Luohe River is one of the tributaries of the Yellow River, originating in the southern foot of Huashan Mountain in Lantian County, Shaanxi, and flowing into the Yellow River in Gongyi County, Henan.

Because the Luohe River crosses the majestic and dangerous Kunshan Mountain, Xiong'er Mountain, in the west of Yongning County, it is mostly a canyon landform, the river is turbulent, there are many dangerous shoals on the river surface, and the drop between the steep walls on both sides reaches more than 150 steps, after passing Yongning County, the river channel widens, the water flow will slow down, merges with the Yihe River, and impacts a fast plain in the downstream, this is the Yiluo Plain, Luoyang is the geographical center of this plain, so it is also called Luoyang Basin.

Since ancient times, Luoyang is a famous city, agriculture, commerce, transportation is particularly developed, the national capital of the Han and Tang dynasties, are Chang'an, but without exception, Luoyang is the eastern capital, which shows the importance of Luoyang's status.

Li Zicheng has long taken a fancy to Luoyang, not only because of the dense network of Luohe rivers and its natural ability to resist drought, but also because of an important figure.

But Li Zicheng knows that Luoyang is a rare fortified city, and it will definitely not be as easy to break through as ordinary states and counties, in order to take Luoyang, he must first clear the states and counties around Luoyang, so that Luoyang will become a lonely city.

On the 21st, Li Zicheng rushed to Yiyang with Li Jibu, which belonged to Henan Prefecture and was the closest county to the west of Luoyang, the capital city, only 70 miles apart.

After Li Jibu arrived in Yiyang County, he immediately surrounded Yiyang City, and directly set up the military camp outside Yiyang, in order to prevent Luoyang from sending reinforcements, Li Zicheng and his own soldiers set up camp ten miles east of Yiyang, and at the same time sent rangers to Luoyang to inquire about information.

After contacting the Han Qing Bureau in Yiyang City, the 5,000 households of Li Ji's department launched an attack on Yiyang that night, despite the fatigue of the long march.

Yiyang is bordered by Luoshui in the north and Jinping Mountain in the south, forming a fan-shaped barrier, and Tang Qitai, the magistrate of the county, is resolute, and he relies on the favorable terrain to use all the defensive forces that can be used in the city.

But to his surprise, the rogues did not carry siege equipment, ladders, siege engines or anything, and they could not be seen at all, only the rogues stood outside the range of bows and arrows, and fired at the city with firearms.

Didn't the rogues plan to attack the city? Shoot at the head of the city, just to deter the defenders inside the city?

Tang Qitai was uncertain, but the defenders at the head of the city were in chaos at this moment, and the wounded soldiers, screaming endlessly, rolled on the top of the city, and rolled together with the dead soldiers.

Today's rogues seem to be very special, they rely on the advantage of firearms in range, and they are not within the range of bows and arrows at all, they can clearly be seen, and there are casualties at the head of the city, but the defenders are unable to fight back, and can only stare at the rogues outside the city.

Under the light of the torches, the screams of the wounded soldiers were particularly terrifying!

Tang Qitai was originally at the head of the city, outside the east gate, the number of rogues seemed to be the largest, so he came to the east city and fought with the soldiers.

When casualties began to appear, Tang Qitai was stunned for a while, at such a distance, how could Liukou's firearms shoot to the head of the city? The guards were the first to come to their senses, and they forcibly pulled Tang Qitai away, away from the danger zone at the head of the city.

But as soon as Tang Qitai left, the city was even more chaotic, and in the face of death, the Ming army chose to retreat, and no one wanted to stay in the city as a target for the rogues.

Tang Qitai couldn't sit still under the city, he knew that the vast majority of the soldiers defending the city were not even auxiliaries, just mansions and temporarily recruited strong men, if it weren't for the pitiful amount of silver, I am afraid that no one would have the courage to confront the liukou.

There was no way, he pushed away the soldiers around him, and wanted to return to the city, if the defenders withdrew, it was difficult to guarantee that the Liukou would not climb the city wall, once the Liukou entered the city......

Tang Qitai has thought of countless possible outcomes, but the breaking of the city by the rogue is the last thing he dares to imagine, with the character of the rogue, once he enters the city, I am afraid that the chickens and dogs will not be at peace!

What to do?

Tang Qitai decided that he would return to the city, as long as the main commander was there, the soldiers would be more courageous, however, he was disappointed, and the soldiers defending the city did not return to the city with him.

The soldiers were frightened by the firearms of the rogues, and once they left the city, how could they go back? Besides, even if you don't go back, you won't be punished? Who is still stupid and sent to death at the head of the city?

Tang Qitai really had no choice, he doubled the salary of defending the city, and dozens of soldiers went to the city, and the soldiers were afraid that Tang Qitai would not admit it, so they had to let Tang Qitai pay the silver first, for the sake of the silver, they would defend the city with peace of mind, otherwise once they died in battle, who would support their families?

Just when Tang Qitai was about to ask the guards to open the treasury and pay the soldiers' salaries in advance, a loud noise suddenly came from the east of the city.

Tang Qitai didn't know what was going on, but he knew that something must have happened that was not good for the defenders!

Sure enough, before the guards who had gone to the treasury to get the money returned, a soldier ran over panting, and shouted from afar: "Governor, it's not good, the rogue has captured the east gate......

Tang Qitai was stunned for a moment, he had spent so long to prepare, and all the personnel and equipment that could be used were used, but it was only less than two hours later, and Dongcheng was breached......

Once the city is broken, as the highest-ranking official in the city, he will naturally have to take responsibility...... What kind of responsibilities do you have?

"Adult ......"

Tang Qitai suddenly woke up and said hurriedly: "Has the Liukou entered the city?" How many people have entered the city? ”

"At least a thousand of them," said the herald, "the firearms of the rogues are too sharp, and the gates of the city have been breached, and we can......'t resist them at all."

Without waiting for the herald to finish speaking, Tang Qitai understood that the two loud noises just now must have been blown up by the rogues by blasting.

Liukou's firearms are too sharp, and Yiyang is only a small county town, so the defense will not be too perfect...... It's too late to say anything, there are five or six thousand of them, and once they break through the city gates......

Tang Qitai has the heart to protect himself, but now, will the soldiers listen to him? Will the rogue listen to him again?

"My lord, what should I do? There are rogues outside the four gates, and there is no way to escape! ”

"Run?" Tang Qitai's face turned pale, Yiyang City was broken, others could escape, but he, the magistrate, had no way to live, even if he fled back to Beijing, the imperial court would also investigate the responsibility for the loss of land, and it would inevitably be dead at that time, and it might also affect his family.

According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, on the day the city was broken, the civil and military officials who defended the city would die in battle for the best outcome, and their families would receive the court's pension; The second is suicide and martyrdom, the court will deprive the meritorious title on the grounds of "fear of war", and the family members will not be punished, so they can only fend for themselves; If you are lucky enough to escape, you will become a sinner of the imperial court, not only will the court not sympathize with the difficulty of defending the city, but will also arrest and jail, even the family members will not let go, and it is common for men to be beheaded and women to be included in the Department of Education.

Either way, the chief officer will inevitably die!

In addition, there is another way, this kind of thought flashed in Tang Qitai's heart, and then it was forcibly ignored, how could it be......

Since it is destined to die, then try to reduce the responsibility of the family members and leave them a way to live!

Tang Qitai closed his eyes painfully, turned his hands back, raised his head to the sky, and two lines of tears fell silently.

There was a faint shouting in the darkness, and there were the cheers of the rogues, and the cries of the people...... How much Tang Qitai hoped that it was the Ming army cheering for victory, however, it was not even half a night, the Ming army actually lost control of Yiyang City, the night was dark and windy, there was a lack of unified command, and the miscellaneous army in the city was ...... Effective resistance is absolutely impossible.

Yiyang City, from the moment the east gate was breached, had already been lost, and those two violent explosions were the declaration of the loss of Yiyang......

There is no moon tonight, and even the stars don't come to join in the fun, Tang Qitai suddenly felt that he was falling into boundless darkness, no matter how he struggled, he couldn't find the way forward, could it be that from now on, Yiyang will fall?

"My lord, the rogue is coming, let's protect my lord and fight a bloody ......"

Tang Qitai heard the voice coming from the darkness and knew that the situation was out of control, he shook his head silently, "You guys, you guys run for your lives quickly, you can go as many as you want......

"My lord," the guard said hurriedly, "There is no movement outside the southern city, maybe they have already gone to the eastern city, no matter what, we have to protect the adults and give it a try, we ...... We...... Once the rogue enters the city, he will definitely not let the adults go......"

"I've already thought about my fate, run for your lives!" At this time, Tang Qitai felt that he was too useless, Yiyang City could not be saved, and even his loyal subordinates could not be saved, and after tonight, I don't know how many of them would survive......

"Adult ......"

Tang Qitai was afraid that these people would be delayed by him, so he shook his head resolutely, "You guys go quickly, it's too late to ......" He turned around and walked past the guards, "This official wants to go back to the county office, be alone and be quiet!" ”

Several guards said in unison: "My lord, we accompany you, no matter life or death, we are all together!" ”

"Why are you suffering? The official was forced to ...... "Tang Qitai didn't look back, and walked quickly towards the county office, from the lights and footsteps behind him, there should be several guards behind him, do you know that this is to accompany himself to his collective death......

Tang Qitai returned to the lobby of the official office, immediately lit all the wall lamps in the lobby, felt that the light was not bright enough, and lit the two oil lamps on the candlestick, only then was he satisfied, he patted the dust on his body, tidied up the official hat and robe, and then went to the chair in the lobby, sitting upright, as if he was going to open the court to hear some important case.

The four guards who followed Tang Qitai back were originally the county government's catchers, but this time they went to the city with Tang Qitai, temporarily acting as guards, and when they saw the appearance of adults, they automatically stood in front of the lobby, two people on the left and right, lined up, holding the handle of the knife on the waist with their right hands, facing each other, and not squinting.

Tang Qitai suddenly laughed: "The fortunes of the country are difficult, but I can't give in to the Liukou, since the Liukou wants to occupy Yiyang County, then I will wait for the last trial, and the goal is the Liukou!" ”

"Yes, sir!" The four guards replied in unison, but their bodies did not move at all, like four tall pines in the mountains.