Hefei City, Cao Bianjiao's victory was only three days, there was an important guest came to Hefei, Nanjing Military Department Shangshu Shi Kefa, for the name of Shi Kefa, Cao Bianjiao is naturally very familiar, comparable to Wen Tianxiang of the Southern Song Dynasty, integrity is an example for the ages, of course, Cao Bianjiao did not buy his account, Shi Kefa's character he respects very much, whether he has talent, that is another matter, as far as he knows, Shi Kefa guarded Yangzhou in just a few days and fell, and his talent can be seen in general.

"Shi Nanbing, at present, Zhang Xianzhong has gathered troops in Chaohu, and even built thousands of warships, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, which will threaten the safety of Yingtian Nanjing at any time, this matter of exterminating Zhang Xianzhong is sooner rather than later, but the soldiers and horses in the hands of this general can be worthy of a battle, but only 10,000 people, and the rest are new soldiers, which also requires the cooperation of all parties!"

"General Cao rest assured, this official is here, just for this matter, this time the general defeated the men and horses of the fifth battalion of the left, this matter, the official has also heard about it, and has already made a contribution to the imperial court, for General Cao's performance, this battle also needs to rely on General Cao, as for the matter of cooperation, the official will deal with it, at present, the general soldier Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo is in Jiangbei to guard against Zhang Xianzhong, they have tens of thousands of soldiers and horses available, on the number of soldiers and horses, there are many thieves, but for its soldiers and horses are mostly thieves, the combat power is insufficient, our army is well-armed, and has been in battle for a long time, enough to break the enemy. ”

In the face of Cao Bianjiao's shirking words, Shi Kefa was also prepared, and it was not the first time he had dealt with these generals, these people were stubborn, and they were unwilling to take responsibility, in the case of uncertainty, they would not send troops, worried that once defeated, they would be disposed of by the imperial court, so Shi Kefa had a strategy, and the three parties sent troops at the same time, in that case, the soldiers were strong and strong, and the chances of winning were greater.

"If Shi Nanbing said so, the general would naturally serve the country, but there are some things, but Shi Nanbing still needs to help, although our army has not suffered much losses in this battle, but it is also lacking in armaments, and I hope that Shi Nanbing can understand the difficulties of this general, and allocate some ordnance to supplement it to suppress the thief!"

Cao Bianjiao is not stupid, he will not do that kind of wasteful thing, if this battle is fought, what can he get, and the military rations will not increase, the center of gravity of the imperial court is still in the Central Plains, Li Zicheng is the confidant of the imperial court, Zhang Xianzhong is regarded as a disease of delicate mustard, and the imperial court does not have much food to give him, and it will become more and more difficult in the future, he must rely on himself, if he does not take advantage of this time to make a little more, then he will be in vain.

"The matter of military supplies, that's okay, Nanjing also has some inventory, so let's allocate 5,000 muskets, 20,000 catties, and 3,000 war horses to fund the general to suppress thieves, how about it?" After thinking about it, Shi Kefa also agreed to Cao Bianjiao's request and was willing to provide him with some military equipment.

"No, * to triple the increase, Shi Nanbing, you know very well that the thieves rely on firearms, if they are insufficient, firearms are waste, not even burning sticks, and I also need a hundred artillery trucks, as long as Shi Nanbing gives me these things, I can guarantee that even if I can't kill Zhang Xianzhong, I can defeat them, and I won't let him get any benefits."

"Oh well! This officer will do his best to raise money, and he will definitely give General Cao a satisfactory result. Shi Kefa is also helpless, what Cao Bianjiao said is not unreasonable, these things do have a lot to do with the matter of suppressing thieves, and when the armament is sufficient, the chance of victory is greater, but let him be a dignified secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, and do such a low-voiced and begging thing, he is feeling helpless and aggrieved.

Cao Bianjiao is also very happy at the moment, with these things, his strength will be stronger, firearms forging is complicated, it is not so easy, although he has recruited a lot of craftsmen, but it is okay for them to make swords, to build muskets and artillery, it is very high-tech, so the progress is still very slow, so I have to ask Shi Kefa, anyway, there are so many military supplies hoarded there in Nanjing, Cao Bianjiao does not want much, Nanjing has 200,000 guards, and the military supplies are very abundant, All he wanted was a handful.

"Then so be it, as soon as the military needs arrive, Ben will immediately send troops to exterminate Zhang Xianzhong, in order to prevent Zhang Xianzhong from escaping to other cities, I hope that Shi Nanbing will prepare well earlier, if Zhang Xianzhong escapes, this responsibility is not only my Cao Bianjiao's, but you, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, will not be able to escape the involvement."

Cao Bianjiao is not a threat, but to tell the truth, he Cao Bianjiao is a guest army, not a local military horse of Jianghuai, and the thief is also a concerted effort, he is hanging the seal of General Pingliao, his duty is actually to deal with the Manchu Tartars in Liaodong, this Nanzhili has something to do, the biggest responsibility is the local general army, the governor and his Nanjing military department Shangshu, and he has already won the victory of the fifth battalion of the revolutionary left, and he can be accepted when he sees it.

The reason why I chose to go to this troubled water, one is to fish in troubled waters, get more benefits, and the other is to take the opportunity to expand my strength, only if he wins more battles, this reputation will be louder, the higher his prestige, and the heavier the weight of his words at that time, the defeat of the Ming Dynasty, it is a matter of time, it is not that he Cao Bianjiao can change it alone, he also has to make more plans for his future.

Originally, when he came out of Shandong, he was 12,000 soldiers and horses, and after arriving in Dingyuan, he recruited thousands of people, this time he recruited and surrendered soldiers, and there were tens of thousands, and now there are nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses, far exceeding the quota given to him by the imperial court, but this kind of thing is not uncommon, only you can win the battle, such a situation The court is not very good at it, just like Zuo Liangyu, the quota given to him by the imperial court is only 23,000 people, but Zuo Liangyu has already broken through several times, but Cao Bianjiao is different from him, If it is a group of rabble, then even if it is a million, it is also a group of rabble, and it is unbearable to fight, if it is elite, even if it is only a thousand, it is stronger than 100,000.

On the battlefield of the Central Plains, Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng for the third time, Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, the siege of Kaifeng was more urgent, Emperor Chongzhen issued several edicts to order Ding Qirui to defend Kaifeng, Ding Qirui reluctantly mobilized Zuo Liangyu, Hu Dawei, Fang Guoan and Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, to rescue Kaifeng.

In June, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Hou Sui to help suppress the troops to rescue Kaifeng. At this time, most of the military power in the Central Plains was in the hands of Hou Sui's old subordinate Zuo Liangyu, because Zuo Liangyu was fierce and uncontrolled, Emperor Chongzhen took these into account, plus the recommendation of the ministers, Hou Sui was amnesty, as a soldier of the army, instead of Ding Qirui, the governor of Baoding, and other seven towns of military affairs, in order to relieve the siege of Feng. Because there was no countermeasure to solve the siege of Kaifeng, Hou Sui led the army to stagnate and did not dare to advance, facing Kaifeng across the river.