As a veteran on the battlefield, in order to know himself and his enemy, Liu Zhongwu of course also led the cavalry to the front line to investigate the terrain and city defense situation of Zangdihe City on the spot, find the defense weaknesses of the Xixia defenders, and study how to attack the city.

Unfortunately, after seeing the specific situation of Zangdihe City with one's own eyes, Liu Zhongwu came to the same conclusion as his son Liu Qi, that is, Zangdihe City is strictly guarded and the city defense is invincible. If you want to break the city, there is only one way, that is, to pile up people's lives! And you can't guarantee that you can pile up people's lives.

This also made Liu Zhongwu feel heartbroken and said to himself: "What should I do? The city is not easy to fight. If I only fight with my army, there will definitely be heavy casualties and I may not be sure to attack. The best way is to let Wang Dehou also send troops to attack the city and share the pressure for me. This is not only a greater grasp, but when I really can't capture it, I can also shift the responsibility to Wang Dehou."

After returning to the camp with this thought, Liu Zhongwu racked his brains to figure out how to drag Wang Dehou into the water, so that Wang Dehou could also send troops to participate in the siege, and it would be better to attack the main force. However, when Liu Zhongwu did not expect that, during this period, Wang Dehou suddenly sent a messenger to Liu Zhongwu and submitted a letter from Wang Dehou to Liu Zhongwu. As a result, Liu Zhongwu opened it and looked at it for a few times, and his face immediately became longer than a donkey.

"Father, what happened?" Liu Di, the son who was most loved by Liu Zhongwu, saw something wrong and asked hurriedly: "What did Wang Dehou say in the letter?"

"He means the same as Gao Jianjun, and he also wants to be responsible for the battlefield with us." Liu Zhongwu said with a gloomy face: "He said in the letter that his advance route can just block the path of the puppet Xia thieves' army to reinforce Zangdihe City, and our two armies do not have a unified command. If we join forces to attack the city, we will be afraid of chaos in command. Therefore, he wants to establish a solid camp in the key points in the north of Zangdihe City, and be responsible for blocking the reinforcements of the puppet Xia thieves' army for us, so that we can be responsible for attacking Zangdihe City alone."

"You must not agree!" As a matter of being Liu Zhongwu's favorite son, Liu Di immediately shouted: "Zangdihe City is so strong. With the strength of our army alone, even if it can be captured, there will be heavy casualties. If the puppet Xia thief army does not send reinforcements, wouldn't it be our efforts to help him Wang Dehou make contributions?"

"But Gao Jianjun also means this, what should I do?" Liu Zhongwu asked.

"It's easy to deal with." Liu Di said without thinking: "Father, just tell him that Zangdihe City is too strong and we must join forces with Wang Dehou to be sure to conquer. In order to pick up the credit and explain to the court, he will definitely force Wang Dehou to send troops to help us."

After thinking for a while, Liu Zhongwu nodded reluctantly and said, "Then let's try this. I will reply to Wang Dehou first, saying that soldiers are very fast. We should give priority to joining forces to take down Zangdihe City, and then consider the issue of reinforcements from the pseudo-Xia bandit army. The Gao Junjun will speak according to the excuse you found."

He did it as soon as he made up his mind. After making up this idea, Liu Zhongwu immediately wrote back to Wang Dehou, asking Wang Dehou to send troops to participate in the siege. However, before Liu Zhongwu finished writing the letter, Gao Qiu had already arrived at the central army tent in a big way. As soon as he met, he asked directly: "Mr. Liu, I heard that General Wang sent someone to contact you, what did he say? Where has his army arrived?"

"The deputy commander is so informative. The subordinate has just received a letter from General Wang. How did you know?" Liu Zhongwu asked with a smile.

"I happened to meet the messenger sent by General Wang on the road just now." Gao Qiu explained.

He called out unlucky secretly. Liu Zhongwu had no choice but to bite the bullet and hand the letter to Gao Qiu. Then, after reading Wang Dehou's handwritten letter, Gao Qiu, who had already made this statement before, really slapped his thigh and said happily: "I didn't expect that Wang Dehou had the same idea as he thought, and he actually wanted to be responsible for siege and attack reinforcements. Liu Dashen, there is no problem now, right? General Wang took the initiative to propose that he be responsible for dealing with the reinforcements of the pseudo-Xia thief army. Should we just do this?"

He quietly exchanged a look with his precious son. Liu Zhongwu said with a thorn in his mouth, "Deputy Chief, General Wang's idea is good, but it is unrealistic. The servant had just gone to investigate the situation of Zangdihe City on site. The pseudo-Xia thief army invested a lot of money and built Zangdihe City like an iron barrel. Without General Wang's help, it would be difficult to be sure to take Zangdihe City alone with the strength of our army."

"There are only more than 3,000 puppet troops in Zangdihe City. You have more than 40,000 troops under your command, and you are not sure to take them down?" Gao Qiu asked in surprise.

"The military supervisor forgives the crime. It is not a problem of how many defenders are, but a problem of how strong the city is." Liu Di said with a smile: "You have never seen the situation of Zangdihe City with your own eyes. I don't know how strong the pseudo-Xia thief army built this city. The city wall alone is more than two meters high and one meter wide, and there are also nearly two meters wide and one meter deep moats. The fortifications on the city wall are also very complete. It is really hard to be sure to take it down with the strength of our army alone."

Gao Qiu suffered the most because he did not understand military affairs and had not visited the scene to check the actual situation of Zangdihe City. So after hearing Liu Di's words, he naturally didn't know how to refute it. He could only ask in confusion: "It's really so difficult to fight?"

"The deputy commander, it's really so difficult to fight." Liu Zhongwu nodded quickly and said, "What the officials mean is that we should take advantage of the fact that the pseudo-Xia bandit army has not yet had time to react, concentrate our superior forces, and jointly launch a strong attack with General Wang. We will take down Zangdihe City first, and then consider the issue of reinforcements against the pseudo-Xia bandit army."

Liu Zhongwu failed to fool Gao Qiu, who had received guidance from Zhao Rong. After hearing Liu Zhongwu's words, Gao Qiu immediately said: "But during our siege, what should we do if the reinforcements of the puppet Xia thief army suddenly came? If Wang Dehou was not prepared for the battle in advance, the puppet Xia thief army suddenly came to support again, how can we resist?"

"The deputy governor, although this may be, it must be very small." Liu Zhongwu smiled and said, "We have already figured out the detailed work of the pseudo-Xia bandit army deploying nearby forces. In addition to the mobile army of less than 10,000 people in Hongzhou City, the pseudo-Xia bandit army could no longer draw half-support troops to reinforce Zangdihe City. Zangdihe City is far away from Xingzhou. When the main force of the pseudo-Xia bandit army responds, we have already taken Zangdihe City."

Gao Qiu was a little shaken, but after remembering Zhao Rong's reminder, Gao Qiu shook his head and said, "Be careful, it is already late autumn. The puppet Xia thief army has completed the autumn grain harvest, and the cattle, sheep and horse herds have also reserved enough forage to spend the winter. We can gather troops to travel south at any time. This time we sent troops to Zangdihe City, we made the move so big. I am afraid that the puppet Xia thief army will have sufficient preparations. If we don't prepare for the attack in advance, we may suffer a great loss."

"Don't worry, the deputy commander will never be that fast." Liu Zhongwu comforted: "Even if the pseudo-Xia bandit army has some preparations, when they confirm our direction of advance, and then send troops from Xingzhou to reinforce, at least half a month has passed. In half a month, we and General Wang have already taken Zangdihe City."

He still suffered a loss because he didn't understand military affairs. Seeing that Liu Zhongwu was so confident, Gao Qiu thought about it, but still did not use the power of the military supervisor to force Liu Zhongwu to adopt Wang Dehou's suggestion, and hesitated and said: "Then, you discuss with General Wang and see what he means."

Liu Zhongwu breathed a sigh of relief, and then quickly picked up his pen and finished the letter to Wang Dehou, asking Wang Dehou to hurry up and rush to the battlefield, join forces with him to take down Zangdihe City as soon as possible, and then consider the issue of dealing with the reinforcements of the Xixia. Then, Liu Zhongwu did not dare to forget his job, so he quickly arranged for the army to build siege weapons such as toad chariots, flight ladders, trenchers and city bumpers, and prepared to fill the moat of Zangdihe City first and then launch a siege.

At this time, the disadvantages of the Song army's lack of command from the commander to go out for many orders were exposed. Only more than a day had passed, Wang Dehou once again sent someone to send a letter to Liu Zhongwu. In the letter, he refuted Liu Zhongwu's underestimation of the enemy and seriously ignored the reinforcements of the Western Xia army, pointing out that the Song army's dispatch of troops was too loud this time, and the Western Xia army was very likely to have been prepared for the response. In addition, the climate and seasons were also extremely conducive to the Western Xia army's dispatch of large troops to dispatch a large number of troops to the south. Therefore, the Song army must not only be careful to prevent the Western Xia army from going south in Hongzhou, but also to prevent the main force of the Western Xia army from going south to reinforce the battlefield of Zangdihe City.

In addition, Wang Dehou also told Liu Zhongwu clearly in the letter that he had discovered through scouts that there was a twelve miles north of Zangdihe City, where there was a location twelve miles north of Zangdihe City, with two mountains intersecting, and the terrain was dangerous, which was very suitable for the Song army to establish a solid camp to prevent the sudden southward of Xixia reinforcements. So he decided to establish a camp there, deep ditches and high avenues to prepare for the battle, and he was responsible for blocking the reinforcements that might come to the Western Xia army at any time for Liu Zhongwu, and Liu Zhongwu was also responsible for attacking Zangdihe City alone.

It is conceivable that Liu Zhongwu was angry when he saw this letter and was furious. Liu Zhongwu was so angry that he smashed the tea bowl in front of him and roared: "Wang Dehou, you are so brave. The court wants you to send troops to help me attack Zangdihe City. Without my consent, you decided to set up a camp without authorization and directly pushed all the problems of siege to me! Have you taken this commander seriously, and have you taken the imperial decrees seriously?"

"Father, submit memorials to him!" Liu Di immediately instigated: "Tell him that he is afraid of the war and is as timid as a tiger, and asks the court to issue an order to deal with him!"

"Is it useless to impeach him now? When the court receives my memorial, the battle will be over!" Liu Zhongwu said angrily: "The most important thing now is to let him send troops to attack the city and help us share the pressure. Otherwise, we may not be sure to take such a strong city!"

"Father, how about asking the High Army Supervisor to come forward to force him?" Liu Di suggested: "Although the Deputy Chief Inspector is not Wang Dehou's army supervisor, he is a person sent by the court and a confidant of the official family. He is very good at speaking in front of the official family. If he comes forward to ask Wang Dehou to send troops to help us attack Zangdihe City, even if Wang Dehou is unwilling to comply, he must have to consider the consequences."

After blinking his eyes, Liu Zhongwu made up his mind and immediately shouted: "Come here, please invite the army supervisor to the Central Army tent, and say I have something important to discuss with him."

Before he finished speaking, before Liu Zhongwu's personal soldiers agreed, Gao Qiu's voice came from outside the tent, and he smiled and said, "No need to invite me, I have come by myself."

"Deputy Chief Inspector." Liu Zhongwu quickly stood up and ran to the gate of the Central Army's tent to greet Gao Qiu. He respectfully invited Gao Qiu to the army to sit down, and then said aggrievedly like a bullied child: "Deputy Chief Inspector, you have to come forward and say something, that Wang Dehou is really lawless."

"What's wrong with him?" Gao Qiu asked in surprise.

Liu Zhongwu quickly handed Wang Dehou's letter to Gao Qiu and said, "Please check it out and see how arrogant Wang Dehou is. The court asked him to help me attack the city, but he refused to discuss it with me. He decided to set up a camp without authorization, and even made excuses to insist on pushing me the siege."

After reading Wang Dehou's letter carefully, Gao Qiu, who was very close to him, not only did not get angry, but also said: "Good thing, this is the best you can win Zangdihe City, and you, Marshal Liu."

"I'm all the credit?" Liu Zhongwu smiled bitterly when he heard this and said, "The deputy commander, this credit is not easy to take, and this Zangdihe City is not easy to fight."

"Don't panic, I will help you take down Zangdihe City." Gao Qiu said in a shocking way, then took out a roll of straw paper from his arms and said with a smile: "Sir Liu, hurry up and arrange craftsmen to build dozens of such siege weapons according to this pattern. I will keep it easy for you to take down Zangdihe City."

"What kind of siege weapon is so magical?"

Liu Zhongwu was curious to take the roll of straw paper. When he opened it, he saw a strange vehicle with very thin strokes on the paper. The body of the car was similar to a house, with large wood as beams, and the roof was covered with cowhide to reach the arrow stone. There were six wheels under the car body, and the inner part was hollow, so soldiers could be hidden, and the dimensions were marked next to it. Then Liu Zhongwu recalled carefully again and couldn't help but say: "Sharp-headed wooden donkey! Is this the sharp-headed wooden donkey that was later lost in the book of Liang?"

"The great commander is good at seeing." Gao Qiu applauded and said, "Yes, this is the pointed wooden donkey recorded in history books. It is specially used to cover soldiers to dig the city under the city, which is the sharpest! Moreover, the walls of Zangdihe City are rammed out of loess, which are far less solid than brick and stone walls. Our soldiers will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort when they dig up the lower part of the city wall. At that time, as long as we don't need to attack the city, the city wall will collapse by itself!"

"Good thing!" Liu Zhongwu applauded and said, "The walls of Zangdihe City are all made of loess. They are most afraid of excavation. This pointed wooden donkey is indeed the nemesis of this wall."

After saying that, Liu Zhongwu asked in surprise again: "Second Minister, how do you know what this pointed wooden donkey looks like? You also know the size?"

"I saw it in an ancient Tang Dynasty book called "Tongdian". "Gao Qiu said proudly: "The Military Classics in "Tongdian" records in detail the size of the pointed-headed wooden donkey and the method of using it."

"The deputy commander is in charge of the capital." Liu Zhongwu quickly praised and said, "I am ashamed of being a military general. Not only have I not read this military book, but I have not even heard of it."

Gao Qiu smiled proudly again and asked, "Standard Liu, how about it? Are you sure to take Zangdihe City now? Do you want Wang Dehou to help you and share your credit with me?"

Liu Zhongwu thought carefully and said after a moment: "If we can really dig the city wall smoothly, of course we don't need to ask Wang Dehou to help, but I remember that history books also said that there is something that can restrain this pointed wooden donkey..."

"Swallowtail torch, the swallowtail torch can restrain the pointed wooden donkey, as it is also recorded in "Tongdian". "Gao Qiu said calmly: "Even if you install a double-headed iron hook at the tail of the torch, nail it to the slanting top of the pointed wooden donkey with an iron hook, and burn the pointed wooden donkey, it can also be used to deal with a ladder truck."

"That's right, it's the swallowtail torch!" Liu Zhongwu nodded vigorously and complimented sincerely: "The deputy is unseeing, knowledgeable and memorable. I really admire him and promiscuously."

"There is no way. Who said that I am your military supervisor and the deputy commander of the Palace Commander's Office? What should I do if I don't read more military books?"

Gao Qiu smiled proudly and said, "Don't worry, Marshal Liu, I have sent someone to ask the old soldiers in the army carefully. Although our Song army has been fighting with the pseudo-Xia thieves for many years and has won and lost each other, they have never used this pointed wooden donkey to attack the city, nor has the swallowtail torch restrain the pointed wooden donkey. Therefore, I think, if you use this pointed wooden donkey to attack the city, the pseudo-Xia thief army can quickly build a swallowtail torch to restrain our pointed wooden donkey, I am afraid that I have never even heard of the name Swallowtail torch!"

Liu Zhongwu nodded and then carefully considered it for a while. Liu Zhongwu gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, since Wang Dehou insisted on establishing a camp to block the reinforcements of the pseudo-Xia bandit army, let him stop him, Zangdihe City, we will fight ourselves!"

"That's right." Gao Qiu smiled and nodded, saying, "Let Wang Dehou set up a camp to defend the narrow road on the north side. We don't have to worry about the sudden and large-scale advance of the pseudo-Xia thief army, and we can also take over the credit for the Zangdihe City. Once the city is broken, the official family will naturally give you more good words."

Liu Zhongwu quickly thanked him, and couldn't wait to say that once he used this pointed wooden donkey to break through the city, he would definitely give Gao Qiu the first merit in the military merit book. However, he hummed with great disdain: "The bullshit "Tongdian"! This pointed wooden donkey is also recorded in the military book "Wu Jing Zongyao" of this dynasty, but it is too remote and no one has used it for hundreds of years, so this coach didn't remember it for a while."

Despite his disdain, Liu Zhongwu still felt a little strange in his heart. He couldn't help but say in his heart: "You are a dilapidated person who plays football and can read military books? You have read unpopular military books like "Tongdian" that I have never read before? I don't believe it if I beat you to death! It's definitely someone who taught you that you showed off in front of me! Who is this person?"

This is not difficult to guess. Recalling the newly appeared figure around Gao Qiu recently, an evil figure, naturally appeared in Liu Zhongwu's mind soon...
Chapter completed!