At dusk, the sky is slanting in the west.

Zhao Tuo looked at the Shouchun battlefield in the distance, and looked at the black-armored Qin pawn who retreated like a tide in the sound of the golden cymbals, and his brows furrowed slightly.

On his side, the attendant Lu Juan said with a little regret: "It's a pity that our army is too small, if the general can have another 30,000 troops, he will definitely be able to take this Shouchun City in one battle."

"Today is just a temptation."

Zhao Tuo opened his mouth.

His face was calm, but there was still a slight regret in his heart.

Because today is indeed a good time for him to break through the capital of Chu in one fell swoop.

When the king of Chu saw the enemy soldiers approaching the city, he didn't think about how to improve the morale of the army and the people and how to defend the city, but instead carried out some kind of sacrifice ceremony on the city, pinning his hopes on the ethereal ghosts and gods, which was ridiculous.

This was seized by Zhao Tuo, and first used a burst of cannon shooting to frighten the Chu people, and their morale dropped greatly.

Immediately afterwards, the Qin army took advantage of the situation to attack the city, and under the fierce offensive, this side of the Shouchun city wall almost fell.

It's a pity that Shouchun is a Xiongcheng in Huainan after all, with thick city walls, and the number of defenders in the city is much more than that of the Qin army.

One after another, Chu soldiers were driven to the city wall to fight with the Qin people, and in the face of the danger of losing the country and breaking the city, although these Chu people were afraid in their hearts, they still fought bravely, so that the Qin army could not enter the city.

In addition to the desperate resistance of the Chu people, this failure is also related to Zhao Tuo's lack of troops.

The Qin army only had 20,000 available troops, and it was still a tentative attack on the first day, so it was naturally impossible to send all the troops, so in the back, the siege strength was slightly weak.

On the contrary, the Chu army in the city continued to walk up to the city to support, so that the Qin army could not gain a firm foothold even if it took the city wall.

Zhao Tuo's troops were less than the defenders in the city, and it was almost impossible to break the city in one battle without the enemy's fighting spirit collapsing.

As Lu Juan said, if Zhao Tuo's subordinates could have tens of thousands more, the situation would be different, he could launch attacks on several other city walls at the same time, and at the same time, the main attack direction was endless, and the chance of breaking the city was greater.

"I still have to wait for the army to arrive, my 20,000 people want to take the huge Shouchun, it's not realistic."

According to the information provided by the Chu people in the army, Shouchun City covers a vast area, with a total of eight water gates and eight land gates.

This city not only has a tall and strong outer Guo city wall, there is also a towering Chu king palace city in the city, there is a moat formed by leading water in front of the palace wall, although it is an inner city, its city defense is very strong, not easier to attack than the outer city.

Even if Zhao Tuo captured Shouchun Waiguo, his troops were still not enough to storm the palace city of King Chu inside.

"So General Li's surprise attack on Shouchun last year was just whimsical."

Zhao Tuo shook his head, thinking of Li Xin's battle strategy last year.

When I really arrived in Shouchun City, facing this Huainan Xiongcheng, I knew what the concept of 30,000 people was attacking Shouchun.

It's easy to say, but if you really want to come here to attack the city, in the face of the desperate resistance of tens of thousands of Chu people in the city, as well as the two layers of strong walls inside and outside, plus the Chu army that is constantly coming back, and the lack of supplies for the Qin army, how can you win the battle?

Even if Changping Jun did not betray the Qin State last year, I am afraid that Li Xin can only return in front of this Shouchun City, and even if he is overturned here.

Just as Zhao Tuo sighed, Zhong Liyi, who had been silent, spoke: "Our army is not strong enough, why don't the general use the strategy of attacking the heart?"

"Heart-attacking?"

Zhao Tuo's eyes narrowed slightly, and he whispered, "Attacking the city is the bottom, attacking the heart is the top, I know it. It's just that now Shouchun is already a lonely city, and once the city is broken, it will be the end of the country. The king of Chu is very clear, if the city is not broken, he is still the king of Chu, and if the city surrenders, he will be a prisoner of my Qin State. So how can this man surrender until the city is broken?"

Zhong Liyi shook his head and said, "If our army can't take the outer city, we won't surrender. However, the general can take advantage of today's events to disperse the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the city, so that the Chu people will lose their fighting spirit and dare not resist, so the city should be easily taken. After the outer city was down, our army entered Shouchun and surrounded the palace wall of the king of Chu. At that time, if you send a lobbyist, you may be able to capture the burden without a fight."

"Take advantage of today's events?"

Zhao Tuo's eyes lit up and said, "You mean ghosts?"

"Yes! The major affairs of the country are in worship and Rong. The Chu people believe in ghosts and gods the most, and today they sacrificed at the head of the city, praying for the arrival of the great priest, but they were abandoned by the gods, not only did not succeed, but were bombarded by our army with a huge cannon. This must have terrified the hearts of the Chu people in the city."

Zhong Liyi took a deep breath and whispered, "Our army attacked the city at that time, but it stimulated the blood of the Chu people in the city, and under the threat of our army, they couldn't care about this matter for a while."

"In the opinion of the last general, the general might as well postpone the siege of the city for two days, and let the Chu people in the city think carefully about what the gods have abandoned today, and there will definitely be fear permeating Shouchun."

"At that time, the general will shoot a book in the city again, and write that the gods have abandoned the Chu State, and the Mandate of Heaven is in Qin's words, and it will definitely have an effect. If the siege is carried out again in a few days, the resistance in the city will be reduced!"

"What a Zhongli, this method of attacking the heart is really a wonderful strategy!"

Zhao Tuo praised.

He is not from Chu, and he is not even a native resident of this era, so his understanding of ghosts and gods is naturally not as good as Zhong Liyi and others. In the face of Shouchun Jiancheng, all he thought about was all kinds of ways of fighting, but he ignored the ghosts and gods.

Now that he was reminded by Zhong Liyi, he found out that this matter can indeed be used to make a big fuss.

After Zhao Tuo's mind was broadened, a classic example of Chu people's belief in ghosts popped up in his mind.

"Campfire Fox Singing."

"Da Chuxing, King Chen Sheng."

"Hey, hey, hey."

……

"Tap!"

"No, it hurts a lot in the buttocks!"

Shouchun City, in the deep palace of the King of Chu.

The king of Chu was lying on the soft collapse, screaming in his mouth.

The clothes on his back had been scooped up, revealing his back and buttocks, which had been shot by clods of dirt.

The two beauties with the fragrance on their bodies were carefully applying the gold sore ointment to the wound on the buttocks of the King of Chu.

Although the palms of the two beauties were soft, and they were reluctant to use even a trace of strength, every time they took the medicine, they made the king of Chu make a painful sound of "whining" in his mouth.

He was born with a noble stomach, and he was born with fine clothes and jade food, how could he have suffered such an injury. Every time he was drugged, he felt very painful, and even the gentle touch of the beauty could not bring him the slightest comfort.

However, compared to the physical wounds, what really made the king of Chu feel painful was his failure to pray to the gods.

"Great priest, why didn't you send down divine punishment, didn't the gods abandon it?"

At the sacrificial ceremony, the gods did not respond to his call, but instead met the terrifying flying stones of the Qin army.

Even the great witch who presided over the sacrifice fell in the chaos, was trampled by a group of wizards, and was sent to see the great priest.

The result of such a prayer made the king of Chu feel more and more frightened and afraid.

The battle failed, Xiang Yan fled eastward, Huaibei was lost, and the Qin army was under the city......

Now, even the gods have given up on him.

"There is still an army in the valley!"

"Someone, go and call me the left disciple!"

The king of Chu showed a desire to survive in his eyes, and he would never give up until the last moment.

The two beauties were driven away by the king after being sprayed.

After a brief silence in the room, an old man in his fifties walked in.

Among the several courtiers of the king of Chu, Songyang Jun Jingzhao went to the Qi State to lobby, but was stranded because the Qin soldiers cut off the road and did not return.

Yin Xiangyan disobeyed the king's orders and led the army to defect.

The right Yin Jin Xia was killed by the anti-thief Zhao Yuan.

Now in Shouchun City, the only important minister who can hold up the stage is the left disciple Sun Chang in front of him.

"Zuo disciple, can the Qin army retreat?"

The king of Chu eagerly spoke, if the Qin army broke the city, he would have no choice but to defend the palace.

Sun Chang hurriedly bowed his hand and said, "Don't worry, the king, the soldiers have fought hard today and have repelled the Qin people."

"That's good."

King of Chu

He breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "How many soldiers and horses and grain are there in my Shouchun City now?"

Sun Chang thought for a moment and replied, "Your Great King, now there are two vast left and right kings in the city, with 20,000 elite soldiers. There are also about 20,000 soldiers who have returned from Xia Cai and the front line. If the king summons the young men of the city, he shall raise up another twenty or thirty thousand men."

"As for the grain, the king ordered someone to transport the grain sent to Chen Ying to the city, plus the original grain of Shouchun. The amount of them is huge, enough to supply the soldiers and civilians in our city for a year!"

The King of Chu finally had a happy look on his face.

"Good! There are still 70,000 troops in Bugu, a year's worth of food, and this high wall. Not to mention that there are only 20,000 or 30,000 people from Zhao Tuo outside the city, even if there are 100,000 or 200,000 Qin troops outside the city, they don't care about it."

He said to himself: "In the past, Zhao Xiangzi was trapped in Jinyang, and Zhibo colluded with the Wei and Han families to divert Fen water to irrigate their city, and the city was not immersed in three versions. The city is overhanging, the children are eaten, and the ministers all have external intentions, and the situation is several times more critical than today's valley, what is the final result?"

"There are also the five kingdoms of Qi in the past, and more than 70 cities of Qi died at the hands of the Yan people, leaving only Jimo and Ju two cities still existing, what is the result? It's not that the Qi country has been completely restored, and the Yan people have fled north!"

[In view of the general environment,

"Although Bugu is approached by the Qin army today, there is still a Xiongcheng, an army of 70,000, and countless grains and grass, which is much better than the Zhao and Qi countries in the past, enough to consume with his Qin army."

"Not to mention that Huainan still has the city of my Chu country, Bugu has already issued an edict before, so that all the towns in Huainan will raise the troops of King Qin, and even summon people from Baiyue here."

"There are also Xiang Yan and Xiong Qi, although the two are traitors, they will not surrender to the Qin people, and they will fight to the death with the Qin people in the future. so that the Qin army will not be able to attack Shouchun in Bugu with all its might."

"From this point of view, there is still hope in Bugu!"

"As long as the 'Tiandan' of Bugu appears, maybe we can drive away the Qin army and restore the land of our Chu country!"

"Zuo disciple, do you say yes or no?"

Sun Chang saw that the king was staring at him with red eyes, his eyes full of expectation.

He knew that the king was seeking comfort in despair.

The reason why the king said so much was just that he wanted to agree with him, so that he could continue to sit in the deep palace with peace of mind, waiting for the almost impossible hope.

Sun Chang sighed secretly in his heart, and arched his hand, "The king is high."

A happy smile appeared on the face of the King of Chu.

……

At night, the city wall of Shouchun.

The night watchmen stood opposite each other on the city walls.

From time to time, the night breeze blew through the city, making them shiver, and the crotch was even cooler.

"The Great King prayed to the gods to punish the Qin people, why didn't the Great Secretary respond?"

"Shhh......h I've heard people say that it was because the king killed the ancestors and disgusted the gods, so the great priest was unwilling to descend on the gods."

"It makes sense, it seems to be the king's problem."

The soldiers whispered about the sacrificial ceremony of the previous days, and it was really thrilling to recall the events of that day.

"What nonsense! Shut up, talk nonsense, and cut your tongues carefully!"

A two-horse approached him.

"Stand up for me, don't sit on the ground. We must cheer up, although the Qin army has not attacked the city in the past two days, we must not take it lightly, and we must be very careful when we keep vigil at night, do you hear it!"

The two horses reprimanded these guards with straight faces, and under his sharp voice, these soldiers got up from the ground one by one.

It's cool at night, and standing up to blow the wind can be much colder than sitting on the ground.

"Sima, the villain wants to pee."

A Chu pawn shouted.

The two Sima rolled their eyes and scolded: "If you pee, you have to tell Naigong, you just pee on this city wall, maybe when the Qin army attacks the city, you will be stunned by the smell of urine under the city."

"Hahaha......

Other

He laughed.

The peeing soldier didn't smile, he was standing by the wall that had been shattered by the flying stones of the Qin army a few days ago, his hand shaking at the corner of his clothes, and his eyes were staring into the distance.

Immediately afterward, he let out a piercing scream.

"Ahh

All the Chu soldiers were so frightened that they were about to turn around and scold, but when they turned their heads, they saw that the peeing soldier was stretching out his hand and pointing to a certain place under the city.

Instinctively, he followed the direction of the soldier's finger.

Dozens of steps outside the city, in the surging moonlight, I could barely see something moving.

"What's that?"

Chu Zu asked in astonishment.

A strange car drove slowly past the front of the city.

The Chu people at the head of the city saw that it was four strange beasts driving the car.

These strange creatures were about the same size as horses, but they had horns like cows on their heads, and tentacles dancing in the wind around their necks, and their bodies were red and as terrible as blood in the moonlight.

The driver of the car was a monster, looking like a man, but with horns on his head and huge wings like a bird on his back.

The coachman was followed by a chariot made of Xinyi wood, surrounded by vines, and blood-colored flags planted on the chariot, which hunted in the wind.

Of course, what really attracted the attention of these Chu people was the person standing in the wind on the car.

It was a woman.

She was dressed in white, with a graceful posture, with a strange wreath of flowers on her body, and her black hair dancing in the night wind, so that people could not see her face clearly.

Only a bleak and distant female voice came to the city.

If someone is in the mountains, he will be taken by Xue Lixi.

is both embarrassed and smiling, Zi Muyu is good at smiling.

……

Soon, under the horrified gaze of dozens of Chu soldiers at the head of the city, the strange beast pulled the vehicle and slowly drove into the night and disappeared.

Only the figure of the woman in white still filled their minds.

"Who's that?"

Someone asked, with their teeth chattering.

"I don't know, maybe it's not a person?"

Just when the soldiers asked each other, it was the two horses with higher backgrounds who reacted.

His eyes widened, and his face was full of horror, "Mountain ghost!"

"What I just passed must be a mountain ghost!"

As soon as these words came out, all the Chu soldiers were in an uproar.

Mountain ghosts!

It turned out to be a mountain ghost among the gods of Chudi!

No wonder it haunts at night, strange beasts pull carts, strange people drive, and there are white-clothed women singing in the wind.

The mournful and desolate singing voice is now echoing in the minds of all Chu people, making people's bodies tremble even more, and they feel cold hands and feet.

The legendary mountain ghost appeared outside Shouchun City, what does this portend?

Just when everyone was shocked and speechless, something even more strange happened.

In the darkness of the night, there were bursts of fox-like chirps.

The voice gradually changed from the voice of the fox to the bleak and sharp voice.

"Is it a fox barking?"

"Did you hear me?"

A Chu pawn shouted, looked up outside the city, and saw no fox.

But the strange cries still blew on the city walls with the wind.

"I can hear clearly, the voices of those foxes are saying, 'King Pig, Auxiliary Xiang'."

"Big Pig King, Auxiliary Xiang?"

The crowd looked at each other, not knowing what this meant.

It was the two Simas who were quite literate who understood first.

I saw that his face was pale, his lips trembled, and he muttered.

"Great Chu is dead, and he is surrendered!"