As soon as the displaced people from the south crossed the bridge, they were surrounded by hundreds of troops. Then one by one they were released, and when they went out, they were searched, the men by the soldiers, and the women by hired healthy women. Anyone who finds a weapon will be arrested. Even those who do not have weapons will be brought into the city and placed in the temples and Taoist temples such as the City God Temple, Yanqing Temple, and Wu Temple.

In normal times, after screening, they can also be arranged to do some work, or go to the workshop, or go to the grange. But now it is wartime, and the thieves are about to come, so for the sake of safety, they can only hang their lives for two bowls of gruel a day, and wait for the thieves to retreat before making arrangements.

Most of these homeless people were spies sent by Li Zicheng. The displaced people near Xuchang should have come a long time ago, and they will not come at this time. And the people of Yan Ling and Wei are all settled in the county seat, and no displaced people will run out. But these people are really outcasts, but they are just following the thieves, and the clothing and temperament can't be seen at all. Moreover, the families of the people who came were all left behind in the thieves, and whether they wanted to or not, they could only do things for Li Zicheng.

The besieged homeless people were terrified as they watched those with weapons being taken away. Those who didn't have weapons were better, and those with weapons secretly threw short knives, daggers, and fire vectors to the ground in the crowd.

Wei Cheng, who led the team, saw this situation and did not treat it differently, regardless of men and women, they were all arrested after the search. These people were all interrogated separately to see if they could get useful information about some of the thieves. But the result was disappointing, where did these homeless people know any secrets, and they would say millions of people at every turn, bright armor, and countless cannons. The generals of the thieves only know that Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, and the little boss who cares about them, has no value.

The same is true for the homeless people who went to Xicheng, but a few wanted to resist, and Li Yan's subordinates rushed over with a burst of arrows, killing most of them, and the other half were also arrested.

The situation was quickly reported to Li Yan, and Li Yan just casually said that he knew. It's not a day or two since thieves used homeless people to break the city, and he has always been on strict precautions and tried not to give Li Zicheng a chance. There are also those monks and Taoists, and among You Fanglang, there are also many eyes and ears of thieves. Some time ago, there was also a Taoist priest who was teaching children the nursery rhyme of "singing the nursery rhyme that King Chuang came and didn't pay for food". However, the fake Taoist priest came to his senses, and when the soldiers patrolling the city surrounded him, he directly hit his head against the wall and died.

In the evening, the thief vanguard came to Kaifeng City. sent a few cavalry over to investigate the situation, but four were killed and wounded by Li Yan's cavalry, and the rest fled in embarrassment. After the time, Li Zicheng's army arrived and camped outside the earthen embankment.

Early the next morning, Li Zicheng's troops entered the earthen embankment and began to besiege Kaifeng City. They were still advancing under the cover of earth-wheeled carts, and although they knew that Li Yan's cannon was far away, they had to be closer to the moat, otherwise the attack would be too long, and they would only pay more casualties.

However, the thieves fought a few battles with Li Yan, and they also had a clearer understanding of the range of Li Yan's tiger squat cannon. Estimating that he was one hundred and eighty steps away from the moat, he did not dare to advance any further, and stopped the earthen cart to form a simple parapet. Those vacant positions can only be plugged up from behind and then transported sandbags.

Li Yan's artillery has not been sounded. He knew that even if he fired a cannon, he wouldn't cause much damage to the thieves, and he could only waste ammunition. And the tiger squat cannon just happened to be unable to hit, so I had to watch the thieves carefully drag the sandbags up, forming a wall of bunkers one hundred and eight steps away.

Li Zicheng has enough people, and the bunker with a circumference of forty or fifty miles can be built in one morning. He and his generals finally cautiously came to the back of the bunker, baring half of their heads to check Li Yan's arrangement. There is no way, Li Yan's cannon is too powerful, if it is found that their leaders are here, they may be able to hit the cannonballs. The troubled king Lin is a living example, and they are not willing to joke with their lives. 、

Liu Zongmin said helplessly: "Sure enough, it is the soldiers led by Li Yan, Yan Ling is like learning from Kaifeng." ”

Yuan Zongdi shook his head and said, "There are only a few tiger squat cannons in Yanling, but there are dozens of general cannons here. It's not easy to get through the moat. ”

Shi Jincai came up with an idea: "The sound of the east strikes the west." We are attacking fiercely in the east and feinting in the south and north, and Li Yan can only transfer artillery from the west in order to increase the damage to us. When the time comes, if you suddenly storm Xicheng, you will definitely be able to break through the moat before Li Yan adjusts his deployment. The key is to be able to withstand Li Yan's attack, or there will be no time to dig through the tunnel. ”

Li Zicheng glanced at Shi Jincai and asked, "Will he transfer the artillery to the west?" ”

"Yes!" Shi Jincai replied affirmatively: "He used to do this a lot. What he wants is to kill and injure the enemy as much as possible, and if the enemy is afraid and does not dare to fight, he will win. That's what he told us. ”

"That's fucking reasonable." Liu Zongmin suddenly said with a smile.

Li Zicheng made up his mind and said: "Okay, just do it!" ”

Shi Jincai reminded again: "When attacking, you have to spread it out, otherwise a few cannons will be able to achieve the effect, and he won't mobilize the cannons." ”

Gao Yigong grabbed Li Zicheng and reminded in a low voice: "Brother-in-law, if you are scared of being beaten this time, I am afraid that the brothers will never have the courage to start a war with Li Yan in the future." ”

Li Zicheng stared at Gao Yigong for a while before he said with a strained face: "Just try this time." As long as Li Yan can turn away the cannon in Xicheng, he can rush up. ”

Gao Yigong nodded and let go of the hand holding Li Zicheng's cloak.

At this time, Li Yan was observing the strength of the thieves at the head of the city. He found that all the people who came this time were strong, and they didn't bring their families. Although the number of people is not as large as last time, in terms of quality, it is higher than last time. And seeing the thieves acting carefully, they all dare not show their heads with their waists, as well as the control of the distance between the bunker and the moat, he knows that the thieves are indeed a lot stronger. Now it's up to the thieves to storm or besiege.

At this time, the sky, which had been gloomy and gloomy, slowly drifted raindrops, which sparked Li Yan's telescope lenses. He stopped observing, and carefully tucked the telescope under his cloak. He looked up at the sky, and it seemed that the rain could come, unlike the previous times, when the ground had not yet been wet. Fortunately, the artillerymen have built the gun shed, and the cannon should not be affected much.

Li Yan instructed: "Let the Huotou Army prepare ginger soup to warm the soldiers' bodies." Inform the artillery and baggage team that they must do a good job of preventing the ammunition from moisture and that they must ensure that the artillery can be fired. ”

"Yes." Sun Sifu agreed to come down and immediately arranged for the herald to deliver the order.

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