The next day there was nothing to do, and on the third day, Liu Zongmin and Li Jiyu led the team to the outside of Kaifeng again. In fact, Li Jiyu didn't want to come anymore, he was a thief, and he was already ecstatic to be able to conquer a few county seats. But after only one day of fighting, he lost more than a thousand backbones, and he didn't dare to think about the gold and silver in King Zhou's mansion.

However, this is not his own decision, Liu Zongmin and others did not let him go, and he did not dare to go. Not to mention that Liu Zongmin and others are strong, he can't beat them. Even if he leaves with people, his tens of thousands of people are not Li Zicheng's opponents.

As for Liu Zongmin and the others, they just wanted to try again, even if they still couldn't beat Kaifeng, they had beaten twice, so they could make a deal with Li Zicheng.

This time, they will no longer focus on Li Yan's military formation, but choose to attack in the west, and feint on the other sides to contain them. Although he did not go to attack Li Yan anymore, there were still more than 10,000 troops left in the south, which were personally led by Li Lai.

The whole Kaifeng returned to the time when it was besieged by thieves, and the rumbling cannons resounded in the sky. Although there is not much food in the city, through the gun transportation from the north bank in the past few days, and with Li Yan's warning of the possible results of the people's lack of food, there are now several government grain sales points in Kaifeng. Although each family buys grain with vouchers, the supply is limited, and the price is not cheap, a bucket costs 3,000 yuan. But it's better than nothing, and there is no risk of starvation, so I won't do anything risky.

At this time, King Zhou didn't dare to go to the city wall to watch the battle, after all, there was no stone and no eyes, if there was any accident, it would not be cost-effective. Therefore, the current personnel of the Zhou Wangfu are in and out frequently, and people are constantly coming in to report the latest situation.

"Your lord," one of the guards came in and reported quickly, "the thieves have crossed the moat and are attacking the barracks outside the city. ”

King Zhou asked helplessly: "What does General Chen say, can his troops hold it?" ”

There was nothing to be done about it, and the thieves easily crossed the moat last time. Although the moat of Kaifeng is four or five zhang wide, the thieves attack fiercely, and make a self-made moat, and you can cross the moat with a familiar road. Now the biggest worry is that the thieves will come to blow up the city wall again, so I have to ask Chen Yongfu's troops if they can gain a foothold outside the city.

The guard replied: "General Chen didn't say it explicitly, probably meaning that he can still hold it now." ”

"What about General Lee? Did any troops send reinforcements? King Zhou asked again.

The guard shook his head and said, "General Li didn't send reinforcements there, and General Chen said that he didn't need General Li's help for the time being." Moreover, General Li also has a large number of thieves in front of him, and even if he divides his troops, he will not be able to send many troops. ”

King Zhou frowned and thought for a while, but still ordered: "You go to General Li's place and let General Li get ready, but if it doesn't work, you will withdraw to the city." Tell him that there is no need to worry about grain and grass, and the palace will support him. ”

The guard said yes and immediately went out on an errand.

Shizi nervously reminded: "Father, Li Yan has more than 20,000 horses, how much grain and grass do people get a day when they eat horses and chew?" We don't have that much stuff. ”

King Zhou commanded with a cold face: "You send someone to the granary of the mansion and the Taoist yamen to transport the grain back, and transport it back with three percent first, and then transport it if it is not enough!" ”

"But, it was for the people. If there is no food, the city will be in chaos. Shizi said in surprise.

"When is it, the people can't take care of it!" King Zhou sternly ordered: "You can transport the grain at night, try not to let the people know." Now our hope is Li Yan, at least he is here, our palace can be saved, and wait for the imperial court to mobilize reinforcements again. Chen Yongfu and them, it's hard to say how long they can last. If the thieves blow up the city wall, Li Yan will be our last barrier, and he must enter the city! ”

The prince knew the danger of this time. nodded and said, "Okay, Erchen will do it." By the way, there are also more gunpowder projectiles to be stored, which Li Yan's troops need. ”

"Well, that's right, you can do it."

Outside the city, Liu Zongmin and Liu Fangliang watched the troops attack from a distance.

Their progress was relatively smooth, and they crossed the moat smoothly on both the east and west. Their troops were still attacking the officers outside the city, and they could only begin to attack the walls as long as they were eliminated or driven back into the city.

"It's okay," Liu Fangliang said lightly: "That Li Yan didn't come out to make trouble for us." ”

Liu Zongmin said uncertainly: "Until the end, it's still hard to say." If his troops had joined the warband, our losses would have been great. Don't take it lightly. Let our men try not to get too far away from the trench bridge, and it will be easier to retreat. ”

Liu Fangliang said nonchalantly: "I think let's dig up the previous tunnel, it's only two or three zhang away, and it can be done in one day." This time, three or four thousand catties of gunpowder were put to ensure that the city wall could be blown down. Don't look at the fact that the officers and soldiers can still resist twice, as long as the city wall collapses, it will be too late for them to surrender. ”

Liu Zongmin hesitated for a while before refusing: "It's better not to expose this tunnel, let's dig it up with great difficulty." If you dig with all your strength now, you will definitely be discovered by the officers and soldiers, and they will definitely come to destroy it. Coupled with Li Yan's obstruction, it is indeed not easy to blow up the city wall. It's better to keep this tunnel, and it will be a killer when you come back to fight in the future. ”

Although Liu Fangliang was disappointed, he could only listen to Liu Zongmin's orders. He looked at the battlefield with an expressionless face, and suddenly reminded: "General Sentinel, Li Yan has sent troops." ”

Liu Zongmin looked south and found that Li Yan's troops were crossing the moat, and it seemed that there would not be too little. And from a distance, it seems that there are quite a few artillery pieces.

They watched for a quarter of an hour, and Li Yan's troops were finally finished, and the formation was almost finished.

"There must be three or four thousand of them, right?" Liu Fangliang said.

Liu Zongmin sighed and said, "Forget it, let the troops withdraw." With these three or four thousand people, plus other officers and soldiers, we can't stop it. ”

The bandwagon of the thieves has just begun to retreat. In the moat to the south, Huang Desheng and his troops slowly began to advance westward, and he was ordered to go there for reinforcements. After all, what Li Yan wanted was a complete Kaifeng City, and it would be a pity if it was beaten by thieves and broken.

At this time, there were also thousands of thieves advancing in parallel outside the moat. They didn't dare to get too close, they were about 300 steps away from the moat. However, the defenders on the city wall somehow did not know how to do it, and suddenly opened fire and fired projectiles, and the thieves did not hit any of them, but killed four of Huang Desheng's soldiers and wounded more than 20 of them.

The defenders at the head of the city also seemed to know that they were in trouble, and they only fired a round of artillery before they dared to fire any more.

Huang Desheng's subordinates shouted and cursed at the city, but without a clear order, the officers at all levels still tried to calm the troops. Huang Desheng asked the troops to stop and sent someone to ask Li Yan for instructions. He didn't think that Chen Yongfu's subordinates had hit by mistake, and their men couldn't be killed or injured in vain.

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