The sky had just brightened! Qu Zhisheng immediately summoned all the officials of Gao Chang.
"How is the damage to Gao Chang City?" Qu Zhisheng asked with a gloomy face.
"Your Majesty, the northwest wind was strong last night. Hundreds of houses in Gao Chang City were burned down. Thousands of Gao Chang people have no fixed residence, and six palaces in the palace were damaged," an official of Gao Chang reported solemnly.
Spring was extremely dry. After the gunpowder was ignited, the northwest wind took advantage of it and spread the fire to many houses.
"The Tang Army is really too much. They even maliciously set fire to Gao Chang City!" a general of Gao Chang said hatefully. They were careless for a moment, and the Tang Army threw gunpowder from catapults, setting many houses on fire.
However, the catapults were not the only thing that gave Gao Chang a headache. The hot air balloons not only could monitor the entire Gao Chang City, but they could also set fire to Gao Chang City unscrupulously. Even the palace was attacked. Everyone had always thought that the city walls of Gao Chang could protect them. But now that the Tang Army had the hot air balloons, they could ignore the protection of the city walls and attack the city unscrupulously.
"Report!"
Suddenly, a soldier rushed to the palace and said with a panicked face, "Reporting to the Tang Dynasty, this is the letter of surrender that the Tang Army shot into the city. If Gao Chang refuses to surrender, the Tang Army will set fire to Gao Chang City."
"Set fire to Gao Chang City!" In an instant, everyone in the Gao Chang Palace looked embarrassed. Now that the defensive weapons on the city walls of Gao Chang City had been destroyed, and the city was set fire to by the Tang Army, the situation of Gao Chang had fallen greatly.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the entire Gao Chang Palace was gloomy, and everyone was staring at Qu Zhisheng.
Qu Zhisheng gritted his teeth and said, "The Tang Dynasty wants to force Gao Chang to surrender with this. It's simply wishful thinking. There is still a ten-foot-deep trench outside Gao Chang City, and the fifteen-foot-high city walls are protecting it. As long as the Tang Army can't break into the city, Gao Chang City will always be safe. As long as we can hold on until the Western Turks' reinforcements arrive, our Gao Chang City can still be saved."
"What about the hot air balloons in the sky? if they set fire to them every day? I'm afraid it won't be long before they burn down Gao Chang City." The civil and military officials frowned and said. The threat of the Tang Dynasty was not without reason. As long as there were hot air balloons, the Tang Dynasty could set fire to Gao Chang City unscrupulously. Gao Chang City had a dry climate, which was very easy to cause fires. This move of the Tang Dynasty really hit Gao Chang's Achilles' heel.
"Tell every household to fill their water tanks and be ready to put out the fire at any time," Qu Zhisheng said firmly. Qu Zhisheng's tone was firm. Although the hot air balloon was a threat, it was impossible to make Gao Chang submit with just this.
"Yes!" The officials of Gao Chang City nodded. At this moment, Gao Chang City was not at the end of its rope. Although the officials were panicking, they did not have many thoughts of surrendering in their hearts.
Outside Gao Chang City.
The generals of the Tang Army looked at the thick smoke that was still floating in Gao Chang City from time to time and then looked at the huge hot air balloons above their heads. They could not help but feel a sense of awe. No matter which general encountered such a weapon that could only passively take a beating but could not fight back, they would feel powerless in their hearts.
"Fortunately, the hot air balloons are on our side." The generals felt lucky. As an ally, the Tang Army was naturally very satisfied with the damage caused by the hot air balloons.
"The fire in Gao Chang City has been put out!" Xue Rengui said loudly when he saw the flag signal from the hot air balloons.
Hou Junji's expression changed. Looking at the still Gao Chang City, he said coldly, "It seems that Qu Zhisheng will not shed tears until he sees the coffin. Come, fill the ditch with soil."
With Hou Junji's order, the Tang Army soldiers pushed the wheelbarrows that had been prepared long ago and poured the soil into the deep ditch outside Gao Chang City.
The large-scale action of the Tang Army naturally alarmed the defenders of Gao Chang City. They began to shoot at the Tang Army soldiers pushing the wheelbarrows with bows and arrows. However, these wheelbarrows were protected by iron plates, and most of the large defensive weapons of the Tang Army were destroyed. They could not stop the Tang Army from filling the ditch with soil.
It even led to the counterattack of the Tang Army. Under the guidance of the hot air balloons, a series of catapults attacked Gao Chang City. For a time, the defenders of Gao Chang City suffered heavy casualties and were no longer able to stop the Tang Army from filling the ditch.
Under the surveillance of the hot air balloons, under the protection of the catapults, and under the rapid transportation of soil by the wheelbarrows, several miles of the ditch that the City of Gao Chang City had dug to resist the Tang Army was filled up in a day. At this point, the Tang Army's attack on the City of Gao Chang was no longer hindered.
The faces of the defenders of Gao Chang City changed drastically when they saw the flat land under the city. At this point, there was only one last barrier between the Tang Army and the City of Gao Chang, which was the five-feet-tall City of Gao Chang City.
What Gao Chang did not know was that while the Tang Army was filling the ditch with soil, hundreds of soldiers from the Firearms Supervisor were also carrying out earthwork work. They were secretly digging a tunnel leading to the City of Gao Chang.
"This is the method that Mo Jiu mentioned to take down the City of Gao Chang in one strike. It is to dig a tunnel under the City of Gao Chang that leads to the City of Gao Chang. If this is the case, then you don't have to waste your effort. The City of Gao Chang is built like Chang 'an City. Every hundred steps, there will be water tanks buried under the ground, covered with cowhide, and special personnel will be sent to listen. Once the tunnel is found, they will fill it with water or release poisonous smoke. At that time, everyone in the tunnel will die. Unless the tunnel is dug in advance, it will only lead to a dead end if you use the tunnel to take over the city." When Hou Junji saw the actions of the Firearms Supervisor, he was immediately disappointed, as if he had been deceived.
Back then, the son of the Mo family had boasted that Gaochang City could be taken down in one strike. He had thought that the son of the Mo family could really use gunpowder to blow up the city walls. However, in the battle of Tian Tian City, the son of the Mo family could only blow up the city gates or kill or injure the soldiers on the city walls. As for Tian Tian City's city walls, the son of the Mo family could only blow up the city gates or kill or injure the soldiers on the city walls. As for Tian Tian City's city walls, the son of the Mo family was completely undamaged.
"Mo Jiu, if you can't take down the City of Gao Chang, then why did you boast? If Gao Chang didn't surrender, how many soldiers would the Tang dynasty have to sacrifice in order to take down the City of Gao Chang?" Xin Yaoer criticized.
The other generals also frowned. They had high hopes for the Firearms Supervisor, but Mo Jiazi's act of digging a tunnel disappointed them. Looking at the history of war, there were very few who relied on digging a tunnel to break into the city. It could be said that this was a failed tactic.
Meton heard the criticism of the generals, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he said loudly, "What if this tunnel doesn't lead to the city, but only to the foot of the city wall?"
"If it's below the city wall, then how can we break into the city?" Hou Junji couldn't help but be stunned. If it only reached the foot of the city wall, then the defenders in the city naturally couldn't do anything to them, but how could the soldiers break into the city?
Meton said proudly, "The Firearms Supervisor put tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder under the city wall of Gao Chang. It can blow up the city wall with one strike, and the Tang Army can easily break into the city."
"Blow up the city wall and break into the city!"
The generals couldn't help but hold their breath. Since ancient times, the city wall was the most powerful defensive weapon in the world. If the Firearms Supervisor's gunpowder could blow up the city wall, the situation of war would immediately change. Mo Jiazi would once again change the situation of attack and defense in the world.
What was even more amazing was that this method of changing the situation of war was actually changed by using the abandoned tunnel tactic. Mo Jiazi once again turned something rotten into something magical.
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