"I have heard for a long time that Wang Thief is brave, and it really lives up to its reputation...... this Guichi City ...... Can you still ...... Can it be kept? ”

Chizhou Governor Shi Yongzhong was short of breath for a while, and his speech was obvious trilling.

Shi Yongzhong is a civil official who has never seen blood, when the Chu army launched an attack during the day, he only glanced down from the city wall, and was frightened by the fierce attack of the Chu army, his face was like a blank paper, and the two sides trembled, and then hid in the back house of the government all day, hesitating whether to commit suicide or not...... In the evening, he suddenly heard that the thieves had retreated, and he had the courage to come to the city wall again, only to know that the Chu army had only temporarily withdrawn its troops, but the trenches, moats and antler arrays under the city had been destroyed, and the danger was not only not relieved, but more urgent.

At this time, Xiong Lichun should have stepped forward and cheered up Shi Zhizhong, who was scared, but he was staring blankly at the city, not knowing what he was thinking, and his face was complicated.

Niu Yan coughed dryly, and seeing that he didn't react, he took over the conversation and said to Shi Yongzhong with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Futai, our army has held Guichi for two days and two nights, as long as it holds on until sunset tomorrow night, reinforcements from Nanjing and Anqing will arrive, and Wang Thief will definitely retreat without a fight." ”

The Chu army did not encircle Guichi, and the city still maintained contact with the outside world, but because of the storage of the Chu army rangers, the messengers sent out were often not one in ten, and most of them were killed on the road, and only in the middle of the night when it was dark, only a small number of messengers could rush out.

"Wang thief, Wang thief has attacked under the city wall, I don't know how sure the battle will be tomorrow?" Shi Yongzhong couldn't understand it, but he saw that the moat had been filled in several sections and had lost its effect. No doubt. The Chu army temporarily withdrew its troops tonight just to recuperate, and it will definitely launch a more fierce attack tomorrow.

"Too much to say. Seventy percent of them are still sure. ”

Niu Yan pointed to the Chu military camp under the city and said: "Wang thief's siege technique is still old-fashioned, first dig tunnels outside the city. Then blow up the city wall with a gunpowder coffin, and this time it was the same to hit Guichi. In a hurry, he only dug six tunnels, and our army could have a target and make preparations in advance, and this battle would undoubtedly be won......"

"What? The thieves were able to blow up the city walls?! Shi Yongzhong was shocked.

Only then did Niu Yan realize that he had said too much, and it took a lot of effort to reluctantly appease Shi Yongzhong, and sent someone to send him back to the mansion, and then came to Xiong Lichun's front and looked at him with stern eyes.

"The courage of the soldiers. At the moment of the war, why is Shengyun in such a trance? ”

"I, I...... Alas, I'm afraid of forming a mortal enmity with Wang Junmen! ”

Xiong Lichun said with a bitter face: "In today's battle, the Chu army suffered more than 100 casualties, and this account must be counted on my old bear's head. I don't have a taste in my heart...... Speaking of which, today is still trivial, and when the decisive battle is held tomorrow, it will be even more bloody, if it is really a mortal enmity with the Gongyi camp. I'm afraid ...... in the future."

Xiong Lichun turned out to be just a bandit, and it was precisely because of Wang Kefan's entry into Jiangxi that his fate changed dramatically. After many years of chasing him, I am afraid of him from the bottom of my bones. Now that he is fighting with the Gongyi Battalion, he always feels very flustered. I can't help but want to retreat.

Niu Yan snorted coldly: "Hmph, no bag, if you are so afraid of Wang Junmen, then surrender the city!" ”

"No, it's all over if you surrender now, you have to fight anyway." Xiong Lichun shook his head vigorously, trying to cheer himself up: "Let's go, let's walk around the city wall, see where there are still flaws, and fight tomorrow's battle first." ”

Guichi City circumference, a total of 1,428 zhang, the outer wall is two zhang three feet high, the inner wall is three zhang five feet high, the width is also two zhang three feet, and the cavalry can gallop on it. The whole city is rectangular in shape, with a total of seven gates, including three in the south, two in the north, and one in the east and west.

Xiong Lichun and Niu Yan first checked the city wall in the south, Yuxiu Gate, Tongyuan Gate, Zhongying Gate, the three city gates all the way. Yuxiu Gate and Zhong Ying Gate are two side gates, which have been blocked with stones, and the Tongyuan Gate with the urn city is the main gate, which is extremely strong, and there are two red-clothed cannons on the city tower.

Listening to the sound of the Chu army digging tunnels with a large vat buried in the ground, and looking at the city, Xiong Lichun and Niu Yan have determined that the Chu army has dug a total of four tunnels outside the southern city wall, but there are only two tunnels in the shorter east city wall, so the southern city wall should be the main direction of attack of the Chu army. (The city wall of Chizhou was built during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty and was preserved until after the liberation, but unfortunately it was later demolished, like the city wall of Beijing.) ）

Looking at the dense sandbag stacks on the city wall, the chest wall of the trench behind the city wall and the knife cart to resist the horse, Xiong Lichun regained the courage to fight, waved his fist fiercely, and shouted loudly through gritted teeth: "Tomorrow's decisive battle will undoubtedly win!" ”

On the camp wall of the Gongyi camp, Wang Kebin looked at him coldly from the binoculars......

As soon as the sun set, the full moon rose like a silver platter, and then little by little, it slid down towards the western sky.

At dawn, the war drums suddenly sounded, and the Chu army marched out of the camp and launched an attack formation a thousand steps away from the east and south city walls.

The pikemen blocked the gates, the cavalry cruised in all directions, and the artillery provided fire support. The Chu army brought four four-pounder guns, six three-pounder guns, and there were no medium and large-caliber guns above six pounder guns, and although the four-pounder and three-pounder guns could not cause substantial damage to the city walls, they could hit the Qing army on the city.

The main attack is the musketeers, and a small number of axes and shields. The musketeers could shoot with both flintlock muskets and bayonets in hand-to-hand combat, making them better suited to street fighting in narrow streets than other classes.

At the front of the Chu army camp, there were four flags of the musket team, hunting and fluttering in the early morning breeze, Zhu Huaqi stood under the second team flag, with a short-handled firearm hanging from his waist, a whistle in his mouth, and his right hand pressed the handle of the saber hard.

Like several other musketeer captains, he had only a short-handled musket for self-defense, but no flintlock pistol for ordinary soldiers. The saber that commands the battle is the most important weapon of the musketeer captain, and they do not need to shoot themselves.

Behind him, there were one hundred and twenty musketeers lined up in three columns, Old Man Wu stood at the head of the first column, with a general armband on his left shoulder, and Da Gu Niu stood in the middle of the second column, whispering something to the soldiers behind him.

In the rear of the Chu army, under the banner of the Chinese army, Wang Kefan closed his pocket watch with a click: "It's time, let's start." ”

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ”

As the artillery commander Chen Shangwu waved the flag, eight guns spewed out puffs of white smoke, and whistling shells shot at the city.

"......"

The fuse sparked and smoked, and it swooped into the depths of the tunnel like a fiery snake. (To be continued......)