From February of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen to September of the fifteenth year, in the period of nineteen months.

Li Zicheng raised an army of hundreds of thousands, and opened the seal three times.

But in the end, even if you try everything, it will be difficult to make any progress.

Until the end, Li Zicheng was not able to enter Kaifeng City and surpass the city wall even half a step.

Kaifeng City was finally submerged because of the Yellow River's embankment and the overturning of the water.

The martyrs are in the general, and the loyalty and courage are in the people.

The loyalty of the Bianren will not be lost in the Kou, and will eventually be lost in the water.

In history, there were not many soldiers in Kaifeng City, but there were two battalions of soldiers and horses under the command of Chen Yongfu and Gao Qian, and their combat strength was extremely limited.

How can they not resist the hundreds of thousands of male soldiers under Li Zicheng.

The reason why Kaifeng City was able to hold on to this long nineteen months has been standing in the central area surrounded by thieves.

Among them, the person with the greatest credit is named Wang Xie.

Although the current Wang Xie is just a small county magistrate, he is not taken seriously.

Wang Xie is the county order of Xiangfu, and Xiangfu is the attached Guo County of Kaifeng.

Before Kaifeng was besieged, Wang Xie was ordered to enter the city with 500 militia to assist in the defense.

Xiangfu County has actually been abandoned, and Gao Mingheng placed Gao Qian and others who were defeated from the Zhengzhou battlefield in Xiangfu County, and it was just a dead horse as a live horse doctor.

Chen Wang's gaze slowly swept from Gao Mingheng's side, and the civil officials standing on Gao Mingheng's side were all wearing scarlet robes without exception, and there was no one in the green robe.

Civil officials from the first to the fourth rank wear crimson robes, and the fifth to seventh grades wear green robes, and Wang Xie naturally wears green robes and is not among them.

According to Wang Xie's current status, he is indeed not qualified to stand on Gao Mingheng's side.

didn't see Wang Xie, and Chen Wang didn't feel any disappointment.

For Wang Xie, Chen Wang didn't have any idea of soliciting, and even if he wanted to solicit, there was no possibility of soliciting.

Although now Chen Wang is already the general of a town and a general with a seal.

But Wang Xie is a civil official from a serious academic background.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the time of the noble and military was long, even if the situation is now erosive and the status of the military generals has been improved, but after all, it is difficult to change the long-standing concept.

Most civilian officials are extremely contemptuous of military attachés, and have little respect, how can they be recruited.

Chen Wangxiang used the method that Wang Xie had adopted, not Wang Xie.

Chen Wang quietly withdrew his gaze, pretended to frown, and made a difficult look.

Gao Mingheng really hit the plan, and he couldn't help but be even more anxious in his heart, and said urgently.

"The important town of Kaifeng cannot afford to be lost, if General Chen has a need, it doesn't hurt to talk about it."

Chen Wang's eyes moved slightly, still silent.

Gao Mingheng's urgency is completely out of character, and he even said things that must not be said above the official face.

But of course, as a civilian official who does not understand any military and political affairs, he faced hundreds of thousands of rogues who were overwhelmed, and those rogues also attacked Luoyang, which was also a big city.

Without the six gods and no master, they can already be called a sentence.

"According to the words of the lord, guarding the city and defending the land is the duty of our military ministers, how dare I ask for anything else."

The goal has been achieved, Chen Wang is not pretentious, and follows Gao Mingheng's words.

"The last general's face was embarrassed, just because he didn't expect that the soldiers in Kaifeng City were so scarce, and there was a big gap between them and what I expected."

"The army of ten thousand thieves is huge and menacing, and this time it is the time to break through Luoyang and shake Zhongzhou."

Chen Wang paused, leaned forward, moved closer to Gao Mingheng, and said in a low voice.

"With only the existing forces, it is indeed a bit difficult to defend Kaifeng."

Gao Mingheng's body was slightly stiff, and his face became more and more ugly.

It is not clear to him how such a thing as a patrolman is.

These days, he has been coordinating the affairs of the city, and although most of the military affairs are handled by Chen De, he has obtained details from the various reports.

The people's combat strength to assist in the defense is almost negligible, and the militia in the city is also useless.

The defenders were slightly better, but only slightly better.

Although the guards of the Zhou Palace's mansion looked majestic, they had never been on the battlefield, and most of the armor was decorative armor.

It looks glamorous, but in fact the protection is extremely limited.

As a vassal king, it is true that a certain number of guards are allowed.

But the number and armament of the guards were extremely tightly controlled.

There are policies above, and there are countermeasures below.

Eating empty salaries and drinking the blood of soldiers has long been a common practice.

The corruption of the military system has made the camp and town erosive.

The weight of civil officials makes military attachés humble.

Political corruption makes the military corrupt.

Originally, the only thing that could be relied on in Kaifeng City was actually the guerrilla battalion under Chen De's command.

"But ......"

Chen Wang looked at the change in the expression on Gao Mingheng's face, knew that the time had come, and continued at the moment.

"Now the situation is not unsolvable, when the last general was in Hanzhong Mansion in the past, he was also besieged by more than several times the rogues, but he still held the city."

"It's just ...... this way"

Gao Mingheng's expression changed, and he turned from cloudy to sunny again, and he was on the road.

"If General Chen has a way to defend the city, it doesn't hurt to talk about it."

Chen Wang raised his head, his gaze scanning over the crowd of officials around Gao Mingheng.

"The last general as a military minister, only understand military affairs, not government affairs, in the past in the Hanzhong Mansion, but also rely on the help of the state and county officials, to be able to hold Hanzhong, this garrison Kaifeng, but also need to patrol the Lord and you to help."

Chen Wang knew his identity very well, and his purpose was only to claim military power.

In terms of government affairs, there is not much benefit to be gained from taking over now, and it will step on the minefield of civil officials and the minefield of the Ming court.

Military affairs and government affairs are all taken over, is it because they want to divide the territory?

Chen Wang's words were modest and polite, and all the civil officials were quite useful, although they did not echo it, but they all had kind faces.

"If the general is not mistaken, most of the people who assist in the defense of the people should be forcibly recruited from everywhere."

Gao Mingheng frowned slightly, then nodded and replied.

"That's true."

The people who have always been recruited and mobilized to assist in defense have been announced by the government and directly mobilized from various places.

"In fact, the defense of the people does not play much role in defending the city, on the contrary, sometimes it will play a big counter-role, and the last general hopes that the patrol will be able to dissolve all the forced conscriptions."

"Disbanding the Cooperative Defense and Defending the People?"

Gao Mingheng's expression changed slightly, and he hesitated.

"The troops in the city are already insufficient, if there is no people's strong defense, wouldn't the strength to defend the city be even more scarce?"

Gao Mingheng's answer was expected by Chen Wang.

"Therefore, what the last general said is to disband the people who were forcibly conscripted."

Chen Wang looked at Gao Mingheng and said solemnly.

"Forcibly requisitioning the people to strengthen the defense will only make the people in the city deviate from morality."

"Soldiers and soldiers, the top and bottom are united, and the three armies can work together."

"To assist in the prevention and recruitment of the people, you can know it with affection, move it with reason, and lure it with profit."

"The people are not on the front line, but only carry the ordnance to defend the city in the city, transport the armament of the army, grain and grass, and serve as auxiliaries, and according to what they do, they will be given corresponding remuneration, and the remuneration can be meager, but it must be there."

Officials such as Gao Mingheng, many of their choices cannot be said wrong, and they are limited by the limitations of the times.

The conscription and dispatch of civil servants to assist in defending the city are indeed normal in this era.

"Luoyang City is broken, Zhengzhou is defeated, the people in the city are panicked, and there are many refugees who have entered the city to beg for a living, a piece of bread and a sip of water can not only solve their urgent needs, but also keep them stable, and they don't have to worry about not being able to recruit people."

Gao Mingheng's tightly knit brows furrowed, he didn't understand military affairs.

Chen Wang's words were so convincing, coupled with the big victories he had achieved in various places, that he couldn't help but be convinced.

"General Chen, what he said is indeed reasonable, and the recruitment of the people to assist in the defense of the people will be carried out in accordance with this example."

"However, now the garrison in the city is already weak, even if you add the troops under General Chen, it is still not enough to garrison the four cities, and the people will not be able to help defend the front line, and they ......will rely on the existing troops alone."

Chen Wang and others are about Gao Mingheng's problem, and what he wants to propose is the recruitment method proposed by Wang Xie in history.

"Relying on the existing forces alone to defend Kaifeng is naturally overstretched, so there is another way for the final general."

"What's the solution?"

"Formation and training of social soldiers."

"Social soldiers?"

Gao Mingheng looked puzzled, he didn't understand what Chen Wang was talking about.

The so-called social soldiers are exactly the methods proposed by Wang Xie when the rogue army entered the siege of Kaifeng City in history.

And it is precisely because of these social soldiers that Kaifeng City stood on the land of Henan and blocked the hundreds of thousands of troops under Li Zicheng for a full nineteen months.

"The so-called social soldiers, in fact, are more appropriate to call them square soldiers."

"There are as many clubs as there are in the city, and each club is set up."

"According to the amount of assets, the richer the more troops will be sent, and the poor will be combined with several households to form one army, and each square will train hundreds of people, and they will be combined into five general societies, and they will be divided into five gates."

Gao Mingheng looked puzzled and asked.

"Isn't this kind of requisition the same as the previous requisition and deployment to help defend the people?"

Chen Wang shook his head and said.

"Every time the army of thieves goes down to the city, they kill the rich families in the city, this matter does not need to be publicized, and it has long been known to the world."

"This time the army of ten thousand thieves is approaching Kaifeng, and the rich families in the city must be panicked and eager to seek protection.

Gao Mingheng stared at him, these days, the rich people in the city were indeed panicked, and many of them even wanted to flee Kaifeng and flee to other places.

There are also many people who come to inquire about the situation through various relationships, wanting to know whether Kaifeng can be kept.

"The militia is trained all over the state and county, and most of them are in response to government decrees, and there are many people who abuse the number, and they are simply useless."

"It's different."

"If the seal is broken, what awaits those rich families is to destroy them, and they have no choice."

"And the common people are also afraid of the scourge of war, and we only need a little propaganda to make them share our hatred."

"In the face of the enemy, in order to protect the acropolis of the city, the social soldiers will be tenacious and stubbornly resist, and they will not give up easily."

Chen Wang took half a step back and said in a deep voice.

"The enemy is strong and I am weak, only with one heart can we win the battle."

"The biggest advantage of recruiting and deploying social soldiers is that military salaries, grain and grass can all be supplied by the troops sent out."

"In this way, without spending half a cent of money and food, you can obtain nearly 10,000 social soldiers to protect the city and the people."

Chen Wang's last words completely moved Gao Mingheng.

With the experience of Luoyang City, the wealthy clans in Kaifeng City, I am afraid that no one will dare to hold on to their wealth.

"There are eighty-four squares in Kaifeng City, based on this, that is, eighty-four societies, each society organizes 100 social soldiers, and 8,400 social soldiers can be obtained."

"In this way, the auxiliary defense force has doubled out of thin air, and the combat power is more than several times stronger than before."

Gao Mingheng thought about it slightly, and he already had a plan in his heart, and he felt that what Chen Wang said was indeed feasible.

"The combat strength of the social army is bound to be far superior to that of the militia, and the patrol must rest assured that the last general was ordered to rectify the guards and has a lot of research on military training."

Gao Mingheng naturally does not question this.

The name of a man, the shadow of a tree.

As Chen Wang gradually became famous, all kinds of rumors appeared one after another, and many previous military newspapers and letters also spread.

Among them, a letter from Cao Wenzhao to Hong Chengchou in the past is even more widely known.

Chen Wang relied on that sentence, all of them were like the Zhejiang soldiers in the past, and they did their best, and then in Sun Chuanting, he wanted to have the right to rectify the military affairs of the Hanzhong Guard.

Chen Wang is good at training soldiers, and Gao Mingheng naturally knows it.

In the urn city, these elites of a hundred battles are now high-ranking and determined.

Gao Mingheng took a step forward, held Chen Wang with both hands, and said solemnly.

"In this way, the military affairs of Kaifeng will be entrusted to General Chen."

Chen Wang's eyes were slightly condensed, his face showed a solemn expression, he bowed his head, and said solemnly.

"The last general will do his best to repel the invading enemy, and live up to the trust of the Patrolman."

For the social soldiers, in fact, Chen Wang still has a lot to say.

However, there is no need to mention these words to Gao Mingheng.

Originally, the soldiers of the society, the president and vice president of the branch, and the president of the head office were all in charge of each company.

But this time, Chen Wang naturally would not stipulate this.

This social soldier in Kaifeng City, who has good combat strength, will be firmly in his hands this time.

"The army of ten thousand thieves will come to the city in a few days, and the military situation is like fire, and the last general will take over the military affairs in the city first, and recruit and transfer social soldiers, so please spend more time on the patrol press."

Chen Wang stopped the topic and brought the topic to military affairs, and Gao Mingheng didn't continue to ask.

They are in Wengcheng, and they have already lost a lot of time.

Gao Mingheng led a group of civil officials, came in a mighty way, and left the urn city in a mighty way.

The generals who originally followed Gao Mingheng, including Chen De, did not follow Gao Mingheng and left, but stayed in Wengcheng.

The military power of Kaifeng City has actually been handed over at this moment, and now Chen Wang has become the military director of Kaifeng City.

Chen Wang stepped on the war horse again, and the generals in Kaifeng City, and the cavalry under Chen Wang's command also jumped on the horse and saddled one after another.

The closed gates of the urn city have long been opened.

Chen Wang's eyes were like torches, looking ahead.

The gate of the city is opened, and when you look out through the passage of the gate, you can see the orderly streets and dense buildings.

"Enter the city!"

Chen Wang raised the horsewhip in his hand, and just pressed it lightly forward, and the three thousand armored horsemen behind him were already in a sensation.

(End of chapter)