After the test shooting was over, everyone returned to the barracks.

After that, Li Yan made a decision to leave the artillery brought by Li Zhong, including the two three-inch guns, to Li Zhong. After all, he and Li Mu still have four Frankie cannons on their side, and although the barrels are a little worn out after several major battles, they are still able to fight.

At noon, I received a report that the officers and troops in Shenqiu had marched north.

It turned out that after Fu Zonglong was besieged, he sent someone to take his handwriting and go to He Renlong and Li Guoqi, wanting them to send troops to save him.

But He Renlong and Li Guoqi, who had just escaped for their lives, were just frightened, where would they be willing to kill themselves. So they deduced that the letter had come from the encirclement of the thieves, and that it might be a trick of the thieves to lure the enemy, so they ignored it.

Now it's okay, not only did he ignore it, but he also drove away directly. Needless to say, Fu Zonglong's order, even if Ding Qirui asked them to go to the rescue, they couldn't receive the order for the time being.

"To the north?" Li Yan said suspiciously: "They don't care about Fu Zonglong?" ”

Li Mu asked, "If they come over, should we fight or not?" ”

Li Yan frowned and asked, "How many officers and soldiers are there?" ”

The subordinate replied: "It should be around 20,000." ”

Li Yan nodded and ordered, "Continue to monitor." ”

After waiting for his subordinates to go out, Li Zhong said in embarrassment: "This is not easy to do, if Li Zicheng and them come, just fight directly." However, it was the official army who came, and they couldn't fight, but their ability to loot places was no worse than that of thieves, and it was not easy to do. ”

Li Mu sneered: "What if you beat them? ”

"We can only defeat them, but it will be difficult to annihilate them." Li Zhong reminded: "If they go back, the court will not be able to catch up with the thieves, but it will be easy to deal with us." ”

"Fourth brother, what is your opinion?" Li Mu asked Li Yan.

Li Yan had been silent and did not speak, but at this time he suddenly said, "Then let's fight." ”

Li Zhong said worriedly, "Have you thought about it?" ”

Li Yan sneered and said, "Who knows if they are officials or thieves?" Let's say he's a thief, they're a thief. ”

"Ahh Li Mu said excitedly: "After the fight, it's a big deal to fight a lawsuit of saliva, and the court doesn't dare to call us thieves, right?" ”

Li Yan said: "We can defeat the 20,000 officers and soldiers, and it's too late for them to win us over, how can they classify us as thieves?" ”

"Great!" Li Mu said excitedly: "There should be He Renlong, right?" That kid beat us a lot in Shaanxi back then, and now I see if he has a good ability. ”

Li Yan said: "Let the troops prepare, and the second brother will also go back and prepare." However, we must be careful that as long as the officers and soldiers are not close to our defense line, we should not take the initiative to attack them. The latter sentence is more of a reminder to Li Mu.

"Okay, I'll leave in the afternoon." Li Zhong agreed.

When Li Zhong left, Li Yan sent a baggage team back with Li Zhong and asked them to bring some ammunition over. He still has enough food here, and it's not too late to bring it over when it's not enough.

However, after two days of tension, Li Yan's troops relaxed again. Because He Renlong and they passed Dancheng County, they went to Huaiyang County, Taikang County, and Tongxu County to Kaifeng. They all happened to avoid Li Yan's defense line, and there were no conditions for conflict.

"This He Renlong is really slippery." Li Mu said dissatisfiedly: "Did he know that there were our troops here and deliberately avoided it?" ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "It's possible, but it's more likely that they have thought about it a long time ago." It's not the first time he's escaped, maybe this time he will go back to Shaanxi directly with his troops. ”

Li Mu also shook his head and said with a smile: "Hey, it's really unfortunate to meet such an ally." Who has the heart to fight? Keep an eye on his movements, otherwise he will have nowhere to reason if he is trapped. ”

"Fu Zonglong seems to have fewer dead murderers," Li Yan said, "Without He Renlong's containment, Li Zicheng and them will be able to attack with all their might." ”

Li Mu shook his head and said: "I don't know what Chongzhen Xiao'er thinks, like Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong, even if they make a big mistake, they won't be punished much, at most they will be guilty of meritorious service." ”

"He wants to be punished," Li Yan said disdainfully: "But the situation is stronger than people." Over the years, one defeat after another, there are not many armies left. Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong can still fight, at least they won't be wiped out. If Chongzhen dares to punish, he will not even have a usable army, and the thieves will be even more rampant. ”

Li Mu sighed: "He is also quite pitiful, the annual expenditure of millions of silver, but he can't raise an army that can fight." ”

"What's the use of a few million?" Li Yan explained: "Look at the current price of grain, how much grain can be bought with one tael of silver? The soldiers are going to starve, so naturally they don't have the heart to fight. ”

"Also, now the grain is quite expensive, and it is useless to have silver." Li Mu nodded.

Li Yan instructed: "You go back, although the official army has passed, the thieves have not gone far." ”

"Okay, I'll draw water from the barracks." Li Mu agreed.

Li Yan and the others were really right. After He Renlong and the others retreated, Li Zicheng and the others began to attack Fu Zonglong who was besieged with all their might.

At this time, Fu Zonglong had been surrounded for six or seven days, and the little grain had already been eaten. I have already begun to kill mules and horses to satisfy my hunger, but there are not many mules and horses, and I can't eat them all after a few meals. Fortunately, they dug a trench first, which allowed them to shoot arrows and projectiles outside, which allowed them to hold out for so long.

However, after the thieves intensified their attack, their consumption of arrows and projectiles and gunpowder also increased, and after three days, they were almost consumed. Moreover, the mules and horses have also been eaten, and the soldiers have begun to sustain themselves by eating human flesh from corpses.

Fu Zonglong waited for ten days and knew that reinforcements would not come, so he led his troops to break through to Xiangcheng. But how could a hungry soldier be a match for a well-fed and well-drunk thief, and his troops were scattered not long after they left their positions. When some henchmen escorted him to seven or eight miles away from Xiangcheng, he was caught by the thieves.

The thieves were also smart, so they directly took Fu Zonglong to Xiangcheng City, wanting to directly deceive the city gate and knock Xiangcheng down by the way.

But Fu Zonglong was very backbone, and immediately shouted: "I am Fu Zonglong, the governor of the three sides, there are thieves all around here, you must be strictly guarded, don't let the thieves succeed!" ”

The thief next to him scolded angrily: "Dog officer! Let them open the door, or I'll kill you now!" ”

"Death is death, I am the minister of the court, and I still know the loyalty, filial piety, and martyrdom!" Fu Zonglong said coldly.

At this time, the city had already begun to release arrows at the thieves, but it still deliberately avoided Fu Zonglong's surroundings.

The leader of the thieves roared, "Then I will fulfill you!" ”

After that, he raised his hand with a knife and killed Fu Zonglong. Then he retreated with his troops and moved closer to the larger army.

...