As Xin Feiyu and Yang Ye had predicted, the Later Zhou army's offensive on the first day of the seventh lunar month of the seventh year of Xiande was only the beginning. After a half-day rest, from the second day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar to the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the Zhou army launched a continuous onslaught on Taiyuan City during these six days. Both the duration of the daily offensive and the intensity of each offensive were as good as the offensive on the morning of the first day of July. Moreover, in order to create interference and pressure on the Northern Han defenders, the Later Zhou army concentrated on Liliang to storm the western city at the same time, but also launched feints and attacks on the city walls in the other three directions, so that the Northern Han defenders had to draw the already few reserves and a large number of young and strong people to strengthen the defense in the other three directions, so as not to be attacked by the Later Zhou army and make a breakthrough in the other Xiangshang.

In order to resist the attack of the Later Zhou army, Yang Ye and Xin Feiyu can be said to have done their best, giving full play to all the talents and strategies that can be played, mobilizing all the liliang that can be mobilized, and doing their best to maintain their own defense line, so that although the Later Zhou army suffered heavy losses, it was still not able to cross the thunder pool and attack Taiyuan City. Of course, in order to achieve such a result, the defenders of the Northern Han Dynasty also paid a heavy price, the casualties of the regular army alone were nearly 3,000 people, and the losses of the young and strong people were even more.

As the saying goes, "one blow, then decline, and three exhaustions", although almost every day there would be soldiers of the Later Zhou Army ascending to the top of Taiyuan City, and even more than 20 soldiers of the Later Zhou Army rushed to the left of Xin Feiyu's observation post within twenty or thirty paces, which made Zhang Zheng, Weng Zhong, and other officers and men of the "Flying Dragon Army" who were with him really nervous -- the guards even untied the rifles that had been wrapped in cloth bags and prepared for battle. However, these Later Zhou troops who ascended the city were eventually repelled by the reserves of the Northern Han defenders without exception, and all breaches were closed before the subsequent echelons of the Later Zhou army rushed up; Although the "Shenji Army" of the Later Zhou Dynasty repeatedly postponed the time for stopping long-range fire support, and even extended it until its own siege infantry was only thirty or forty steps away from the city wall of Taiyuan City, it stopped bombarding the city, so that many of the Later Zhou infantry were killed and wounded under their own artillery fire. However, the defenders of the Northern Han Dynasty relied on the reinforced concrete observation post prepared in the early morning and the bullet shelter that was urgently built with earthen bags and iron plates to successfully delay the advance of the siege infantry of the Later Zhou Dynasty and buy enough time for their main force to go to the city.

Therefore, after many days of fierce attacks failed to bear fruit, their own casualties had exceeded 7,000, and the morale of the generals generally began to decline, and they no longer had the indomitable and fearless spirit of the beginning of the war, Chai Rong decisively ordered to stop the frontal siege of the city, and instead changed the siege to besiege the city, first, to rotate his own troops, and replace the men and horses of Xicheng with men and horses from other directions, so as to ensure that the soldiers in the main attack direction have always been a new force. Second, I also hope to use this time to brainstorm and find a way to find a plan that can not only break through Taiyuan City, but also not cause serious casualties to my side.

Therefore, starting from the eighth day of the lunar month, the battle in Taiyuan City has taken a break, and both the offensive and defensive sides are taking advantage of this rare calm period to rest and prepare for the next more fierce competition.

As the saying goes, "three stinkers are the top of Zhuge Liang", so many civil and military generals in the Later Zhou Dynasty are naturally far smarter than three stinkers, and the siege plan they proposed is naturally far from being comparable to the three stinkers.

At the imperial military meeting held three days after the siege was stopped, in the face of other ministers, especially Zhang Yongde, who had always disagreed with him, and blamed him for the inappropriate siege strategy he had proposed before, which caused heavy losses to the siege department, Zhao Kuangyin immediately went out of work, on the one hand, he expressed his willingness to bear the responsibility for the failure of the siege plan, and on the other hand, he also put forward some of his own views to Chai Rong: "Bixia, the minister thinks that the frustration of our army's attack on Taiyuan this time has some reasons for improper tactics, but if you think about it carefully, However, it is not difficult to find that the root cause of our army's disadvantage in this battle is that one is to underestimate the enemy, and the other is to ignorance of the enemy. …,

I think that since the war of the Han Dynasty, our army has relied on the sharpness of the firearms of the 'Shenji Army', and the morale of the soldiers of the three armies who are not afraid of death and fight with their lives, it can be said that they will win the battle and conquer the battle, and they will be invincible and sharp all the way, but the troops will be under the city of Taiyuan in half a month. It can be said that since our army captured Qinzhou, the army from top to bottom, from the main general to the soldiers, has no longer taken the puppet Han army seriously. The officers and men of the whole army, including the ministers, all thought that Taiyuan City was just another Qinzhou, and as long as the 'Shenji Army' bombarded it, the defenders would collapse immediately, and Taiyuan City would fall in the first day. However, the heart of the enemy is born, and when the power of the firearms of the 'Shenji Army' is blocked by the earthen fortresses outside the city of Taiyuan, after the previously tried and tested siege method has no achievements under the city of Taiyuan, it will behave at a loss and misappropriate tactics, and propose a new tactic to Bixia before it is well thought, so that our siege infantry army has suffered heavy losses. This is the fault of the minister, and the minister is willing to be dealt with by military law. ”

Zhao Kuangyin pleaded guilty there, but Chai Rong had no intention of punishing him at all. On the one hand, although the new siege method was proposed by Zhao Kuangyin, it was he Chai Rong who accepted this suggestion and ordered the siege according to the new law. On the other hand, after discovering that Zhao Kuangyin's method of luring the enemy did not work and the defenders were not fooled, in order to maintain the so-called morale of the army, without re-discussing with the Wenchen generals present, he ordered the infantry to attack the city directly, and it was also him Chai Rong who attacked for several days. It can be said that Chai Rong needs to bear important responsibility for the failure of this siege, and the new tactics proposed by Zhao Kuangyin did not work, but it is only a secondary factor.

Therefore, Chai Rong was noncommittal about Zhao Kuangyin's plea, but changed the topic and asked: "Whether it is merit or demerit, there is a conclusion after the battle of the Han Dynasty, so there is no need to rush at this time." Zhao Aiqing will first talk to me about what it means to be 'ignorant of the enemy'. After all, before and during the invasion of Han by our army, our army sent a large number of scouting horses and meticulous work to inquire about the enemy's generals and troop arrangements in front of the army, understand the road topography on the march route of the army, and collect the customs and customs of the states and counties through which the army passed. Although he is not omniscient about the situation of the puppet Han, he can at least be said to know himself and the enemy in terms of military and civilian conditions. ”

When Zhao Kuangyin heard Chai Rong say this, he understood that the other party had no intention of punishing himself for attacking the city in the past few days, so he hurriedly replied: "Bixia, what the minister said 'not knowing the enemy' does not mean that our army is unfavorable to the enemy's situation before and during the war, but refers to the fact that the news that our army has explored before the horse and the details are only limited to the generals of the puppet Han garrison and the troops under their jurisdiction, the amount of grain stored in the city, the number of people and young people in the city, etc., and the ministers are only concerned about how to deal with the enemy's defense of the city during the military discussion. How to give full play to their own advantages as much as possible and how to capture Taiyuan City as soon as possible, but they all ignore whether the methods used by the enemy army to defend the city are different from the past, and whether this change is due to the plan of the puppet Han generals themselves, or whether someone secretly helped them. ”