The guerrilla general Zhao Chongyan, who was hiding in the imperial mausoleum, was training his troops day and night. When he received Zhao Kuangyin's oral order to enter the palace, he knew that the opportunity had come.

When Zhao Chongyan left the palace, it was already nightfall. He wanted to go to Zhao Guangyi's house, but after thinking about it, he finally gave up. It wasn't that Zhao Chongyan felt that he had climbed onto a high branch, but he remembered that Zhao Guangyi had sent someone

I came and told him not to meet in private in the future.

Zhao Chongyan settled directly in the post house and returned to the so-called imperial mausoleum early tomorrow morning.

In the land south of the Yangtze River, the continuous rain finally slowly dissipated, and the sun once again shone on this fertile land. People who lost their homes due to floods still followed the uprising people, just to get some food.

Zheng Yanhua, who was stationed in Xuanzhou, received Li Congshan's imperial edict, and immediately mobilized 60,000 elite troops, plus 20,000 newly recruited logistic troops, carrying a large number of siege equipment, and headed for Huzhou in a mighty manner.

Facing the menacing Zheng Yanhua, Chen Qiba did not get hot-headed. Instead, he completely shrunk his forces and firmly stationed his troops in the city, preparing to use the city's advantage to consume the opponent's strength.

Nowadays, in the Huzhou Yamen, there are many generals. Chen Qiba is sitting in the chief position. On his left and right hands are Gan Yue and Qian Feixiao respectively. Their handlers are Han Qingfeng and Wu Xingquan from Shence Camp. They are the main people in the city.

of combat power.

Standing next to Chen Qiba was the dog-headed strategist Zhuge Xuan. It is said that Zhuge Xuan was blessed with great fortune. He was almost killed at the gate of Putian City. Later he became Chen Qiba's prisoner and worked diligently along the way.

, gradually won the trust of Chen Qiba, and now all the logistical matters in the army are taken care of by him, which is in good order.

Even dealings with the Huzhou yamen were left to him, as if he was a serious military advisor.

"Everyone, Zheng Yanhua is leading an army that is approaching fiercely. We must be ready and we must not slack off." This is the first time Chen Qiba has commanded a large army to fight. He would be lying if he said he was not nervous, but he could only bite the bullet.

"General, don't worry, the general will go all out." Everyone expressed their opinions. Chen Qiba's status in Sun Yu's army was as high as that of Cheng Zhenbei. As a general, they were all convinced.

"Now, we have basically given up on Changxing County. If nothing unexpected happens, the enemy's vanguard will approach the city tomorrow. We intend to leave the city first to fight and frustrate the opponent's spirit." Chen Qiba has never been a law-abiding person.

But thinking of Sun Yu's confession, I can only suppress the restlessness in my heart.

Chen Qiba didn't want to be Lao Shizi's general at all. What he wanted to do most was to follow Sun Yu and obey his command in battle.

"General, my subordinates believe that safety is the top priority." Zhuge Xuan could see Chen Qiba's thoughts at a glance. After following him for so long, he naturally understood his temperament.

"As the saying goes that if you defend for a long time, you will lose. It is especially necessary to fight a battle first to boost morale." Chen Qiba did not give up and charged outside the city. The best solution was.

"General, I believe that what the military advisor said is true. We have the advantage of artillery at the top of the city and the danger of occupying the city. We should stick to it first." Gan Yue pondered for a moment and said. He believed in the strength of Chen Qiba and the second regiment.

Field fighting outside the city is his strength, but in the current situation, it is not necessary. It seems a bit silly to leave the tall city wall undefended.

"Yes, general, King Zhongyong has said that standing firm is the best. Right now, they are the ones who are worried." Qian Feixiao also said that the current situation in Xuanzhou and Chizhou is very bad, but their rear is becoming increasingly stable.

, just follow the steps

That’s it.

"Ahem, that's it. The four of you are each responsible for one department, and I will be in the middle to provide support." Chen Qiba had no choice, no one supported him, and he couldn't act arbitrarily.

Although he is the commander-in-chief of the city, Gan Yue and Qian Feixiao are also the commander-in-chief of a regiment of the Zhongyong Army. Their opinions must be listened to. As for Han Qingfeng and Wu Xingquan, who are less powerful, they just follow the orders.

Zhuge Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He gave up the idea of ​​leaving the city to fight, and the war was stabilized.

In his opinion, the Southern Tang Army came in a hurry and did not have superior strength. There was no possibility of attacking and destroying the city. What they had to do was to reduce casualties as much as possible.

For this must-win battle, what is needed is not a sweaty victory, but to preserve as much strength as possible to deal with possible accidents.

Along the way, Zheng Yanhua didn't even intend to stop in Changxing County. He just sent a partial force to sweep it up. The main force did not stop at all and continued to drive towards Huzhou City.

The city of Huzhou has obviously been fortified. Every ten steps or so, there is a towering arrow tower. This density makes Zheng Yanhua speechless. Before solving these arrow towers, if they attack the city, the fear in the hearts of the soldiers will make the combat power worse.

Big discount.

"General, you should be more careful. It has been rumored before that the Zhongyong Army used special equipment when they attacked Hangzhou. If they were to defend the city, they would have been even more powerful." Zhong Gaohua, Zheng Yanhua's most trusted aide, was not optimistic about this.

One battle.

In other words, he did not think that with similar strength, they could defeat the brave and capable Zhongyong Army in a siege battle. Even Zheng Yanhua's men were capable of hundreds of battles.

"I already have a way to deal with it, sir, just wait and see." Zheng Yanhua fought countless battles in his life. He also fought against the Zhou Dynasty in Jiangbei. Although he lost, it was not a complete defeat. He could fight against the Zhou Dynasty's imperial army during the reign of Zhou Shizong.

, is a commendable thing.

In Zheng Yanhua's view, all methods have their own restraints, it just depends on whether you can find the loopholes in them.

During these days, he had been studying ways to restrain the other party, and even called in witnesses of the day to inquire about the situation in detail. His hard work paid off, and he finally figured out the secret.

At the foot of Huzhou City, four hundred steps away, the Southern Tang Army was digging a pit, and huge logs were planted into the pit.

Chen Qiba scratched his head when he saw it. The Southern Tang Army had made it clear that they would attack the North Gate, and they didn't even bother to divide their troops. Standing next to him was Gan Yue, who was in charge of this gate. His expression was solemn. He didn't understand anything he couldn't understand.

You have to be extremely careful.

"General, can you see the opponent's intention?" Gan Yue looked at the opponent's posture. It didn't look like a high platform, but more like a city wall.

"If you don't see it, why not go out and kill him for a while to defeat his intention." Chen Qiba could see nothing, but as long as he destroys it, it must be correct.

"Then let's take another look." Gan Yue's old face twitched. Opening the city gate at this time is not a good idea. The formation has been set up.

Chen Qiba just said that, but he had no real plans to leave the city, but the layout of the Southern Tang Army was quite cunning. This distance happened to be at a place where crossbows had little power. It seemed that they could not use artillery, so they were exposed in vain.

A total of eight artillery pieces are deployed in the entire north of the city. The total number of artillery pieces is quite large, and the number of cities required is also large. In Hangzhou,

Xiuzhou, Muzhou and other places all have arrangements.

The production capacity of artillery is limited, transportation is inconvenient, and now the navy's demand is huge, so it is difficult to supply at the moment.

A row of wooden fence-like things lay across the outside of Huzhou City. A large number of heavy soldiers appeared outside the city carrying sandbags. They stuffed the sandbags into the gaps in the middle of the wooden fence, and soon a defense made of logs and sandbags was formed.

wall.

"No, this method is to deal with our artillery." Chen Qiba slapped his forehead, Zheng Yanhua's tricky mind actually came up with such a method.

Cannonballs are hard, fast, and extremely powerful, but if they hit soft soil, they won't have much power at all. Zheng Yanhua actually figured out the key.

"General, if my subordinate's guess is correct, I'm afraid a trebuchet is going to be placed behind this. At that time, we can only be beaten passively." Zhuge Xuan also saw it. The attack of the artillery followed a straight line, while the trebuchet followed a curve.

, this wall was harmless to trebuchets, and they relied on artillery and did not prepare trebuchets at all, because trebuchets were more difficult to transport.

There were originally some trebuchets in Huzhou City, but the number was too small and it was better than nothing. Chen Qiba ordered them to pull them out and assemble them under the city wall.

"General, why don't you fire a few shots first to slow down the opponent's progress." Gan Yue suggested. It was really frustrating to watch the opponent build fortifications like this.

"Okay, in addition, order the craftsmen to build eighteen more forts and concentrate the artillery at the north gate." Shields and spears, who is stronger and who is weaker, you have to fight to know. Since the opponent spent so much on the north gate

Energy, it is useless to keep the other artillery pieces, so we might as well bring them all to the north and let these Southern Tang troops have a taste of artillery.

Zheng Yanhua looked at the defensive wall rising from the ground and was convinced that this was his first step in attacking Huzhou. So far, the progress was satisfactory.

"Boom~" "Boom~"......

There was a roar, and eight dark cannonballs, with great power, smashed into the defensive wall being built. The sacks filled with sand and soil were hit. After being hit, the sand and soil splashed everywhere, and then there was no movement.

"Haha, sir, look, isn't this blocking it?" Zheng Yanhua was overjoyed. This city wall made of sand and soil was just like what he imagined. No matter how hard you refine the steel, it will eventually turn into soft steel.

"Congratulations, General! Congratulations, General!" Staff Zhong Gaohua looked at the scene in front of him and was determined in his heart. If you can defeat the opponent's methods, it is worth spending more effort.

"Come here, pull out the trebuchets. We should also let them have a taste of the trebuchets." Zheng Yanhua was very proud. With the power of the trebuchets, he suppressed the opponent's city wall and weakened the opponent's morale. This battle was won.

The balance is tilting towards him.

Chen Qiba, on the other hand, looked depressed. This kind of powerful weapon was actually restrained. Of course, artillery is not useless. At least when the opponent launches an siege, it will still be very powerful. It is impossible for everyone to push a wall of sand.

Siege the city.

After the second round of shelling, the wall made of sand and soil was somewhat damaged, but the Southern Tang Army took advantage of the lull in the artillery fire to fill it up with bags of sand and soil, which made Chen Qiba lose all desire to fire.

If the opponent keeps repairing or even thickening the rear of this density of shelling, it will be impossible to break through it.
Chapter completed!