The so-called "* array" is a superstitious practice in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The children's shoes www.biquge.info who have read Mr. Lu Xun's "A Chang and the Classic of Mountains and Seas" must remember such a paragraph:

"'Words there?!' She said solemnly. 'Are we useless?' We, too, will be taken captive. When there were soldiers outside the city, Long Fur told us to take off our trousers and stand on the walls in rows, so that the cannons outside could not be released; If you want to put it again, it will explode! ’”

This is not Lu Xun's exaggeration, in fact, from the beginning of the massive use of cannons on the battlefield, the practice of using naked women to deal with cannons began to appear. Even in the East, not only in the East, but also in the West, there is a black sorcery in which naked women are paired with other tricks to curse each other's cannons. And in China, at that time, it was believed that the cannon was fired by fire, so it was masculine. Therefore, to deal with the cannon, you can use the feminine to disgust it. And women are feminine, so they can be used to disgust the cannon. Let the cannon fail to sound if there is a problem, or it will explode.

At that time, mechanics and materials science were all in a mess, and of course I didn't know much about how to avoid the cannon exploding, and the balance of quality could not be guaranteed when casting the cannon at that time, so the same use, some cannons could be fired safely and securely for hundreds of rounds, and some cannons were blown up after only a few shots because of the internal defects at the time of casting. At this time, if the defending side happens to use this kind of "* array", they will naturally "practice the true knowledge", and the "* array" can be tired of defeating the cannon. Just as the Aztecs in Mesoamerica discovered that this would lead to a good harvest of corn after sacrificing people to the gods.

Of course, since the defending side can use the * array, the attacking side naturally has a corresponding method. There are several common methods:

The first is to use the blood of a black dog to break the "* array". The ancient Chinese believed that the blood of the black dog had magical powers and could destroy all kinds of demons. "* array" is naturally no exception. It is said that as long as the blood of a black dog is sprinkled in front of the artillery position, the "* formation" can be broken.

However, it is said that sometimes, if the demon method of presiding over the "* array" is too powerful, it may not be effective just by relying on the blood of the black dog, so it also needs supporting things, which is to invite a group of monks to chant the scriptures. It is said that because the monks are not close to women, the yang energy is the heaviest. In short, the great monk plus the black dog blood, generally speaking, is enough to deal with the "* array" laid by the vast majority of demons. Of course, if there is still a cannon to blow up the chamber, it must be because there is a thousand-year-old demon on the opposite side, at least at the level of the old demon of Montenegro. And even if there is such a demon on the other side, the great monk and the black dog blood still protect the cannon to the greatest extent, or you see, not all the cannons can't be fired, and not all the cannons are blown up, right?

This time, in order to deal with the "* array" laid by the demons in Kaifeng City, Li Zicheng also adopted a two-pronged approach. Because the "* array" is already a common trick, so here in Li Zicheng, the black dog is already a necessary military material that must be carried with the army, but there is no need for special preparation. In fact, not only Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, and Wu Sangui on the court side also used black dogs as military necessities. Even Jianxuan, after establishing artillery through traitors such as Kong Youde, also listed black dogs as military necessities according to the gourd drawing.

As for the great monk, it's a little more troublesome. Over the years, the Central Plains have been either famine or war. Most of the small temples with only one old monk and one small monk can't hold it anymore. One day, the old monk said to the young monk, "Once upon a time there was a seat...... (Ah, no, it should be) there used to be incense here, but now the incense is gone, and if we stay any longer, the Buddha will starve to death, so let's go and escape the famine! Then the old monk and the little monk died on the way to escape the famine. Only those large temples with extensive land can continue to maintain. However, most of the monks in these temples have doorways, and those who are close to Kaifeng have run into Kaifeng City when Li Zicheng's army came over. Therefore, in order to get enough monks, it took some time, and finally found the Shaolin Temple three or four hundred miles away. Then, at the warm invitation of King Chuang's army, the monks of Shaolin Temple voluntarily went down the mountain and came to Kaifeng outside the city to fight against the demons.

"It's almost time, isn't it?" Li Zicheng asked.

"King Chuang, there is still a quarter of an hour before noon." A general replied, "Those bald donkeys from the Shaolin Temple said that if you want to break the formation, it is best to wait until noon, when the yang energy is the heaviest, and it is the best." ”

"Hmm." Li Zicheng nodded, and said, "Wave the flag, everything else is ready, right?" ”

"King Chuang, don't worry, everything is ready, look over there, they are already chanting. These bald donkeys, who were five or six at first, refused to come. The dog got on the sedan chair and didn't know how to lift. Lao Tzu flashed the knife, and the dogs were honest one by one. But Chuang Wang ......" Speaking of this, Hao Shaoqi lowered his voice. "King Chuang, do you think these monks work? These bald donkeys used to collude with the government and bully men and women, Lao Tzu went to the Shaolin Temple to take a look, it was simply a nest of prostitution. To follow me, these bald donkeys should light sky lanterns. This is also a monk? King Chuang, you say, this kind of monk, can they be useful? ”

"These monks are not good?" Li Zicheng glared at him and said, "You can't trust them, can you?" That's what you can get back yourself. Everything else is ready, right? ”

"King Chuang, if I could find other monks, I would have cut down these bald donkeys a long time ago. Everything else is easy to say, when the hour is one, you will kill the black dog, spill blood, and fire cannons, and you will definitely not be able to make a mistake. Hao Shaoqi patted his chest and said.

While the two were talking, Luo Rucai also came over: "Wave the flag, where did you find so many monks?" What a skill! ”

"Shaolin Temple!" Hao Shaoqi replied, "It's hundreds of miles away." These gang of dogs have had a good bald life, and they all have fat on their bodies! ”

"It's almost time, isn't it?" Li Zicheng said again.

"Well, that's pretty much it." Hao waved the flag and said, "Look, King Chuang, the flag has been erected over there, and the time has come." King Chuang, I'm going to arrange for the cannon, you and Cao Cao are here to watch, and now we have to break the wall of this dog's day. ”

"Well, you can go about your business!" Li Zicheng waved his hand.

Hao Shaoqi turned around and left, and after a while, a group of people dragged some black dogs to the side of the cannons, some people held down the black dogs, and some people pulled out their knives, cut the throat of the black dogs, and then poured hot dog blood on the outside of the barrels. At this time, on the side of the "senior monks" of Shaolin Temple, the bells, drums, gongs, and wooden fish cloud boards also sounded, and surrounded by sabers and guns, those "senior monks" also became more and more energetic to chant the scriptures.

The dog's blood had been spilled, the scriptures had been read, and finally it was the turn to fire. The soldiers loaded the gunpowder and shells, and seven or eight cannons were fired one after another.

"Okay! I didn't expect this group of Zihua monks to really have mana! It's all on! Didn't blow up! Hao Shaoqi clenched his right fist and hammered it fiercely in the palm of his left hand and said: "Take the dogs you killed today, and invite those big monks to have a good meal!" If I continue to recite the scriptures tomorrow, I don't believe that I can't open this wall! ”

However, the quality of Kaifeng's city wall is quite good, these cannonballs hit it, although a lot of city bricks were broken, but it was still far from the collapse of the city wall.

Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng, firstly, he planned to encircle the point to send reinforcements, and secondly, he also used it to train his troops. So in addition to shelling, other means are also being used.

The first is cave attacking, that is, digging tunnels. However, the purpose of digging tunnels is not to dig into the city. It's useless, the width of the tunnel crossing is limited, and there is a ventilation problem in the tunnel that is too long, and you can't get too many people in at a time, and the traffic capacity is actually very limited. It's not easy to judge the location underground, and even if you dig it, it's not easy to dig the right place for the exit. If you dig directly into someone's barracks, won't you just show up and be watched by all kinds of strong onlookers?

The purpose of digging tunnels is to dig under the city walls, and then hollow out all the foot of the walls in the ground. Of course, while digging, you have to support the foot of the wall with wood, otherwise you will fall down and crush your own people. When a large area is hollowed out, he will withdraw his own people first, and then set a fire in the tunnel. Burn the timber that supports the base of the wall, and the wall will naturally fall, creating a ramp that can be climbed, and then the besieging army can follow the ramp into the city.

In addition to the cave attack, someone also offered Li Zicheng the idea of blasting. According to their idea, they rushed directly to the city, then set up a wooden cage to block the rolling wood and stones on it, and then dug a hole directly in the city wall, and then filled it with gunpowder, and then ignited the gunpowder, and blew the city wall away with a bang.

Li Zicheng didn't have much experience in attacking fortified cities, so he decided that all methods, whether they were the most traditional and untechnical siege with ladders and ants, or shelling, or cave attack or blasting, should be used.

……

"Li Zicheng is besieging Kaifeng. Another shelling, another cave attack, and a hole was dug in the city wall, stuffed with gunpowder to blow it up. "Looking at the news brought back by his own caravan, (because the leaders of all walks of life, and even many rogues, in fact, have business dealings with the Zheng family's caravan.) After all, when the rogues grabbed the silver, they also wanted to find someone to exchange it for food. Therefore, the Zheng family's caravan can always get news that is not usually available to others) Zheng Zhilong said to Zheng Sen, "What do you think will be the result of this battle?" ”

"Li Zicheng is learning to build a fence to send reinforcements." Zheng Sen shook his head and said, "Kaifeng is not as good as Jinzhou, there are relatives in it." The court didn't dare not hurry up to save it, as soon as it hurried, most of them would have to fall into Li Zicheng's dang, and the court was afraid that it would lose its wife and break its troops in this battle. ”

"In this case, my family's preparations in the north must be hurried." Zheng Zhilong said.