was filled with alarm: "The catapult was built by Qin Chang'an Jun, how could Qin Chang'an Jun fail to calculate the landing point!"

"Before our army attacked, the Qin army's catapults had already thrown huge stones onto the city wall. Now the Qin army's catapults only need to re-station at the old location to throw huge stones onto the city wall again."

"It would be fine if one or two carts failed to hit the city wall."

"But since none of the objects thrown by the Qin army's catapults hit the city wall, it is enough to prove that the Qin army's move was not a mistake, but was deliberately done by Qin Chang'an Jun!"

Thinking of the intelligence collected by Zhao State, Guo Kai's face changed drastically: "Angry!!!"

"When Qin Chang'an Jun attacked Chu, he used catapults to throw pottery jars at the walls of Chu many times."

"Then, the walls of the Chu State caught fire, and the soldiers defending the city were forced to retreat, resulting in the city's defense being lost and being easily captured by the Qin army!"

"The thing that Qin Chang'an threw into the city today might be the thing that Qin Chang'an often uses to start a fire!"

Sima Shang became increasingly nervous.

If Ying Chengjiao threw these flammable objects onto the city wall, the Qin army would surely launch a violent attack on the wall and use fire to disperse the soldiers defending the city.

But now, Ying Chengjiao completely gave up attacking the city wall, and instead threw all these flammable objects into the city.

What is Qin Chang'an Jun's intention?
While Sima Shang was still thinking, Guo Kai couldn't wait to shout: "Pass on my order!"

"Immediately dispatch 20,000 civilians to carry soil down the city and rush to the spot where the Qin army's pottery jars fell!"

"Extinguish the fire quickly at all costs!"

Sima Shang looked up in astonishment, and saw that the ministers and generals who were originally standing outside the city wall had now all run to the inner edge of the city wall, standing on tiptoe and staring at the pottery jars in the city, shouting anxiously:
"Twenty thousand is not enough! Far from enough! The civilians in this battle are all women. How strong are they? At least thirty thousand civilians must be mobilized, and another ten thousand soldiers and horses must be dispatched on top of that!"

"There is no time to carry soil temporarily. I think we must open a sandbox to complete the task!"

"Hurry up and spread the word in the city. This fire must not be put out with water, otherwise it will only get worse! Go quickly!"

Sima Shang finally understood.

After all, there are only a few poor generals like him whose families live in Dabei City.

The homes of most court officials and generals were in this small northern city at his feet!
If Ying Chengjiao set fire to Xiaobei City, it would be meaningless for the Qin army to capture Xiaobei City, but it would destroy the homes of court officials and generals!

Sima Shang hurriedly ordered: "The city guards must not move lightly!"

"Pass on my order to open the sandbox!"

"Order the laborers to take sand directly from the sandbox, and then..."

At Guo Kai's reminder, Sima Shang and all the officials of Zhao State subconsciously thought that this round of pottery jars would contain oil, and Ying Chengjiao was ready to start a fire in the city.

They guessed it right!
The pottery jar that fell into the city began to ooze out black liquid after it broke.

Sima Shang and all the officials of the State of Zhao also subconsciously believed that the pottery jars contained only oil.

It will not be until the next source of fire is thrown over and falls on the oil that the oil will catch fire.

As long as they react fast enough, they can cover the oil with sand in the interval between two rounds of shelling and minimize the losses!
But before Sima Shang finished his order, a fire pot fell to the ground and shattered.

The fire sealed in the pottery jar finally came into contact with sufficient oxygen after the pottery jar broke.

With the help of reed tassels, saltpeter, sulfur and oxygen, the fire that was originally just emitting red light quickly rose into a bright flame and ignited the oil beneath it.

then……

"Boom~~~"

The sudden rise of fire caused friction between gases, causing a loud explosion.

Following closely behind is the second piece!

The third piece!
Flames spread rapidly throughout Xiaobei City!
Guo Kai's eyes widened in disbelief: "How could this be?!"

"According to the military report, after the Qin army threw the black oil, they should have thrown more or accumulated fire, so that they could successfully set the fire in the rear."

"Why did the Qin army's catapults start a fire just by throwing a round of pottery jars?!"

Sima Shang punched the battlement with hatred and said helplessly: "The Qin army set the fire so quickly that our army had no time to quickly cover the black oil with sand before it caught fire."

"You can only use sand to put out the burning black oil!"

"Faced with the fire, the soldiers must have been fearful and moved slowly."

"Moreover, the fire is dangerous and the sea of ​​fire is blazing. Soldiers will surely become exhausted more easily, or even burn to death!"

"Qin Chang'an's arson technique is even more sophisticated!"

Sima Shang and Guo Kai felt increasingly heavy-hearted.

But, this is not the end!
Unlike the ordinary people in Dabei City, the residents in Xiaobei City are both rich and noble.

Now that wooden buildings have become relatively mature, people as noble as them would not live in rammed earth houses even for the sake of face.

Therefore, Xiaobei City is full of magnificent mansions made of solid wood. Some of the most noble homes of dukes and marquises do not even have exposed rammed earth on the ground, but are paved with wooden floors or wool carpets.

Whether it is wood or wool, they are all flammable!
As long as one piece of wooden frame is stained with burning oil, the flames will quickly spread along the wood to the entire mansion, and may even ignite neighboring mansions!
"It's gone!!!"

"What are you still standing there for! Put out the fire! Quickly! Go to the yard to get some water!" "No! Help me! Help me put out the fire on my body!"

"This fire is too big to be put out in time. Get out of the house and hide! Quick!"

With just one round of projections and the falling of 1,200 pottery jars, several seas of fire were set ablaze in the northern part of Xiaobei City.

More than ten mansions were set on fire, and the plaque bestowed by King Zhao fell into the flames and was burned to charcoal.

The laborers carrying sand were still running on the road. The servants in the mansions were confused for a moment when faced with the sudden flames. Many servants subconsciously took water from the jars to put out the flames.

The usually peaceful, tranquil and noble Xiaobei City was now filled with raging cries!

On the city wall, more than a dozen court officials were extremely excited and cried out in sorrow, "No! My family! My family!"

"Everyone, get out of the way! There is a fire in my house, I must return home as soon as possible to rescue my family! I served in Zhao just for the high position and generous salary so that I could be lenient with my family, but now my family is in trouble, how can I abandon my family for the sake of my official position!"

"I borrowed money to buy this place, but now I haven't paid back the money I borrowed yet, and my house is about to be reduced to ashes! Oh, my heart aches!"

There was chaos on the city wall!
If it was the Zhao Palace that was burned down, most of the court officials would have just cried out in pretense, except for a few loyal and righteous men.

But now, it is their own home that is burning in the flames!

Several court officials wanted to rush home to rescue their families despite the soldiers' obstruction.

A court official who borrowed money to buy a house burst into tears. When he thought of the amount of debt that had not yet been repaid, his eyes went dark and he fainted on the ground!
Seeing this, Guo Kai shouted angrily: "Everyone, keep quiet!"

"It's not just your house that is being threatened by the Qin army, it's all of our houses that are being threatened by the Qin army!"

"My home is within this Little North City!"

"If I go to rescue my house right now, I will lose this battle!"

"By then, not only will we lose our homes, but we will also lose our official robes. We will no longer enjoy wealth and glory!"

"Anyone who dares to disrupt the morale of the army will be executed immediately, regardless of their rank!"

After Guo Kai's repeated roars, the chaos on the city wall finally improved a little.

Guo Kai shouted coldly: "Pass on my order!"

"All the ministers and generals shall perform their duties, and those who disobey orders shall be executed!"

"Order the messengers to go into each prefecture and tell the people in charge of each prefecture how to put out the fire."

"Order all civilians to rush to the fire site immediately and put it out with sand!"

"Instruct all adults in each prefecture, aged 14 and over and under 60, both men and women, to fight the fire."

"Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed regardless of their status or rank!"

This matter concerns the vital interests of all court officials. Even though Guo Kai's words were sharp and his tactics were tough, all the officials and generals were convinced.

Under the pressure of the military judges, the laborers had to speed up again and rush towards the sea of ​​fire with their shoulder poles.

Under the threat of their respective masters, the servants of each mansion shoveled the dirt on the spot and rushed towards the flames.

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Sima Shang looked at Guo Kai with a complicated look.

But Sima Shang said nothing in the end, but just ordered in a deep voice: "The Qin army attacked my Xiaobei City with fire, it must be because the Qin army wanted to cause unrest in my Xiaobei City, and then attack my Xiaobei City by force!"

"Send a message to the garrisons of Xiaobei City!"

"You are forbidden to look back at the fire in the city. All soldiers must face the outside of the city and guard the city defenses!"

"As long as we win this battle, all the losses suffered by Zhao will be recovered from Qin!"

"Great Zhao, long victory!"

Taking a final look at the fire that was gradually being brought under control, the Zhao army generals shouted in unison:
"Great Zhao, long victory!"

however.

Can the fire really be controlled so easily?
The Qin army's catapult position.

Peng Cheng stood on a mound of earth, looking at the fires in the city, and murmured softly, "Eight out of twenty."

"I think it's because the fire cup is not sufficiently weighted, so the fire cup lands a little further away than the oil tank."

After carefully calculating on the ground with a wooden stick in hand, Peng Cheng threw away the stick and ordered in a deep voice: "Add another two taels of gravel to the fire pot!"

While he was giving the order, Peng Cheng had already squatted on the ground, using a bamboo expander to expand a cylindrical space inside the fire cup. He then carefully weighed out two taels of finely crushed stones and put them into the space, and then filled in the burning inner core.

After quickly tying it up, Peng Cheng handed the adjusted fire cup to Wang Pan and said in a deep voice, "Try again!"

Wang Pan exclaimed excitedly: "This is really a good thing!"

"Comrades, come and move quickly!"

When the twenty fine-tuned fire pots were ready, the Qin army's catapults suddenly raised their masts again.

Twelve hundred pottery jars were thrown into the sky and then fell into the city.

At the moment the pottery jar shattered, twelve huge fires rose up!

Peng Cheng showed a happy expression and spoke again: "Add one or two more gravels, quickly!"

Every time a batch of pottery jars are thrown, the five family soldiers will make fine adjustments to the fire jars based on their actual performance.

More and more oil tanks were ignited by the fire in the fire tanks immediately after they fell.

Even the oil that had not been ignited before began to burn under the influence of the subsequent sea of ​​fire!
Looking at the fire that had already dyed the clouds in the sky red, Peng Cheng's hands were shaking with excitement, and his eyes were shining with a scorching light.

Swords and guns can certainly earn you a title.

Fire is the real art!

(End of this chapter)