Night fell and the full moon rose into the sky. The moon tonight was exceptionally round. The bright moonlight shone down, causing the entire earth to be covered with a thin layer of fog. It was both real and illusory. Although visibility at night wasn't high, it wasn't pitch black either. This kind of night was good for marching. The only drawback was that it was the beginning of spring in February, but the spring chill was chilly, especially at night, and the cold wind was bone-piercing.
Shazhou City, city gate.
The army under Li Ji's command had already been assembled. The mighty army exuded a powerful aura.
During the day, Li Ji personally lectured all the soldiers and boosted their morale. The soldiers in the army were already in high spirits, ready to fight with all their might.
Therefore, the soldiers were of one mind.
Following Li Ji's order to move out, the army quickly charged out.
The black mass of the army rushed on the ground. If one looked down from a high place during the day, they would see a torrent-like army rushing forward on the wide official road, heading straight for Du Qi's camp. However, when this army was rushing forward, they gradually split up and moved in different directions. In the end, there were only 50,000 soldiers left beside Li Ji.
This was Li Ji's arrangement.
Attack from all directions.
Du Qi's weapons could be placed at the entrance of the camp to obstruct the attack at the entrance. However, it would be difficult to obstruct the attack in other aspects. As long as the attack in other aspects achieved a breakthrough, the army would be able to fight hand-to-hand and Li Ji would have a chance to win.
When the army under Li Ji's command arrived outside the camp, Li Ji directly called for catapults, aimed at the camp in front of him and the position outside the camp, and ordered them to throw gunpowder to attack.
Cans of gunpowder flew through the air and landed on the ground in the blink of an eye, exploding at the entrance of the camp. The continuous explosions caused flames to shoot up, and the army in the camp also gathered to prepare for battle.
Li Ji's bombardment lasted for a full 15 minutes. The reason for this was to avoid landmines on the road ahead. Once the gunpowder exploded, the landmines on the ground would be weakened to the greatest extent.
The fence at the entrance of the camp would also be blown flat.
This goal was achieved. Li Ji's army would not be stopped in their attack. This was especially so for the 50,000 elites around Li Ji. They were all spread out to avoid being bombarded. Although their line of sight was limited and they couldn't see what was going on in the distance, Du Qi's weapon couldn't be aimed, but Li Ji was extremely cautious.
After the bombardment, Li Ji gave the order to attack.
The troops from all directions charged out and headed straight for the frontline camp. At this time, the Tang Army under Li Ji's command also began to attack around the camp. Liu Hongji, Qu Tutong, Qin Qiong, and other generals led their own troops and constantly attacked the camp. The camp was attacked from all directions.
Du Qi had already anticipated the battle that night. He immediately mobilized the army under his command to meet the enemy head-on, and the two armies began to fight in the camp.
In such a battle, Du Qi's mortars were useless.
Fortunately, the mortars had been moved in the afternoon. After all, it was useless to leave the mortars behind. In addition, large quantities of food, machinery, and other weapons had already been transferred.
In the camp, there were no more machinery and equipment.
Du Qi's soldiers resisted for a while. About an hour later, the soldiers left in the camp took the initiative to withdraw. Du Qi also led the army to leave and give up the camp.
Du Qi's army was the first to withdraw, but there were still Tang soldiers chasing from behind. When all the soldiers under Du Qi's command left the camp, some of the Tang soldiers behind also charged out.
However, these were the minority.
Most of the Tang soldiers were still in the camp and had not yet come out. After Du Qi withdrew, he stopped and ordered, "Release the rockets and send the order to ignite them."
The messenger immediately arranged it.
"Whoosh!"
A moment later, a rocket rose into the sky. After the rocket rose into the sky, it exploded in the air. With the explosion of the rocket, lurking soldiers began to appear in all directions of the camp and quickly ignited the fuse at the edge of the camp. Tunnels were dug under the camp to lay gunpowder.
Once the gunpowder was ignited everywhere, the gunpowder would explode one after another and cover the entire camp. Under such an explosion, it would definitely cause the greatest damage to the Tang soldiers.
"Boom!!"
The gunpowder exploded in the first place.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!! "
A series of explosions began to appear in all directions of the camp. The flames of this explosion soared into the sky. The fireworks in the night were extremely bright and revealed a terrifying fire.
Seeing this scene, Du Qi knew that this battle was over.
His mission was accomplished.
All the soldiers under Du Qi's command were excited because this battle was different from the previous battle. The previous battle was a contest between two armies. Both sides kept throwing in troops to see who could not hold on first. The hand-to-hand combat was a contest of willpower and strength. Whoever could hold on to the end would win.
The explosion here was extremely violent. Under the explosion of gunpowder, people died directly.
It was ruthless.
But it was satisfying.
On the other side, some of the Tang soldiers who followed Du Qi out of the camp were not affected by the explosion of gunpowder. But under the continuous explosion, the soldiers in the rear were thrown off their horses and blown away one by one. Behind them were the rumbling of the explosion. In front of them was the flying soil. In the end, corpses fell to the ground.
Seeing that the time was right, Du Qi decisively ordered a surprise attack. He began to counterattack and kill the Tang soldiers who chased out of the camp.
For a time, there were countless casualties.
This was a massacre.
It was the most ruthless and merciless massacre.
At this moment in the camp, Li Ji had heard the explosion. He looked around and saw the flames from the explosion in the distance. He felt that the explosion was spreading to the center of the camp.
It was a trap!
Li Ji immediately made a judgment.
At this moment, Li Ji's heart sank to the bottom. He had originally set up a trap in Shazhou City and buried gunpowder. As long as Du Qi's army entered Shazhou City and took it, he could detonate the whole city and bury Du Qi's army in Shazhou City.
Unfortunately, Du Qi did not fall into the trap.
Now he led the army to take the initiative to attack but fell into Du Qi's trap. On the contrary, Du Qi had set up gunpowder in the camp. Under the continuous explosion, his army was in trouble.
"Withdraw, withdraw quickly!"
Li Ji suddenly shouted.
The generals in the army who followed Li Ji also quickly retreated. They did not dare to charge forward again. When Li Ji began to retreat to the gate of the previous camp, he encountered an explosion along the way.
Many soldiers under Li Ji's command were killed. Li Ji had almost been killed by the explosion. Fortunately, the personal guard beside him had pushed him out of the explosion area and escaped the calamity.
"Withdraw, withdraw quickly!"
"Rush out!"
"We can't die here."
Li Ji shouted as he ran.
His face was covered with dirt. Because of the explosion around him, a lot of dirt was lifted from the ground. He was dirty. And after falling down several times, his clothes were covered with dirt. He looked very embarrassed.
In Li Ji's mind, there was no time to think about retreating. Because at the moment, the only thing he could think about was to escape and withdraw from this area.
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