Zhengzhou, outside the city.

Li Zicheng and others came to Zhengzhou and found that Cao Cao and others had never attacked the city at all, but just besieged Zhengzhou.

Li Zicheng looked outside the city for a while, and then asked Luo Rucai, "Cao Cao, are you going to trap Chen Yongfu to death?" ”

Luo Rucai smiled and nodded: "There is this idea." Look at the high pool and deep pool in this city, it's not easy to fight. Chen Yongfu doesn't know anything else, but he can keep Kaifeng down three times, which can be regarded as some ability. I don't plan to go to the head and break the bloodstream, so they will have no food to surround them, so Zhengzhou will naturally take it down. But alas, you have returned from the defeat of Kaifeng. If Li Yan brought his troops over, he would have to withdraw the siege. ”

"It's not that you're defeated, it's that you don't want to fight, so you take the initiative to withdraw from the siege." Li Zicheng corrected solemnly.

Luo Rucai said indifferently: "You can say whatever you want, anyway, you have also retreated to Zhengzhou." My people are besieging the city, Zhongmu, if you want to defend it, leave some people, if you don't want to defend it, then forget it. ”

Li Zicheng didn't speak, he had already left the party guard in Zhongmu, if Li Yan chased after him, he would naturally be able to resist for a while.

"You've lost a lot of money this time." Luo Rucai continued: "There are only 10,000 or 20,000 wounded people who have been brought back, right? Also, your people are a lot less strong, right? One by one, they were so depressed that they didn't even have the strength to eat. ”

Li Zicheng frowned, flicked his cloak, snorted coldly, and left directly with his own soldiers.

Luo Rucai sneered twice and said in a low voice: "If you suffer a loss, you will learn to be obedient." It's good to attack everywhere, if you can fight down, you can fight it, and if you can't beat it, you can bypass it. What do you want to tear the earth and seal the king, the emperor wants to dominate the industry, don't be tired of panicking. ”

In the following days, Li Yan did not send troops to chase after him, but only sent some cavalry out to investigate intelligence. Although Li Zicheng's cavalry did not suffer any casualties, the aura of defeat still spread among them, and no one was willing to deal with Li Yan's cavalry in the distance. And Luo Rucai had no intention of starting a war with Li Yan at all, and he didn't want to provoke Li Yan. In this way, Li Yan's cavalry can get very close to the direction of Zhengzhou.

In Kaifeng City, Li Yan was clean again.

The thieves retreated, the siege of Kaifeng City was lifted, and those civil officials continued their leisurely life. Huang Shu and Cao Chengfeng are also no longer by Li Yan's side. However, in the past few days, there have been more and more messengers going north from the city, some of whom are reporting to their relatives and relatives, and some of whom are sending letters to Beijing.

A few days ago, Li Yan asked the craftsmen in Kaifeng City to make small trebuchets. He couldn't stop the onslaught of the thieves immediately this time, that is, he couldn't project the oil into the distance. Although the fire attack is cruel, but the war itself is a cruel thing, and what he has to do is to try to inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy, and protect his men from being attacked by the enemy.

Li Yan's requirement for the trebuchet was to be able to fire ten catties of oil at least fifty steps away, and it should also be small, easy to disassemble and assemble, and easy to march. But the craftsmen in Kaifeng have no way, either the kind of trebuchet pulled by manpower, or two or eight. There's also the old return cannon, and that thing is even bigger.

Let those craftsmen get it for a few days, it's these two models, or they use bamboo to launch, nothing new. There was no way, so he had to hand over this task to the craftsmen of Qixian County.

In the same few days, Li Yan asked all the more than 400 soldiers who died in the battle to be cremated, and then put the ashes into a small stall and sent them back to each family. was sent along with the ashes, as well as a stone of grain, two zhang cloth, five catties of meat, and three catties of oil. The families of the fallen in battle receive these things every year for 20 consecutive years. Moreover, the land harvest of the martyrs will also be taxed, and only 20% of the tax will be paid, which will also last for 20 years.

These measures have made the soldiers have no worries about the future and are more courageous in battle. Still, in the face of death, especially an unexpected attack, the soldiers panic. Just like this time, when I saw the thief's bomb fall under my feet, I didn't dare to pick it up and throw it, but took refuge in the distance.

Due to Li Zicheng's retreat, Li Zhong also entered the city. At this time, the two were watching soldiers practice throwing bombs outside the city. Li Yan has already decided to abolish the grenadiers, and all people, no matter what kind of troops, must practice throwing bombs. This not only saves troops, but also allows the soldiers to have a certain understanding of the bomb, so that they can deal with emergencies more calmly when they encounter emergencies again.

"Boom", "boom", the explosion of bombs continued. The soldiers followed the instructor's instructions, lit the fuse, and threw the bomb out. There was not much difficulty, and even in the event of an accident, the instructors had time to pick up the bomb and throw it far away.

"What a waste, isn't it?" Li Zhong stood at the head of the city, watched the bombs being detonated, and said.

Li Yan shook his head with a smile: "Let them not be afraid, the casualties next time will be much smaller." If you die in battle, I will pay for 20 years. Besides, this also allows the war horse to feel the real battlefield environment, and it is not a loss. ”

Li Zhong looked at the cavalry not far away, some were leading their war horses, and some were boldly riding on them, trying to control their war horses.

"The casualties this time are not small, and there are nearly 3,000 injured." Li Zhong said with some concern: "It's not easy to fight thieves in the future." ”

Li Yan said casually: "The more you fight, the smarter you become, and you can learn something new by fighting a few battles." But their casualties are greater, we have more casualties and fewer deaths, they just turned upside down. ”

"They're expanding so fast. We are dividing the fields and training, how can we compare to them. Li Zhong still said worriedly.

Li Yan was silent for a while, and said, "The homeless people follow the thieves just to survive. If the thieves let the outcasts act as shields every time, no one would follow them anymore. Don't worry, the homeless people have their own legs. ”

Li Zhong shook his head, feeling that Li Yan was quite optimistic at all times. So he didn't talk about this matter, and asked, "What should Yan Ling do there?" Do you want me to bring someone over? ”

Li Yan shook his head and said, "Not for the time being." The thieves have not stormed, and there is enough food in the city. And with Wang Renfu and Qian Er there, nothing will happen. I'll talk about it when I'm done talking to Li Zicheng. ”

"Do you still believe them?" Li Zhong asked with a smile.

Li Yan replied: "It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, it depends on who has the most power." Li Zicheng felt that he was better than us, so he came over to fight. But after this time, he will have to weigh it carefully. We can also have time to replenish our supplies. This time, a lot of ammunition was consumed, and if we continue to fight, we will become toothless tigers. ”

"Then you're wasting bombs." Li Zhong asked puzzled.

Li Yan explained helplessly: "This is the unit that has been hit by the thieves, if you don't train your courage, there will be problems next time." ”

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