Downstairs of the collapsed three-story door, Zhou Bao, whose beards and hairs were carefully managed and maintained with ashes and dust, also looked at all of this with a green face; complex feelings such as regret and regret wandered in his heart.
Obviously, he is still too big and underestimating the enemy. These grass thieves should be able to control the equipment as far as the city, but they have not been used before and have not tried their best, so people can't help but slack off and lighten up; the result is such a disaster.
The time has come to pay for it. Although the firearms of the grass thieves suddenly blasted the city, his guards supported him for the first time, rushing out of the crowd and covering him to escape into the hidden army cave; but those who were anxious by him came and stayed. Watching the battle in the gatehouse, the dozens of civil and military officials who had the right to boost their morale had no such luck.
Later, Zhou Bao learned that in the chaos after the gate tower was hit by the flint; some of them were killed or injured by several flints in the gate tower company, some were burned to death, burned, and panicked by the subsequent fire. They trampled on each other to death; in the end, several people were pushed and stunned due to their weakness, and were buried alive under the burning gate.
In the end, he was able to run out without any major problems, that is, more than a dozen generals who responded quickly because of their physical strength; even his eldest son, Zhou Yu, as a soldier and horseman in the government, was injured. Legs and feet are inconvenient to move up.
Others, including Zhou Bao’s favored letter and the reused section Sima Zhulong, the Fifth Letter of Changshi, and Li Guan, the secretary in charge, many people are unavoidable from the bad luck of death or injury. It was almost equal to the fact that the many Yamen officials who were responsible for assisting him in managing the daily operations of Zhenhai and the city were paralyzed by more than half.
The bad news is far more than this one. The officers and soldiers waiting in the city near the city are even more panic-stricken because of the successive fires and falling strikes in the city. In the chaotic arrows shot by unknown circumstances, the confusion turned into a cannibalistic melee. . After dawn, the dental soldiers who were waiting in the gate were calmed down again, and the corresponding casualties had reached more than 2,000;
In addition, when the city wall was bombarded by thieves’ firearms, the number of soldiers and Xuanrun crossbowmen who were killed and wounded on the city’s head was as many as 800 because the number was too dense to dodge. Zuo Yuhou, General Zhou Rang, who was in the middle of commanding and repressing, was also pushed and knocked down in the chaos and fell into the city.
And the concrete results of the cleanup in the city are nothing more than dozens of burnt and charred livestock; if the gates were not put down in time to cut off the subsequent thieves, I am afraid that they will be even more unbearable after they rush in. Up.
As for the thieves who killed and wounded overnight outside the city, even the corresponding corpses were taken away overnight; only a little blood stains and many baffles and big cards filled with arrows were left behind. The defenders laughed on the ground.
All of this proves another truth and fact. The thief army outside the city suddenly noticed some clues when the matter was about to come, and countermeasures and countermeasures were carried out according to their tactics.
"It's unreasonable, this is how the leaked news... It's the place where there are omissions and omissions"
Thinking of this, Zhou Bao gathered next to him, and the same gray-headed generals shouted loudly.
"It is necessary for Logan to dig the ground to investigate, and tortured severely from those who rebellious in their daily contacts, and there is no need to miss one..."
Zhou Yu, who was limping and full of fear behind his face, also echoed repeatedly.
"Will there be any remnants who have resentment and secretly communicate with the thieves in the city? All the children of Unity who were on duty in this city at that day were suspected..."
"promise.."
"Telling..."
Several dental soldiers and battalions will lead the way. Then, as the clamor gradually rose, it turned into jagged crying and screaming for mercy.
After being ordered to spend a night in fear and fear on the other city wall, Kongmu Officer Li Shicheng staggered down the city wall; the old servant who was born in the family hurriedly came to help him; and told him by the way.
"The Sun family of Yujinfang sent someone to report the funeral..."
"what.."
Li Shicheng couldn't help but feel agitated all over, cheering up in fear.
"When is this happening?"
"Just the night before, it was said that he fell and drowned after being drunk. The family found it in the Baichi beside Fangbian after searching for a whole day."
The old family responded without knowing it.
"This is really a disaster..."
Li Shicheng couldn't help muttering to himself, but in his heart he recalled the life of this colleague. Although there are many problems of various sizes, but there is no habit of drinking and drinking. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but some cold sweat fell from his back, and he turned into a certain inexplicable feeling of grief and anger; at this point, the other party still refuses to easily let go of any relations.
However, just when he was wandering back to his mansion with his stomach full of thoughts, he saw a blue-robed Wu Bianguan with a raw face, sitting under the hall with some impatience on the front.
"Li Kongmu, your good deeds and fortunes are here..."
After seeing Li Shicheng, this Yu Hou was not smiling.
. . . . . .
After dawn, a busy siege camp was restored, and tidy trumpets and military songs sounded again.
"Well, actually I will look at the air,"
Zhou Huaian faced the consultant Seng Xu Zhongdao, who was surprised and curiosity for knowledge.
"Wang Qi... The technique...?"
Xu Zhong couldn't help but his eyes twitched, and he couldn't help showing that I'm young, don't lie to me.
"By observing the subtle changes in the clouds and wind and dust in the distance, we can know what we have seen and guess and determine some things..."
Zhou Huai'an is a natural tone of true and false.
"Is this not the military skills that Guiguzi, Sun Bin and other sages have lost in ancient legends..."
However, Qian Jumei, the special representative with a solid appearance beside him, exclaimed in a somewhat unbelievable way.
"What do you think.."
Zhou Huaian smiled confidently and reservedly.
"The truth is plainly speaking, it's actually not that mysterious and surprising. It's just that a lot of people gather behind the city wall, and it's unavoidable to breathe out into smoke for a long time. There is no night wind to blow it away. Instead, it is easy to form a response when encountering a falling cold current. There was a faint cloud of smoke and mist for a while..."
Having said that, he again gestured to the location of his camp and the smoke and dust that was disturbed by various activities shrouded in the sky.
"As long as you observe more carefully, you will naturally find the nuances and clues. It is nothing more than the length of the process of observing whether it is sufficiently detailed and the accumulation of experience."
"Some, but he is very educated..."
Qian Gumei couldn't help but bow his hand, but in his heart he lamented that this man is really a good teacher, and he dared to express himself with such a military strategy. I don't know if it is due to nature, or is it just being counted and unscrupulous.
Then Zhou Huaian didn't have time to pay attention to the changes in his mood, because Luo Wen, the school lieutenant of the engineering regiment who was in charge of the front work, had already walked over to report on the latest progress and discoveries.
"You mean that the three main tunnels are almost close to the city wall?"
Zhou Huaian couldn't help but asked.
"Exactly, and there is already a place where the hard rammed soil that seems to be the foundation of the wall is dug... This is the result of the sample..."
Luo Wen, who was born as a mine in Guiyang, had a bronze-colored square face, covered with years of scars and thick cocoons on his hands and feet. Still holding an object in his hand.
"It's so good,"
Zhou Huaian squeezed the hard lumps in his hands. Although the soil was visible to the naked eye, it was actually very hard; the falling debris was not powdery but flakes. Obviously, when it was used as a wall foundation, it was rammed in a deep trench as a composite foundation. He couldn't help but immediately exhorted
"Starting from today, each person in the group will add a catty of wheat noodles or rice per day, and add a couple of scum or grease. Then you will have to trouble you to continue to strengthen it, waiting for the time and the order."
"Thanks to the kindness of the leader, I walked out of the mountain pit, and now have a good day to be able to fill up with hard work now. How dare not to go for it..."
Rowan immediately thanked Dade for his thanks and refusal.
"Don't say any extra rewards, it's spread out, brothers will poke me in the back."
"You can't do it like this... Rules are rules, rewards and punishments for merits and demerits are a matter of course... Even if you are willing to repay, you can't violate the basic rules, otherwise, how can you convince the public..."
Zhou Huaian also interrupted.
"If you feel really sorry, then try to improve efficiency and produce more results from your daily activities as a feedback to my Taiping Army..."
"The leader thinks well... I will tell my brothers."
Rowen also took the order without any reduction, and Zhou Huaian couldn't help showing a knowing smile.
In order to cover these tunnels, these Heavenly Peace Army took great pains. Not only was it harassed day and night, but it also carried out a lot of real and fake ground operations, such as the soil platform used to suppress the city's head and obscure the line of sight, and confuse the trenches and parapets used to mobilize personnel.
This is the essence of the ancient cave siege method. Dig under the wall and then gradually empty it out. Use wooden pillars to support it. Only when the time is right, it will be demolished or burned, so as to destroy the foundation of the city wall and cause it to crack. effect.
Although it is simple in theory, as long as you accumulate enough manpower. However, in this era, it is a matter of high technical content, which is enough to keep most of the peasant rebels out of the threshold.
First, there must be relatively accurate surveying and exploration methods to ensure the accuracy of the basic orientation, and secondly, there must be a sufficient number of experienced manpower and engineering calculation margins to avoid various situations and accidents that may occur during the excavation process.
The last factor is the feasibility of the geographical environment near the city. Don't count on areas with too much groundwater or too soft soil. Even if the construction is forced to start, it is only to find death in the seepage and collapse.
For the besieged Taiping Army, there is no shortage of prospecting and surveying personnel trained in the lecture; the mines and pits that span between Lianzhou and Chenzhou also provide many experienced miners. Therefore, the only remaining problem is the water seepage situation brought about by Dantu City's proximity to the river.
However, after several tentative excavations in three directions, after several tunnels collapsed and leaked, the Taiping Army’s engineering troops finally discovered that the core of Dantu City was actually built on a hard wall surrounded by dams and walls. On the quality platform. As long as you try one by one for more time, there is still a probability of finding a more stable passage and route through the silt-up city.
Moreover, unlike traditional cave siege methods, the Taiping Army did not need to dig tunnels into the city, or hollow out the base of the wall in a large amount of work; this is often easily detected by the city and countermeasures accordingly.
For example, use the underground digging method to determine the position and distance, and then use reverse tunnels or other destructive operations to destroy it. The Taiping Army only needs to dig to the corresponding approximate location, and the rest will be solved and supplemented by corresponding cross-age technical means.
Of course,
Although the Taiping Army adopted the tactics of besieging and not attacking under Dantu City, the tactics of siege instead of attacking, but the corresponding preparations for the siege were carried out in an out-and-out, real, and orderly manner; regardless of whether they were transported through Jiangning. Plant materials and equipment, and the cost of materials solicited and purchased from the locality are all to ensure one purpose.
Once the soldiers and horses distributed on the periphery gather back, they can quickly switch to a higher-intensity siege situation. In this way, as the tunnel is nearing completion, the main dishes have been prepared, and we will wait for the last guest to come and serve the table. (End of this chapter)