The wind was cold, the blackened ruins were everywhere as far as the eye could see, and wildfires were still burning.

Tian Hong's body was found at the bottom of the ruins, the body was already charred black, and it was impossible to distinguish the face, Wang Lin covered his nose and looked at it a few times, then waved his hand and ordered someone to carry it down and bury it.

The battle spread to the city of Suizhou, and many Suizhou soldiers and civilians were damaged, and in the early morning of the second day, the fire had not been extinguished.

Wang Lin lowered his waist, stretched out his hand and touched a fallen stone wall, his hand was immediately stained with a viscous liquid that had not yet dried up, and he sniffed it at the end of his nose, and there was a very pungent smell.

"This thing is...... Kerosene?

"What about gunpowder, is it similar to this thing?"

He Ruobi followed by his side and explained one by one: "Governor Qiyu, this thing is indeed fire oil, it burns immediately when it touches the fire, it is very dangerous, and the gunpowder is ......" He hesitated for a moment and said: "That gunpowder is different from fire oil, although it is also contained in the jar, but the things inside are very different, and the general can say that this thing is definitely ten or a hundred times more dangerous than fire oil!" ”

He carefully pinched up some residual powder on the ground and gave it to Wang Lin, the smell of smoke and fire was particularly choking.

The soldiers quickly presented a crockpot-shaped thing, and the crockpot was raised with a palm; The upper part has a small round mouth with a small diameter and a round flat bottom. Most of the surface of the vessel is glazed with blue-yellow glaze, and there are three layers of papillae-shaped impotence on the glaze, which resemble tribulus terrestris thorns but are not sharp, four pieces per layer, a total of 12 pieces; The lower part is plain pottery. Excluding thistles, the shape of the whole vessel resembles a small-mouth clay pot, which is very similar to the semi-glazed belt jar common in the Sui and Tang dynasties of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The body of this clay bullet is hollow and the abdomen is round and convex, and a large amount of gunpowder can be inserted through a small opening, which has a long fuse.

Wang Lin's face was solemn, and he nodded: "When I was in Yecheng, I knew that His Majesty ordered the people of the temple to pour this thing day and night, of course...... It's just that the people at the top are circulating, and Hu Lu is so envious that he refuses to let people know......

"Hehe, if it hadn't been for a little accident last year, which killed hundreds of people, I don't think I would have known that this thing existed. At that time, I just heard that there was an explosion and some people died, so I had a rough estimate of this thing, but I couldn't have imagined it...... I didn't expect to get out of the temple, it's such a monster......"

He really couldn't find any other adjectives, so he could only use the word "monster" to describe it, "I once saw Ge Xianweng record in "Hug Puzi", there is an immortal medicine prescription in it, which says: 'The realgar produced in Wudu Mountain is pure and free of impurities, and there is a bright color, red like a cockscomb, which can be used as an immortal medicine, and it will be fired together with saltpeter, Xuanqi intestines, and pine resin, and you can practice a kind of immortal medicine that is as white as cloth and as white as ice......

"Although I am not interested in cultivating and becoming an immortal, but in the past, there were many good cultivators in the Southern Dynasty, and I have also heard a little that some people will have an explosion in the way of alchemy according to Ge Xianweng, and I smell it, and I add almost this kind of thing, so I think gunpowder comes from this, right? But how is it so powerful? ”

When Taoism flourished, the upper class of society popularized the idea that taking Jindan immortal medicine could lead to immortality, and gunpowder was conceived in the continuous attempts of the ancients. And about a little later than Ge Hong, some Taoists carried out similar immortal medicine refining, "Zhen Yuan Miao Dao Yao" has been recorded, with sulfur, saltpeter, realgar mixed with honey, the mixture will suddenly burst into flames, not just burn people as simple, sometimes, the whole house will be turned into ashes in the explosion, from the "Zhen Yuan Miao Dao Yao", he recorded this prescription, in fact, Wang Lin came into contact with these are not much different.

Wang Lin became more and more interested, "You told me yesterday that there is more than one way to use gunpowder, but the old man only saw you use one, why don't you let me see the rest?" ”

"This thing does have a variety of uses, but the most conservative one will be used at the end of yesterday, to be precise, the last general thinks that this thing should first set the lead on fire and then throw it at the wall with a catapult, and the damage will be multiplied."

"Then you should hurry up and prepare." Wang Lin can't wait to see it.

"The Governor of the Metropolitan must not." He Ruobi directly rejected him: "Most of the Governor Rongyu, when the general was experimenting a few days ago, a lot of gunpowder had been used, and half of it was consumed when he took Suizhou, so far the gunpowder reserves are not much." ”

Wang Lin didn't mind He Ruobi's confrontation very much, nodded and said:

"That's right, good steel should be used on the blade, and the shosakuji temple is only equipped with such a little gunpowder for the army, so it has to be well protected...... Three days later, the army set out to attack Xiangyang, and I will watch General He Ruo's means! ”

………………

On the Western Front, Toyoshu, there were fierce battles, with casualties and casualties.

Fan Zigai held the time, and he could not have rushed to the mountain range in front of him at dusk, and he fell into the siege in advance one minute earlier, paying countless sacrifices, and one minute later he could not make full use of the order to assemble at the foot of the ridge, which was already the most accurate calculation of the timing.

At this time, it was already twilight, if the Zhou army relied on superior forces and favorable terrain to attack with all its might, once the sky was dark and it was difficult to distinguish between the enemy and us, his superiority in strength and terrain would all lose its effectiveness and would be taken advantage of by the Qi army.

Therefore, although he had the absolute upper hand at this moment, Fan Zigai ordered to surround him on all sides, and only attacked with long-range weapons such as bows and crossbows, and tied up the formation.

Although he has an absolute advantage at the moment, even if it is delayed until tomorrow, there is no pressure, so why rush? But the Qi army has sharp bows and crossbows, armor and blades are of the highest quality, and the soldiers are all strong men, brave and good at fighting, and they are not afraid of the Zhou army at all. Moreover, the current situation is critical, and a quick solution must be made.

When the sky was completely dark, the Zhou army finally couldn't hold it anymore and the whole army broke through.

The role of the night still played a role, once the two sides handed over the short army, the bow and crossbow lost its effect, and the darkness could not see, the slightest mistake, the fierce battle between the two armies could not be said to become cannibalism, and once the two sides entered the chaos, it was no longer difficult to control, and the situation would take a sharp turn for the worse.

In the face of such a situation, no matter how shrewd Fan Zigai is, there is nothing to be done, the Zhou army has lost its geographical advantage, but it has made full use of the time, and the Qi army has few soldiers, and it is impossible to effectively stop it in the face of the all-round charge of the Zhou army.

Fortunately, no matter how the Zhou army migrated, its main direction of attack must be here, Fan Zigai had already laid down a heavy defense line on the mountain, and the soldiers in the camp were not allowed to move, but all the soldiers who rushed up the mountain must be the Zhou army, and the soldiers who blocked the mountain only had their backs against the military village to charge forward. Once the two armies collide and fight each other and fall into a white-knuckle battle, the Qi army on the mountain will never loosen the defensive line and divide troops to support. What awaited the Zhou army was round after round, endless and arduous battles.

In this way of fighting, the Zhou army had to pay heavy sacrifices every time they took a step, a mountain that was not very high or dangerous, and the Zhou army did not take it until dawn, and the corpses were piled up all over the mountain. When the sky was twilight, the Zhou army finally broke through the defense line with human lives. The Qi army left a part of the men and horses to clean up the battlefield, clear the remnants, rescue the disabled comrades, and divide the troops to chase after them.

At this time, there were only more than 1,000 people in the Zhou army who were able to escape, regardless of the generals, they just covered their heads and rushed forward, the command system was completely paralyzed, and they fought separately.

The Zhou army fled all over the mountains, and the Qi army was divided into several groups, alternately intercepting and chasing the Zhou army, with blood flowing and corpses all over the field.

Assault, get rid of, intercept, assault again, get rid of again, pursue again...... Fan Zigai personally went into battle, leading a team of personal soldiers to fight in the battle, people turned on their backs, and the sound of wailing and screaming made people's hearts palpitate. Both armies were red-eyed, but instinctively rushed forward, and the vast snow for more than ten miles had been paved with dead bodies and blood......

The crushed Zhou army rushed to the city of Xunxian County, crowded with people, shouting to open the city gate quickly. When the drawbridge was put down and not collected, more than 1,000 infantry armor of the Qi army came one after another, and Fan Zigai split a few panicked Zhou troops, pointing at the head of the city:

"-Siege!!"

The Qi army roared in unison, like a giant axe, splitting a path......

Blood and fire were intertwined, blooming in this city, and the sound of killing was like thunder.

In January of the third year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty, Fan Zigai led an army of 3,000 to break through the Zhou army, and Xunxian was regained.