According to Huang Li's experience, the top thickness of the tunnel can reach one meter, and if it is supported, it should be strong, and it can even be used for farming on the ground.

Therefore, a thickness of more than one meter, a height of one meter, sixty-seven meters, and a depth of one foot can already meet the most basic conditions.

Huang Li was heartbroken and immediately informed Yuan Zongdi and others of the good news.

Yuan Zongdi and others were overjoyed, and immediately held a brief discussion and decided to start filling in the moat and dig trenches tomorrow to clear the way for tunnel blasting.

Of course, the sooner this counterattack succeeds, the more beneficial it will be.

It had already taken six or seven days to march and set up camp. Calculating the distance traveled by the Eight Banners soldiers, the time to conquer the city was quite tight.

On the top of the city, Dong Xueli led the generals to watch the movements of the Ming army from beginning to end. However, no flags were raised, and only Mu Shenghui, who was guarding the north city, stood up with the general's flag.

"The bandits have completed their observation and will launch a large-scale attack tomorrow."

Dong Xueli pointed at the retreating Ming army and said in a deep voice: "One vigorous effort will weaken again, and three times it will be exhausted. Although the thieves and bandits are struggling to death, the battles in the past few days will still be fierce. Everyone, please work together and kill the enemy bravely.

."

"Don't worry, sir."

"We must kill the thieves till their heads are rolling."

"The thieves did not overestimate their capabilities, so they were allowed to bleed into a river of blood under the city walls."

The generals all expressed their determination, the crowd was angry and confident.

Dong Xueli nodded, smiled, and glanced at the generals with admiration to encourage them.

The battles in the previous few days would not be very fierce, and the obstacles of the moat would not be easy to break through. They should be preparations before a large-scale attack, but Dong Xueli did not dare to say anything relaxing.

The two city gates in the north may be the focus of the enemy's attack.

However, the attack area on the stone arch bridge is narrow, and the enemy's troops cannot be deployed. However, artillery, bows and arrows are concentrated on the tower, as well as rolling wood and stones, which will definitely make the enemy pay a heavy price.

"Just in case, block the north gate from the inside." Dong Xueli turned around and walked down the city wall, then turned back and told Mu Shenghui, "Even if the enemy rushes to the city gate, there is nothing they can do."

Mu Shenghui bowed to accept the order and said: "Don't worry, Sir, General Mo will send someone to do it."

Dong Xueli smiled with satisfaction, and left down the city surrounded by the generals.

……………

The next day, the Ming army had an early meal, rested a little, and then marched out of the camp. There were fully 20,000 people, separated into two formations, and suppressed the Beizuo Gate and the Beiwang Gate.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians pushed carts, carried bags of earth and stones, and held digging tools, and gathered at the city wall between the two gates.

The atmosphere of tension and coercion is getting thicker and thicker, like a real dark cloud, shrouding the city above and below.

Yuan Zongdi has been deployed. Under the command of the officers and with the rumble of war drums, dozens of carriages moved forward.

The slow speed of the cart shows the heaviness of the bags of stones and earth carried, and perhaps also the heaviness of people's hearts.

On the other side, several trenches have begun to be excavated, dust is flying, and thousands of people are wielding shovels and pickaxes, constructing in sections.

Huang Li held up his telescope and observed the movements of the Qing troops on the city. Although the carriages were still far away, he could still see the Qing troops busy preparing and the muzzles of the cannons were stretching out of the crenels.

"It's a pity that our army does not carry artillery. Even if it does, the number is not large, and it cannot compete with the condescending artillery bombardment on the city." Huang Li sighed helplessly, only hoping that the carriages and cover plates could reduce casualties as much as possible.
p>

Five hundred meters, four hundred meters, three hundred meters, two hundred meters... the artillery on the city finally roared.

The solid cannonball flew down from the city with a trajectory visible to the naked eye, drew an arc, crossed the moat, and landed on the ground, splashing up a cloud of dust and bouncing a few more times before losing kinetic energy.

This was a test firing by the Qing army. Huang Li and others knew it very well, but their hearts became heavy. Casualties were inevitable, but this was a one-sided loss, which was unpleasant.

Huang Li squinted his eyes and observed the landing point of the cannonball, his mind spinning rapidly, hoping to come up with a way to reduce the damage.

After a few test shots, the artillery fire on the city gradually became intensive. The carts also advanced to the moat and unloaded stones and sandbags into the river.

Arrows were shot down from the city. Even though they were covered by carriages, some civilians and soldiers were still hit by arrows and fell to the ground. The screams made Huang Li's heart tremble.

His hands were clenched into fists, his eyes were looking at the battlefield dully, his mouth was dry and bitter, and he was swallowing saliva subconsciously.

Working on pictures, talking about military affairs on paper, and scolding Fang Qiu are so cool. But on the real battlefield, looking at the bloody scenes and listening to the horrifying screams, it is difficult to bear without a strong mentality.

What's more, Huang Li is still a rookie on the battlefield. In later generations, he has never seen such a tragic scene.

In the eyes of Yuan Zongdi and others, this is nothing at all. It is still far from being truly tragic!

But when they saw Huang Li's face turning pale, staring straight ahead, and his body stiffening, they didn't laugh at him. Instead, they thought this was a real reaction.

Boom! A cannonball hit the ground and bounced, hitting the cart. Wood chips flew everywhere. The civilian man pushing the cart was hit by the spurting wooden thorns and fell to the ground rolling in pain.

Another cannonball bounced on the ground and hit two people one after another, leaving the ground covered in blood and flesh. The two people did not scream and fell to the ground dead.

The team filling up the moat did not stop moving, but paused slightly. There was a moment of confusion, and then they continued to move forward risking their own lives and continued working.

Amidst the roar of artillery, stones, sandbags, and earthbags were continuously thrown into the river, causing waves of waves. The trenches dug in sections were like strange snakes, winding and extending forward.

Huang Li swallowed hard, his eyes rolled around, and he regained his intelligence. He turned to Yuan Zongdi and said, "I have come up with a way to reduce the casualties from artillery fire, and I also ask the Duke to temporarily withdraw the trench-filling troops."<

/p>

Without speaking, Huang Li found that his voice was a little hoarse and unpleasant.

Yuan Zongdi turned to look at Huang Li, hesitated for a long time, then nodded and said: "Okay, I'll follow Mr. Huang."

This has just begun. Although there are casualties, it is far from reaching Yuan Zongdi's psychological bottom line. If he retreats, his morale may suffer a small setback.

But Yuan Zongdi saw the eagerness and intolerance in Huang Li's eyes, and sighed in his heart that the third prince was still too kind and had never experienced such a bloody scene.

But if there is really a way to reduce casualties, Yuan Zongdi thinks that he can give it a try. After all, filling up the moat cannot be completed in a short time. During this period of time, many lives may be saved.

As the drums and trumpets sounded, the officers and soldiers who did not know what was going on retreated back with the civilians.
Chapter completed!