The next day.

The sun rose up in the sky, and the red flag was waving. Countless Zhao soldiers were crowded with people, forming a formation in front of the camp, shouting and neighing, with amazing momentum.

Zhao He stood on the chariot and looked at the Chu army's defense line several miles away.

Looking from Zhao He's direction, the tall Jucheng stood between a plain and a hill. On the left side of the city was the wide Shushui River, and on the other side of the Shushui River was the northernmost foothill of Jiaoyuan Mountain. This terrain that was extremely unfavorable for large troops to launch combat and siege naturally isolated the possibility of the Zhao army attacking the Jucheng defense line from the left wing.

On the front, Jucheng, one of the five capitals of Qi, the name of the deputy capital itself represents many things, such as the tall and wide city and the numerous food, grass and weapons. The military and civilians of Qi who are still confident in Qi and are willing to fight to the death are also very difficult to crack.

Zhao He's eyes fell on the right wing of Jucheng.

Here is a plain area sandwiched between the Yishui and the Shushui River and stretching for dozens of miles, with many hills as embellishments. The Chu army's camp is located here, which is the southwest direction of Jucheng.

The Chu people created a continuous barrier along the camp, and at least more than two-thirds of the Chu army were responsible for defending the barrier line.

Through this arrangement, a mutually supporting force was formed between the Chu army camp and Jucheng. Once the Zhao army attacked either side, it would be attacked and restrained by the other side. If you want to concentrate your efforts to attack the weakest barrier between the two sides, you would be attacked by both sides at the same time.

I have to say that such a defense line is indeed quite old-father's place. No wonder even the power of the master and father is firmly blocked here and cannot make progress.

Even so, Zhao He and his Zhao General Corps are still full of confidence.

History has long proved that there has never been a perfect line of defense in this world, such as the Hangu Pass of Qin, the Maginot Line of Defense of France, etc.

Whether it is terrain or military strength, Chu State is really a veritable younger brother compared to the two countries above. He can't rank at all, so what's there to be afraid of?

Le Yi came to Zhao He and said, "Master, you have all been prepared."

Zhao He smiled and nodded, saying, "Then beat the drum and march."

Amid the rumbling drums, countless Zhao soldiers waved their flags and rushed out of their positions, like red anger, sweeping towards the entire Jucheng defense line from north to south.

In the Chu army's camp, the two Chu army commanders Zhao Ju and Zhao Chang who climbed to the observation deck looked at each other, their faces very serious.

Zhao Ju said: "The people of Zhao may be here this time."

They are all longings on the battlefield, and many things can be seen from the flags and marches.

Zhao Chang nodded and said, "Maybe it was because he heard the news that the Qin and Han coalition forces went east, and he was anxious to jump over the wall."

Zhao Ju sneered and said, "No matter how anxious it is, it's useless. It's been half a year. They are still not able to make progress in front of our Great Chu defense line? The so-called Zhao army that swept the world is nothing more than that."

Zhao Chang was silent for a moment and said, "I'm still a little worried. Let's do this. I'll go to Jucheng to take a look, so as not to have any accidents there."

Zhao Ju hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay. I am in charge of the camp, so you don't have to worry. You should also pay attention to Qi'er."

Zhao Chang responded, got off the watchtower, rode his horse and led his guards to Jucheng not far away.

In Jucheng, Tian Fazhang, who had just received the news, jumped up immediately.

"The people of Zhao are here to attack the city again?"

Tian Fazhang's tone was very strange, and the expression on his face made people feel that he seemed to be about to escape from the palace in the next second.

The temple man standing in front of Tian Fazhang smiled and comforted him: "Please rest assured, the people of Zhao cannot attack in."

Tian Fazhang let out a long sigh, nodded subconsciously and said, "Yes, yes, it's impossible for the people of Zhao to attack... That's right, it must be like this!"

After thinking about it, Tian Fazhang suddenly reminded the temple man in front of him: "You should go outside and stare immediately. Once the people of Zhao break the city, you must report to me as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

This request sounds a bit ridiculous, but the temple's people agreed directly.

Almost every time the Zhao army attacked the city, the Dharmazhan would order it like this, and it was no longer a secret in the palace city.

Outside the city, the war has begun.

Countless Zhao soldiers rushed to Jucheng, and ladders mounted on the top of the city, and began to climb with rain of arrows and falling rocks that were tilted down like rain on the top of the city.

Everything seemed to be similar to before, but soon the soldiers of the Qi and Chu coalition troops who were defending the city discovered something was wrong.

Among the siege team, there were many tall and tall Zhao soldiers wearing steel armor and helpless arrows.

"The Zhongshan Lishi is the Zhongshan Lishi of the Zhao people!"

"Hurry, stones, gold juice, wood, hurry!"

Amid the shouts of the Qi and Chu coalition forces, many stones and wood that were dismantled from the houses in the city (mainly this part close to the city wall) began to fall, and several Zhongshan strongmen were hit head-on while climbing and fell from the ladder.

Suddenly, a whistling sound broke through the air and a panicked shout came from above the city: "Take the stone, be careful to avoid it!"

In front of Jucheng, fifty catapults began to show their power, fifty huge rocks fell from the sky, half of which fell into the city, and the other half was at the top of the city.

Amid the loud bang, smoke and dust spread everywhere, and the vibrations on the city walls continued. Many soldiers from the Qi and Chu coalition were smashed by huge rocks to pieces, and even to pieces were broken. There were many people with broken hands and legs, and screamed in pain for a moment.

"The people of Zhao are coming up again!"

"Quick, hold it!"

There was no time to regret or fear. As the bombardment of the huge rocks had just ended, the front-line commanders on the top of the Qi Chu coalition army roared at the top of their lungs, kicking the butts of the soldiers who were still hiding behind the battlements, urging them to join the battle as soon as possible.

It was at this time that the Chu army's deputy general of this war, Ma Zhaochang, rushed to Jucheng and met the Qi Prime Minister Bang Naochi, who was responsible for the defense of Jucheng.

"What's the situation?" Zhao Chang asked.

Naochi said: "The Zhao army dispatched Zhongshan strong men, but at present, no threat can be caused for the time being."

Naochi's expression was quite relaxed. After all, it has been more than half a year. Although he has been confronting most of the time, there have naturally been many real battles. Both sides are now well aware of it.

Although Zhongshan's strong men are strong, they have not been touched before and can still fight.

Zhao Chang shook his head and said, "No, the people of Zhao must have something else that has not been taken out. You can immediately pass the order and make everyone be alert and don't take advantage of the people of Zhao."

Zhaochang's words were not polite at all, just like a boss ordering his subordinates.

Naochi's face changed slightly, but he immediately lowered his head and said, "Hey, I understand."

Several generals of Qi State present changed their faces, and many people showed anger in their eyes, but Zhao Chang turned a blind eye and said in a deep voice: "Since I have come to this point, from now on, I will be responsible for all military affairs in Jucheng."

Naochi said: "Yes."

Zhao Chang looked around and looked over the faces of the Qi generals in front of him one by one: "What do you think?"

Everyone lowered their heads, and no one dared to contact Zhao Chang's sight, and no one dared to speak.

This is not the first time this situation has happened, and no one has expressed dissatisfaction, but those who have expressed dissatisfaction are now very high and very high.

Zhao Chang said in a deep voice: "Since that's the case, then you can do whatever you want here, and you can go to work! The upper city that should be up, the reserve that should be up!"

The generals of Qi disappeared from Zhao Chang's sight one after another.

A smug smile flashed across Zhao Chang's face and he said, "Where is Zhao Qi? Let him come to see me!"

A moment later, a general of Chu who was about thirty years old and looked very capable came quickly: "Zhaoqi has met the Grand Sima!"

Zhao Chang looked at Zhao Qi several times, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

Zhaoqi is the eldest son of Zhaoju, the chief general of the Chu army, and also Zhaochang's nephew. He is regarded as the candidate for the next generation of the Zhao clan leader.

When facing Zhao Qi, Zhao Chang's tone of speaking was much better than before: "Have you ever been doing anything unusual over the past few days?"

For security reasons, Zhaoqi was not qualified to go to the battlefield. The task he was given by his father and uncle was to "defend" the King of Qi in the palace of Qi, Jucheng.

Zhao Qi couldn't help laughing when he heard this and said, "The King of Qi... can't do anything except crying with his queen who holds him all day long."

The words are full of ridicule.

Zhao Chang frowned slightly and said, "After all, he is the king of a country. You must respect him when facing him, otherwise the words will be passed on to Yingdu and you will have the good fruits to eat."

Zhaoqi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Zhong, I have my own sense of responsibility."

Zhao Chang shook his head. Although he knew that his nephew did not listen, he no longer continued to persuade him. Instead, he raised another topic: "You have been in the city these days, have you ever noticed any abnormal movements in Zhao Jun?"

After all, Jucheng is the Jucheng of Qi, and the strength of Chu people inevitably created many conflicts between Chu and Qi. In order to avoid the situation that was already disadvantageous and became increasingly unfavorable due to the dirty tricks between Chu and Qi, the Chu people had already given all the command of all the troops in Jucheng, including 30,000 Chu troops to Naochi, the prime minister of Qi.

Of course, considering that Naochi was originally a retainer of the Zhao clan and Zhao Qi as the representative of Chu, he "attends" all the Qi meetings on military affairs, the so-called transfer of command was actually just a nominal act made in order to appease the military and civilians of Qi in the lower class of Jucheng.

From Zhao Chang's unceremonious behavior today, we can see that the State of Chu still has to take all the initiative in its own hands. Now, Qi, which only has one city, can only be a vassal.

If not, why would Chu take the risk of going to war with Zhao, the most popular in the world?

When Zhao Qi heard Zhao Chang mention military affairs, his face became serious.

Zhaoqi thought for a while and said, "There are many things, but most of them are not worth mentioning. There is only one thing that my nephew thinks is a bit weird."

This immediately attracted Zhao Chang's attention: "What's the matter?"

Zhao Qi took a deep breath and said, "The people of Zhao seem to have been... digging tunnels for the past few months."

"Dig a tunnel?" Zhao Chang's brows first frowned, then quickly let go: "This is not difficult to deal with, and Naochi is not an incompetent person. It is impossible for Zhao's army to really dig into the city."

Digging tunnels is a very common method for siege.

However, there is a very fatal problem in digging tunnels, that is, as long as the city guard can discover the attempt of the siege to dig tunnels in time, the city guard has too many ways to destroy the tunnel before it is dug into the city, because the last section of the tunnel is completely within the radiation range of the city wall of the city guard.

Zhao Qi nodded and said, "Uncle Zhong said that since last autumn, the Zhao army has dug tunnels in the north and northwest of the city several times, and our army has noticed and stopped it."

Zhao Chang smiled and said, "Then what else do you have to worry about?"

Zhao Qi hesitated a little and said with some uncertainty: "I just think that since the Zhao people have been discovered by our army one after another, but they have been persevering in digging the tunnels. Could this be... the Zhao people's plan?"

Zhao Chang's expression became serious again and said, "So what do you mean is the people of Zhao who are making a name for themselves?"

Zhaoqi nodded.

Zhao Chang asked again: "So what do you think the people of Zhao will make a fuss?"
To be continued...