On the evening of December 23, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai's army drove outside Kaifeng. The next day, they began to attack the besieged Kaifeng City, and they were the first to attack the northeast, because the city walls there were relatively thin, and there were 3,000 soldiers brought by Ding Qirui from Nanyang. These soldiers had no fighting spirit, and after just one battle, they were defeated, some rushed into the city, and some surrendered directly to the thieves.

The thieves chased the fleeing officers and soldiers into the urn city, and Wang Xie, the magistrate of the county who defended the city, did not distinguish between the officials and the thieves, and burned them all to death in a fire, which kept the north gate from being lost. Otherwise, maybe the city would have been breached on the first day.

Night, the palace, the side hall.

King Zhou listened to the rumbling cannon, and said slowly: "It seems that the thief is indeed a big increase in strength, and this cannon sound is not weaker than the city head at all." ”

"Father, rest assured," the prince explained, "Kaifeng City is high and deep, and it is impossible for thieves to attack it. ”

"Huh." King Zhou sneered and said with some sarcasm: "If it weren't for Wang Xie's decisiveness, at this time, our father and son would probably be caught by the thieves." King Fu, King Xiang, King Tang, and none of the previous vassal kings are alive. ”

Shizi swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said tremblingly: "Father said in time, the child will let people reward Wang Xie." ”

"No need," King Zhou waved his hand and said, "It's just begun, and it hasn't gone through a hard battle, if this precedent is set, even if it is a mountain of gold and silver in the palace, it will not be enough to reward." ”

"Alas!" Shizi said angrily: "It's all to blame Ding Qirui!" If you say that you can't defend the city by the end, you have to put those soldiers outside the city. If you stay in the city, you can hold out for three or five days. ”

King Zhou sneered and shook his head and said, "That's copying Li Yan's words." He didn't want to think about it, his soldiers could be compared to Li Yan's soldiers? Li Yan's record in the past two years has not killed 50,000 thieves, but also 30,000. The soldiers brought by him Ding Qirui, in addition to hiding from the thieves, what else can he do? It's a joke to dare to put it outside the city. ”

Shizi was also angry when he heard this, but the object of his anger became Li Yan. He said dissatisfiedly: "That Li Yan is not a good thing!" Even one or two thousand troops were reluctant to transfer over. If there are such elite soldiers, even if it is a thousand, it can make Kaifeng more stable. ”

King Zhou nodded and said, "Well, that's right." We have given him everything we should have given in the past two years, but at the critical moment, we didn't come to help, and it seems that he has no heart of kindness. When the thief retreats this time, it's time to teach him a lesson. Guide Mansion is still too far away, and he has to come to Kaifeng City. ”

"Father still wants to use him?" Shizi asked puzzled.

King Zhou slowly stood up and said, "Such a brave and good fighter, don't you need to abolish it?" Okay, let's go rest, this battle has just begun, and there is still something to do. ”

The prince bowed and said, "The father also rested early, and the child retired." ”

In a mansion in the city, Ding Qirui's temporary trip.

He sat at the table, dumbfounded, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Sir," his servant came in, and asked cautiously, "eat something, for all the meat has been removed, except for porridge and some vegetables." ”

Ding Qirui waved his hand and drove away: "Don't eat, don't eat." ”

He watched the men he brought with him burned to death in the urn city today, plus the thieves who chased in, I'm afraid there are thousands of people, right? The miserable cries, the fiery figures running around, the cursing and invective, and the burnt smell that hit his head made him stomach pantothenic acid until now.

He originally wanted Wang Xie to open the city gate and let his subordinates into the city, but Wang Xie didn't give him any face and directly ordered the fire. The fire oil on the urn city was launched with rockets, and the entire urn city became a sea of fire, but the fuel was just the thousands of people squeezed inside.

The troops he brought with him were gone, except for the more than two hundred people who were around him. Those who were burned to death, those who surrendered to the thieves, among them were six of his generals.

"Han Zhong," Ding Qirui asked, "What did Li Yan say?" ”

"If you defend the city and have no reinforcements, you won't be able to hold out for long." Han Zhong repeated seriously. It was the order he sent to Li Yan, so he knew it very clearly.

"Where are Zuo Liangyu's troops?" Ding Qirui asked again.

"The news I received yesterday is still in Xinyang." Han Zhong replied in frustration.

"Where is Yang Wenyue?"

Han Zhong shook his head and replied in a low voice, "I don't know, before the thieves besieged the city, they didn't receive any news. ”

"How much grain is there in Kaifeng? How much firewood is there? How long can it last? Ding Qirui muttered.

Han Zhong explained: "The governor doesn't need to worry, Governor Gao has already ordered the rich families in the city to donate grain and grass. There was a man in the city who did not go to the city to help defend it, and he was immediately killed. Therefore, there will be no shortage of food and soldiers in the city, as long as Zuo Shuai and Governor Yang bring troops to help, the thieves will flee. ”

"Oh, that's good, that's good." Ding Qirui kept nodding and repeating.

Chen stayed outside the county seat and went to Qixian on the main road.

The one who stayed here to tear down the city wall was Luo Rucai's subordinate Sun Shenzu. Since he tried to keep some troops behind in Luoyang, but failed completely, Li Zicheng no longer wasted any resources on the captured county, and let the people come and tear down the city wall.

This is the best way, even if they are gone, after the officials and soldiers come back, they will have to spend a lot of financial and material resources to rebuild the city wall, which can not only consume the energy of the officials and soldiers, but also make the officials and soldiers and the people more alienated. If they come back with their troops, these ruins will not be able to stop them from attacking again.

Sun Shenzu walked along the road with his own soldiers, but found that this place was different from other places. The rest of the place is full of barren grass, but here the fields are neatly organized, and you can tell at a glance that there are still people cultivating.

"Hey. It's strange in this place, and there are so many people farming? Sun Shenzu asked in surprise.

His own soldiers also echoed in amazement: "Yes, it is nothing to say that some fields are not deserted, but there are people planting the fields on the roadside for more than ten miles, which is strange." ”

"But I didn't see any houses that were inhabited." A pro-soldier said suspiciously.

Everyone looked around, but they didn't find any houses that lived in them.

"Find!" Sun Shenzu ordered excitedly: "There must be a lot of people in so much land." If you find their village, maybe there is more food in it than in the county. ”

After receiving the order, his own soldiers dispersed, left the main road, and went to look elsewhere to find a trace of the village. However, they are all veterans, two or three people in a group, and the distance between them is not very large, so it is convenient to help and gather at any time.

"Bang", "bang", a few sounds came from a distance, startling Sun Shenzu, who was waiting on the road.

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