"Killed, thieves killed!"

"Dog's got it!"

The cheers of the Taiping army were accompanied by the exclamations of countless strong men on the city wall, and the Qing army scolded at the breach.

"The mourning soldiers will win, the thieves have made such a play, it seems that before the Guangzhou reinforcements arrive, the thieves don't want to enter my Xinhui City." Zheng Guodong didn't look at the execution of the Taiping Army on the other side at all, and said lightly to Qin Wu, the general next to him.

Qin Wu hurriedly echoed: "My lord is right, the more thieves are like this, the more the brothers will have the same hatred, hey, the thief's method is to raise our hearts, my lord, the brothers are holding back their strength to avenge our people!"

"Hmm"

Zheng Guodong glanced at it, and sure enough, his subordinates were all glaring angrily, gritting their teeth, and their expressions were eager to cut the thief on the other side with a thousand knives. The performance of his subordinates naturally made Zheng Guodong very satisfied, and he nodded slightly, and he was a little sure of holding Xinhui City.

The heavens want to descend to the Si people

Zheng Guodong didn't know why he had this thought, perhaps, he had been suppressed for too long, and this time it should be his chance for Zheng Guodong to make a name for himself.

Thieves, vulnerable!

On the other side, Su Xianting, the leader of the Han Army's banner, had a slightly distorted face, distorted to the point of being almost hideous

"Cut!"

"Cut!"

"Cut!"

Shao Jiugong seemed to be deliberate, and his voice dragged out a deadly scream.

One after another heads rolled to the ground in his loud voice, the Qing soldiers did not have no one begging for mercy, but after seeing that the companions in front of them begged for mercy no matter how they begged for mercy, the Taiping army still did not hesitate to cut off their heads, and the Qing soldiers behind were all dead, and the only thing they could do was to make an extremely sad cry when they died.

One shout after another made the faces of the Taiping soldiers red. It is not the red of shame, but the red of blood.

Look, the tartars are afraid of pain, too!

See. Tartars are also afraid of death!

Look, they will shout too!

Fang Yi was also one of these executioners. His severed head was a battalion soldier named Jin Lin, who had seen him, drank wine with him, ate meat, and fought with the same woman.

Fang Yi clearly remembered that when Jin Lin raised his knife, he suddenly turned his head to himself and said, "Good brother, give me a good time!" ”

When his knife was swung down, Fang Yi didn't dare to look at it. It wasn't until the Taiping army on the left and right ordered him to retreat that he dared to open his eyes, and this opening of his eyes made him feel better suddenly - Jin Lin's neck was completely broken and smooth

The captives continued to be executed, and the severed heads attracted the eyes of the Taiping soldiers and the attention of the Qing troops in the city. At this time, in the Taiping military camp, a group of elite sappers trapped in the camp was quietly digging a tunnel leading directly to the Xinhui city wall under the personal leadership of Baihu Tieyi.

Dig a tunnel three or four miles long underground. And to ensure that the tunnel can not be deviated during the excavation process, it is undoubtedly a huge and very delicate civil engineering. However, the project may be extremely difficult for others, but for the miners who have been digging underground for many years. But it's just a matter of routine.

In order not to be discovered by the Qing army in the city, the soil excavated by the sappers was wrapped in clothes and transported to the back of the barracks one by one, instead of being piled directly on the tunnel entrance. The logs used to support the tunnels were also brought into the tunnels under the cover of various carriages and horses.

Xinhui County is not far from the Tanjiang River, the terrain around the county is a plain area, so there is a lot of water underground, which makes the excavation work a lot of difficulties, after half an hour of excavation, Tie Yi They successfully excavated a deep more than nine feet. It is nearly six feet wide and about eight feet long. (Author's note: One zhang is about three meters three.) One meter is about three feet three)

It is impossible to drain the water in the tunnels, so all of the trapped sappers involved in digging inside are almost knee-submerged. Fortunately, although there is water underground, it is not a silt place, and the yellow mud soil is quite strong, which allows the excavation to continue.

Tie Yi is good at burying cannon holes, and is not proficient in digging tunnels, and is responsible for the entire excavation task is Zhang Fulai, the general banner, who is an old miner who led a team under the mine in the Laofengzhuang Copper Mine, and his proficiency in underground operations is beyond Tie Yi's ability.

After being ordered to dig a tunnel directly to the Xinhui city wall, Zhang Fulai took two apprentices to sneak into the Xinhui city quietly last night, and made a lot of preparations in advance under the cover of night to ensure that the excavation task would not fail, and also successfully opened the tunnel entrance, combined with the actual situation under the tunnel to make corresponding adjustments, according to the current excavation speed, Zhang Fulai guaranteed that the explosives will be successfully buried under the Xinhui city at dawn tomorrow

The progress of the excavation of the tunnel was constantly passed on to Zhou Shixiang's side, and all the prisoners had been executed, and the bodies and heads were carried to the back.

The Qing army in the city did not react except for shouting and scolding in the air, and Jiang He and Ge Zheng, who were anxious, proposed to attack the city first, and then talk about it if they couldn't take it. Of course, this proposal was vetoed by Zhou Shixiang, and in yesterday's trial, the Hujie battalion had already lost more than 30 people, and under the premise that there was not enough artillery to suppress the defenders of the city, it was impossible for him to throw the lives of the few soldiers in the Taiping battalion under the guns of the Qing army. Besides, the traditional siege method is really worth the loss for the besieging party, and Zhou Shixiang has no capital to compete with the Qing army for the consumption of human lives.

For a whole day, the Qing army showed no signs of leaving the city, and the Qing army in Guangzhou would arrive in two days at the earliest, which meant that there were only two days left for the Taiping army to take Xinhuicheng. Two days later, if the Taiping army could not appear on the Xinhui wall, they would face a flank attack by the Qing army in Guangzhou and the Xinhui defenders.

The sappers digging the tunnels have been rotated several times, and each time they come out, they look like mud figures, their bodies and faces are covered with mud, many soldiers' hands and feet have been blistered, and the soil transported from the tunnels is also piled up a lot at the back of the barracks.

Approaching the evening, the Qing army suddenly fired a few cannons in the direction of the Taiping army, and the sound of the artillery made Zhou Shixiang highly nervous, thinking that the Qing army was out of the city, but then the Hujie battalion in front came to report that the Qing army did not go out of the city, which made Zhou Shixiang a little confused, neither planned to go out of the city, what artillery did the Qing army fire?

Shao Jiugong answered Zhou Shixiang's question, and he told Zhou Shixiang that the Qing army only used these cannons to boost the morale of their soldiers, and by the way, to shock the Taiping army, and had no other purpose.

Despite this, Zhou Shixiang was still not at ease, and ordered the Xiongwei Battalion and the Hujie Battalion to keep an eye on Xinhui City and be ready for battle at any time.

At three o'clock, Zhang Fulai, who looked tired but couldn't hold back his excitement, came out of the tunnel, and he brought the good news that everyone was waiting for - the tunnel had been dug under the city wall.

"Whew!"

Zhou Shixiang looked at Xinhui City in the night and breathed a sigh of relief.

Two large coffins filled with granular gunpowder were carefully dragged into the tunnel by the sappers, and dragged forward step by step in the mud. At the end of the tunnel, under the city bricks, Zhang Fulai commanded the sappers to open a secret room.

A fire rope soaked in vinegar and dozens of meters long was brought into the tunnel by Tie Yi with a cowhide seal in his arms, and he lit the fire rope with his own hands and blew down the city wall of Xinhui with his own hands.

Because he didn't know how powerful the gunpowder of the two coffins would be when they exploded, Zhou Shixiang was a little worried about Tie Yi's safety, although the explosion could blow up the Xinhui city wall, but it would also make the tunnel collapse. If they do not return to safety before the explosion, the person who lit the fire will definitely be buried alive in the ground.

Tie Yi refused Zhou Shixiang's order to find someone else to light the fire, and he said to Zhou Shixiang: "My life is my life, and other people's lives are also life, if there is really danger after the explosion, then I would rather die than let other brothers die." Otherwise, what would it be like for me to be in front of a hundred households? ”

Zhou Shixiang did not forcibly order a replacement, what Tie Yi said was not his idea, other people's lives are also fate!

Under the silent gaze of everyone, Tie Yi went down the tunnel without hesitation and disappeared in front of everyone.

The sappers who were hauling the coffins came out of the tunnel one after another, and everyone had a worried look on their faces, obviously they had seen their hundred households on the way back, and they also knew what their hundred households were going to do.

Zhang Fulai was the last to come out, and now only Tie Yi and one of his apprentices were left in the tunnel. (To be continued)