readx;?readx; Chapter 592 The opponent, the opponent!

It wasn't until dawn that the Qi army extinguished the fire, but by this time half of the camp had been burned to the ground. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 What's more serious is that the large equipment such as the nest car arrow tower used in preparing for today's siege was also burned in half, which made Zhao Wuji's heart ache.

Fortunately, for the sake of safety, he built the granary of the army in Hangu Pass and transported it in rations every day, so that he did not lose much grain.

"Pass the order down and rebuild the camp......" Looking at the black smoke of the camp, Zhao Wuyi said helplessly.

The generals hurriedly split up, and only Wu Zhilong was left at the door of the tent to accompany him and said, "Master, do you think the offensive will stop for a few days?" ”

"yes, stop for three days, take a breath." Zhao Wuji nodded with a wry smile and said, "This Qin Yutian is really a bit of a mess of punching and killing his master." Saying that, he sighed and said: "After so many years of fighting, it is the first time that people have been bullied so embarrassed." ”

"We're running out of time." Wu Zhilong said softly: "Hanguguan said yesterday that there is still a month's worth of military rations. "If you cut out the time for the withdrawal of the army, there will only be half a month left to attack Tongguan.

"Half a month is enough." Zhao Wuji said slowly: "In three days, the old man will order an all-out attack on the city!" ”

Qin Lei in Tongguan City did not have the pleasure of sneak attack at all, but his mood became heavier and heavier.

The resolution of the imperial court had been sent to his desk, and he did not ask for reinforcements, horses, and grain, but instead sent two tall hats called 'Prince Wucheng' and 'Generalissimo Wang', how could he not be disappointed?

"I really want to write to ask the imperial court," Qin Lei complained angrily, "How much are these two titles worth?" ”

"It should be worth a lot of money." Shi Dang replied in a low voice.

"Then give me a discount." Qin Lei said angrily: "One million taels, it's not too demanding, right?" said indignantly: "This second brother, I am surrounding his throne, why are you still stabbing me from behind?" ”

Shi Dang was speechless, and could only listen to the prince's complaints.

I was happy to scold for a while, but the problem still had to be solved...... Qin Lei's purpose was not only to repel the Qi army, but also to recover Hangu Pass and even take the Tiger Prison Pass. The so-called clever woman is difficult to cook without rice, and no matter how good the follow-up plan is, it is also the foundation of enough troops and materials that need to be come.

With the current strength alone, nothing can be done.

Throughout the afternoon, Qin Lei was thinking about a solution, and he didn't come up with a good idea until the time he held the lamp.

Seeing the distressed look of the prince, Shi Dang finally couldn't help but say, "It's better to ask for help from the revival yamen." As Qin Lei's close person, he knew what terrifying potential the rapidly developing south had.

"No, the revival of the yamen is in the golden age of development." Qin Lei shook his head and said, "Although as long as the Lone King speaks, he can move a few million taels, but it's not cost-effective." Saying that, he said angrily: "Besides, Lao Tzu gave him Qin Ting to fight, and he still needs Lao Tzu to pay for the army?" Is there such a stupid prince in the world? ”

"The councillors can't figure it out." Qin Lei frowned and said, "Unless ......"

"Unless what?" Shi Dang hurriedly accosted.

"Unless you let the court borrow it." Qin Lei's eyes lit up and said, "Yes, why didn't you think of it earlier?" As he spoke, he bounced up from his rocking chair, strode to the desk, and said in a loud voice, "Sharpen the ink, I want to write a letter." ”

Qin Lei wrote seven or eight letters in one go, the first one was to Emperor Tianyou, in addition to thanking His Majesty for his generosity and kindness, he was crying out for poverty, threatening Emperor Tianyou, and if he didn't give money, he would not be able to defend the country. After crying and frightening, he turned his pen again, expressed his understanding of the financial crisis of the imperial court, and actively put forward a proposal to solve the problem - using the tax revenue of the imperial court for the next few years as collateral, issuing interest-bearing war bonds to wealthy households across the country to raise the military expenses needed for the war.

And gave an example to Emperor Tianyou: Assuming that the interest is 8 percent, the interest paid in a year for issuing a bond of 10 million taels of silver is only 800,000 taels, plus the related expenses are only 900,000 taels.

Among them, Qin Lei wrote: 'The poverty of my Great Qin is poor in the people of the court; I am rich in Qin, and I am rich in the family. As long as they are given enough in return, it will not be a problem to make up ten million taels of silver.

And the price you have paid is nothing more than 900,000 taels of silver from the tax revenue every year from next year. It's really a great deal, it's better to act than to move, what is Your Majesty hesitating about?

Afraid that Emperor Tianyou would be frightened by the debt of ten million taels, Qin Lei relieved him and said: "Right now, debt is the most insignificant. I, Qin and Qi have already gambled on their national fortunes and will not die. If we lose, everything will be over, and the country can be lost, and then our brothers will have to wipe their necks, what difference does it make if we have debts and no debts? If we win, everything in the Qi country will be taken and demanded, and we will still worry about the debt of tens of millions of taels? ’

In the end, Qin Lei patted his chest and assured that he could endorse and guarantee the bond and share the risk! What a deal......

Feeling that it was enough to make the second child's saliva flow, Qin Lei stopped writing, and wrote letters to Lu Yanwu and Tian Minnong respectively, in addition to writing the content to the second child again, and urged them to persuade the emperor to do the same, and told them that if they have any questions, they can ask Mr. Guantao Zhang Zhizhi to understand.

In a letter to Koji Yanwu, Qin Lei directly ordered him and recommended Zhang Zhizhi to take full charge of the issuance.

Then it was naturally a letter to Guan Tao, in addition to explaining the above situation, he was also asked to eat as much as possible, firstly, to express his attitude to the people of the world, and secondly, as long as Daqin was there and he was there, this thing would be foolproof, and the benefits would be considerable.

The rest is naturally to a few bigwigs of the revival yamen, and this letter is much more explicit. In addition to the usual descriptions, he preached to the patriarchs who had dreamed of overpowering the northern nobles: 'If you want to achieve your goal, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!' And let them not have to worry about anything, everything is up to him......

I was busy all night, and I didn't finish writing until dawn. Stretching his muscles, Qin Lei rubbed his arm and smiled bitterly: "This is much more tiring than fighting." ”

Shi Kang also stayed awake all night with him, his eyes were as red as rabbits, and while sorting out the thick stack of envelopes, he asked softly, "Lord Wang, are you going to inspect the city today?" ”

Qin Lei shook his head and said, "No need, Zhao Wuyi can't slow down for at least three days, so let's hurry up and rest." Leave the sentence "Call me if there is a situation." So he went back to the back room and went to sleep.

As Qin Lei expected, the second siege of the Qi army was three days later. Of course, Qin Lei was not idle in the past two days, he ordered the soldiers and civilians to go out of the city, dig the moat again, and widen it again, forming a super large trench.

On the 30th, Zhao Wuyi killed the cattle and wine, rewarded the whole army, and promised everyone that after breaking through Tongguan, he slaughtered the city for three days and wantonly plundered, causing the officers and soldiers to be wolf-like and eager to try, and they were eager to climb the head of Tongguan City.

After they were full of wine and food, the Qi army marched out in formation. This time it was the elite of the Qi State who went into battle, not only the quality of the soldiers was much higher than those three days ago, but even the siege equipment used was also very different.

The soldiers in the city saw a row of 'screens' like long snakes, slowly coming from the east. It was only when I got closer that I saw that it was a huge wooden curtain covered with iron sheets, two or three feet high and one or two feet wide, supported by wooden beams and standing on four-wheeled vehicles, and there were more than a thousand of them. Thousands of men pushed the cart together, and the long barrier approached the wall, apparently a 'shield' against flint bows.

Under the cover of the 'shield cart', the Qi army pushed the artillery cart and the goose cart cave and other attack tools, and went straight to the southeast city wall.

When it reached the firing range, the Qi army unfolded the artillery carts, and the people in the city saw it clearly, it was only some giant cannons with nine tips and seven tips, with more than 40 in total...... This is thanks to the fire that burned out more than half of it that night, otherwise there would have been a hundred large artillery racks here.

The city's Bo Reward Saiyang asked for his order to attack and lead the iron cavalry to destroy those heavy cannons. But Qin Lei did not agree to this beautiful plan, he pointed to the southwest corner of the battlefield and said: "The cavalry of the Qi State is on guard there, as long as there is any movement at the city gate, they will be killed immediately." Bo Xiang Saiyang had no choice but to give up.

"Order all the soldiers over there to go into bunker and leave a few observers." Qin Lei ordered.

The order was quickly reached through the flag, and the officers and men who were waiting on the city wall retreated like a tide and hid in shelters behind the walls.

A quarter of an hour later, the Qi army's cannon was finally installed, of course, the cannon rod was not unusual, but the cannon base was actually a style that Qin Lei had never seen before-like a small house, the appearance was covered with raw cowhide, and the cannon was dragged in the artillery seat, and the arrow stone could not enter. The bottom of the gun still has wheels attached to it, which can be pushed around by the soldier to find the best angle of fire.

As soon as the installation was completed, the Qi army's cannons began to be launched eagerly to attack the arrow towers and enemy towers on the east bank city wall. The cannon weighs forty or fifty pounds, and as long as the high platform of the building is hit, it will break a big hole at the light and collapse with a bang......

The only thing that can be fortunate is that the Qi army's artillery carts are really not flattering, and only ten cannons can hit one or two cannons, and the southeast city defense that the Qin army worked so hard to build was not completely destroyed for a while.

"It can't go on like this." Qin Lei had no choice but to order, and ordered the soldiers to brave the boulders in the sky to hang the leather curtains made of cattle and horses on the top of the building to prevent cannon stones.

Seeing that the effect of the boulder was reduced, the Qi army decisively replaced it with a large bag of pebbles, and the raindrops of stones poured down, and the Qin army, which had no time to evacuate in the future, smashed into a hornet's nest...... On the entire southeast city wall, no one dared to stand again.

The Qi army took the opportunity to push the goose cart cave covered with cowhide under the city wall. The 'Goose Cart Cave', also known as the 'Pointed Wooden Donkey', was also an invention of Zhao Wujiao, which was an empty-bottomed troop carrier with six wheels and the roof and sides covered with iron sheets. The reason why it is called the pointed wooden donkey is because its roof is pointed, which can effectively reduce the destructive power of the artillery, and can also be pushed by the soldiers in the car.

These goose carts can be guarded and connected into a long belt of dozens of zhang to form a passage for soldiers to rush to the city, and because they are covered with pig iron, they are protected by wet felt, and the lime fire cannot enter.

The Qi army was fully connected with eight one-mile-long goose cart holes, and the army was under its cover until the edge of Hao. In the cave, cloth bags, grass oxen, bamboo and wood were carried to fill the trench.

At this time, the artillery stones of the Qi army finally stopped...... The accuracy of that thing was so poor that more than half of it fell into the trench, and I don't know how many people who filled the trench were stoned to death. It is estimated that if it doesn't stop any longer, the besieging infantry will turn against each other and dismantle those cannons first!

As soon as the artillery stopped, a sharp whistle sounded throughout the city, and the Qin officers and soldiers hurriedly returned to their posts from all directions, wielding bows and crossbows and arrows, trying to prevent the Qi army from filling the trenches.

Today's Qi army is obviously of extremely high quality, and I saw that the infantry in the front row raised a large shield more than eight feet high, and the infantry in the rear row used the cover to shoot at the officers and soldiers defending the city with their crossbows. Eighty percent of the Qin army's arrow towers in the southeast city were destroyed, and they could not form an overwhelming advantage, so they could only shoot at each other with the Qi army, and the casualties were not light.

But the defenders did not dare to stop for a moment, knowing that once the enemy had crossed the trench, there must be many ways to climb to the top of the city, which would be even more difficult.

The two sides started the war and continued to shoot at each other until dark, each firing more than 100,000 arrows, and the troops of the attacking and defending sides also changed several times. In one day, the Qi army suffered five or six thousand casualties, and the Qin army also suffered one or two thousand casualties, and they didn't let the Qi army fill up the moat. …… After all, the side defending the city is condescending, and there is the cover of the wall and arrows, so it is not an ordinary advantage.

However, the offensive of the Qi army became more and more fierce, lighting a raging fire and continuing to shoot at the city. There was no intention of returning to the camp to sleep. Their intention was obvious, and everyone had a bad sight under the pretext of getting dark, so they quickly filled in the ditch.

During this period, Qin Lei also tried to make some trouble by taking advantage of the night, he sent a thousand dead soldiers, carrying ** fire, to sneak down from Xicheng, intending to blow up the artillery hole of the Qi army. However, the Qi army was very well guarded, and the death squad was discovered before it could get close, so it had to withdraw in a hurry. If it weren't for the darkness, the Qi army would not dare to pursue, for fear that it would be wiped out.

thwarted the sneak attack of the Qin army, the morale of the Qi army was greatly boosted, and the arrogance was even more arrogant, and more people were sent to fill the pits, and the shooters responsible for suppressing the city head were also more energetic, and the arrow rain suddenly became fierce, which made the Qin army a little breathless.

Qin Lei saw that the Qi army was bullying people with many people, and finally became angry, and yelled: "Gather all the shooters for me!" ”

"Lord Wang, the city wall is already full, and no one can look down again." Shi Dang kindly reminded.

"You're smart!" Qin Lei didn't have a good chance to stop him, so he ordered someone to call Captain Niu and ordered in a deep voice: "Move all the tables and chairs in the city to the city!" Captain Niu somehow, but knowing that obedience was necessary, hurriedly moved the tables and chairs in the adjacent storehouses and dwellings to the southeast city wall.

Qin Lei ordered him to stack all the tables and chairs into five rows in the shape of a ladder, so that the crossbowmen who came from all over the support stood up, counting the archers who stood in place, they actually lined up six layers from high to low, and shot out five or six times as many arrows as originally in one salvo. Coupled with Shi Meng's thunderbolt cannon bombarding the city, the Qi army could not support it when they landed, and almost all of them were shot down.

"Keep shooting and see who can shoot whom!" Qin Lei laughed.

Under the high-density and multi-level blows of the Qin army, the Qi army's archers suffered heavy losses, and the bows and arrows that shot down the city became more and more sparse, and they were finally completely suppressed.

It was not a way to go on like this, Zhao Wuji had no choice but to order the front-line troops to withdraw, and Qin Lei also hurriedly ordered the shooters to retreat, and by the way, the tables and chairs were removed. Sure enough, not long after the withdrawal, the artillery stones of the Qi army once again baptized the city......

Including Qin Lei, all the officers and soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, they felt that the day's torture was finally over.

But they clearly underestimated the military strength of Qi and Zhao Wuyi's determination. After the reserve troops were given an opportune opportunity, Zhao Wuji put them back into the battlefield. These armies no longer shoot at the city, but carry dirt bags on their backs and shuttle through the caves like ant colonies, throwing the dirt bags out of the hole and then turning around, never going out of the hole to find death.

In a few moments, the entrance to the cave was blocked by a high mound of earth. The Qi army demolished a hole and continued to fill in the mound of earth. In the art of war, this method is called 'distance mound', and the sandbags are built up from far to near, from low to high, and so that the number reaches a certain level, even higher than the city wall.

Of course, this is not a simple job, and the Qi army is only two or three zhang high when he is busy until dawn, which is still far from the city wall. But he couldn't stand the spirit of Lao Zhao to move mountains, so he ordered the troops and men to take turns to go into battle, build several rows of cowhide caves on top of the earth mountain, and the laborers went back and forth in the caves day and night to transfer civil engineering.

In front, there are several sail-like screen cars to cover the laborers, and the arrows and stones cannot enter. In order to guard against the surprise attack of the Qin army, the players were used on both sides of the mountain and the cavalry was used to support the rear columns, and the defense was strict and solid, so as not to give the Qin army a chance to take advantage of it.

Facing the enemy army like a king's eight shells, Qin Lei also tried every possible way and had nowhere to go, so he had to use the most stupid method...... Confrontation.

As the name suggests, confrontation is confrontation. Are you not going to build a wall higher than the wall? Then let's raise the walls and see who's faster than who!

The combination of offense and defense was once again put into the vigorous civil engineering.

Qin Lei ordered people to demolish all the idle houses in the city and move bricks and stones to build the wall, and the Qi army still used the method of 'distance from the trench' to raise the earth mountain little by little, and the efficiency was naturally not better than that of the Qin army, but they were better than the Qin army, and they could count the number of people to rotate, and the speed was faster.

In this way, by the third day of the eleventh month, the earth mountain was about 100 paces long, a radius of several hundred feet, and a height of more than ten zhang.

The section of the city wall that can be compared to it is also five zhang higher, plus the terrain advantage and the original foundation, it is just five zhang higher than the earth mountain of the Qi army...... But it has reached the limit, in order to build this section of the city wall that is one mile long, five zhang high, three zhang wide at the bottom, and one zhang wide at the top, the houses in the city have basically been demolished, and the next step is to demolish the west wall and make up the east wall...... But Qin Lei never dared to do this, because the Qi army had already tried to outflank him from behind once, and if the western wall was torn down with holes, I am afraid that Zhao Wuyi would give himself a blow from behind at all costs.

That's not a good deal.

Looking at the dangerous wall hanging lonely above the city wall, Qin Lei gasped and said, "It can't be built anymore, otherwise it will collapse on its own." ”

And in the meantime, the Qi army is still in full swing to continue to carry the earth and build the mountain, although the amount of work is getting bigger and bigger per inch of height, but they show hardship and hard work, absolutely impressive, to the sixth day of the first month, the two sides are finally only two feet apart.