Although half of Luo Rucai's men have been missing in the past few days, the battle in Kaifeng City is still fierce. The two sides are still dominated by artillery battles, but the Ming army has the advantage of the city wall, and the cannons are fired far, although Li Zicheng has more than 100 cannons of all kinds, but they are still at a disadvantage for the time being.

In the middle, they rushed under the city wall, but the defenders were well prepared, and used 10,000 enemies, fire oil, firewood and grass to carry out a fire attack, and burned to death more than 10,000 people who rushed to the front. So now Li Zicheng asked his subordinates to build a fort so that his artillery could also stand at the same height as the artillery of the official army.

Li Zicheng invited Luo Rucai over and said, "Since you are back, then go back to your defense area and replace my people for a rest." ”

Luo Rucai said casually: "Let them last two more days, and my people will also need to rest." ”

Li Zicheng nodded in agreement. He knew that there were not many people who came back from Luo Rucai, especially the cavalry, who only came back three or four percent. He knew that Luo Rucai had suffered a big loss, but he didn't blame anything, after all, it was a cooperative relationship, and he still had to save some face.

And he knew from Shi Jincai that Li Yan in Qixian was not easy to deal with, so he didn't go to Qixian this time, but came directly to Kaifeng City. After Kaifeng was laid, Li Yan naturally didn't have to worry. However, judging from Luo Rucai's battle losses, he still seriously underestimated Li Yan's strength.

Luo Rucai hugged his fists and said, "Then thank you." ”

"Cao Cao." Li Zicheng comforted: "When Kaifeng is laid, let's go and level Li Yan together." ”

Luo Rucai sneered and said, "It's better to fight down and open the city." In addition, those forts you get are useless without fighting. ”

Li Zicheng said: "Then let's go out and have a look." ”

As soon as the two of them left the tent, they heard the rumbling sound of cannons in the distance. The fort was made of wood, more than three feet high, and could hold more than 100 people on it. Put the cannon on it, and you can easily hit the cannonball on the head of Kaifeng.

However, the defenders of Kaifeng were not slow to react, and after seeing that the thieves were building forts, they also began to build forts on the city walls, and they wanted to maintain their advantage over the thieves.

At this time, the artillery battle between the two sides naturally caused Li Zicheng to suffer. The artillery shells fired by the officers and soldiers hit the top of the battery, killing and wounding the artillery above. If a cannonball hits the wooden support of the fort, four or five shells can knock the fort down.

However, the defenders at the head of Kaifeng City were not without losses, and Li Zicheng's artillery could not reach the defenders on the forts on the city wall, but they could easily hit the city. The defenders at the head of the city blocked the battlements with door panels and shields and the like, but the cannonballs could still penetrate the shelter and inflict a lot of casualties on the defenders behind.

Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai watched for two quarters of an hour, and five forts were washed in blood and three forts collapsed.

Luo Rucai glanced at Li Zicheng and suggested: "If you really want to build a fort, build it with rammed earth, these simple things are useless." ”

Li Zicheng ordered with a dark face: "Okay, let the artillery team collect it, so as not to damage the cannon." ”

Luo Rucai hugged his fists and said, "Zicheng, I'll go back first." ”

Li Zicheng nodded expressionlessly, but he did not return the salute. When Luo Rucai left, he ordered: "Find Shi Jincai." ”

He stared at the tall Kaifeng City in the distance again, and then gently touched the blindfold on his left eye, and after a while, he returned to the big tent. At this time, he already knew that it was impossible to open Kaifeng City by artillery bombardment alone, and it was necessary to combine other methods.

After a long time, Shi Jin was finally brought in.

"The last general knocks on the general." After Shi Jincai came in, he knelt down on one knee for Li Zicheng and saluted with his fists. Now, like other generals, he is also wearing a silver mountain armor and a black cloak. The difference is that he is also wearing stainless steel chain mail brought from Qixian inside. Although people like Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, and Li Guo are also wearing double armor, the chain mail inside them is either copper wire or gold wire, and it is not bad to hang decoration, but it is not enough to use it to prevent guns and arrows.

Li Zicheng asked Shi Jincai to get up and asked, "How many people are there in Li Yan now?" ”

Shi Jin thought for a moment and replied cautiously: "When the last general left, there were nearly 3,000 troops, but later he became a guerrilla in Guide, and I think the number of troops should have increased a lot." ”

"Do you estimate how many people there are?" Li Zicheng asked dissatisfiedly.

Shi Jincai calculated silently in his heart, and said after a while: "There should be almost 20,000." ”

Li Zicheng said softly: "Twenty thousand? There will be no more than 15,000 people who can come out to fight, and more than 50% of the losses that can beat Cao Cao? ”

Shi Jincai explained: "Li Yan's troops are different from other troops, they rely on artillery and crossbow arrows very much, and use three distances to kill and kill. If he had set up his formation, the attacking troops would have suffered the most casualties. ”

"Can your team fight him?" Li Zicheng asked majestically.

Shi Jincai was overjoyed, although he had made many achievements, the team he led was only a thousand people. Since Niu Jinxing began to set up a system, it is almost impossible for military generals to expand on their own, so this is a good time for him to expand the army or be promoted.

He groaned for a while, and then hugged his fists and said, "If there are 20,000 people in the humble position, you will definitely be able to stop Li Yan." ”

Li Zicheng didn't speak, he looked up and found that Li Zicheng was staring at him with that one eye. Shi Jincai immediately lowered his head, still maintaining the appearance of clenching his fists and bowing.

"This is impossible for the time being," Li Zicheng said lightly: "Even if you give you 20,000 people, you have to continue training." Didn't you say that you would have to train for another two or three months? ”

Shi Jincai hurriedly said: "I have overstepped my position." ”

"Then you say, if we go to fight Li Yan now, do you have a chance of winning?" Li Zicheng still asked lightly.

Shi Jincai immediately replied: "Yes! ”

Li Zicheng came to the spirit and waited for Shi Jincai's further explanation.

"As long as you are not afraid of casualties, you can use people to pile them up." Shi Jincai explained: "As long as we can get close to the distance of ten steps, as long as our follow-up troops can keep up, Li Yan will definitely be defeated!" ”

Li Zicheng frowned, he still thought there was a good way, it turned out that he still had to pay heavy casualties. His current move to seize control has already made the small group of rebels who have defected a little dissatisfied, and if he encounters a major battle with heavy casualties, even if he wins, it will be a huge blow to his prestige.

He waved his hand and commanded, "The team already has the rules for raising rewards, so I will take the lead in following the rules." If you perform well, as long as you have merit, you will naturally be rewarded. Go back. ”

Shi Jincai half-knelt down, hugged his fists and said: "Retire from your humble position." When he came out of Li Zicheng's main account, he wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. complained in his heart: He @ Niang @! This thief is more disciplined than the official army!

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