The next day, the coalition forces changed their strategy and did not climb the city walls by ladders. Instead, the siege gate was used.

The gates were made of very thick hardwood, and when they were closed, they were bolted with thick wooden poles, and if they were in wartime, they were piled with sandbags to put the gates to death, and it was not easy to break them.

However, compared to the city walls, the city gate is still relatively weak.

The coalition forces found a thick and long wooden pole, which dozens of people carried and slammed into the city gate.

"Boom! Rumble! ”

The large wooden pole slammed against the city gate with a low, loud thud.

Two times at once, the city gate is fine, and eight times out of ten, the city gate is also fine. But after a long time of collision, something will happen, although they can't knock the city gate open, but they can smash the city gate. If the city gate is smashed, the soldiers can enter, and if you want to block the coalition army from entering the city, you have to fight, but if the coalition army is too large and more people die, the city gate will eventually be breached.

They must not be allowed to smash the gates.

The defenders also have tricks to deal with, the first move is a fire attack. The soldiers who were carrying the big wooden poles were rushing forward, and suddenly a few bundles of burning firewood and grass fell, and those who were soldiers hurriedly threw away the wooden poles to avoid the flames, so that it was easy to burn people, and the wooden poles would also injure people, and some were stoned to death on the spot.

And then there's the water attack. The soldiers rushed forward with wooden poles, and suddenly poured several basins of boiling water on their heads, and immediately some people burned on the spot. The soldier was burned and screamed.

But if one batch is injured, immediately replace the other, or continue to hit. Another trick for the defenders is to sprinkle peas. The peas are all round, and the road at the city gate is very smooth, and when a few bags of peas are dumped at the city gate, people will slip and fall on them. The empty man couldn't stand, and he couldn't hold the wood forward, and he couldn't stand still, at least he couldn't use his strength. When someone falls, the big wooden bar loses control, and it can injure the person.

If you want to lift the wood from the new door and hit the door, you have to sweep the peas away, but how can the defenders let you go and take the peas slowly? They have an even more powerful trick, and he is archery.

Standing on the top of the city wall, covered by the female wall, not afraid of arrows shot from outside the city, he turned sideways and shot diagonally downward from the notch of the female wall, at just the right angle. A few feet away, no matter how bad the archery skills are, they are also one arrow at a time.

After attacking for two hours, the city gates were not opened, and corpses were already piled up outside the city gates.

The combined use of these tactics of the defenders is very effective. The tactics of striking the city gate with a wooden pole basically failed.

King Wu stood in the distance, watching the soldiers go up in waves, dead and wounded, to no avail. Anxious and angry. Turned his face to Wu Zixu and said, "Xiangguo, this is useless!" ”

Wu Zixu also saw the situation on the battlefield. He said, "Decree the withdrawal, king, for it will not work." Let's think of something else. ”

King Wu said ruthlessly: "I will break Laiwu and kill him without leaving a chicken dog!" ”

So the signal was given to withdraw the troops. The besieging soldiers ran back when they saw the signal, but how could the soldiers defending the city make it easy for them to run back? The bow and arrow chased after the butt and shot, and the distance was too close, and there were not many soldiers who could escape back.

King Wu was pacing hurriedly with a horsewhip in his hand. Wu Zixu stroked his gray beard and was thinking of a way. He has been fighting in the north and south for decades, and he has never encountered such a difficult city, and he has used all the tricks of attacking the city in the past, but it has not worked.

Wu Zixu said: "King, the old minister has an idea, I don't know if it works. ”

King Wu said, "Tell me about it." ”

Wu Zixu said: "The old minister thinks that if you want to break through the city gate, you have to use the method of fire attack. No matter how strong the gates are, they are also of wood, and if they are wood, they will burn. ”

King Wu said, "What are you going to do?" ”

Wu Zixu said: "Tell each soldier to have a bundle of firewood and grass, pile it on the city gate, and then set it on fire. ”

King Wu said: "This method will work, but if the soldiers go up with firewood and grass, they will not be able to use shields, and that will cause great casualties." ”

Wu Zixu said: "The casualties are certain, but as long as the city gate can be opened, it is worth paying a little price." ”

King Wu said: "Okay, just do the way of the photo country." So he gave the order to go and tell the soldiers to prepare firewood and grass.

In spring and autumn, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the most important thing is firewood and grass. In a short period of time, a large amount of firewood and grass has already been raised. Then the soldiers took a bundle and ran towards the gate.

The defenders on the walls began to shoot arrows. But firewood and grass can block bows and arrows, and it does little damage to soldiers, but when they put firewood and grass near the city gate, it is difficult for them to return alive.

As they ran back, empty-handed and uncovered, a dense hail of arrows fell from the city, and each soldier was struck by more than one arrow.

But there were still many soldiers who rushed up with firewood and grass, put down firewood and grass, and then fell down with arrows.

It didn't take long for a pile of firewood and grass to be piled high by the city gate. Then one of the soldiers rushed up with a shield in one hand and a torch in the other, and threw the torches into the haystack, and then went back.

Then the firewood and grass were "hula la" and burned. The weather was dry, and the city gates on all sides soon burst into flames.

A smile appeared on King Wu's face: "Xiangguo, your method is good, no matter how strong the door is, it is also wooden, and it will always burn out." While ordering the soldiers to prepare for the charge.

Wu Zixu looked at the fire and said, "If the people inside have a little better brain, I'm afraid this method may not work." ”

Sure enough, what Wu Zixu was worried about happened. As soon as the defenders in the gate saw that the coalition forces were going to set fire to the city gate, they immediately figured out how to deal with it. They piled the sandbags high enough, and then stood in a row of people, and below them there was a large group of people fetching water.

When the fire was blazing outside, they couldn't splash the water out to put it out, but they could pour it down against the gap above. And the gates were wet. In order for the gates to catch fire, the water on them had to be dried up. The fire was very strong, but as soon as it evaporated, the water on it flowed down again.

The fire was burning outside, and the water kept flowing down. The entire gate was always wet.

When the fire was a little smaller, more soldiers outside came running up with firewood and grass. He threw the firewood and grass into the fire, and was shot dead by a bow and arrow on the way back. Soon, outside the four city gates, the corpses of soldiers were piled up.

When it was almost dark, Wu Zixu sighed and said, "King, order the troops to be collected, our plan to burn the city gate has failed again." ”

At night, the air in the tent was dreary. Everyone's mood is terrible. After several days of fierce attack, not only did they not capture Laiwu City, but they also lost more than 10,000 soldiers. Several thousand more were injured. And what is even more unbearable is that the Qi army defending the city has almost no losses.

This incident hit Wu Zixu especially hard, he has always been invincible, will he be in this little Laiwu?

Just when everyone was feeling anxious, they suddenly probed the Malay newspaper, fifty miles away from here, and found an army moving quickly in the direction of Laiwu.

Wu Zixu said: "How many people are there??

The spy said, "Estimated 50,000 people." ”

Wu Zixu suddenly burst out laughing: "Congratulations to the king, Laiwu City has been captured." ”