Chapter 485, Guanshan Ninety Thousand Miles 1
At first, there was no change, but soon I saw a bright line in the distance in the sky, which was very strange. [No pop-ups. 】 :efefd
Song Xiance has been in Henan for a long time, and he knows something about the Yellow River breaking, and when he saw this bright line, he immediately shouted: "Sure enough, it's the waterline, no, the Yellow River really burst." ”
When Li was formed, he ordered all battalions to move and withdraw to the south as soon as possible, without caring about supplies and treasures, as long as people could go.
For a while, the whole battalion sounded with an earth-shattering gong, and all the peasant troops jumped up and dressed up.
This is also thanks to Li Zicheng's usual strict training, he once stipulated that after the gong sounded when he got up, his ten fingers stretched out one by one, and then retracted one by one, and when all ten fingers were retracted, if there were still those who did not get up, they would be severely punished with forty military sticks.
Such strict military regulations finally came into play at this time.
The peasant army quickly came out of the tent, poured out of the camp, and ran south.
Li Zicheng was worried about the troops in the north of the city, and sent someone to give an order to withdraw to the south immediately.
The brigade hurried south, and Li Zicheng ordered that no matter what the destination was, as long as he avoided the flood. He came to the south of the city and sent someone to inform Luo Rucai to withdraw together.
Luo Rucai also passed down the order to go, and the men and horses of each battalion should take care of themselves, do not assemble, and avoid water in the south.
So the peasant army began a great retreat, with two or three men on each horse, desperately running south, and the infantry also spread their legs and fled as fast as they could.
After a while, the flood rushed in, although Kaifeng City is some distance away from the Yellow River, but the water is too big, when it rushes to Kaifeng City, it does not weaken much, the camp of the peasant army outside the city is immediately swept away, tents, baggage, grain and grass and other things, all wrapped in the flood, rolling away.
The poor peasant army in the north of the city did not have time to withdraw, and the herald sent by Li Zicheng was washed away by the water on the way, and the people sent by Li Laiheng were also buried in the water before they saw the camp of the peasant army.
As a result, more than 20,000 peasant troops in the north of Kaifeng City, along with the big battalion, were swept away by the flood.
Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai led a large group of men and horses to withdraw, but said that in Kaifeng City, King Zhou and others had learned that the Yellow River embankment was going to be dug tonight, so they didn't sleep all night, and they all opened their eyes wide, waiting for the news of the arrival of the flood. They had already prepared their ships and sent them to carry them to the roofs, loaded with treasures and grain, ready to escape from Kaifeng at any time.
When the water came, the soldiers guarding the city were first stunned, such a big water, they had never encountered it in Henan for so many years, so they were at a loss one by one.
The Kaifeng city wall was high and thick enough to block the flood, and these defenders began to see the peasant army camp washed away by the water, and countless peasant troops struggled and shouted in the water, and cheered happily while watching, but then the flood became bigger and bigger, higher and higher, and finally overflowed the city wall and poured into the city.
This is a terrible thing, Kaifeng City is like a dry well, as soon as the water comes in outside, there are city walls on all sides, and there is nowhere to flow out, so it is poured in hard, the water level rises at the sight, the residents of the city cry to the sky, and hundreds of people and soldiers struggle to survive in the water.
The entire city of Kaifeng was washed away, and the bodies of the drowned were almost covered with water.
The king of Zhou and the prefect, the guard general Chen Yongfu and others, had already boarded the ship, and when the water level rose enough to drive the boat, they took a boat and fled from Kaifeng City.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city were almost half drowned, including countless women and children, whose corpses floated on the water. Within a hundred miles of Kaifeng City, it was flooded, and the people fled to death, almost becoming a no-man's land within a radius of 100 miles.
Before the battle of Kaifeng, the peasant army has been in a state of encirclement and suppression, being blocked, but after this war, the righteous army headed by Li Zicheng began to counterattack the Ming army, and the initiative on the battlefield has been firmly grasped in the hands of the righteous army.
A few days later, the flood receded, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai led people back to Kaifeng, at this time Kaifeng City has become a ghost city, which is full of corpses, the living people fled to the city wall, starved and dying, Li Zicheng ordered to treat the victims, and then a check, only 70,000 or 80,000 people survived in Kaifeng City, and the rest of the people were either washed away by the flood, or the corpses in the city.
Because the weather was not cold and there were too many dead people in the city, Li Zicheng was afraid of the epidemic and only stayed in the city for a few days, and after burying the body, he led his men and horses to leave Kaifeng and go to Luoyang.
Kaifeng City was washed into ruins, and there was nothing left of grain treasures, and Li Zicheng was very angry. Fortunately, the peasant army from the surrounding county town brought food, otherwise his men and horses would have starved.
King Zhou, Chen Yongfu and others fled to Hebei, met Sun Chuanting, Sun Chuanting entertained them, and then sent them to Beijing to see Chongzhen. At the same time, Sun Chuanting sent people to spread the news that the peasant army was digging the river and irrigating the city, and blamed Li Zicheng for this tragedy.
And Li Zicheng had no time to take care of these, he captured Luoyang again, and then used Luoyang as his base camp to reorganize his men and horses and prepare for the next attack.
Due to this flood, in addition to the loss of more than 30,000 people, Li Zicheng's materials, equipment, grain and grass and other baggage were all washed away by the water, so he had to use a period of time to replenish these materials. So he sent men and horses to unite the local people in various counties in Henan, collect people and horses, and build military weapons.
However, in a month, Henan was all controlled by Li Zicheng, except for some areas such as Nanyang and Xinyang.
At the same time, this flood also shocked the world.
The King of Qin soon learned the news, and when he learned that Kaifeng City had been flooded, he summoned everyone to discuss the matter.
King Qin spoke first: "I just got a detailed report from Henan today, Li Zicheng dug the Yellow River embankment, flooded Kaifeng, it is reported that Li Zicheng was injured by an arrow under the city, his face was damaged, so he was furious and ordered to dig the Yellow River, but the water did not open the seal. No less than hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians were drowned, and Kaifeng City was leveled. ”
Bai Qi said: "Once Kaifeng is destroyed, Li Zicheng will inevitably completely occupy Henan, and there will be no worries." ”
King Qin said: "It seems that in the next step, Li Zicheng will cross the Yellow River north and take Beijing directly." I didn't expect the situation to develop, so fast. Before our Qin army could enter and occupy Shanxi, he was about to end the rule of the Ming Dynasty. ”
Li Yan shook his head lightly: "King, this language is still early, although Li Zicheng can occupy the entire Henan, but there are still Sun Chuanting in Hebei, Nanyang and other places There are still troops of Zuo Liangyu and others, and it is not easy for Li Zicheng to attack Beijing." ”
King Qin waved his hand: "Li Gongzi, Li Zicheng at this time is by no means a year ago, he has four or five hundred thousand horses, if he wants to cross the river into Hebei and attack the capital, Sun Chuanting can't stop it no matter what." After his new defeat, the men and horses suffered heavy losses, according to the details of Hebei a few days ago, Sun Chuanting tried his best to recruit 30,000 people, and now he has a maximum of 40,000 or 50,000 horses, this point of men and horses to withstand Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai's 500,000 army, isn't it a joke. ”
Zhang Yi also said: "When Li Zicheng occupies Henan, he will inevitably move his army north, as long as the capital is captured, the Ming Dynasty will die." ”
Li Yan said: "Even if the capital is captured, the Ming Dynasty may not be dead, and there is still half of the south of the Yangtze River." ”
Zhang Yi smiled: "Li Gongzi, you are a contemporary, don't you know the ancestral teachings of the Ming Dynasty, there are no two Song Dynasty coins, no Han and Tang Dynasty relatives, no land, no compensation, no tribute, no ministers, the Son of Heaven guards the people, and the king dies." At that time, the emperor became a prisoner, and he still did not move the capital, not to mention that at this time, once the capital was breached, Chongzhen would run to Jiangnan to be the emperor You know, although Chongzhen has many mistakes, he is not weak. ”
King Qin nodded: "Yes, from a lonely point of view, the day Beijing falls is the time when Chongzhen dies." ”
Li Yan groaned: "If Li Zicheng really enters Beijing and Chongzhen dies, then the Ming Dynasty will also die, and the world will not become Li Zicheng's Jiangnan provinces, and they will definitely be dominated by Li Zicheng." ”
King Qin said: "But not necessarily, the Ming Dynasty also sealed a lot of vassal kings in Jiangnan, and Lone believes that once the Ming Dynasty is destroyed, Jiangnan provinces may support capable and influential vassal kings, and they will also raise the banner of the Ming Dynasty." After all, in Jiangnan, the rule of the Ming Dynasty was still very stable. ”
Li Yan said: "If the Ming Dynasty dies, what can we do The king can be called the emperor." ”
King Qin shook his head: "Then you can't be called an emperor." If Li Zicheng had destroyed the Ming Dynasty, he would have been the emperor in Beijing, and then he would have been the emperor again, and it would be an open rupture. Once Zhang Xianzhong refuses to oppose Li Zicheng, our Qin army will be attacked by Henan and Sichuan, and the pressure will be too great. ”
Zhang Yi said: "The king is right, if Li Zicheng is the emperor, we might as well have a long-distance close attack, for Li Zicheng, as long as he is the emperor on the surface, he can secretly send troops to attack Shanxi, as long as he can occupy Shanxi, the land spans the two provinces, and he will have enough strength, and it will not be too late to turn his face at that time." ”
King Qin said: "Speaking of which, it's still Shanxi. General, how are you prepared for the dispatch of troops?" Bai Qi arched his hand and said: "Your lord, the men and horses have been trained for a while, and the equipment and other equipment have been ready, and you can form 50,000 horses at any time to kill out of the pass." ”
King Qin said: "Without further ado, it's better to act quickly." ”
Bai Qi said: "The minister wants to see Li Zicheng's actions again, it is best to send troops with him, he crosses the Yellow River north to attack the capital, Chongzhen is anxious, he will definitely transfer the men and horses from Shanxi to reinforcements, and then we can march again, we can go down with a drum." ”
King Qin nodded: "Okay, just follow this policy." Send more people to inquire about the news in Henan, as long as the time is right, you don't have to report to me, you can send troops. It's all up to you. ”
Bai Qi arched his hand and thanked him.
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