Chapter 453: Candidates for Succession

Li Zicheng's main force was replaced by the old battalion, with more than 30,000 people under his command. Other leaders, such as Hao Shaoqi and Yuan Zongdi, each have thousands of capable soldiers under their commands. But none of them can compare to Li Zicheng's old camp elite. Li Zicheng's little family background is all in the old camp.

Song Xiance recruited everything, and Chen Xie asked him to bandage him, signaling that he would be detained first, and then he would be rounded later. Chen Xie has never had a good face for this kind of magic stick, how can anyone who turns around and make ghosts have good things.

In the night, the two armies faced each other dozens of miles apart, and on the surface it seemed quiet, but in fact, the faint sound of gunfire and even the explosion of grenades could be heard constantly. Chen Xie came out of the camp tent, looked in the direction of the voice and said, "This is a battle in the dark, and the brothers have little advantage." I wonder what about the casualties? ”

Han Shan said in a deep voice behind him: "The small ones are stared at, and they will be reported as soon as there is news." Let's go back and rest, sir, this is the beginning. The thief is in front of the master, but he is just a chicken. I didn't see the master care so much about the Qing army. ”

Chen Xie smiled and shook his head: "You don't understand, the Qing army is a foreign war, this is a civil war." The dead are the people of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Han Shan seemed to think about it, hesitated for a moment and said, "Master, there is something unknown about the little one. With the strength of the Dengzhou battalion, it is not difficult to destroy the thief. Why did you send troops until today? Chen Xie didn't expect him to ask this, and he couldn't tell him, I know that this year's drought is very strict, and I am ready to borrow Li Zicheng's hand to cleanse the power of the folk gentry to the greatest extent. At the same time, because of the drought. Immigration is also convenient.

"War is about logistics, we are officers and soldiers, it is not difficult to simply suppress thieves, but what is difficult is to settle the people after the thieves are suppressed." After Chen Xie gave such an answer, Han Shan smiled innocently. This time, the Dengzhou battalion went to battle and carried a large amount of supplies, which is Chen Xie's evidence.

Back in the tent, the red lady was still waiting, and when she saw Chen Xie coming, she sat up and said, "Master, what's wrong?" Chen Xie explained with a smile. The two continued to sleep. Chen Xie can sleep. Li Zicheng couldn't sleep. After a lot of deliberation throughout the night, it was decided to move south. How to go? Someone must be left behind to break off. How to arrange the order, Li Zicheng is quite nerve-wracking.

"The Dengzhou battalion is not an ordinary Ming army, we have to go. You have to leave someone to cut off the queen. Early tomorrow morning. Zhongmin took the people of the headquarters on the road first. I took the old battalion and followed. Now that someone needs to break the queen, I wonder if any of you volunteered? "To say that Li Zicheng is really fucked. Liu Zongmin left first. The old battalion left first, how many generals could there be? It can only be those outsiders who have broken off, so why is there any need to take the initiative? Just arrange it directly.

Looking around, no one accosted him, Li Zicheng was ruthless at this time, and when he was about to make a forced arrangement, Hao Shaoqi said: "I'll stay." ”

Li Zicheng nodded and continued to look around, at this time Tian Jianxiu said, "Count me as one after the break." Li Zicheng was stunned, he wanted to say nothing but didn't say anything, this will say that you don't stay, that would be a ruin of character. After thinking about it, Li Zicheng said: "Yuan Zongdi is counted as one, and Liu Tichun will also stay." The latter was headed by Yuan Zongdi. The two silently bowed their hands, indicating that they received the order.

"That's it, everyone go and prepare, and leave early tomorrow morning." Li Zicheng announced the adjournment of the meeting, and it was already early in the morning. Yuan Zongdi and others took the first step and set up camp on the official road, preparing to block the Dengzhou camp. When arranging the camp, Hao Shaoqi's face was ugly, he was the first to stand up and break off, but he had to listen to Yuan Zongdi's command, if it weren't for Tian Jianxiu, he would have to lose his face.

On the fourth watch, Liu Zongmin left first with the vanguard, and the plan was to go south and go to Huguang via Xiangyang in Nanyang Mansion. On the fifth watch, Li Zicheng also left, taking his family members and ministers, how could he not see Song Xiance, which made him feel very uncomfortable. The old battalion was a horse team, and the movements were quite fast. claimed to be 500,000 people, but in fact, Li Zicheng was only 50,000 or 60,000 people who could really fight at this time. The others are all people, and the people who have never seen a battle are okay as an auxiliary, and it is really useless to fight.

At the time of the Mandate of Heaven, seventy or eighty thousand people left one after another, and the rest of the people were scattered in various camps, and how much they could evacuate really depends on your luck. Yuan Zongdi called Tian Jianxiu, Hao Shaoqi, and Liu Tichun and discussed: "The Dengzhou camp is powerful, I won't talk about it." A hard fight can't be beaten, and you can only defend it across the Huiji River. I don't say anything about fighting to the end, if you can't stand it, let's just take people and disperse. "If you can't beat it, you can run, this is the characteristic of a thief, and I'm used to it. Everyone knew in their hearts that no one had ever thought of leaving their lives behind. As for the people, who can take care of them? You didn't even notify those people that they were leaving, did you?

While they were discussing, a scout came to report: "There is movement in the Dengzhou camp." Yuan Zongdi immediately said: "Let's all go back, and prepare to fight." Say yes first, I really can't bear it, say hello and then leave. The crowd nodded and dispersed.

Hao Shaoqi's camp is on the edge of a bridge, and the Huiji River is not wide, dozens of meters away, which is the only barrier. While there was still time, Hao Shaoqi commanded his subordinates to build obstacles along the river to prevent the enemy from crossing the river by bridge. He had never fought with the Dengzhou battalion, and when he was in Chuzhou, he didn't have much chance to show his face, and everyone dispersed in a hurry, and he ran away.

A red flag appeared in the sky in the distance, and Hao Shaoqi, who climbed to the tower, saw it clearly, and couldn't help squinting his eyes slightly, carefully looking at the torrent rolling in the distance. The Dengzhou battalion did not hit the troops and attack a little as he expected. In his sight, he saw five phalanxes, swaggering towards the Huiji River from five directions, and one of them was rushing towards his camp. If you look closely, it looks like more than 4,000 people.

When it was less than six or seven miles, the soldiers of the Dengzhou battalion began to dismount and then make preparations. Hao Shaoqi's eyes were good, and he saw the soldiers of the Dengzhou battalion from a distance, like dark green tofu blocks, slowly moving ahead. When these Dengzhou soldiers were not in a hurry, dragging cannons, lining up in a phalanx, approaching the other side of the river, Hao Shaoqi came down from the tower and explained to his own soldiers: "Let the old brothers prepare their horses, I'm afraid this battle won't last long." "For cannons, Hao Shaoqi knows too much, especially when he sees a lot of cannons coming from the opposite side. How many are there, exactly? Hao Shaoqi didn't count carefully, there were twenty or thirty doors.

Chen Xie had planned to fight Li Zicheng again in Kaifeng, so he did not attack overnight. With the A-shaped battalion as one combat unit, the two battalions walked all the way and prepared to cross the river from five sections. The order was to try to gather the displaced people as much as possible, and if there was an enemy in front of them, they should be defeated. That's hundreds of thousands of people, not just two. The whole of Henan, which has been plagued by drought and flood, has long been like a soup pot, and the people's hearts are like boiling. Du Nima can't live anymore, why don't you rebel? It can be said that the situation is very strict, Henan Province, a little less, there are six or seven million people. Over the years, the thieves have tossed back and forth, no matter how much they toss, there are still three or four million people, how many immigrants can be immigrated, and the budget is one million.

The telescope saw very clearly that there was a big flag with the word "Hao" floating on the camp across the river. Chen Xie passed slightly in his mind, and then smiled: "It's Hao Shaoqi, he is a role dedicated to Li Zicheng doing this kind of work." Let the artillery prepare, hot air balloon cover, sappers build bridges. ”

The mounted infantry did not carry large-caliber guns, and the longest-range guns were six-pounder rifled guns. The artillery team of the battalion was equipped with two rifled six-pounder guns, four smoothbore guns, and six three-pounder smoothbore guns. They are all lightweight versions and are quick to disassemble and assemble. In less than twenty minutes, the artillery was ready, and the four six-pounder rifled guns of the two artillery groups began to shout.

The black shells smashed the fence outside the camp, rattling and flying fragments. The water in the river is almost at the bottom, but a bridge still has to be built. The sappers began to move unhurriedly, and the artillery kept firing, and the bombardment continued for an hour or so, and the improvised bridge over the river was almost on the opposite bank.

Lin Ya found Chen Xie here and said, "Supervisor, there is not much movement in the thief camp. Chen Xie nodded and said: "Hao Shaoqi is calm, let the hot air balloon float over, be careful when crossing the river, once there are thieves to fight, the hot air balloon will immediately bomb to warn." Hao Shaoqi's abacus was very fine, and it is estimated that he was waiting for our army to cross the river, and launched an attack without a stable foothold. ”

Lin Ya looked at Kaifeng City and said with a wry smile: "At this time, if an army comes out of the city, it would be good to poke it from the flank." ”

Chen Xie smiled: "Don't expect others, our army has always relied on itself to fight." Friendly troops, one is more unreliable than the other, and you are not afraid of being dragged down. Lin Ya smiled, ran away after saluting, returned to the river, and drew her sword: "Follow me, cross the river!" ”

The two A-shaped battalions walked down the river, and the river was shallow enough to see the bottom of the river. When crossing the river, the biggest enemy is the silt, so the officers and soldiers have to take off their shoes, tie them around their necks, and walk across the river with the silt.

Hao Shaoqi really didn't expect that a few thousand people would dare to cross the river so swaggeringly, and it seems that this bridge is not for soldiers, but for another purpose. Sure enough, a cannon appeared on the bridge, and while the bridge was being repaired, the three-pounder cannon moved forward. The three-pounder cannon, which can be pushed by two people, will immediately open fire to suppress the enemy in the event of an emergency.

These A-shaped battalions are all veterans from Liaodong, all soldiers who have fought and seen blood, and soldiers who are very confident in their combat effectiveness. If you think about it carefully, the powerful Qing army has been beaten into water dogs, not to mention the thieves?

There can be more than 30,000 people in Hao Shaoqi's camp, and he has the heart to rush out with people to fight a melee battle or something. But looking at the four hot air balloons that are always floating overhead, and looking at the faces of even the veterans of a hundred battles around them, you know that rushing out is doomed. There is no need to fight, as long as the guys in the sky lay eggs, the team will be scattered. (To be continued......)