Li Yan led his personal army in the afternoon, and arrived in Yuncheng in the afternoon of the next day. found that there was no follow-up letter from Li Mou asking for help, and knew that Guide Mansion was not so critical, so he stopped and rested for the night. At the same time, he sent someone to inform Bai Shixiong who rushed to the scene, and the cavalry did not have to hurry too much, so as not to get Guide and run away with the horses.

At the same time, Cao Cheng came to Guide Mansion on the order of King Zhou, and Huang Shu, the magistrate, also came over on the order of Gao Mingheng. said that he came to see the corpse of Dongyu, but in fact, it was because Li Mu transferred more than 1,000 Kaifeng defenders, plus the Qing army appeared on the north bank of the Yellow River, and King Zhou and Gao Mingheng sent the two of them to find out.

Several people looked around the corpse in circles for a long time before Huang Shu nodded and said, "Well, the scalp is evenly blackened, it's a real captive." ”

Cao Chengfeng's face turned a little pale, and he asked, "This, is the Qing army really going to cross the Yellow River?" What about the army of the imperial court? Zhili and Shandong have been looted, and they are still allowed to trample on the Central Plains? ”

Huang Shu sneered: "They didn't encounter the captive cavalry, the captives rode in the north, and they avoided in the south. The Qing troops came from the east, but they went west. ”

"Alas, these martial artists have no loyalty in their hearts." Cao Chengfeng shook his head and sighed. However, it was interrupted by Huang Shu's cough. He immediately glanced at Li Mu, although Li Mou's face did not change, but he still remedied: "If all the generals in the world are as loyal and dare to fight as Li Dashuai and General Li, the chief of Dongyu is still the commander of the Jianzhou Guard of my Ming Dynasty, and the thieves are still living in Shaanxi." ”

Li Mu opened his mouth and said, "Since the two of you have finished reading the corpse, let's go back to the yamen to talk." "This is the outside of the ice cellar of the guerrilla general's yamen, and these corpses are all kept in the ice cellar, and they will be disposed of when Li Yan comes back to see them.

Huang Shu asked, "How many enemies did the general destroy?" ”

Li Mu said expressionlessly: "It is estimated that around sixty, there are thirty-two corpses here, and there are about twenty or thirty corpses in the river." ”

Huang Shu was stunned for a moment, and looked at Li Mu with some admiration. Now there are many people who falsely report their military exploits, and even kill good people and take risks, but Li Yan's troops do not have this bad habit. In the past, when I fought with the thieves, I killed as many as I wanted, but now I am fighting with the Qing army, and it is still clear. You must know that the head of this Qing soldier is much more expensive than the head of the thief, which is really sixty enemies, which is enough for the emperor to write an edict to commend him.

Cao Chengfeng asked with trepidation: "Then, in General Li's opinion, is the Qing army going south with all their might?" ”

Li Mu shook his head and said, "I don't know, they've been looking for a ferry for the past two days." ”

"When will Li Dashuai come back? How many generals to bring? Cao Chengfeng asked again.

Li Mu replied casually that he didn't know, so he left first.

Cao Chengfeng asked Huang Shu: "This, how is this good?" There are only 8,000 defenders in Kaifeng, but the Qing soldiers are coming, and the Qing soldiers are coming. ”

Huang Shu looked at it and said with a smile: "What are you afraid of?" The Qing soldiers are only in Caozhou and Puxian, and they have not yet come to the north bank of Kaifeng. I've been surrounded by thieves four times, and I'm afraid that I will be surrounded by the Qing soldiers again? The thieves are all the same, and the city is broken, which is nothing more than a death. ”

Huang Shu and Cao Chengfeng came to the yamen hall, and Cao Chengfeng asked Li Mou: "General, now there are only 8,000 defenders in Kaifeng, do you think it is too few?" ”

Li Mu said coldly: "It's a lot, the Qing soldiers are still far away from the seal." ”

"But the prince is not at ease."

Li Mu smiled. said: "The prince is the handsome Yue family, and the handsome will naturally not let the palace have trouble." Cao Chengfeng went back to let the prince rest assured, if he was still worried, then ask the prince to come to Germany for a while. ”

Cao Chengfeng stopped talking. Guide is much more dangerous than Kaifeng now, and it is impossible for the prince to leave Kaifeng. The two had no choice but to leave. However, they still stayed in Guide and waited for Li Yan to return.

Two days later, Li Yan finally returned to Guide Mansion with his own soldiers. This time, it was warmly welcomed by the rich gentry, and the Shen family, the Hou family, the Ye family, the Fan family, the Peng family and other big families in the territory of Defu were all greeted outside the mansion. Several families from other counties had just rushed over, and they caught up with Li Yan to come back, so the welcome was quite noisy.

They knew what happened in Shandong in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the Qing soldiers looted most of Shandong, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed in Jinan Mansion alone. These wealthy officials and gentry were the key objects of care of the Qing soldiers, so they were very nervous when they heard that the Qing soldiers had crossed the river.

Although Li Yan was able to defeat the thieves, it is said that the Qing soldiers were all strong in martial arts, and if Li Yan could not hold the Yellow River, then they would be all finished. So they didn't care about Li Yan's bad treatment of them this time, and they all took out money and food to reward the soldiers, hoping that Li Yan could hold the river defense and keep their family safe.

Li Mu greeted him first and said in a low voice: "The Qing soldiers have no signs of crossing the river for the time being. ”

Li Yan was relieved and said to everyone: "Thank you for your love." But time is pressing, so Li won't make those false courtesies here. If you have anything to say, go back to the yamen and say it. After finishing speaking, he took his own soldiers and quickly entered the city.

When the people saw that Li Yan had come back in person, they were all relieved, and they should do what they should do. But those rich gentry were a little anxious, and they found that Li Yan did not come back with troops. But they had no choice but to hope for Li Yan's bravery, so they also rushed to the guerrilla yamen.

Entering the lobby, Li Yan immediately asked, "What is the condition of the Qing soldiers?" ”

Li Mu replied: "I don't know the specific situation, our people can't get by, but there shouldn't be many Qing soldiers, there are more than 1,000 people." They are collecting ferries these days and gathering near the city of Kao. However, most of the boats are on our side, and they have only managed six or seven small boats in the past few days. Fifty or sixty of them crossed the river before they were completely annihilated, and they didn't dare to cross the river in small groups, and it is estimated that they will wait a while to find some ferries before attacking. ”

Li Yan frowned and asked, "With only fifty or sixty people attacking, you feel like you can't stop it?!" ”

Li Mou explained: "There are not enough troops, there are so many ferries along the coast, and we must be on guard everywhere. I now only have 300 reserves and two three-inch guns. Moreover, the Qing soldiers are extremely good at fighting, especially in close combat, and are very brave. There were only sixteen of them, and they inflicted forty-two casualties on us. If they crossed the river in a big way, the consequences would be unimaginable. ”

Li Yan sat down, nodded and said, "Well, I know." It is estimated that tomorrow, Bai Shixiong will return with cavalry. The day after tomorrow, Qian Er's fast troops can also come back, as well as the musket team, which can also arrive within three days. If they were more than a thousand people, it would not be difficult to let them come and annihilate them. ”

"The court reported that there were hundreds of thousands of Qing soldiers on the left and right. If you provoke them all, Henan will be finished. Li Mu reminded.

Li Yan said dissatisfiedly: "Then what should I do? Give them some women who are grabbing food, and beg them not to come? ”

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