At dawn, the defenders on the city heard a noise in the distance.
When it got daylight, I was shocked to find that there were several more mounds of soil several feet high outside the city, and they were still growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Next to the mound, there is a long shed, and thousands of auxiliary soldiers are busy shuttling between the mound and the long shed.
dusty.
Further away, there are several neat phalanxes of armored soldiers, with rangers passing through them from time to time.
Sun Jie heard the news, climbed up the tower and looked around for a moment, his expression gradually became solemn: "I'd like to invite you, your lord, the magistrate. Send the message to the Auxiliary Corps Officer Qian Zongzong Su Yinghui!"
Song Mingyi (Zhengsheng), the magistrate of Luzhou, has been visibly looking more haggard these days.
Sun Jie was not polite. When he saw Magistrate Song ascending to the top of the city, he clasped his fists and said straight to the point: "I would like to ask the magistrate to organize manpower to dig a dozen wells near this wall. We will also order the collection of straw and horse manure. The more the better. Thank you, sir."
The worried Magistrate Song replied: "Don't worry, Sun Shuai, I will arrange it immediately. I would like to ask why this is done. Can Sun Shuai give me some advice?"
Sun Jie said in a deep voice: "The thief wants to attack the hole."
Song Mingyi was surprised: "Acupoint attack?"
Seeing Song Mingyi's frightened expression, Sun Jie smiled and said, "Master Futai, please be at ease. The number of thieves is about 15,000 to 20,000, and the general's soldiers are less than 2,000, and the auxiliary soldiers are only 5,000." Although the thieves suffered a small setback the day before yesterday, most of them were lost as auxiliary troops and captives of the people. It is surprising that the armor loss was only 200. If the thieves took turns to attack, the general would be exhausted. But the thieves stopped after encountering a setback, which shows their confidence and courage. It's just a matter of fact. It's just a point attack, the way of a snake and a rat. Even though I'm not talented, I'm not afraid of him."
"That's good, that's very good." Song Mingyi responded, but the worry in his expression did not fade away.
After the suspicious Song Mingyi left, Sun Jie led Su Yinghui and walked south along the city wall slowly and slowly, looking up from time to time outside the city.
The mounds of earth have now been connected to form an earth fortress.
Sun Jie stopped, pointed down, and ordered: "From here, go north a hundred and fifty steps, dig a trench along the inner wall, five feet deep. Bury a vat or urn every thirty steps, covered with cowhide. He who seeks the blind, always listens.”
Su Yinghui clasped her fists and said, "I have the order!" She made a mark on the wall and was about to turn around and leave when Sun Jie raised his hand to stop him.
Sun Jie led Su Yinghui all the way to the south city tower and looked at the enemy camp in the distance that blocked the official road.
The enemy outside the south gate did not leave the camp, only a few Tangqi patrolled and looked around outside the city, waving their swords and guns from time to time, and shouting and cursing in demonstration.
Looking at the hundreds of camp flags fluttering in the wind in the distance, Mr. Su Qian felt a little uneasy: the enemy's camp was very solid, and the trenches and horses were well laid out. Although the camp wall is only built on the front side, experts can look at the doorway and judge from the layout of the front defense, and there will be great mystery in the wooden fences in the other three directions. The commander remained silent. What was he planning? A strong attack and counterattack? If we attack by force, even if we succeed, less than half of our auxiliary troops may die here! If it fails, there will undoubtedly be more deaths. However, this is just the enemy's partial force, and the main force is at the west gate. Even if they are defeated, they can't carry the city and run away! Could it be that the commander-in-chief wants to lead his army to break out of the encirclement and throw the city to the enemy...
Su Yinghui had been making small calculations in her mind, and she didn't even notice the deputy general Shen Chenggang walking towards him quickly. 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 goes for the north gate."
Sun Jie's question interrupted Su Yinghui's thoughts: "This gate is a hundred steps west, dug out from the inner wall of the city, and is wide enough for two people to walk side by side without obstruction. Loosen the outer city bricks until they can be pushed out, and then cut The outer wall cannot be penetrated. Just build wooden planks that can cross the moat and carry the armored crossing. There is no need to consider the baggage. The same is true for the North City. Dig a hundred steps west of the north gate and have a time limit of ten days. Do you have enough manpower?"
Su Yinghui remained silent, walked back and forth twice, calculated in his mind, and replied with a troubled expression: "Commander Bing, each team of 200 people will be divided into four groups in rotation, and we will work day and night. It can be completed in six or seven days. However, the general's strength was slightly damaged the day before yesterday, and the walls need to be defended, the rolling wood and thunder stones need to be replenished, and some equipment needs to be repaired... The general is afraid that there will be a shortage of manpower."
Sun Jie said decisively: "The thieves will not attack the city these days. Just leave the old and the weak at the top of the city to think they are suspicious. No fire is allowed at night for ten days."
Su Yinghui felt relieved: "The general will finally get his order."
Sun Jie turned to the Guards officer Shi Erlei: "Send orders to the four gates. If the enemy pond is approaching, beat the drums and scold the formation to cover up the sound of digging."
In the afternoon, Magistrate Song sent dozens of carts of straw and horse manure. Sun Jie ordered the two to be mixed together and piled into several piles along the edge of the trench that had been excavated on the inside of the south wall. Then he ordered that all gates maintain a minimum level of alert and all soldiers take turns to rest.
As expected, in the next few days, except for the exhausted auxiliary soldiers, neither side made any big moves.
One day, the blind man on duty at the edge of the inner trench listened to the report and could faintly hear the sound of digging* in two places. Sun Jie immediately issued an order: the personal barracks were divided into two teams to press the formation, and the auxiliary troops were digging in opposite directions at the two locations.
Outside the city, Guan Shengyun launched another attack. However, perhaps because there was no time to build it, this attack did not use a crash car, but only used a trebuchet for long-range cover. A large number of captive people, under the coercion of the bandits who were mixed in, rushed towards the city wall carrying ladders. Those who were not shot down by bows and arrows pushed the ladders up the wall and climbed up crying. The soldiers guarding the wall felt somewhat intolerable, but under the beatings and scoldings of the officers, they still shot at each other with guns and stones, and tried their best to kill and injure each other.
The main force of the ants climbing the wall was the common people. Guan Shengyun threw his elite soldiers at the small camp outside the west gate. The auxiliary soldiers pushed the carts to cover the soldiers as they rushed outside the camp. Then, under the cover of the shield soldiers, the spearmen confronted the defenders through the fence, while the auxiliary soldiers kept throwing iron hooks. The rope, trying to forcefully drag Juma away...
The advantage still lies with the defenders. After the last suicide squad counterattack, Sun Jie set up another one outside the west gate. The fortress is not large, but precisely because of this, the attackers cannot deploy their forces. The defenders at the top of the city can also provide bows, arrows, cuppings and other coordinated attacks.
Song Mingyi couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to find Sun Jie, but the latter was not on the top of the city. When he got off the horse path, he saw Sun Jie standing by the inner ditch with his hands behind his back, so he hurried over and said: "Shuai Sun, the people climbing the wall are all the people from the surrounding areas who have not entered the city. Please give Sun Jie an order to let them come up." . My duty is to bring peace to the people. Letting the people fall into the hands of thieves makes me feel ashamed and has no place. To continue killing them is really unworthy of the hope of the Holy One. Just let the people in, and I can try my best to arrange them."
Sun Jie turned his head and looked into Song Mingyi's eyes, slowly shook his head and said, "Sir, I will forgive you for obeying your order." Without waiting for Magistrate Song's rebuttal, he continued, "General, I know that, as your Excellency said, this attack will be huge. Most of them are common people who have been coerced by thieves. But the general can conclude that there must be disguised thieves among them! If the general orders to stop the attack, a large number of people will be boarded on each section of the city wall. By then, the thieves will burst out, and the city will be difficult to protect, and death will occur. It’s far more than just these hundreds of thousands of lives. The general has heard of these tricks before.”
Song Mingyi was startled. Sun Jie's words were indeed reasonable. He really didn't expect this.
Noticing Song Mingyi's inner conflict, Sun Jie relaxed his tone and said, "Don't worry, sir. The attack on the city is just to attract our army's attention. The real intention of the thieves at this time is here."
Song Mingyi looked in the direction of Sun Jie's finger.
The long trench had been dug four to five feet into the opposite direction, and the sound of the enemy digging in front gradually became clearer without the resonance amplification of the urn. Sun Jie waved his hand, and Su Yinghui hurriedly directed the people to withdraw quietly, then piled the straw and horse manure mixture into the hole, mixed it with some igniting gunpowder and pineapple, and poured a few ladles of water on top...
With a crash, the hole was dug through. Almost at the same time, several long spears emerged from the haystacks and poked at them, extending and contracting to poke at them.
Sun Jie gave an order, and several of them who had been prepared threw out torches, instantly igniting the straw mixed with gunpowder. Several auxiliary soldiers tried their best to blow out strong airflow with Pihu (hand-held blower), and the mixture of moist horse manure and straw instantly emitted billowing smoke and filled the air.
The spear stuck out stopped moving, and then violent coughing and exclamations erupted from the cave...
In less than a stick of incense, the sound fell silent, with only a few occasional slight pops, indicating that the embers were still burning.
Someone ran out from the long shed opposite.
Then, there was thicker and thicker smoke, which was light blue at first, and then turned into black smoke, gurgling endlessly.
Sun Jie, who had returned to the tower, was stroking the handle of the knife, with his right hand on his waist, looking at the enemy with his bright red cloak behind him.
There was a crisp golden sound from the enemy camp, and the offensive stopped. The thieves below the city began to retreat, and some people lingered, hoping to wait until the thieves were farther away before pleading with the defenders on the city. However, most of them were cut down by the thieves on the spot, and those who occasionally escaped by chance did not ask for mercy from the defenders - there were many military orders, and Sun Jie had already ordered that no one should be allowed to escape. These people had no choice but to run back to the retreating team crying again: The whole country was in the hands of Guan Shengyun. They could survive for a few days if they fled back and were beaten and scolded. Otherwise, they would not be able to escape the patrolling Tangqi and would be killed on the spot. Kill.
After a while, the enemies in the distance who had already changed into an offensive formation also gathered their troops and retreated to the camp.
This round of offense and defense is over again.
The sweaty Magistrate Song held up the hem of his official robe and trotted up to the city tower. He looked down at the blackened inner wall and the soldiers and auxiliary soldiers with soot on their heads and faces, and paid a deep tribute to Sun Jie. A salute: "Thanks to the power of Commander Sun, I would like to thank the commander for saving my life on behalf of the people of this city!" After saying this, he waved his hand: "Here comes the wine! I want to reward the soldiers!"
The officials shouted and directed the accompanying group of laborers to come forward and arrange the food and drinks in a row. Guerrilla Sheng Degong of the personal barracks and Su Yinghui, the general officer of the auxiliary corps, who stood solemnly below the city, looked up at Sun Jie and saw the latter slightly nodding, clasping his fists and shouting loudly: "Thank you, Lord Prefect, for the reward!"
The smiling soldiers and auxiliary soldiers rushed forward...
Sun Jie solemnly returned the favor to Song Mingyi: "Thank you very much, Lord Magistrate, for your compliments. The imperial court has to raise troops for a thousand days. It is a duty that belongs to the imperial court. I will not be able to bear it in the end."
Magistrate Song held Sun Jie's arm with one hand, and made a gesture of invitation with the other hand: "Although you are not allowed to drink alcohol when facing the enemy, Sun Shuai's tiger power has repeatedly defeated the thieves. I think that the thieves will be heartbroken at this moment. I have prepared some preparations in the inner office." Bojiu, let’s celebrate Sun Shuai’s success. Sun Shuai invites you!”
Sun Jie showed his face briefly and said: "Thank you, Lord Magistrate. However, from the perspective of the general, the thieves' move is still a feint attack, so we must not underestimate the enemy."
Hearing this, Magistrate Song's smile suddenly froze on his face: "Feint attack?"
Sun Jie pointed to the outside of the city: "Master Magistrate, please see, the earthen barrier is to block the sight of our army. In that long shed, the general concluded, there must be a large number of wood and tree stumps! There are two ways to attack holes, one of which is a tunnel. Dig in. If you use this method, you need to dig wide enough and close to the city gate. Once you dig through, send out more than a hundred dead soldiers as soon as possible to open the city gate desperately, and the band of thieves can swarm in... But the thieves It was still far away from the city gate. It was initially a horizontal formation with spearmen in front and no cavalry. This was a defensive formation rather than a forceful attack. Although it later changed to a wedge formation of sword and shield soldiers, there was still no cavalry! According to this, the final general Judgment, this is a suspected soldier. Moreover, our military camp is still there outside the west gate. Even if the city gate is broken, it can be responded to in a short time. The thieves' plan is to use the hole attack method two: send a large group of troops along the tunnel to dig into the city foundation. Then stop. Get rid of the foundation stone, replace it with tree stumps to support the city wall, widen it to twenty or thirty feet, set fire to burn the tree stumps, and the city wall without support will collapse, and the thieves can break in with a large number of troops..."
Song Mingyi changed his expression and said: "Then... the thieves are so cruel and cruel, they are extremely hateful! Does the commander have any strategy to defeat the enemy?"
Sun Jie smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, please be at ease, I will be able to deal with it myself. The reason why I troubled you well the day before yesterday is to prepare a complete plan for this. With this method of the enemy, there will be no danger within a few days. I dare you to trouble your Majesty three Cup! Sir, please!"
Song Mingyi was overjoyed: "That's good, that's good! Sun Shuai is truly a god! Sun Shuai please, Sun Shuai please!"
Note: In ancient times, it was impossible for manual excavation to have the same progress in two tunnels. A difference of one or two days between the two tunnels is normal. If a hole attack is adopted, usually the offensive coach will launch in all directions, east, west, north and south. In order to make the enemy focus on one thing and not the other, the main attack is usually directed from the north to the south, or from the east to the west. In this way, the defenders' reinforcements have to span the entire town. The other two places are feints and pretense for confusion. In addition, overall coordination will be carried out. After the city foundations are dug out and prepared in both places, the wooden piles will be set on fire and burned at the same time, striving to launch an assault at the same time. Even so, the burning speed in the two places cannot be the same. The difference of half a day before and after the collapse of the city wall is just a fluke. This article only introduces hole attack and defense methods. The scenario is set to parallel excavation on the same side, without much description of the time difference.
