A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 403
Hearing Niu Jinxing's words, Li Zicheng and others were all refreshed, but Yuan Zongdi said: "Our rebel army once contacted Luo and Liu, but their attitudes are ambiguous, and there is no certainty that they will join them."

Niu Jinxing said with a smile: "These two people must be up for sale, but today is different from the past, the current situation is like this, as long as our rebel army has good conditions, they will definitely be tempted."

He said to Li Zicheng: "King Chuang, the student is willing to write a letter, understand it with reason, and move it with affection, so that the two should dedicate the city and share the great cause."

Li Zicheng was very happy, he said: "If the two are willing to respond internally, I, Li Zicheng, will definitely treat them generously."

He pondered and said: "This is the first step to break the city. If it doesn't work, follow Mr. Song's strategy of besieging Wei and saving Zhao. Siege the city with heavy troops and send troops to attack Kaifeng and Ruzhou. Kaifeng city is empty of troops, maybe it will be defeated in one go. Maybe, if they come back for help, they will ambush on the road, and the ambush will not be successful, and it will also reduce the strength of Luoyang's guards."

Everyone in the hall said: "High opinion, King Chuang."

This is the last resort. If these two plans fail, the hundreds of thousands of invaders surrounding Luoyang City will have to retreat.

Before going to sleep that night, Li Zicheng always felt restless. Looking at Mrs. Gao who was sleeping next to him, he couldn't fall asleep for a long time, and scenes from the past came to mind.He sighed in his heart, according to today's battle, if there is no Wang Dou and the Shun Township Army, Luoyang City has already been captured, right?
After thinking about it for a long time, Li Zicheng fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he dreamed that his army was marching into the city, and there were countless Luoyang people lining the streets to welcome him.Riding on a tall horse, he led the rebels to open Fu Wang's mansion, official warehouses and cellars, obtained tens of thousands of grains and 10 taels of gold and silver, and then set fire to Fu Wang's mansion and various yamen.

In Ying'en Temple, he even captured Fu Wang Zhu Changxun, who was too fat to escape, together with Luoyang officials such as Lu Weiqi, Wang Yinchang, Kang Menghui, and tried them to death in front of Zhougong Temple. At that moment, countless soldiers and civilians cheered for him, He seemed to be on top of the world.

He even dreamed that Luoyang City was captured, how furious the Emperor of Ming Dynasty was, and how panicked the officials everywhere were.

In this cheerful dream, there is no Wang Dou.

……

On the 14th day of the first lunar month in the [-]th year of Chongzhen, they had been silent for two days since their defeat on the [-]th. They just surrounded Luoyang without fighting. Arrows come up.

At the beginning, the officers and soldiers in the city counterattacked a few times, but in the end they didn't even bother to counterattack, and lazily ignored the thieves outside the city.The soldiers and civilians in the city were all talking about the rogues who were about to retreat. After all, there was the Shunxiang Army in Luoyang City, and it was impossible for those rogues to attack.

If you can't get in, there are more than a dozen to 20 rogues outside the city who eat horse chews every day, which is an astronomical figure. Even if they searched all the counties and counties in Henan Province, the food and grass they need will not be able to supply their consumption.It is imperative to withdraw troops in the near future. As for where they will retreat, this is not a matter of concern to everyone.

In this atmosphere, the soldiers and civilians in Luoyang City became more relaxed, and many gentry began to return to their previous life of drinking and drinking.

In the afternoon of this day, the guerrilla generals Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai came out from the branch guards, and before returning to their respective camps, Liu Jianyi invited Luo Tai to sit in his barracks, Luo Tai readily agreed.Anyway, the Chuangjun will no longer attack the city, and the related defense can be handled by the subordinates.

There are barracks inside the four gates of Luoyang City, which are no different from the civilian houses in the city, except for a shallow wall.In the past, Luoyang's garrison troops lived for defense. After Liu Jianyi and others came to help from Kaifeng, those barracks were naturally occupied by these battalions.

The local soldiers found their own houses to live in.The Shunxiang army who came to help also arranged some private houses and temples to live in around the city gate.

As a guerrilla general, Liu Jianyi naturally occupied the largest courtyard of the barracks, and some servants lived in nearby rooms.But at this time, except for some related patrol personnel, the barracks was quiet, and in the daytime, everyone was sound asleep.

The defense of the city was hard a few days ago. In order to prevent intruders from attacking the city, everyone ate and slept at the top of the city day and night. This cold winter season was extremely unbearable.Right now, the military situation is a little more relaxed. Why don't these soldiers take the time to make up for themselves, so that they have the energy to have a good Lantern Festival at night?
After entering the house, let the servants set fire to the wall, serve some small dishes, some jugs of fine wine, after retreating to the left and right, Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai ate and drank happily.The two chatted while eating, they talked about the rogues outside the city, their hard work coming all the way from Kaifeng to help, and they also talked about Chen Yongfu's success as a villain, Wang Dou's domineering and rudeness, and the unfair treatment of Shangguan.

The chatter became hotter and hotter, especially Luo Tai, who had an ashen face. He scolded fiercely: "Damn, they are also reinforcements. Then Wang Dou, Chen Yongfu let Fu Wang, Wang Yinchang and others look at each other differently. What about us, We have been bullied by everyone from Chen Yongfu, but no one has said a word for us, Brother Liu, do you think this is fair or unfair?"

Liu Jianyi glanced at Luo Tai sideways, and said, "Unfair treatment is one thing, Brother Luo, haven't you discovered anything serious?"

Luo Tai said: "Brother Liu said clearly, you know, your resourcefulness is what I admire the most."

Liu Jianyi sighed: "During the battle of defending the city for a few days, our subordinates suffered serious losses, and Wang Yinchang did not give us supplementary food and pay for our soldiers. Those of us who lead the army rely on the soldiers in our hands. If there are no soldiers, who will Will you look us in the eye? That Wang Dou is so domineering, and what he relies on is the powerful army horse in his hand?"

Luo Taisong was startled, and the cold sweat dripped off his body, he said: "Brother Liu is right, the casualties of my subordinates in the siege battle in the past few days have reached nearly [-]%, if the fight continues, all the soldiers in hand will be wiped out." No more, no more soldiers, not to mention Chen Yongfu is more bullied, even the generals under our command, I am afraid they will not accept it and make trouble."

Liu Jianyi said sadly: "So, I have to think of a way."

Luo Tai trembled, and the two looked at each other, and they both saw something tacit in each other's eyes.

Luo Tai suddenly poured a glass of wine into his mouth, his eyes were red, but he said in a low voice: "Brother Liu, do you think the intruders outside the city will attack the city?"

Liu Jianyi said affirmatively: "This is an inevitable thing. After a long time plotting against Luoyang, how could Chuang Wang give up so easily? There will definitely be several bloody battles in the next few days!"

Luo Tai made up his mind, and said in a low voice: "You said that the two of us are going to vote for King Chuang now, what kind of treatment will the rebel army give us?"

Liu Jianyi chuckled for a while, then took out a letter from his pocket and said, "Brother Luo can read it."

Luo Tai received it in surprise, and was about to yell at the first glance, hurriedly stopped, looked left and right, and said inaudibly: "Where did Brother Liu get the letter? This is the letter from Niu Jinxing, the brain trustee of Chuang Wang, right? "

Liu Jianyi just smiled, and said, "Brother Luo, don't worry about where this letter came from, you should carefully read what is written in it."

Luo Tai opened the letter with trembling hands and read it. Although he could not read much, he could still understand the meaning of the letter. The more he read it, the happier he was. , Li Guo and all the generals are equal, and after the city is broken, give us priority to replenish our soldiers, food and grass, and...give us [-] troops to lead?"

He was very pleasantly surprised: "Even Wang Shaoyu, the commander-in-chief of Henan, doesn't have so many soldiers under his command."

Liu Jianyi smiled and said: "King Chuang is a man who does great things, and a mere [-] troops is naturally no problem for him."

Luo Tai wiped his hands and said: "It's done, he is not benevolent, I am not righteous, if Wang Yinchang and others don't take us seriously, we will vote for Mingzhu."

There was a fierce light in his eyes: "To conquer Luoyang in the future, hehe."

Liu Jianyi smiled darkly, stuffed the letter into the fire on the table, watched the letter slowly turn into ashes, and then said slowly: "Brother Luo, our rebel army wants to take the city, we should cooperate here, we need to discuss it in detail. "

Luo Tai said: "Brother Liu can do whatever he says, brother, I will obey you in everything."

Liu Jianyi said: "Okay, if there is an incident, can brother persuade your generals? It must be reliable, and no news will be leaked."

Luo Tai patted his chest and said: "Brother, just don't worry, they eat my food, take my salary, everything is at my command."

In fact, Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai were guerrilla generals, each of them had less than 2000 troops under their command, but they were all recruits from various sources, not necessarily from Henan.In terms of combat power, they are stronger than the guards, but at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the battalion soldiers were mothers if they had milk, and they would work for whoever paid them.

As a direct superior, Luo Tai said that he wanted to join the bandits, and all the generals under his command would follow him.Not to mention that it is his own nephew who controls the hundreds of family members under his command, and there is no problem in obeying orders.For Luo Tai, as long as these servants follow him, it doesn't matter if the rest of the battalion never follow.

Liu Jianyi's slender fingers tapped on the table: "Tonight, I will send my confidantes to the city secretly, and make an appointment at the east gate and the south gate at Zishi, with three circles of lanterns at the city gate as the sign. As soon as Zishi arrives, we will open the city gate." , to meet the rebels entering the city. At the same time, our division lit fires in various places in the city, causing riots, and when the army enters the city, major events can be settled!"

His face was shining brightly: "Tonight is the night of Shangyuan. The officials in the city have relaxed the common people. It is absolutely unexpected that we will open the door."

He smiled sinisterly again.

Thinking of that situation, Luo Tai also grinned grimly, with a look of impatience.

Liu Jianyi told him carefully that he must not show his feet, especially in front of the officers and generals of Shun Township in the city.Luo Tai knew that this matter was no small matter, so he patted his chest to reassure Liu Jianyi.

Liu Jianyi finally stood up: "Time is tight, we have to work tonight, the two of us are fully prepared."

The two of them looked at each other and nodded heavily.

……

Yinshi, in Beiguan City.

In front of the sand table, Chen Yongfu roared like thunder: "You idiot, these two idiots, I will definitely chop off the heads of the two thieves Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai!"

Wang Dou said: "They think they are doing it without anyone noticing..."

He smiled disdainfully, and the cold look flashed across his eyes: "My subordinates do not take them in at night, and have been closely monitoring these people inside and outside the city. Just last night, Liu Jianyi sent people down to the city and entered the bandit camp at night. I have learned all about their conspiracy."

Wang Dou said: "The scouts that I don't close at night are not only the two thieves Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai. Wang Shaoyu's subordinate Qian Zong Tian Wenzong, Yang Hebian, and the general Li Huajie are all ready to surrender to Li thief. , tonight to open the city to answer."

Chen Yongfu gritted his teeth and said, "Okay."

An inexplicable brilliance flashed in his eyes.

Wang Dou's tone was very flat: "Liu Jianyi and the thieves are just trivial matters. Tonight we will act first and wipe them out. Chen Junmen, the time has come. The thieves are exhausted and the army's morale is in turmoil. It's time to deal with the rogues outside the city."

Speaking of this, Wang Dou turned his attention to the Jianshan Mountains to the west of Luoyang, and he had found out clearly that most of the grain and grass in the Chuang army were hoarded there.

Wang Dou pointed to the sand table and said: "Tonight we will play two games of chess. We will first punish Liu Jianyi and the thieves in the city, and at the same time send troops to attack Jueliang at night. If we succeed, the thieves will be panic-stricken and the soldiers will lose their morale. Tomorrow we will raise our army , and a decisive battle with the thieves in the field, one blow to win!"

(End of this chapter)