Yuan Chonghuan and Cao Wenzhao saw Chongzhen go and return, and knew that most of them were Li Xianzhong who had occupied Guide.

If Fengyang was lost, Chongzhen and they shouldn't have come back so soon.

Seeing the depressed Yang Sichang and others, he couldn't help but feel a little proud in his heart.

If you want to leave Lao Tzu and go to Jiangnan to enjoy happiness, how can it be so easy, even God can't stand it, right?

At this time, Chongzhen also regretted a little in his heart, he knew that he should not have entered Kaifeng City, and went all the way south to Fengyang.

It's okay now, there is Li Xianzhong in the east and Li Zicheng in the west.

I am now caught between the two forces, and the situation is even more critical than when I was in Taiyuan.

The only thing that is gratifying is that there are still these civil and military generals who have never left him.

Kaifeng's troops are still quite a lot, in addition to the 15,000 people of the original general Chen Yongfu and others, as well as Cao Wenzhao's 20,000 horses and 30,000 troops who followed him south.

There are a total of 65,000 people, the army is much stronger than in Taiyuan, and the food in Kaifeng City is enough for the army to eat for more than half a year.

He is still very confident in holding on to Kaifeng City.

Originally, the combination of Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, Chen Yongfu, the chief soldier of Kaifeng, and the king of Zhou, guarded Kaifeng perfectly.

Gao Mingheng coordinates the overall situation, Chen Yongfu sticks to the city and fights with thieves, and King Zhou pays money and food to boost morale!

Later, the arrival of Cao Wenzhao gave the Kaifeng Ming army the ability to counterattack the thieves, which further enhanced the morale of the Kaifeng army and civilians.

But after Chongzhen personally sat in Kaifeng, everyone was afraid and couldn't let go.

Especially Zhu Gongfang, the king of Zhou, he no longer dared to give money and food to boost morale like before, so he had to stay in his Zhou palace honestly.

Gao Mingheng has become a food urging officer in charge of logistics.

In front of the first assistant Wen Tiren, the secretary of the military department Yang Sichang, and the governor of the seven provinces Yuan Chonghuan, where is his share in the governor of Henan?

Although the number of Ming troops in Kaifeng has increased, it does not have the momentum that everyone hated and defended Kaifeng before!

The Dashun army outside the city has surrounded Kaifeng City.

Li Zicheng is also desperate this time.

The successive defeats demoralized the Dashun army.

And Li Xianzhong has already begun to move westward, if Li Xianzhong is allowed to take Kaifeng, the gateway to Henan will be opened.

The Henan region was originally a plain, and there was no danger to defend.

Once Kaifeng is not in his hands, he can only retreat to Luoyang and give up a large area of land in Henan, so that Dashun's living space will be greatly compressed.

According to Song Xiance and Li Yan's analysis, Li Xianzhong should have wanted to borrow his own hand to get rid of Chongzhen, so he still had a chance to take Kaifeng.

Li Xianzhong's next goal must be to attack Nanzhili and take the wealthy areas of Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Suzhou, and it is unlikely that he will immediately turn against Dashun.

Li Zicheng's plan was to take advantage of Li Xianzhong's capture of Jiangnan, and he would take advantage of the situation to send troops to take Huguang, and then unite with Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan to deal with Li Xianzhong.

However, Li Zicheng was not in a hurry to attack the city, he was still waiting for the Hongyi cannon.

According to the news from Fan Yongdou, he could help get hundreds of 18-pounder Hongyi cannons.

Li Zicheng didn't say a word, and directly asked Li Guo to go to Shanxi with 500,000 taels of silver to trade with Fan Yongdou.

After killing several vassal kings in a row, he still had a lot of silver taels in his hand.

Since Li Xianzhong asked Fan Yongdou to deliver Hongyi cannons to him, it proved even more that he would not turn against Dashun in the short term.

However, these cannons are very cumbersome, and it is estimated that it will take a long time to reach Kaifeng.

During this time, it was impossible for Li Zicheng to besiege and not attack like this.

So Song Xiance began to offer advice again.

He said: "The Qin army that dominated the world at that time was also unable to attack the city of Daliang (that is, Kaifeng) for a long time, and finally the Qin general Wang Ben dug open the mouth of Xingkou, leading the water of the Yellow River into the chasm, and flooding the Liang forced the king of Wei to surrender fakely!" ”

"Your Majesty, why don't you follow the example of the Qin army?"

Another water attack?

This "Song Shorty" is so vicious, and all he sacrifices is a poisonous plan.

As a native of Henan, Li Yan naturally did not want to see the tragedy of flooding Kaifeng.

He said: "There is a way that fire and water are ruthless, the Yellow River is no more uncontrollable than the Fen River, and if we don't want to flood our army, we need to be cautious about this matter!" ”

Last time, Song Xiance proposed to flood Taiyuan, which led to a big defeat, which made many people angry about it.

Liu Fangliang said: "This plan is not appropriate, the last time I was in Taiyuan, I let the Ming army take advantage of the loophole; The last general also agreed with Mr. Li's opinion, the water of the Yellow River is uncontrollable, we can't take this risk! ”

Objectively speaking, in fact, there was nothing wrong with Song offering a plan to "flood Taiyuan" last time.

It's just that no one expected that Yuan Chonghuan's more than 20,000 horses would be suddenly killed.

The reason for the defeat was that the Dashun army was negligent in guarding and did not have heavy troops to protect the embankment, which led to the flooding of the military camp and gave the Ming army a loophole.

However, at this time, all the generals were apprehensive about this water attack strategy, and Li Zicheng naturally did not dare to use it again.

He said: "'Flooding Kaifeng' is too dangerous, does the gentleman have any other safe plan?" ”

Song Xiance also understands Li Zicheng's hardships, after all, everyone is against it, and he can't just go his own way.

So he offered the strategy of earth attack again!

Otherwise, others would think that he would only flood this trick.

Although Dashun has now established a country, not all of the 150,000 troops stationed outside the city have tents.

Only Li Zicheng's descendants can live in tents and have a quilt.

The rest of the Dashun army could only dig a hole, lay some straw mats underneath and cover them with rags to sleep.

Because of this, the Dashun army's digging skills are not bad.

At the suggestion of Song Xiance, the Dashun army began to overwhelm the trenches around Kaifeng City.

For a time, the dust outside Kaifeng City was flying and it became a huge construction site.

The unusual behavior of the Dashun army soon attracted the attention of Yuan Chonghuan and Yang Sichang.

Although the enemy's trenches restricted the exit of the large army in the city, it also affected their own siege.

Could it be that these thieves want to besiege Kaifeng for a long time?

Cao Wenzhao suggested leading an army to attack the thieves who were digging pits.

But Yang Sichang objected, saying that this was likely a trick by the thieves to lure the enemy.

In the end, it can only be decided by Emperor Chongzhen.

This is clearly a layman commanding an insider.

Chongzhen naturally didn't dare to take risks, but in the end he accepted Yang Sichang's suggestion, and the army stuck to Kaifeng.

In fact, these are just Song Xiance's tricks.

His real purpose was to dig tunnels and use gunpowder to blow down the walls of Kaifeng.

Although there was no tactic to prevent gunpowder from blowing down the city walls in ancient China, there were many ways to prevent the enemy from digging tunnels to attack the city.

For example, bury a water tank in the ground, wrap it in cowhide, and send a special person to listen to it.

As soon as you hear the enemy digging a tunnel, you will set fire to the hole and smoke the enemy, either fill it with water, or send an ambush to besiege it.

To be honest, there are very few people who break through tunnels in real siege battles, and even if there are, it is a very long time ago.

Especially in a heavily defended city like Kaifeng, even if you kill thousands of people through the tunnels, it is impossible to take the city.

Therefore, Yang Sichang and the others didn't care at all, and the intrusive army outside the city dug trenches day and night, which also interfered with the soldiers who were listening to the tunnel.

Previously, when Liu Zongmin besieged Kaifeng, he had already filled in the moat of Kaifeng, so their tunnel excavation was very smooth at this time.

However, a lot of gunpowder is needed to blow down the walls.

The Dashun army couldn't find a large container with good airtightness for a while, so Song Xiance simply sent someone to find a few coffins and put a large amount of gunpowder in them.

In order to be able to rush into Kaifeng City as soon as possible, there were tens of thousands of Dashun troops ambushed in the trenches outside the city, and more people were ambushed outside Kaifeng City under the cover of night.

They waited for the walls to be blown open so that they could attack the city as soon as possible.

It was already late at night, and with Song Xiance's order, the Dashun army in the tunnel lit a long fuse.

At this time, everyone held their breath, waiting for the loud noise to come.

Soon after, the ground shook, and there was a sound of collapse and the screams of soldiers!

Just as Li Zicheng was about to command the army to attack Kaifeng, the scene in front of him made him dumbfounded.

The city wall of Kaifeng actually stood still, but the trench they had dug outside Kaifeng before collapsed.

Many Dashun troops who were ambushed in the tunnel directly submerged into the tunnel.

A bunch of grizzled Dashun soldiers struggled to crawl out of the soil, like a group of Yin soldiers from the underworld.

Fortunately, it was night, and the Ming army in the city couldn't see the situation outside the city clearly, otherwise they would definitely be laughed to death!

Although the explosion just now did not blow up the city wall, it woke up Chongzhen in his sleep.

At first, I thought it was an earthquake, but in the end it was found that the thieves were trying to blow down the city wall at night.

Although it didn't succeed, it scared Chongzhen and the others enough.

Another thief wants to harm me?

As early as before withdrawing to Kaifeng, Chongzhen had already sent people to Cui Wensheng, the eunuch of the Nanjing garrison, and Feng Quan, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, to give orders to them to immediately organize the army of King Qin to go north to Kaifeng to rescue him.

That's why he can stay at Kaifeng with peace of mind.

Although Nanzhili is not too far from Kaifeng, these thieves do everything, and Kaifeng is likely to be lost if it develops like this.

Chongzhen decided not to sit still anymore.

He ordered Cao Wenzhao to go out of the city and beat the thieves.

However, the heavens did not fulfill people's wishes, and since the thieves failed to blow up the city wall, it rained heavily in Kaifeng.

It rained for seven or eight days in a row, leaving the outside of the city muddy.

This has made it hard for the army outside the city, and now it is October, and it is still very cold.

This kind of ghost weather Dashun army must not be able to stand it, so they went to the woods outside the city to take shelter from the rain.

Seeing that the thieves outside the city had become "soup chickens", the Ming troops in the city all laughed loudly.

These thieves also have today, if this rain rains for a few more days, without their action, the intrusive army outside the city is estimated to collapse without standing on its own!

Even Chongzhen's face changed from the past, the corners of his eyes turned up slightly, and he said proudly: "The thieves collapse without a fight, God really helps me!" ”

Soon, the people in the city all echoed and said: "Your Majesty is blessed with all the heavens, and the Ming Dynasty will be eternal!" ”

However, the sharp-eyed Chongzhen found that Yang Sichang's face was full of sadness.

He asked puzzledly: "Yang Qing, why didn't you say a word, but what are your worries?" ”

At this time, everyone found out that Yang Sichang, who is usually good at sneaking whiskers and shooting horses, did not echo everyone at this time.

Yang said: "Now that the rain is continuous, the water level of the Yellow River has skyrocketed. The minister was worried that after the thieves knew that they could not break Kaifeng, they would jump over the wall in a hurry, take advantage of the situation to open the embankment of the Yellow River, and flood Kaifeng! ”

When Yang Sichang said the words "flooded Kaifeng", everyone's smiles instantly froze.

As early as Taiyuan, they built embankments twice and used the water of the Fen River to attack the Ming army.

Now such a good opportunity, they will definitely not let it go.

If the thieves open the embankment of the Yellow River, then they will not be fish and turtles in the water.

Chongzhen asked anxiously, "Does Yang Qing have a way to crack it?" ”

Yang Sichang looked at his colleagues around him and said in a low voice: "Yes, yes, but this matter has a lot to do with it, and the minister wants to start His Majesty alone!" ”

Chongzhen made a color, and Wang Chengen led everyone to retreat.

Yang Sichang looked left and right and said: "Judging from the current situation, there is no hope for the thieves to attack and break Kaifeng, and they will definitely take risks." ”

"Wei Chen's suggestion is that instead of waiting for the thieves to open the Yellow River embankment and flood the city, it is better for us to take advantage of the rain to get out of the city and open a small hole in the embankment first."

"In this way, the thieves outside the city will be besieged by the flood, so we can take advantage of the chaos to break out?"

Yang Sichang's words startled Chongzhen, and he said: "This matter is not trivial, Yang Qing can be sure." ”

Yang Sichang said: "The minister looked through some records of the Yellow River breaking the embankment, and found that as long as it was a small area of the embankment, it would not annihilate Kaifeng City, but the camp of the Chuang army in the northeast of Kaifeng would definitely be swallowed up by the flood." ”

"Your Majesty, now that Li Xianzhong occupies the Guide Mansion, we may not be able to count on the reinforcements of Nanzhili, and we have to rely on ourselves!"

"If all goes well, we will recreate the scene outside Taiyuan City, and then we will be able to get out of this cage?"

Chongzhen was still very hesitant at this time, he said: "Picking up the Yellow River embankment and flooding Kaifeng, although it is to eliminate the thieves, it will inevitably flood the homes of many people, but this is to leave an infamy?" ”

Yang Sichang said: "The thieves are the best at water attack, the world knows, no one would have thought that we were the ones who opened the embankment of the Yellow River, and when the time comes, we will only insist that the thieves did it, and Li Zicheng will definitely be speechless!" ”

Seeing that Chongzhen was still hesitating, Yang Sichang said: "In case the thieves take the lead and open the Yellow River embankment on a large scale, then Kaifeng City will not be able to be saved!" ”

"Your Majesty, you must not have a woman's kindness to thieves!"

In the end, Chongzhen was persuaded by Yang Sichang.

Cao Wenzhao was ordered to lead 5,000 elite soldiers out of the city to stop the thieves from digging the embankment.

At this time, the heavy rain was pouring down, and Li Zicheng left some men and horses in the south of the city to prevent the Ming army in the city from taking the opportunity to escape.

Ten miles north of the city is the Yellow River, and on the other side of the river is Hong Chengchou's Yulin camp, he naturally does not have to worry that the Ming army will flee to Hebei, so there are not many men and horses guarding the north gate of Kaifeng at this time.

Cao Wenzhao and his party were easily killed, and soon they arrived at the Zhujiazhaikou embankment on the edge of the Yellow River.

Cao Wenzhao opened a small gap here according to the secret order, and soon the turbulent water of the Yellow River headed towards the north of Kaifeng.

However, due to the high terrain of Kaifeng, the flood did not come towards Kaifeng City, but turned a corner in front of him and rushed towards the army garrison in the northeast of Kaifeng City!

The Ming army in Kaifeng City took advantage of the situation to proclaim: "Oh no, the thieves took advantage of the heavy rain to open the Yellow River embankment overnight, and Kaifeng is going to be flooded!" ”

Yang Sichang's trick of the thief shouting to catch the thief is still very effective, the news of "the thief opened the embankment of the Yellow River and flooded Kaifeng" soon spread throughout the city, and these people will see it as a witness in the future!

Li Zicheng is now a yellow mud that fell into the crotch of his pants, it's not, it's!

At this time, Li Zicheng also received the news that the Ming army took the opportunity to open the embankment of the Yellow River.

He never expected that the Ming Junju would take the initiative to flood Kaifeng.

I should have listened to Song Xian's advice in the first place, and I shouldn't have been so soft-hearted!

At this time, Song Xiance said: "Your Majesty, don't disturb, I think this water potential is not too big now, presumably the Ming army is afraid of flooding the city, and only opened a small opening!" ”

"We simply don't do anything, completely tear up the Yellow River embankment, let the flood flood Kaifeng, and let the Ming army eat the consequences!"

Li Zicheng was originally a murderous rogue who did not blink, and of course he would not hesitate at this moment.

However, at this time, it will take some time for his army to move, so he said: "Song Junshi, you personally take people to open the embankment of the Yellow River for the widows, and I will drown these bastards in Kaifeng City!" ”

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(End of chapter)