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The Han army suffered heavy losses in the counterattack of Cao's army. The catapults on the top of the mountain were destroyed. The wooden platform built to carry the catapults was also destroyed by huge rocks, causing the Han army's high platform attack to suffer a severe blow.

At night, the Han army built a dirt mountain again, lengthening the way up the mountain to two miles, so that the slope could be slowed down, so that the catapult parts could be transported directly to the top of the mountain with a ox cart, and a two-meter-high fire stone wall was built on the top of the mountain to prepare for a large amount of fire-extinguishing lime.

As soon as the sky was dawn, Cao's army launched a fire attack on the Han army's Tushan again. This time the fire attack was much weaker, and most of the tincture oil was intercepted by the stone wall. Even if the tincture oil pots crossed the stone wall, the soldiers behind the wall would quickly bury the overflowing tincture oil with lime.

At this time, more than ten assembled Han army catapults showed their power again, and huge rocks and turbulent oil tanks shot towards the earth mountains in the city, causing the earth mountains in the city to be engulfed by the flames again.

Two days later, Cao's army took advantage of the opportunity of the Han army to replace the stone catapult and took the initiative to destroy the stone wall and force the Han army to withdraw from the Tushan Mountain.

The battle between the Han army and the Cao army was ongoing, but at this time, the Cao army sentry on the west city discovered a slight abnormality.

Early in the morning, Zhang Liao received the news and hurried to the west city. At this time, Deputy General Zang Ba had arrived first and was staring at the riverbed with all his attention. The soldiers next to him dodged one after another, and someone shouted: "The head coach is here."

When Zang Ba turned around, he saw the head coach Zhang Liao quickly walked forward under the escort of more than 20 personal soldiers. He quickly clasped his fists and saluted, "See the head coach."

Zhang Liao nodded and asked, "I heard that an abnormality was found in the riverbed. What's going on?"

"Please see, General"

Zang Ba pointed to a low-lying area several feet in the Buwai Riverbed and said, "Yesterday it was still a flat place, but it was sunken today."

"Can you be sure?" Zhang Liao asked with a frown.

A patrol chief stepped forward and bowed: "Report to the head coach, you can definitely be sure. I saw it with my own eyes yesterday. Yesterday there was a flat land, and there was a huge rock stained with blood next to it. But today the huge rock is still there, but the flat ground has become a depression. I felt it was strange, so I reported it to the upper level."

Zhang Liao stared at the low-lying area, his eyes flashed, and he felt thoughtful. Zang Ba next to him said carefully: "Far away, is this the Han army digging the tunnel?"

Zhang Liao nodded. There is indeed a possibility. The land in the riverbed has been soaked in river water for a long time, and the soil has become very soft. If there is a hole below, it will easily collapse. Zhang Liao pondered for a moment and said to Zang Badao: "First pretend that he doesn't know anything, then bury dozens of large tanks under the base of the city wall, listen carefully to the enemy's movements and report to me at any time."

"Abide by the order"

Zang Ba turned around and hurried away, while Zhang Liao looked carefully at the low-lying area in the distance for a moment. He couldn't help but feel confused. Except for the Han army dispatched tens of thousands of troops to attack the city on the first day, there would never be such a large-scale attack again. Logically, if the Han army was really eager to take Hefei, it should continue to launch a fierce attack on Hefei City. As long as Liu Jing was willing to pay the price, Hefei City could be captured sooner or later.

But the Han army changed its attack method and began to attack the city by taking advantage of tricks. Although this method has little casualties, the effect will not be good. Does the Han army want to fight a long-term siege?

Zhang Liao had been fighting with the Han army for more than ten years. He knew that Liu Jing was extremely human, and every strategic decision had a profound purpose. Judging from Liu Jing's efforts at all costs, he would never care about the casualties of the attacking soldiers. So, what is the purpose of Liu Jing's battle of tricks?

As Cao's army discovered, the Han army was indeed digging tunnels, but the purpose of digging tunnels was not to enter the city from the tunnel, but to prepare to hollow out the soil under the city wall. This was also Fazheng's suggestion. The Hefei moat was too wide, which had a great impact on the surrounding soil, making the soil under the city generally loose, which had an adverse impact on the Hefei city wall.

According to Fazheng's plan, they can dig dozens of tunnels under the city, go straight to the city wall, first support it with wooden stakes, and then raise a fire to burn the wooden stakes. If the soil under the city has no support, it will cause the city wall to collapse. This is a classic strategy for siege.

Liu Jing adopted Fa Zheng's plan and ordered thousands of soldiers to start digging tunnels five steps away from the West City. A total of twenty-seven tunnels were dug. They had already dug the sky, and the longest tunnels were about to reach the city wall.

But one of the tunnels discovered an accident. The soil on the riverbed was not dry and more than a dozen cavitations formed in the soil. The tunnel excavation process caused the cavitations to burst, and the surface was sunken, forming a depression about a meter wide.

It was this accident that made the Cao army at the top of the city discover the Han army's intention. At this time, under the wall, Cao army buried several large water tanks, and Cao army soldiers were listening carefully to the movements underground.

"General Zang, there is something happening here"

A soldier was the first to hear the movements underground. Zang Ba hurried forward and put his ear on the water tank to listen carefully. He indeed heard the subtle sound of excavation underground, as if there were people talking.

Zang Ba was shocked. If he could hear the voice, it would mean that the Han army was not far from the city wall and was probably under the city. At this time, more than a dozen soldiers heard the movements underground. Zang Ba realized that the problem was serious and immediately sent someone to report to the commander Zhang Liao.

Soon, Zhang Liao rushed over. He listened carefully one by one and soon determined that there were ten tunnels, or more than one, but this was just tunnels close to the city wall.

Zhang Liao picked up a branch and simply drew a map of the tunnel distribution on the ground. He said to Zang Badao: "Did you find that the tunnels of the Han army are more than 40 meters wide. Generally, the more tunnels are excavated, the easier it is to be discovered. Liu Jing could not know, but he dug more than a dozen tunnels. The general told me what his purpose is."

Zang Ba pondered for a moment: "If these dozen tunnels collapsed at the same time, it would have a great impact on the city wall and would even cause a section of the city wall to collapse. Could it be that the Han army wanted to capture the city?"

Zhang Liao nodded, "I also think so. It is meaningless to use the defenders in the city to enter the city through tunnels. Only when the city wall collapses can the Han army attack the city on a large scale. Liu Jing must have this purpose."

Zang Ba sneered: "Since that's the case, let Bei Yi deal with them."

There is a long forest five steps away from Xicheng. With the protection of the forest, the Han army dug twenty-seven tunnels on the ground, which were 15 feet deep, and thousands of soldiers participated in the tunnel excavation. At the tunnel entrance, several Han soldiers used earth-making blowers to send air into the tunnel.

Each tunnel is wide and four feet tall. The soldiers cannot get up and can only squat and bend forward half-squat. However, most of the soldiers involved in the excavation are short and can turn around in the tunnel.

Fa Zheng was a little nervous. In the early morning, a scout found that Cao's army gathered on the top of the city. Many Cao's generals stood on the top of the city and looked at this side. Although Fa Zheng didn't know that there was a depression in the riverbed, he still felt a bad feeling. Perhaps Cao's army discovered that they were digging tunnels.

Fa Zheng hesitated in his heart that there were two thousand soldiers in the tunnel. Once they all died in the tunnel, he could not explain to His Highness the King of Han whether to withdraw the soldiers first and observe for two days.

While thinking, a terrified shout suddenly came from the tunnel. Countless soldiers rushed out of the tunnel. Fa Zheng was shocked and rushed forward and asked, "What happened?"

"Military advisor, poisonous smoke appeared in the tunnel"

Fa Zheng was so anxious that he stomped his feet, "Send a signal quickly to get all soldiers out."

A rapid bell sounded in the tunnel. This was an order to retreat, but without the need for the bell to ring, the twenty-seven Han soldiers in the tunnels had already rushed out. They coughed desperately, and many people fell to the ground and fainted.

After a while, the rolling black smoke began to emerge from the tunnel, filled with a strong smell of sulfur and arsenic. This is the thick smoke produced by the mixture of carbon oil, sulfur and arsenic burning, which is highly toxic.

Fa Zheng felt a chill in his heart. He saw that there were still many soldiers who had not withdrawn. At this time, a general came forward and whispered: "Military advisor, there are still more than five brothers who could not withdraw."

Fa Zheng couldn't help but sighed. He knew in his heart that these five more people would not survive. This is the authentic plan. Once discovered by the enemy, it would be easy to crack. He didn't know which link he had a problem. Perhaps Cao's army was prepared, but now that things have come to this, he could only apologize to the King of Han.

In the big tent, after hearing Fa Zheng's report, Liu Jing shook his head and said, "Victory is a common matter for military affairs. The military advisor did not make any mistakes. Moreover, Zhang Liao is a famous general of Cao Wei, so it is normal for him to see through it. The military advisor does not have to blame himself."

Liu Jing's comforting commander Fa Zheng felt a little better, but his plan failed, which made him feel uneasy. At this time, Pang Tong next to him smiled and said, "In fact, to make the city of Cao's army collapse, you don't have to dig the tunnel. I have a way, which may be effective."

Although Liu Jing did not blame Fa Zheng for his failure, it did not mean that he didn't care. He was defeated or discovered by Zhang Liao several times in the siege. It really made Liu Jing angry, but Liu Jing was not showing his emotions, and the people around him could not understand his true thoughts.

Liu Jing asked without hesitation: "What is the solution for Military Advisor Pang?"

Pang Tong stepped forward and bowed, laughed and said, "The weather was quite hot yesterday, and the soldiers brought me a cup of deep well water. The well water was really cold and bone-broken. I thought at that time, what would happen if the well water was poured on the red-hot stone?"

Before Pang Tong finished speaking, Huang Zhong and Gan Ning applauded together. Huang Zhong smiled at Liu Jing and said, "Mr. Pang's method is indeed good. This method is used to quarret in my hometown. You can try it."

Liu Jing pondered for a moment: "Try it in North City tonight"

The battle between the two earthen mountains inside and outside the North City has gradually reached a balance. Both sides have built firewalls and prepared to extinguish a large amount of fire lime. The scene of burning mountains with fire is no longer possible. Since the two earthen mountains are in a confrontation, neither side can carry out offensive and defensive battles in the North City.

At the first update, fifty heavy trenchers gradually approached the city wall and stopped fifty steps away. The trenchers on the city had been demolished, and the trenchers on the earth and hills in the city could not shoot here. Fifty heavy trenchers were safer.

At the order of veteran Huang Zhong, fifty heavy trenchers creaked and pulled the throwing rods, and fifty pots filled with tinder oil flew into the air and shot towards the city wall. Their shooting distance was adjusted, causing most of the pots to hit the city wall and tinder oil to flow all over the exterior wall.

At this time, a Han soldier hiding in the riverbed shot out several rockets. The rockets ignited the tinder on the wall. The flames spread rapidly, and the flames burned wildly. The two-meter-long outer wall of the city was engulfed by the fire.

The Han army's turbulent pots continued to be fired, and the fire on the city wall became more and more prosperous. The Han army had already thrown thousands of barrels of turbulent, and the entire northern city turned into a red fireworks city. The Cao army's soldiers retreated to the distance, staring at the Han army's brutal fires burning the city with fear.

Pang Tong watched the changes in the city wall below on the dirt mountain. He knew that the quarrying steps in the mining site were exactly the same today. He first burned the city wall with fire and then poured ice water. All the bricks and stones in the city wall would explode. At that time, as long as the catapult smashed the city wall with huge stones, the city wall would collapse.

He found that the wall bricks had been burned to a deep red, just like the nine-day furnace, and the sound of bricks and stones bursting constantly. He knew that the fire was enough, so Pang Tong immediately said to a soldier: "Go and tell General Huang quickly and change it to water attack."

The soldier rushed down the mountain and waved his hand from afar and shouted: "The veteran general, the military advisor said it was replaced by water attack."

Huang Zhong also knew that the time had come, so he immediately ordered: "Switch to water attack."
Chapter completed!