Kaeju.

Liu Yan led the battalions of the New Army all the way south from Boye County, and a few days later arrived in Kaizhou County, the southernmost part of Beizhili.

At this time, the barracks of the battalions of the new army were distributed on all sides of Kaizhou City, standing on the city wall and looking around, there were camps, banners, soldiers, horses, artillery, and all kinds of voices gathered together, so that the magistrate of Kaizhou and a group of officials were panicked, and they personally brought the gentry and merchants in the city to the guard camp for several days, nominally to send cattle, sheep, wine and meat to the soldiers of the new army, but in fact, it was to inquire about the news and wanted to know when Liu Yan's department would leave.

In today's world, even the official army is synonymous with "military chaos", as the so-called bandits are like combs, soldiers are like grates, for ordinary people, whether they are officers and soldiers or thieves, they are all floods and beasts, lest they be avoided. Therefore, as long as the magistrates everywhere saw the officials and soldiers coming, they were all afraid in their hearts, and they wanted these military masters to leave as soon as possible.

On this day, the magistrate of Kaizhou County brought someone to send a few fat pigs, standing outside the gate of the guard camp with a smiling face and wanting to meet Liu Yan.

In the past few days, even if the officers and soldiers of the new army are strict in discipline and do not disturb the people, and even Xun Jingyun, the magistrate of the town, took people into the city to buy, and bought and sold fairly, giving enough silver for white flowers, but the magistrate of Kaizhou and others are still frightened: the knives and guns are held in people's hands, and today is a smiling face, and if you can't keep it, you will turn your face tomorrow, so it's better to leave early.

When Miao Shao learned the news, he went directly to the big tent of the Chinese army and reported it to Liu Yanyu.

At this time, Liu Yan was looking at Kaifeng Mansion and the maps of all parts of Henan, and he was also worried about the war that was about to start, and he was even more heartbroken about the martyrdom of Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Huaiying, Xu Tonghui and other soldiers, and suddenly heard that the annoying magistrate was coming again, so he said impatiently: "If this person comes again in the future, he will coax me back, don't bother me again!" ”

Miao Shao agreed, and said with a smile: "But it's okay for people to go back, but things have to be left, and those fat pigs are just for the soldiers to sacrifice their teeth." ”

Liu Yan glared at Miao Shao angrily, asked Miao Shao to remember to give the silver, and then said, "Wu Guojin hasn't come yet?" ”

While he was talking, Wu Guojin strode into the tent, saw that Miao Shao was also there, and said hello with his fists.

"Is there any news from the military department?"

Wu Guojin said: "My lord, Wang Yang, the chief of the investigation of Cao, led people to squat at in Baoding Mansion, and just sent someone to deliver the news: Chen Xinjia has already shipped a large amount of money and grain south, and now it has passed Gaoyang, and it is estimated that it will be transported to Kaizhou in three or four days." ”

Liu Yan said coldly: "This Chen Xinjia is just not cleaned up, if Lao Tzu doesn't exert his authority, don't think about getting money and food from him!" ”

"My lord, Chen Xinjia can only provide three months of money and food without discounting, plus the materials in our own army, it is enough for the soldiers of the army to consume four months. Can four months end the fighting? ”

Liu Yan shook his head, because he didn't know if there was enough time.

Li Zicheng was different from the Manchus, who were like a fire, and they only needed to concentrate their forces to fight it, either to extinguish the fire or to be burned to death, simply and directly. Against the Manchu Qing Dynasty, as long as you dare to fight and want to fight, it won't take too much time, just a direct duel.

And Li Zicheng is a rat in the world, when the rats are in groups, they dare to eat people, but once most of them are killed, they will scatter and flee, find an invisible place to hibernate, and I don't know when it will come back, which is annoying!

Therefore, Liu Yan didn't know when he would be able to pacify the Central Plains, maybe he would win the battle today, but Li Zicheng led people to fight a guerrilla, so Liu Yan didn't know what the future of this battle was.

What's more, the current army of thieves is different from the past, after defeating several elites of the Ming army in a row, the combat power and equipment of the army of thieves have been greatly improved. The most important thing is that after Li Zicheng defeated Lu Xiangsheng, Fu Zonglong and other elites of the Ming army, the mentality of the whole army has undergone earth-shaking changes.

In the past, Li Zicheng and others were still psychologically afraid in the face of the elite of the Ming army, and rarely fought head-on battles with the elite of the Ming army. But now, the fear of the thieves is gone. This is not a little bit of a bonus to the combat power of the army of thieves.

Coupled with the huge number of troops of the thief army, it can be said that to a certain extent, the thief army led by Li Zicheng at this time is already an opponent equal to the Qing army!

"Regardless of whether there is enough money and food, this battle must be fought first, and Li Zicheng cannot be allowed to grow stronger. At least Li Zicheng's thief army should not be allowed to go north into Beizhili, or go south into Jiangnan. ”

"If even Beizhili and Jiangnan are touched by Li Zicheng, then the army of thieves will not be hundreds of thousands, but will swell to millions, or even millions, in a very short period of time, and the world will be completely over!"

Liu Yan said in a deep voice, but his heart was heavy, Li Zicheng, the leader of the plague, must control Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places, and must not let him run around anymore.

Before arriving in Kaizhou, Liu Yan had set up a mourning hall in the camp and enshrined the spiritual seats of Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Huaiying, Xu Tonghui, as well as the fallen soldiers of the Dubiao Battalion and the Fubiao Battalion.

The soldiers of the battalions of the new army saluted one after another, and Liu Yan directly issued a mobilization order in front of all the soldiers and soldiers, and this battle was to sweep the Central Plains and pacify the thieves.

But now that he was quiet, Liu Yan asked himself in his heart: "Can this battle really completely destroy Li Zicheng?" ”

Not to mention anything else, Li Zicheng's escape ability was the first in the late Ming Dynasty, and he was also a model of repeated defeats and battles. In the words of later generations, Li Zicheng's ability to resist frustration and self-regulation are off the charts, and his mental endurance is rare in ancient and modern times!

In the face of such a person, Liu Yan also felt very tricky, and he has been planning how to fight this battle in the past few days.

Then Miao Shao first asked the guards outside the camp tent to go to Yuanmen and send away the magistrate of Kaizhou, and then the three of them sat down separately, and Liu Yan asked again: "Is there any news in the direction of Jingshi?" ”

Wu Guojin said: "It's still the same as the previous two days, it's the news that the household department and the military department are crying poor, and now there are rumors in the wine shop in Beijing, saying that when the military department and the household department were in court, they all compared with each other, and it depends on who wears shabby clothes, just to let the emperor use the treasury silver to support the war in Liaodong." ”

"But even the people in the capital know that the emperor is also poor, and he can't take out the silver at all!"

"There are also rumors that the emperor has called on courtiers and relatives of the emperor to donate to the country several times, but there are few responders from the top and bottom of the capital, and the emperor has not even raised a thousand taels of silver."

Liu Yan sighed, is it because the ministers of the DPRK and the imperial relatives have no money? No!

When Li Zicheng entered Beijing, how much silver did he loot from those people? More than 70 million taels, in the end, these silver are cheaper than the Manchu Tartars who entered the customs, which shows how hateful those corrupt officials and imperial relatives are, and they should all be killed!

"That's why when the platform summoned him that day, the emperor was so strange, it seems that the emperor and Chen Xinjia can't bear it, and they are ready to urge Hong Chengchou to fight a decisive battle with the slave thief!"

Wu Guojin and Miao Shao both had solemn faces, and both of them were worried about the soldiers of the former battalion stationed in Hongluo Mountain.

Isn't this the case with Liu Yan?

At this time, Liu Yan sighed in his heart: "It seems that the inertia of the wheel of history is really strong, I have made so many efforts, but I still can't change the result of the Battle of Songjin!" ”

"My lord, then what should we do to not let the brothers in the front camp go into danger!"

Miao Shao said anxiously, but Liu Yan shook his head and said, "We are thousands of miles away from the brothers in the front camp, and now we can only rely on themselves. What we can do is to defeat Li Zicheng's troops as soon as possible, and if the battle of Jinzhou is not over by then, we will be able to return to the battlefield in Liaodong. ”

Miao Shao said: "I only hate that Chen Xinjia, transporting grain so slowly!" If he could have brought the grain earlier, we might have reached Kaifeng City. ”

Although Liu Yan was anxious, he couldn't mess with himself at this time, the time that should be spent was still spent, and rushing to the battle would only pay a heavier price.

"Don't worry, the front camp is stationed in Hongluo Mountain, with sufficient troops, dangerous terrain, and a large amount of grain and grass hoarding, which the army of slaves and thieves can't easily take. Now we have to do what is in front of us and not mess with ourselves. ”

Immediately, Liu Yan asked Miao Shao and Wu Guojin to go their separate ways, and he also had to think about the countermeasures for the Battle of Kaifeng.

That night, there was no word all night.

Early the next morning, Liu Yan was about to send someone to urge the grain transportation team of the military department again, but he saw Wu Guojin striding angrily, followed by Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Shen Tuo, Zhang Yi, Wang Bo, Wang Yue and other subordinates, and everyone's faces were ugly.

Liu Yan's brows tightened, but his heart sank suddenly, and asked, "Say, what's the matter?" ”

"My lord, Lanyang County, east of Kaifeng Prefecture, caught a few thieves and scouts, and after strict interrogation, he reported the battle report to the military department. Wang Yang happened to find out the news on the way: it was Li Zicheng who broke through the Kaifeng Mansion and whipped the bodies of Lu Duchen and Fu Zonglong under the city, so as to hit the morale of the defenders in the city! ”

Hearing this, Liu Yan's blood surged, and he kicked the table in front of him violently, and the pure wooden table flew up directly, and was kicked to pieces with a bang.

"The thief is inhumane, he should be killed!"

Xun Jingyun, the pacification officer, said loudly: "My lord, don't wait for the money and food of the military department any longer, the army should be drawn immediately, arrive at Kaifeng City as soon as possible, and fight a bloody battle with the army of thieves!" ”

The crowd echoed the crowd's enthusiastic demand to march immediately.

Although Lu Xiangsheng is not everyone's direct superior, after all, he fights side by side with everyone in Julu. Moreover, after Lu Xiang was promoted to the governor of Shandong, he also took good care of the new army, so the new army regarded Lu Xiang as an "old official".

Liu Yan looked at Wu Guojin and asked, "Where is the grain transportation team of the military department?" ”

"I just received a report from Wang Yang this morning, and the grain transportation team of the military department has passed through Boye County."

Liu Yan thought for a moment and said, "The army can't wait any longer!" The order went down: An hour later, the army marched out, entered Henan through Changyuan County, and went straight to Kaifeng Fucheng! ”

Some people died, but not completely......