The day Wu Sangui arrived in Beijing happened to be the moment when Zheng Zhilong escorted Wang Dehua's prince's report documents and his cronies' little eunuchs escorted five clippers to shore Shixin fruits and lychees and other reserve fruits at the Nigu Wharf......

On the same day, on the fifteenth day of the first month of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, outside Luoyang City, thousands of miles away from Beijing, the flags were like forests and people were like a sea. Li Zicheng, who broke into the camp from the mountainous area of western Henan and attacked Luoyang, prepared to attack Luoyang City.

From six-pounder guns, eight-pounder guns, to big Buddha Lang machines and other more than 100 large and small artillery pieces are lined up outside the city of Xiguan outside Luoyang City, and the muzzle of the black hole hole is directly pointed at the barricade wall outside the pass. The "horse wall" is about one zhang, and there is a trench dug in front of the wall to lead water into the trench. This is the first line of defense in Luoyang, which can block the approach of enemy cavalry in wartime, forcing them to dismount and fight. In normal times, large animals such as cattle, sheep and horses that can be trafficked into the city can be here, so it is also called the sheep and horse wall.

The circumference of this "horse wall" around Luoyang City is more than 23 miles, and only some walled gates are opened on some official roads. After the east, west, south and north four passes, thirty steps away from the main city wall of Luoyang, is a deep moat, which also leads the water or Luoshui into the moat.

On the inside of the moat, there is also a "horse wall" one foot high, and beyond this horse wall is the wall of each pass.

The city is taller and thicker, and the city wall is covered with blue bricks, and the city wall is about four zhang high. There are majestic towers on the gates of each pass, and there are many battlements and horse faces on the city wall. There are a total of 39 horse faces in Luoyang City, and there are enemy towers on the horse faces to see the enemy's situation. The horses are dozens of paces apart, whether they are cold weapons or firearms. Even the most traditional defensive weapons such as sheep's head stones and rolling wood stones are thrown at the city, and the besieging enemies are within the killing range of these weapons on the city, forming a crossfire network on the front and sides.

The four corners of the city also have corner towers and corner towers, which have a wide field of vision, and can monitor and attack attacking enemies from various angles. The four city gates are also built with urn cities, making Luoyang City extremely strong.

Looking down from the sky, on the north bank of Luoshui, at the foot of Bishan Mountain, there is a huge city of Luoyang, and the main city is in the middle. There are four passes, east, west, south and north, which are distributed on all sides. It is a horn with the core, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The so-called four passes, that is, the gates, are generally erected rectangular shapes. Or half the size of the main city. or a quarter of the size of the main city. They are all facing the city gates on all sides. After the population of a large city multiplies, a small city is basically built outside the main city, and the city is connected to the big city by the city gate road. The distance is generally within two miles, or even only a hundred steps.

However, it also depends on the geographical shape of the location where the castle was built. For example, Linfen, Shanxi, which is known as the "Cow City", has four gates in this city built on a high place, and the main city is only more than 100 steps away from each gate. Moreover, the four cities are very large, especially the East Gate, which is basically the same size as the main city, and the city walls of the two cities are separated by no more than 100 steps, and there is a long and narrow strip in the middle. Therefore, Linfen Dongguan is known as the bull head of this Lying Cow City, and if you want to attack Linfen City, you must first take Dongguan, otherwise not only can you not spread your troops, but you even have to risk the fire of the two city walls, and the danger of heavy casualties. Not to say that it was in the era of cold weapons, but in modern times, when Xu Shuai started the Linfen Campaign, he already had hundreds of artillery pieces of various calibers, and it was also to conquer Dongguan, and then excavate the medicine room under the Linfen city wall with the tactics of tunnel excavation, and place dozens of coffins of explosives, which turned this lying cow city, which is said to have never been breached, into a piece of fat beef on a plate, adding a glorious number of Linfen Brigade to the ranks of the People's Liberation Army.

The same is true of Luoyang City, Dongguan, Xiguan, Nanguan, and Beiguan guard the big city, and each Guancheng also has urn cities, moats, and moats. In addition, there are "horse blocking walls" on the periphery of Dongguan, which are one zhang high, and there are also female walls and moats, which can be said to form a solid defense line around Luoyang City, and it is also very convenient to support each other.

With such a strict and three-dimensional protection system, it is no wonder that heroes like Gao Yingxiang, the king of Gao Chuang, also returned with a feather. After seeing the defense of the city wall in Luoyang through the monocular clairvoyance, Li Zicheng's adopted son Zhang Nai stood in front with a red order flag in his hand, and looked back at the rear military formation.

There are more than 10,000 people, and the sky is torn apart. What's more, at least tens of thousands of people gathered under Luoyang City? As far as the eye can see, Zhang Nai's vision is full of dense human heads, fluttering flags, waving weapons, and what he hears in his ears is the sound of commands, shouting and stopping, and in a blink of an eye, the sound gradually subsides, and occasionally a few neighing sounds of mules and horses come.

Surrounded by hundreds of soldiers of the old battalion, more than a dozen people slowly came out from the back of the military formation, and everywhere they passed, earth-shattering cheers sounded in the military formation, "King Chuang!" Break the king! ”

After months of recuperation, the camp has reached an unprecedented height of strength, not only all the soldiers of the old battalion are wearing iron armor, but also those peripheral troops such as cavalry and horse army are also armored, but they are waiting for the dragon leather armor and cotton armor, but in this weather, it is very suitable to wear leather armor and cotton armor.

After all, the time is still relatively short, and it is too late to carry out a scientific and rigorous establishment of the expanded troops, not to mention that in the future, after defeating Zuo Liangyu and Huo and Luo Rucai He Yilong, the army will be organized into standard battalions, front battalions, rear battalions, left battalions, right battalions and other battalions, and the colors of the flags are not differentiated, but they have appeared as a team. It can be as large as 5o men per cavalry team and 1oo or 15o men per infantry team.

Today's formation is a bit special, unlike the usual attack on ordinary states and counties or sieges, with a five-fold army formation, the hungry people in front, foot soldiers behind, horse army again, horse cavalry again, and finally the elite of the old battalion. Instead, the foot soldiers were placed in front, and those hungry people who were not fully armed and had no clothes and armor were placed in the second wave, and at the head of the queue was Zhang Nai's artillery unit.

A large banner several feet high stood in front of the military formation, the flag was snow-white, but it was made of horsehair. The spear is silver, and it is made of silver. The flag flew fiercely in the cold wind, showing a big "Chuang" word in the eyes of people, and the word "Chuang" was embroidered with black satin.

Underneath the banner, Li Zicheng rode on his black barge horse, which was a very tall horse. The horse's whole body is dark gray, with white spots, and its fur is many and curly, and its mane and tail are trimmed.

Li Zicheng is still wearing a white felt hat, an arrow suit made of Songjiang standard cloth, a bow and arrows behind his back, and a sword hanging from his waist. Whenever the cold wind howled, the banner would roll and toss, and the red tassels on his red cloak and felt hat would continue to flutter.

Left beside him. Several generals. Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, Liu Fangliang, Li Shuangxi, Hao Shaoqi and others each had bright armor, and stood on horseback with a bow on their backs. On the right-hand side, there are Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan and others who came to join after breaking into the camp and entering Henan.

As far as the eye can see, the crowd is full of soldiers and horses cheering towards him, which has not happened in the past few years since the defeat of Tongguan Nanyuan. Zicheng couldn't help but feel a little intoxicated.

"How are the battalions and units preparing?" A fierce cold wind blew. made Li Zicheng's fiery mind immediately become extremely sober.

"Back to the king's words. The ministries have been prepared, just waiting for the king's military order! Liu Zongmin, who was called the chief whistle Liu Ye by the people who broke into the camp, replied to Li Zicheng in a rough voice.

"Mr. Niu, Mr. Song. Brother Lin Quan, how do you think this Henan Mansion will be captured? ”

In order to strengthen Luoyang's defensive forces, Wang Shaoyu, the chief of the Luoyang garrison, has ordered about 2,000 officers and troops to be transferred back to Luoyang to defend the city, and the officers and soldiers transferred back from Gongxian and the officers and soldiers of the division are under the command of adjutant general Luo Tai and general Liu Youyi. These two men were greedy for life and afraid of death, and they were as timid as rats, and they were afraid of both Li Zicheng's peasant army, which was powerful in various parts of western Henan, and also afraid of their soldiers. Cause? These two men had already owed the salaries of their officers and soldiers for six or seven months, and they were unstable on weekdays, and now they were transferred back to Luoyang to defend the city, and let these hungry soldiers withstand the artillery fire of the peasant army and use them on the edge of the knife, which of course was even more unstable. After Yuan Zongdi learned that Wang Shaoyu ordered them to pass through Yanshi County, join forces from Yanshi County, and then drive back to Luoyang to defend the city, he had already sent Xizuo to Yanshi City to set up an internal line of contact among the soldiers under Luo Tai and Liu Youyi. Another reinforcement was the Shaanxi soldiers who had mutinied at Tongguan last month because of unpaid salaries, about five or six hundred people, who fled to Shaanzhou and were called to Luoyang by Wang Shaoyu to help defend the city. As for the hundreds of mutineers from Tongguan, they are all fellow villagers in Shaanxi, so it is naturally more convenient to get in touch, and Yuan Zongdi has already arranged for someone to wait in Luoyang City and secretly connect.

At first, Li Ziyuan planned to send troops to ambush and intercept on the road, and exterminate these two official armies outside Luoyang City. Later, it was decided to fight ghosts and ghosts, and according to the situation, the two life-saving bodhisattvas who went to Luoyang became the judgment of the life, and the city defenders became the city dedicators.

Although Yuan Zongdi had already secretly connected with Wang Shaoyu, the chief soldier of the Luoyang garrison in the city, but after all, it was separated by thick passes, and his own strength was not enough, and those officers and soldiers who had been in arrears for a long time would not defect.

What's more, the strength of the camp is not to be underestimated, and Li Zicheng also hopes to use this Henan Mansion as a huge whetstone to sharpen these newly defected troops.

A few days ago, when the matter of capturing Luoyang was agreed in the victorious village of Funiu Mountain, in addition to laying down Luoyang, the feudal land of the emperor's uncle, he could gain unprecedented prestige and prestige, and he could plunder countless gold, silver, grain and rice from Luoyang City and Fuwang Palace, Li Yan, who was called Lin Quan by Li Zicheng, pointed out to Li Zicheng the strategic significance of Luoyang. "Luoyang is in Henan, Luocheng does not defend Henan, Henan does not protect the Central Plains, and if the Central Plains is not protected, Hebei's throat will be broken."

"King Chuang, the morale of our army is high, and today we should be able to break the city in one battle!"

"Yes, it was the time when my righteous army entered the city to rescue the people of Luoyang!"

Different from Niu Jinxing and Li Yan's statements, Song Xiance, nicknamed Song Dwarf, didn't say a word, sat on his four-wheeled car, and just fiddled with his eating guy.

This Song dwarf is different from Li Yan, who came to Li Zicheng with thousands of people, and is even more different from Niu Jinxing, who often explains the scriptures and historical classics for Li Zicheng, these two people are people with a relatively decent status and status, and they are famous. In particular, Li Yan is from a famous family in Qi County. He is just a fortune-teller on the streets of Bianliang in Kaifeng, and to put it nicely, he is hidden in the divination and hiding in the market.

However, he also has his own way, when he came to defect, without saying a word, he presented a picture in the back picture, "Kyushu is in turmoil Li Jizhu." Eighteen children's main artifact. This move immediately cemented his position in the camp.

Today, at this moment when he is about to start a battle, he has taken out his housekeeping skills again.

Divination.

Generally, there are four methods of divination, the yarrow method, the simplified yarrow method, the money hexagram method, and the Tai Chi pill method. A few bamboos swayed dexterously in his hands, and from time to time there was a pleasant sound of collision.

Everyone in front of them saw him with a stern face. In line with the spirit of worshiping ghosts and gods and staying away. From Li Zicheng to everyone, their eyes were full of awe, and they waited with bated breath for the result of this Mr. Song. I don't blame them, you don't see, many people who give special speeches on the rostrum on weekdays. Aren't you also deceived by the so-called masters and masters? What's more, these peasant armies, who have no culture in the first place, beg for a living in the midst of swords and guns every day?

Only Li Yan sat smiling. He looked disapproving. He was an orthodox Confucian disciple. Although the matter of divination is also broad and profound, there is a deep support for the I Ching. However, it is hasty to put the major affairs of the military state on a mere hexagram.

After a few bursts of bamboo sounds, Song Xiance stopped his movements, stroked a few of his sparse beards and groaned.

Li Zicheng couldn't wait to say: "What kind of military advisor, is it fierce or auspicious?" ”

Song Xiance opened his mouth to speak, and his voice was loud and small, fluctuating: "Bi, Ji." Yuan Zheng, Yuan Yongzhen, no blame......"

While the generals in front of them listened incomprehensibly, their eyes widened: "What do you mean?" ”

Song Xiance was silent, and after Li Zicheng also asked for advice, he said with a smile: "The hexagram is the cloud, this is the hexagram, congratulations to King Chuang." ”

Li Zi smiled when he was established, and all the generals in the hall were also smiling, and they all wanted the military advisor to explain.

When everyone was in a hurry, Song Xiance shook his head and said: "Compare, people stand side by side, and it is said that they are closer, for blind dates." Yuan, the beginning of things is Yuan, for the long, for the creation also. Yuan Yongzhen is not to blame, and there is no fault for the great. ”

"Brothers, when we followed King Gao Chuang, we also attacked Fengyang on the day of the Lantern Festival, and burned the ancestral tomb of his old Zhu family Chongzhen child, today, it is the Lantern Festival, we will capture his uncle King Fu alive in Luoyang, and give him another big gift!"

After obtaining a good talk from the famous god Song Xiance, the generals of the camp rode away one after another, and went to their own troops to prepare for the siege.

Several healthy horses rushed out of Li Zicheng's banner formation and went straight to the Zhang Nai's artillery team at the forefront of the military formation.

"Little Master Zhang, there is an order for the king! Artillery team fires! ”

The order flag was waved excitedly by Zhang Nai, accompanied by his military order, outside the city of Xiguan in Luoyang, the cannon roared and the smoke of gunpowder filled the clouds......

If it weren't for Li Zicheng's battalion to come to Luoyang City, the eunuchs in the city would be preparing to spend the Lantern Festival at this time. Although the world has been in turmoil for a long time, this Luoyang has gathered many squires and magnates because it is a pro-feudal land, and their living and eating are all extremely luxurious, and they also raise opera troupes for entertainment. There are seventy or eighty classes in the whole Luoyang City, twenty or thirty classes of small blowing, and in previous years, there were lights everywhere in the city during the Lantern Festival, and the sound of elegant and vulgar singing and gongs, drums, and silk pipes was wafting. Each temple has a lantern shed. Flower lanterns are hung in the courtyards of the major households and slightly more solid houses, and painted door lamps are hung in front of the doors, competing for rockets and fireworks. Fireworks are very abundant in many places in the city and Guanxiang, setting off fire helmets, fire umbrellas, fire horses, braziers, shelling Xiangyang, Wulong taking water, flower cannons, fires, three ups and three falls, shelling flying squirrels, shelling lanterns, and water rabbits entering the water and passing through the waves...... Fight for ingenuity, and spare no money. The most miraculous thing is that the stupas in the temples are lit all over the floor, fluttering with the wind, brilliant and abrupt, connected with floating clouds, and chaotic with the stars in the sky.

On the evening of the 16th day of the first lunar month, there were more people in the lower part of the month. Men and women gather in groups, crowding the streets, or carrying wine to preach, setting off fireworks, or reuniting to sing and dance, playing tigers and elephants, and singing along with the pipa. About the second watch, the female dependents of everyone in the giant room traveled, the servants carried lanterns, the maids and maids hugged each other, groups of flowers were splendid, and the fragrance was blowing. This kind of light yì does not go out of the three doors and four households of the family of women, weekdays go out to put down the car curtain car curtain, it is rare to have a lantern festival every year, you can boldly wander under the stars and moon, in the light of the lights, whispering, laughing. This is called "wandering around a hundred diseases", and you have to cross a bridge in a crowded area, and it is said that you can avoid back pain for a year.

However, this year is completely different from previous years, and the large mansions in the city have become unusually quiet, as quiet as a thousand-year-old temple.

Countless people who were powerful and blessed in the past blocked their houses with large baskets full of bricks and stones, and recited "Nan Wu Rescue Suffering and Rescue Guanyin Bodhisattva" in their mouths, and their mouths had already promised 100,000 volumes of scriptures, 100,000 monks, and countless grand vows such as rebuilding temples and reshaping golden bodies.

From the beginning of entering the wax moon, the topics of discussion among people in Luoyang City will always end up on Li Zicheng's head, and real news and false legends will be mixed together and fly all over the city. Although there are Luoyang sub-patrol roads, Henan Prefecture prefects and Luoyang garrison general officers will issue notices strictly prohibiting rumors, but the more rumors are banned, the more rumors are prohibited. The civil and military yamen did not dare to overpress the people, so they had to hide their ears. In fact, part of the news about Li Zicheng came from the civil and military yamen. (To be continued......)

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