Although he was a little surprised by Xu Xinsheng's reaction after hearing that the vanguard of the "Jingnan Army" had suspended its advance, he returned to his residence and lay on the bed to think about it carefully, and Wang Feng was relieved by this. Speaking of which, although Xu Xinsheng was a bit snobbish, on the whole, he was still a man of great friendship -- this can be seen from his performance to the generals of the right army of the "Divine Machine Army". He has been a member of the "Shenji Army" for several years, not to mention that the 5,000 soldiers and horses of the right army of the "Shenji Army" he is now in charge of are all good brothers who can trust each other's lives, and even in the main force of the left army of the "Shenji Army" with which the city is fighting to the death, there are also many robes who have been crawling and experiencing wind and rain with him. According to the original Jihua, as long as Xu Xinsheng held on for two or three days or even less, Qian Yuanshan and Mutel's subordinates could arrive in Kaifeng and subdue Zhao Kuangyin as quickly as possible. In that case, although the left and right armies of the "Divine Machine Army" will inevitably be slightly damaged, it will definitely not hurt the vitality of the "Divine Machine Army", and it can still be accepted by Xu Xinsheng. But now, he told him that the vanguard of the "Jingnan Army" not only stopped at a place only 80 miles away from Kaifeng City, but also had to "sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight", just waiting for the elite of the Later Zhou Forbidden Army inside and outside Kaifeng City to fight to the death and lose both, and then the army pressed the border and reaped the benefits of the fishermen, no wonder the other party had such a reaction.

However, relieved and relieved, Wang Feng still has the responsibility to report Xu Xinsheng's situation to the committee. Therefore, on the evening of the next day, Wang Feng wrote a secret letter about the conversation with Xu Xinsheng the night before and Xu Xinsheng's combat performance in the city that day, and forwarded it to the "Yinyuan" intelligence center through the "Dark Feather" Kaifeng Branch, and then sent it to the Beiping Military Jiedu Mansion through the radio, and finally submitted it to the members of the committee. Fortunately, for what Wang Feng can be relieved of, several members of the committee will naturally not be angry. What's more, judging from Xu Xinsheng's performance in defending Fengqiu Gate that day, he was still desperately defending the city, and there was no change because of what happened the night before. Therefore, on the one hand, the committee sent a message to Wang Feng, asking him to appease Xu Xinsheng, but on the other hand, it maintained the original order, allowing Qian Yuanshan and Mutel's subordinates to continue to camp thirty miles north of Chenqiaoyi.

If it is said that in the first few days of the storming of Kaifeng, Zhao Kuangyin was still a little unsure, worried that the feudal towns in various regions would respond to the will of King Qin of the Later Zhou Dynasty and lead troops to support. Then, with the development of the war, he found that not only did the Beiping army, which he feared the most, not only move as agreed at the beginning, but also watched from the sidelines, and did not have the slightest intention of contributing to the imperial court and relieving the worries of the officials, his heart, which was still a little worried, finally settled down and began to command the battle to capture the city wholeheartedly.

In addition, the assassination of Han Tong on the tenth day of the third month of the lunar calendar in the ninth year of Xiande failed due to the appearance of a group of sudden and unknown martial arts masters, and failed to take the other party's life, and none of the dozen or so "Feiyantang" spies who participated in the assassination could come back alive. But with the desperate blow that two of the spies did before they died, they hit Han Tong with the short musket that Zhang Yongde privately obtained from the ordnance supervisor through his connections, and still hit the other party hard. If it weren't for Han Tong's heavy armor, he would have become a ghost under the gun this time. Rao is like this, and the huge impact force also caused Han Tong to suffer extremely serious internal injuries. According to the news that the spies came back, the famous doctors in the capital and the imperial doctors of the Taiyi Department felt that his injuries were very serious and troublesome after treating Han Tong. Even if he is skilled in medicine, the other party is also strong and healthy, and it will take at least a month and two months to fully recover, during which he does not need to expect him to be able to dispatch troops and horses very well and go to the battlefield to defend Kaifeng City as before.

Moreover, it was precisely this zuihou who used a short musket in one blow, so while injuring Han Tong, he also achieved a very beneficial windfall - the Chai Zhou court became suspicious of the right army of the "Shenji Army", the only person who used firearms in Kaifeng City. Although due to the current enemy, the Chai Zhou court did not dare to replace the right army of the "Shenji Army", which was the main force defending the city, for rectification, nor did it dare to remove Xu Xinsheng, who had a high prestige in the army and was currently in charge of commanding and defending the key attack of Zhao Kuangyin's rebels on the front line, Xu Xinsheng, who was in charge of commanding and defending the key attack of Zhao Kuangyin's rebels, was indispensable. From the third day after Han Tong's assassination, the imperial court transferred a large amount of gunpowder, as well as spare muskets, artillery, ballistae and other equipment originally stored in the right army camp of the "Shenji Army" to the inner city under the pretext that the gunpowder was stored too close to the outer city wall and there was a danger of being ignited by artillery fire outside the city. Then, according to the possible demand of the operation, it will be delivered to the city once a day in the morning and once in the afternoon to replenish it. Such a practice is obviously extremely unfavorable to the right army of the "Shenji Army", which has to experience fierce city attack and defense battles every day and consumes a lot of ammunition. After all, no one could have predicted the intensity of the fighting that day, and the inner city would have been able to transport ammunition out of the city for a fraction of that. As a result, in the subsequent battles, the right army of the "Shenji Army" was short of ammunition more than once, so that the soldiers had to pick up traditional weapons and equipment to fight the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. As a result, the army's casualties inevitably increased. By the evening of the 17th day of the third month of the lunar calendar of the ninth year of Xiande, the casualties of the right army of the "Shenji Army" and the two musket battalions and the siege heavy artillery battalion of the left army of the "Shenji Army" attached to it had exceeded 3,000, nearly half of its total strength.

This series of good news naturally increased Zhao Kuangyin's confidence, and it was even more imperative for Kaifeng City.

Zhao Kuangyin was full of confidence, but Xu Xinsheng was dissatisfied and helpless. Although he wrote to the imperial court many times to ask for a change in the restrictions and constraints on the right army of the "Divine Machine Army", every time he handed over the music, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, and he did not get any response. The forward troops of the "Jingnan Army" stagnated eighty miles away from Kaifeng, the Later Zhou court was so suspicious and precautionary of themselves, the morale of the defenders in the city was low after Han Tong's assassination, and the daily attacks of Zhao Kuangyin's rebels were more and more fierce again and again. If it weren't for Wang Feng and the 1,000 elite special forces of the "Flying Dragon Army" under his command behind him, if it weren't for the vision of a splendid future after the great success, and if it weren't for the fact that he knew that he was already at odds with Zhao Kuangyin outside the city, I was afraid that he would have given up resistance and surrendered in Kaicheng.

In the early morning of the eighteenth day of the third month of the lunar calendar of the ninth year of Xiande, although he had rested all night, Xu Xinsheng, who was physically and mentally exhausted by the huge pressure, was in extremely poor spirits and had an ugly face. He came out of the sleeping tent and stepped into the back tent of the Chinese army's big tent, and said hello to Wang Feng, who had already started breakfast, and sat on the chair with his ass, looking at the food on the table in a daze, and did not move his chopsticks at all.

Wang Feng, who was sitting opposite Xu Xinsheng, naturally knew the reason for his loss of appetite, so he didn't deliberately persuade him, but while eating the piece of bread in his hand with relish, he said seemingly very casually: "Last night, Brother Zhiwei of 'Yinyuan' sent someone to send a message that the main force of the 'Jingnan Army' led by the fifth brother and the twenty-sixth brother had arrived thirty miles north of Chenqiaoyi yesterday evening, and successfully joined the vanguard led by the eleventh brother and the old thirty-fifth brother. If nothing else, early this morning, the 'Jingnan Army' that joined forces in one place will move south with the whole army to wipe out Zhao Kuangyin's gang and his comrades. The fifth brother also deliberately asked the younger brother to give a message to Brother Xu, hoping that Brother Xu would stand on a good post and stick to it until the moment when the 'Jingnan Army' surrounded Zhao Kuangyin's rebels. As long as Brother Xu can ensure that Kaifeng City is not lost, he will be the first hero to destroy Zhao Kuangyin. In the future, we will be done, and the fifth brother and the brothers of the crossing team will never forget your merits, Brother Xu, and will definitely return you a bright future and glory for generations. ”

After Wang Feng said this, he stopped talking, but continued to concentrate on eating. Xu Xinsheng, who was sitting opposite him, felt as if he had been hit by an electric current, his whole body twitched, and then he raised his head violently and looked at Wang Feng with a very complicated expression, speechless for a long time.

After a long while, Xu Xinsheng, whose mood gradually stabilized, let out a sigh, and said to Wang Feng while starting to eat breakfast: "I am naturally duty-bound to defend Kaifeng City brothers. It's just that now the Zhou court is quite suspicious of our 'Shenji Army', not only is the supply of weapons and ammunition limited every day, but also from time to time in the name of preventing Zhao Kuangyin's sneak attack, my men and horses are transferred to other directions of Kaifeng City to garrison, so that the right army of the 'Shenji Army', which is already understaffed, is even more overstretched during the battle. Yesterday, the imperial court ordered that two musket battalions be transferred to the west of the city to assist in the defense, so that today the brothers have less than 2,000 troops left at hand. With 2,000 soldiers and horses with insufficient ammunition and exhausted troops and horses to resist Zhao Kuangyin's usual attack of nearly 10,000 people, the situation can be said to be very unoptimistic. Therefore, I hope that Brother Wang can help when the situation at the head of the city is critical, so as to protect the city gate. ”

Wang Feng waved his hand again and again when he heard this, and said: "Brother Xu, rest assured, the junior brother is here to Kaifeng to ensure that Zhao Kuangyin can't enter the city." Needless to say, Brother Xu, the younger brother will always pay attention to the situation in the city and be ready to help Brother Xu at any time. ”

After speaking, Wang Feng took out a signal gun from his arms, handed it to Xu Xinsheng, and explained: "Please ask Brother Xu to put away this signal gun, and once the situation in the city is critical, he will shoot to warn." When the time comes, not only will the younger brother and I immediately bring people to the city to support, but also the 'Jingnan Army' outside the city will immediately whip up the signal flare and rush to Kaifeng City to relieve the siege as quickly as possible. ”

With the flare gun that could save him from danger into his arms, Xu Xinsheng felt that he had a bottom in his heart for the first time in more than ten days, and he was no longer as anxious as before because it was difficult to grasp his future.

In the early morning of March 18 of the lunar calendar of the ninth year of Xiande, Zhao Kuangyin once again led the army to line up outside Kaifeng City, and a new round of offensive was about to begin. Although the strong attack in the previous ten days caused the loss of more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, the losses caused by their own side to the defenders in the city were not few. According to the information that the "Feiyan Hall" in the city managed to transmit, the defenders in the city also lost more than 10,000 people during this time. Moreover, due to the assassination of Han Tong and the suspicion of the "Shenji Army" by the imperial court, the morale of the defenders in the city is generally low, and the tenacity of defending the city is much weaker than at the beginning of the war. In particular, the right army of the "Shenji Army," which was the enemy in front of them, had lost nearly half of its own troops, and its morale was low, and it was only feared that it would be difficult to resist its new round of strong attack. In addition, there is not much grain and grass left on their side, although they sent a few soldiers and horses to the surrounding areas to collect grain, but it is not easy to get enough grain and grass for tens of thousands of troops in a hurry, and the battle of Kaifeng should be resolved quickly. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin, who had not been at the siege site for several days, decided to personally command it today, and would not withdraw his troops if he did not break through the Fengqiu Gate.

At the beginning of the day, with Zhao Kuangyin's order, the originally silent Kaifeng City and outside suddenly burst into gunfire and the sound of killing shook the sky, and a new round of city attack and defense began.

Insufficient troops, low morale, physical and mental exhaustion, in the face of tens of thousands of rebels on the key attack on Fengqiumen, the right army of the "Shenji Army" at the head of the city seemed to be a little powerless and inferior at the beginning. Near noon, as the ammunition gradually ran out, the disadvantage of the right army of the "Shenji Army" became more and more obvious, and loopholes began to appear in the defense.

At the end of the day, the rebels broke through the defense line on the west side of Fengqiumen, and hundreds of enemy soldiers first successfully landed on the city, and dispersed the "Shenji Army" that had run out of ammunition and could only fight hand-to-hand with the opponent, occupying a section of the city wall of nearly 100 steps. Subsequently, these hundreds of enemy soldiers divided into two routes, one to defend in place to cover the follow-up troops to enter the city, and the other to continue to charge to the sides to expand the breakthrough. At the same time, the rebels above and below the city shouted in unison, "The city is broken, the city is broken" to discourage the defenders and shake their will.

At the end of the day, as the number of rebels who landed in the city increased, the entire Fengqiu Gate defense line began to waver. Zhao Kuangyin under the city couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw this, he ordered the follow-up troops to step up their efforts to climb the city and expand the results of the battle, and on the other hand, he ordered the army to beat the war drums to strengthen the momentum and morale of his own soldiers. Xu Xinsheng, who was supervising the battle at the head of the city, saw the soldiers of the right army of the "Shenji Army" who had run out of ammunition wielding their unskilled broadswords and spears, struggling to support and retreat under the rush of the rebels. So, while ordering the ten guards from the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" around him to shoot to stop the enemy troops who had rushed to the front, he took out the signal gun that Wang Feng handed him from his arms, the muzzle of the gun xiangshang, and pulled the trigger.

As a red signal flare rose into the air, more than 1,000 elite special soldiers of the "Southbound Advance Regiment" who had been on standby not far from the city for a long time, and had changed back into the combat uniform of the "Flying Dragon Army" and held steel guns tightly, immediately rushed up like a tiger descending the mountain under the leadership of Wang Feng. Gunfire rang out at the head of Fengqiumen, and the rebels who had not yet had time to rejoice in their success in the city would be swept away by the oncoming dense rain of bullets, and the breakthrough that had just been opened was also closed by the opponent in an instant.

The sudden change made Zhao Kuangyin, who originally thought that he was winning, angry and puzzled at the same time. Because according to his calculations based on the daily ammunition supply of the right army of the "Shenji Army" transmitted from the "Feiyan Hall", the ammunition in the hands of the right army of the "Shenji Army" at the head of the city should have run out, and it is impossible to maintain the current shooting density. What's more, with Zhao Kuangyin's understanding of the musketeers of the "Shenji Army", even if the right army of the "Shenji Army" had sufficient ammunition, it would be impossible for the 1,500 musketeers in the city to reach the current continuous and almost uninterrupted firing density.

Just when Zhao Kuangyin was unclear and planned to find a few defeated generals who had retreated from the city to inquire carefully, the situation on the battlefield changed again. With a sharp whistling sound coming from the air, one after another shells fell on the artillery position not far from the position of his Chinese army, and exploded with a bang. In terms of the density of shells and the power of explosion, they are by no means capable of being achieved by the thunderbolts or ballistas equipped by the "Divine Machine Army" in the city.

All kinds of changes and abnormal performances made Zhao Kuangyin feel an ominous premonition in his heart. He didn't care about the danger that he might be hit by the enemy's artillery fire, so he immediately urged his horse forward, came to the front of his Chinese army array, raised the monocular in his hand, and took a closer look in the direction of the city.

It turned out to be in response to the saying "you don't know if you don't see it, and you will be shocked when you see it". I saw that the soldiers of the right army of the "Shenji Army" who had been fighting with him for more than ten days and were full of gunpowder smoke and flames on the top of the city had disappeared, and were replaced by a group of elite soldiers dressed in strange styles and colorful costumes, holding firearms that were completely different from the standard equipment of the "Shenji Army", full of spirit, and high morale.

Although he hadn't seen him for many years, Zhao Kuangyin recognized at a glance that the clothes on the other party were exactly the same as the standard combat uniforms of the "Flying Dragon Army" under the jurisdiction of the Beiping Army that he had seen in Shanhaiguan back then, and the kind of musket that could shoot continuously at the head of the city was a sharp firearm that only the "Flying Dragon Army" was equipped with. In other words, just when he was about to break the city and achieve a "great cause," the Beiping army, which he had always thought would not go south and would not hinder his "great cause," suddenly attacked, stabbed it sideways, and snatched the victory from his hands -- although the number of "Flying Dragon Army" in the city was no more than 1,000, since it could send 1,000 people to help the Chai Zhou court defend the city, it could naturally send 10,000 or even 100,000 people to swallow it up.

Thinking of this, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but be frightened and sweat coldly. On the one hand, he ordered the army to stop the siege of the city, temporarily collect the troops and return to the camp, and sent a large number of scouts and horsemen to conduct a detailed survey within fifty miles of the surrounding area; On the one hand, he ordered his own soldiers to summon Zhang Fei to see him, intending to ask a clear understanding of whether the Beiping army had gone south.

As a result, Zhang Fei and his cronies have left their tents and are missing. However, the scout who went to investigate the situation around Kaifeng City sent him three pieces of news that were like a bolt from the blue for him: First, twenty miles north of Kaifeng City, a group of about 20,000 soldiers and horses under the banner of "Jingnan Army" was found galloping towards Kaifeng, and it was estimated that they could reach the city at noon; Second, on the east and west sides, a cavalry unit of about 5,000 men under the banner of the "Jingnan Army" was moving rapidly, and it seemed that it had the intention of outflanking its own battalion from both flanks; Third, Chen Qiaoyi, fifty miles north of Kaifeng City, found that another army that was also under the banner of "Jingnan Army" but was far larger than the previous troops, and the number of troops and horses was only more than 100,000, was also slowly marching towards Kaifeng City, and it was estimated that it would meet this army in the evening at the latest.