The chariots, the horses Xiao Xiao, the flag hunting, the dust is rolling.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, on the land of Xinyang Mansion, converged like a trickle to return to the sea, all the way north, gathered in Ruyang, and lived in Cai.

As the assembly areas of the officers and troops continued to move forward, the atmosphere of the outbreak of war became more and more intense.

On the other side, Li Zicheng's army has also gradually divided its troops from outside Kaifeng City and moved south, returned to the Yuncheng area, returned to the front line with Zuo Liangyu half a year ago, and confronted the Shen family army that had just gone north.

The only difference is that Yuncheng was still in the hands of Zuo Liangyu half a year ago, and now it is controlled by Li Zicheng. Therefore, if the Shenshu people want to go north from this road, it will be more unfavorable geographically, and there will be more key nodes to overcome.

Of course, all those who know the army know this kind of geographical disadvantage, and naturally they are even more optimistic about the Shenshu people.

On this day, it was the eighteenth day of September. A Ming army of about 15,000 men, led by a military general who was shaped like Zhang Fei and had a steel needle-like beard on his face, slowly marched to Ruyang.

This person is none other than Huang Degong, who is one of the four towns in Nanming in history.

It has been almost half a year since he was assigned to the Shen Shuren in March this year. This is the first time Huang Degong has received a combat mission to fight shoulder to shoulder with friendly forces.

Who let there be no thieves to fight around the jurisdiction he was in charge of before? After Lin Chengcheng surrendered in the first month, the surrounding area of the Dabie Mountains was completely peaceful, and Huang Degong's troops were idle all of a sudden, and it was rare to rest for half a year.

At most, it's just to beat up those escaped bandits who are not controlled by Lin to warm up and keep them in shape.

As an aside, Huang Degong's troops are also elite in the Ming army, at least in the southern town troops, and they are second only to the Liaodong border army.

Among his 15,000 men, there are also 5,000 cavalry, which is a force that should not be underestimated. Previously, Shen Shuren had been farming and developing for so many years, and they had repeatedly beaten Zhang Xianzhong to snatch the war horses of the old camp in the north, but they only raised 6,000 cavalry, and of course Huang Degong's troops were not included in those 6,000 people.

After the merger of Huang Degong and Shen Shuren, the total number of cavalry assembled in Xinyang can also exceed 10,000.

At this moment, Huang Degong's men and horses were still more than 20 miles away from Ruyang City, but they suddenly saw that smoke and dust were billowing from the north, and a group of cavalry was coming, but the number was not large.

Huang Degong was not overly vigilant, but just pressed the lance in vain, and waited until there were only two or three miles left, and he had already seen the other party's banner clearly, and it turned out to be Zuo Zixiong, the general soldier of Wuchang, and then relaxed.

After a while, Zuo Zixiong galloped to Huang Degong, rolled the saddle and dismounted, and bowed: "I have seen Huang Zongzhen, Futai has been waiting in Ruyang City for a long time, please Huang Zongzhen to discuss the military aircraft." ”

Huang Degong originally didn't expect the other party to get off the horse, so he had to dismount when he saw this, but the return of the ceremony was not so rigorous, he just arched his hand casually, unlike Zuo Zixiong, who had to lean forward and bow slightly when he gave his hand.

While returning the salute, he sighed in a complicated tone: "Brother Zuo, why be polite, you and I are both chief soldiers, so we can't do it." ”

Zuo Zixiong is very sincere: "Deserve it, how can you not deserve it!" The last general will always bear in mind that three years ago, we were only 1,000 households under the command of Huang Zongzhen, but it was just a coincidence that we followed the right civilian boss, and we moved to the general army in three years.

Huang Zongzhen's tactics, army management, and martial arts, the last general still admires them to this day. If Huang Zongzhen could have had such an opportunity back then, and made meritorious contributions under the command of such a well-known minister as Shen Futai, maybe he would have been named an uncle and a general. ”

Huang Degong was praised by his old subordinates, but fortunately, he also knew a little about the character of a rough person like Zuo Zixiong back then, and knew that the other party was straightforward and sincere, not flattering, so he felt better.

However, although Huang Degong is also a rough person, after all, after so many years of officialdom, there are some factors in Zuo Zixiong's words that may offend people, and he still has to correct the beating.

Huang Degong coughed lightly: "The court is fair, the Son of Heaven is sage, and those who make meritorious contributions should be rewarded." You can be the general soldier, that is the result of your own hard work, of course, there is a civilian boss who is willing to fairly report the military exploits of his subordinates, it is also very important, indispensable.

Huang was in the position of the general soldier, and he stayed for three or four years, but I had no chance to make meritorious service and had no war to fight. Governor Shi was also quite kind to me back then, and it was I who was not angry. ”

Huang Degong must say this, after all, there are so many generals listening to the robe next to him.

Zuo Zixiong can say that he is lucky to follow the right civil official, if Huang Degong does not say it, wouldn't he have forgotten his roots and become "I think Shi Kefa is not a good leader, at least not as good as Shen Shuren, and he has not been promoted with Judge Shi Ke".

A person who forgets his roots is not a new boss who dares to reuse it.

What's more, Shi Kefa was really good to Huang Degong a few years ago, and he was at least able to treat a bowl of water. It's just that he himself doesn't have the ability to quickly make meritorious contributions and be promoted, so naturally he can't take Huang Degong to soar together.

Shi Kefa is purely not good at ability, not bad character.

"Huang Zongzhen is right, it is the last general who has lost his words, let's not talk about this, we can't let Shen Futai wait. In any case, this big battle is just around the corner, and with Shen Futai, there will definitely be an opportunity to be rewarded for meritorious service. Last year, Liu Guoneng was awarded the title of General of Broken Capture, Huang Zongzhen is loyal and courageous, will it be far away? ”

Zuo Zixiong obviously realized that he had offended people by speaking, and hurriedly remedied it. Originally, he didn't mean to hold one by one, but Shen Futai was really awesome, and to tell the truth, he could make other peers be foiled.

Huang Degong nodded with satisfaction, and he had a thorough understanding of the old subordinate's intentions, and at the same time, the other party's appearance also made his heart full of eagerness, and he secretly thought that he must follow Shen Shuren this time and also take the title of general.

……

The group quickly entered Ruyang City and met with Shen Shuren.

Shen Shuren is also full of spring breeze, and in the past few days, he has temporarily requisitioned the county government in Ruyang City as a temporary line to convene the generals to discuss matters. Huang Degong has just arrived today, and it is indispensable to put on a catch-up wine.

Of course, alcohol is forbidden in the army during wartime, but the troops have just met, so there is no need to take it too seriously. And Shen Shuren also knew that Huang Degong was addicted to alcohol, and every time he went to charge and fight, he would "drink more than fight", so it was impossible to control alcohol very thoroughly.

"Mr. Huang, don't come unharmed, I haven't seen you for a few years, with you and General Liu working together, our army will save Kaifeng in this battle."

As soon as the two sides met, Shen Shuren was very amiable, and he couldn't see the decency of the civil officials at all, and mingled with the generals.

"Shen Futai is polite, the last general is just using his life with everyone. Futai tells us to fight as much as we want. Huang Degong also hurriedly went over to pay respects, and he couldn't help but compare Shen Shuren and Shi Kefa in his heart.

Shi Kefa is also very upright, he will not take the credit of his subordinates, and there are clear rewards and punishments. It's a pity that Shi Kefa, as the elder of the Donglin Party, always has a sense of alienation from the generals.

And Shen Shuren, he can't see the pride of any of the two Jinshi, even a general like Liu Guoneng who used to be a thief, he can push the cup and change the lamp with his heart, and he is so moved that Liu Guoneng doesn't want it.

After a few drinks, Liu Guoneng couldn't help but talk about Shen Shuren's righteousness back then: not only sent troops to reinforce him, but also fished his son to Nanjing to enter the Guozi Prison, and he was still a decent 'shadow prison', so that his old Liu family could become a scholar from now on.

If there were no Shen Shuren, he might have died in Yexian and Yuncheng last year. So whatever Shen Futai asked him to do, he did.

(Note: In history, Liu Guoneng was defeated and killed by Li Zicheng in the 14th year of Chongzhen in Yexian and Yuncheng).

Huang Degong had originally heard about these things, but today was the first time he had witnessed Liu Guoneng's respect and obedience to Shen Shuren, and he was secretly frightened in his heart, and at the same time a little hot-headed.

However, Huang Degong is still a soldier after all, and he also knows the current strength gap between the two sides, Li Zicheng is sitting on three or four hundred thousand horses, how can the official army easily attack and frustrate?

And after Liu Guoneng drank too much, in order to show his loyalty, he blindly preached that "as long as Shen Futai lets us attack, we will fight everything to attack, and we can't live up to Shen Futai", which also made Huang Degong a little worried.

He found an opportunity and asked euphemistically: "I don't know how Futai is going to fight the thieves and rescue Kaifeng when he gathers me this time, so I plan to fight the thieves and rescue Kaifeng?" The thieves newly broke Yang Ge Lao and Governor Sun, and they were in full swing. And Yang Ge is old and new, and it is difficult for the morale of our army not to be affected. ”

As soon as Huang Degong said this, Shen Shuren just smiled slightly, and before he could answer, he made Liu Guoneng unhappy. He didn't drink as much as Huang Degong, and he came up a little energetically, so he slapped the table directly and said:

"Huang Chuangzi! People all over the world say that you are not afraid of death, and it seems that you are still a step worse than us. Shen Futai asked us to fight how we wanted, and I would fight as I wanted! Don't frown!

As for Yang Ge Lao who has just passed away, this can also be used as a reason for cowardice? Shen Futai and we have both been appreciated and supported by Yang Ge Lao, and they are just repaying their kindness, which is called the victory of the mourning soldiers! ”

Huang Degong is also not good-tempered, and directly retorted: "Who is afraid of death!" This is not to ask Futai what his plans are, if you can really kill more enemies and serve the country, Lao Tzu will rush faster than you! ”

Shen Shuren saw that the two of them were about to quarrel, so he hurriedly said with a smile: "Now that the two generals are working together, how can they fight for this bit of will?"

Mr. Huang is worried that I am desperate, which is understandable. But don't worry, do I look like one of those reckless people? Of course, Yang Ge Lao's kindness is to be repaid, and the reason that the mourning soldiers will win is not wrong, but I will never worry about it. ”

When Shen Shuren said this, he paused without anger, and swept his eyes over Liu Guoneng and Huang Degong, and both of them quieted down.

And when Shen Shuren continued to sweep towards Zuo Zixiong, another chief soldier who accompanied the last seat, Zuo Zixiong directly expressed his obedience, and the atmosphere in the venue was completely calmed, and everyone didn't dare to gossip anymore, and all listened to Shen Shuren's orders.

Shen Shuren nodded at this time and continued: "For today's plan, the enemy is strong and I am weak, but our army can last for a long time, and it is beneficial for us to continue the stalemate." What we want is to work step by step, ensure the grain road, and forge ahead with a stubborn fight.

In this way, we can force the invading army to fight with us, instead of us going to find the invading army for a decisive battle, when the time and place are on our side, and after the weather cools down, it will be even more unfavorable to the attacking side, and the invading army will inevitably bear more weakening.

The grain stored around Kaifeng Mansion was originally very reluctant to eat this year's autumn harvest, and Li Zicheng attacked from April to September, destroying Henan's agricultural affairs throughout the year, and I heard that the Chuang army had already begun to eat people.

Now that our autumn grain has just been harvested, the two or three prefectures closest to the thieves have almost no harvest, so Liu Zongmin and Li Guo plundered Huaiqing and Wei Hui in July and grabbed some uneaten summer grain.

If it drags on any longer, as long as Li Zicheng has not yet broken through Kaifeng City in winter, he is afraid that he will kill each other and eat each other at that time, starting to eat from the old and weak in the army, or at least eating the women and children who are coerced, and the morale of the army will inevitably be low. ”

Liu Guoneng and Huang Degong listened very quietly, and after being analyzed by Shen Shuren, they became more and more confident, and their determination and confidence to serve Shen Shuren were also more sufficient.

I know that this is a good leader who puts the lives of soldiers first, not those civilian officials who only regard casualties as numbers and have no idea.

But things are certainly not that simple, Huang Degong has fought for so many years, and he also knows the importance of logistics, so he immediately pointed out a little common sense:

"Although our army has food after the autumn harvest, can the defenders in Kaifeng City hold out for so long? Will they run out of food? According to common sense, the grain stored in each city is generally eaten after the autumn harvest, and there is a slight surplus at most. Now that it is the autumn harvest season, there is no new grain replenishment in Kaifeng City, and it will definitely be exhausted soon, right? ”

Shen Shuren nodded approvingly: "Of course, both sides will think of these. A siege battle, for the first month or two, may be a desperate attack. Once the siege cannot be carried out for two months, the besieging side will definitely be demoralized for the rest of the time, and it will be difficult to rely on hard battles to defeat the city quickly.

Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng, from April to September, this has made it clear that there is no certainty of a quick victory, I estimate that since July, he has been fighting the idea of 'waiting for the people in the city to starve to death, and the soldiers have no heart to fight', hoping to use the siege and so on to turn around.

Therefore, in July, Liu Zongmin and Li excessively attacked Huaiqing Weihui, which also caused His Majesty to mistakenly think that Sun Chuanting and Yang Ge had the opportunity to break through the intrusive army - but unfortunately it was a misjudgment after all.

For the sake of today's plan, what we need to consider is how to ensure that our grain route can be advanced as close as possible away from the closure, and that we can build a hard village and store more grain at the front. Then try to divide the troops to open one direction of the besieging camp, and try to send a batch of food and supplies and ammunition into the city.

As long as the grain route can be opened and the invading army realizes that after their offensive has weakened, they are counting on the blank siege of the city in the months when they are counting on the lack of food, and the morale of the invading army will naturally collapse. ”

When Huang Degong heard this, his brows furrowed, but he felt that this Shen Futai was a little idealistic: "Don't seek a decisive battle with the Chuang army, but you want to realize the transportation of grain to Kaifeng City?" How can this be done? ”

Shen Shuren: "I don't know yet, but we can do the first few steps first, step by step, and create opportunities for the enemy to make mistakes first."

At the same time, we have to try to build momentum and disperse the forces of the intruders, so that when we advance, there will always be not too many frontal enemies, at least not to face the entire force of the intruders at the same time - I already have some ideas for this step, but I can't say it yet, you will see the result.

Three or five days at most, or six or seven days at the slowest, you can see that the invasion army in Yuncheng will divide its troops, and then our pressure will be even less, and it will be much easier to continue to advance. ”

Shen Shuren knew that in Liu Guoneng's troops, there were also a few people who were already inextricably linked with the thieves. Before he completely reorganizes the troops, it is good that some things are known to his own henchmen.

After all, the deception of those civil fighters makes the deception of the deception, and there is no need for the generals to intervene, it is enough to have civilian staff officers to handle it.

Liu Guoneng and Huang Degong had no objections, and they didn't feel that Shen Futai was wary of them, so they happily accepted this setting and decided to follow Shen Shuren to observe for a few days.

The matter of using the brain, it is better to solve it by Shen Futai, they are only responsible for the part of the knife after Futai gives the order. At least for the time being, Shen Futai's thinking and overall policy are correct.