weaving

Chapter 640
Since Li Zicheng was defeated by the army led by Zhang Cheng at the foot of Kaifeng City, although most of them are still there, in order to solve the problem of food for the army, he decided to divide his troops to fight for food in Weishi County.

He originally thought that Zhang Cheng had picked up a bargain in Kaifeng, so he wouldn't pursue him fiercely, so the bandit army of the third route was collecting food along the way, and they didn't rush back to Desheng village in Funiu Mountain.

But he never imagined that after Zhang Cheng obtained enough military merits and rewards under the city of Kaifeng, he and Chen Yongfu and other Kaifeng generals' cavalry chased them all the way, attacking the bandits on the right and the middle of the road.

After working so hard to harvest food, Zhang Cheng picked up another ready-made bargain!
Li Zicheng once wanted to gather most of the rebels in Xuzhou to set up an ambush, but the cavalry led by Zhang Cheng and Chen Yongfu were like blades, and they chopped down everywhere they went.

Then I heard that Chen Jiugao led the infantry brigade of the officer army to arrive, and Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, led the rebels to retreat, and fled back to Funiu Mountain from Xuzhou through Xiangcheng, Jiaxian, Baofeng, Lushan and other places.

Li Zicheng has been dormant in Funiu Mountain since then, not going out, but focusing on training the recruits he recruited in western Henan, waiting for a big move.

He was not seriously injured by an arrow shot by Chen De in the city of Kaifeng, and he recovered quickly, but his left eye could no longer see. White sand is used as a lining, covering the left eye.

Most of the rest of the bandit soldiers who participated in the siege of Kaifeng, except those who were killed and disabled, have recovered one after another. ringleader.

Because the grain, gold, and silver looted in Luoyang, western Henan, were extremely large, almost enough for everyone to use for a year, and because Li Zicheng had the heart to fight for the world, he took out a large amount of grain and grain to help the victims around Funiu Mountain, thinking that Gather people's hearts.

At the same time, he also recruited a large number of hungry recruits in the surrounding villages and towns, constantly expanding his power.

By the end of April, just taking Hong Niangzi's healthy women's camp as an example, more than 500 healthy women in the whole camp are now equipped with war horses, and there are dozens of mules and donkeys to carry luggage.

Within a range of nearly a hundred miles near Deshengzhai in the old camp, no matter here or there, in the depths of the valleys, you can see the recruits who are nervously practicing everywhere, and the golden drum beats the ground and the sound of killing is loud.

Chuang Wang Li Zicheng still followed his habit when he was not fighting. In addition to handling various affairs in the army, he still asked Niu Jinxing to explain the scriptures and "Zizhi Tongjian" to him as always.

Every year in April and May, as the saying goes, there is a lot of food in Funiu Mountain, but because of the gathering of more and more people, and the relief of the people, the consumption of food and grain is very fast.

The common people in several counties around Funiu Mountain live on wild vegetables in the mountains. They eat wild alfalfa, elm, reed root and purple flowers of wild vines, and then eat all kinds of edible leaves and grasses, and even elm bark. They were all peeled off and eaten.

That being the case, there are still old people and children dying on the side of the road. This is still under the condition of Li Zicheng's relief, which shows the severity and tragedy of the famine in various parts of Henan Province.

Chuang Wang Li Zicheng was worried that if things went on like this, he would be sitting on nothing. Although he also collected food along the way on the way back from Kaifeng, Zhang Cheng robbed most of it halfway, and his income was not much.

In order to cope with the current situation, and also to train troops, he also began to send small groups of people to nearby counties to harvest food. , We must capture the wealthy and prosperous Kaifeng to solve the difficulties.

Because of the failure of the attack on Kaifeng last time, the soldiers of the Chuang army were brooding for a while. The flame that had been rising after the attack on Luoyang was burning, how could it be extinguished because of the temporary defeat in the city of Kaifeng.

In order to prepare for the second attack on Kaifeng, Li Zicheng even adopted Song Xiance's suggestion. He ordered Zhang Nai's to start setting up a special firearms battalion and step up training.

Chuang Wang Li Zicheng even went out to watch the exercises every now and then, and would stay in the firearm camp for a long time each time, and sometimes Xingqi would light the cannons himself.

The firearms battalion under Zhang Nai's charge was filled with the rumble of cannons every day, resounding through the valleys, and every time the gunpowder smoke rose and scattered over the forest tops, it would cover the green mountain scenery.

…………

On this day, the Chuangjun Firearms Battalion cast two new cannons. Because this was the first time that Chuangjun made the cannons himself, Li Zicheng was very concerned about this. He specially chose today as an auspicious day to watch the test of the cannons in person. .

Not only King Chuang came to the firearms camp, but also Liu Zongmin, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan, Tian Jianxiu, Gao Yigong and many other generals came to the firearms camp to watch the test firing of the newly cast cannons.

The altar table was set up in front of the cannon, and there was a red paper tablet with the words "God of General Cannon" written on it. Even the cannon was pasted with red paper, which said "Good luck with the cannon". A pot of sake, an incense burner, and a pair of earthen candlesticks.

Military adviser Song Xiance and the firearms battalion commander Zhang Nai bathed their hands and burned incense, and then worshiped the gun god three times. Song Xiance recited a few prayers silently, then grabbed the wine pot, filled the cup, and poured it on the ground.

Immediately, the four gunners wearing red crosses first knelt down to salute King Chuang and the generals, and then got up and walked to the cannons. Two people stood in front of each cannon, knelt reverently and kowtowed three times, chanting Congratulations, stood up, and poured wine on the ground.

Then the soldiers stepped forward to remove the altar, and the gunners began to load gunpowder. One person first loaded a few kilograms of gunpowder from the muzzle, and the other gunner drove the gunpowder into the bottom of the gun bore with a long pestle, and inserted it into the gun hole near the bottom of the gun bore. The fuse made of paper plus gunpowder continues to charge the powder, poke it tightly, and load the iron bullet.

Zhang Nai asked Chuang Wang and others to retreat ten feet away, but he only retreated three or four feet away. He waved the small flag in his hand and shouted loudly: "Come on!"

The fuses of the two cannons were ignited at the same time, and the four gunners retreated immediately, standing in front of Zhang Nai nervously, watching the rapidly burning fuses.

Originally, the fire wire made a slight chirping sound while it was burning, but when the part outside the gun hole was fired, the slight noise suddenly stopped, and everyone's hearts shrank.

For a brief moment, everything was eerily silent.

Suddenly, there was a flash of red light at the hole of the gun, followed by a large burst of flames, two loud roars, the ground under the feet jumped, the mountains shook, and the gunpowder was filled with gunpowder in an instant.

When the cannon made a loud noise, all the people who were watching the test firing of the new cannon instinctively put their waists down and hid behind big rocks or trees.

Even the four gunners in charge of the test shot squatted down violently, and exclaimed at the same time: "Master Zhang..."

Zhang Nai looked at the two cannons nervously, opened his mouth quickly when the red light flashed, but did not avoid it. After the cannons rang, he quickly ran close to the cannons and touched them with his hands, and then he was relieved. happily turned around and shouted loudly:
"It worked! It worked! It didn't explode, and it didn't burn. Well, boys, let's do it again!"

(End of this chapter)