Liu Zhixue considered the words of the generals and thought about how to break the city. The city was slightly square, with a circumference of nearly fifteen miles and a height of two or eight feet. The bottom of the city was six to seven feet wide, and the top was one to three feet wide. The wall was rammed with earth, and the city bricks were built on the outside, and a city tower and a urn city were built. Because of the severe floods in the Huai River, in order to prevent flood control, the wall on the west side was changed to stone walls from both sides of the city gate, and then reinforced with stone strips.

In addition, Shouzhou City adopts a different method of building soil slope battle in the city than other cities. The characteristic of this approach is that the inner wall is not covered with city bricks, and the uptown horse road is not built, but the earth is built into slopes. With this design, soldiers can hide under the city to avoid the shooting of enemy stones and crossbows during combat, reducing casualties, and can also go directly to the city from the slope after the battle begins, which can quickly start the battle in a short time.

In addition, Shouzhou City was deep and vast, with Feishui in the south, Shouxi in the west, and the Huaihe in the north. It was surrounded by rivers and lakes on three sides, and the water surface was wide, becoming a natural barrier. Only the east of the city was convenient for military use. After entering the Yuan Dynasty, from the fifth year of Shaoding in Lizong to the tenth year of Xianchun in Duzong, the Mongolian army attacked Shouzhou City five times, but they were unable to break the city.

Liu Zhixue also understood that traditional siege was difficult to achieve if it wanted to conquer this strong city in a short time. As a palace city, Shouzhou City has a large population and abundant materials stored, so it can not rely on the outside world for a long time to defend. Moreover, its own troops are said to be 30,000, but it is impossible to surround the city. This is because there is a water gate in the city connecting the outside world. Without naval forces to assist in the war, they cannot control the waterway and block their contacts.

Secondly, we are far away from each other, and there is a lack of large siege equipment. It is difficult to overcome the towering city walls with simple equipment, while artillery is also powerless to do with heavy walls. Using blasting methods, the city foundation is built with huge stone strips, which is difficult to do with shovels and pickaxes alone. Digging tunnels will cause groundwater to gush out less than three feet, which is also a waste of effort.

Forced siege seems to have become the only choice. It not only has to bear heavy casualties, but also due to the limitations of the terrain, they can only choose to unfold from the east city side and cannot use the tactics of mutual cover to fight against the enemy. However, the enemy can gather troops to fight in one place without defending from all sides, and can make up for the disadvantages in military strength.

In addition, they did not think about the tactic of luring the enemy out of the city and annihilated it, but the enemy learned his lesson after the ambush failed and refused to leave the city no matter what. The solid city and the success of defending the city in previous battles also made the enemy generals who defended the city, and even the people in the city believe that Shouzhou City could not be conquered, so the method of inciting the military and civilians in the city, creating chaos and causing chaos was also impossible.

"Prepare equipment today and forcefully attack the city tomorrow!" Liu Zhixue thought for a long time, then glanced at the generals who were still whispering and slapped the table.

"The Du Shuai, forcibly siege the city will inevitably lead to heavy casualties..." Yan Feng, the commander of the first division, was shocked.

"If you raise troops for a thousand days, you will use troops for a while. Your Majesty strictly ordered our troops to quickly break the city and annihilate the remaining enemies entrenched in Huainan to cover the flanks of the army. There is nothing but!" Liu Zhixue interrupted without waiting for him to finish his words.

"DuShishou, we lack equipment. Forcibly siege the city will inevitably cause major casualties, and it is difficult to fight again!" Zhou Fu, the commander of the Second Division, saw that the commander of the Dutong seemed to have made up his mind and hurriedly persuaded.

"At the beginning of joining the army, we should understand that we are always ready to sacrifice our lives for the country. On the day we entered the general's mansion, we had already handed over our life to His Majesty, and died on the battlefield for the country and the king, and we were killed on the battlefield!" Liu Zhixue looked at the generals and said.

"Du Shuai, the Mo Jiang is not a person who is afraid of death. He just wants to die worth it, not a useless sacrifice!" Yan Feng saw Du Shuai's eyes showing contempt, and stood up and saluted and stared at him.

"Unuseful sacrifice?" Liu Zhixue snorted coldly, "Some of you came from the General's Office. You should know that Your Majesty was only six years old at that time. At that age, everyone was afraid of peeing and mud, climbing trees and sucking birds. But what did Your Majesty do? He could have followed the Empress Dowager with rich clothes, but resolutely gave up his comfortable life to the barbaric land of Qiongzhou, share the joys and sorrows with everyone, eat white rice and wear cloth, and personally lead the army to fight. This is still the case today."

"Your Majesty is the king of a country and is rich in the world. He can sing, eat and drink every day. Who can say anything? But Your Majesty sacrifices his comfortable life and personally leads the army to fight north, climb ice and snow, sleep in the wind and sleep in the open, and even leads the army to penetrate deep into the hinterland of the enemy. There are only less than a thousand guards around him, and the rest are all surrendered troops who may rebel at any time. Just to attract the attention of the enemy and win fighter opportunities and time for us to attack Huainan. Don't he know the danger?" Liu Zhixue also stood up and held the case with both hands to look at him. Seeing him lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty has a long-term plan and a strange plan. Is it more important than us. But Your Majesty is willing to take risks for the overall situation. Is your life more noble than Your Majesty?"

"Your Majesty is the sun and moon in the sky. The last general is just the light of fireflies. How dare you compare it with Your Majesty!" Yan Feng felt ashamed and lowered his head and said. These generals and officials were all old men who joined the General's Mansion Army in their early years, so they were naturally very clear about Your Majesty's deeds.

"The Master, Your Majesty once said that for the generals, you should cherish the lives of soldiers and not make unnecessary sacrifices. The city of Shouzhou is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If the strong attack is inevitable, it will inevitably cause heavy casualties. The last general just wants to ask Your Majesty to forgive him for several days so that he can be fully prepared to attack the city!" Li Ting felt the atmosphere awkward and stood up to explain.

"In this way, have you already had a good plan to destroy the city?" Liu Zhixue turned his face and looked at him and asked.

"The last general...the last general is not!" Li Ting was stunned for a moment, and lowered his head and said softly.

"What is the iron law of our army? Answer me!" Liu Zhixue asked loudly.

"Attack, protect each other; retreat, stay together!" the generals answered in unison.

"Our Second Army originated from the front army of the General's Office. There were 500 people on the day of the flag erecting the flag. Everyone was as affectionate as brothers. The general remembers the names of each of them. There are still a few who can survive to this day after a hundred battles." Liu Zhixue stretched out two fingers and said, "No less than 20%, less than 100 people survived. They faced enemies that were several times more than themselves, but they rushed up without hesitation and were dismembered by the chaotic blade and stepped into meat sauce. Some people lit gunpowder at the head of Quanzhou City and died together. Some people still died on the long journey..." Liu Zhixue looked at the generals and said, but he could not suppress his feelings and could not continue.

"I also remember those brothers, and I often dream about those brothers who were buried with my own hands. If I could go back in time, I would rather die for them. Now it is really difficult to face their wives, children, and children!" Zhou Fu also sniffed and said sadly.

"Who dares to say that they are not worth it? I thought that their death was the place where they died. Without their sacrifice, we would not be today." Liu Zhixue glanced at everyone and said, "Because they knew that their death allowed the brothers to be safeguarded, their sacrifices could win greater victory. They knew that their wives and children would not be bullied by the Tartars. The people behind them were far away from the killing of the enemy. They knew that they had no way to retreat, so that they could only fight with themselves. Today we had no way out. Even if they were all killed in battle, they would have to capture Shouzhou City so that friendly troops could let go of the battle without worrying about threats from their backs. They could allow the people of the Song Dynasty to live and work in peace and make the Song Empire last forever!"

"But if our Second Army's cowardly battle today fails to recover the two Huai Rivers, causing millions of friendly brothers to die in the battlefield, and causing millions of people in the Song Dynasty to live in fear every day. Even if we are alive, what will we look like to return to Jiangdong to meet our elders!"

"The commander-in-chief, the last generals are willing to be the vanguard to attack the city and lead their troops to flatten the city. If they cannot, they will die at the top of the city!" Liu Zhixue's generous speech made the generals ashamed and made them excited. They saluted and asked for the battle.

"Okay, tomorrow the first division will attack the city for the vanguard. If all the two divisions die, the third division will be promoted. If all the two divisions die, the third division will be promoted. The entire army will never stop!" Liu Zhixue nodded and said with a ferocious look on his face.

"I will never stop until I die, and I will break through Shouzhou City!" The generals roared...

The next morning, the entire Second Army had dinner at the Yin hour, and the Mao hour sent troops to line up outside the two arrows in the east city of Shouzhou. Thirty thousand troops were stacked and left nowhere to see the edge. Flying battle flags covered the sky and the soldiers with a sense of dying were staring at the top of the city. The deep drum sounds condensed into a solemn aura soared into the sky. The defenders in the city also gathered on the city, and the curtains of the battle shed covered the city walls. They bent their bows and arrows to stare at the enemy. Several giant crossbows also opened their crossbows, and the huge arrows as thick as their arms raised sharp arrows.

"The army and civilians in the city obey the orders of the Emperor of Song Dynasty to attack the Yuanyuan and save the people from water and fire. Opening the city to welcome surrender can protect lives and property. If you resist the heavenly soldiers, you will be killed without mercy!" A cavalry rushed out of the Song army and went to the city to persuade the surrender routinely, and the answer to him was naturally a rain of arrows like locusts.

"The commander of the capital, the enemy defended refused to surrender!" The envoy returned to the army and reported.

"Are prepared for artillery fire!" Liu Zhixue waved without accident at this result.

"The commander of the capital, hundreds of artillery fires are fired at once. I am afraid that even the sea of ​​fire in the city will be buried under the fire!" said Ma Ying, the Duyu Hou. In this battle, the Second Army gathered all the artillery belonging to the East City, including the divisions and artillery troops of the military artillery regiments, as well as the artillery squads of the battalion. There were more than a hundred artillery big and small guns, and there were thunderstorms in the sky. He could not imagine what the generals in the city would look like after the artillery attack. His Majesty has always avoided the harm to the people when fighting. When siege, he usually advocated using artillery cautiously, so he advised him.

"How can there be innocent in the war!" Liu Zhixue sighed and answered. He knew very well what the consequences would have to be caused by using artillery like this, but in order to capture the city as scheduled, he could only do this... Fupin
Chapter completed!