stubborn thief

On the evening of May [-]th, the eighth year of Chongzhen reign.

Standing at the foot of Baoji City, the center of the battle, Zuo Liangyu didn't know that Liu Chengzong had already weaved a huge encirclement for the Ming army, wrapping [-] Ming troops in it.

He stood on the earthen hill of the siege camp, his eyes reflected the smoke and fire under Baoji City. The black smoke rising also made him furious, and the words of the governor's siege became more and more severe each time.

In one hour, the Changping army led by Zuo Liangyu attacked the city three times, but was repulsed each time without success. Instead, seventeen corpses were left under the city, and more than 200 people were injured.

Just this casualty ratio.

After attacking the city three times, only a few people died and then they retreated. They said they were attacking the city fiercely. Who would believe it?
However, the Changping army was indeed attacking with all their might, but Luo Rucai's method of defending the city was different from normal people.

The enemy troops arrived at the city with their siege weapons. He neither asked anyone to shoot arrows nor muskets. The defenders squatted behind the battlements. He even chopped off the heads of two soldiers who stood up and shouted. On the high pole of the city wall.

Now there were seven or eight heads hanging on all sides of the city. Luo Rucai killed more of his own people than the Ming army who died during the attack.

The garrison at the top of the city had military orders not to make noise, move around, shoot arrows, muskets, or cannons.

Each battlement was used as a safe area for the garrison. The names of several people were engraved on the city bricks. They were allowed to eat, drink, and sleep in the safe area and were not allowed to leave.

Felt blankets and quilts were hung outside the parapets, which were called hanging curtains in the marshal's city defense method. They were hung outside the battlements during the day to attract arrows and block guns, and were covered by the defenders at night to keep out the cold.

Luo Rucai ordered the siege troops outside the city to only shoot guns and arrows, and they were not allowed to fight back.

First of all, there are limited arrows and cannons in the city, and the city wall of Baoji City is a bit narrow. The three heavy muskets in the camp cannot be placed on the city wall, and only ten small-caliber lion cannons can be placed on the city wall. It is of little significance to shoot at each other. big.

Secondly, he used arrows, guns and cannons to shoot at the siege army. Although he could take advantage of the height of the city wall, his military strength was still at a disadvantage. He still had many new soldiers who lacked training and had difficulty obeying orders. The veterans would die one by one. , rather than shooting at each other, it is better to fight hand to hand.

So he asked the soldiers to stand behind the battlements, either carrying adzes, axes, or simply holding gun barrels and fire tubes, just waiting for the Ming army to climb the ladders to the city.

Anyway, Zuo Liangyu's Changping army did not have heavy siege artillery, and the field Franco-type general cannon it carried was difficult to destroy the battlements. Even if the large shells fired were lucky enough to destroy one of the battlements, the siege army would not know it under the cover of the hanging curtain. Is that piece of battlement broken?

On the contrary, the Han soldiers under Luo Rucai's command were limited to the city battlements, and they cut off the hands and heads of the Ming troops who climbed to the top of the city.

Of course, this is just Luo Rucai's plan for physical combat.

In fact, before fighting broke out at the top of the city, his defenders had to pour the hot golden juice that had been stored for several days down the ladder truck.

The more than 200 injured people in the Zuo Army were all burned by boiling gold juice pouring into their bodies. Only a dozen of them were able to rush to the top of the city with the gold juice, and were knocked down and killed by axes and adzes.

Those were all elite soldiers who had first arrived in helmets and armor. After being so burned by the gold juice, few of them could survive until the end of the battle.

Zuo Liangyu was going crazy.

He made good preparations for the siege, including sixteen ladder trucks with a sturdy chassis, sixteen ladder ladders with wooden tubes covering the outside of the ladders, and more than 20 wooden curtain trucks. He originally thought that relying on these equipment would be enough to conquer Baoji. The city came down with a drum.

The only thing he didn't expect was that the soldiers fighting in hand-to-hand combat at the top of the city would be cut down, and he didn't build a cart and arrow tower. As a result, Luo Rucai taught him a lesson with gold juice, and angrily ordered the troops to withdraw, and fired at the top of the city with the general's cannon again.

The roar of cannons made Luo Rucai on the city tremble with fear. He crawled forward at the top of the city and cursed and lectured the officers one by one.

"Guard the city well. If the city is broken, wipe your own neck. Do you hear me? Grandma Zuo is crazy. If you let him capture you, you will have to chop them all alive!"

Luo's soldiers were lying on their backs behind the battlements, unable to lift their heads under the weight of the cannons. General Qian beside him asked: "General, the commander's reinforcements are on the side, why don't we cross the river and beat him?"

Luo Rucai was wondering how you became a subordinate?

It's so unreasonable to ask questions that the superior officer can't answer.

Luo Rucai opened his eyes and lied: "The commander is like a god with his troops. He must have a way to annihilate the enemy army. We just need to defend the city. In ten days at most, the commander will definitely kill them all... Those leaders of the soldiers should not be idle. Recite sutras when you should recite sutras, recite mantras when you should recite mantras.”

After saying that, he glared hard at Mr. Qian who asked the question, and said to himself, "You and I are both commanders and generals of the Shuai Mansion, and we are trapped together in Baoji City. You don't even know something. Where the hell am I going to do it?"
He was also afraid. He said it was ten days, but in fact he could only give Liu Chengzong three days.

All Luo Rucai's knowledge about attacking and defending cities came from Liu Chengzong.

As for any city that Liu Chengzong decided to attack, from the moment the siege officially started, he could never hold it for three days.

If it takes the commander ten days to kill Zuo Liangyu outside the city, then he will burn the head of Luo Cao Cao for seven days when he enters Baoji City.

He hoped that the Generalissimo could move faster and try to support and contain Zuo Liangyu while he was still hot.

But he didn't expect that Liu Chengzong's movements would be much faster than he imagined.

Zuo Liangyu spent a whole day outside the city with his general's cannon blasting at the city's head. He didn't light a fire until evening to make food.

Luo Ru, who had been anxious for half a day, just felt relieved when his uncle Luo Daien, who was guarding Beicheng, sent someone to report that the [-] Ming troops originally in the north had moved south from the west bank of Qianhe River and that the leading troops had arrived outside the city. Shilipu is expected to join the siege tomorrow.

And their generalissimo, the elite division of the third battalion, was still sitting on the east bank of the Qianhe River.

Luo Dayen suggested that if the commander doesn't move tomorrow, they should break out if they can't.

Luo Rucai said that breaking out of the encirclement was easy to say. To break out of the encirclement to the north, you must first break through Ai Wannian's Yansui Camp, and then cross the Wei River before joining Liu Chengzong's main force.

These two hurdles alone would probably cause more casualties than defending the city for three days.

With hesitation, Luo Rucai replied to his uncle: We will talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow. That's it for now. Go to bed first.

At ten o'clock in the middle of the night, on the plateau where one could not see his fingers under the night cover, in the mountain woodland on the west bank of the Qianhe River, fires shot up into the sky everywhere.

It was Yang Chengzu who guarded Liyang City.

Yang Chengzu had long wanted to save Luo Rucai. He and Luo Rucai were young, and Luo Rucai was also his eldest brother.

In fact, if Luo Rucai hadn't voted for Liu Chengzong, he would have been more willing to hang out with Luo Rucai.

It is true that the Marshal's Mansion was the overlord of the northwest with many soldiers, strict military discipline, adequate food management, and great authority. Liu Chengzong was also kind to him and once picked him out of the dead.

But in the final analysis, Luo Rucai left him 400 bandit soldiers in Yan'an Mansion and asked him to take charge of them. As a result, there were three internal conflicts in one winter, and he fought with himself until he had [-] people left. In the spring, he was so ashamed that he wanted to run away.

In fact, it was Luo Rucai who came back early. When he saw the 400 fat and strong men, he even praised him for his skill in leading the troops and went out to get him a bed warmer.

Yes, following Liu Chengzong is indeed majestic. They are a regular army, and he, Yang Chengzu, is also a general and has promise.

But this is not as good as when he followed Luo Rucai.

By Luo Rucai's side, Yang Chengzu could really feel that he, Yang Chengzu, was more important in Luo Rucai's eyes than the [-] peasant armies.

The generalissimo can make Yang Chengzu fight for him, and Luo Caocao can make Yang Chengzu die for him.

Now Luo Rucai is besieged in Baoji City. Even without Liu Chengzong's order, Yang Chengzu is preparing to fight in the city to rescue the siege, although he only has 500 men under his command.

As soon as Liu Chengzong's order came during the day, Yang Chengzu was greatly inspired. As long as the Ming army attacked Liu Chengzong, the siege of Baoji City would be broken. At that time, he would follow the military order to burn several empty camps of Ningxia soldiers, and he would be relaxed and comfortable.

But Yang Chengzu also didn't expect that the Ningxia army, after crossing the Qianhe River in the afternoon, actually retracted and went south along the Qianhe River.

Yang Chengzu thought, if they go to join Zuo Liangyu, wouldn't Luo Rucai be more dangerous?Therefore, it is better to leave the city and burn the camp first. It would be best if we can lure the border troops back. If we can't, we will wait for the generalisal's orders.

Before he left the city, he sent someone to report a message to Liu Chengzong on horseback. The news was reported to Liu Chengzong on horseback that night. Liu Shizi just nodded.

Since the Ningxia army did not attack him, it actually didn't matter whether Yang Chengzu went to burn the camp or not.

Because in his opinion, this idle move has the greatest significance only when the Ningxia army is in a combat state.

Imagine that the two armies were fighting fiercely on the Fengxiang Plain. When the Ningxia soldiers turned around, black smoke came out from behind and the camp was burned down. This would definitely shake the morale of the soldiers.

But now, at most, it is just a suspicious soldier who tells him that there is a Marshal's Army to the north.

However, plans always failed to keep up with changes on the battlefield. The Ningxia army showed its face across the river and then retreated. Yang Chengzu was far away from the Chinese army, so he could set fire if he wanted to go there without affecting the overall situation.

What's more, even if Liu Chengzong wanted to stop him, Yang Chengzu had already set off and couldn't stop him.

Therefore, he just ordered someone to transfer this information to Zhang Xianzhong who was resting on the south bank of the Wei River.

Zhang Xianzhong and Shi Xiang arrived at the predetermined position after dark. They originally wanted to attack Long Zaitian's Yunnan soldiers as soon as possible, but the quality of the soldiers they led could not keep up with his ambition.

After all, it is a large-scale infantry and cavalry army of 160 troops. It covers [-] miles in two days. It is not a big problem for most field camps in the Marshal's Mansion, but the Lintao Banner Army cannot bear it.

As for the Xi'an rebels newly surrendered by Yang Guodong, they can continue to march, but their physical strength is not well managed. They can only fight with [-]% of their combat power at most, making it difficult to carry out night attacks.

In addition, Lintao Banner Army and Yang Guodong's troops both had soldiers falling behind to varying degrees. Zhang Xianzhong was hesitant and could not fight.

After all, what Zhang Kewang said, the commander-in-chief meant: You have the final say on how to beat me, and you are the one who will be punished if you lose.

After some consideration, Zhang Xianzhong showed rare sympathy for the Lintao brigade of Shixiang Division: "Let's all rest. Don't rush to fight. Eat something first and rest for a few hours."

These three battalions, which were in the same state as the soldiers of the West Camp in the past, were now like mad dogs pounced on Long Zaitian and bit him.

Yang Chengzu moved very quickly. Before the letter Liu Chengzong forwarded to Zhang Xianzhong arrived, tens of thousands of troops could be seen in the entire Fengxiang Plain. In the northwest mountains under the night, a burst of fire ignited among the mountains and forests, and the thick smoke was also deep blue. The colorful night sky rises.

Soon, three more bursts of fire ignited one after another.

The night attack on the camp was much smoother than Yang Chengzu imagined. The Ningxia army did not leave many men in the camp. The four battalions only had more than 200 soldiers who had been injured earlier, and they were killed and captured in the blink of an eye.

Yang Chengzu fought and retreated quickly, burning the tents, wooden fences, vehicles and other equipment left in the camp. At the same time, he also moved some Juma fence and ran back to Mianyang City, placing it between the moat and the sheep and horse wall.

The attack on the camp was very successful, but the only drawback was that there was no food.

There wasn't even a grain of food, whether it was human food or horse food.

Then an urgent report was crossed from the west bank of Qianhe River and delivered to Liu Chengzong.

Liu Shishi opened the letter, which was sent by Yang Chengzu during the attack on the camp. The letter reported the gains of the attack on the camp, but this was only mentioned in passing.

The important thing is that there is a piece of information in the letter, and Yang Chengzu wrote the letter specifically for this piece of information.

Liu Shizi narrowed his eyes while holding the letter: "There are four camps, three of them have Juma tents and vehicles, but there is nothing in one camp and everything has been emptied?"

When Yang Chengzu interrogated the wounded prisoners, he only knew that the battalion belonged to General Bai Guangen, but the prisoners did not know what Bai Guangen was doing.

Bai Guangen...could he have escaped from the battlefield?
This thought only lasted for a moment before Liu Chengzong shook it out of his head.

On the one hand, it was based on his understanding of Bai Guangen. This man was more cunning when the army was defeated. He was able to understand current affairs and ran away when the situation was bad. However, he had not escaped at the beginning of the war. He dared to fight and fight, so he would not be where he is now. Escape.

On the other hand, the Ningxia Third Battalion was in a state of moving south, unlike the forced mobilization after friendly forces escaped.

Therefore, Liu Shizi judged that Bai Guangen was going to carry out some order issued by Cao Wenzhao, so he broke camp and left.

As for the direction of departure, it is easy to judge. There is no way to go to the north, no way to the east, and no way to go to the south. Then there is only Qinzhou in the west.

In other words, Bai Guangen went to Longxi. He must have gone to Longxi at this time to collect food and grass.

Thinking of this, Liu Shizi chuckled: "Hey!"

There is no food in Longxi.

No one knows the situation in Longxi better than Liu Chengzong.

Longxi is very vast, but it's hard to find food and fodder for a large army there now. Even if it supplies Bai Guangen's entire battalion, it's hard to find it.

Jingning Prefecture, which has more than 2 hectares of mountainous fields in mountain valleys and valleys, but only has a population of [-], is the epitome of Longxi today.

There are not many wolves, tigers and leopards running around in this small population, and most of the men have lost their hands and fingers due to the war, so they have no resistance to natural disasters.

In other words, whether it is the Ming army or the marshal's army, apart from the Guanzhong Plain, only Pingliang, where the Han Palace is located, can obtain food in the territories east of Lanzhou and west of the Yellow River.

Otherwise, Liu Chengzong would not have had to let Ren Quan'er lead troops to Pingliang.

Letting Ren Quan'er and Yang Yanchang take more than 1 troops to Pingliang Mansion was not entirely for the purpose of forming a large encirclement. The strategic deployment of encirclement and annihilation was only one of the reasons.

More importantly, only Pingliang can share the pressure of food and fodder for more than 1 soldiers and horses.

After all, Fengxiang Mansion has a lot of food stored in it, and Fengxiang Plains cannot accommodate the deployment of more troops.

If they eat one month of food in Pingliang, Fengxiang Prefecture's [-] troops can save ten days of food.

By sharing the pressure of food and grass, Liu Chengzong was able to plan tactics more easily.

At the same time, controlling Pingliang will choke the Ming army's possibility of obtaining supplies. No matter where this battle is fought, they will be invincible.

The key to controlling Pingliang lies with King Han.

To be honest, Han Xiaowang had a unique head, and he was clamoring to be supported. Even now, Liu Chengzong doesn't know if he is a true hero who has not changed his ambition.

In any case, as Yang Chengzu burned four battalions in succession and Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to the battlefield, the situation on the entire battlefield changed again.

The focus of this change was on Luo Rucai, who had just fallen asleep.

He was called by the soldiers: "General, the north is on fire!"

"on fire?"

Luo Rucai ran to the northeast corner of the city wall in a daze. When he looked to the northwest, he saw the light of fire. He was so excited that he suddenly woke up: "Quick, ghost soldiers, ghost soldiers come out of the city to attack the camp!"

"If you don't kill Zuo Liangyu, you'll kill those Ningxia soldiers who just came over during the day!" (End of Chapter)