Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 725 Fire Miasma, the Terrifying Silent Killing Fire Miasma (Second Update)
Huge well ballasts stood on either side of the catapult, casting huge shadows under the high-hanging bright moon.

The black-armored soldiers atop the well tower, longbows in hand, watched warily as they surveyed the city for any potential forces that might retaliate.

Inside Yunshan City, large areas of the square inside the North Gate are already engulfed in flames.

As time passed, although the raging fire had not yet spread to the city walls and the surrounding area, ...

Whether on the city wall or below it.

Thousands of Tibetan soldiers fell to the ground silently, without any reaction.

……

By this time, Di Renjie had reached a point two hundred paces from the city wall, and he could even feel a slight heat.

Before him, the catapult was quickly pushed forward until it reached the designated position.

Within a very short time, the catapult launched again, and the extended pole increased the catapult's throwing distance.

The fireball that had been launched into the air was instantly sent flying into the central main area.

A large amount of black oil was wrapped in a tightly sewn sheepskin bag, and it exploded completely the moment it hit the ground, along with the burning wool.

The splattered oil burst into flames in an instant.

Compared to the large open space inside the North Gate Plaza, the central main area has many more buildings, mostly wooden ones.

The kerosene splattered onto the surrounding buildings, which quickly ignited.

The Tibetans quickly poured a bucket of water over the fire, extinguishing the flames that had just begun to ignite. The surrounding Tibetan soldiers couldn't help but cheer.

Previously, when water was used to extinguish the black oil, the flames not only did not go out, but instead burned even more fiercely.

But now it seems that it wasn't that the water couldn't extinguish the fire, but rather that not enough water was used.

That's actually correct!

Dama Rinchen stood at the edge of the second courtyard, quickly directing his soldiers to fetch water to put out the fire, a hint of joy showing on his face.

But in that instant, even more fireballs appeared in mid-air.

"Quickly, we can't let the fire start, put it out quickly!" Dama Rinchen shouted anxiously.

The soldiers around them couldn't help but quicken their pace. However, they could extinguish the scattered flames, but they couldn't extinguish the flames that spread out.

Especially those fireballs that hit the building directly, which set the entire building ablaze in a very short time.

At this point, Dama Rinchen had no choice but to retreat from the central main pass area, but on both sides of him, more Tibetan soldiers rushed forward to try to extinguish the flames.

Even if it's to no avail.

Dama Rinchen was stunned as he stared at the raging flames engulfing the entire courtyard.

He couldn't help but mutter, "Where did they get so many ghostly things from?"

Dama Rinchen suddenly turned his head to look towards the north gate, where countless fireballs were rising into the air even faster, rushing directly towards him.

The Tang army's catapults continued to advance.

Dama Rinchen suddenly lowered his head and looked down at the north gate wall and the walls on the east and west sides, where there was complete silence.

The flames did not burn through, but there was silence there.

An eerie silence fell, as if everyone were already dead.

An unconscious thought popped into my head.

Dama Rinchen's breath hitched.

He had previously sent a personal guard in to order the soldiers to guard the position strictly, but for some reason, the soldiers did not guard the position strictly, and the personal guard did not come out.

Logically, the Tang army's catapults had advanced to such close range that they would have been within range of the arrows fired from the city walls. The Tang people used fire arrows, and so could they. But there was no movement on the city walls. Could it be that everyone was dead?
Dama Rinchen felt a chill in his heart. Yes, perhaps all those people were already dead.

Even if Dama Rinchen was unwilling to admit it or couldn't understand it, as the prime minister and the commander-in-chief, he had to be prepared to deal with any situation.

Dama Rinchen raised his head, a flash of fear crossing his eyes.

This fire.

"Order everyone to retreat..." Dama Rinchen stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, his face turning extremely grim. Finally, he slowly raised his head and said, "Everyone, retreat three zhang, then wet yourselves with water and support the city walls from both sides."

We cannot allow the Tang people to occupy the city walls.

Dama Rinchen instantly understood that the Tang people were about to set fire to Yunshan Pass at any time, but their fundamental goal was to occupy Yunshan Pass in the shortest possible time.

Climb the city wall and occupy Yunshan Pass.

The situation is extremely dangerous. Just now, Dama Renzeng almost ordered his soldiers to retreat. Once they started retreating, they would retreat endlessly, eventually handing over the entire Yunshan Pass to the enemy.

“This is too cunning.” Dama Rinchen turned to his bodyguard and said, “Remember, at all costs.”

"Yes, sir!" The guard's expression couldn't help but turn serious.
……

A whistle came from the watchtower behind them, and Di Renjie, who was standing next to Wei Hongji, couldn't help but change his expression slightly.

Wei Hongji sighed softly and said, "The Tibetans have reinforced their troops."

Di Renjie nodded slowly. The whistle meant to increase the projectiles. Su Dingfang would only issue such an order if the Tibetans were to reinforce their troops.

Although the city walls obstructed his view, preventing Di Renjie from seeing the true situation inside the city, he could imagine that countless Tibetan soldiers, under their commander's orders, had recklessly charged into the flames, disregarding their own lives.

They attempted to storm the city walls to stop the catapults from being used further.

But does it work?
Useless.

If it had worked, the Tibetan soldiers on the city wall wouldn't have died.

The Tibetans are sending so many soldiers forward; it's easy to see that they're just throwing their lives away.

Di Renjie couldn't help but glance back at Su Dingfang behind him. He realized that this was a trap.

A trap that Su Dingfang set from the very beginning.

Although the nine catapults have used all their strength to launch the projectiles, they are not just nine catapults!

With a creaking sound, more catapults were pushed out of the military camp.

Hundreds of soldiers pulled from the front and pushed from the back, and in the shortest possible time, they moved the catapults behind the first nine catapults.

That is, behind Di Renjie and Wei Hongji.

Wei Hongji quickly walked to the side and then directed the catapults to be rapidly adjusted and loaded.

Di Renjie watched very carefully from the side.

The sheepskin bag containing the black oil was quickly hooked up. After Wei Hongji's final inspection, he waved the triangular flag, and in the next moment, countless fireballs rose up and, under Di Renjie's watchful gaze, plunged directly into Yunshan Pass.

Visibly, the flames suddenly began to steam.

Di Renjie suddenly felt some difficulty breathing.

At this moment, Wei Hongji handed over a damp silk handkerchief and said, "Be careful. If you can't hold on, retreat immediately. This fire miasma is not easy to endure."

Di Renjie raised his head slightly, his expression one of astonishment.

Fire miasma, what's with this term?

Wei Hongji seemed to see through what he was thinking, and looked ahead and said, "This plateau is full of plateau miasma. Plateau miasma can kill people, but the fire caused by black oil is even more deadly than plateau miasma. Its method of killing is quite similar to that of plateau miasma, so let's call it fire miasma. Anyway, it can kill people."

"Yes!" Di Renjie looked at Wei Hongji, then cupped his hands and said, "What the Junior Supervisor said is absolutely right."

Wei Hongji smiled faintly and said, "We will be the first to witness the power of the fire miasma."

"Yes!" Di Renjie bowed slightly, looking at the constantly rising flames with an extremely solemn expression.

Overnight, countless fireballs were hurled into the city from catapults.

Not a single drop of black oil was left; it was all thrown in.

Large quantities of wooden stakes, pillars, even old clothes, and even horse manure—almost everything that was no longer needed—were thrown into Yunzhong Pass.

For the entire night, Di Renjie stood beside the catapult.

Finally, before dawn, everything was thrown away.

Strangely, there was no wind that night.

The temperature was unusually high.

Di Renjie was standing two hundred paces from the city wall. Even though he kept covering his nose with a wet wipe, he still experienced occasional shortness of breath. Yet, despite this, shouts and footsteps could still be heard from within the city from time to time.

The image of the Tibetan soldiers in the city, urged on by their generals, charging forward and into the sea of ​​fire, once again appeared in Di Renjie's mind.

He lowered his head and couldn't help but sigh softly.

Just then, the rhythmic sound of drums began to ring out behind them.

Di Renjie suddenly looked up and saw that the well railings on both sides were being pushed forward rapidly, and standing on the left well railing was none other than Li Dejian.

Di Renjie was taken aback, but then he realized that the temperature here had been low for a while, and it was time to climb the city wall.

But has the miasma truly disappeared completely?

……

Li Dejian stepped onto the parapet, held his breath, and jumped into the city.

Before he could even steady himself, his eyes narrowed involuntarily.

Because within their line of sight, in the corner of the parapet, there were countless Tibetan soldiers lying on the ground with their eyes open, their faces flushed, and their bodies stiff.

"You can come up now," a soldier in black armor said to Li Dejian, then coughed twice, whether from suffocation or the unpleasant smell, it was hard to tell.

Li Dejian relaxed his breathing slightly; it was still a little groggy, but he could manage it.

There was even a slight, cool breeze blowing in the air.

As time passed, the Qi energy on the city wall rapidly recovered.

Li Dejian immediately turned around and waved his hand sharply towards the outside of the city.

The next moment, more soldiers in black armor began carrying ladders to the foot of the city wall, and then quickly climbed up the wall.

Only then did Li Dejian turn around and look inside the city gate.

Inside the city gate, the central open space was charred black, while beneath the city walls on the east and west sides lay countless corpses pressed against them.

Their deaths were exactly the same as those of the Tibetan soldiers on the city wall.

A row of stone walls at the back separates the main gate area from the square inside the city gate.

The city gate there had long been completely burned down, but on both sides of the gate were Tibetan soldiers who had inexplicably fallen to the ground.

Some had even entered the square inside the city gate, but after taking a few steps, they collapsed, their struggling expressions still clearly visible.

Corpses, corpses, at least six or seven thousand people died in the flames.

No, there should be more.

Inside the main gate area, and beneath the city walls on both sides, Li Dejian could hardly see how many people there were, but he estimated that the number of dead was definitely not small, perhaps even tens of thousands.

Further ahead, many parts of the main pass area were still burning. For some reason, the billowing black smoke did not rise into the sky, but instead accumulated within the pass itself.

Further south, beneath the inner city gate to the south, countless Tibetan soldiers were making a ruckus behind black smoke.

On the contrary, outside the city gates, tens of thousands of Tibetan soldiers stood ready in the darkness, holding torches.

This battle is far from over.

It seemed that someone had spotted the Tang soldiers on the city wall, and the South Gate Square fell silent. The next moment, a large number of Tibetan soldiers were heading towards the North Gate.

A cold smile flashed across Li Dejian's lips.

Beside him, a large number of soldiers had already climbed the city wall, and at the same time, each of them held a crossbow in their hand, aiming it at the square.

At their feet, there were two crossbows on each side.

At this moment, ten soldiers stepped forward, grabbed the ropes, slid down from the city wall, and quickly arrived inside the city gate.

Inside the city gate, thick stone slabs completely blocked the entrance.

A captain stepped forward and pried open the stone slabs underneath, causing all the stone slabs inside the city gate to immediately loosen.

The next moment, all ten soldiers tied the ropes in their hands to the topmost stone slab.

With all ten people pulling at the same time, the stone slab began to shake, and in the next moment, it was completely pulled out.

Li Dejian stood on the city wall, looking back towards the outside of the city gate.

In addition to a large number of soldiers preparing to scale the city walls using ladders, a massive battering ram was pushed outside the city gate and then rammed into it with force.

With a loud thud, the entire city gate shook violently, and more stone slabs were squeezed out of the gate opening.

At the same time, more soldiers slid off the city wall.

Some held ropes to help drag the stone slabs, while others held long spears and lined up in front of the city gate.

The spear blade points forward, ready to meet the challenge.

Li Dejian watched calmly, raising his gaze to look deeply at the Tibetan soldiers surging towards the north gate.

In the central main gate area, there were still many places where flames were burning, but none of the Tibetans went up to put them out, because all the water available for firefighting, both inside and outside the city, had been used up the previous night.

Smoke continued to billow out, and with no wind, it couldn't dissipate at all. But at this moment, the Tibetans still recklessly rushed into the smoke.

For a moment, no one could see what they were doing.

“One thousand people.” Li Dejian counted indifferently, but his eyes were fixed on the square inside the North Gate and the main gate of the city.

He wanted to see how many people could break through from there, because if any of them managed to get through, it meant that they could also charge straight through.

……

Dama Rinchen stood on the south gate, his gaze fixed on the hazy smoke. A large number of soldiers were being urged to enter, but soon there was no further movement.

They are dead.

However, as more and more soldiers went in, the smoke began to dissipate rapidly.

Dama Rinchen's eyes turned cold.

With a wave of his hand, more soldiers were driven into the smoke.

These men were all second-rate infantrymen in the army. Dama Rinchen didn't care about the deaths and injuries, but the Tibetan cavalrymen waiting patiently outside the city were his trusted confidants.

"They're out!" A shout suddenly came from the end of the smoke.

Dama Rinchen suddenly looked up and saw a group of Tibetan soldiers who had already broken through the smoke and rushed into the North Gate Square.

Just as a hint of joy appeared on Dama Rinchen's face, a long arrow suddenly shot down from mid-air and pierced the throat of the Tibetan soldier.

Dama Rinchen looked in the direction from which the arrow had come and was shocked to see Li Dejian, dressed in black armor, coldly staring at him from the north gate wall in the distance.

The two glared at each other coldly, their eyes filled with a hatred that wanted to grind the other to dust.

A loud "boom" suddenly came from beneath Li Dejian. Dama Renzeng subconsciously looked down and saw the North Gate of the city burst open amidst a cloud of dust.

A massive battering ram appeared outside the north gate, and countless densely packed black-armored soldiers appeared before Dama Rinchen's eyes.

Yunshan Pass has fallen, and endless black-armored soldiers surge into the city like a black tide. It won't be long before they occupy the entire pass.

Dama Rinchen's heart tightened. He suddenly drew his long sword from his waist and roared angrily at the front, "Drive the Tang people out of the city! Kill them!"

"Kill!" Countless Tibetan soldiers roared and surged forward.

With a "whoosh," a dense barrage of crossbow bolts, like a black cloud, fell coldly and mercilessly from the sky, striking the Tibetan soldiers at the forefront.

In the blink of an eye, a large number of Tibetan soldiers at the forefront had been lost.

At this time, more Tang soldiers poured into the city and lined up on both sides of the city wall.

Swordsmen and shieldmen were in front, spearmen were behind, and a dense array of crossbowmen were lined up behind them.

More cavalry have appeared outside the city, ready to charge.

Dama Rinchen couldn't help but look up at Li Dejian on the north gate city wall.

Li Dejian, already wielding a long spear, had already pointed the cold blade at Dama Renzeng.

Both men's eyes burned with a bloodthirsty killing intent, and then they roared simultaneously, "Kill!"

Countless soldiers, their eyes bloodshot, gripped their weapons and charged toward the enemy.

The spear blade was icy cold, and blood splattered everywhere.

(End of this chapter)