After approaching the moat, the slow-moving tunnel of Wu army suddenly accelerated its excavation speed, almost flying through the Hukou moat, which had been cut off from the water source, approaching the Hukou city wall. At the same time, the Taiping Army's scouts did not need to make any effort to explore. The signs of Wu army preparing for war were exposed to the Taiping Army without any concealment. The smoke from cooking food was rushing to make dry food in various camps all day long. When the high-quality materials for making torches near the surrounding area, the oil-rich pine trees were almost cut down by the Wu army. Each battalion and army were ready to beat their hands, and the murderous aura rushed to the sky.

No Taiping Army soldier did not know that this was the last signal before the brutal war, and almost no Taiping Army soldier in Hukou was not actively prepared for the war under the leadership and command of Lin Qirong, preparing to face this fierce battle, which would be unprecedented. Various types of city guarding supplies were piled up above and below the city, and could be used to block the gap in the city wall at any time to prepare sufficient soil, stone and sandbags for preventing the Wu army's raid were also hidden in the hidden area of ​​the battlefield, and were always ready to surprise the Wu army soldiers who were charging in the cluster. At the same time, in order to prevent the situation, the Taiping Army also built an inner city defense line in the southwest corner of Hukou, which was targeted by the Wu army tunnel early, so that even if the Wu army soldiers luckily broke through the city wall defense line at Hukou, they would still be hit by the Taiping Army head-on in the city.

In the entire Hukou City, only the Raozhou Taiping Army led by Ji Rongxian is relatively leisurely. It is neither as busy as the Hukou Taiping Army, and is not as vigorous as the Hukou Taiping Army soldiers, and is as energetic as the soldiers of the Hukou Taiping Army. Even when they are forced to help the Hukou Taiping Army prepare for war, they are as lazy as before. They will never work hard if they can be lazy. And Lin Qirong now only asks this friendly army not to cause trouble and create internal discord. They turn a blind eye to such a situation and are also too lazy to force this friendly army that is destined to be useless to prepare for war.

Lin Qirong also had no time and energy to care about the subtle situation of Ji Rongxian, a friendly army. In order to disrupt the Wu army's tactical plan and attack the morale of the Wu army, Lin Qirong personally visited the front line of the tunnel battlefield and directed the Taiping Army soldiers from Hukou to carefully explore the specific location of the Wu army's tunnel with the earth and prepare to collapse the Wu army tunnel with the top blasting tactics. However, just as the Taiping Army soldiers were about to confirm the Wu army's tunnel, the Wu army's fortress, which had been silent for three days suddenly opened fire one after another, bombarding various parts of Hukou City, causing casualties to the Taiping Army soldiers who were busy preparing for the war. At the same time, the roar of artillery also seriously interfered with the exploration effect of the Taiping Army, and added many difficulties to the Taiping Army's tunnel location.

"Zhen Tianwei, I can't hear the sound of the demon soldiers' hoes, and the demon soldiers seem to have slowed down."

"I can't hear the ground here. The demon soldiers either stopped working or dug slowly."

Even worse, even during the intermittent period of cannons, the Taiping soldiers could not hear the authentic excavation sound of Wu Jun. It was obvious that the cunning Wu Jun engineers deliberately slowed down the excavation speed, carefully avoided making sounds, and did not give the Taiping army the chance to discover the authenticity of his army in advance. After the news was reported to Lin Qirong, Lin Qirong was not in a hurry, but immediately took out his pocket watch to check the time. Seeing that it was less than two o'clock in the afternoon, Lin Qirong felt relieved and said, "The general attack time of the demon soldiers must be tonight, and it is likely to be in the second half of the night."

"It should be this time period." Wei Chaocheng, the confidant general, agreed with Lin Qirong's judgment and said: "This is also the usual order of siege for demon soldiers. They prepare during the day and raid in the second half of the night. They launch a general attack before dawn, which not only drags down us, covers their raid at night, but also can see the target clearly during the general attack. This is how our Jiujiang and Anqing are lost."

"Let the brothers prepare for the night battle before dark, have dinner at the first update, and each enters the position of the second update, and the reserve team will start to rest now." Lin Qirong did not hesitate to think, and quickly finalized the preparation time tonight. He pointed to the tunnel position of the Wu army that had been determined earlier, and ordered: "Send the brothers of the Tu Cang down, bury two hundred kilograms of gunpowder there, and ignite the fire and detonate!"

"Zhen Tianwei, we can't be sure that there is the authenticity of the demon soldiers?" Wei Chaocheng asked in confusion.

"Try to have luck." Lin Qirong said coldly: "I will also give the demon soldiers a warning to let them understand that we already know the approximate location of their tunnels, and also let them know that it is difficult to get a chance to attack the city, and to hit their morale."

Wei Chaocheng suddenly realized and quickly saluted Lin Qirong to express his admiration. He immediately sent soldiers from the earth camp out of the city to dig deep pits on the open space outside the city where the Wu army tunnel was most likely located. At the same time, he organized the defenders on the city to cover the earth camp soldiers with guns and cannons to excavate.

The outpost battle with guns and cannons began. I just saw soldiers from the Taiping Army leaving the city. The Wu soldiers who were monitoring outside the city immediately fired guns and cannons, and violently attacked the enemy who had left the city. The Taiping Army soldiers on the city wall immediately returned to their colors, took out the guns and cannons seized from the Tsarist Russian fleet and poured firepower on the Wu army's positions, covering the self-armed engineers to dig holes, fighting with the Wu army in an unavoidable manner, and the soldiers of both armies inevitably suffered casualties.

Of course, it is much easier to dig deep pits on the ground than digging roads on the dark underground. After more than ten casualties, the soldiers of the Taiping Army's earthen camp quickly dug deep pits suitable for blasting, and quickly filled the gunpowder bags thrown from the city wall into the bottom of the pit, installed the lead wire and rammed the soil, and then ignited the fire before returning to the city. As the explosion sounded, a deep pit immediately appeared on the ground below the city. The Taiping Army was cheering like thunder, but the Wu soldiers in the distance looked at each other, and then realized that the Taiping Army had actually known the location of the tunnel of its own army.

…………

The Taiping Army's blasting tactics were actually better than they expected. They exploded right above the Wu army's tunnel. Not only did they directly blow up the narrow tunnel that the Wu army had just dug out, but they also buried several Wu army engineers who had no time to evacuate. As a result, after the news was reported to Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue, who was resting and recuperating, suddenly changed his face. He knew that what he was most worried about had happened. The Taiping Army had indeed discovered the siege tactics of its own army.

"I really underestimate Lin Qirong, a big hairy person." Dai Wenjie, the chief of staff of the army, was also very frustrated and sighed: "Not only did we see through our siege tactics in advance, but we also took the initiative to attack and collapse our tunnels, which not only blocked our siege and directly hit our military morale. We are not sure if we want to take Hukou this time."

"It must be taken, and at any cost!" Wu Chaoyue said coldly: "You can't take Hukou quickly and completely open the waterway to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Cao Yanzhong was unable to threaten the fake capital of Changmao Nanjing in Wuhu, and Changmao would not draw troops from the Eastern Front to return to the Western Front. So no matter how much the price you pay today, we will also take Hukou City!"

"Zhennan King, but our tunnel has been blown up by long hair. Are you sure to attack from the front?" Another aide Zhou Wenxian asked carefully.

"I am sure, it's just a matter of how many casualties." Wu Chaoyue's expression became more and more indifferent, and he said: "I refused to attack head-on before, but the main reason was to consider the casualties. But now there is nothing I can do. Time is tight, and our other siege tactics have been broken again. I don't make up this decision anymore."

Zhou Wenxian and Dai Wenjie nodded silently, and then Dai Wenjie said again: "I hope Ji Rong, who promised to be an insider, did not tell any lies and really launched an insider to attack us. In this way, we can reduce countless losses not only by personnel but also by supplies."

"As long as we fight firmly and let Hukou grow hair show a sign of defeat, Ji Rongxian must do it even if he doesn't want to be an insider for us." Wu Chaoyue said confidently: "And even if Ji Rongxian was brainwashed by the cult and was willing to live and die with Hukou grow hair. When Lin Qirong had to mobilize his army to go to the city to help with the war, his position was also our best breakthrough! I don't believe that an external long hair would be like Hukou grow hair, and would fight to the end to defend other people's territory!"

After saying that, Wu Chaoyue ordered: "I ordered the engineers to dig the tunnel again at the collapse of the tunnel, and then ordered our army to fight to the end this time. I will never withdraw my troops unless I take down Hukou City!"

Half a day passed quickly. When the first correction was made, all parts of the Wu army, who had made sufficient preparations, rushed to their respective positions to prepare for the war. Wu Chaoyue also personally led the main force of the central army to go out to the battalion, establishing a command center on the unknown earthen mountain directly south of Hukou City, and personally directed the siege battle that was destined to take a long time and suffered huge casualties. As a result, after the news was reported to Lin Qirong, Lin Qirong, who had confirmed that his own army had collapsed, immediately understood that the real test had arrived, and the Wu army would attack Hukou City head-on at any cost!

"Come on, I know you are ready to surpass the little demon at any cost." Lin Qirong said viciously: "I want to see how many demon soldiers you have to die and how much price you have to pay to rush to my Hukou city!"

After saying this with a ferocious expression, Lin Qirong, who had carefully studied the Wu army's siege tactics, did not rush to send troops to the city to prepare for war. He just ordered the defenders on the city to prepare for the artillery attack. At the same time, let the Taiping soldiers in the local listening continue to monitor closely to prevent the Wu army from digging tunnels to attack the city. After receiving Lin Qirong's orders, the Taiping Army in Hukou also held their own duties and prepared to welcome the battle without fear.

At the third minute of the first update, all the Wu army battalions were ready. When Wu Chaoyue gave the order, the more than a hundred Wu army's light and heavy artillery roared almost at the same time, bombing various shells of different sizes into Hukou City. The earth-shaking sound of artillery fire and explosions echoed on the Hukou battlefield again, and the momentum was far greater than the fierceness of the previous three sieges.

Although he knew that the Taiping Army in Hukou was already familiar with the tactics of his own army, he had long been hiding in the anti-artillery fortifications. However, in order to weaken the enemy and strengthen the momentum as much as possible, Wu Chaoyue first used artillery to bombard Hukou City for an hour. During this period, he also used a large number of picy acid shells, causing fire in many places in Hukou City, causing a certain degree of chaos in the defenders, and causing certain casualties to the Taiping Army lurking in the open air. Then Wu Chaoyue conveyed the order and asked Feng Sanbao's southwest Wu army to launch a frontal attack.

"It's a bitch, it's really despicable together," Lin Qirong ordered Li Tiankai again, "Remember, even if the demon soldiers start to attack head-on, I have to guard against them secretly digging the city wall. Unless they have to have no choice, they cannot withdraw the secret whistle under the city!"

After carefully inspecting the city wall defense, when Lin Qirong returned to his command center in the city, the Wu army was still patiently filling the moat outside the two gates of the southeast. After confirming this, Lin Qirong snorted heavily and then said to Wei Chaocheng, who was commanding the reserve team: "It seems that surpassing Xiao Yao is prepared for both hands. It is best to be able to steal and break through the lake. If you can't steal, you will attack head-on to the end, and use his strength and weapon advantages to crush us."

"Just let the horse come over." Wei Chaocheng sneered: "Whether it is stealing or a strong frontal attack, as long as he surpasses the little demon, we will accompany him to the end!"

Lin Qirong nodded and said, "Anyway, we must withstand this strong attack from the demon soldiers. As long as we withstand, the demon soldiers' aura will be reduced. Shi Guozong and Hu Dingwen from Raozhou can also take the opportunity to launch a large-scale support. No matter how they fight, the pressure here will be much lessened, and there will be hope for defending Hukou."

Wei Chaocheng nodded vigorously, believing in Lin Qirong's words, and like all the Taiping soldiers present, he was confident in the final victory of the Hukou defense battle, and he also had the determination to die to succeed if he failed!

By the fourth update in the second half of the night, Wu army finally filled the moat at six sections of Hukou and opened up six spacious roads that could reach the bottom of Hukou City. At the same time, the tunnel had also been dug to the base of the Hukou City Wall, which was not far from the excavation. The situation was reported to Wu Chaoyue. Wu Chaoyue, who had not closed his eyes for the middle of the night, did not hesitate and shouted sternly: "Take a move, attack the front, the tunnel, dig the city wall and bomb the city gate at the same time, as long as it succeeds, it's fine!"

The order was issued, and amid the shouts, the entire three battalions of Wu army infantry pushed up various siege weapons and shouted. Many Wu army blasters also mixed with explosive bags and excavation tools. At the same time, the Wu army artillery, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly roared again, using the time difference between the self-armed infantry charging to the foot of the city wall and firing desperately, bombarding the Taiping soldiers who stood up to fight on the city.

Unfortunately, the Wu army was traitor and the Taiping Army were not stupid. Before the Wu army's infantry charged to the city, the Taiping soldiers on the city wall were always hiding between the bushels and the pile of debris, and successfully avoided most of the Wu army's flowering bullets. The losses were very minor in the Wu army's artillery fire. It was still when the Wu army attacked the Ant Affiliated Team rushed to the edge of the moat, the city wall was ringing. The Taiping soldiers who had been preparing for a long time jumped up after the bushel, and without saying a word, they picked up guns and bombarded the enemy down the city.
Chapter completed!