warring states careerist

Chapter 332 Breaking the city with surgery without blood ([-])

On the 23rd, they swore to march eastward, and on the 28th they arrived at Fujidi. The cavalry regrouped and returned to the construction. Seven to eighty people were enough to control the entire scene.

It is very difficult for Yue people to know how many Mohists have dispatched, because according to the calculations of various countries at this time, those peasants who followed the expedition are also considered farmers and soldiers, and this number is difficult to count.

After camping at a place close to Tengdi Sanli, the scouts scattered, and the third brigade brigade commander and Meng Sheng and other figures with the right to make suggestions and make decisions gathered.

Shi took out the suggested map I drew when I met Teng Shuyu in Tengdi, pointed to the pass of Jinghe River and Xiaojinghe River in the northeast corner of Tengcheng and said: "The plan is the same as before, and you all know it. Meng Sheng mentioned Brigade, wait here in formation. The cavalry is scattered outside the Jinghe River. If the Yue people retreat and flee by the river, they will be captured."

Meng Sheng said with a smile: "They may not escape, but they are afraid that if they refuse to defend the inner city, this brigade will wait in vain."

Spreading his hands, he said: "If there are three and one missing, it will be easy if they don't escape. The Mohists are good at defending, so they are naturally good at attacking the city. The small inner city is only two miles away, and it is easy to break through."

The rest of the people also laughed, and didn't think there would be any surprises in the siege.

Most of the people in Tengdi knew the famous students of the Mohists. Many Tengdi people fled to Pei County to make a living.

King Yi of Yue was warlike, and since the Yue nobleman who was entrusted to guard Tengdi was on the edge, he didn't even know how to cut down the wood within a few miles outside the city. Obviously, this person was not a famous general.

Furthermore, there are only [-] Yue people in the city, and even if one brigade is removed by the volunteers, there are still more than [-], and the means of breaking the city far exceed the twelve methods of siege at this time.

No matter how you look at it, breaking the city is not a problem. Although it is said that defeat is not considered before winning, but under the pressure of absolute strength, it would be unfounded to worry about it as Lie Yukou said.

After the discussion was over, I asked some people who are good at using muskets to approach the city wall, and sent more than [-] warriors or wanderers who are good at close combat to protect, and shot at the city at night, making the city uneasy.

Camped at night, before dawn, Meng Sheng took a group of people and horses plus those cavalry, bypassed the Jing River, and quietly made a detour towards the northeast corner.

At dawn on the second day, they beat drums and lined up, and took two thousand civilian husbands as the left wing bluff, and slowly approached the city wall.

Last night, there were constant gunshots. Although there were almost no casualties, it also prevented the defenders in the city from sleeping peacefully, and they were even more afraid to leave the city when daylight came.

After Shishuai's two brigades approached, they only lined up [-] steps outside the city, just outside the range of the defenders' bows and arrows.

The drummer beat the drum first, shaking the city, and the two thousand men distributed tools such as shovels and picks, and dug a camp first.

The fort was only chest high and was completed before noon.

Sand and soil were piled up again, and the rammed earth became a position for deploying cannons, and all the artillery were deployed on the position.

The caliber of these guns is small, and they are only suitable for field battles, not for sieges, and it is impossible to blast open the city walls with iron balls that weigh only three or two catties.

But at about two hundred paces, these copper cannons were able to bombard the city.

If artillery has been popularized at this time, it would be death to get so close.

However, the Yue people did not have cannons, nor did they have long-distance large crossbows such as bed crossbows and trans-firing machines used by the Mohists to defend the city.

After the copper cannons were arranged, the trenches were dug from the midpoint where the two copper cannons stabilized. Since there were no cannons in the city, the excavation of such trenches was much easier.

The mobilized farmers basically have experience in digging ditches and rivers, and the tools are very handy, and there are several full-time miners from the Dayeshan Copper Mine to guide them.

In a group of ten people, two people with wicker baskets, dig a narrow trench that can accommodate one person, then put the soil into the wicker baskets, pile them up in front as a parapet, and reduce the throwing of bows and arrows from the city as much as possible.

Although the bow and arrow throwing at the top of the city can basically be ignored, but Shi hopes to minimize the casualties, so that the world can know the methods of the Mohists' siege of the city, and also for himself to be famous in the army.

When two people dug a trench that could accommodate one person, the rest began to follow behind, widening the trench to about four meters, so that soldiers could pass through the trench and approach the city wall calmly.

The thrown feathered arrows are almost hard to cause casualties, especially in the first hundred steps or so, only the very bad luck can be hit by the feathered arrows.

As night fell, these peasants had dug to a distance of only a hundred steps from the city wall, and twenty steps ahead was the moat, but it was not deep.

At night, everyone withdrew from the front ditch and guarded against counterattacks in the city in the second ditch.

Nothing happened overnight, and early in the morning of the second day, they still approached the moat in this way, only sixty or seventy steps away from the city wall.

All the musketeers were in position, just behind the parapet of the first trench, aiming directly at the city head, waiting for orders.

The musketeers, like the cannons, lined up on both sides of the city gate, leaving a two four-meter-wide trench in the middle for soldiers to pass through.

After taking the position, Shi did not order to fire, but asked some local people from Tengdi to come forward and shout loudly near the parapet in front.

"The Mohists attack the unjust for the benefit of the world. Listen to the people of Tengdi who guard the city. You have heard the rumors of the Mohist family. There are also relatives in Peixian County who know the life of the farmers in Peixian County. This time, the son returned to Tengdi to restore The country, fully entrust the Mohists to carry out reforms."

"The people of Teng who are guarding the city, the Mo family will attack the city every day. At that time, the city gate will be instantly reduced to powder as if struck by lightning. resist."

"Remember, once the indigo flag is raised on the wooden pole outside the city, stay away from the city gate immediately. When the time comes, everything will die under the lightning strike! If the Yue people block it, they can be killed, and Mo Zhe can break the city in an instant!"

"Remember! Remember!"

He yelled all afternoon, and when evening came again, only some soldiers were left on guard, and the rest rested as usual.

A brigade commander wondered: "Well, why don't you just cross the trench and attack the city at noon?"

Pointing to the top of the city, Shi said, "Don't worry. The cavalry scouts are out everywhere, and the Yue people are guarding the city alone. There has also been news from Meng Sheng that the cavalry is completely controlled within ten miles, and the Yue people will not know."

"If you want to break through the trench, you need to fill it up. Fill it up in the afternoon, and you can't attack the city in the evening. If the Yue people counterattack at night, you have to guard against it. There is more time, and this afternoon is not bad."

"Tomorrow morning, the farmers will be asked to carry soil in wicker baskets from the passage reserved in the middle, and fill up the moat. Artillery and musketeers bombarded the city, covering the farmers who carried the soil from both sides."

The brigade marshal clicked his tongue and said, "Gunpowder is expensive."

The commander-in-chief didn't know the formula of gunpowder, but he knew the price of gunpowder sold to the outside world, and he also knew how troublesome the configuration of this thing was.

Pei County alone cannot support so much gunpowder. The Mohist placed the gunpowder workshop in a no-man's land within Daze, under strict supervision and protection, and pretended to transport salt to it every day. It is impossible for all countries in the country to know.

In order to have enough raw materials, the Mo family did not hesitate to raise nitrate, and spread the method of scraping toilet nitrate in Song Dynasty.

On the one hand, toilets can be popularized, and on the other hand, Pei County can also obtain a steady stream of saltpeter.

Nitrogen can be exchanged for ironware and money issued by the Mohists.

You can buy iron, oil, wine, salt, seeds, wooden utensils, columbine carts, plowshares, etc. There is no need for any coercive measures at all. Guided by profit, there are already merchants who specialize in buying nitrate along the cities or villages in the Song Dynasty.

In fact, the Mohists use it themselves, and gunpowder is not considered expensive.

Shi didn't say too much, but said: "Human life is priceless. The more gunpowder is used, the less blood will be shed. This is the first battle since volunteers formed a brigade, and morale needs to be boosted."

The brigade commander nodded.

Early the next morning, after the Teng people in the army shouted again, they waved their hands to signal the artillery and musketeers to get ready.

As soon as the drum beat, all the cannons, muskets, and crossbows fired at the top of the city. The Yue archers on the top of the city did not dare to show their heads and were immediately suppressed.

Hundreds of peasants carrying wicker baskets approached the moat from the two reserved middle passages, looking for opportunities to fill the wicker baskets filled with sand and gravel into the moat.

During this period, no arrows could be fired from the top of the city, not only because of being frightened by the artillery, but also because a few outcroppings were quickly suppressed by the musketeers below.

There are two thousand more people, but it is not easy to train archers, and the number is not much.

In just two hours, the moats of the moat have been filled and are completely passable, but the artillery fire has not stopped and is still roaring.

More than a dozen Mohists who were born in mining took the lead and crossed the moat. The people on both sides raised their shields to guard against the arrows at the top of the city. These elite Mohists quickly dug a few trenches with the tools they had at hand.

The follow-up folks widened the trench as before, transported wood from behind, and began to dig tunnels like mines, supporting them with wood.

Half of the artillery stopped at this time, and no longer fired at the top of the city, but aimed at the city gate. Once the Yue people went out of the city to fight back, they would be suppressed immediately.

The tunnel beyond the moat stretches towards the city wall. In Mozi's "Preparing Caves", there are technical indicators on how to dig tunnels. Mozi used to dig tunnels to counterattack the crypts of the attacking side. , so the excavation speed is extremely fast.

Normally, when excavated under the city wall, it can actually be supported by wood, and then the rammed earth foundation of the city wall can be excavated.

When the time comes to withdraw, a fire will burn the supporting wood, and the city wall will collapse.

But it would take too long and not shocking enough, so this time the tunnel was dug directly under the city gate.

The following civilian husbands pushed two coffins filled with gunpowder and entered under the city gate from the four-meter-wide tunnel.

After you've reserved enough leads, go back and let me know that everything is ready.

The two-day siege consumed a lot of gunpowder, and everyone sweated a lot. It would be troublesome to dig a tunnel to approach normally, but the more people have no guns, this is much simpler.

In these two days, only three people were unfortunately hit by feather arrows, but none of them died, only suffered some injuries.

Shi looked at the top of the city and said with a smile: "Let the artillery stop. Prepare to raise the indigo flag, and the infantry team will approach the trench. Once the city gate blows open, immediately attack the city gate."

"Array at the city gate, climb up the collapsed city wall, and cover the musketeers. Don't charge, don't chase, bluff, and don't continue to attack for now."

(End of this chapter)