In Kaifeng City, Henan Governor Yamen.

After the bloody battle during the day, the various units of the new army successively entered the city to rest, and the battlefield outside the city was in a mess, and the governor of Henan, Gao Mingheng, and Huang Shu, the magistrate, mobilized a large number of people to go out of the city to clean up the battlefield, bury the corpses of the thieves left on the battlefield on the spot, and transport all the heads and various captured materials into the city.

The bodies of the fallen soldiers of the battalions of the Forces nouvelles, as well as the wounded of the battalions, were collected by the baggage soldiers and medical officers of the battalions, and all of them were transported to the city for resettlement.

At this time, in the main hall of the governor's yamen, everyone elected Liu Yan to sit at the top, and the governor Gao Mingheng, the deputy general Chen Yongfu, and the commanders and envoys of all battalions of the new army gathered together and held a military meeting.

Xun Jingyun, the magistrate of the town, had already counted the casualties of each battalion and was reporting to Liu Yanyu at this time.

In this battle, the New Army's personal guard battalion, middle battalion, cavalry battalion, artillery battalion, and left battalion fought successively, and the right battalion and rear battalion were stationed in the city.

After a whole day of bloody fighting, 417 men were killed and 953 wounded;

The middle battalion suffered 903 killed and 1,215 wounded;

The cavalry battalion suffered 2,728 killed and 659 wounded;

The artillery battalion suffered one hundred and eight killed and sixty-two wounded;

The left battalion suffered 398 killed and 118 wounded.

In a day's bloody battle, more than 4,500 soldiers were lost in the battalions of the New Army, and more than 3,000 were wounded, and they were unable to go into battle in a short time.

After Xun Jingyun finished reporting, Liu Yan's face darkened, such casualties, even against the slave thief iron cavalry in the Liaodong battlefield, there were no such heavy casualties.

At this time, everyone looked at Liu Yan, only to see Liu Yan say: "Our army suffered huge casualties in this battle, it can be seen that the army of thieves is by no means a rabble, they have a large number of troops, and there are elite soldiers and horses in each battalion, and our army cannot be underestimated!" ”

If it weren't for the new army's well-equipped and strong combat power, if it weren't for the new army's absolute superiority in firepower, and if the officers and soldiers of this battle were replaced by the rest of the soldiers and horses, then today's battle would definitely be won by the thieves' army!

At this time, Wang Yue asked: "Deputy Xun, how many will I behead?" ”

"More than 138,500 levels!"

When everyone heard this, they were immediately excited, and Wang Yue jumped up and said loudly: "More than 138,500 levels!" ”

Xun Jingyun added: "In addition, the thieves beheaded Li You, the right mighty general, and Xin Sizhong, the left mighty general, and captured more than 39,000 thieves. ”

At this time, the haze on Liu Yan's face dissipated a little, and Wu Guojin next to him said: "General Town, my subordinates have to add one point: in the evening, my subordinates interrogated several prisoners together with Wang Yang, the chief of detective Cao, one of whom was the captain of the thief camp, according to what the prisoner said, Zhang Nai, the mighty general of the thief camp, was also beheaded by our army, but his body was snatched away by his subordinates. ”

"In addition, there is also a prisoner, which was captured by the soldiers of the cavalry battalion when all the thieves army broke and fled, and he is a brigade commander in the thief army."

"According to what the commander said, Li Zicheng was not dead, but injured, so he ......"

Wu Guojin's meaning is obvious, the biggest credit of this battle may be just empty joy, and everyone regrets it.

Liu Yan said: "You don't have to be too sorry, this town didn't think about solving Li Zicheng in a battle, after all, this person's ability to escape is still very strong." ”

The crowd burst into laughter.

"However, the killing of the thief and the mighty general Zhang Nai, and the injury of Li Zicheng in this battle, still have to be written in the good news, as for whether the military department recognizes it or not, then the town doesn't care."

Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, was already smiling at the moment, and said that the new army in Qinglai Town was strong, and today he really saw what a strong army is!

"Hehe, Mr. Liu is mighty! The soldiers of the new army are brave! With General Liu and the soldiers of the new army in the country, the scourge of the rogue will eventually be eradicated, which is gratifying! ”

Liu Yan just smiled faintly, a few victories can eradicate the scourge of thieves? Think beautifully! Without money and food relief and good governance of the people's livelihood, even if Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin and other thieves are all killed today, and all the horsemen and armor soldiers are beheaded, the scourge of the rogue will still not be stopped.

As long as the imperial court is still tyrannical and extorting from the inside, and officials from all over the country are still corrupt and perverting the law, sooner or later there will be Liu Zicheng, Wang Zicheng, and Zhao Zicheng, and the army of rogues will be like leeks, and they will continue to emerge after cutting a stubble, and there will never be an end! 33

However, Liu Yan didn't need to say these words to Gao Mingheng, he was just a governor, and he couldn't influence the general policies of the imperial court at all.

So Liu Yan said: "In today's bloody battle, the officers and soldiers of our new army also suffered huge casualties, and the soldiers urgently need to rest, so I also asked Lord Gao to allocate money, food and materials overnight." ”

"At present, the money, food and materials in the city are all in the treasury, guarded by the officers and soldiers of our new army, and the deputy department of Xun will provide the number of materials needed by our army to the tall people, and the hard work of the high adults will go to transfer and distribute."

Gao Mingheng said: "This is a matter within the scope of Benfu, Liu Zongbing can rest assured, he will not make a mistake." ”

Chen Yongfu was excited at this time, and said: "Lord Zongzhen, after today's battle, the morale of the thieves must be low, our army might as well send an elite army and attack the thieves' camp overnight, maybe we can completely defeat Li Chuang's army!" ”

Gao Mingheng also cast an expectant gaze, obviously wanting Liu Yan to send troops again, as long as he can defeat Li Zicheng's troops as soon as possible, he, the governor of Henan, can get a lot of credit. Chen Yongfu on the side was the same, looking eager to try.

However, Liu Yan immediately rejected Chen Yongfu's suggestion.

Joke!

The officers and men of the battalions of the new army have been fighting bloodily for a whole day, and the officers and men of the battalions have not only paid huge casualties, but also are very tired.

Liu Yan is not a good man at the mercy of others, nor is he a foolish and loyal person, he uses the heads of his soldiers to exchange the merits of others, and Liu Yan will not do things that are at a loss!

"Hehe, Li Zicheng is not an idle person, he suffered a loss in today's battle, he will definitely be strictly guarded, there is no need to mention the robbery of the camp, it will never succeed!"

Seeing this, Chen Yongfu thought that Liu Yan was worried that the thieves were prepared, so he was ready to continue to advise, but was stopped by Gao Mingheng.

Liu Yan's meaning was already very clear, Gao Mingheng was a good person, so he could naturally see it, and said: "Hehe, since this is the case, forget about the robbery of the camp, let the soldiers of the new army have a good rest." ”

Chen Yongfu reacted at this time, and echoed again and again.

The rest of Wang Yue, Zhang Yi, Wang Bo, Shen Tuo and others were displeased, and the eyes that looked at the two were not very friendly.

Gao Mingheng also felt it, so he opened the topic and said to Liu Yan with a smile: "Liu Zongbing, look, how to write this good news, whether it is written by Ben Fu, will definitely write all the merits and bravery of the soldiers of the new army, and when the time comes, the saint Longyan Dayue, Liu Zongbing and the soldiers of the new army will ......."

Liu Yan directly interrupted Gao Mingheng's words and said: "Don't bother with the matter of good news, the town will write it personally!" ”

"In addition, the tall man worked hard for the grain and grass, and General Chen's contribution to guarding the city will be written down in this town one by one, please rest assured!"

Gao Mingheng touched his nose, smiled wryly, and stopped talking.

Chen Yongfu also glanced at Gao Mingheng with some dissatisfaction, and then said, "Lord Zongzhen, do you want to inform King Zhou too?" ”

"Well, early tomorrow morning, the town will send someone to inform King Zhou, and inform the whole city of the news of today's victory, so as to strengthen the determination of the people in the city to resist the enemy!"

Early the next morning, the news that the new army in Qinglai Town beheaded more than 138,000 thieves and captured more than 39,000 people spread throughout Kaifeng City, and the people of the city were immediately overjoyed.

And after receiving the report sent by Liu Yan, Zhu Gongfang, the king of Zhou, was also overjoyed, and said to the left and right: "Hehe, then Liu Yan is also a cadre, he received the king's money and grain, and really hit the army of thieves, it seems that the king is also going to play a letter, a table of the king's deeds of donating money and food, and carry that Liu Yan!" ”

It was also on this morning that Liu Yan sent a team out of the city from the north gate of Kaifeng to send the good news of yesterday's battle to the Beijing Division.

Liu Yan not only mentioned the merits and casualties of the officers and men of the New Army in the good news, but also specifically mentioned the lack of money and food supplies in Kaifeng City, and asked the military department to continuously transport money and food to Kaifeng.

Although the money and grain in the city can still be supported, Liu Yan adheres to the principle of the more the merrier, and he will never let go of the benefits that he can ask for from the imperial court. Anyway, if you don't want that money and food, you can't reach the battlefield in Liaodong, let alone the hands of the people!

Liu Yan then inspected the wounded barracks set up on the colonel in the city, and among the more than 3,000 wounded in the various battalions of the New Army, about 20 percent were seriously wounded, and even if they could be saved, they were still disabled.

Liu Yan immediately said to Xun Jingyun: "All the fallen soldiers and seriously injured soldiers must be recorded one by one, and after I go back, the rewards and pensions of the imperial court will be issued as they are, and my general military office will give another one!" ”

Xun Jingyun said movingly: "Don't worry, the subordinates can save it!" ”

"Your Excellency!"

At this time, Wu Guojin rode his horse and hurriedly came to Liu Yan's side, and said in a low voice: "My lord, my subordinates have interrogated the whereabouts of Lu Duchen's remains from a prisoner of a thief's firearms battalion!" ”

"What!"

Liu Yan's eyes widened, anger, shock, and surprise were intertwined, filling his eyes, and he asked sharply, "Where is the governor!" ”

Wu Guojin immediately made a detailed report: The prisoner was a lieutenant under Li Dingguo, and he knew a lot about Li Dingguo's private collection of Lu Xiangsheng's remains and secretly buried them in the east of Kaifeng City, and even Li Zicheng later reprimanded Li Dingguo and Li Yan tried to support Li Dingguo.

Wu Guojin was ordered by Liu Yan to screen and interrogate all the thief officers among the 39,000 captives, and only then did he learn this important information.

The captain of the thief firearms battalion is also a smart person, and he heard Li Dingguo mention the relationship between Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng, so he took the initiative to reveal it to Wu Guojin, just so that he could avoid death.

Liu Yan sighed, maybe this is because God can't bear the remains of heroes to suffer, so there will be this arrangement!

"You immediately take the thief captain with you, bring sacrifices and incense and candles, and if what he said is true, then pay tribute to the town at the tomb, and wait until the battle is over, and the town will go to worship in person."

"Yes!"

Wu Guojin asked, "How to deal with the thief commander?" ”

"Bring it back and imprison it first, and when this battle is over, cut off his thumbs on both hands, and then let him go."

Liu Yan has always hated the thieves and soldiers, believing that among the thieves can mix with an official and a half-job, all of them are stained with the blood of the people, and the more than 39,000 captives will never want one, and after the war, they will all cut off the hands and thumbs of the captives, and then hand them over to Gao Mingheng for disposal.

In history, the Ming court accepted many thieves captives, and then whenever Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong's power was revived, those captives either coerced the people to take refuge, or they opened the city and surrendered one after another, and sacrificed the city for the army of thieves.

As for Li Laiheng, Li Dingguo, Gao Yigong, Tian Jianxiu and others, after all, in history, they were all famous generals who would rather die than give in and fight against the Manchu Tartars, although they were also stained with the blood of many people, but they were unambiguous in the general righteousness of the nation.

So for these people, as long as they can get lost, Liu Yan is still willing to open the net.

Wu Guojin then hurried to find Lu Xiangsheng's remains, and Liu Yan returned to the Yamen, which had been requisitioned by Liu Yan as a temporary Chinese army, and Miao Shao led the soldiers of the personal guard battalion to enter here.

As soon as Liu Yan came to the main hall, he saw Miao Shao walking briskly and said: "My lord, just now there are news from various battalions that do not receive and deliver at night, early this morning, Li Zicheng sent a lot of soldiers and horses, escorting a lot of empty carts, as if to go elsewhere to load some supplies!" ”

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