Li Chongjin also saw the Southern Tang soldiers laughing everywhere on the city wall, he couldn't help it anymore and sent someone to reprimand Guo Shao. Unexpectedly, the general sent back and said: "Guo Zhao said that the tunnel can still be dug, and a few more can be dug!" He's already thought of a clever plan, so please be calm and don't be impatient. ”

"!" Li Chongjin couldn't hold it back, he was angry, and patted the board and said, "What kind of trick is digging a tunnel?!" You go and tell him that digging a tunnel can capture Shouzhou City, and I will use the palm of my hand as a pot and fry fish for him to eat! ”

The general returned to Guo Shao again and said Li Chongjin's words in front of Wang Pu and Li Gu and many generals. Everyone was silent, bowing their heads and saying nothing.

Guo Shao was also annoyed, and said: "Although General Li is deployed and controlled by our troops, he interferes in everything and tells us how to attack the city?" Shouzhou is such a big city, the city walls are high and thick, can you take it down in one day? You have to give people time to prepare! I don't want him to fry the fish by hand, just give me some time! ”

Wang Pu couldn't help but persuade with kind words: "It's useless to dig tunnels, we asked from the captives, the person guarding the city is Liu Renzhan." This person is no small thing! It is rumored that this person is light on wealth and heavy on soldiers, serious in the art of war, and can share weal and woe with soldiers; He is proficient in managing the army and fighting in battle. The Southern Tang Lord is very important...... Liu Renzhan guarded Shouzhou, it is said that a month ago there were generals who wanted to attack Zhengyang, Liu Renzhan tried his best to persuade without fighting, saying that it was impossible to advance lightly; As a result, Liu Yanzhen, the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, did not listen and insisted on attacking Zhengyang, but he was defeated, and the corpses of the soldiers were covered for thirty miles. This person anticipated the enemy's opportunity, and he was a number of famous generals in the Southern Tang Kingdom; What Guo Duenvoy was going to do, build a house trench to cover up, he understood it at a glance. It's useless to dig tunnels! ”

Guo Shao hurriedly said: "I know that Liu Renzhan can see that we are digging tunnels, but I have other ideas...... However, the first tunnel was unlucky, and there was no way to measure it, so it accidentally dug up the groundwater, which caused the accident. ”

Wang Pu sighed and didn't say much.

When everyone dispersed, Wang Pu said in private: "I can't hide it, I was sent by the official family to see the siege situation." can only report truthfully, and dare not deceive...... The current situation in Shouzhou is powerless, and there is no long-term strategy, and when it comes to the official family, it will be very unfavorable to Guo Du. ”

Guo Shao hurriedly bowed and said sincerely: "Prime Minister Wang Cheng can tell me like this, and I am already very moved. But I think that Nantang used fierce fire oil, and the ant-attached strong attack is very unfavorable, so we have to change our strategy and not blindly attack...... I'm just not sure if what I'm trying to do will work. ”

Wang Pu stomped his feet and said, "Then how can I tell the official family when I go back?" It's hard to be a good student! ”

Guo Shao was also embarrassed, he thought of a method, but he didn't actually test it, everything was just conceived in his mind, who knows if it will be used after it is used? If you fill it up now, it will be even more ugly then...... So I didn't dare to say big things, and I couldn't hold back when I was angry with Li Chongjin's subordinates just now; But he didn't dare to be angry with him, and wanted to gamble on Shouzhou City with a "hand plate fried fish".

He said: "Prime Minister Wang Cheng will stay for two more days, I have been patrolling everywhere for the first two days and found places where you can do your hands and feet. Let's show a little merit first, so as to stabilize the people above. ”

"I hope so." Wang Pu said.

……

Liu Renzhan didn't even wear a helmet, and sat on a bamboo chair on the city tower and observed the scene under the city very calmly. He was a veteran in his fifties, he stroked his chin and beard, and said: "The old man has never seen any battles and waves, and the carving insect skills dare to show off in front of the old man?" ”

"Haha......" Everyone couldn't help but laugh again, which was completely different from the screaming and struggling soldiers of Zhou under the city.

The city is full of people, and the high ladders and catapults stand like pavilions, like ships in the ocean; Looking at it, the Huaishui first-line company camp was in pieces, and I didn't know how many people there were in the Zhou army. Huge stones roared from the air, but Liu Renzhan sat steadily, standing still.

A general came up from the stone steps, knelt down on one knee and reported: "Commander, the brothers have dug a tunnel in the south of the city, and earthen pots have been installed on all sides to send people to guard, if the enemy digs the tunnel into the city, the movement can be heard when the ground is moved." ”

Liu Renzhan nodded, looked back at the generals and said: "The people who deployed the siege under the city must have changed people, and there is no way to defend the battle, so they make every use of the carving insect skills." And this person must not agree with Li Chongjin, and he has only been in office for a few days. ”

The general hurriedly asked: "Zhou Jun has changed, how can the marshal see it?" ”

Liu Renzhan said with a smile: "The besiegers sometimes retreat, sometimes attack the city, and there must be discord between the top and bottom." If the old man guessed correctly, the new general didn't want to attack the city, and he was forced by Li Chongjin, so he wandered back and forth, undecided. ”

The generals bowed, and some people said excitedly: "Today, we are trapped in Shouzhou, fortunately under Liu Dashuai, it is really a blessing in misfortune." ”

There are also people whose words are even more undisguised, and they said directly: "Liu Dashuai is the best general in my Tang Dynasty, and he can serve under Liu Dashuai, and there is no regret in dying!" ”

Another general said angrily: "It's so ugly, the emperor won't sit idly by and watch Shouzhou be surrounded!" What's more, Liu Dashuai is here, the emperor is willing to lose Shouzhou, and he is not willing to lose Liu Dashuai. ”

Liu Renzhan has long been accustomed to everyone's love, all of which is accumulated by his wise decisions of treating soldiers as relatives and leading troops to fight, and he said calmly: "The generals are not in harmony, and the various departments cannot cooperate...... This is a fighter plane, send someone to try to go out from the water to ask for his life, the old man wants to go out of the city to set up a formation, and ask him for a few tricks. ”

A subordinate general hurriedly persuaded: "The Zhou army is fierce in the field. ”

Liu Renzhan said disapplausively: "There is discord between the top and bottom, those who are close to the city are not elite soldiers, I will break their formation!" He looked back in the direction of the side and said, "Sticking to it is not the way to go." Fortunately, there were no unscrupulous generals in the Zhou army, if the old man attacked the city, he first dug the moat water gate and discharged the moat water into the water; The defenders were forced inside the city walls, unable to stop the people outside the city from digging the river...... It's a pity that Li Chongjin has trapped me here for almost two months, and he still has to fill the river with soil, waste! ”

As soon as the words fell, someone suddenly hurriedly went upstairs to report: "The Zhou army has dug a ditch in the northwest corner!" ”

The generals stopped talking and laughing, and their faces suddenly changed. Liu Renzhan said: "As expected, he couldn't take Shouzhou after digging the moat." Let's go, follow the old man to have a look. ”

…… At least a few thousand people were digging in the open space between the northwest corner of the city and the water, making the dust and busy.

Guo Shao took his own soldiers and accompanied Wang Pu on horseback to watch this busy scene, and pointed ahead: "In the past few days, I have walked back and forth around the city several times, and found that the topography of Shouzhou City and the water level of the moat are slightly higher than that of the water, but it is not obvious; It may be that after the autumn (it was almost August), the water level of the river fell. As long as the moat and the water are connected, and the water flows low, can the river still block the way around Shouju Castle? ”

Wang Pu looked at it for a while, then nodded hurriedly and said, "The moat of Shouzhou City is a little higher, and there is an abandoned water village over there, and there may be a dam to block the water." If you don't look closely, you think the two rivers are connected. ”

Guo Shao said: "I didn't pay attention to it. However, a few days ago, when I led my army to cross the river from the north, I found that the water level of the river was very low, and some places could cross the river on foot; However, in recent days, I have seen that it is very difficult for the armies to carry soil and fill the river, and the moat is relatively deep. Therefore, it must be ** that blocked the moat so that the water can be stored to maintain the water level. ”

Guo Shao thought for a while and said: "If you can't drain the water, there is another way, go to the upper reaches of the river to block the river, and then divert it; It will take some time, but once the route is changed, digging the moat will definitely drain the river...... We still have nearly 100,000 people in Shouzhou, and it is better to let them dig rivers than to go up and send them to death. ”

Wang Pu listened and bowed: "Let go of the moat, and Shouzhou will be difficult to attack." But I finally have something to say in front of the official family when I go back. ”

Guo Shao said in a deep voice: "It would be better if Li Chongjin could shut up, or allow me to suspend the siege."

Wang Pu said: "The official family attaches great importance to Shouzhou...... Unless you can capture the city within a time limit, you can't let yourself be, and everyone is staring at Shouzhouli. ”

Guo Shao thought about it, opened his mouth and closed it again. He said in his heart: The emperor is already unhappy with himself, if he makes a military order, in case it doesn't work, wouldn't he wash his neck and send it up?

Wang Pu saw the situation clearly, so he hurriedly said goodbye and went back to report what he had seen. Guo Shao didn't keep him much, and it happened that Li Gu was also on the way, so he asked Li Gu to help prepare some materials and raw materials. Li Gu questioned, but Guo Shao pleaded again and again, and said that he would definitely remember him as a big favor and would have to repay it in the future. Li Gu had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

At this moment, Guo Shao suddenly noticed that a bed crossbow on the city wall was turning to this side, and a military general was standing there looking at him. "!" Guo Shao didn't say a word, just patted the horse and left.

The retinue also hurriedly followed the horse and turned around, but by this time a crossbow bolt thicker than an arm had already whistled down, at least a distance of more than two hundred paces. There was a scream behind him, and when Guo Shao looked back, a knight was hit by a big crossbow bolt on his back and fell off his horse. Someone was faintly shouting on the city wall, and when Guo Shao heard it, he seemed to be scolding himself: "Greedy for life and afraid of death, the old man is waiting for you to release water to attack the city, see how you take Shouzhou!" ”

Guo Shao was furious, took a bow and arrow, patted the horse and returned to the city, jumped off the horse and drew a bow and arrows. Unexpectedly, the veteran was not reckless, and turned around and left. Guo Shao scolded: "I thought you weren't afraid of death." ”

Several arrows were thrown from the city wall, Guo Shao hurriedly covered his face and neck with his arms, and pointed his thick chest against the city wall, running backwards, and the arrows landed around, too far away to hit anything. At this time, the general had already hurried up, led the horse and let Guo Shao get on the horse and leave.

Guo Shao was far away from the city wall, and when he looked up, the old guy was also looking at himself. At this time, the two sides were more than two hundred steps away, and they could only look at each other, and the two looked at each other from a distance.