Just when the Zheng family was busy preparing for the New Year, a new storm was brewing on the land of the Central Plains. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Cao Cao, Lao Tzu has arrived in Kaifeng City again. You said that this time, Lao Tzu couldn't enter this city. Li Zicheng rode a horse, stood on a small mound outside Kaifeng City, and pointed to the strong and majestic city wall of Kaifeng with a horsewhip and said to Luo Rucai.

"Of course it's good to be able to get in." Luo Rucai didn't make it funny, but frowned and said, "It's just that this city doesn't look so easy to fight." Look at the wall...... If you attack hard, if you don't kill tens of thousands of people, I'm afraid there will be no drama at all. ”

Li Zicheng looked at the city wall of Kaifeng from afar and said: "What you said is right, if you don't die tens of thousands of people, there is no drama at all." But is Lao Tzu still short of tens of thousands of people? In fact, this Kaifeng City, the most troublesome thing is not the city wall, but the people who defend the city, if the city guards are like Luoyang, no matter how high the city wall is, there is a fart. ”

"King Chuang, to be honest, I don't understand what we're staring at Kaifeng? This city looks big and has a lot of things in it, but it is clear that it cannot be defeated in a short time. The city is large, and the consumption is also large, if you fight for half a year before you enter it, there will not be much food to grab inside. It's better to go all the way and grab a few more counties. Luo Rucai shook his head and said, obviously, after losing the first few attacks, Luo Rucai was obviously a little less confident in attacking such a fortified city.

Listening to Luo Rucai's words, Li Zicheng's face couldn't help but have a smile.

"This Cao Cao is still a rogue." Li Zicheng thought like this, "He still doesn't understand why Lao Tzu wants to open the seal." ”

Of course, Li Zicheng knew that opening the seal was actually a loss-making business, and he couldn't do it in a short time, and when it was laid, there wasn't much to grab. Of course, gold and silver jewelry or something must still be there, but now it's not a few years ago, and gold and silver jewelry are no longer in Li Zicheng's eyes. For Li Zicheng, the most precious thing today is not these, but food. Now in Li Zicheng's eyes, the decline of the Ming Dynasty has been very obvious, a few years ago, Yang Sichang was still able to open the net on all sides, so that he only had dozens of people left, and even a year ago, when he came to Kaifeng City, the official army could still defeat him in the field battle, forcing him to retreat, but now, the willingness of the Ming Dynasty to fight has declined significantly, and Li Zicheng has seen the hope of changing the dynasty.

It's just that Li Zicheng also understands that he has a lot of problems here, and if he can't solve these problems, he will not only not be able to win the world, but may even become a "precursor to the king". So he remembered a conversation he had with his subordinate Li Yan a few months ago.

"Those who have become emperors since ancient times have deep roots. The so-called fundamentals, the first is the territory that can support the army. Does King Chuang know the story of Han Gaozu and Chu Overlord fighting for the world? ”

Li Zicheng has not read many books, although he has seen some plays related to Xiang Yu before, but he is not very familiar with the history of the Chu and Han rivalries, Li Yan and Li Zicheng roughly told the story of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, and talked about Liu Bang After Liu Bang ruled the world, he rewarded the heroes, and when Xiao He was the first hero, he asked again: "King Chuang, Liu Bang's subordinates, Han Xinlian has millions of soldiers, the battle will be won, and the attack will be defeated; Zhang Liang strategized and won thousands of miles away; Other Peng Yue Yingbu also have siege field battles and defeat the enemy; Even Gaozu himself has been stubborn and stubborn many times, and he has personally fought in battle; Only Xiao He has never been on the battlefield. Stay in the back all the time. Why did Gao Zu think that Xiao He was the first hero? ”

Li Zicheng thought for a while, shook his head and said, "Brother Li, don't sell it to me." Let's just say what you have. ”

"It is not easy for Han Gaozu to win against the overlord of Chu. I don't know how many battles I lost in the middle. Every time he loses a battle, he can immediately pull up another team. And every time they hold each other, there is always not enough military food for the overlord of Chu to eat, and there are few times when Han Gaozu's military food is not enough. This is Xiao He's credit. Xiao He ran Guanzhong, which made Liu Bang want people and food. In the world of wars, how can there be a hundred victories, but as long as someone has food, even if they are defeated a few times, they can make a comeback. In contrast, the overlord of Chu actually only lost once, and he couldn't get up again. In fact, even Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty also said, 'Build a high wall, accumulate grain, and slowly become the king', Emperor Taizu has not lost a battle, but because of his good family background, he can also rise again if he is defeated. King Chuang, think about it, if you have a Guanzhong like Han Gaozu now, or a Jianghuai like Emperor Taizu, and someone like Xiao He to help you manage it, what else in the world can stump you? ”

Li Zicheng nodded after hearing this and said: "Brother Li, if you want to say this, Lao Tzu still really envy Liu Bang, he never has to worry about his subordinates not having food, Lao Tzu wakes up every morning, and the first thing that comes to mind is where to get the food that fills so many of our mouths." If the problem of food can be solved, who is Lao Tzu afraid of in this world? Well, Brother Li Yan, this is the first you said, so there must be a second, right? ”

After listening to Li Zicheng's words, Li Yan thought about it and said, "King Chuang, if we want to learn from Gaozu Taizu, we must have a land." But now there are constant disasters and famines, which are different from the time of Han Gaozu and Ming Taizu. During the time of Han Gaozu and Ming Taizu, a piece of land could support more people than it does now. So now if we want to have a land, we can't afford to raise too many soldiers, but if there are not many soldiers, it will be difficult to keep a land safely. So that's a problem. ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "This is indeed a problem. Is there any way Brother Li can't do it? ”

"Yes." Li Yan said, "It's just that the last general wants to ask King Chuang first, where do you plan to base it?" ”

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "If you want to talk about wealth, there is nothing more than Jiangnan." But we are all outsiders, and it is difficult for us to stand on our feet in that place in Jiangnan. My brothers are all from Shaanxi, and Shaanxi produces good men, so I think we should take Shaanxi as the foundation. ”

"Shaanxi can produce elite soldiers, and it is indeed a place that can be used as a foundation." Li Yan nodded and said, "Just take Shaanxi as the foundation, you can't defend Shaanxi." Because Shaanxi has barren land and limited products, it is difficult to support the army. Therefore, with Shaanxi as the foundation, the first rule is not to defend Shaanxi, but to fight outside Shaanxi. Relying on the seizure of rice and grain from other places to support the army, this is the so-called war to feed the army, war to feed the war.

The second is to destroy the capable army of the imperial court in the process. King Chuang, there are not many capable armies in the court now. A few days ago, we conquered Luoyang and killed King Fu, and I heard that a large number of high-ranking officials in the court were unlucky. Then, Zhang Xianzhong killed King Xiang, and Yang Sichang died. Nowadays, what the court officials are most afraid of is the loss of their relatives. As long as we attack those places where there are vassal kings, the court will definitely do everything in its power to come to the rescue. Now that there are not many troops in the imperial court that can fight, the civil officials must be anxious in order to keep their official positions, so it is unlikely that the reinforcements will be much prepared, and they will definitely come along the way. The Art of War says: 'A hundred miles and the one who is interested in the benefit will be the general, and the fifty miles and the one who is interested in the army is half to the army.' That is to say, if you march a hundred miles and then go to battle, you will be defeated by the general, and if you march fifty miles, only half of the army will be able to keep up. When the time comes, our army will wait for work at ease and send reinforcements around the point, and there will be a great chance to wipe out the remaining elites of the imperial court in one fell swoop. Without these troops, the imperial court would not have the strength to threaten Shaanxi.

In addition, these armies are the most capable armies left in the imperial court, and if we defeat them and choose them to be strong and strong, our army will become more and more elite and more capable of fighting. In this way, it is possible for our army to defend Shaanxi with fewer troops, and then fight for the Central Plains. King Chuang, when Chongzhen was ten years old, our army was defeated in Shangluo Mountain, there were only dozens of people, and in a few years, the number of troops increased greatly, but there were not many of them who could really fight. This is a major weakness of our army. It is also a good opportunity to consume those who can only eat and cannot fight, and let the others grow. In this way, why can't you calm the world? ”

……

It was precisely because of such a strategy that Li Zicheng pointed the goal of the battle to Kaifeng. Kaifeng was the fief of the king of Zhou, and the loss of his relatives was a crime that was difficult for officials in the court and China to bear. Kaifeng is located in the Central Plains, and the imperial court has to march long distances whether it is the Qin army, Zuo Liangyu or the Guanning army. This gave Li Zicheng the opportunity to defeat them with ease. Through the attack on Kaifeng, the encirclement point was sent to help, first, to destroy the enemy, and secondly, to train the team, which was Li Zicheng's combat goal. In contrast, Luo Rucai, who still targeted the robbery, was naturally despised by Li Zicheng.

"Cao Cao, now that the army is in the city, can you still fight?" Li Zicheng didn't tell Luo Rucai about his plans, but said, "Besides, there are many county towns near Kaifeng. There are so many of us that in addition to opening the seal, we can completely transfer troops to take those places. Well, recently, I've figured out some ways to siege the city, you can take a look. ”

"I'm just about to see the means of breaking into the king." Luo Rucai squinted his eyes and smiled.

"Alright, let's go over there and have a look." Li Zicheng pointed his horsewhip to the left front, and then rode down the mound, while his nephew Li Guo followed closely with a group of cavalry. Luo Rucai looked over there, waved his whip, and chased the horse towards that side. His general, Wang Lung, also followed with a troop of cavalry.

They soon arrived at their destination, which was an artillery position of Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng captured these cannons in the battle with the official army. Now these cannons, which were originally used against them, have become their siege weapons. It's just that there are not many people under Li Zicheng who can use cannons, and they basically fire cannons indiscriminately. Fortunately, the target they were going to shoot at now - the walls of Kaifeng City - was large enough, and it was really not easy to strike crookedly. But non-specialists are just the problem. For example, a few days ago, there were several explosions in succession of these cannons. This may be due to the fact that these cannons are used too much and have reached the end of their useful life. At that time, the service life of copper cannons was generally only three to five hundred rounds. Maybe it's because Li Zicheng's people are too anxious and have too many * in it. However, Li Zicheng and others did not analyze it this way, they believed that the reason why their cannons had these problems must be because the officials and soldiers in Kaifeng City used demon methods and set up a "* array". Therefore, the shelling of Kaifeng stopped for several days, and until today, Li Zicheng was ready to break the demon law of the official army.