Four days later, Yongping.

Li Zicheng stood there, waiting for the person behind him to put on a shawl for him, then a tight belt, and then a skirt armor, abdominal armor, gradually, Li Zicheng felt heavy, and when the drape was ready, the young man behind him said hello, Li Zicheng moved his body, and the operation was a little difficult.

"See, this suit of armor is just good-looking, in fact, only fools are willing to wear it." Li Zicheng said to the people around him. He patted the face of the hairy boy in front of him again, and said, "Laiheng's armor is good for me, what reward do you want." ”

That young man is Li Guo's righteous son Li Laiheng, Li Guo is Li Zicheng's nephew, and he is Li Zicheng's grandchild, but in fact, Li Guo is not Li Zicheng's own nephew, on the contrary, he is older than Li Zicheng, so in terms of age, Li Laiheng is more like his son.

Li Laiheng immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Weichen is willing to go into battle to make meritorious contributions." ”

"Li Guo, in the end, he is your son, and he is as energetic as you were when you were young." Li Zicheng laughed, grabbed Li Laiheng's shoulders and dragged him up, and said: "Baby, you are still young, two years longer, I will make you a mighty general, and in the future, I will pacify the eastern captives, or go south to conquer, and you will have the opportunity to make contributions." ”

Li Guo smiled: "Don't thank you yet, stinky boy." ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen still wants to ........" Li Laiheng is a stubborn character, and he wanted to say more, but he was kicked in the ass by Li Guo.

Li Zicheng smiled: "If you have a chance, I will still give it to you, you don't have to say it again." Li Guo, how is Ruhou these days? ”

"Since handing over Chen Yuanyuan, I have marched all the way, but it is also safe, and I haven't noticed anything wrong." Li Guo said.

Li Zicheng nodded, frowned and said: "Now that we have built a country, there must be rules, and the Marquis of Ru always shouts loudly and says something that is not on the stage, relying on his old friendship with us. Now it's good to say that there will be more and more people in the court in the future, and there will always be a time when he can't be tolerated. ”

"I will persuade him well, you are different now than before, you used to be the king, now you are the son of heaven, if you want to enjoy wealth in the court, the rules will only become more and more important." Li Guo said in a deep voice, obviously he is more suitable for the new role than Liu Zongmin, and he knows the stakes better.

At this time, there was a sudden sound of thunder in the distance, and the rumbling sound was endless, but the weather was sunny, where was there any thunder?

"Your Majesty, it's the sound from the direction of Shanhaiguan, it's the Hongyi cannon firing." Liu Zongmin then broke in and said.

Li Zicheng nodded slightly: "Is there any news from Yihou?" ”

"It is said that it has been co-operated with Tang Tong, and it is also said that it has not been joined by Wu Sangui." On the side, the military advisor Song Xiance said that in this personal expedition, Niu Jinxing handled the government as the prime minister, and he accompanied the king to drive beside Li Zicheng.

And Li Guo frowned when he saw Li Zicheng and said, "Yihou is young and vigorous, and he may act impulsively. But for Wu Sangui, it would be great if he could appease the good. That Shanhaiguan has been built for hundreds of years, and Liaozhen has been operating for decades, how can it be so easy to fight. ”

Li Zicheng nodded slightly: "What you said is, Li Laiheng, you immediately go to Shanhaiguan to pass the decree, ask the Marquis of Yi to retire temporarily, don't clash with Liaozhen, and wait until the main force of our army arrives." ”

Li Laiheng received the holy decree and went immediately, while Li Zicheng urged the army to advance immediately.

Li Guo's cavalry was the vanguard, Li Zicheng personally led the Chinese army, followed by a heavy baggage team, 60,000 troops stretched for more than ten miles, the flag covered the sky and the sun, and the military appearance was extremely magnificent.

"Your Majesty, Wu Sangui sees that my Dashun is so strong, and when he surrenders without a fight, the emperor can rest assured." Liu Zongmin rode beside Li Zicheng and said warmly.

Li Zicheng shook his head slightly: "Ruhou, although these tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are elite, they have also been accumulated in the past two years, with mixed backgrounds and various origins, and Liaozhen is self-contained, and has been trained for decades, I am afraid that it is not arbitrary, it must be serious and cautious." ”

Since the Apocalypse, Li Zicheng rebelled, it has been more than ten years, in the early days Li Zicheng has also grown, there are tens of thousands of troops, but with the Ming army vigorously exterminated, to the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng returned to Henan, only 1,000 people, that is tens of thousands of righteous army fruit only 1,000 people, extremely elite.

But he was famous, the hungry people and the righteous army in Henan were put under his command, after conquering Luoyang, Li Zicheng expanded his troops and horses, recruited troops, and the elite under his command became three thousand, some of which were absorbed by the elite of the peasant army, but most of them were annexed Ming troops, such as Tian Hu, the deputy marshal of the former army, who defected to him at that time.

Since then, although Li Zicheng still has not established a foundation, but in the face of the trilateral governors, he has shown enough combat effectiveness, leading the Ming army to wander for more than a thousand miles, still in order, defeating the trilateral governors, Li Zicheng collected a large number of Shaanxi soldiers and horses, and annexed the baggage of 20,000 troops.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng defeated the new trilateral governor again, and his strength rose again, and then after allied with 'Cao Cao' and Yuan Shizhong, Zhu Xianzhen fought a battle and defeated the 180,000 Ming army, and the Ming army in the Central Plains was swept away.

Later, Sun Chuanting was eliminated, and Cao Cao, Gezuo Fifth Battalion and Yuan Shizhong were annexed, and the current Dashun Army was established.

However, although the Shun army is strong and has many generals, the internal factions are complex, and it is difficult for Li Zicheng to fully control them.

Now in this army, there are not only his descendants, but also the rest of the annexed rebel army, and the surrendered Ming army units, in the face of the self-contained Liaozhen, it is normal for Li Zicheng to be worried.

"Your Majesty!" Li Laiheng's figure appeared beside Li Zicheng and said: "Back to the emperor, the will has been conveyed, and the vanguard led by the Yihou has not engaged in the battle with Wu Sangui. ”

Liu Zongmin asked: "Then why is the cannon sound not stopping, you listen, the cannon is still firing, and it is getting more and more intensive." Could it be that they hit the air? ”

Li Laiheng immediately said: "In Ruhou's words, Liaozhen is fighting at the air endlessly, and when you arrive, you will know that Liaozhen's artillery fire is sharp, which is really rare." ”

Shanhaiguan City.

Wu Sangui and Li Zhaoji stood on top of the city, and when they saw a banner in the distance and the Shun army all over the mountains, they had their own thoughts.

"Mr. Li, you see, there is a dragon of smoke and dust behind, and I am afraid there are still tens of thousands of people." Wu Sangui couldn't help but say worriedly.

Li Zhaoji shook his head slightly: "Ping Xibo don't worry, Li Zicheng will attack this time, and there will be 60,000 soldiers and horses, and his command will also defend Jizhen, Xuanfu and other border walls, and they will not attack all of them." People want to settle on the Central Plains to sit in the world, and their eyes will not only stare at Shanhaiguan, but also deal with the threat of the northern grasslands. ”

Wu Sangui said: "But I'm worried that after they arrive, they will attack immediately." ”

Li Zhaoji said with great confidence: "Categorically not, although Ping Xibo is important, but for Li Zicheng, the most important thing is whether he can sit firmly in the world." ”

"Okay, let your artillery start performing first, and see if we can deter Li Chuang." Wu Sangui said.

By the time Li Zicheng arrived, Shanhaiguan was already in a mess, Liaozhen set up a formation under the city wall of Guancheng, formed the first line of defense with antler fences, and then there were artillery fortresses, and then there was a large array of infantry, and as Li Laiheng said, Liaozhen was indeed firing artillery, but the two sides did not start a war, and Liaozhen artillery fire was firing at the open space in front of the two armies.

It's just that on the open space, Liaozhen has buried wooden stakes one by one, and some have tied reeds or sorghum stalks to them, densely packed, thousands, but Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin and other Dashun generals are all veterans, and it can be seen at a glance that these wooden stakes have holes in the sky and are deliberately arranged.

They were not fortifications designed to resist the cavalry charge and infantry attack, but on the contrary, they were arranged to resemble an attacking infantry formation, with sparse archers in the front row and a heavy infantry formation in the back.

At this time, the Hongyi cannons laid in the fort in Liaozhen were already firing, only a small part of these Hongyi cannons were owned by Wu Sangui, and the rest were bought from the Oriental Trading Company.

With the muffled sound of artillery, one after another shells shot out, bounced up a cloud of mud and sand on the ground, smashed the wooden stakes that they touched, and then fell, bounced up again, and fell again, a cannon was more than three miles away, and when the shells stopped in front of the large formation of the Shun army, they were still steaming.

Zhang Nai came to Li Zicheng and said to him: "Your Majesty, according to Tang Tong, Liaozhen laid these wooden stakes six days ago, and only after the arrival of our troops did they start shelling, but the shelling was not much, and until the main force arrived, it was such a continuous shelling as in front of him.

Weichen observed that behind the fort, there were more than 17 Hongyi cannons, and there were also light artillery such as the Franc machine, but the cannons were not fired. ”

Li Zicheng asked: "Did they just shell these wooden stakes?" ”

"Yes."

"Why is that?" Li Zicheng was suspicious.

Zhang Nai said: "Weichen thinks that this is a fire deterrent, telling us that the Shanhaiguan guns are sharp, don't attack easily." ”

"Wu Sangui is here to tell us that he has extraordinary strength and is strong behind closed doors, but he has no intention of making enemies with us head-on." Li Guo said on the side.

Li Zicheng nodded slightly: "I have long heard that the Hongyi cannon is eroded for more than ten miles, although readers like to exaggerate, but now it seems that it is indeed extraordinary." ”

"Yes, that mound of earth is also an earthen wall built with wooden piles, Tang Tong said, it was originally more than ten zhang long, more than one zhang high, and more than seven feet thick, just now, it was shelled by heavy artillery and has collapsed into land. This is the power of the Hongyi cannon, in the past, we attacked the city, we let the soldiers dig the city wall, there were many casualties, if there is such a heavy weapon, you can use artillery to destroy the city wall. Zhang Nai pointed to a messy mound of dirt and said.

"It's really amazing, since Liaozhen is willing to show us, let's take a good look." Li Zicheng said indifferently, but in his heart, he attached great importance to the firepower display in front of him.

And Zhang Nai pointed to the artillery team that was moving in the distance and said: "Your Majesty, look at it, there, there are horses and mules pulling artillery wagons past, and Weichen thinks that the artillery fire in Liaozhen is sharp, and the most powerful is the little Hongyi cannon." ”

The eyes of all the people in Dashun looked at a team of horses and mules that were moving behind the fort, and it was vaguely visible that there were several artillery carriages, dragged by the horses and mules, running quickly, going around the flank, and then unfolding at a very fast speed, arranged on the side of the infantry in Liaozhen, and the six artillery carriages were immediately untied from their horses, lined up, and then quickly fired at the speed of two rounds a minute, and fired at the large array of wooden stakes for five minutes, and then hung up the gun carriages and left quickly.

From the time it appeared, to the shelling, and then to leave, it was not even a quarter of an hour, and this stormy shelling caused the stakes to fall to the ground a lot.

"It's so light, so powerful, and so ingenious." Li Laiheng couldn't help but say approvingly.

Li Zicheng asked: "What, you see the way." ”

Li Laiheng immediately squatted on the ground, drew circles with a dagger, formed a phalanx, drew a line in the middle, and then drew a line from the flanks, and said: "Your Majesty, although the Hongyi cannon is powerful, it can kill four or five people in one cannon, because it is heavy and difficult to move, and can only hit head-on, but these little Hongyi cannons, from the side, can hit six or seven people each time."

Obviously, this little Hongyi cannon is lightweight, more suitable for the confrontation between the two armies, it is really a militaristic weapon, if we surrender Liaozhen, we can also get such good things. ”

Li Zicheng and the others saw him comparing and dating, and they all felt that what Li Laiheng said was reasonable, Li Zicheng smiled: "What a Wu Sangui, this is to show us his ability, so it will cost a high price." ”

"If he can be used by the emperor, it doesn't hurt to raise the price appropriately." Song Xiance said.

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