It was June, and the weather was very hot.

As soon as the sun came out, it was as if there was a fire burning on the ground, and it was unbearably hot.

Some gray gases that look like clouds but not clouds, like fog and not fog, float low in the air, making people feel breathless. The willows on both sides of the pipes seemed to be sick, their leaves hanging with layers of dust and rolling on the branches, and the branches were too lazy to move, hanging listlessly.

There were also cracks on the official road to varying degrees, and the army walked up, dusty, and connected with the gray gas in the sky, forming a vicious gray sand array, burning the faces of the soldiers.

It's dry everywhere, it's hot everywhere, it's stuffy everywhere, and it's almost out of breath.

Not a drop of rain had fallen since the beginning of summer, and a milky white mist filled the air, enveloping the trees in the distance, and from there, exuding a burning smell.

The earth is cracked, the fields are dry, and this year, it is estimated that it will be another year of great drought.

From the barracks to the city of Yecheng, it was only five miles away, but it took a long time for the soldiers to come all the way.

The weather is so hot, the soldiers are still wrapped in a layer of armor, after the scorching sun, the armor has been burned by the sun, and the people in the armor are already sweating. It is estimated that at this temperature on the armor, if you break an egg on it, you can fry it directly.

The dark cloud snowhorse under Zhang Yan's seat also became listless because of the weather, with his head down and snorting, as if he was complaining about this damn God.

This war horse has been with Zhang Yan for eight years, and basically, Zhang Yan has participated in large and small battles. It was all this horse that carried him through the time. I don't know how many times I was born and died.

It's eight years. Although it is not long, it is his golden time for the dark cloud stepping snow horse.

Now, the dark cloud stepping snow horse has passed his golden time, and now he has begun to slowly step towards old age.

Fortunately, the current dark cloud stepping snow horse does not have to be born and die with Zhang Yan, as long as it is served with good food and drink. Maybe you'll live longer.

Zhang Yan rode on the back of a snowhorse with dark clouds, but he was thinking about something else in his mind, since the beginning of summer this year, it should have been rainy, but it has not rained for a long time.

Seeing the cracks in the earth, the drought in the fields, and the drop in the water level of the river, Zhang Yan was really a little worried in his heart, could it be that this year is another year of great drought?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, and he had to give an account of the work of fighting the drought. Let the soldiers and civilians within the scope of Shili do their best to fight drought and divert water from rivers to irrigate farmland. This year is not a bumper harvest. Just hope that the harvest does not decrease.

So, Zhang Yan exchanged for a brocade guard, and asked him to pass on his message to Pengcheng, and asked Chen Qun, the great farmer, to supervise the drought fight.

After Jinyiwei left, Zhang Yan's heart calmed down a little, looking at the majestic city that was getting clearer and clearer in front of him, and began to take all his thoughts back, focusing on attacking Yecheng.

"Qiqi Regent, the vanguard Gan Ning has arrived at the foot of Yecheng City and asked for further instructions." A scout came to Zhang Yan's side and asked with a fist clenched.

"Let him be ready to attack, and when the army arrives, he will make a decision!"

"Whoa!"

Yecheng is the county seat of Wei County, and it is also the state seat of Jizhou, Yuan Shao raised troops from the Bohai Sea and called on the world to crusade against Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo fled westward, the allies existed in name only, and Yuan Shao waited for an opportunity to seize the territory of Jizhou Mu Han Fu, thus occupying Yecheng, replacing Han Fu as Jizhou Mu, and then began his rule in Jizhou.

Today's Yecheng, or Yuan Shao in Jizhou when the expansion, majestic, majestic, magnificent, the solidity of the city, is second to none in the whole Hebei, the scale of the city, is also to imitate the old capital Luoyang to establish.

After Yuan Shao took charge of Jizhou, he recruited many talents, and under his governance, the people of Jizhou lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the military strength was extremely strong, and they would basically wipe out the invading enemy in the field, so it was very rare to be under the city.

Very little, not nothing.

The last time Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao fought in the Central Plains, Zhao Yun once led an army of 10,000 to sweep Jizhou, and twice came to Yecheng City. However, Zhao Yun did not really attack Yecheng, so up to the current position, Yecheng has never been attacked by a large army.

Such a strong and huge city was placed in front of Zhang Yan's eyes, if he was an ordinary person, as long as the food and straw in the city were sufficient, even if he attacked for three years, he might not be able to capture it.

But Zhang Yan is not an ordinary person, he has memories and knowledge from the future, for him, no matter how strong the city, can not stop the advanced science jishu, science and technology is the primary productive force, but also the key to changing the war.

Gan Ning's army had already arrived at the foot of Yecheng City, and lined up outside the city, waiting for the battle, the scorching sun was like fire, shining on everyone's bodies, making the iron armor on their bodies hot, not to mention the people inside.

However, none of the soldiers complained that they were tired, and they were all well-trained soldiers.

The army arrived one after another, and all the departments were deployed under the unified command of Zhang Yan, and the 50,000 troops were neatly and orderly arranged in front of the south gate of Yecheng.

The south gate of Yecheng is also called the Vermilion Bird Gate, the names of the four gates of Yecheng are taken by Yuan Shao, the east gate is called Qinglong Gate, the west gate is called the White Tiger Gate, the south gate is called the Vermilion Bird Gate, and the north gate is called Xuanwu Gate.

On the tower of the Vermilion Bird Gate, the defenders had already informed Jizhou Beijia Xun Yu and the general Cao Hong of the news outside the city.

Xun Yu and Cao Hong successively climbed the tower of the Vermilion Bird Gate, and looked at the army outside the city from a high place, but saw that the enemy army was densely covered with flags, spears like a forest, bows and crossbows were ready, and the military appearance was neat and orderly, and it stretched far away, about 50,000 people.

"I didn't expect Zhang Yan's army to come so quickly......" Xun Yu was a little worried after looking at the enemy lineup outside the city.

According to the remnants of the army who retreated from the defeat of Liyang, the enemy army has a powerful weapon that can blow up a group of people in an instant, and this weapon will also make a loud "boom" sound when attacking, like thunder falling from the sky, but this weapon must be ignited with fire, so. The soldiers called this weapon of the enemy "fire thunder".

And the reason why Guo Huai's army was defeated so quickly. It's all related to this weapon called "Fire Thunder".

What exactly is "Fire Thunder". The defeated soldiers couldn't tell clearly, you said this, he said that, and no one could say exactly what it was.

However, the "fire thunder" mentioned by the soldiers made Xun Yu and Cao Hong a little worried.

In case Zhang Yan uses fire and thunder against them again, let alone Yecheng, even if it is ten or a hundred times stronger. It will also be razed to the ground.

But out of curiosity, Xun Yu and Cao Hong wanted to see what fire and thunder were.

Xun Yu turned his face to Cao Hong and said, "Isn't there any news from the lord yet?" ”

Cao Hong shook his head and said, "Not for the time being." ”

Xun Yu said: "I really hope that the lord can rush back as soon as possible, otherwise, with our current strength, plus the enemy's powerful weapon called Fire Thunder, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for long!" ”

Cao Hong then said: "I have already sent someone to contact again, and inform the lord of the latest battle situation, if the lord knows, he will definitely lead the cavalry back first." Come and help. ”

Xun Yu's brows furrowed into a Sichuan character, and he asked again: "Xu Yu and Xun Chen went to Zhao County and Changshan respectively. You should be back now, right? ”

"The two gentlemen have already arrived in Handan, and they will arrive in Yecheng tomorrow." Cao Hongdao.

Xun Yu sneered: "Tomorrow? If the enemy really had the weapons of fire and thunder that the soldiers were talking about, and if they were all used to attack the city, it is difficult to say whether we would survive today. ”

Cao Hong hugged his fists and said: "Lord Xun, please rest assured, if Yecheng really can't hold on, I will also desperately protect Lord Xun from leaving here." ”

"Yecheng is a line of defense for Zuihou, and it must not be lost, let alone retreated! If even the strongest city in the entire Hebei was breached by the enemy, then the rest of the cities were no longer a problem. If Yecheng is lost, it is very likely that it will be lost along with the whole of Hebei. Don't forget, the lord has just taken over Hebei, and many people are still obedient on the surface, but they don't think that way in their hearts. Xun Yu cut the ironclad way.

Cao Hong pondered for a moment, frowned, and said, "Then I will lead the army to live and die with Yecheng!" ”

Xun Yu knew that Cao Hong was a loyal confidant to Cao Cao, and even if the rest of the people surrendered, Cao Hong would not surrender, let alone be shaken by the golden stone.

What makes Xun Yu worry and happy is that Cao Cao's family members have all been received to Jinyang City, even if Yecheng is breached, Cao Cao will not be threatened, he can temporarily return to Jinyang, and then wait for the opportunity to move, slowly trying to figure it out.

Outside the city, Zhang Yan was already impatient, and after his order, 200 catapults were pushed from the rear army to the front army, and then fixed about 300 steps away from the city tower, and the soldiers began to operate the catapults, loading one thunderbolt after another in the leather trough, and standing in place.

With the last experience, Zhang Yanshe went to the steps of igniting the thunderbolts, and with his order, 200 thunderbolts were projected, jumped over the moat, flew over the suspension bridge, and most of them landed near the Suzaku Gate.

Xun Yu's eyes widened, watching a thunderbolt that was projected fall towards the city tower, and several defeated troops saw the thunderbolt falling on the city tower, and they exclaimed: "Fire and thunder!" Fire Thunder ......"

With the shouts of several of them, Cao Hong immediately realized the danger, and pulled Xun Yu aside, and the shield soldiers stepped forward with shields one after another, covering Xun Yu and Cao Hong behind the shields.

Bang!

The fire and thunder fell on the tower, and the defeated army was so frightened that they immediately went down from the tower, panicked, and looked crazy.

However, the fire and thunder fell, but it was not as magical as the defeated army said, what was like thunder landing, and there was no bullshit.

Xun Yu, Cao Hong and the others looked at the thunderbolt that fell on the city tower for a long time, and found that there was no movement, just a black round iron ball, and there was a thin long rope on the side of the iron ball.

"This is Fire Thunder?" Cao Hong was bold and took the lead to the side of the thunderbolt, kicked it with his foot, and the thunderbolt rolled to the side, but there was no reaction at all.

Cao Hong suddenly had a feeling of being deceived, and couldn't help scolding: "Damn, these defeated troops are actually spreading rumors in the army, saying that fire and thunder, I think it's just an iron ball......"

Xun Yu interrupted Cao Hong's words and said loudly: "Since they can say such a thing, it proves that they are not lying, don't forget, they also said a very important thing, that is, it must be ignited ......"

"Fire! Blaze! What a fire! Suddenly, Cao Hong's face changed greatly, and a group of burning flames were thrown from outside the city, and he flew over the Vermilion Bird Gate.

Xun Yu looked at the large fires that were thrown over, and suddenly had an extremely ominous premonition, he felt that things were likely to be greatly reversed after these fires landed.

Thinking of the oral description of the defeated army, Xun Yu immediately concluded that this black round iron ball was the "fire thunder" in their mouths.

"Oh no, get back into the city! Evacuate! Evacuate! Xun Yu suddenly realized the danger and immediately shouted loudly from the soldiers under the city.

At this moment, huge balls of fire fell to the vicinity of the Suzaku Gate, and as soon as they landed, the thunderbolts were ignited by the flames.

Moments later, an explosion rang out, and the huge city gate was torn apart...... (To be continued......)