Chapter 236: Grain and Grass

Li Zhi saw Lu Xiangsheng's depressed appearance, and asked, "Why did the governor split the army with the prison army?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng lost his former look, sighed, and said slowly: "Yang Sichang is bent on peace, and I am afraid that the court will not be willing to negotiate peace after my great victory and meritorious service. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info So divide my troops, so that I can't fight Dongnu in a decisive battle. ”

Li Zhi was stunned, and secretly said Why is Yang Sichang such a bastard? I didn't know what to say for a while. Several other generals were inspired and motivated by Lu Xiangsheng a few days ago, and were preparing to fight to the death with the Tartars, but at this time they were poured with cold water by Yang Sichang, and they were also very disappointed. After a few words, they all went back to the camp.

Although Lu Xiangsheng encountered setbacks, he was unwilling to lie dormant and still led the army to urge the battle. After another two days, Lu Xiangsheng asked 30,000 troops and horses to repair for a while, and then pulled out the camp and drove to the south, chasing the Qing army that was divided into eight routes. Lu Xiangsheng believed that although the troops were divided, there were still 30,000 strong troops in the army, and they could fight if they encountered one or two Qing troops.

After three days to the south, however, worse news came - the supply of food and grass in the army had been cut off.

Lu Xiangsheng summoned the generals to the big tent to discuss this depressing matter.

"Now that Yang Sichang is in trouble, the grain and grass of the army that should have been supplied by the capital have been interrupted for five days, what do you think?"

Hearing Lu Xiangsheng's words, Li Zhi was secretly frightened. Lu Xiangsheng offended Yang Sichang, Yang Sichang is putting Lu Xiangsheng to death! first divide the troops, and then cut off the grain, first so that Lu Xiangsheng, who was in the main battle, could not defeat the Qing army, and then forced Lu Xiangsheng to a dead end - if Lu Xiangsheng took 30,000 soldiers and horses without food and grass to defeat the Qing army, he would definitely die; If Lu Xiangsheng didn't go to fight the Qing army to the death, a capital crime of avoiding the enemy and fearing the war would not be able to escape.

Moreover, if Lu Xiangsheng is really afraid of the enemy and does not fight, then the responsibility for the Qing army's entry into the army this time will be placed on Lu Xiangsheng, who is "the governor of the world".

Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, asked: "Governor, how many days of grain and grass are left in our army now?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng muttered: "There are only five days of grain and grass left. ”

Wang Pu thought about it, didn't speak, and retreated.

Shanxi General Soldier Hu Dawei snorted angrily and scolded: "Yang Sichang is making things so difficult for us, what kind of battle are you fighting?" Go back to Shanxi! ”

Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, shook his head and said, "If we escape, I'm afraid we will be charged with escaping!" ”

Hu Dawei said angrily: "Then what should I do, could it be that a group of our big living people were played to death by Yang Sichang?" Instead of starving to death, it is better to fight the Qing army! ”

Yang Guozhu's face was cloudy and uncertain, and he did not speak.

How can a few general soldiers of a unit fight Yang Sichang, who is deeply favored by the Son of Heaven and is in charge of the military department. The generals in the camp had no choice, they all fell silent, and in the end, the whole tent was very quiet, and no one spoke.

Lu Xiangsheng looked at the top of the big tent and sighed.

It seems that there is no way out.

Lu Xiangsheng was desperate there, but he heard a voice say: "Governor, there will be a way in the end!" ”

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly followed the sound and saw that it was Li Zhi who spoke.

The generals' eyes lit up, and they all looked at Li Zhi who was speaking, and they all wanted to listen to what he could do.

Lu Xiangsheng's face was overjoyed, and he said: "What plan does General Longhu have, say it quickly!" ”

Li Zhi looked at the dozen or so generals who were staring at him, and said, "The last general tortured those Dongnu scouts, knowing that Dongnu concentrated all the grain and grass they had looted in Gu'an County. There was a fort with more than 20,000 stones of grain and grass, and only 5,000 guards. Why don't we kill the army and rob all this grain and grass? ”

When everyone heard this, they all took a breath of cool air. I'm afraid it's not so easy to grab the grain and grass of the Qing soldiers! The grain and grass of the Qing army must have been hidden in the fortress that was attacked, protected by the city wall. The 5,000 Tartars defended the danger, and the Ming army could not defeat them for a month -- in these years, the Ming army did not even dare to fight with the Qing army in the wilderness, so how could they beat the Tartars defending the city?

If the Qing army returned to help when the siege was exhausted, the Tartars inside and outside the city would be flanked inside and out, and it would be a complete defeat.

What's more, now there are only five days of food and grass left in the army, and there is not enough time to siege the city.

Hearing Li Zhi's suggestion, everyone was a little disappointed, and secretly said that this was not a good strategy.

"General Dragon and Tiger, this fortified city attacking Tartars, I'm afraid it won't be able to be defeated in half a month!"

"I'm afraid that after a few days of attack, the Tartars will come back to help, and we will be besieged under the city!"

"Now that my army only has five days of food and grass, how can I take the fortified city guarded by 5,000 Dongnu?"

Lu Xiangsheng thought about it, sighed, and felt that he would not be able to take the grain and grass of the Qing army within five days.

Seeing that everyone was disappointed, Li Zhi arched his hand and said: "Li Zhi is willing to lead 10,000 people from his headquarters to go, and he will take these grains and grass within five days!" ”

Hearing Li Zhi's words, everyone's eyes widened one by one and looked Li Zhi up and down.

Why is this Li Zhi so confident, doesn't he know the strength of the Dongnu soldiers?

Lu Xiangsheng looked at Li Zhi in surprise and said, "There are 5,000 guards there, and according to this, there is another day away, and General Long Hu can break through the Qing army's fortress in four days?" ”

Li Zhi said proudly: "Li Zhi is confident that he can break the fortress of the Qing army!" ”

Lu Xiangsheng thought of the Hongyi cannon in Li Zhi's army, his face was happy, and he said: "If we can get more than 20,000 stones of grain and grass, then our army will not be short of food for three months." General Dragon and Tiger will go, and I will do it for you! ”

Li Zhi arched his hand and said: "Don't bother the governor, I will lead the troops here, if I succeed, the governor will come to Gu'an to join me!" ”

Li Zhi returned to the Huben Division, led 10,000 soldiers and horses, and marched to Gu'an County, south of the capital.

Gu'an County has been captured by the Qing army, the city has been looted by the Tartars, and all the people and animals have been taken away, and the scene is very bleak. The Tartars sent 300 auxiliary soldiers to guard the county seat of Gu'an, and they did not mean to hold the city. However, Li Zhi did not attack Gu'an County, which had no grain in stock, but found the fortress where the Qing army was storing grain according to the confession of the captives.

It was a fort with a circumference of two miles, the walls were five or six meters high, and only one gate was opened on the south side. There are various traps and pits outside the city, and there are 5,000 grain guards in the city. Seeing Li Zhi's soldiers and horses killed, the Qing army guarding the grain closed the city gate and stuck in the fort and did not come out.

Li Zhi rode around the city wall, and felt that there were fewer traps in the south of the city, so he decided to attack this fort from here.

Li Zhi's siege method is a hot weapon style, which has never been seen by the Tartars of this era!

Li Zhi first wanted to knock out the pheasant moat on the city wall. These moats can protect the Qing archers on the city wall, and if they are not defeated, Li Zhi's troops will be damaged. Li Zhi's 140 six-pounder cannons lined up a hundred meters outside the city and opened fire on the pheasant moats on the city wall.

As soon as the cannon sounded, the rumbling sound was incessant, resounding for several miles. The scene of more than 100 cannons bombarding the city wall stunned the Qing army on the city wall. Where have these Tartars from the bitter cold land outside the Saiwai seen so many Hongyi cannons?

With the roar of the cannons, the pheasant moats on the city wall have turned into nothing.

Those pheasant moats were so thin that they couldn't withstand the bombardment of artillery, and one of the cannons cracked one after another. Li Zhi's artillery fired for a morning, and the cannon shot like a tooth was drawn, and all the pheasants on the south side of the city wall were flattened. When did the Qing army defending the city see such firepower? They tried to hide behind the pheasant moat to avoid the artillery, but they were often injured and killed by the debris that burst out from behind the pheasant moat.

There was no danger on the city wall at all, but the Tartars were reluctant to give up the city wall. How can you defend the city if you abandon the city wall? In the end, the Tartars left more than 200 corpses on the city wall, and then they reluctantly withdrew. The southern part of the city was deserted at the end, and there was only one place left for rolling stones and trees.

After destroying the city wall and the moat, Li Zhi began to attack the city.

Li Zhi's soldiers and horses are all riflemen, of course, they can't rely on cloud ladders to attack, that can't reflect the advantages of hot weapons at all. Li Zhi asked the soldiers to go outside the city to cut wood, and made 50 wells with a height of 8 meters.

The well railing was six meters wide and four meters long, and was equipped with wheels underneath to gradually push it to the edge of the city wall. More than 30 soldiers could stand on each well railing, and the rifleman could condescendingly shoot the Qing soldiers on the city wall standing on the well railing. (To be continued.) )