Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down to salute Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, the minister is late!"

"Lu Aiqing, you're here, I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

"Your Majesty, Wechen already knows, that Mo thief led his troops to capture Nanjing, after Wechen learned of this, he came to ask for help, please give His Majesty 100,000 troops, Wechen is willing to immediately wave his army south and recover Nanjing!"

Hearing this, Chongzhen's eyes dimmed suddenly, he waved his hand and said, "We have to think about this matter in the long run." ”

Chongzhen's words are very interesting, from the long-term, what from the long-term?

Emperor Taizu's mausoleum has been occupied by thieves, what else is there to discuss in the long run?

Nanjing is the land of the Ming Dynasty, the founding capital of the Ming Dynasty, what does Nanjing represent, is the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty, is the foundation of the Ming Dynasty!

This will be considered in the long run, isn't it that the brain is not clear?

Lu Xiangsheng wanted to question Chongzhen, but he didn't dare.

He could only cowardly say to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Weichen ....."

Chongzhen stopped Lu Xiangsheng from continuing to speak, but preemptively said: "Aiqing, I know your intentions, but now the imperial court, there are really no soldiers available, Henan Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have not been able to exterminate for a long time, the soldiers and horses of the imperial court are all in Henan, this Henan anti-thief is not exterminated, how can the imperial court soldiers and horses cross the river?" ”

Chongzhen's words stimulated Lu Xiangsheng, in the hinterland of the Central Plains of Henan, if Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, who were in rebellion in Henan, were not destroyed, the soldiers and horses of the imperial court would not be able to cross the Huai River at all.

If the imperial court now sends troops across the river to attack Nanjing, it will be tantamount to showing the back of the army, and once Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong occupy the first line of the Huai River, the army will be in danger, and there is almost no hope of winning.

What Chongzhen wanted was to come step by step, first destroy the rebels in Henan, and then move south to recapture Nanjing.

It's just that in this way, I'm afraid that there will not be a three-year-and-five-year-old one, and I'm afraid it won't be able to succeed.

After waiting for three or five years, the south will definitely have changed dramatically by then, and if the Mo thief wins Nanjing, he will definitely attack the southern provinces immediately.

Once the southern provinces fall into the Mo thief, then the Mo thief has half of the country.

The rich land in the south, the foundation of the imperial court's taxation, the south is lost, how long can this Ming dynasty last?

Lu Xiangsheng didn't dare to think about it anymore, he got up and took the initiative to say: "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to raise troops to go south and quickly exterminate Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's two thieves!" ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen's eyes suddenly lit up.

He said: "Okay, Aiqing deserves to be my number one general of the Ming Dynasty, I will appoint you as the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, crown the crown prince and Taibao, and immediately send troops to exterminate Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, the two thieves!" ”

"Wechen obeys!"

......

Chongzhen ten years, the first day of the fifth month.

Lu Xiangsheng, the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, personally led an army of 80,000, known as 200,000 to the outside world.

Chongzhen handed over the last family of the Ming Dynasty to Lu Xiangsheng, and he pinned all his hopes on Lu Xiangsheng.

He hoped that Lu Xiangsheng could quickly eliminate Li Zicheng, who was besieging Kaifeng, and then eliminate Zhang Xianzhong, who was causing chaos in the Nanyang area.

After Li Zicheng made a comeback, he raised a team of 200,000 people in a short period of time.

Li Zicheng led 200,000 people around Henan, and wherever he hit and grabbed, the people were miserable.

Li Zicheng set his sights on Kaifeng from the beginning, he besieged Kaifeng City and attacked it for three months, but Kaifeng City did not move.

The fief of the king of Zhou, the former Song capital Kaifeng City, "the book and cultural relics of the Shengjia He Domain, the scholars are rich, and the accumulation is full." ”

Li Zicheng fell in love with the wealth of Kaifeng City, so he was determined to take Kaifeng.

Zhu Gongfang, the king of Zhou, knew that Li Zicheng would never give up if he did not fight, and he knew that once Li Zicheng defeated Kaifeng, he, the prince, would definitely die.

Zhu Gongfang knew that he was dead, and the wealth accumulated by the eleventh generation of Zhou kings also wanted to cheapen Li Zicheng.

With a simple heart, he directly opened the treasury, took out a million taels of silver and tens of thousands of single stones of grain, and slaughtered pigs and sheep to reward the defenders of Kaifeng City.

The officers and soldiers got the long-lost military salary, gnawed on steamed buns, ate meat, and even drank wine, and suddenly everyone was grateful for King Zhou's benevolence, and their morale was greatly shaken.

On March 18, the tenth year of Chongzhen, Wang Jiazhen, then the governor of Henan, personally led the troops to attack, and defeated the army outside Kaifeng with Chen Yongfu, the deputy general of the city, and Gao Qian, the guerrilla general, and killed more than 3,000 people.

The morale of the Ming army in this battle was greatly shaken, and the Ming army, which had not been able to win the battle for many years, suddenly raised its eyebrows.

Li Zicheng didn't expect the Ming army in Kaifeng to dare to go out of the city, and he was careless all of a sudden, and was caught off guard, losing 3,000 elites in vain.

Li Zicheng was furious, and immediately mobilized heavy troops to surround Kaifeng, and surrounded it.

The siege lasted from March to May.

Li Zicheng's soldiers and horses were all composed of rogues, and there was no logistical baggage at all in the war on weekdays, they were all fought, grabbed, and eaten.

The county seat around Kaifeng has long been cleared by Wang Jiazhen, and the population and grain of several surrounding counties have all moved into the city.

Wang Jiazhen is not a straw bag, he was born as a sergeant, worked in the criminal department, and has studied the art of war, and he is also a good hand at fighting.

Although Li Zicheng is a veteran of war all year round, he was deflated in Wang Jiazhen.

Wang Jiazhen had the help of King Zhou, and built Kaifeng City like an iron bucket, and no matter what aspect the army attacked the city, it could not attack Kaifeng.

At this time, some generals suggested that it was better to dig dozens of holes under the walls of Kaifeng City, and then bury tens of thousands of catties of gunpowder, and then directly blow up the city walls.

Li Zicheng felt that it was feasible, and sent 30,000 horses to attack the city frantically, attacking the city above, and digging holes for the people below.

It took ten days to dig thirty caves, and tens of thousands of catties of gunpowder were hidden in them.

Li Ziwei thought that Kaifeng City would definitely be taken, but what he didn't expect was that the gunpowder was blown up, but the walls of Kaifeng City did not move at all, but the army standing outside was directly killed by this explosion, and as many as thousands of people were directly killed.

When the plan to blow up the wall failed, Li Zicheng was furious, and he ordered all the soldiers to continue to attack the city.

Li Zicheng attacked for three days regardless of the cost, and more than 30,000 people were killed in the army, but Kaifeng City remained unmoved.

At this time, in Kaifeng City, the soldiers defending the city were also exhausted, the thieves attacked the city for days, the officers and soldiers could not rest, and the soldiers were tired and half dead.

Many of the soldiers had just repelled the thieves with their front feet and fell asleep on the back feet against the walls.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and if it is winter, if there are a few battles like this, there are not a few people who are afraid that the soldiers will freeze to death.

The officers and soldiers in the city desperately defended the city, although there were heavy casualties, but the vitality of the officers and soldiers was still there, and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in the city could still hold Kaifeng.

But Li Zicheng's side couldn't bear it, his army had no logistics and no baggage.

All the food was looted, and after more than two months of siege, the grain and grass in the army had long been eaten.

Li Zicheng sent cavalry to loot grain within 200 miles around Kaifeng City, and all the towns and counties within 200 miles were looted, and countless people died.

After holding on like this for a month, the army could no longer grab a grain of grain within 200 miles, and Li Zicheng knew that the food shortage of the army was coming.

At this time, Li Zicheng's heart also began to panic.

If Kaifeng City can't be captured after a long siege, it will not be a good thing for him.

Li Zicheng's subordinates are all a group of bandits and rogues, and they can gather together because of interests.

Li Zicheng knew that he had to lead this group of mountain kings to win the battle all the time, robbing them of money, food, and women before they would give him his life.

Once he can't satisfy the appetite of this group of mountain kings, I am afraid that this group of people will soon leave him, just like the last time, one by one they ran faster than rabbits, leaving him alone to be chased and killed by Lu Xiangsheng.

Thinking of this, Li Zicheng was angry and didn't fight anywhere.

At this time, a personal soldier happened to come in and report that the imperial court had sent Lu Xiangsheng.

"King Chuang, the court worships Lu Xiangsheng as the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, and takes over the power of the world's soldiers and horses, Lu Xiangsheng has set off from Beijing, led 200,000 troops, and went straight to Kaifeng, and in five days, the Ming army will arrive in Kaifeng!"

"What?"

When Li Zicheng heard that Lu Xiangsheng was leading 200,000 troops directly to Kaifeng, he was immediately startled and jumped up directly from the chair.

After repeated confirmations, Li Zicheng confirmed the reliability of the message.

He immediately convened the generals to discuss, and after the discussion, one result was reached, that is-escape!

Although Li Zicheng also has 200,000 soldiers and horses on the surface, in fact, among these 200,000, there are only 100,000 family members, and only 70,000 or 80,000 can really fight.

In this siege of Kaifeng, he has lost 50,000 horses, and now the available troops in his hands are only 20,000 or 30,000.

Li Zicheng is very sorry for his life, he doesn't want to die so soon.

He immediately evacuated Kaifeng with more than 10,000 people from his descendants and went directly to the west, preparing to flee back to his hometown of Shaanxi to avoid the limelight.

Who would have thought that Lu Xiangsheng had already expected his move, Lu Xiangsheng abandoned the infantry and personally led 10,000 Tianxiong cavalry to rush to the vicinity of Dazhou Mountain in the south of Xingyang to ambush.

On 14 May, Lu Xiangsheng arrived at Dazhoushan, and on 15 May, Li Zicheng led 25,000 men and horses of his descendants to hurry to the eastern side of Dazhou Mountain.

Just about to stop and rest, suddenly a large number of officers and soldiers were killed in the mountains on the west side.

Lu Xiang raised his big knife weighing dozens of catties and went straight to Li Zicheng's banner of the Chinese army.

"Thief, take your life!"

Li Zicheng was frightened stupidly, seeing Lu Xiangsheng's handsome flag, Li Zicheng knew that he had been ambushed.

He dropped a piece of bread he had just snatched, got on his horse and ran.

Lu Xiangsheng finally caught him this time, how could he let him leave so easily.

Lu Xiangsheng deployed cavalry in both the north and south, but there were no soldiers and horses in the east.

When Li Zicheng went south, he had to meet the main force of 5,000 cavalry he deployed, and he would definitely die.

To the north, not far from the Yellow River, it is a dead end.

To the east, his army of 70,000 was heading east, and it was just a pot of stew at that time.

Lu Xiangsheng's deployment this time is not exquisite, Li Zicheng hurriedly evacuated Kaifeng, without a thorough plan, this time he was really surrounded by Lu Xiangsheng.

The invading army attacked from all sides, vainly trying to escape from the encirclement of the Ming army.

After all, the Ming army only numbered 10,000 people, and the number of troops was insufficient, and many of the invading troops fled smoothly.

As soon as Lu Xiangsheng saw the situation on the battlefield, he immediately ordered that the whole army should keep an eye on Li Zicheng's handsome banner, even if he ran away from the intruder, he could not run away from the intruder, and promised a reward for capturing the intruder alive, rewarding him with a thousand taels of gold, and the official was promoted to five levels.

When the soldiers of the Ming army received the general's order, they immediately screamed and killed in the direction where Li Zicheng was.

The cavalry around Li Zicheng is small, and although there are many infantry, where is the opponent of cavalry in this kind of plain area.

Soon the soldiers and horses around Li Zicheng were killed less and less, and Li Zicheng saw it and knew that Lu Xiangsheng was targeting him.

He immediately said to the soldiers beside him: "You guys, take off your clothes and change with me!" ”

Li Zicheng changed his armor with his own soldiers, and then let his own soldiers flee north with his banner of King Chuang, while he himself quietly took dozens of his own soldiers to the south.

The last time Li Zicheng escaped, Lu Xiangsheng had a heart.

This time, Li Zicheng changed his clothes again and wanted to escape, but Lu Xiangsheng's personal soldiers used a diora to see it clearly.

The pro-soldier immediately shouted to Lu Xiangsheng: "Dashuai, the thief has changed the clothes of the pro-soldier and is heading south!" ”

"Okay, Erlang, follow me to catch the thief alive!"

Li Zicheng never expected that he would be recognized by the Ming army after changing his clothes, Lu Xiangsheng brandished his big knife and shouted three feet behind him: "Thief, you can't run away, take your life!" ”

Li Zicheng saw Lu Xiangsheng's appearance as a scholar, who fought like a madman, and couldn't help but secretly say: "It's really worthy of King Lu Yan, and he really wants to kill me completely!" ”

Li Zicheng had more than 70 personal soldiers around him, and they surrounded Li Zicheng and fled south.

But Lu Xiangsheng kept an eye on their group, and the horses of the officers and soldiers had long been fed, and each of them was a pair of horses.

And the army fled here in a hurry, not to mention that the horses were starving, and the people did not eat a few bites.

At this moment, the pro-soldiers around Li Zicheng were stabbed by Lu Xiangsheng, and in less than a quarter of an hour, Li Zicheng found that there were less than ten pro-soldiers left behind him.

"It's over, it's dead this time!"

Li Zicheng sighed with emotion, and suddenly felt that he was going to die.

One of the men and horses on both sides fled in front, and the other chased behind.

Li Zicheng became a life-saver, frantically whipping the war horse with a horse whip, this war horse is Li Zicheng's baby, and he is fed with high-quality forage on weekdays.

But in the past few days, the war horse has not eaten well, and it will have an empty stomach, and after running for three miles in a row, the war horse began to foam at the mouth, and fell down after a while.

Li Zicheng didn't pay attention, fell off his horse, and fell headlong into a pit on the side of the road.

The Ming army chasing after saw it and hurriedly shouted: "The thief fell, the thief fell!" ”

This time the nest can be blown up, and the soldiers of the Ming army all know that the capable officer who catches the live can be promoted to five levels, and the gold is a thousand taels.

This Li Zicheng, in their eyes, is a pile of gold!

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