When Zhang Can decided to tear his face with the civil and military officials, the Huaizhou West Route Army outside the city had also launched an offensive.

The battle first broke out in Dongcheng, and the Lai'an army approached the city wall in an orderly manner under the command of Duan Zuozhang.

On the previous journey from Qingliu Pass to Shenze City, Lu Shen deliberately suppressed the speed of advance several times, on the one hand, to cooperate with Xiao Wangzhi to dig a pit for Qing Yu Zhongwang, and on the other hand, to wait for the baggage and siege equipment behind.

The city wall of Heluo is towering and majestic, the average height is five zhang, and the highest section is close to six zhang.

Of course, Lu Shen will not ignore this problem, he has almost emptied all his hole cards for this battle, and he will definitely be fully prepared.

Duan Zuozhang did not disappoint him.

Although this commander of the Lai'an army is not as brave as Song Shifei, he is obviously stronger in commanding the battle, and he is very good at the coordination between various arms, as well as the control of the rhythm of the attack, almost perfectly completing the task entrusted to him by Lu Shen.

Although casualties were inevitable due to the disadvantage of the besieging side, they continued to exert pressure on the Jing army on the city wall under the command of Duan Zuozhang, and this pressure continued to superimpose.

Mou Lianghu was so experienced that he quickly confirmed that this wall was the direction of the enemy's main attack, and then he transferred a large number of strong archers to continuously cause casualties when the Huaizhou army conquered the city wall.

At the same time, he did not forget the situation in other places, and analyzed the situation by integrating information from the mouths of the heralds who came and went.

"It's big and detailed, the pressure on the southern city is not great, and General Uxun asks if he needs to help the eastern city!"

"Tell Uxun to beware of the enemy's false moves, and the feint will turn into a strong attack. If it is because of his carelessness and the danger in Nancheng, I will definitely not be able to spare him! ”

"Obey!"

"The north city is defense-free, and the enemy's progress is very slow!"

"Very good, let Jia Guhun keep his eyes open and keep it up."

"Obey!"

While commanding the soldiers of Dongcheng, Mou Lianghu gave calm orders to the other areas.

The Huaizhou army was attacking like a tide, but this time their enemy was not the Yan army fleeing from the wind, but the well-trained and courageous Jing army, and there were also towering and strong city walls and all kinds of complete defense equipment, and the siege was more difficult than ever.

Especially after Mou Lianghu gradually adapted to Duan Zuozhang's methods, Jing's army successfully passed the initial difficult period, and the two armies immediately fell into a fierce and anxious battle.

On the flat ground in the northeast of the city, the main force of the Panlong army waited in formation, and only sent 2,000 archers to assist the Lai'an army in fighting against the archers in the city.

The main general Liu Jiangdong rode his horse and stood, sometimes looking at the city wall of the Lai'an army, and sometimes looking at the other direction, that is, the north of Heluo City.

Until this moment, Liu Jiangdong still didn't know what Lu Shen had to do to cut through the incomparably strong Heluo City Defense, but he had an expectation in his heart that he couldn't believe, as if Lu Shen could do everything.

"The general doesn't have to worry, our army will definitely have a chance to show its strength."

The lieutenant next to him seemed to see his anxiety and leaned over to comfort him in a low voice.

Liu Jiangdong said slowly: "I'm not worrying about this matter, I'm just thinking about what Captain Lu has a plan." It's a shame to say that he's only in his early twenties, and he crushed all of us old guys. Song Shifei's irascible temperament, in the past, only the Grand Governor could control him, but now he can be said to be obedient in front of Lu Duwei. ”

The adjutant general was on the outside, but he could see it more clearly than Liu Jiangdong, and when he heard this, he pointed to the outside of Heluo North City, and said softly: "General, will Lu Duwei's strategy have something to do with there?" ”

Liu Jiangdong looked at the situation, suddenly moved in his heart, and muttered: "You are right, maybe it really matters." ”

In the northern city, the main force of the Feiyun Army attacked the city wall under the command of Song Shifei.

Although the task given to him by Lu Shen was a feint, this was not to make him respond to the story, otherwise the defenders on the city wall would not have the slightest pressure, and it would only have the opposite effect.

Even a feint attack is bound to meet blood.

However, in general, the pressure faced by the Jingjun in the North City is definitely not as great as that of the comrades in the East City.

It's just that the Jing army in the city didn't know that although their enemy showed the banner of the Huaizhou Feiyun Army, there were 3,000 Ruishi battalion infantry led by Captain Bao An.

Instead of attacking the head of the city like the Feiyun Army, the infantry took advantage of the difficult terrain outside the city to quickly approach the wall near the northeast corner, and many of them cooperated with each other to carry logs more than half a man high.

On the outer position, Lu Shen looked at the city wall calmly, Ran Xuanzhi stood beside him, and said with emotion: "On the way to the actual place, I have always been curious about whether my uncle's method is useful. ”

Lu Shen asked with interest, "Why does Big Brother Ran have such an idea?" ”

Ran Xuanzhi looked left and right, and saw that Lu Shen's personal soldiers were all around, so he said with confidence: "After the battle in the mountains ended, I followed my uncle's instructions to find skilled craftsmen to try to improve the gunpowder you used in the canyon. Through their hard work, some progress has indeed been made, and gunpowder is now more powerful. If there is another battle of the canyon, the fire thunder made of new gunpowder will definitely be able to kill countless Jing Dynasty armored foot soldiers. ”

Lu Shen heard the meaning of his words, and said indifferently: "It's just that Brother Ran thinks that this kind of gunpowder must not be used to blow up the city wall?" ”

Ran Xuanzhi said embarrassedly: "I didn't doubt my uncle, but I just felt that the power might not be enough." ”

"It's not possible, it's definitely not enough."

Lu Shen responded calmly.

His improved black powder was not yellow explosives after all, and even if the latter wanted to directly blow up the Heluo City Wall, it would definitely need an astonishing amount of it.

Hearing Lu Shen's answer, Ran Xuanzhi couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then said honestly: "At that time, I was thinking, maybe so much gunpowder should be effective, and then there was another question, could it be that the defenders of the Jing Dynasty would stupidly watch us dig a pit under the city and release medicine?" ”

Lu Shen stared at the city wall in the distance, and sighed softly: "No wonder Brother Ran has such doubts, I was also worried at first. Until one day I suddenly remembered that Heluo City has a history of more than 1,000 years, and it is not a bare city. ”

Ran Xuanzhi followed his gaze and said, "When I see the situation here with my own eyes, I will know that my uncle has thought very carefully." ”

The two of them could only see the half of the Heluo city wall from the middle upwards, and the lower part was blocked by a series of houses.

At its peak, the city of Heluo had a population of more than two million, and the area within the city walls simply could not accommodate so many people.

Over time, the dwellings of the inhabitants continued to spread out of the city, and various types of agglomerations were formed, and even the moats in some sections had to be abandoned and filled.

Throughout the ages, this problem has occurred in the core cities of all dynasties.

Even though the city of Heluo had experienced a catastrophe fifteen years earlier, the extremely crowded inner city could not be eliminated, and large residential areas had appeared outside the city in recent years, especially outside the northern city.

These chaotic buildings become the best cover for the attackers.

Looking down at the Jing army at the head of the city, he could only see dense houses, and it was difficult to see the specific movements of the Huaizhou army.

But they weren't too worried, because the sight was open near the city gate, and the Huaizhou army in other parts had to climb the city wall to pose a threat.

In a certain area near the northeast corner, the Rui Shi battalion quickly approached the city wall under the cover of civilian houses, and then some of them moved forward to make a feint posture, while the other part of the group protected the dozens of Seven Star Gang men of mysterious origin in the middle of the team.

"The brothers of the Ruishi Battalion will dig with us!"

A man shouted a shout, and they quickly chose a suitable place, and the soldiers of the Sharp Battalion with big arms and round waists dug straight holes in these soft ground under the guidance and guidance of these men.

After reaching a certain depth, they switched to horizontal excavation, digging towards the foundation under the city walls, supported by logs along the way.

When they reached the bottom of the city walls, everyone began to expand the excavation area, still supporting the tunnel with logs.

Time passed little by little, and everyone was racing against time, all sweating profusely.

At the front of the Huaizhou Army's position, Ran Xuanzhi felt the gradual acceleration of his heartbeat, and said nervously: "I still had a doubt at that time, I didn't understand why my uncle valued those people so much, because it didn't seem difficult to dig a pit. ”

Lu Shen smiled and said, "It seems that Brother Ran has been a little ruthless along the way. The answer is actually not complicated, the reason why I asked you to find so many master tomb robbers is because they know how to build tunnels. To put it simply, since explosives can't directly destroy the city wall, we have to use gunpowder with the tunnel to cause the ground to collapse. ”

Ran Xuanzhi said convincingly: "It's not about blowing up the city wall but about blowing up the ground, my uncle is really amazing, how can I think of such a means!" ”

Lu Shen didn't explain too much, mainly because he couldn't explain in detail.

This kind of cave siege method is a battle example he has seen in his previous life, and the time is the method used by the Taiping army to attack the city at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Even the explosives of that period could not directly blow down the solid city wall, so the Taiping army dug a large hole under the city wall composed of tunnels and supported by wooden piles, and then blew up these supports to cause the ground to collapse by gravity, thus causing the city wall to collapse.

At the same time, under the city wall in the northeast corner of Heluo City, several craftsmen who accompanied the army began to place explosives on wooden stakes everywhere, and others withdrew in an orderly manner.

After about a stick of incense, Bao An climbed onto a roof and waved a flag behind him.

Lu Shen looked at the fluttering flag and said in a deep voice: "Li Chengen." ”

"The last general!"

"Array, prepare to charge!"

"Obey!"

……

Heluo Dongcheng, there were beads of sweat on Mou Lianghu's face, and while he was adapting to Duan Zuozhang's command technique, the other party was not familiar with his style.

Although the Jing army has the advantage of being condescending and various means of defending the city, the Lai'an army, as the main elite of the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion second only to the Zhenbei army, has experienced countless wars in the past two years, and is undoubtedly an extremely difficult opponent.

As soon as Mou Lianghu gave an order, two clansmen ran up to the city in a panic, came to the front and said breathlessly: "Da Xiangyin, there is a change in the palace, Emperor Yan died at the hands of His Highness, and the Praetorian Guards loyal to him are killing him!" ”

This sentence almost made Mou Lianghu not continue in one breath.

His complexion changed greatly, grabbed the collar of the visitor, and roared angrily: "Your Highness is in danger? ”

The visitor only felt that it was a little difficult to breathe, and was about to open his mouth to reply, when his body suddenly shook.

Not only him, but most of the defenders on the city wall, including Mou Lianghu, felt a clear tremor.

At this moment, a series of earth-shattering noises came from the north of Heluo, and Mou Lianghu let go of the man's collar and looked blankly to the north.

But seeing the dust and smoke rising into the sky, they watched in disbelief, and a section of the city wall collapsed in their sight, and countless Jing soldiers fell between the dust and smoke!

"This ...... This ......"

Rao is Mou Lianghu has been well-informed on the battlefield for a long time, and he can't help but be shocked at this moment.

He watched as the towering and sturdy city walls turned to rubble, and such a terrifying sight even made him forget that Qing Yu Huaijin was in danger.

The Jingjun of Beicheng was also stunned and frightened, but the Huaizhou army outside the city roared with great excitement.

Bao An, the captain of the Ruishi Battalion, held the machete in both hands and said angrily: "Brothers, follow me into the city!" ”

Song Shifei in the distance smiled fiercely, waved at the main force of the Feiyun Army, and said, "It's our time, we must kill today!" ”

On the outskirts, Lu Shen leaned over and touched the neck of the mount, then turned to Li Chengen and said, "Drumming." ”

"Whoa!"

Li Chengen's face turned red with excitement and he held his head high.

The sound of drums is like spring thunder, sweeping this side of the world.

More than 3,000 horsemen began to set out under the leadership of Lu Shen, and all of them held their weapons tightly in their hands.

The wind rises, and the sword points to Heluo!

Today's 4 more, I still owe 19 more~

(End of chapter)