During the New Year's holiday, the Naoli man who shared the meatloaf with the soldiers was not among the fallen soldiers of the new army, and in the battle on the 17th, he closely followed the steps of the commander and launched a decisive charge against the camp of the new army occupied by the breaking army. After the commander of the Naoli people was killed, he himself was shot in the shoulder and passed out at that time. When he woke up, Naoli found himself in a prisoner camp, with the wound on his shoulder already bandaged. The surrounding companions told him that Pu Guanshui and Chengping had been killed, and now they were all prisoners of the intruding army, and the Zhili man sighed when he heard this, and lay motionless.

At noon, a soldier with a white cloth on his head ran into the barracks and ran straight to the side of the Naoli people, who opened his eyes and saw a familiar smiling face appear in front of him. During the 10-day battle, this Henan man was captured by the new army, and when he was dying, the Zhili people who recognized him would come to feed him porridge every day after returning to the camp, and also comforted him over and over again, encouraged him, and told him to try to live and return to see his mother-in-law alive.

"Fellow," the Henan man stood next to the Zhili people with a smile: "It's my turn to come and see you this time." You have to live well, your mother-in-law is still waiting for you to go back in Beijing. ”

When the news of the victory spread throughout the army, Liu Ran and Ji Huaiyu were digging a dung pit. After the two returned to the team, they did not dare to say that they secretly went to the front line to fight officers and soldiers, and both of them were frightened by Hu Chen's scolding, lest they would be executed for violating military orders and leaving the team without authorization after telling the truth. But two people are equally punished for falling behind, so they have been responsible for cleaning the toilets these days. Now the teammates are on vacation to celebrate the victory of their army and wish the general Xu Ping good health, but the two unlucky ghosts continue to work on cleaning.

"Ji Huaiyu, Liu Ran." It was their immediate boss Wang Gong who called the names of the two.

"Humble duty."

The two men replied in unison, and ran out of the toilet to salute their chief, still with a stench on their bodies.

Wang Gong didn't react to the smell wafting over there, he walked up to the two subordinates with his hands behind his back, and glanced at them coldly, until they lowered their heads before letting out a cold snort from their nostrils: "You two are so bold that you dare to lie to me." ”

Liu Ran and Ji Huaiyu's hearts kept beating drums, they both hung their heads and didn't say a word, only listening to Wang Gong scolding: "I heard you talk about diarrhea and getting lost that day, I didn't believe it, it was all fake, it turned out that you dared to disobey the military order and go to the front line!" ”

"Your Excellency forgives your sins, forgive your sins." Seeing that the matter was revealed, Liu Ran and Ji Huaiyu could only beg for mercy repeatedly.

After scolding the two of them again, Wang Gong shouted: "You two should have been hanged, but it was not appropriate to kill you when the victory was a great victory, so I spared you, and punished you for cleaning the toilet for fifteen more days." ”

"Master Xie." The two of them didn't dare to complain, so they had to grit their teeth.

"Stand up straight and put your head up."

Wang Gong took out an iron medal from his arms with a calm face, stepped forward and hung it on Liu Ran's chest, then took out the same one and hung it on Ji Huaiyu.

"Dare to ask my lord, what is this?" The second monk Liu Ran couldn't figure it out and asked cautiously.

"It's the Kaifeng Blocking Battle Medal." Wang Gong tightened his face and said without a smile: "The general has an order, every officer and soldier who participates in this blockade can get a Kaifeng Blockade Battle Medal to prove your courage and merits. ”

Both of them were taken aback and let out an "ah" in unison.

"When the 1st Infantry Wing reported the list of personnel, the names of the two of you were written, so you also have medals." After Wang Gong finished speaking, he saw a smile on the faces of the two people, and scolded again: "What are you smiling at, get out, why don't you go and sweep the toilet?" ”

……

At the celebration banquet last night, Xu Ping drank a lot of wine, and today he slept until almost noon before waking up. When he opened his eyes and saw that the sky had become bright, Xu Ping was startled and hurriedly jumped out of bed, suddenly feeling a whirlwind of the sky, a headache, and a stumbling under his feet.

Ignoring the headache caused by the hangover, Xu Ping hurriedly called the guards guarding outside the door in: "Was there any movement over there in Kaifeng last night?" ”

"Don't worry, sir." Zhou Dongtian came in and smiled at Xu Ping: "All battalions are on guard, if there is anything abnormal over there in Kaifeng, we are enough to deal with it." ”

Although there was a main force staring at the Shanlan camp, Xu Ping transferred the army that had been fighting for a long time to a distant place for a holiday, but he planned to personally deploy the minimum vigilance work, so he didn't plan to drink too much wine yesterday, and even greeted the other generals in the camp before entering the camp and asked them not to toast him.

But unconsciously, Xu Ping drunk himself, and then he took the initiative to toast others, and finally got drunk, and now he doesn't even know how to return to the camp, Xu Ping patted his head that was still hurting: "I'm really confused." ”

Zhou Dongtian smiled slightly, since he arrived at the camp, he had never seen Xu Ping's gaffe, last night because there was a Ming army nearby, so since the king of Chuang and the following are all pointed, but it is Xu Ping, who kept saying that he does not drink at all before the banquet, drank hard there, and finally toasted one by one. Under Li Zicheng's hint, Zhou Dongtian secretly changed the wine to water, and Xu Ping didn't notice it at that time, so he took it and drank it, and didn't find anything abnormal at all.

"Drinking and making mistakes." Xu Ping seemed to be talking to himself, and seemed to be complaining to Zhou Dongtian: "I will definitely not drink in the future." ”

"It doesn't matter if you drink a little," Zhou Dongtian obviously didn't take Xu Ping's words seriously: "It's said that the wine is immeasurable." Then he smiled again: "Last night was indeed a bit too much. ”

……

According to the confessions of several captured officers of the New Army, Pu Guanshui's mind before his death was to break through the defense line of the army as soon as possible and deliver supplies before Kaifeng cut off food. After listening to the report, Li Zicheng was silent for a long time before he asked Xu Ping: "General Pu is worried that the Kaifeng defenders will feed on the living, what do you think?" ”

Xu Ping immediately replied: "The last general thinks that this kind of thing will definitely happen, and it will happen soon. ”

"I think the officers and soldiers will do that, too." Li Dingguo also held the same view, he said that whether it was the king of Zhou, the governor of Henan, and the civil and military forces of Kaifeng, they would never care about the lives of the people.

"I heard that General Pu was very good to the wounded soldiers who broke into our camp." The second sentence Li Zicheng said seemed to have nothing to do with the previous question, but the surrounding generals understood the meaning, and sure enough, Li Zicheng then ordered: "Order, shoot arrows and send a message to the Kaifeng defenders, all those who eat people, I will not forgive anyone after breaking into the army and breaking the city." ”

Several generals of the Chuang army did not speak, and Niu Jinxing spoke: "King Chuang, your mind is good, but I'm afraid it's useless. The king of Zhou and the governor of Henan all knew that they would die after the city was broken, and they would never eat people because they could not be pardoned, and the officers and soldiers defending the city were probably powerless to resist. When the officers and soldiers really feed on people, they will be afraid of our announcement, which will only make the defenders resist more desperately. ”

"It's better not to shoot this letter," Li Dingguo agreed: "Maybe after eating some people, when it comes to eating their own family, someone will open the door and surrender, if the king sends this order, I'm afraid that when it comes to eating his own family, we will have to fight to the end." ”

"Give it a try." Li Zicheng knew in his heart that Niu Jinxing was reasonable, and his idea might not be a good idea, but he always felt that he should take a measure, otherwise it would be difficult to feel at ease.

"King Chuang, now that the matter in the east has just ended, the officers and soldiers in the west are here again." Xu Ping had his own plans in his heart, but he felt that it was still time to make it public, so he diverted the topic and talked about the news that Luoyang had just received: "Wang Qiaonian, the governor of the three sides, resumed military operations after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and a large number of Qin troops are gathering in Tongguan, and it is estimated that they will attack us at the end of this month or the beginning of next month, and no later than mid-February." With General Liu's current strength, he could not resist them. ”

Xu Ping's troops were badly damaged, wounded and sick, and needed some time to rest and recover after two months of hard fighting. Irikawa's high school has just captured Chengdu and is in a state of repair, and it is far away from Henan, so it is impossible to transfer it back quickly. Li Zicheng smiled when he heard this: "So only I went out in person." Brother Xu, you stay here and continue to surround Kaifeng, and I will lead the troops to Luoyang to join Brother Liu and repel the Qin army. ”

"Maybe we can give up Luoyang first, stay here and wait for the Qin army to attack." Niu Jinxing put forward his suggestion: "This time the Qin army will pour out, the strength will exceed 60,000, if the troops of the Xu brothers and the Gao brothers cannot participate in the battle, we can only concentrate 50,000 people in Luoyang." ”

"No......" Li Zicheng was just about to speak, when he suddenly noticed that Li Dingguo's face was full of disapproval, so he smiled and said, "Brother Li, what do you think?" ”

Li Dingguo opened his mouth and said: "The Qin army is the old opponent of our righteous army, and for more than ten years, the Qin army has been chasing behind our righteous army and killing countless of our brothers, so everyone is afraid when they mention the Qin army." In fact, the Qin army is stronger than the Bian army, and the last time King Chuang defeated the tens of thousands of Qin troops led by Fu Zonglong, it shows that the Qin army has nothing to fear. ”

Niu Jinxing still seemed to be lacking in confidence: "But last time we had 80,000 people, and the Qin army only had 50,000. This time, Wang Qiaonian ordered all the border armies to participate in the war, and even the border troops as far away as Gansu and Yulin were dispatched to rush to Tongguan. ”

"The situation is different, in the past, 100,000 rebels could not defeat thousands of Qin troops, because they had armor, and we only had cloth clothes; They have knives and guns, and we can't even get sticks together. At that time, thousands of people in the Qin army were soldiers, and most of our 100,000 righteous soldiers were old and young, women and children, and the young and strong were all bare-handed. When Fu Zonglong came with 50,000 Qin troops, only more than 10,000 of our 80,000 people had swords, and most of the rest were hungry people who had just joined the army. But now it's completely different. The more Li Dingguo spoke, the more impassioned he became: "Although the brothers in Luoyang are not as well equipped as the general's men, they also have firearms, armor and steel knives, and we also have our own cavalry. ”

"What Brother Li said is very much in line with my wishes." Li Zicheng stroked his palms and laughed: "If there was no strong force of Brother Xu and Brother Li, I would still consider temporarily withdrawing Kaifeng or giving up Luoyang, but now that the number is equal, how could I give up our territory because I am afraid of the Qin army?" ”

At the end of the first month, Li Zichengshuai's headquarters returned west to Luoyang and met Liu Zongmin and Luo Ru. Wang Qiaonian, the governor of the Ming Dynasty, was in full swing preparing to take the oath and set off, and a large number of troops and baggage had gathered in Tongguan. The main force of the Qin army was about to enter Henan again, intending to destroy the invasion army in the western part of Henan in one fell swoop, and then relieve Kaifeng.

……

Jingshi, Wolf's Den

In the last few days, the atmosphere in the wolf's den has been so oppressive that the people inside can barely breathe, no laughter can be heard, no one is in the mood to joke anymore, and even loud talking has disappeared.

The three battalions of the new army, which were only able to replenish the full strength of the three battalions by drawing a large number of troops from the Shandong battlefield, and the reserve troops that were continuously sent to Henan during this period, the new army invested as many as 15,000 troops before and after Henan, and now only a small group of the Chizhuo battalion has been confirmed to have escaped. According to a report from Zhili Dongming, the few new troops were exhausted by the time they fled to the local county seats, and many of the survivors suffered severe frostbite. Battalion officer Wei Wu carried three battalion flags in his arms to lead the remnants to escape across the Yellow River, almost fell down several times on the way, and fell to the ground after arriving at the county seat.

After hearing the loss figure of 15,000 people, the always calm Zhendong Houdu's face changed: "I don't seem to have personally commanded so many troops. ”

And after the news of the defeat in Henan came back, Jin Qiude ran to the Zhendong Hou Mansion and threw the report in front of him, this was the first time in Jin Qiude's life to shout at the Zhendong Hou, he asked repeatedly: "My lord, just because Pu Guanshui said that cannibalism may occur in Kaifeng, you supported him to forcibly send troops, and now not only the Pu brothers have lost their lives, but we have also lost three entire battalions." My lord, you can be emotional, and your subordinates dare to ask your reason? Well, now not only will Kaifeng eat people but also eat people, and we can't even relieve the Shanlan camp before they eat all the people in the city! Not only did we lose Brother Pu and at least 15,000 new officers and soldiers, but we also had to put Brother Jia and the 3,000 soldiers of the Shanlan Battalion into it, and this is the consequence of you letting your feelings blind your mind! ”

The three battalions of the new army, which were held together, were wiped out by the intruding army, which brought a great shock to the whole of the new army. No matter how much Jin Qiude looked down on Pu Guanshui's use of troops, the fact that the Chuang army swallowed three new military camps in one go did not shock Jin Qiude weaker than the other members of the new army. In Jin Qiude's original prediction, the worst result was that the siege was unsuccessful, and Puguan Shui's troops were defeated and returned in vain. In order to eliminate the heavy blow to the morale of the new army, the new army activated all its propaganda machine and shifted all the responsibility to the front-line commanders of Pu Guanshui and Chengping, who were still extremely strong, and the occasional defeat was only due to the incompetence of one or two generals.

Jin Qiude ordered a unified propaganda caliber, that is, Pu Guanshui is really incompetent to the point of incredible, and he alone harmed all the soldiers, just as the so-called one general is incompetent and exhausts the three armies. As for why such an incompetent person was allowed to lead the troops to the expedition and control the fate of the three battalions of tens of thousands of new troops, then Jin Qiude could only pass the main responsibility to the imperial court that indiscriminately interfered in the military affairs of the new army.

Of course, there are also people within the new army who need to take responsibility, and Kim Qiude took the initiative to take all these responsibilities on himself. When Zhendonghou tried to share some of the responsibilities, Zhao Wanxiong and Jin Qiude shouted again: "My lord, you are the banner of the new army, and your reputation must be flawless." Any stain on your body is a heavier blow to the morale of the new army, so don't cause any more trouble to your subordinates! ”

If the last defeat at the Jiaminghe was only a setback for the New Army, this crushing defeat completely disrupted the overall plan of the New Army. The Dongjiang Army of Shandong, which was supposed to be wiped out last year, was spared because of the first transfer of troops to Henan, became more active because of the second transfer of troops to Henan, and recently even launched limited counterattacks in some areas; Of the ten battalions of the new army, there are now less than four in good condition, and all of them are not in the Beijing division except for the direct guards, and the imperial court originally required that at least 10,000 new troops be left to defend the Beijing division.

In the mind of Zhendong Hou himself, he had no confidence in the imperial court to order the Qin army to set off to relieve the siege of Kaifeng. In the history of the Marquis of Zhendong, there is no Xu Ping and the new army he inherited from the traverser, Li Zicheng also defeated the Qin army four times and almost wiped out the entire army, and the Ming Qin army only lost 30,000 people in the defeat of Songshan, and lost 200,000 in four consecutive defeats on the battlefield in Henan.

The imperial court also let Yang Wenyue of the Hebei Army go out with him, so that the Marquis of Zhendong was more pessimistic about victory and defeat, and as in the history in his memory, the Ming court was like a gambler who lost red-eyed, throwing every bet under the city of Kaifeng and competing with Li Zicheng. And Zhendong Hou remembered that even with the addition of Yang Wenyue's 100,000 army, the Qin army still suffered a crushing defeat, in addition to adding to Li Zicheng's achievements, he also lost all the defensive troops in Hebei.

Besieged the city to send reinforcements, again and again, hundreds of thousands of Ming troops around Kaifeng were all wiped out by Li Zicheng, and now because even the Guide Mansion fell into the hands of the camp, Zhendong Hou estimated that even the Jiangbei Army would be thrown into this bottomless pit this time.

Today, there was also a young man who accompanied Zhendong Hou to the wolf's den, and after seeing Jin Qiude and Yang Zhiyuan waiting in the camp tent, this young man ignored the military uniform on his body, and bowed to them with a big salute:

"Uncle Kim."

"Uncle Yang."

(End of Chapter 4)

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