At the end of September, the autumn breeze in Kaifeng City was blowing, and the trees that could be seen in the city were already yellow.

Liu Yan stood on the wall of the urn city at the west gate, looking at the autumn gloom, the yellow and green mottled in the wilderness, as if everything had withered overnight, just like the current Central Plains land, giving people an extremely depressed feeling.

"The head town."

Miao Shao strode in iron armor, and now that the army is out on the march, generals at all levels of the new army have begun to call Liu Yan the head town, and Liu Yan is also accustomed to this.

"All the ministries have been sent out at night, what are the thieves doing, there should be news soon."

Liu Yan nodded, indicating that he had heard, but his eyes were still staring at the scenery outside.

"What's more, half an hour ago, a team of the left battalion did not send and receive alarms at night, and more than 10,000 thieves and horses appeared in the west of the city, and the leader of the thieves would be Li Laiheng, and Xu Guerrilla had already led the cavalry battalion to intercept it."

Liu Yan pointed to the autumn scenery in the distance outside the city and said, "That group of thieves should have withdrawn, you can see that the yellow smoke and dust in the air in the distance have begun to dissipate, indicating that the thieves are withdrawing." ”

Miao Shao said with a smile: "What the town said is true. ”

"It's just that Li Laiheng didn't know what was crazy, he suddenly appeared with his troops, and quickly led his troops to withdraw?"

Liu Yan shook his head: "When Xu Ming comes back, maybe there will be news." ”

It didn't take long for Xiao Dongzi and more than 200 people from the two departments to rush back, and everyone rode into the west city gate, and then rushed directly to the city's commander's yamen.

At this time, Liu Yan had also returned to the capital to command the yamen, and when he learned the news, he immediately ordered someone to bring Xiao Dongzi.

"The town!"

Xiao Dongzi's face was sad at this time

, crying and reporting the experience of everyone's encounter with thieves and fierce battles.

Liu Yan frowned after hearing this, he knew Xu Mingde, when he was on the Julu battlefield, Xu Mingde rode his horse into the army of slaves and thieves, saved many people, and left a deep impression on Liu Yan.

But Liu Yan never imagined that such a strong person would die at the hands of thieves!

At this time, Xiao Dongzi knelt on the ground and wept, waiting for Liu Yan's punishment.

"Don't cry!"

Liu Yan looked at Xiao Dongzi and asked, "They all call you Xiao Dongzi, what is your real name?" ”

Xiao Dongzi wiped away his tears, clasped his fists and said: "Qiyu General Town, the subordinate is named Laidong." ”

"Laidong?"

The surname is rare, and it is no wonder that colleagues in the army are used to calling him Xiaodongzi, which is indeed more convenient than Laidong.

Liu Yan asked Laidong to stand up and said: "Xu Sentinel died in battle, you are all at fault, this town will punish each of you with twenty military sticks, and make a note on the military merit book, each of you must behead three enemy heads in the next battle to eliminate." If one of you fails to do so, he will all sit together, be punished with fifty rods, and expel the new army from Qinglai Town! ”

When he came to the east, he immediately received the order, and he was about to retreat, and took everyone in the sentry to find Xun Jingyun, the magistrate, to receive twenty military sticks, but was stopped by Liu Yan: "Now that the war is imminent, these twenty military sticks will be written down for the time being, and they will go to the magistrate to report first, and then liquidate them together when the war in Kaifeng is over." In addition, you will temporarily take charge of this post and become the commander of the sentry, this town hopes that you can make meritorious service and don't let this town down! ”

Laidong was moved in his heart, and said loudly with his fists: "Don't worry, the general town is decided."

When the liver and brain are smeared on the ground, it will live up to the great grace of the town! ”

On the same day, Liu Yan took the commanders of all battalions to the military camp in the city to cremate the bodies of Xu Mingde and the remaining nine who did not collect at night.

The remains of thousands of fallen soldiers in the army have been cremated in the past few days, and the ashes and relics of all the soldiers have been labeled with nameplates, and they will be brought back to Qinglai Town for burial on the day of the victory of the army.

At the same time, Liu Yan planned to build a martyr's shrine in Qinglai Town, and enshrine the tablets of all the fallen soldiers, so that these heroes could enjoy the incense offerings, and let future generations remember the feats of these heroes.

Around the burning wooden pile, all battalions commanded envoys, as well as a large number of new army officers and soldiers solemnly saw off Xu Mingde and others.

Subsequently, Liu Yan and the commanders of each battalion, as well as Xun Jingyun, Henan Governor Gao Mingheng, and Deputy General Chen Yongfu gathered to command the envoy Yamen.

"Our army does not receive information at night, Li Thief is sending troops to transfer captured artillery from all over the place, it is estimated that at most half a month, at most hundreds of large and small artillery pieces can be gathered, and then the army of thieves will definitely attack again, the situation in Kaifeng is already very critical!"

Gao Mingheng and Chen Yongfu's faces were ugly, the strong firepower of the new army gave the two of them confidence, but now the thieves are gathering artillery on a large scale, and the firepower is very likely to surpass Liu Yan's new army, coupled with the sufficient strength of the thieves, can Kaifeng City still be held?

Xu Ming, Miao Shao, Zhang Yi, Shen Tuo, Wang Bo, Qian Zhang, Xun Jingyun, Wang Yue and others also had gloomy faces, the war had already caused thousands of casualties among the battalions of the New Army, and now Li Zicheng had mobilized a large number of artillery to attack, and everyone was worried that the battalions of the New Army would suffer heavy casualties again.

Liu Yan looked at everyone's faces, although he was also worried, but he couldn't show it, after all, he was the courage of everyone, if even he was flustered and anxious and at a loss, then there would be no need to fight this battle.

"According to the experience of our army in fighting in Julu, Jinan, Liaodong and other places, even if the enemy has a large number of artillery, as long as a large number of sandbags and earth-wheels are prepared to protect the military formation, the lethality of the thief's artillery can be greatly reduced."

Liu Yan immediately looked at Gao Mingheng: "So Gao Futai is going to work hard, from today onwards, we must immediately mobilize the young people in the city, collect all the sacks, bamboo baskets, cloth bags and other things, and put them all into soil to make dirt bags." ”

"These dirt bags should be built into a defensive line at the head of the city, and the town will send lieutenant generals and soldiers to guide the specific method."

"In addition, Gao Futai will also mobilize at least 500 carts, tie and fix earthen bags on them, and convert them into earthen carts so that they can be used by accompanying the officers and men of the various battalions of the New Army out of the city for combat."

Gao Mingheng said: "Don't worry, Mr. Liu, Benfu will do it today, five days, no!" As long as it takes three days, even if you rush to work day and night, without eating or sleeping, Benfu will prepare the earthen bag defense line and earthen carts. ”

"Okay, there's Lao Gao Futai."

At this time, Chen Yongfu said: "At present, the thieves are powerful, although Liu Zongbing beheaded more than 100,000, but the number of thieves is at least hundreds of thousands, if Li Zicheng gathers so many artillery, I am afraid that even if these dirt bags can really prevent artillery, it will be a drop in the bucket." ”

"In the opinion of the last general, it is better to send troops to attack and intercept the men and horses who transport artillery everywhere by the thieves. If you don't want to kill all the thieves' convoys, at least you can let the thieves get fewer artillery. ”

Liu Yan

But he disagreed: "The truth is fine, but it is difficult to do it." Where did the thieves pass by to transport artillery? How many people are escorted per convoy? These are all unknowns, and it is difficult for our army to accurately grasp this information under the strong cover of the army of thieves. ”

"Also, how many troops and horses is General Chen going to send to intercept it? Li Zicheng had hundreds of thousands of people in his hands, and he could divide his troops and transfer artillery from all directions. However, there are only tens of thousands of elites in the hands of this town, and the number of cavalry is even more scarce, so it is impossible to divide the troops to attack everywhere, so it is too easy to be broken by the thieves! ”

Chen Yongfu said worriedly: "Could it be that you just watched the thieves transfer artillery?" ”

Liu Yan knew that Chen Yongfu was questioning the anti-artillery ability of sandbags wrapped in soil, after all, Chen Yongfu had never seen it, and it was understandable that he didn't believe that a mere sand and soil could block a powerful cannonball.

"Hehe, General Chen, rest assured, the method of wrapping sandbags deployed in this town will definitely be able to reap miraculous achievements. In addition, our army's artillery battalion is not vegetarian, although the number of artillery is small, but the accuracy and firepower are by no means worse than that of thieves! ”

"Besides, isn't there still more than 200 artillery pieces on the walls of Kaifeng City? At that time, these artillery pieces will be under the command of General Chen, and they will assist our artillery battalion in the battle, and they will certainly be able to perform meritorious deeds again. ”

Chen Yongfu nodded suspiciously, but he was still worried in his heart.

"Mr. Liu, hehe."

Gao Mingheng said: "Actually, Benfu also has a plan, which can make all the hundreds of thousands of thieves under the Li thief department die under Kaifeng City!" ”

Liu Yan glanced at Gao Mingheng, and naturally knew what this thing was thinking, so he said coldly: "

Gao Futai wants to dig up the embankment of the Yellow River and flood Kaifeng, right? ”

The generals of the new army were all shocked and discolored, Gao Mingheng and Chen Yongfu were also surprised, they didn't expect Liu Yan to think of this method.

Gao Mingheng laughed, and said slightly smugly: "It seems that it is really the same as what the hero sees, I didn't expect that Mr. Liu also thought of this clever plan!" ”

Historically, Gao Mingheng commanded the Kaifeng defenders to resist Li Zicheng's army, and then due to the lack of food and grass, most of the population in the city starved to death. He sent people to break the embankment of the Yellow River and flood Li Zicheng's army of thieves.

At the same time, Li Zicheng also decided to dig up the embankment of the Yellow River and irrigate the city with water.

The final result was that the Yellow River flooded Kaifeng City, which not only caused heavy casualties to Li Zicheng's army, but also caused casualties to the people in Kaifeng City. Although Li Zicheng withdrew his troops in the end, he let the corpses of Kaifeng City be all over the field, and countless dead bodies in the flood could be seen in the downstream cities.

Liu Yan looked at Gao Mingheng's smug look, this person is also the number one person in history, he can withstand the siege of Li Zicheng's army to hold Kaifeng City, although he also has the credit of Chen Yongfu and other generals, as well as a lot of luck in it, but it is enough to show that Gao Mingheng still has some means.

In addition, Gao Mingheng later went home to Shi and encountered the Qing soldiers entering the customs, and this person was able to gather the children of the clan to resist the Qing soldiers, which was not stained in the general righteousness.

It's just that......

Liu Yan waved his hand and said: "Gao Futai, the proposal to flood and open the city is stopped, and no one in this town will be allowed to fight this idea!" ”

"Why?"

Gao Mingheng looked at Liu Yan in surprise, there is such a good way, why not use it?

Liu Ya asked, "Since Gao Futai has thought of water

Flood and open the city, then I ask: How many ships has Gaofutai prepared for backup? How much food was prepared for the evacuation of the people? How much sand, stone, and timber were prepared to strengthen the walls and gates? ”

Gao Mingheng was speechless, because he hadn't made any preparations.

"Once the embankment of the Yellow River is dug up, the surging flood will not distinguish between the enemy and the enemy, and when the time comes, it will not only be Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of thieves and thieves, but also hundreds of thousands of people in Kaifeng City, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers of our new army!"

Liu Yan stared at Gao Mingheng and said coldly: "The strategy of attacking the water is a desperate plan that will end up together, and Gao Futai had better stop here." If anyone dares to take a risk and put to death the soldiers of our new army and the people in the city, then this town will not mind crushing their bones and scattering ashes! ”

Gao Mingheng was shocked when he heard this, and immediately gave up the strategy of attacking the water.

On the same day, the people in the city were mobilized by a group of officials led by Gao Mingheng, after a large amount of money and grain were scattered, for three days, countless sandbags and soil bags were driven out and transported to the city wall of Kaifeng City in a steady stream, and then with the assistance of the soldiers of the new army, an anti-artillery fortification soon appeared on the wall of Kaifeng City, and all the defenders and soldiers of the city, the equipment of the city guard, and all kinds of artillery on the city head were all protected.

At the same time, Gao Mingheng requisitioned more than 530 taels of various carts from all over the city, and also mobilized a large number of carpenters to reinforce and modify these carts day and night, all of which were converted into earthen carts, and reinforced key parts such as axles.

In the blink of an eye, on the fifth day, Liu Yan inspected the fortifications on the wall of Kaifeng City, although it was not as good as the defense line of Hongluo Mountain in Liaodong

But it's almost enough to block the opponent of the Rogue's half-hung artillery ability.

At this time, Liu Yan expected that even if Li Zicheng could obtain a large number of artillery, he would not be able to find a sufficient number of elite gunners, so don't look at the number of thieves' artillery, but the firepower in actual combat is actually to be discounted.

"Well, it's good, the defense in the city is basically qualified."

Liu Yan smiled and said to Gao Mingheng beside him: "In addition, I also ask Gao Futai to work harder and move the people near the left side of the city wall to prevent accidental injuries from thieves." ”

"Well said, Ben Fu ......"

Before Gao Mingheng finished speaking, he heard the roar of a fire gun from outside the city, followed by a second and a third sound.

Liu Yan and the others hurriedly looked out of the city, it was the west, and a new army galloped back from the west at night, and at the same time kept firing at the air with bird guns to warn the city.

And about a mile behind the group of nomads, there appeared a large number of rogues scouts, numbering in the hundreds.

Later, Liu Yan and the others saw countless banners of the army appearing in their field of vision, and countless armies pressed over.