On the road to the northeast, countless soldiers were walking, and there was no end in sight. Li Chongjin sat on his horse and turned to Li Jixun and said: "It's good for me to go to Haozhou. Now the matter of Shouzhou has nothing to do with me. Let's wait and see how Guo Shao dies."
Li Jixun remained silent, thinking of the attack on the camp outside Shouzhou City. He should also be responsible, after all, Guo Shao had come to ask for help from him. Now he thought that he had underestimated Liu Renzhan. If he had expected this, he would certainly not have treated military affairs as a joke for personal prejudice. Besides, he did not have much prejudice against Guo Shao, but he looked down on his ability because he was too young.
Li Jixun pondered and said: Guo Dushi's opponent is Liu Renzhan. It is indeed a bit unreasonable to let him compete with Liu Renzhan. It is really a case of bullying the weak. Guo Dushi is also unlucky.
He thought to himself: I am no match for Liu Renzhan. Although Liu Renzhan had the advantage of defending the city, he had few soldiers and the Southern Tang army was not strong enough.
Digging tunnels and piling up earth, and daring to issue a military order with a one-month deadline. I don't know if it can be issued with a one-year deadline. It depends on how much food there is in Shouzhou City. Li Chongjin sighed, I really want to see how he dies, but we didn't get any benefit from the Huai River. Guo Shao can't force the Southern Tang reinforcements in Shouzhou, and we have to wait another month to see what happens in Yangzhou.
Li Chongjin stopped talking here, he didn't want to mention Zhang Yongde's name. Li Jixun and Zhao Kuangyin were said to be sworn brothers, but Zhao Kuangyin was Zhang Yongde's man, so he didn't bother to mention him. Zhao Kuangyin's current glory was also due to Zhang Yongde's hard work in pleading for him after the Battle of Gaoping, otherwise Zhao Kuangyin would have no chance to enter the emperor's eyes; this favor, plus the relationship of being an old subordinate, Zhao Kuangyin must have been angry with Zhang Yongde.
Zhao Kuangyin of Yangzhou really fought very easily. He had a dark face but smiled all day long, sometimes his face almost broke from laughing. After entering Huainan, he didn't know why it was so smooth, as if he was blessed by God. He was very unrestrained and could often play casually. For example, when fighting Chuzhou, after some incitement, he tried his hand and single-handedly shot down the main general of the Southern Tang army. He actually broke the city just like reaching into his pocket to take something out. Of course, he would not go to the city guarded by Liu Renzhan, which was a place for fools to fight.
Recently, he has made new achievements. A group of soldiers originally crossed the Yangtze River from the south bank to other places. When they found that Yangzhou had fallen, they actually wanted to come and attack Yangzhou.
Of course, Zhao Kuangyin would not let go of such a group of people who came to his doorstep. On the one hand, he sent people to ask for permission, and on the other hand, he led the cavalry out of the city to attack without waiting for a reply.
After a large-scale reorganization, the Iron Cavalry Army eliminated nearly half of its personnel, and selected elite soldiers from all over the country to supplement its troops. The Iron Cavalry Army numbered as many as 30,000, and there were many cavalrymen, who were very good at fighting. Zhao Kuangyin led the Iron Cavalry Army to fight against the unknown Southern Tang Army. There was no need for any tactics. The heavy cavalry charged in front without thinking, and the rear army swarmed in to kill. 30,000 Tang soldiers were defeated, and more than 10,000 people were killed in one day. It was like chopping vegetables and melons. The Southern Tang Army was simply delivering heads to the door. Another great achievement
But Guo Shao of Shouzhou was completely the opposite. He had tried every possible means, but was still in a very difficult situation.
Are you sure the length of the rope just reaches the city wall? Guo Shao asked a soldier cautiously.
The soldier replied: Yes, I lay on the road for half the night. In the early morning, I saw the soldiers on the city wall dozing off, so I climbed to the corner of the wall and tied the rope.
Guo Shao asked like a nagging woman: Is the rope straight? The soldier answered: It is straight.
He lowered his head and saw a dark earth hole like a dry well next to him, and underneath was a tunnel; however, the end of the tunnel was inside the second line of defense at the back, and it was difficult to find the location of the tunnel in the city now.
Moreover, there were a total of 18 such tunnels around the city, scattered within a range of 20 miles in the east, west and south. After Li Chongjin left, Guo Shao ordered all sieges to stop, and only catapults were used to attack the city walls. The most important thing for everyone all day was to dig tunnels and pile up earth.
Guo Shao looked up and saw a fire and thick smoke at the foot of the city wall in the distance. Many soldiers were digging the soil with shovels to put out the fire.
Two earth ramparts were being built, but it was not going well. The wall in front of Shouzhou City was piled up with earth. Obviously, both the enemy and the enemy knew what the Zhou army wanted to do. By piling up the earth next to the wall, a ramp could be formed next to the wall, so that they could attack from above without any equipment. However, the generals did not think this method would work. It was very slow to pile up earth at the foot of the wall in the face of arrows, stones, wood, fire and oil, and they would be attacked and harassed by the people on the wall.
The Zhou army came up with a plan to dig a ditch under the city wall, then set up stakes and wooden boards on the edge of the ditch, and then build a wall with rammed earth boards; the intention was to build a thick, fragile wall, then remove the wooden boards and push down the earth wall. This would prevent them from being attacked by arrows from the city wall. However, the Tang army had just used a catapult to throw down a flaming oil jar, setting the wooden boards on fire. Yesterday was even worse, as a stone from a catapult hit them and knocked down the earth wall.
Even though this method of piling up earth took a lot of effort to build a slope, the narrow passages on the city walls had already been well guarded, and there were literally a hundred ways to keep the Zhou army's attacking troops out.
However, Guo Shao still ordered the troops to pile up earth and build mountains endlessly, and 18 tunnels were also secretly dug. Liu Renzhan must have guessed that the Zhou army was digging tunnels, but it was difficult for him to figure out the exact location of these tunnels. It would take a lot of time for him to figure out the location of each tunnel in the city wall that was more than ten miles long. Guo Shao guessed that Liu Renzhan was also digging tunnels.
Guo Shao kept asking himself if there was anything missing.
The Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th was more than half a month past the deadline. Everything was ready, and Guo Shao came to the warehouse in Xiacai Town. Twelve coffins were placed flat in a room. When he walked in, Guo Shao suddenly had a gloomy illusion, as if the whole family had died here. It was just some big boxes made of wood, but it could give people a very intuitive feeling of gloom.
The coffin was opened and filled with gunpowder bags. It was sealed with cloth soaked in tung oil, then wrapped with a quilt, and then sealed with another layer of oilcloth. This cloth was used to make marching tents. These gunpowders were the limit of the raw materials that Li Gu could raise within a month, mainly because a large amount of saltpeter could not be obtained at once.
Is it powerful enough? Guo Shao asked, but he didn't know who to ask. Zuo You and others beside him were all silent and could not answer.
This was an unprecedented attempt, with no precedent to follow. Unless they built a wall, like the Shouzhou city wall, they would lay a thick layer of stone on the foundation, and then bury gunpowder to try the only way to estimate the power in advance. But Guo Shao had no chance.
This time when attacking Shouzhou, he only has one chance to blow up the city wall, or if it is blown up but he fails to attack, there will be no time for a second preparation. Even if there is, Liu Renzhan will not give you a second chance to attack. The breakthrough is not wide enough, and there is probably a large amount of collapsed earth and rocks blocking the road; as long as the city is properly prepared, there is a chance to react and block the gap.
If you can't defeat them, you have to return the military order. There is no joking in the army, let alone when talking to the emperor.
Guo Shao moved a bench and sat in front of the coffin, thinking, as if he was mourning in front of the dead. There was a long silence. The breath of death hung everywhere.
After thinking about the past half month and the things he had planned to do, he thought that success or failure depended on two things: first, whether the power of the gunpowder was effective. Second, whether it paralyzed Liu Renzhan and disrupted his vision.
If any one of these items goes wrong, the entire offensive plan will fail.
During this festive season, on the eve of the great war, Guo Shao was in a very sad mood. He had come here to make achievements, and it was already very unfortunate that he was wasting his time in Shouzhou. Now he could not take care of the benefits, but had to worry about his head.
If I were killed by Chai Rong, would I still have a soul? Could I return to my sister? Maybe after death I would suddenly wake up, and when I opened my eyes I would see my sister's familiar face, smiling and saying: You had a nightmare.
Yes, I had a very long nightmare.
And he couldn't bear to wake up, couldn't bear to leave the queen, couldn't bear to leave Yulian and his brothers. If he had to choose between the queen and his sister, who would he choose to stay with him? Maybe he couldn't choose either of them, and he would lose everything.
Fu, I don't even know your name. Maybe you don't have a name at all. You should have a nickname but I don't know it.
At this time, Guo Shao couldn't understand why he missed a woman he had never met a few times, a woman who didn't belong to the same world, so strongly.
But, she can live without me. At least now there will be officials to protect and cherish you.
Guo Shao had never thought about any woman like this in his two lives, thinking that everything could be rationally deduced. But at this moment, Guo Shao felt that he couldn't bear to part with Fu Shi, the woman he loved the most. He could ignore right and wrong and the rules, and even if there were ten thousand reasons why he shouldn't have such unreasonable thoughts, he couldn't control his emotions.
At this moment, he felt that he should thank Fu. Without her, he would be so desperate and scared. However, the sadness and strong attachment at this moment far outweighed the fear of death.
Without any reason, Shao Ge'er had an uncontrollable impulse for the first time, and this feeling was more important than his own life.
If he lost the war, he might be arrested and brought before the emperor. Guo Shao thought that after the result was revealed, he would have no chance. He had to tell Fu Shi what he was thinking. Guo Shao didn't want to take these words into his coffin.
I should also write a letter to Yulian to explain that all the property in Tokyo belongs to Yulian, and she can divide it among other people according to her own wishes. Yulian will have a hard life without support, but if she has enough wealth, she can change her fate.
Guo Shao stood up and planned to write a letter on two kinds of paper. One of them was yellow paper. There was no need to mention the surname, Jingniang would understand. At this moment, this risk was worth taking, and it was very likely to be the last words.