With the fall of Dengzhou, the strength of the rebels has been rapidly improved, not only the troops have been greatly expanded, the original nearly 20,000 people, plus Zhang Tao, Geng Zhongming's nearly 7,000 people, as well as the surrendered Ming army and the coerced people, the troops have soared to more than 40,000 people, not only have sufficient food and salary, but also have a strong city that can be used as a base, and the wings are already full, not Liu Fan can shake less than 1,000 people.

Dengzhou can be said to be the largest and most advanced artillery casting base in the Ming Dynasty, Dengzhou City not only has the most powerful artillery expert Sun Yuanhua in the late Ming Dynasty carefully built more than 20 Hongyi cannons and hundreds of future and used Western cannons, as well as the largest Ming Dynasty casting artillery craftsmen and more than 20 Portuguese gunners and translators recruited by Sun Yuanhua. The fall of Dengzhou made it all fall into the hands of the rebels, and Kong Youde's rebels instantly had the most artillery in the Ming Dynasty, and even the Ningyuan front line was inferior.

Liu Fan's worst fear still happened, now Shandong has no strength to independently exterminate the rebels, and must ask Chongzhen to send reinforcements to continue the encirclement and suppression, in desperation, Liu Fan hurriedly wrote a note to Chongzhen, explaining the situation, and sending reinforcements. And he himself could only stay in Qingzhou City to continue training.

At this time, Chongzhen, who got the news in the capital, was furious, and immediately dismissed Sun Yuanhua from the post of governor of Denglai, and appointed Xie Lian as the deputy imperial envoy of Denglai, dismissed Yu Dacheng from the post of governor of Shandong, transferred Xu Congzhi to take over, and took full responsibility for the military and political affairs to encircle and suppress the rebels, and ordered the general soldier Liu Tongzhu to lead the troops from Beijing to the south, and the Sichuan general soldiers Deng Yu and Wang Hong led the troops from Changyi, and transferred more than 4,800 elite people outside the customs to enter the customs to quell the rebellion, and let the general Jin Guoqi serve as the general, and the commander-in-chief deputy generals Jin Guochen and Liu Bangyu, and the generals Zu Dabi, Zu Kuan, and Zhang Tao, Guerrilla Bai Yongfu and the old general soldier Wu Xiang and others, let the eunuchs raise the hidden supervision, protect the salaries of the guards, and join Shandong to jointly encircle and suppress Kong Youde's rebels.

On the twentieth day of the first month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Kong Youde's rebels captured the important towns of Denglai, Huangxian and Zhaoyuan, and controlled most of Dengzhou. The battle line was extended to the vicinity of Laizhou City, and Liu Fan was ordered to reinforce Laizhou City. After a three-day march, Liu Fan arrived at Laizhou City on the 23rd of the first month, and met with Xu Congzhi, the new governor of Shandong, Xie Lian, the governor of Denglai, and Zhu Danian, the governor of Laizhou. Liu Fan was warmly received by the three of them in the city, and that night the three of them held a banquet at Zhu Danian's house to entertain Liu Fan and discuss the situation of the rebels. During this period, the three talked for a long time, and Liu Fan was also infected by the patriotic sentiments of the three and was full of good feelings towards them. During the dinner, Xu Congzhi asked Liu Fan about his views on the rebels and the possible dynamics of the rebels in the future. Liu Fan had long known that the rebels would soon attack the city, and quickly expressed his worries, Liu Fan believed that the rebels were eager to advance the front after the capture of Dengzhou to increase the strategic buffer of Dengzhou, Laizhou City as a famous important town in Shandong The strategic location is very important, and the rebels will soon attack, and the rebels captured Huangxian and Zhaoyuan just proved this, the three of them listened to Liu Fan's analysis and thought that what he said was very reasonable, Liu Fan took the opportunity to offer advice to accumulate grain, and moved the villagers near Laizhou City to the city to transport away the grain wall and clear the wilderness, Be prepared to stay in Laizhou for a long time.

The next day, under the auspices of Zhu Danian, Laizhou began a plan to clear the wilderness, and Liu Fan and Xu Congzhi and Xie Lian inspected the city defenses, strengthened the city walls, and waited for the arrival of the rebels.

On the 28th day of the first month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng surrounded Laizhou City with 30,000 troops, and the next day, the rebels began to attack the city. Kong Youde pioneered the cannon fodder troops to attack the city, and used all the Hongyi cannons 20 and nearly 100 Western cannons to bombard the city wall, the cannon bombarded the city wall, the bricks and stones were shot down and splashed everywhere, hitting the defenders and killing them immediately, and the city was shrouded in smoke in an instant, and the defenders had to hide and wait in the Tibetan Cave in the face of such powerful firepower. After several rounds of shelling, the rebels set up a ladder and began a tragic siege battle, the rebels shouted slogans and braved the rain of arrows and stones to rush to the head of the city and the defenders began to fight, hideous faces, bloody swords, low howls, smoke and dust, the entire city of Laizhou was enveloped and annihilated by the tragic atmosphere of this primitive fighting. The war, but it continues. The loud screams and screams are touching. The rebels were numerous, like ants, and their mouths let out a roar that shook the heavens and the earth. This kind of shouting, infecting each other, motivating each other, and dissipating many inexplicable fears in my heart. Arrows flew wildly in the air, dragging a long rain of arrows through the clear sky like locusts crossing the border, only to see the soldiers falling to the ground with arrows in a steady stream. As soon as the rebels reached the city wall, they were immediately met by several defenders, screaming and falling to the bottom of the city.

The battle lasted from early morning to evening, both the attacking side and the defender side suffered heavy casualties, the rebels still did not attack the city, seeing that it was getting late, Kong Youde had no choice but to withdraw his troops, watching the rebels retreat like a tide, Liu Fan did not have any joy in his heart, because he knew history, if according to history, such a siege would last for a long time, and it would become more and more tragic, the city of Laizhou in history was besieged for four months, I really don't know how they persevered, Liu Fan has only now seen the cruelty and tragedy of ancient wars, and the scene of this limb flying is really shocking. Liu Fan's heart was full of anxiety, hoping that Chongzhen's order would make these selfish and stupid civil officials obey his orders, otherwise Liu Fan didn't know how long he could hold out.

The tragic battle is still continuing, after half a month of fierce battle, Liu Fan's broken army is also killed and wounded, even Liu Fan's sentry Wang Yongfa was killed by the rebels for protecting Liu Fan, and Li Xiaohu, who replaced him, was seriously injured one day after the fierce battle, and could not help but be carried away to recuperate, Liu Fan now has Wu Tao left under his command as a sentry officer, the broken army battalion lost one-third of its troops, the auxiliary battalion was even more miserable and almost half of the casualties were lost, and the rebels almost attacked the city when the battle was at its worst. Fortunately, the governor of Shandong personally climbed to the head of the city to command the battle, and the defenders were able to hold the city wall without being breached, but in a siege battle three days ago, the loyal and heroic governor was hit by a cannonball and died on the spot. In this more than half a month, Liu Fan and the four of them fought side by side and formed a deep friendship, Liu Fan was also full of regret for the death of Xu Congzhi, the elder, Liu Fan knew that history had also reminded Xu Congzhi to pay attention, but the war developed to this extent is no longer something that can be reversed by personal strength, and Xu Congzhi is still sacrificed like history. Liu Fan sometimes asks himself if he can really save Daming? Why did he work hard and still hasn't changed anything, Kong Youde still occupies Dengzhou, poisoned most of Shandong, and in the near future he will surrender Houjin with advanced artillery, acting as the executioner and leading the party of the Manchurians, and Liu Fan He can't do anything!