Li Zicheng looked at the others and asked, "What's the matter, it's all admitted?" "He Jin and the others didn't come, they were all their old brothers, so they spoke more bluntly.

Liu Fangliang said helplessly: "This is not a matter of admitting cowardice. In one day, three adult horses were knocked out, who can stand it? What do the brethren think? It's not something you can just say hit and keep fighting. ”

Today, Liu Fangliang also suffered heavy losses, originally he was a feint, but in the face of the three filled passages, he still didn't hold back, and invested a lot of elite soldiers to go up. But Li Yan turned the cannon over and swung it to both sides of the passage, plus the auxiliary weapons such as flowering bullets and crossbow arrows, he really couldn't rush through.

At this time, Gao Yigong came in and said: "I just received a report that the officers and troops from Qixian County have already entered Chenliu County, probably more than 10,000 people. It is said that Chen Yongfu's troops drove to Fengqiu. ”

Liu Zongmin opened his mouth and said: "The Kaifeng City in front can't be defeated, and a group of people are coming from behind, what should I do?" So that the old brothers are all buried here? ”

"So what do you say?" Li Zicheng suppressed his anger and asked, "Retreat?" Will Li Yan let us evacuate safely? If one is not good, it will be broken by Li Yan with one blow. ”

Everyone looked at each other, and finally Liu Zongmin spoke: "Let's talk to Li Yan, let's still cooperate." Don't worry about Henan for now, let's go to Huguang. Seeing that winter is coming, where is there still food in Henan? ”

"Will he believe it?" Li Zicheng said coldly: "He has already been fooled once, will he continue to believe us?" ”

Liu Fangliang interjected: "Whether he believes it or not, let's lead the team south." Let's give him a large area of space, will he still chase us south? Not to mention anything else, it is the consumption of his projectiles and gunpowder, how far does he dare to chase? ”

Gao Yigong nodded and agreed: "He's not like us, as long as there is food, it's okay to go anywhere." Without the projectile gunpowder, what else would he fight with us? At that time, if he really dares to chase after him, we will be able to eat him. ”

When Li Zicheng heard them say this, he felt that it really made sense. Every time he comes to fight Li Yan's lair, if he lets Li Yan leave his territory, can't he defeat Li Yan?

After figuring it out, he finally nodded and said, "Well, it makes sense, I'm in a hurry." It is better to send someone to call Yufeng (Tian Jianxiu), and let him talk to Li Yan. ”

"Yufeng is still in Runing," Yuan Zongdi asked, "What should we do in the middle?" Let's not fight Li Yan, but Li Yan may come to fight us. Li Yan's troops are different from other officers and soldiers, and they are also good at field warfare. In addition, the brothers are now demoralized, and they will not even have a chance to cooperate after the fight. ”

After a while, Liu Fangliang saw that everyone had no good way, so he said, "We can withdraw to Zhengzhou first." ”

"This method is good," Liu Zongmin nodded and said, "There are 100,000 people from Cao Cao and Ge Liyan there, plus our men and horses, Li Yan will dare to chase after him." ”

Li Zicheng thought of what Cao Cao said before the war, saying that he could not defeat Kaifeng City, saying that he did not care about the lives of his brothers. He didn't want to go, but if he retreated south, would he still have a chance to negotiate with Li Yan? If you want to really cooperate, there are still many benefits to cooperating with Li Yan, at least the officials and troops in the north will be dragged by Li Yan in Henan, and he only needs to attack Huguang.

Everyone looked at Li Zicheng and waited for his decision.

At this time, Li Zicheng could only obey everyone's opinions, he nodded and said, "Then so be it." Let people write the letter of cooperation and shoot it to Li Yan. Write a few more copies, distribute them in several directions, and let the people in the government know about it. ”

Everyone was laughing. I don't know if I laughed at Li Zicheng and didn't forget to set up a trap for Li Yan at this time, or if I was happy that I finally didn't have to fight with Li Yan anymore.

Early the next morning, Li Zicheng selected more than a dozen subordinates who were good at shooting and asked them to shoot the letter into Li Yan's control area. The archers were all careful to swing the shaft of the arrow tied to the letter at Li Yan's man in two hundred steps, and shot the arrow with the arrow removed in one hundred and fifty steps.

When Huang Shu and Cao Chengfeng heard that the thieves' offensive had been thwarted, they both returned to Li Yan's side. Unexpectedly, early in the morning, they saw the thieves shooting letters in this direction.

Huang Shu saw that Li Yan's subordinates had put away all the letters, but they didn't send them to Li Yan. So he said, "General Li, there is something wrong with your subordinates." If they take the letters of the thieves and do not hand them in, do they have any connection with the thieves? ”

Li Yan said with a smile: "In front of everyone's eyes, this thief is a communication spy?" Or do you want to point me out who the inner ghost is? ”

"General, it's better to be careful!" Huang Shu ate Li Yan's ridicule and replied coldly.

Li Yan ignored Huang Shu and continued to inspect the defense. Just after noon, he saw that the thieves were mobilizing their troops to gather westward, so he immediately mobilized his troops to strengthen the defense of Xicheng. But he didn't dare to transfer all his forces to the west, after all, the initiative was still in Li Zicheng's hands.

However, seeing that Li Zicheng's troops were basically assembled outside the earthen embankment, and the troops inside the earthen embankment were also withdrawing one after another, he felt that Li Zicheng might be about to retreat. So he whispered two words to Sun Sifu.

After a while, Sun Sifu came back and whispered to Li Yan: "Dashuai, the letter that came over said that they want to cooperate with us, and this time it is a real cooperation." He also said that after two days, they asked the deceased to come and interview you, and they withdrew their troops first to show their sincerity. ”

Li Yan nodded, feeling a little bottom in his heart.

"General Li, is there any ulterior secret?!" Huang Shu's face darkened, and when Sun Sifu finished his report, he suddenly asked.

Li Yan said with a smile: "It's really inconvenient to talk about Huang Tuiguan." In fact, his people picked up the letter that Li Zicheng shot over, and they didn't send it to Li Yan immediately after knowing the contents, just to prevent Huang Shu and Cao Chengfeng from knowing about it.

"Mr. Li, Li Yibin, the court treats you well, the prince recruited you as a son-in-law, you have to be worthy of the court and the king of Zhou." Huang Shu still said coldly.

Li Yan asked: "I took my subordinates to fight with the thieves and defend Kaifeng, am I still sorry for the court and the prince?" ”

Huang Shu didn't speak, while Cao Chengfeng relieved the siege: "General Li is not only a pillar of the imperial court, but also a relative of the emperor, so naturally he will not have any collusion with the thieves." Those letters must be a thief's act of discord, and Huang Tuiguan should not be suspicious. ”

Early in the morning of the third day, Li Zicheng did not wait for Li Yan's reply, and withdrew to Zhengzhou with his troops. The siege of the city was three days before retreating, which was also the shortest time among Li Zicheng's four sieges of Kaifeng, and it was also the heaviest casualty.

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