The night is without moon and the sky is full of stars, which is quite spectacular. At this time, it should be quiet at night, but the hanging gourd at this time is still very lively.

In the open space outside the city, the ignition lights were like the reflection of stars on the ground. The catapults standing under the dim fire were constantly throwing stones and turbulent bombs into the city.

The imperial army launched an attack on Xuanhu day and night for many days. The daytime attack ended with the sunset and night fell. Due to poor vision, the soldiers stopped siege, while the catapult still tirelessly entered the battle.

The siege party tried to destroy the city walls as quickly and effectively as possible with a continuous offensive.

The Xuanhu City Wall was unexpectedly strong. During this period, the tip of the protective wall had withstood the attack of the stone-capping machine. The government army had no results in several days of strong attacks. In desperation, they could only use the stone-capping machine to "grind".

Since directly siege the city, every night, trenchers have thrown stones and sulphurs in the Hanghu City in all directions. Many trenchers cannot withstand high-strength use and are damaged, but a new trencher is soon put into use.

It is difficult to see the landing point clearly when the stones are shot at night, so all the big stones are poured with tincture oil and lit before throwing them out so that the soldiers can see the landing point clearly.

The stones burning on the outside flew into the sky like meteors, drew an arc and fell into Xuanhu City. From a distance, it looked like a meteor shower falling all over the sky, and from a distance it looked spectacular.

Such a luxurious siege tactic is entirely supported by a large amount of wood, stone, tincture and other materials transported from the Ru River upstream. The Xuanhu defender was obviously not as rich as the army outside the city, and his sporadic counterattack seemed powerless.

If the troops are not as strong as the materials are not as good as the troops, there are no reinforcements outside Xuanhu City. Even if the morale is high at the beginning, it will gradually decline sooner or later. The imperial court has many soldiers and strong forces. Even if the strong attacks in the past few days have caused a large number of casualties, the morale is still rising.

No one thinks that the official army will lose, and the rewards and punishments are clear, so whether it is the soldiers participating in the war or the people who are recruited and sent to the army, they are doing their best to do their part.

For example, piled up soil to attack the city overnight.

Under the night, in the dark wilderness, in the northeast of Xuanhu City, hundreds of steps away from the distance, several tall black shadows were slowly moving.

It was a "move hill" built by the government army. There were wooden wheels below and an elevated wooden house shaped like a pointed roof. It was wrapped in raw cowhide and hollow inside. Many soldiers were pushing it. Taking advantage of the night to cover it, several "move hills" approached Xuanhu City side by side.

The sentries on the top barracks outside the city had poor vision until these giants reached more than 200 steps away and found something wrong. The sound of trumpets rang out immediately. The defenders quickly mobilized catapults and three-bow crossbows to attack these bad-minded combat equipment.

The hill moved to stop, followed the large number of young and strong people who came to the hill, lifted the soil in a basket on the cart, climbed up to the top of the hill along the other side of the hill, and then poured it on the opposite side.

The pre-prepared cart was filled with a lot of soil, and thousands of green and strong people kept piled up the soil. Soon the wooden moving hill was piled into a dirt slope on the side of the enemy, and then turned into a dirt mound. Several moving hills lined up in parallel, gradually connecting them into a large dirt mound.

The height of the mound gradually grew as high as the tip. As more and more soil accumulated forward, the height was still increasing. A large number of archers climbed to the top of the mound and shot against the archers on the tip less than fifty steps away.

The night was hazy, and most people on both sides could not see each other's figure clearly. The defenders shot out fire arrows and nailed them to the mound. With the figure reflected by the firelight, they began to counterattack effectively.

However, the soil was piled with more green and strong. They braved arrows and kept transporting the mounds on the soil under the cover of a large shield, and then poured them forward. Seeing that the soil rolling down from the top of the mound had pressed to the half of the waist of the shovel, the speed of piled up suddenly accelerated.

One by one, cloth bags filled with soil were carried onto the mound, and then threw them forward without hesitation. After these days of strong attack, the official army found that the enemy troops on the city wall built a battle shed with earth bags/sandbags. Since the other party was willing to use cloth, the official army was naturally not inferior.

Thousands of young and strong people struggled to pile up soil. Although many people were blindfolded and could not see the things in the distance at night, this did not prevent them from carrying the soil bags and following the steps of the people in front of them.

They kept carrying the soil bags on the mound and threw them down. The mound "grows" at an extremely fast speed and finally turned into a mountain of earth.

The top of Tushan Mountain was already higher than the tip of Tushan, and the tip of Tushan was now leaning against the slope of Tushan Mountain. The elevation angle of the three-bow bed crossbow at the top of the city was limited and it could no longer attack the top of the mountain. The stones thrown by the catapult hit Tushan and then fell into it.

Only archers could suppress the enemy on the hill, but as the Tushan gradually grew and grew bigger, more and more enemy soldiers were going up the mountain along the back of the mountain. When the night general led the Yinshi Division to lead the troops, he couldn't help but take a breath when he saw Tushan in front of him.

The tactical military book is recorded in piles of soil to attack the city, but Yin Shishi clearly remembers that the book says that if the siege party wants to pile soil outside the city to attack the city, because it is facing the blockade of the defenders, it usually takes more than a month to pile up into a mountain of earth at the earliest.

To form a mountain of earth that is flush with the city wall, the amount of earth required is quite large. Master Yinshi knew that before sunset, there was still a flat land outside the city. Even if the other party started to pile up the mountain of earth as soon as it was dark, how could he succeed so quickly?

When I got closer, I found that the earthen mountain was made up of dense earth bags. Master Yinshi immediately understood: this was a carefully planned and prepared tactic.

Prepare a large amount of soil bags in advance, or fill the soil with a basket, and then transport it to the city with a lot of manpower, and you can quickly pile up a mountain of earth. The poor vision at night just covers the rapid success of this tactic.

It was so far that the situation was useless. The Yinshi Master stayed in Xuanhu to help defend the city, not to seek fame, but to fight with his life. Most of his subordinates were the former Yuzhou surrendered troops. Because his family went to Shannan, it was more reliable. So he led his subordinates to the city without hesitation.

Since the enemy has implemented the tactic of siegeing the city by piled up soil, then there must be a first climb to rush into the city through the earth mountain. Yinshi Master does not know how many first climbs to the other party, but this is not a reason to retreat.

However, now rushing to the Tushan Mountain is seeking death.

There was a bunker at the top of the city. Yinshi and his subordinates hid behind the bunker. They did not participate in the archers' shooting, but looked quietly at the top of Tushan Mountain. Sure enough, after a while, more than ten thunders of heaven were thrown over from behind the mountain and exploded one by one at the top of the city.

After the thunder sounded, horns sounded on the top of the mountain, and countless soldiers in heavy armor appeared on the top of the mountain, holding various weapons, howling towards the tip of the hillside and the head of the Xuanhu City.

The Anzhou infantry who rushed over after hearing the news lined up in a spear formation with spears in hand and aimed the spear tip at the enemy soldiers rushing down the slope. This was a pre-determined tactic, specifically to deal with the enemy soldiers rushing down the city by piled up soil to attack the city.

What tactics will the siege and defend the city? It is a question that the siege needs to consider. So once the enemy uses the tactics of siege to pile up soil to attack the city, how should the defenders deal with it?

Set out a spear formation and wait for the rabbit.

The enemy soldiers rushed down from the top of the mountain, rushing faster and faster, but they couldn't stop at their feet, so facing rows of spears, many people couldn't dodge and directly hit them, like a fast-moving rabbit, hitting the big tree in the middle of the road.

The sound of puffs came one after another, and the more than ten Xiandeng who rushed in front of the dead spear formation. However, the Xiandeng, who followed, threw out the sky-blasting thunder again, shattering the spear formation.

Many spear soldiers fell down in the explosion, and Xiandeng, who had thrown the sky-bombing thunder, howled and continued to rush forward. Seeing that there were spear soldiers quickly stepped forward to block the gap in the formation. Someone shouted during the first round, kicked violently while running, jumped up in the air, waved his weapons in his hand and collided with the spear formation ahead.

Some people were pointed at by a spear when they fell down, and the spear passed through the body with a "pop" sound. Some people avoided the spear and cut the spearmen in front of them with a knife when they landed on the ground. More people climbed first and then slid down on the slope.

They had to avoid the spears that were like forests, so they had to go on the "bottom road". However, there were also special people waiting in the spear formation, which was the "rat soldiers".

Many short Anzhou soldiers knelt on the ground with thick cloth on their knees, blocking the spear soldiers and protecting the lower lane, because they were fighting under the spear like forest, and were also called "rat soldiers".

They collided with the enemy who was sliding down the slope, grabbed the opponent's sharp knife with their left hand wearing iron gloves, and then stabbed the dagger held in their right hand towards the opponent's ribs and armpits. This simple and effective tactic allowed the Anzhou soldiers to kill more than half of the opponent as soon as they fought.

The battle was formed on the top of the city, and the archers who arrived along the city walls began to shoot arrows at the enemy on the Tushan Mountain. Seeing that the enemy was blocked by the spear formation, Yinshi Division led his subordinates to rush out and cut into the battlefield from the flanks.

Side strikes have always been an effective tactic to break the deadlock. The first down the earth slope suffered heavy casualties. They were pushed back by Anzhou spear soldiers. After the Yinshi Division shot several people from close range, they led their subordinates to protect the side flanks of the spear formation and advanced towards the top of the mountain.

It was dawn, and Yinshi Master finally successfully pushed upward with the bloody battle of friendly troops. Just as he rushed to the top of the mountain, he first saw the dawn light appearing on the eastern horizon in the distance, and the sky gradually shining.

Then he saw the scene in front of him clearly, and his pupils shrank.

In front of him was a tide of enemy troops, covering the entire hillside in front of him, advancing like an ants. Looking up, there were also a large number of enemy soldiers on the ground. There were only a few hundred people rushing to the top of the mountain, and there were thousands of enemy soldiers in front of him.

The thoughts of fear flashed in the heart of Yinshi Master, replaced by the boiling blood. At the mobilization meeting that day, what King Yuwen Wen of Xiyang said when he raised his arms and shouted echoed in his ears:

"The Xuanhu City Wall is the first and last line of defense! Our army has no choice but to retreat, and we will only die!"

"Kill the enemy!"

Yinshi Division and other soldiers shouted loudly. Everyone threw down the soldiers and pulled out their swords, rushed towards the enemy soldiers in front of them, like moths to the fire, without retreating.

Behind them is the head of Xuanhu City, and there is no place to retreat.

Even if you guard for a moment, you can still buy time for reinforcements to block the door!

The bloody battle broke out instantly, and the Xuanhu defender, who was at a disadvantage, took the lead in attacking, catching the enemy troops who were about to reach the top of the mountain off guard. However, the huge gap in the military strength made the result of this feat look like a flash in the pan.

The Yinshi Master, who was stabbed in several times, was covered in blood. When he saw the enemy soldiers surrounding him, he was about to pull a cushion, but his comrades pulled the collar and dragged it back. While he was struggling desperately, he saw a figure shaking behind him.

Through the faint morning light, he saw reinforcements climbing the mountain, and then saw the pig demon among the reinforcements.

She was wearing a white robe, with healthy limbs, leather boots, leather gloves, and a naked leather bag on her head, hairless, and two transparent objects on her eyes. There was a pair of human eyes looking outwards, and the mouth was a pig's mouth, which was very abrupt.

There are many such pig demons, dragging many big buckets toward the top of the mountain. The Yinshi Master, who was suffering from pain all over his body, did not know why demons and monsters appeared and were pulled downhill and retreated to the top of the city.

He watched the pig demons dragging the bucket up the top of the mountain, then aimed the opening of the bucket at the other hillside, and then whistled, and saw countless white powder spraying out of the bucket.

The soldiers escorted these pig demons all wore masks and turned around and ran towards the city. There seemed to be many fans fanning the air in the bucket, creating a large area of ​​white smoke instantly, covering the entire hill and the other hillside, and screams spread out.

After accidentally inhaling some white powder, Yin Shishi felt a burning sensation in his nose, and then he understood what this thing was: quicklime.

The retreating soldier took out his mask and put it on the Yinshi Master, and told him to retreat quickly and not look back, so that his eyes would be burned by quicklime powder.

Master Yinshi could not understand the universe inside those big wooden barrels. He could spray out fresh lime to form such a large lime mist. Looking at the pig demons shrouded in the white mist, he felt a little confused.

The enemy used all kinds of tricks to attack the city, and the King of Xiyang also used all kinds of tricks to defend the city.

Among these tricks, he didn't even hear them, nor did he see any of them in a military book, so he really couldn't understand where the King of Xiyang learned this knowledge.

Withdrew to the cover at the top of the city, Master Yin Shi looked at the top of the Tushan Mountain. There was no other figure except the pig demon. Until then, Master Yin Shi felt relieved and then sat next to the cover with a loss of strength.

A soldier came to bandage the wound on him, and Yin Shishishi gasped. At this time, he suddenly heard many sounds, which were very noisy and couldn't help but wonder. Then he looked in the sound and was stunned.

......

The sun rose, the rays of light were shining, and the autumn wind blew, dispersing the white mist on the earthen mountain. The hillside was full of rolling people. They were soldiers of the siege of the city. When they were preparing to attack the Xuanhu through the earthen mountain, they were damaged by the pig demon's practice, with their mouths, noses, and eyes ulcerated and in great pain.

The terrifying white fog made many soldiers lose their combat effectiveness, but this does not mean that the official army has stopped. Under the bright world, there is no place for pig demons to cause trouble. The team took down the earth mountain and reorganized it. When the demon fog dissipated, a new round of attack was about to begin.

Amid the sound of war drums, a large number of soldiers rushed towards the earthen mountain, trying to reach the top of the mountain, and attacked the Xuanhu in one go.

Another drum sounded, and it came from the direction of Xuanhu on the other end of the Tushan Mountain. A figure and a tall figure appeared on the top of the mountain that was originally empty.

It was a general wearing a strange armor, riding a war horse and standing on the top of the mountain, as if he wanted to stop the official army from climbing the mountain alone.

King Yuwen of Xiyang rode his horse up high, stood on the top of the earthen mountain, looked at the enemy troops in front of him, smiled, and then put on the iron face of the skeleton.

The fan blade driven by the horse's hair torsion spring can spray out the quicklime in the wooden barrel to form lime mist. It is made of bamboo charcoal filter cans, glass goggles and pigskin masks, allowing his "biological and chemical weapons" to release the "demon fog" to retreat to the enemy.

At this moment, Yuwen Wen stood on the top of the mountain with one horse, looking at the tide of enemy soldiers climbing the mountain. After a few breaths, several cavalry appeared beside him, followed by more than ten cavalry and dozens of cavalry.

There were more cavalry behind the mountain. They climbed to the top of the city from the wooden platform formed by temporarily using wooden boards in Xuanhu City, and then advanced along the earth slope toward the top of the mountain.

What should the enemy do if they pile up soil to attack the city?

Build tall buildings to suppress the earth and mountains!

This was Yuwen Wen's original idea and also the common way to restrain Tushan in this era. However, Wang Jun, the military officer of the Jishi, had a bold idea, and now, Yuwen Wen has to implement it himself.

He raised his horse spear, and the cavalry beside him blew the horn when he saw this. Yuwen Wen then pointed the horse spear to the bottom of the mountain, lifted the spear and jumped on the horse, and rushed down first. The cavalry beside him then charged.

The Anzhou cavalry rushed towards the earthen mountains and the enemy troops below the mountain like tides.

As the downhill speed became faster and faster, Yuwen Wen's hand holding the horse lance trembled a little. It was the trembling caused by extreme excitement when the battle was about to fight. Looking at the dark enemy in front of him, he was very happy.
Chapter completed!