Don't talk about this side, let's talk about Xi'an City.

Hong Chengchou has been besieging for a day, he concentrated five cannons, bombarding all the time, the east wall of Xi'an has been blasted through three gaps, fortunately the Qin army desperately blocked the official army's rush, and used sandbags and other objects to block the gap, which did not let the official army enter the city.

After dark, the officers and troops stopped the siege and returned to the camp to rest.

Hong Chengchou first inspected the camp and saw that there were indeed no loopholes, so he returned to the big tent. After a hasty dinner, I immediately invited several generals to come and discuss.

After a while, Zuo Liangyu, Shi Kefa and several other generals arrived, Hong Chengchou invited them to sit down, and said bluntly: "Although the city wall of Xi'an is thick, as long as it is bombarded with cannons for two more days, most of the entire eastern city wall will collapse, and at that time, they will block it with sandbags, and it will not be strong." How many shells are left at the moment? ”

Shi Kefa said: "It's only half left." Do you want to draw some more from all over the world? ”

Hong Chengchou said: "There are no cannons near the county seat, and of course there will be no shells. Let's save some use, be sure to shoot accurately, and don't let go of every shot. ”

Zuo Liangyu said: "Dashuai, isn't it too slow to play like this." What if these thieves repair the city walls at night? ”

Hong Chengchou smiled: "That's for sure." All I want is for them to repair the walls. ”

When several generals heard this, they were stunned.

Hong Chengchou didn't let them be stunned for long, and continued: "They repair the city wall at night, in order not to let our army find out, and they are also afraid that our army will fire arrows indiscriminately, so they will definitely not light torches. Not only did they not light torches, but they also extinguished the lanterns at the head of the city. Take advantage of the darkness to repair the city walls. ”

Shi Kefa said: "That's right, but why do you want thieves to be like this?" ”

Hong Chengchou said: "Because when they were repairing the city wall, there must be too many people, and the black lights were blind, so they couldn't take care of the city." ”

Zuo Liangyu was taken aback: "What does the marshal mean, send troops to attack at this time?" ”

Hong Chengchou shook his head: "In that case, the action will be too big, and the thieves will easily find out, what we have to do is to send a small group of people to touch the city, chisel the city bricks, and fill it with gunpowder." General Shi, you will never forget how Zhang Xianzhong attacked Xi'an City. ”

Shi Kefa was overjoyed: "Yes, yes, I remember, Zhang Xianzhong used this method, if it weren't for the wit of the handsome and watered with water, the city wall might have been blown up a long time ago." At that time, the war was urgent, and we only slightly repaired the holes that were dug out, and then dug them up, which should have taken little effort. ”

Hong Chengchou asked a general in charge of logistics: "How much gunpowder do we have?" ”

The general stood up and arched his hand: "Back to Dashuai, there are still forty cars, one hundred catties per car." Hong Chengchou thought for a while and ordered: "Leave half of it, and the remaining half will be stuffed into the city wall." ”

Sure enough, late that night, the Qin army began to repair the city wall at night. Just as Hong Chengchou guessed, there were no lights in the city, and everyone was just busy back and forth by the faint starlight. Bags of sand were lifted and replaced with bricks and stones, and repaired overnight.

At this time, Hong Chengchou's people also dispatched, led by a six-rank general with a hundred people, each carrying twenty catties of gunpowder, and quietly touched the city. These men, all dressed in black, wrapped in black cloth with gunpowder on their backs, and carrying axes and chisels in their hands, sneaked into the city wall.

When they came to the edge of the ditch, they slid down gently, because there was not much in the ditch, and it was already frozen, so they could not stop them at all, and the hundred people reached the city very smoothly.

The city didn't notice that the Qin army and some people only cared about repairing the city walls, and didn't pay attention to the city, and even if they did, they couldn't see these black-clothed officers and soldiers.

The leading general leaned to the root of the city and saw the potholes that had been repaired not long ago, and these potholes were two or three people high above the ground, and one person could not reach them. As soon as the general waved his hand, the Ming army put down the gunpowder one after another, stood under the root of the city and began to stack arhats and build ladders. The man at the top took an axe and chiseled and began to gently chisel away the bricks.

Their movements were very light, for fear that the Qin army above would find out.

Due to the people coming and going in the city, the work was in full swing, and the sound was noisy, and the Qin army couldn't hear the movement from below at all, so the officers and soldiers were bolder and did it quickly.

After a while, bricks were chiseled down, and the holes became bigger and bigger. The chiseled bricks were carried down piece by piece and placed gently on the ground.

In this way, in just one hour, four large holes were dug into the city wall, and since the outside of the wall was masonry and the inside was dust, as long as the gray layer was dug, the progress was faster.

In the middle of the night, the hole in the wall had been dug three or four feet deep, and the leading general knew that if he continued to dig any more bricks and stones on the other side of the wall, he was afraid that someone would hear the sound, so he ordered it to stop, and then began to fill it with gunpowder.

Bags of gunpowder were sent into the pits, and each hole was stuffed with about 500 catties, and when the last bag of gunpowder was sent in, the officers and soldiers began to retreat, quietly crossing the ditch, and withdrawing to the camp.

The Qin army in the city had not yet discovered it, because to their relief, the city walls had been almost repaired.

Hong Chengchou didn't sleep, he was waiting for the return, and when he saw the general come back, he finally relieved. After listening to his report, he nodded with satisfaction and let the general go to rest.

Then Hong Chengchou gave an order, the fourth watch made rice, the fifth watch reorganized the army, and the sky was bright, and it was going to the city.

He knew that those big pits were filled with gunpowder, and as long as it was dawn, they would definitely be discovered by the Qin army, and when the time came, they would fill it with water and wet the gunpowder, and their plan would be in vain. Only before it was discovered by the Qin army that the siege began to have a chance of victory.

The Ming army began to prepare here, and the Qin army was also very nervous.

Li Yan stayed up all night, and Qin King Fan Ju and others to study countermeasures, at the moment the King of Qin is looking forward to the most is Bai Qi's rescue, Wang Jian has been there for several days, according to the distance, it should have arrived a long time ago, but now, the whole Shaanxi except Xi'an, all quietly have no movement, this is not a phenomenon that should be, so King Qin is a little worried.

He didn't say these things, because Fan Ju was here, and Wang Jian was secretly sent by him, and he only said internally that he was going to meet Gao Yingxiang's peasant army, and did not explain the real purpose. The most important thing at the moment is to resist Hong Chengchou's crazy onslaught.

Someone just came to report that the wall had been repaired almost, and although it was not as strong as before, the gap was finally blocked, and the enemy could not climb up. King Qin snorted, he knew that the repaired city wall could not withstand a few cannons, but it was also good to be able to consume the cannonballs of the official army.

On this day, the Qin army suffered more than 300 casualties, and the loss was not large, but several people understood that the key was to see how long the city wall could last.

The meeting lasted until dawn, everyone just drank a few mouthfuls of porridge, and was just about to end the meeting, when suddenly they heard the sound of a whining horn from outside the city, which was the official army assembling in the whole team, and it seemed that they were about to attack again.

Li Yan and Ziyi hurriedly bid farewell to the King of Qin, one rushed to the city, and the other went to gather people. Li Yan rode up to the head of the city, looked down, and saw that in the dawn of dawn, a few miles away, the Ming army had already assembled, one by one, full of energy, bright armor, set up a formation, and pressed towards the city wall.

Li Yan hurriedly ordered the Qin army in the city to fight, but this time, Li Yan was a little puzzled, because he saw that the Ming army under the city did not carry cannons.

Are they running out of shells? Hong Chengchou is not stupid, if there are cannonballs, he will not use them. Yesterday in just one day, the city wall was blasted open a few gaps, such an effect, how could Hong Chengchou not see it?

Just thinking about it, the Ming army had already driven away an arrow and regrouped. The archers were in front, and behind the archers were a group of siege troops carrying ladders.

It seems that the officers and soldiers are ready to climb the city without artillery.

The Qin army saw clearly in the city, grinding their fists one by one, preparing to fight.

They are afraid of artillery, but they are not afraid of officers and soldiers, the cannon is too terrifying, far away, powerful and powerful, a cannon comes, the gravel bursts out, the explosion kills, splashes and hurts, there is really no way to deal with it. If it was to climb the city and attack, the Qin army didn't care.

Li Yan became more and more puzzled, Hong Chengchou is not a person who likes to fight tough battles, he likes to play yin, but this time, why is it abnormal?