Zihu was furious when he saw that the Tang army dared to rob the camp at night. The siege of Tang City was re-encircled, and the siege became more and more urgent. In addition, Zi Bo frequently wrote letters urging him, saying that once the Wu army knew about the destruction of the Tang Dynasty, he would inevitably send troops to rescue him, and then the strategy of destroying the Tang Dynasty and Cai would fail. Therefore, Zihu urged the soldiers to attack the city every day.

Tang Shizi in the city saw that his family had escaped, and he had no worries. In the herald country, men over the age of 14 and women over the age of 18 should take up arms, obey the dispatch, and charge the army to defend the city; Even the palace maids and palace eunuchs in the palace are like ordinary soldiers and civilians, and they are included in the city defense team.

The Chu army attacked for several days, and Tang Cheng stood still. It seems that it is difficult to rely on the ladder and the bow and crossbow, and Zihu has thought about it for a long time and decided to think of another strategy to attack the city.

Zihu called the official of the army and asked him to build a new type of siege equipment.

Gong Zhengdao: "The city of Tangcheng is strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. When our sergeants went up the ladder, there was no archers behind them, so it was difficult to succeed. Moreover, the morale of the Tang army was so high that the siege had little effect. After some thought, the young general also thought of a siege tool. ”

Zihu then asked Gong Zheng to talk in detail.

"-- First make a wooden tower in the shape of a sentry tower with thick wooden connections, which is the same height as the city wall, and has a bucket on it, which can be used to plant archers. A thick wooden shield is installed in front of it, leaving only a perforation. The tower is equipped with a mechanism of rolling logs, which can be moved with a strong push from the sergeant. When the two sides attacked the city, the archers went up the ladder from below, hid in the battle and released arrows into the city, which could cover the soldiers on the ladder to rush to the castle tower. In this way, the besieging soldiers, with the cover of their own archers, will be able to achieve great success. ”

Zihu was overjoyed, and ordered the workers to draw the graphics and immediately start to build.

In just a few days, several of the siege towers had been built. Zihu let the soldiers rehearse, and immediately prepared to deploy the siege city.

At this time. It was already a hot day, the weather was starting to get hot, there was no rain for several days, and the air was very hot. Seeing that the sun was scorching outside the camp and the sun was scorching, Dou Xin, the deputy general of the Chu army, was in a hurry and ordered the archers to come to his camp to listen to the order.

"You just have to grease your arrows and fire them at the gates. Although the gate was heavy, it was covered with copper. But now it's hot and the temperature is extremely high. With this fire attack strategy, it will definitely be able to burn down the gate of Tang City. You and the other archers are divided into two parts, one to shoot the defenders above the tower as cover, and the other to shoot rockets at the city gate and gather fire to burn the gate. ”

Dou Xin continued: "The main task of the archers on the wooden tower is to cover the archers under the city and the siege soldiers on the ladder. Our troops will attack from the gates and ladders. You have to cooperate more. ”

In the middle of the day, when the weather is scorching. The Chu army shouted. Begin the siege. I saw that the ladder team first moved the long ladder like ants, put it on the wall of Tang City, and then raised the shield to protect the head Xiangshang climbing. Dou Xin ordered a group of soldiers to push the tall wooden tower close to the tower, within range of the shooters. The archers, who were hiding in the wooden buckets, fired arrows at the defenders on the towers. Covering the besieging soldiers.

There are also archers under the city, according to the order of Dou Xin, wrapped arrows in grease yarn and shot at the gate of Tang City. Less than half an hour. The rockets above the gates were nailed in dense numbers. The city gate first burned slowly, and the Chu army continued to shoot arrows at the city gate, and the fire on the city gate became even more intense after a while.

The Tang army in the city saw the smoke billowing from the city gate, and knew that the Chu army was attacking and burning the city with fire, although they were eager to extinguish the fire. But this city gate is concave, and the Chu army is attacking the city urgently, so it is impossible to control the fire on the city gate.

The Tang army had no choice but to be anxious on top of the tower. While fighting to the death with the foot soldiers on the ladder, you also have to watch out for the shooters on the wooden tower, who will be shot by them if you are not careful.

In less than an hour, the gate of Tangcheng was destroyed by fire, and the Chu army shouted in, and Tangcheng was attacked and broken by the Chu army.

Zihu personally led a large army into the city, and it was really the death of those who met me and the death of those who stood in my way. Let out the anger that has been unbreakable for a long time at this time. Tang Shizi saw that the city gate had been broken, and You led the soldiers and the Chu soldiers to fight in the streets of the city, and were soon killed by exhaustion.

The Tang army was killed and dispersed by the Chu army, and the people fled in all directions. When the Tang people heard that the son of the world died in battle, they all mourned.

Zihu attacked Tang City, destroyed the Tang State, and did not retreat for the time being, but led the army to the east, and Chen soldiers were on the border of Cai State.

Zihu wrote a book himself, sent an envoy to send a report to Cai Hou, and while leading the army to rest and recuperate, he also sent a horse to investigate the military situation of these small countries around him, so as to prevent these small countries from sending troops to help Wu. At present, Zihu's task is to destroy the weak Tang Dynasty first, to kill chickens and scare monkeys, intimidate Cai Guo and other Wu Federations, and make military preparations for isolating Wu State.

Saying that Cai Hou got the book, Fang knew that the Qin division had come out and formed a strong alliance with the Chu State, and now Chen Bingying was confronting the Wu army. Cai Hou unfolded the letter and read its book:

"I am the Qin general Zihu, and I was ordered to destroy the Tang Dynasty. Today, the Tang Kingdom has become a nest and has been destroyed by me. I heard that Xianjun and King Wu have a bloody alliance, if Xianjun wants to fulfill his morality and help the Wu people, I should treat it as Tang Hou! In order to solve the misfortune of the king of Chu, the widow will go out to save Chu, and he will defeat the Wu division! Where to go, please make your own judgment......"

Cai Hou was shocked and furious. threw the book on the ground and said angrily: "General Qin is arrogant and rude, and wants to intimidate the widows? It's really hateful! ”

At that time, the son was on the side, and when he saw that his father was angry, he didn't know what was going on, so he asked him for details.

Cai Hou pointed to the letter on the ground and asked Gongzi to look at it.

Gongziqian looked at the book and admonished him on the ground: "Zihu Chen soldiers are on the border of our country. If the father has the will to fight, he should organize his troops and horses, gather some grain and grass, and send his generals to defend against the enemy. On the other hand, if you make peace with him, you should send an envoy to write a book, and use it with tactfulness, why should your father be angry? ”

Cai Hou thought about it, but King Wu had a bloody alliance with himself, and he had saved himself, and now that Wu was in trouble, he couldn't be treacherous; But the Chu army is stationed on the border, and the soldiers are in the city, which is also a dilemma.

Cai Hou couldn't make a decision, so he summoned the ministers to discuss the countermeasures.

At that time, Cai Guo was Shang Gong as the secretary of state and was in charge of Cai Guo's national affairs. Cai Hou looked at Zihu's letter all over the ministers and asked: "General Qin is here, and Chen Bing is on the border of my country, and he wants to cut off the widow with Wu Jun." And King Wu is kind to me Cai Guo, how can we be treacherous? Ladies and gentlemen, is there a good way to deal with it? ”

The ministers looked at each other and did not dare to speak.

Gongzi Qian once accompanied Cai Hou to lead the troops and the Wu army to crusade against the Chu State, and fought until Yingdu, and he had a deep love for the king of Wu and the ministers, so he went out and said: "The minister thought that the king of Wu had come out to help us Cai State, and today the state of Wu is in trouble, and we will not save it when we see death, it is faithless and unrighteous." Although the Chu army Chen soldiers are on the battlefield, the ministers think that the soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, what are you afraid of! ”

Cai Hou said: "Among the princes, Qin and Chu are all strong countries, and the country is rich and the people are strong. And I, Cai, is a country in the middle reaches, what ability do I have to compete with Qin Chu? The destruction of the Tang Kingdom is an example here. ”

Gongzi Qian replied: "Although Qin and Chu are allied, they have formed an alliance. However, the soldiers of Wu were prosperous, and there were a group of ministers such as Sun Wuzi and Wu Yuan, and the ministers thought that Wu might not be defeated. If the Wu army wins, how will the father face Wu Wangye at that time? ”

Cai Hou was silent, not knowing what to do.

At this time, Shangqing Shanggong came out of class and played: "The old minister has something to say!" ”

Cai Hou commanded.

"Childe's words are misleading! Please think for yourself, and don't care about the heart of the righteous first. Minister: Which is more important? ”

Cai Hou said: "Sheji! ”

Shang Gongdao: "Isn't this enough?" For the sake of faith, the king may destroy the temple and lose his country; So what is the use of faith? ”

Shang Gong saw that Cai Hou was speechless, and then said: "If the king and the Chu army are enemies. The Chu army is now in the realm of Chen Bing, eyeing the tiger. The enemy army is in front, and the king can't spare his hands to send troops to save Wu, but also invites the disaster of destroying the country, what good is it? ”

Gongzi Qian wanted to step forward to refute, but Cai Hou shook his hand to stop him.

This is a clear reason. Besides, Cai Hou thought in his heart that this Wu army would not necessarily be defeated without Cai Guo's help, so his heart suddenly brightened.

So Cai Hou made up his mind and wrote back to Qin General Zihu: No matter what the situation of Wu Guo is, Cai Guo will not send troops to help. In order to show sincerity and cause unnecessary misunderstandings, even the conscription envoy sent by King Wu was sent back.

The state of Cai once again became a straw on the city walls, departing from the alliance of Tang, Cai and Wu, and the state of Wu became a loner again. To see how Wu navigated this strategic difficulty, please see the next chapter. (To be continued......)