Under the city of Xuzhou, the righteous soldiers sweated like rain outside the city, and hurriedly arranged the city defense.

Previously, the defenders of Xuzhou were short of manpower, and there were no other fortifications outside the city except for the moat, so filling the moat could directly attack the city wall.

Liu Heizi had sufficient manpower, and more than 100,000 people seized the time to improve the city defense of Xuzhou before the Ming army arrived.

Below the city, the rebels dug up the earth that filled the river, piled up a wall of sheep and horses up to the knees outside the city, and dug a pit in the ground to prevent the besieging party's equipment from approaching the wall.

At the same time, the soldiers cut down trees, sharpened them into stakes, and inserted them diagonally into the ground, which also created obstacles for the enemy to attack.

If there is an iron thistle, Liu Heizi will definitely sprinkle it, but the resources of the righteous army are scarce, and many people still hold dung forks, and the iron is used to build weapons, so naturally there are no resources to build these things.

At this time, the soldiers were busy, and the alarm bell of "Dangdangdang" suddenly sounded at the head of the city, and the soldiers stood up straight and looked towards the southeast, and saw several ringings in the distance.

"Come back to the city, come back soon!" The leader of the rebels in the city began to shout.

The rebels under the city wall were in a panic, and the busy soldiers hurriedly threw down their work and rushed to the city gate, and many tools were lost all over the ground and no one paid attention.

At the city gate, the righteous soldiers quickly poured in from the urn city, and there was a general at the head of the city who commanded and urged, "The enemy army is coming, return to the city quickly, and the people in front should not block the passage." ”

The trumpets sounded on the city wall, and the soldiers armed with bows and arrows and fire guns climbed the city wall and entered their respective positions.

At this time, after a group of rebel cavalry rushed into the city, the east gate was immediately closed, the drawbridge was pulled up, and some backward cavalry fled, seeing that the city gate was closed, they could only pull their horses and go around the other city gates to enter the city.

Along the rushing Yellow River, faintly, a string of neat trumpets came, and the soldiers in the city, looking for the sound, could already see the Ming warships in the distance.

At this time, on the wilderness outside the city, hundreds of fiery Ming cavalry galloped on horseback, a guerrilla general's recognition of the flag, a big "Yan" character was written on it, after the cavalry, a piece of Ming army foot soldiers, like a red cloud on the horizon, drifted to Xuzhou.

Xuzhou City is located in the north-south traffic artery, the location of the ground is very important, after seizing this city, it is equivalent to controlling the passage of the north-south connection.

Since ancient times, Xuzhou has been a battleground for soldiers, and the wars that occurred in Xuzhou have been recorded more than 400 times. The earliest one occurred in BC, that is, Peng Boshou's expedition to the West River; The most recent one, the Huaihai Campaign, was fought every 10 years on average, which shows the importance of Xuzhou.

Now the rebel army controls Xuzhou, although there is a canal connecting the north and south in the northeast of the city, but as long as Xuzhou does not fall, it is unlikely that the Ming army will take Shandong along the canal and compete with the Wei army for Beijing.

At this time, Liu Heizi was fighting on the city wall, and he could see far away, and some small red dots in the distance were beating forward, which was the vanguard of the Ming army.

On the edge of the Yellow River, the warships of the Ming army had their sails hung high, the guns on the side of the guns sticking out of the gun windows, and the soldiers holding firearms on the ship's floor were full of soldiers.

On the shore, a group of slender men tuged forward, and the wind combined with the pulling of the slender men made the huge warship able to sail against the current.

On the embankment on the bank of the river, the Ming soldiers wearing red armor and butterfly-shaped iron helmets on their heads, carrying fire guns on their backs, surged forward with undulating heads.

The march of the Ming army was lined up in several lines, some walked on the river embankment, some walked on the river beach, and some walked on the official roads and paths, the flow of people was mixed with the artillery dragged by mules and horses, and the carts loaded with baggage were like several giant pythons winding forward, and the scene of the advance of the 100,000 army was extremely spectacular.

Yuan Zongdi stood beside Liu Heizi, pointed to the Ming army moving forward like a carpet in the distance, and said: "The Ming army relies on the big river, and the warships and artillery in the river are fierce, and the Ming army is almost irresistible in the range of the warship shelling. ”

Liu Heizi frowned slightly, "You just suffered a loss on the warship!" ”

Yuan Zongdi shook his head, "More than that, I put the line away, and I ate a few rounds of cannons first, and the Ming army's flintlock pistol array saw that my front was chaotic, and they directly pressed it in unison, and the three rounds of guns crushed me." ”

Yuan Zongdi's men and horses were reorganized and trained a few years ago, but later they were mainly active in the eastern Henan region, fighting in small units, and the equipment was mainly birds, and they were not the main force of the Wei army, and they were not good at fighting large corps.

Liu Heizi raised his eyebrows and asked, "How about that than Da Wei's platoon gun?" ”

Liu Heizi remembered that when he and Gao Yihuan fought Bozhou and destroyed Liu Liangzuo, the Ming army was like a piece of at that time, and it was simply vulnerable.

Now a few years have passed, the Qing army has flintlock pistols, field bronze cannons, and earth-shaking thunder, and the Ming army has also set up a gun array, and the world has really changed.

Only he has been nesting in the mountains for a few years, which is still the same old thing, which makes him feel a sense of loneliness.

"I haven't eaten my own people's platoon guns!" Yuan Zongdi smiled bitterly.

Liu Heizi looked at the Ming army coming in the wilderness under the city, saw the warships on the river, saw the mountains of soldiers rolling in the wilderness, and spitted, "Lao Tzu doesn't care how well they shoot in the row, now Lao Tzu is hiding in the city, see what they can do with Lao Tzu." ”

If it is a field battle, the righteous army is definitely not the opponent of the Ming army, but the righteous army has obtained Xuzhou and has the city as its backing, so there is really no need to panic.

Yuan Zongdi bowed slightly, and was about to echo, but Liu Heizi turned his head and added: "But there are many people in the city and little food, old Yuan, you still send someone to tell the king, let the king send someone to save me!" ”

Gao Dawang's rescue was slow and very inactive, Liu Heizi learned the lesson of being trapped and returned to Germany, and felt that the letter for help should be sent as soon as possible.

Now Liu Heizi is also a person who is about to run to four, but he can't afford to return to Germany again.

~~~~~~

Jiangnan, Chongming Island is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, formed by sediment accumulation, surrounded by river water on all sides.

Such terrain determined the concealment and closure of Chongming Island, and became a base for the secret assembly of the Ming army.

At this time, the residents of the island have been all moved away by the Nanjing government, and the island is full of military camps and water villages, and a large number of Ming soldiers and sailors and warships gather here.

At this time, Zhu Cihong disembarked from a large ship and set foot on Chongming Island, where Zheng Sen, Gao Yiyan, Shi Lang, Gan Hui and others would meet him at the pier.

"Your Majesty!" When all the soldiers saw Zhu Cihong, who was wearing regular clothes, walk down, they all hugged their fists and bowed in unison.

Zhu Cihong looked at them, nodded with satisfaction, and said to Zheng Sen: "The Qing family has sailed all the way, and it has been hard!" ”

Zheng Sen hurriedly clenched his fists and bowed, "For Your Majesty's life, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the minister will bow and die!" ”

Zhu Cihong was a little excited when he heard this, and held Zheng Sen's arm, "With the words of the Qing family, I will live up to the Qing." Let's go, the Qing family will take me to see the soldiers from afar! ”