When Zhang Chu led the security army to attack Yuncheng with all his might, he received news that Hong Chengchou led a large group of officers and troops were hurrying here, and it seemed that they wanted to form a siege before the security army broke through Yuncheng and eliminate the team of the security army on this expedition in one fell swoop. It is impossible to give up the attack on Yuncheng at this point, so the only way to delay Hong Chengchou's advance is to find a way.

On the one hand, Zhang Chu sent a chariot battalion and a cavalry regiment to meet Hong Chengchou, and at the same time accelerated the speed of digging trenches in the direction of Yuncheng. The security artillery was transported along the communication trenches closer to the city walls, where the soldiers had pre-repaired the artillery positions covered by a half-section of the earthen wall. The artillery of the security army used shotguns, and for a while iron beads and broken masonry flew sideways on the city, and the officers and soldiers could not gain a foothold on the city, especially the artillery of the officers and soldiers became the object of key care, and suffered heavy casualties. Gradually, the artillery of the officers and soldiers fell silent. In order to avoid the shelling of the security army, the general asked most of the soldiers to withdraw to the cave behind the city wall, and later simply withdrew the artillery crews, which were still an important defensive force during the siege of the security army, and could not be without the gunners.

The security army has no threat from the city, the speed of digging is faster, the horizontal trenches are dug up, several communication trenches leading to the trenches outside the city wall are dug forward at the same time, and the officers and soldiers in charge of observation report the situation to the general Liu Lianxiang, Liu Lianxiang has no good defense methods, so he can only order the officers and soldiers to pay attention to observation, keep an eye on it, and counterattack when the security army rushes out of the trenches to attack the city.

The traffic trench that continued to advance was dug into the trench outside the city, and the officers and soldiers on the city wall waited nervously, as long as the security army showed up, they called the soldiers to go up the city wall to counterattack, but the security army that reached the trench did not show their heads again, and they also transported a few "conscience cannons" made of reinforced iron barrels from behind, and from time to time threw the ignited explosive bags onto the city, this thing was not accurate, either failed to throw on the city wall and exploded outside, or flew over the city wall and fell into the city, But the occasional loud explosion and the overwhelming sound of the city wall terrified the officers and soldiers. No one dared to defend the city.

In order to understand the situation, Liu Lianxiang risked his life to observe the city and went to the top of the city to observe outside the city, thinking in his heart what method the security army would use to attack the city.

Since ancient times, siege is nothing more than so several methods, the simplest is to send a large number of people to rush up to climb the city with the help of siege equipment, or rush to the base of the wall to dig the city with manpower, the security army did not transport siege equipment to climb the city has not begun, and the trenches dug only lead to the trenches outside the city, not under the city walls, it is definitely not to dig the city, is it just to transport the inaccurate projectile explosive bag guy to the trench to throw the explosive bag to blow up the official army?

At this time, it was the middle of the night, and the trench outside the city wall was pitch black except for the occasional flash of fire when the "conscienceless cannon" was fired, and the smoke of gunpowder was still accumulated in the trench, making it even more difficult to see anything.

No, Liu Lianxiang's mind flashed, the security army arrived in the trench and disappeared, there is only one possibility, they dug down in the trench, the security army wanted to dig a tunnel into the city to sneak attack, thinking of this Liu Lianxiang couldn't help but be shocked into a cold sweat, hurriedly ran down the city, gathered the officers and soldiers defending the city, braved the security army's shells and explosives bags that flew from time to time to dig desperately, ready to dig a trench on the inside of the city wall, if the security army's tunnel dug in and the trench dug through will be found, At the same time, he ordered people to find a large water tank and put it in the dug pit, and used the method recorded in the ancient books to listen to the movement underground, but the effect was not very good, and the sound of artillery outside the city and the sound of explosive bags thrown over and exploded from time to time formed a strong interference, and the officers and soldiers could not hear the movement underground at all.

General Liu Lianxiang was not reconciled, ordered the officers and soldiers to dig down in the direction of the security army may dig the tunnel, to the next day at dawn, the officers and soldiers really dug the security army to dig a tunnel under the city, the two sides in the tunnel you back and forth began to fight, and finally the officers and soldiers found sulfur gunpowder and other substances and added poisonous Chinese medicine, and the broken quilt was ignited together and thrown into the tunnel, for a while the tunnel was filled with poisonous smoke, the personnel could not stay in the tunnel at all, the security army could only give up this tunnel.

The officers and soldiers were greatly encouraged, and the enthusiasm for excavation increased, and the security forces also felt threatened, and the soldiers working underground also waved their iron pickaxes frantically, speeding up the excavation and trying to dig the tunnel before the enemy found out.

Zhang Chu was very anxious when he received the news that a tunnel had been lost, Hong Chengchou's army was approaching, and the security army had no second chance.

Seeing that the sky was already bright, Zhang Chu passed the order, and immediately a large group of security troops rushed to the city wall with ladders and other siege equipment, and the observation post of the official army found that the situation had changed, and immediately reported to Liu Lianxiang.

Liu Lianxiang immediately personally led the soldiers to the head of the city to defend, it seemed that the tunnel of the security army was destroyed, and there was no choice but to rely on the soldiers to climb the city with brute force. This is a good opportunity to kill the thieves, and if they can kill the thieves in large numbers, maybe they will retreat.

But the days in the city were not easy, the artillery of the security army accelerated the frequency of bombardment, and the explosives thrown by the "unconscionable artillery" also increased, and the shells that fell on the city became more and more dense for a while, and the explosive bags that exploded were even more terrifying, and a large area was emptied above the city with a loud bang. The general immediately ordered more officers and troops to be mobilized from other areas to defend the city, and at the same time arranged for his own troops to supervise the battle to prevent the soldiers from escaping from the city walls. He knew that as soon as the siege force of the security army approached the city walls, the artillery would have to stop firing, and after that period of time, it would be time to counterattack.

Outside the city walls, there were constant shouts of killing and gunfire, but no security army approached the city.

Liu Lianxiang cautiously looked out from the battlements of the city wall, as soon as he showed his head, he attracted a dense number of bullets under the city, the bullets hit the battlements, and the brick chips stirred up Liu Lianxiang's face with blood, so frightened that he quickly retracted his head.

But he also understood it, and couldn't help but secretly curse the security army in his heart for being really cunning. It turned out that the security army shouted and rushed to the city wall, but did not enter the range of bows and arrows, and when they ran to the trenches outside the city, they stopped and hid in the trenches and continued to shout, and fired with muskets at targets that could be seen on the city walls, it seems that their purpose was to attract the officers and soldiers to the city, and then use artillery to kill and injure the officers and soldiers.

Knowing the conspiracy of the security army, Liu Lianxiang did not dare to withdraw all the officers and troops, in case the security army jumped out of the trenches to attack, it would be too late to defend. He could only order part of the officers and soldiers to go down the city wall, and he took some of the officers and soldiers to carry the artillery fire of the security army on the city wall. (To be continued.) )