At dawn, the defenders at the head of the city heard a commotion in the distance.

When the sky was bright, I found that dozens of feet outside the city had already grown a few feet high, and it was still increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Next to the mound of earth is a long shed, and thousands of auxiliary soldiers are busy shuttling between the mound and the long shed.

Dusty.

Farther away, there were several neat phalanxes of armored soldiers, with rangers shuttling through them from time to time.

When Sun Jie heard the news, he climbed the city tower to look at it for a while, and his expression gradually became solemn: "Please invite the prefect." Su Yinghui, the commander of the auxiliary corps! ”

Song Mingyi, the prefect of Luzhou, is obviously a lot haggard these days.

Sun Jie was not polite, and when he saw the prefect of Song ascending to the city, he hugged his fist and got straight to the point: "Please ask the prefect to organize manpower to dig more than a dozen wells along the left side of this wall." Then order the collection of straw and horse manure, the more the merrier. There is Lord Law. ”

The worried Song Governor replied: "Sun Shuai, don't worry, the government will arrange it immediately." Dare to ask why this move, can Sun Shuai give advice? ”

Sun Jie said in a deep voice: "The thief wants to attack." ”

Song Mingyi was taken aback: "Acupoint attack? ”

Seeing Song Mingyi's frightened look, Sun Jie smiled: "Lord Futai is relieved. The number of thieves was about 50,000 to 20,000, and the last general's soldiers were less than 2,000, and the auxiliary soldiers Ding Zhuang was only 5,000. Although the thieves suffered a small setback the day before yesterday, most of them were lost to auxiliary soldiers and forcibly captured the people, and the loss of armor was only 200 strange. If the thieves take turns to attack, the last general will indeed be exhausted. But the thief stopped when he was frustrated, showing that his faith and courage were not enough. is just a point attack, the way of snakes and rats, although he is not talented, he is not afraid of him. ”

"That's good, that's good." Song Mingyi responded, but the melancholy in his expression did not subside.

After Song Mingyi, who was suspicious, left, Sun Jie led Su Yinghui along the city wall to the south without hurrying, raising his eyes from time to time to look outside the city.

The mounds of earth have been connected into a wall of earth at this time.

Sun Jie stopped, pointed downward, and ordered: "From here, go one hundred and fifty steps to the north, dig a trench along the inner wall, five feet deep." Bury a jar and urn every thirty steps, and cover it with cowhide. Those who seek the blind, always listen. ”

Su Yinghui clenched his fists: "Order!" He made a mark on the wall and was about to turn around and leave, but was stopped by Sun Jie raising his hand.

Sun Jie took Su Yinghui all the way to the Nancheng Tower, looking at the enemy barracks in the distance that blocked the official road.

The enemy outside the south gate did not leave the camp, and only a few pond horsemen patrolled the place outside the city, waving swords and guns from time to time, shouting and shouting a few demonstrations.

Looking at the hundreds of camp flags waving in the wind in the distance, Su Qian was a little apprehensive: the enemy's camp was very solid, and the trenches were decently arranged. Although the camp wall was only built on the front side, connoisseurs watched the doorway, judging from the arrangement of the frontal defense, the wooden fences in the other three directions would also have great mysteries. Dashuai hasn't spoken, what is he thinking? Assault counterattack? If you attack, even if you succeed, less than half of your auxiliaries will probably leave their lives here! If they can't get their hands on it, there will undoubtedly be more dead. However, this is only the enemy's partial division, and the main force is at the West Gate, even if it is defeated, it will not be able to carry the city up and run! Could it be that the marshal wants to lead the army to break through and throw the city to the enemy......

Su Yinghui has been making small calculations in his heart, and he didn't even notice the deputy general Shen Chenggang who was hurrying over. Vice General Shen waved his hand to stop Su Yinghui's salute, glanced at the camp outside the south gate, and nodded to Sun Jie: "The same is true for the north gate."

Sun Jie's question interrupted Su Yinghui's thoughts: "This gate is a hundred steps to the west, digging out from the inner wall of the city, and the width is as wide as the two of them go hand in hand. Loosen the bricks of the outer city until they can be pushed out, but they must not penetrate the outer wall. Create a plank that can cross the moat, and you can cross it with armor, without considering the baggage. The same is true for Beicheng, where the north gate is excavated in 100 steps to the west, with a time limit of 10 days. Do you have enough manpower? ”

Su Yinghui didn't make a sound, he measured back and forth twice with his footsteps, calculated in his heart, and replied with a difficult face: "Bing Dashuai, each team of 200 people is divided into four groups on duty, working day and night, and it can be completed in six or seven days." However, Ding Zhuang, the last general, was slightly damaged the day before yesterday, and the walls still had to be defended, the rolling wood and thunder stones had to be supplemented, and some equipment was repaired...... The last general is afraid that manpower is a little tight. ”

Sun Jie said categorically: "In the near future, thieves will not attack the city, and the old and weak will be left at the head of the city to think that they are suspicious." No fire shall be raised at night for ten days. ”

Su Yinghui put his mind at ease: "The last general will be ordered." ”

Sun Jie turned to Shi Erlei, the official of the pro-guard team: "Command the four gates, and when the enemy pond is approaching, the drums and scolding will be beaten to cover the sound of the excavation." ”

In the afternoon, the prefect of Song sent people to deliver dozens of truckloads of straw and horse manure. Sun Jie ordered the two to be mixed together and piled up in several piles along the edge of the trench that had been dug on the inner side of the south wall. Then it was ordered that the gates should be kept on minimum vigilance, and that all soldiers should take turns to rest.

As expected, in the next few days, except for the auxiliary soldiers who were busy and tired, there was no major movement on either side.

One day, the blind man on duty at the side of the inner trench heard a report that the sound of excavation could be faintly heard in two places*. Sun Jie immediately issued an order: the pro-soldier battalion was divided into two teams to press the formation, and the auxiliary team dug in opposite directions in these two places.

Outside the city, Guan Shengyun launched another attack. However, it may not have had time to make it, and this attack did not use crashes, but only used trebuchets for long-range cover. A large number of captives were coerced by the thieves who were in the midst of the chaos and rushed to the city wall with ladders, and those who were not knocked down by bows and arrows pushed the ladders up the wall and cried and climbed up. The soldiers guarding the wall felt a little unbearable, but under the beating and scolding of the officers, they still smashed their guns and stones, and fought hard to kill and injure each other.

The main force of the ants climbing the wall is the people, and Guan Shengyun threw the elite soldiers into the small camp outside the west gate. The auxiliaries pushed the wagons to cover the soldiers all the way to the outside of the barracks, and then the spearmen stabbed the defenders through the fence under the cover of the shield soldiers, and the auxiliaries kept throwing ropes with iron hooks in an attempt to forcibly drag away the repulsors......

The advantage is still on the side of the defenders. After the previous death squad counterattacked, Sun Jie set up another one outside the West Gate. The camp is not large, but it is precisely because of this that the attacker's forces cannot be used, and the defenders at the head of the city can also provide bows and arrows, fire pots and other coordinated attacks.

Song Mingyi couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to find Sun Jie, but the latter was not in the city. After getting off the road, I saw Sun Jie standing next to the inner trench with his hands in his hands, so he hurriedly ran over and said, "Sun Shuai, the people who climbed the wall are all the people around who have not yet entered the city." Please give Sun Shuai an order and let them come up. The responsibility of the official is to reassure the people, so that the people have fallen into the hands of thieves and have no place to be ashamed, and then they kill again, which is really worthy of the hope of the saints. Let the people in, and the officials will do their best to settle them. ”

Sun Jie turned his head to look at Song Mingyi's eyes, shook his head slowly, and said, "My lord, the last general will be forgiven." Without waiting for the Song Governor's Mansion to refute, he continued, "The last general knows that, as the Lord said, most of the people who attacked this time were people who were coerced by thieves. But the last general can assert that there must be thieves in disguise! If the last general orders the attack to be stopped, a large number of people will immediately be boarded on each section of the wall, and then the thieves will rise up, and the city will not be able to protect it, and the death will be far from these hundreds of thousands of lives. This kind of trick has been heard of by the last general before. ”

Song Ming was stunned, Sun Jie's words were indeed reasonable, and he really didn't expect this.

Noticing the contradiction in Song Mingyi's heart, Sun Jie relaxed and said, "My lord is relieved. The siege of the city is only to attract the attention of our army, and the real intention of the thieves at this time is here. ”

Song Mingyi looked in the direction of Sun Jie's finger.

Four or five feet had been dug in the long trench, and the sound of the enemy digging in front of them had gradually become clear without the resonance amplification of the urn. Sun Jie waved his hand, Su Yinghui hurriedly commanded the staff to withdraw quietly, and then piled the straw and horse manure mixture into the hole, mixed it with some ignition gunpowder and pine light, and poured a few scoops of water on it at intervals......

With a bang, the hole was dug through. Almost at the same time, several spears popped out of the haystack and poked at them, stretching and stabbing indiscriminately.

Sun Jie gave an order, and several of the generals who had been prepared threw out torches, which instantly ignited the straw mixed with gunpowder. With all their might, a few auxiliaries used leather tigers (hand-held blowers) to blow a strong air current, and the mixture of damp horse manure and straw suddenly billowed out thick smoke and filled the air.

The spear didn't move, and then a violent cough erupted from inside the cave, exclaiming......

In less than a pillar of incense, the sound fell silent, with only a few occasional slight explosions, indicating that the embers were not extinguished.

Someone came out of the shed opposite.

Then, the smoke and dust became thicker and thicker, at first pale blue, then black smoke, and it was bubbling endlessly.

Sun Jie, who had returned to the city tower, stroked the handle of the knife with his right hand on his waist, looking at the enemy army, and the big red cloak behind him was hunting.

There was a crisp golden sound from the enemy formation, and the offensive stopped. The thieves in the city began to retreat, and some of the people were struggling, wanting to wait for the thieves to go farther before pleading with the defenders of the city. However, most of them were cut down by thieves on the spot, and those who occasionally escaped by luck did not seek mercy from the defenders - the military order was like a mountain, and Sun Jie had already ordered that no one should be put in. These people had to cry and shout again and run back to the distant team: the four fields were all in the hands of Guan Shengyun, and they could survive for a few days if they fled back and fought and scolded, otherwise, it would be impossible to escape the patrolling pond cavalry, and they would be killed on the spot.

After a while, the enemy in the distance, who had changed into an offensive formation, also gathered his ranks and retreated to the camp.

This round of offense and defense is over again.

The sweaty Song Governor trotted all the way up to the city tower with the hem of his official robe, looked down at the blackened inner wall and the soldiers and auxiliaries who were covered with soot, and saluted Sun Jie deeply: "Fortunately, Sun Shuai is mighty, and the lower officials thank the handsome for saving their lives for the people of this city!" After speaking, he waved his hand: "Wine!" This government wants to reward the soldiers! ”

The soap officials shouted, and commanded the accompanying laborers to step forward and line up the wine and food. The guerrilla Sheng Degong of the pro-military battalion standing under the city and the auxiliary army officer Qianzong Su Yinghui looked up at Sun Jie, and saw that the latter bowed slightly, and responded loudly with his fists clenched: "Thank you for the reward!" ”

The smiling armor soldiers and auxiliaries rushed forward......

Sun Jie solemnly replied to Song Mingyi: "Thank you Lord Prefect for your praise." The imperial court raised troops for a thousand days, which was the responsibility of the duty, and the last general would not dare to take it. ”

Governor Song took Sun Jie's arm with one hand, and made a gesture with the other: "Although it is said that you can't drink alcohol when facing the enemy, Sun Shuai and Huwei have even frustrated the thief, thinking that the thief will be terrified at this moment." The lower officials have prepared a little thin wine in the inner office to celebrate Sun Shuai's achievements. Sun Shuai, please! ”

Sun Jie showed a slight face: "Thank you, Lord Prefect." However, in the opinion of the last general, the thief's move is still a feint, and the enemy must not be underestimated. ”

Hearing this, Governor Song's smile suddenly froze on his face: "Feint? ”

Sun Jie pointed out of the city: "Lord Prefect, please see, the earthen ramparts are to obscure the sight of our army." In the shed, the Admiral asserted that there must have been a large number of timber stumps stored! There are two ways to attack the hole, one of which is tunnel excavation. If this method is used, the excavation should be wide enough and close to the city gate. Once the excavation is opened, when more than 100 dead soldiers are dispatched at the first time to desperately open the city gate, the thief brigade can swarm in...... However, the thieves were still far from the city gates, and they were initially in a horizontal formation, with the spearmen in front, and there was no horse team in sight—this was a defensive formation rather than a strong attack. Later, although it became a wedge-shaped formation of sword and shield soldiers, there was still no horse team! According to this, the general judged that this was a suspicious soldier. And our army camp outside the west gate is still there, even if the city gate is broken, it will be enough to deal with it in a short time. The thief's plan should be the second method of attacking the cave: send a large team of men and horses along the road to dig to the city foundation. Go to my cornerstone, and instead support the city wall with a tree stump, widen it to twenty or thirty zhang, set fire to the tree stump, and the city wall that has lost its support collapses, and the thieves can break into the ......"

Song Mingyi changed color and said, "That'...... The thief is so vicious that it is very hateful! Does the marshal have a strategy to break the enemy? ”

Sun Jie smiled slightly: "My lord is relieved, and the end will have his own response." The well that bothered the adults the day before yesterday was to take care of it. If the enemy uses this method, he will be safe in a few days. The last general dares to ask the adults to disturb three cups! Adult please! ”

Song Mingyi was overjoyed: "That's good, that's good!" Sun Shuai is really a god! Sun Shuai, please, Sun Shuai! ”

Note: In ancient times of manual excavation, it is impossible for the progress of the two tunnels to be comparable, and it is normal for the difference of one or two days before and after. If the attack is taken, usually the attacking coach will deploy it in all directions. In order to allow the enemy to lose sight of the other, it is common to attack the main direction – either north-south, or east-west – so that the defenders have to be reinforced across the town. The other two are for confusion and feints, making a show. In addition, there will be a coordinated effort to set fire to the wooden stakes at the same time as the foundations of the two cities have been hollowed out and ready, and the assault will be launched at the same time. Even so, the two places could not burn at the same rate, and it was a fluke that the difference between the walls before and after the collapse of the city wall was half a day. This article only introduces the cave attack and defense methods, and the scene is set to parallel excavation on the same side, without too much description of the time difference.