At noon the next day, as soon as Wang Qiang led his troops into the territory of Kaifeng Mansion, he received a good news from the front, saying that the Taiping army had occupied Kaifeng City after a morning of fierce fighting. It turned out that Li Gang led a man and two horses to run five hundred miles overnight, and arrived in Kaifeng in the early morning of the next day, the Kaifeng defenders were not a little defenseless, and were ambushed in the city by the Taiping army seized the city gate, Li Gang led the army directly into the city. The Qing army had only 10,000 defenders in the city, of which 5,000 were surrendered by the former Ming Dynasty, and they surrendered at the first touch. Another 5,000 Qing soldiers, also newly formed troops, had weak combat effectiveness, and after being raided, they were chaotic and surrounded by the Taiping army, and most of them were annihilated.

Wang Qiang immediately conveyed the news of the Taiping army's victory and occupation of Kaifeng, and the Taiping soldiers immediately cheered, and the fatigue of rushing overnight was swept away. Wang Qiangdu led his troops to hurry up and arrived in Kaifeng in the afternoon. Kaifeng City has been boiling, the people who have been depressed for many days saw their team kill back, suddenly raised their eyebrows, and took to the streets to beat gongs and drums to celebrate, Wang Qiang led the troops into the city, and was also warmly welcomed by the people.

Li Gang welcomed Wang Qiang and others into the marshal's mansion, and reported in detail the situation of the battle, which was a complete victory for the Taiping army, destroying more than 4,000 enemies, capturing more than 4,000 soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty, and capturing a large number of grain, grass, horses and weapons. The Taiping army suffered only more than 1,000 casualties.

Wang Qiang was very excited when he heard the results of the battle, and immediately ordered the results of the battle to be reported to Lu Xiangsheng and Dayong in Xiangyang. At the same time, it will

The news of this victory was publicized nationwide through the propaganda system of the Taiping Sect and the Southern Ming Dynasty, expanding the influence of the Taiping Army and the defenders of Central and Southern China. At the same time, it was required to closely monitor the movements of the main forces of the Qing army in Nanyang, Beijing, and the northwest.

Wang Qiang finished deploying, Li Gang made a division of labor and assigned the guards of Kaifeng, everyone dispersed, Li Gang left and said to Wang Qiang: "Qiyu Sect Master, we captured more than 4,000 Han troops in today's battle, these people were originally the Shandong battalion under the command of Hong Chengchou of the Northwest Army, the first to surrender Li Zicheng, after the Qing army came, and then surrendered the Qing army, we opened the seal this time, they surrendered without much resistance, these people are imprisoned in the east of the city of the Great Leiyin Temple, how to deal with it, please ask the master to make it clear." ”

Wang Qiang smiled and said, "What's the matter with this group of soldiers? Who will descend whom, how can they be so capricious and spineless. ”

Li Gang said: "Yes, these people are all Han Chinese, and they can't be killed according to military discipline." If it is released, so many people will run outside at once, it will definitely cause chaos. If you are imprisoned for empty food, it will not matter for a long time, and if you are recruited, you are really not at ease with soldiers like them. ”

Wang Qiang thought for a long time and didn't have an idea, so he said, "Can you find a captive?" I want to ask. ”

"Yes!" Li Gang turned around and went out to make arrangements. After a while, the soldiers came in with a prisoner who looked like he had joined the army. When the captive saw Wang Qiang, he was timid, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Say hello to the marshal." ”

"Get up." Wang Qiang said, seeing that the soldier was weak to speak, so he asked, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?" ”

"Back to Dashuai, from morning to now, the water and rice have not touched your teeth?" Said the army.

"Someone, get him some food." Wang Qiang ordered, and then continued: "Let's eat and talk." ”

"Xie Dashuai, the last general has long heard that the Taiping Army is benevolent and righteous, and today it was unexpected." Joining the army complimented.

Wang Qiang smiled and said: "I don't want to hear you sing praises of virtue, I want you to tell me, why do you not fight and surrender again and again, what is the process before and after?" ”

"This" The soldier blushed and said in a low voice: "Back to the marshal, this is a long story, here"

Li Gang shouted in a deep voice on the side: "You speak briefly, choose the main one." ”

"Yes, yes!" Joining the army hurriedly agreed, and said: "Marshal Qiyu, our battalion was originally under the command of Marshal Hong of the Northwest Army, after Marshal Hong was transferred to the Northeast, we returned to Sun Chuanting, and since then we have become a stepmother, the food is not good, weapons, clothes, tents, horses, etc. are the second, our commander is angry, oh, our commander is called Liu Da Scar, and he is also a man, he is not satisfied with Sun Chuanting, there were two public confrontations with Sun Chuanting, was demoted, the northwest army was defeated, we were transferred to Kaifeng to guard, and later Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng, General Liu felt that it was boring to follow the court, so he led everyone to surrender. But I didn't expect that after Li Zicheng was demoted, we were still raised by our stepmother, our battalion was left here to garrison, and the commander was demoted again, and their people were replaced to take charge, they looked down on us soldiers, not to mention military salaries, and they still wanted to beat and scold, and their soldiers robbed the people's things, but pulled us out to take the blame. General Liu refused to accept it and reasoned with them, but was beaten and confined by torture. It happened that Li Zicheng's army was defeated and retreated to Shanxi, we all totaled, simply reversed, killed those few commanders, occupied Kaifeng, at that time we had no court, and reversed Dashun, it can be said that we were cornered, just in time to catch up with the Qing army sent to send envoys to surrender, we were unwilling to surrender, but later the Qing court sent Hong Dashuai to persuade him to surrender, promised us to keep the system, named General Liu as the general soldier, and promised not to kill the people in the city, we were all under the command of Hong Dashuai, General Liu

The army has received the great grace of Marshal Hong, so he will descend as soon as he closes his eyes. But after it was lowered, I regretted it, not because the Manchus did not abide by the agreement, but because they couldn't stand the reputation of this traitor, and it was uncomfortable to let the people poke their backbones in the back. Most of our battalion are soldiers from Shandong, and some of our families heard that we were traitors, and they couldn't raise their heads in the local area, and there were several cases of daughter-in-law hanging herself and Lao Tzu not recognizing his son. ”

Wang Qiang listened carefully, and felt that although this team had been repeated several times, it was also excusable, and he had the idea of recruiting them.

Wang Qiang pondered for a moment and said: "Come here, inform the gang to cook for these prisoners, the food must be good, and there must be meat." Tell their detainees not to beat, scold or abuse. "The soldiers went out to give orders.

Li Gang listened to the words of joining the army, and had the same thoughts as Wang Qiang, so he said: "Sect Master, can my subordinates go over with you to have a look?" ”

Wang Qiang said: "Let's go outside first, and then we won't be too late to go after these people have eaten." ”

The two went out of the marshal's mansion to the street, Li Gang took Wang Qiang to visit the captured Qing army's materials, because Kaifeng was the Qing court's transit station for transporting military supplies to the northwest front, horses, military uniforms, bows and arrows, grain and grass and other materials piled up, due to the Taiping army's surprise attack, there was no time to transfer and burn, all became the Taiping army's trophies. The two turned to Kaifeng City again, Wang Qiang saw that the Kaifeng city wall was tall and strong, and couldn't help but move his mind and asked: "Lao Li, what do you say we will do if we come like this, what will the Qing army do?" ”

Li Gang replied: "Kaifeng is an important town in the Central Plains, and if the Qing army wants to pass through the northwest and go down to the south of the Yangtze River, it must recapture this strategic place, so I guess they will return their troops in a big way to recover Kaifeng." ”

"Well, what do you think we should do next?"

"According to the original plan, we should evacuate Taiyuan, divert to Shandong, and return to Xiangyang."

Wang Qiang thought about it and said: "I just listened to the words of the captive and had some feelings, now the Central Plains provinces have fallen into the hands of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, many righteous soldiers who resist the Qing Dynasty and the soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty want to resist the Qing Dynasty but cannot find a suitable team to defect, if at this time our Taiping Army can defeat the Qing Army and play our momentum, it will definitely attract guests from all directions and return from all directions, so I plan to change the plan and use the opportunity of the surprise attack on Kaifeng and the Qing army's return to help fight a few battles with the Qing army, if we can win, then the war situation in the Central Plains will be completely changed."

Li Gang thought for a moment and said, "The sect leader's analysis subordinates deeply agree, but Kaifeng City cannot be defended. ”

"Oh?"

Li Gang said: "Kaifeng is the key point of the Central Plains, the Qing army can attack from Tongguan, Nanyang, and Guanwai at the same time. At present, Li Zicheng regards us as an enemy who has conquered the world with him, and he can't count on it, and it is not enough to fight a decisive battle with the Qing army with our current strength. Therefore, his subordinates suggested that he could start a war with one of the reinforcements of the Qing army, which was more certain. ”

Li Gang pointed to the mountain beam in the northwest of Kaifeng and said: "Sect Master, please see, that is the Tiger Prison Mountain, the Qing army in Nanyang should pass through there, the terrain is dangerous, and I have ordered 5,000 soldiers to ambush there, originally I wanted to block the reinforcements of Nanyang there, if we fight the Qing army there, we have already taken the advantage, and the 30,000 soldiers and horses we led this time are all elite divisions, and the field battle with the Qing army should not suffer." ”

"Well, that's it!" Wang Qiang pondered for a moment and said affirmatively.

The two turned down the city wall, Li Gang led Wang Qiang to the east of the city of the big Leiyin Temple, a few hundred meters away from the temple, I heard the boiling inside the sky, Wang Qiang and they walked quickly to the front of the temple, the guard of the official Zuo reported to Wang Qiang, that Liu Da Scar was inciting these captives to go on a hunger strike, asked to see the adults, and also beat the Taiping army man who delivered the food. Wang Qiang walked into the temple gate with a calm face, and Li Gang was afraid of an accident, so he beckoned a team of guards to follow in.

When Wang Qiang arrived inside, he saw that these captives were making a noise, food, dishes and chopsticks were scattered all over the ground, and a strong man was shirtless, speaking violently on the steps, the strong man had a long scar on his left cheek, and he looked very vicious, Wang Qiang guessed that this person should be Liu Da Scar.

That Liu Da Scar stood on the steps and shouted at his subordinates: "Brothers, let's hold a group, we can't disperse, we must consume that little eunuch, we are now a great god, don't accept the little ghost, okay, Lao Tzu will go home and farm, if not, he will occupy the mountain and become the king himself, and he will not sell his life to others, either let Lao Tzu walk, or give Lao Tzu a happy one, killing the head is not a big scar, and after eighteen years, he is a good man, nothing to fear." ”

"That's right! Either let the boys go, or have a good time! The captives followed suit.

Wang Qiang said loudly behind the crowd: "You want to see me, hehe, okay!" I, Wang Qiang, is here! As he spoke, he walked up the steps, and when the captives heard that Wang Qiang was coming, they immediately quieted down and turned their heads

Curiously, the crowd gave way to a passage, Wang Qiang went up the steps, looked at Liu Da Scar and said, "You are Liu Da Scar, right?" ”

Liu Da scar patted his chest and said, "It's Lao Tzu, what's the matter?" ”

Wang Qiang sneered and said, "You give me down!" You don't deserve to be here. ”

Liu Da scarred his body and said angrily: "What did you say? Don't look at Lao Tzu as a prisoner, that's because he didn't want to give his life to the Qing soldiers, if you really do it with a real knife and a real gun, you may not be an opponent! ”

Wang Qiang glanced at Liu Da scar with contempt, and said loudly in a contemptuous tone: "What are you bullish? I am a bare-chested man here, and I will tell you that Lao Tzu has also been bare-chested, but that is to kill Tartars bare-chested in Jinzhou City! You are acting in front of so many brothers, what are you doing when the Tartars come, get out of here for me! ”

Wang Qiang's defeat of the Qing army in Jinzhou is known to the world, and Liu Da Scar was stopped by Wang Qiang's words, and he stomped on the stage hatefully, and the prisoners in the audience were poked in the lungs by Wang Qiang's words, and they all lowered their heads and felt ashamed.

Wang Qiang turned his head to everyone and said: "Everyone, today you did not help the Qing army to fight against us, and avoided a battle between our Han people, I thank you, in fact, the reason why the Manchu Qing Dynasty was able to run rampant in our Central Plains is because our Han people are not united, and they kill each other all day long. I didn't say anything about the surrender of Li Zicheng at the beginning, but you actually surrendered to the Manchus later, and it is not right to say that the heavens are coming! This Tartar invaded the Central Plains and killed how many of our fathers and villagers, that is our mortal enemy! You have surrendered, then you still have no backbone to be a human being, do you want to raise a butcher's knife to kill our own compatriots like him? Hong Chengchou is kind to you, but he descended to the Manchu Qing Dynasty and became a lackey of the Qing court, what kind of kindness do you feel? You also complain that the gods don't want it, the little ghosts don't accept it, you yourself are ghosts, and you still have the face to be a good man here, the Taiping army doesn't give you food, and you eat the food that the Manchu Qing gives you, you are a dog! You're calling it shameless! ”

Wang Qiang angrily reprimanded the following people one by one and lowered their heads in shame, and Liu Dascar's face was flushed, and his eyes were blood-red staring at Wang Qiang, as if he wanted to rush up and fight with him at any time.

Wang Qiang softened his tone and said: "You didn't fight with our Taiping Army today, which shows that you still have a little conscience, and I don't want to embarrass everyone, after eating, you walk, go home to farm and be obedient to the people, and guard your wife and children to live a small life, I won't stop you, but I tell you, the so-called country is ruined, and our Ming Dynasty is occupied by the Tartars, you can only be slaves of the country, and if you want to live a peaceful life, there is no way!" After speaking, Wang Qiang waved his hand and said to the soldiers who were holding the prisoners: "Go, inform the gang to cook for these 'heroes and heroes' again, send them away after eating, and send them to the outside of Kaifeng City, our Taiping Army can't tolerate this group of loose buns!" ”

After Wang Qiang finished speaking, he walked down the steps, and Liu Da shouted: "Wait! He took a few steps up the steps and said to the group, "Brothers! Tartars are our mortal enemies, and we Han people do not share the sky, we just took a wrong step at the beginning, became traitors, and what face do we have to go home to face our family and fellow villagers! I, Liu Da Scar, was blinded by lard, in order to repay my personal kindness, let all of you follow me to shame, and lose the face of our Shandong battalion, you all followed me by mistake, I am Liu Da Scar sorry brothers. As he spoke, he knelt on the ground, gritted his teeth and said, "Brothers, what Lord Wang said is right, if it is a man, he will use this blood to kill the Tartars and earn back the faces of our Shandong men." If you want to talk about traitors, only I, Liu Dascar, am a traitor, but you guys are not! The fault of these previous sins lies with me alone, and it has nothing to do with you, I Liu Da Scar bears it alone. You remember, the Tartar is my Liu Da Scar's enemy, you follow the Taiping army to kill more Tartar and avenge me! I'll leave it to you. After saying that, Liu Da Scar kowtowed in public, and then suddenly jumped up, and actually hit the stone pillar next to him with all his might, and his brain burst out and blood splattered.

When Wang Qiang saw it, he was stunned for a moment, the arrangement he had just made was really angry with these people, and he also wanted to arouse the bloody nature of these people's men, but he didn't expect that this Liu Da Scar was really a bloody man, and he actually apologized with his life, and he was also sad in his heart.

The soldiers of the Shandong battalion below saw Liu Da scar cutting himself, rushed up, surrounded his corpse and wept bitterly. In the middle of the night, a strong man walked out of the group of captives, came to Wang Qiang, hugged his fists and said: "Lord Wang, my name is Xie Quan, I am General Liu's brother, my eldest brother is gone, leave a message before leaving, let us follow the adult, kill the Tartar to avenge him, please accept our brothers!" After speaking, he knelt down in front of Wang Qiang, and the other soldiers listened to it, and they also knelt on the ground with a hula and shouted: "Lord Wang, accept us!" ”

Wang Qiang was grateful that Liu Da was a man, and said loudly: "Brothers, General Liu washed away his shame with his blood, and we will use the blood of Tartar to avenge General Liu on the battlefield!" ”

"Kill the Tartars to avenge General Liu!" The crowd shouted in unison.