Chapter 110: The officers and soldiers are vicious
Liu Zongmin rode up and dismounted next to King Chuang. He hurriedly walked forward and said, "Brother Li, the officers and soldiers are so vicious. They don't care about the lives of the people. They fired volleys of cannons, artillery and rockets. My son also suffered heavy casualties."
The smile disappeared from Li Zicheng's face, and he just said lightly: "That's all. That's it for today. I'll order all the troops to return to camp, strictly guard the defense line, and don't invite the officers and soldiers to make a sneak attack."
Zhang Nai also ran back in disgrace. Hearing that King Chuang wanted to withdraw his troops, he hurriedly asked: "King Chuang, if you withdraw your troops at this time, do you not care about Uncle Erhu's side?"
Li Zicheng glanced at him and then said: "As for Erhu, it all depends on his personal fortune."
He then said to a leader of the soldiers beside him: "Take a few people with you and go to the south of the city to pass the order and ask Liu Fangliang to lead the army to join me in the west of the city to avoid being attacked by officers and soldiers again."
King Chuang pondered for a moment and suddenly asked Liu Zongmin: "Jixuan, if we let the cavalry attack with all their strength, can we break the army's chariot formation?"
Liu Zongmin did not answer directly. He looked at the army car formation in the distance and the corpses of hungry civilians and bandit soldiers in front of the formation. He sighed first and then said: "The officers and soldiers have sharp guns and artillery, and I don't know what backup plan they have.
If we ask the cavalry to charge hard, they may be able to break through the car formation in one fell swoop, but..."
He hesitated for a moment and then continued: "It's just that we are afraid that our cavalry will also die with the army. We won't survive even one in ten!"
Li Zicheng just frowned and said calmly: "The cavalry team is our foundation and should not be used lightly."
He also sighed softly and said: "Retreat!"
At this time, Bai Wang asked from the side: "King Chuang, where are the hungry people?"
Li Zicheng turned around and ran towards his own black horse, without looking back and said: "It's useless to keep it, just let it go!"
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On two battlefields in the west and north of Kaifeng City, Zhang Cheng's officers and soldiers fought fiercely with the intruders for nearly two hours. However, they were both exhausted and exhausted. Finally, the intruders gave up the attack in the west of the city, and all the intruders in the east were exhausted.
Withdrew to the south of the city, then retreated to the west of the city.
At Shenshi, the sky became darker and darker. A few snowflakes started to fall in the north of Kaifeng City, and were caught by the icy cold wind. Gradually, snowflakes began to fall all over Kaifeng City, and there was a vast expanse of white everywhere.
The officers and soldiers also stopped fighting, and everyone returned to their respective camps to make rice and treat the wounded.
As for the victorious side, regardless of whether it was in the north or west of the city, Zhang Cheng's troops had to clean up the battlefield. They braved the cold wind and falling snow to pile up corpses so that they could be buried after the war. At the same time, they had to treat those who died.
Hungry civilians and bandit soldiers will be slightly injured but not killed.
Zhang Cheng's main camp was located in Liu Tichun's camp in the north of Kaifeng City. Zhang Cheng's Central Military Headquarters and Beijing Camp Guerrilla Chen Chongchang's headquarters were both stationed here.
While the infantry camp Chen Dakuan's Thousand Headquarters was stationed in the camp of the original bandit Kou Waguan, Zhang Guodong led Jin Yong's troops to set up a new camp outside the north gate of Kaifeng. Nearly 3,000 bandit soldiers and more than 2,000 hungry people were captured here.
They were all kept in his camp.
At this moment, bonfires were lit everywhere in his camp, and large iron pots were placed on top of them, filled with hot porridge. Each large pot was surrounded by a team of armored sergeants to maintain order.
It turns out that when the war at the North Gate was about to end, Zhang Cheng sent people to escort Lord Su Zhuangsu into Kaifeng City. His purpose was to reassure the King of Zhou and other officials in the city, and also asked them to organize the gentry in the city to come up with
He brought grain to appease the bandits and hungry people outside the city.
The King of Zhou was very wise, and he also knew the importance of calming people's hearts at this time. Under his advocacy and example, Wang Xie, the magistrate of Xiangfu County, quickly brought carts of grain from the city.
At this time, Gao Mingheng, the patrol commander of Henan, Liang Bing, the veteran minister in charge of Taoist affairs, and Cai Maode, the governor of Henan and the right governor of Henan, as well as Cao Kun, the minister of the Zhou Dynasty, were in Zhang Cheng's Chinese army tent at this time.
In fact, long before Su Zhuang entered the city, the officials in the city knew that the army was coming to help, but they did not dare to open the door and leave the city while the fighting outside the city continued.
It was not until the battle in the north of the city had come to an end and the intruders in the west of the city had withdrawn their troops and returned to camp that they organized the gentry and officials in the city to carry pigs and sheep to work outside the city.
Although they are called Laojun, they actually want to invite Zhang Cheng to lead a large army into the city to help defend it, so as to ensure that Kaifeng's city is not lost.
In their opinion, the bandit army is still powerful. It is rumored that there are hundreds of thousands of troops under Luoyang City. Who can guarantee that those who came to Kaifeng City at this time are not the vanguard of the bandits.
If an army of hundreds of thousands of thieves and bandits really comes in the future, how can Zhang Cheng resist if he only has less than 10,000 people? It would be better to enter the city with a large army and rely on a fortified city to garrison, which may save the city.
Zhang Cheng accepted all the pigs, sheep, grains and cereals they sent, and ordered others to take some to Wei Zhice's camp, but none of the wealthy gentry and officials in the city were seen.
But it is not good for ministers such as Gao Mingheng, Liang Bing, and Cai Maode, especially Cao Kun, the minister of the Zhou Dynasty who represents His Highness the King of Zhou.
Although Zhang Cheng did not take Prince Zhou seriously, he did not dare to go too far in terms of face, not to mention that he was still thinking about the one hundred thousand taels of silver promised by Prince Zhou!
In the military tent, Gao Mingheng was still trying to persuade: "General Zhang, you know that when the thieves were under Luoyang City, there were hundreds of thousands of thieves, but now there are only tens of thousands outside Kaifeng City. How do you know there won't be any in the future?"
A large number of thieves arrived.
Even the thousand-year-old King of Zhou asked General Zhang to lead his troops to garrison in the city to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of people in the city. Since we are asking for orders for the people today, I hope General Zhang will think twice!"
Cao Kun also said: "His Royal Highness the King of Zhou also knows that General Zhang is brave and powerful, and his troops are even more powerful. However, the bandits have always been cunning and cunning, and His Highness is also afraid that the general will be stationed outside the city and fall into the trap of the thieves."
Zhang Cheng said with a smile: "Zhang Cheng is really moved by the thousand-year-old King of Zhou and the kindness of all of you. However, since we have joined the army, we should be loyal to the king and serve the country. Today, we are facing the thieves and bandits, and we should defeat them on the battlefield.
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Zhang Cheng asks your lords to be at ease, and also asks Cao Chengfeng to report to King Zhou that he is a thousand years old. Zhang Cheng will defeat the bandits within three or four days, so that the officials, gentry and people in Kaifeng City can enjoy the new year in peace."
The officials tried to persuade Zhang Cheng to no avail, so they had no choice but to invite Zhang Cheng into the city for a banquet, but Zhang Cheng politely declined. They also knew that the intruders had not retreated and the military situation was changing rapidly, so they no longer persisted. They only agreed to wait until the rebels retreated.
We should solemnly celebrate Zhang Cheng’s success.
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In the camp of the invaders in the west of Kaifeng City, although bonfires were lit everywhere as usual, the lively atmosphere of the past could clearly be felt, and occasionally the wails and screams of wounded soldiers could be heard.
When Li Zicheng came back from his inspection tour, he saw Zhang Nai hurriedly entered the military tent and reported, "King Chuang, my Uncle Erhu is back!"
King Chuang was stunned when he heard this and asked urgently: "Where is he? How did he escape? His injuries are serious!"