The Kaifeng defenders actually set fire to the city. Moreover, it was a specially planned operation to ensure casualties, and it was by no means a temporary act.
The power of water and fire comes from nature and cannot be resisted by human beings. Under the rising and rolling flames on both sides, no matter how fierce and well-trained the Ding navy officers were, they could not remain calm.
The road from Nanxunmen to Fengyimen was called Yujie during the Song Dynasty and was two hundred paces wide. But now the two sides of the road are forced by abandoned houses, and there are mountains of earth, stone, bamboo and trees stacked on both sides. The space left for the army to move is inevitably narrow.
What's more, Li Ting followed Guo Ning's order to seize the city quickly. They raced against time along the way, and their queue was stretched because of their rapid march.
It means that most of the team has fallen deeply into the sea of fire! Zhao Fang and others could not see clearly what was happening on the front end at this time.
But a moment later, the troops and horses on the rear were in chaos. Some people screamed, some ran away, and some were at a loss.
Even if the officer leading the team repeatedly scolded them, they could not prevent the originally orderly army from turning into scattered sand. Not far in front of the Song Army officers and soldiers, many Ding Navy officers and soldiers rushed back, scattering the Song Army officers and soldiers who had barely gathered together again.
More Ding navy officers failed to get out of the fire immediately, and then lost their chance. Their figures were difficult to distinguish clearly under the dazzling firelight and sunlight. It could only be barely felt that they were running quickly and scattered in all directions, trying to find a way out under the attack of two seas of fire.
But in the scorching temperatures at the turn of summer and autumn, the flames soon brought high heat, which distorted the air and blocked sight.
What's more, following the flames, there was also terrifying black smoke. Only a few people could see the retreat under the black smoke.
Just at the rear and outside of the fire scene, there were still some people who were panicking and rushing towards a gap somewhere, but that was not a place to escape, but a gap created by the stacking of wood and firewood beside the road!
The tongue of fire trembled slightly, like a monster in the flames licking its tongue, and instantly engulfed the running figure.
When the figure reappeared, it had turned into a roaring fireball. More flames were jumping, and the wall of fire was moving towards the middle of the road. The distortion of the air became more and more intense, and the black smoke became more and more intense. It exuded a terrible burning smell to the surroundings, and then turned to the center of the fire due to the rising heat. The gathering brought a terrible, whining wind sound over a huge area.
At this time, the sight of the Song Army officers and soldiers was blocked and they could not see anything. Those who were close to the fire scene could already feel the heat on their skin, as the fluffy sparks were carried by the hot air and flew around. They did not even dare to open their eyes and could only retreat continuously.
While retreating, they only heard the roars of people, the crackling of firewood, and the whining of war horses. This aroused their panic even more, so that dozens of people in the queue collided with each other, tripped, and fell to the ground. gourd.
Zhao Fang was bumped into by several soldiers who were running backwards. He staggered several steps before barely standing still. He stared blankly at the sight in front of him that was more terrifying than hell. The gray beard on his chin could not bear the approaching high temperature and began to curl up.
His son Zhao Fan grabbed him from behind and pulled him by the sleeves of his robe to retreat quickly. Zhao Fang took two steps back, pointed in the direction of Xuan Zhen, and shouted to his son.
Zhao Fan quickly led several more guards forward to snatch Xuan Zhen back, who was staring at the fire. Xuan Zhen allowed Zhao Fan and his guards to push and pull him, and even carried him on his back, without any reaction.
There were so many thoughts running through his mind that to the outside world, it seemed that he was frightened by the fire and was stunned.
Since ancient times, fire attacks have been common in wars, but setting fire to cities is uncommon. This is because the more complete the preparations before arson, the more difficult it is to control the fire once it is ignited, which can easily lead to a situation where eight thousand enemies are killed and ten thousand are lost.
The prerequisite for defending the city is that there is a city. If a fire burns down the city, no matter how many enemies are killed, why are they here?
But what the Kaifeng defenders did was obviously the result of careful consideration. The accumulation of so many flammable materials and the fire that spread instantly must have been due to repeated planning beforehand. Even the person who lit the fire had to have undergone rigorous training. A dead soldier, otherwise this would never be possible.
As for the entire imperial street that was burned down at this moment, it was a terrible trap that the Kaifeng imperial court had specially planned for this purpose and used tremendous power to set up!
As far as Xuan Zhen could see, those struggling in this trap were at least five to six thousand or more elite troops under Li Ting of the Ding Navy.
This army rushed from the north of Kaifeng City. Not only did it march very fast, but the team also gathered together and never dispersed. It was obviously to seize the opportunity of the Kaifeng court to open the door and put in the Song army. It quickly broke into the inner city of Kaifeng and controlled all the key points.
They did not have time to distribute sentinel troops to guard the surrounding areas, and they could not waste their troops in the sparsely populated outer city of Kaifeng.
As a result, they fell completely into the Jin people's plan, and almost the entire army was lost in the sea of fire!
Xuan Zhen's heart trembled when he thought about what would happen to this army. He did not dare to think about it further, but he was very sure that the loss of such a number of elite soldiers would be an extremely painful loss for any regime.
If a certain regime is personified, ordinary losses are like trauma caused by knife and spear stabbing. At least it is not fatal on the spot. It will recover slowly and can always be recovered.
However, this kind of comprehensive and large-scale battle damage is a huge harm to the entire regime and the army, comparable to extraordinary trauma.
Moreover, Li Ting is one of the few people in Ding Haijun whose status is second only to Guo Ning. He is a pillar figure in Ding Haijun's fortune. His troops are the main force used by Ding Haijun to control Hebei.
Such an army died in the fire scene of Kaifeng City. It was like a person's arm being cut off at the shoulder level, which could not be recovered at all!
In fact, Xuan Zhen didn't care about the losses of the navy, he just sighed twice. More troublesome things are yet to come.
The alliance between the Zhongdu court of the Jin State and the Song State was promoted by several spies sent by the Jin State when Kaifeng took the initiative to send troops south to plunder, and Zhongdu reaped the profits. The alliance between the two parties was not stable at the beginning. .
As Ding Haijun approaches Kaifeng, when the two armies gather together, it is the beginning of their calculations and competition with each other.
Under this situation, the main force of Ding Haijun launched a large-scale field battle with the main force of the Jin army. However, Kaifeng suddenly opened the city gate and welcomed the Song army nearby.
What does this mean in the eyes of Zhou Guogong Guo Ning? There is no doubt that this means that Song Jun is ready to turn his back and seize benefits.
Guo Ning is a heroic figure and will not be unprepared for this, so he has left an elite force outside the battlefield. Once the Song army is discovered, this elite force will immediately rush in and compete with the Song army.
But... when the Ding Haijun Division rushed to the outside of Kaifeng City, intending to seize the key passes of the city, a fire suddenly broke out along the road, causing thousands of people in the Ding Hai Hai Division to be almost destroyed, but the Song Army was intact... This What does it mean in the eyes of Zhou Guogong Guo Ning?
How will the evil tiger react to this? How will the relations between Jin and Song develop in the future?
It is one thing for the Song Dynasty to control or influence the Kaifeng court of the Jin Kingdom for its own use. The Kaifeng court of the Jin State held the Song Dynasty hostage and forced the Song Dynasty to become enemies with its powerful neighbor in the north. That was another story!
Xuan Zhen was alert and shouted: "Put me down! Put me down!" The soldiers who were running behind him did not dare to disobey and stopped in a hurry.
Xuan Zhen landed on his feet, jumped up and shouted: "Where is Hou Zhi? Find him and hold him in your hands! This man is very important! We can't let him escape!" A sharp-eyed soldier shouted: "That Jin Guo The officer is still in front! He has been standing still!" The soldier was right, Hou Zhi did not retreat at all after the fire started.
He was too close to the fire, and sparks fell on him from time to time, burning holes in his clothes, or burning his face, causing blisters immediately.
But he was unaware of this, and stood firmly in place, watching the trap he had painstakingly prepared come into effect. At most, when the flames approached, he raised his hands and covered his brows.
Zhao Fan led a few people through the smoke and rushed closer. They saw the prime minister of the Kaifeng court of the Kingdom of Jin with a smile on his lips, and he was very happy.
