On October 15, the siege of the city was siege a month ago. A few days ago, after several days of exposure to the sun, the Ming army began to dig tunnels for hole attack and blast.

Because the tunnel is too wide will affect the quality and progress of the project, and will also affect the blasting effect, Chen Wen ordered three engineers from Nantang and Yiwu to lead some civilians to excavate separately, and at the same time, he was also guarding against some methods of defending the Qing army to try to directly break the city wall at one time.

Relying on the ample human resources, the Ming army continued to dig forward day and night in a twelve hours of three shifts. The defenders in the city seemed not as good as when they besieged Longyou last time, and they did not even have the act of firing and bombarding. If it weren't for the fact that there were still people patrolling and defending the city every day, what would be the difference between this Quzhou Prefecture City and the Dead City?

As the first engineer captain under Chen Wen's command, Zhao Qian, who had already joined the General Staff Department, participated in the engineering operations of this Ming army in previous battles. He was not as skilled as the methods such as caltrops, traps, and trenches. This time, he even took on the task of supervising the operation of the engineer team and acted as the general person in charge of excavation and blasting.

However, compared with other engineering operations, he and other engineer officers had no difference in the method of releasing the collapse, and they had only conducted relevant training in the old camp of Jinhua and had never really blown up any city walls garrisoned by the Qing army.

In fact, the last time he besieged Long You, the engineer team led by himself had already dug a gap in the underground part of the city wall, and even the coffin loaded with gunpowder was placed, just sealing the detonation room and laying the leads to explode. But who knew that the Qing army actually fought each other in order to escape from the city. As a result, they not only did not blow up the city wall, but also had to refille the tunnel. Bai Fei had worked so hard for so many days.

Afterwards, although Chen Wen still rewarded his military merits, he realized that his first merit was defeated by Ma Jinbao and the Qing army anyway. Most of the engineers held their breath from officers to soldiers. Therefore, this time they blasted Quzhou Prefecture City, they made great efforts and the project progress was faster than expected.

After several days of earthwork, the three engineer teams have approached the target to varying degrees. According to the summary of the three engineer captains and Zhao Qian went down to the tunnel to check it out. If nothing unexpected happens, you can dig a gap under the city wall after staying up all night. At noon tomorrow, as late as tomorrow morning, you should be able to ignite the fire and explode.

Victory is right in front of us. According to regulations, after completing this inspection, Zhao Qian needed to rush back to the camp and report the situation to Chen Wen and the General Staff to arrange the order of attacks for the infantry team responsible for entering the city to crush the resistance.

Today is probably the last night of living in a tent outside this city. Once I think of this, Zhao Qian remembered his wife who was pregnant with children. After taking down the city, the army would try to expand some occupied areas as much as possible, and he should be able to return home to reunite before the New Year.

It was already night now, and the city of Quzhou Prefecture was as quiet as death. Occasionally, patrol guards only walked on those avenues. After all, no one wanted to go to those secluded places at this night. What if some unjust souls come out to seek their lives?

It has been ten days since I stopped serving porridge for ten days. I tightened my belt and tried to eat less porridge and drink more water every day. Even so, the food in Rongqian's family has been eaten today. In fact, there are still some rare items that can be used for food at home. However, the grain in Quzhou Prefecture City is now priceless, and I don't know how long it will last. At present, only the guards and the civilians who are in charge of the guard still have some porridge to drink.

In fact, most people are not as lucky as the Rong family, and can accumulate some food. It is no longer uncommon to sell children and daughters in this always rich Quzhou Prefecture. Many families will not hesitate to let their daughters who are staying in their homes go out to pick up customers in order to eat in one bite. Even the news of changing their children is reported.

The rogues in the city began to rob at night, and even some defenders and civilians who were in charge of strong men and thieves after the deposit. It is said that some robbers not only kill people, rob food, and money, but also kill people, but also cook and eat the killed people to save food to last a few more days.

Although Rong Qian's home is not too far from the county government and occasionally there are established guards patrolling, he and his father, the only two men in the family, dare not take it lightly. They have to watch the night with kitchen knives and shoulder poles every night to prevent the thieves from killing the house and doing evil.

Since the night before yesterday, his mother and sister have stopped eating and relying on drinking water to maintain their lives. If his wife had not wanted to breastfeed the child, they might have started fasting. All this was to allow his father and him to eat more, otherwise the family would become food from others and end up with no bones left.

The government is unreliable. This is the experience he had already summarized when he was the aide of the man's slightest words in the Huguang Governor's Office.

No matter what the government eats, it won’t be hungry for the people. Whether the high-ranking officials have food to eat every day, they even drink and have fun while singing and dancing, even the small officials and officials are not hungry. As for the defenders and the soldiers who have been led, those who have not eaten people are considered good people.

Perhaps, escaping from the city or changing the owner of this city may be better for the people. As for the rumors of the corruption of the Ming army's military discipline, Rong Qian has completely characterized it as a rumor, and as far as he knows, many people he knows can't believe these remarks that were obviously spread from the government.

The reason why no one has come out to connect the Ming army into the city is that the defenders and the Ding Zhuang who are in charge of the government are still under the control of the government, and they are also captured by the combat power and barbarism of the Eight Banners. Otherwise, the city would have changed hands long ago. After all, the defenders and civilians in this city are mostly locals in Quzhou. After all, the number of foreigners in the government is too small, and their authority cannot match the needs of survival. They are no match for local people in the hometown.

Chen Jin knew the situation in the city now. As he and his staff expected, the resistance in the city was no longer able to organize in the disintegration of hunger. These tens of thousands of people had become two-legged sheep, the only difference was the wave of the butcher knife.

In Chen Jin's memory, at the end of July before the Battle of Daling River, there were more than 30,000 people in the city. By the beginning of November when Zu Dashou surrendered, there were only 11,682 people and 32 horses left. The three and a half months were only reduced by two-thirds. The defenders' troops were not damaged too much, and they were all merchants and civilians.

At present, Chen Jin has not conducted a detailed investigation of the total population of Quzhou Fucheng, but it should be at least twice that of Dalinghe. He has three thousand Qing troops and ten thousand civilians in his hands. If he eats slowly, it should be much longer than Dalinghe. It is not impossible to think about it for four or five months.
Chapter completed!