ᅟᅠ
Kaifeng Fucheng
In the afternoon, Jia Heng led a group of soldiers and horses outside Kaifeng Fucheng. When they arrived in Kaifeng Fucheng, the team had grown a bit stronger. Mainly Ding Zhuang from the surrounding counties heard that the imperial army was coming, and the magistrate of Weishi County They brought two thousand men from Zhuxian Town in the southeast to support them.
Relevant officials from the Henan government office in Tongxu County also sent people to lead the temporary organization of three thousand young people to Zhuxian Town.
When the thieves pretended to be government troops and attacked Kaifeng Prefecture, they were caught off guard and killed the officials of the Henan governor's office and the vassal office. Some officials of the governor's office escaped from Kaifeng Prefecture and organized young people to resist with the local prefecture and county officials. Gao Yue fell to Kaifeng Prefecture. There is still time to clean up the surrounding prefectures and counties.
At this moment, Cai Quan had already led the sentry outside Kaifeng City to alert the enemy.
At this moment, three thousand soldiers and horses were lined up at Xinzheng, Wansheng and Guzi gates at the west gate of Kaifeng Fucheng. At the same time, scouts were sent along Kaifeng Fucheng to check the city defense.
Because all the enemy troops and horses were lost, facing the approaching large-scale cavalry from the imperial court, they could not effectively respond by leaving the city, and could only huddle in the city and defend it.
On the other hand, if the official army attacks the city and detects the actual situation, they can promptly support each other with cavalry and achieve the purpose of concentrating superior forces to attack the city.
At this moment, Gao Yue, Wang Sishun, Luo Jinzhong, He Guosheng, Li Yanqing and others in Kaifeng Prefecture stood on the city gate tower, looking at the officers and soldiers passing by like the wind. The officers and soldiers had bright flags, swords and guns like a forest, and they were neat and tidy between movement and stillness. , self-contained, seeing this scene, most of the people's expressions became solemn.
Wang Sishun was a little embarrassed and said: "This army is in good order. No wonder the tall leader lost his troops and generals and returned without success."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone felt weird.
Gao Yue's face turned dark and he snorted coldly. Behind him, Li Zimin, Lai Haiyuan and other generals mostly had gloomy faces and glared at Wang Sishun.
There were also four or five brothers beside Wang Sishun, who looked at Li Zimin and others unwillingly. Luo Jinzhong rolled his eyes, laughed, and said: "The officers and soldiers are coming in large numbers. We should think carefully about the strategy to retreat from the enemy. Why bother saying these words that make others more prestige and destroy our own ambition?"
Li Yanqing nodded and said in a deep voice: "What Brother Luo said is true. Now that the army is coming in force, we are all tied to the same rope, so we should work together."
Wang Sishun's face was half-smiling, with a flash of sarcasm in his eyes. "You all speak better than you sing. You are more prepared than anyone else to escape in the past few days."
Luo Jinzhong said: "Master Gao Da, you have fought against the army many times, and you have also defeated the army. Do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy when facing the imperial people?"
He Guosheng also looked at Gao Yue and said: "Master Gao Da, now the army is coming fiercely. Whether the plan to resist the Han Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty can be successful depends on whether Kaifeng can be defended."
Gao Yue shook his head and said: "Now that things have come to a point, the only thing we can do is guard the city gates, strictly defend the city defenses, and maintain a stalemate with the officers and soldiers."
Wang Sishun looked at the steady stream of soldiers and horses in the distance, and whispered: "I see that there are still a large number of infantry coming from the imperial court. It is impossible to say that there are soldiers and horses from Zhoufang in Kaifeng Prefecture and County to support me. I am afraid that if it continues to delay, Fucheng There will be more and more imperial soldiers and horses around."
Chen Han implemented a system of separation of military and political affairs, setting up guard command at the government level. At the county level, the garrisoned Qianhu Stations or county lieutenants were given a sixth-grade garrison rank. In coastal provinces such as Shandong and Fujian, they were deployed to prepare for pirates according to their needs. With the rank of admiral of the first rank, he is responsible for the military affairs of one or more provinces. In the border military prefectures, there are military governors of the third and fourth ranks. In Guanzhen, there are general soldiers of the first rank or the second rank. They are all responsible for defending the territory and are directly subordinate to the central governor of the five armies. Government moderation.
However, the former commander of the Xuanwu Guards had died in Runing Prefecture, and the defense forces in the surrounding prefectures and counties were insufficient. After the city was broken, they either died for their country or fled. Officials from Guo County and prefecture counties attached to Kaifeng Prefecture retreated to Tongxu and Qi counties to organize Ding Zhuang, I heard that as soon as the imperial army arrives, it is bound to bring troops to support Kaifeng Mansion.
Li Zimin said coldly: "Wang, if you are afraid, you can run away by yourself and don't say these depressing words again and again."
Gao Yue looked slightly solemn and said, "Third brother, please don't be rude."
Wang Sishun sneered and said: "I am afraid of the army, but I am worried that we will not be able to carry out our great cause. Now that the army is powerful, I would say that we should save our usefulness and plan for the future. I will wait.
In a battle to defend the city, who is the opponent of the army?"
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of everyone around him changed, and there were murmurs in their hearts. It can be said that the murmurings in everyone's minds these past few days were revealed at once.
Kaifeng Fucheng has been beaten, and what should be robbed has been robbed. It is time to go to the next place. Spend time fighting against the army in the city.
As for avenging those three thousand brothers, wouldn't it be possible to take revenge in another place?
Gao Yue saw the heads of more than a dozen forces not far away, all looking agitated. He couldn't help but feel even more disappointed. He considered his words and said encouragingly: "Everyone, now the imperial officers and soldiers are coming in large numbers, and most of them are cavalry." Soldier, even if we want to evacuate Kaifeng Mansion, there is no way out. The only solution now is to survive in death."
After hearing the words, everyone nodded in agreement, but they were actually absent-minded. After Gao Yue hurriedly explained, they each returned to their assigned city walls and gate towers to start guarding.
However, at this moment, everyone suddenly heard a cry of surprise.
I saw a hail of arrows fired by the officers and soldiers in the distance, and everyone was hiding.
Suddenly, a bandit picked up the surrender notice folded on yellow paper and asked a leader, "What is written on it?"
The fat leader opened it and looked at it, and was startled when he saw it written clearly: "One hundred thousand officers and soldiers have arrived at Kaifeng Mansion. Anyone who kills Gao Yue will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver. Anyone who captures him alive will be rewarded with twenty thousand taels of silver..." "
Not only the notice of surrender but also various rewards.
Gao Yue was leading Lai Haiyuan and Wei Bochuan towards the governor's office at this time. Ma Liang, the commander of the personal guards, also held a proclamation in his hand and said, "Brother, take a look at this."
Gao Yue's pupils shrank sharply, and he said coldly: "This is the imperial court's plan to attack the heart!"
He rolled it into a ball and said, "Immediately order people to collect these notes. Do not let them be circulated."
"Brother, I'm afraid it's too late. The officers and soldiers are shooting arrows at various city walls now. I'm afraid the news has spread by now." Ma Liang said worriedly.
Wei Bochuan also took a piece of paper from the accompanying men, his face changed, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Only my name is on it, and the other companies didn't mention it at all. Obviously this is to divide us."
His name was clearly written on it. Anyone captured alive would be rewarded two thousand taels of silver, and anyone killed alive would be rewarded five thousand taels of silver. Obviously the court wanted to die!
What the hell!
Gao Yue looked ugly and walked towards the governor's Yamen without saying a word.
I don't know if it was his misunderstanding, but I always felt that along the way, the people around me looked at Gao Yue and his subordinates in a slightly weird way.
At this moment, in the inn three hundred steps north of the governor's office, the window was opened, and three young men in coarse cloth looked at Gao Yue and his party in front of the governor's office.
"Sir, the governor is outside the city now. When will we?" Ding Jing, a man from a hundred households in brocade clothes standing beside him, said in a low voice.
Qu Lang entered Kaifeng City and led more than 40 or 50 well-dressed men. It didn't take long for him to gather 200 to 300 people. Now he is following the other four groups to guard the Dailou Gate in the south. "We need to get in touch with the adults, otherwise it will be difficult for us alone to do anything." Qu Lang said in a low voice, then looked at Ding Jing aside, and whispered: "When it gets dark, you can cross the city. , contact the outside world, there are a lot of bandits on the run at this time, it’s just a good time to cover up.”
Ding Jing nodded and agreed.
Outside Kaifeng City, it was already afternoon. The sun was shining on the water of the Bian River in front of Kaifeng City. The breeze was blowing and the waves were sparkling.
The Beijing army led by Jia Heng has also been approaching this ancient city one after another, mobilizing troops and horses on the south and east city walls, and at the north gate of the front, more than 10,000 troops are waiting at the west gate of Kaifeng Fucheng.
It is often said in the book that if there are more than 10,000 people, there will be no borders. At this moment, nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers are in front of Kaifeng City. They form a team of 1,000 people to form five sentries in the front, center, left and right. The front army is 3,000, the left and right armies are 2,000, and the center army is Take two thousand.
The rear army of 1,000 people and the 2,000 civilians organized by Weishi County loaded the temporarily found mule carts with siege equipment and ladders, and transported them to other cities. At the same time, they set up arrow towers. Everything was very orderly in a hurry. Only the sound of the flags and flags of the army camp and the shouts of the rushing vehicles were heard.
From time to time, under the city, there were some officials from the Beijing camp, leading the cavalry, looking at Kaifeng City, and whispering to their companions around them.
The atmosphere before the war was too quiet, even a little depressing.
But being so silent made the bandits on the city wall feel fearful.
In fact, even Gao Yue's troops in Huguang, Henan and other places have never seen such quiet officers and soldiers, let alone the bandits who have been hiding in Tibet while the officers and soldiers have been suppressing them.
Jia Heng was sitting on his horse looking at the city of Kaifeng. He asked Liu Jixian, "Go and send someone to call Cai Guoqi."
"Yes, sir." Liu Jixian responded with clasped fists, then turned around and ordered his guards to look for Cai Quan. Princess Xianning looked at Kaifeng City and said, "Sir, I look at the city and it seems that there are not too many people."
In her imagination, there were hundreds of thousands of thieves gathered. Even if it was an empty sign, even if there were 50,000 or 60,000 people, they should be covered with flags and crowded with people.
Jia Heng explained: "Previously, Cai Quan said that bandits had brought the rebels to Kaifeng Mansion. Many of them fled when they heard that the government troops had arrived. At this moment, there are only more than 20,000 people in Kaifeng Mansion, and the defensive force is quite insufficient. However, after all, relying on the city to command a commanding position, Don’t underestimate them, we will test their defensive strength later.”
The essence of attacking a city lies in mobilizing the opponent's defensive power, rather than evenly distributing troops.
At this moment, two Jinyi captains led Cai Quan on horseback. Cai Quan cupped his fists and said, "Jie Shuai."
"The enemy situation in the city wall has been detected, how is it?" Jia Heng asked directly.
Cai Quan said: "Return to the commander-in-chief, there are many soldiers and horses in the west city wall. The two gates in the south and the Chenzhou Gate, Nanxun Gate, and Dailou Gate in the east have fewer thieves. We will try to let the cavalry come closer to test. Pay attention. After a while, some of the city walls were even deserted."
Even though Gao Yue had sent several of his brothers to patrol the city, sounding gongs and waving flags to warn, so that troops could rush to help, the city walls of Kaifeng were as long as sesame seeds, and there were always areas that could not be taken care of.
Jia Heng frowned, thought for a while, and then ordered: "It seems that the bandits do not have enough troops in the four cities. It is better to maneuver and coordinate this battle. Later, my army will make a tentative attack. You can bring five hundred Sentries, spread out to observe the city defense. The thieves are divided into many groups. Once they defend the city, they will inevitably be unable to coordinate. That is our opportunity."
In fact, Kaifeng City was rarely defended during the several times it was besieged. This was the case from Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty to the Jin soldiers going south, and then to the peasant army besieging Kaifeng Mansion. "Yes, Commander-in-Chief." Cai Quan responded and rode away.
Princess Xianning said: "Sir, are you going to attack the city soon?"
"Let's conduct a trial attack first to try out the bandit's defenses." Jia Heng whispered. Attack first, then cook again after dark, waiting for news from Qu Lang.
If you don't wait for the infantry to come, you can only use internal countermeasures. Otherwise, if you can't attack in one wave, you will have to wait another four or five days for the infantry to catch up.
Princess Xianning had a look of worry on her face, and she prayed secretly in her heart, hoping that everything would go well. At this moment, Xia Houying stared at the city of Kaifeng in the distance, her eyes seeming to be seen through a wall, falling on the hundreds of thousands of people in the city.
As time passed, it was Shenshi time, and in the evening, all the civil work work of the officers and soldiers were ready. Several arrow towers were erected, and the disassembled door panels were placed in front of the carts to cover the attack.
"Dong dong... "
As the war drums rumbled, a large number of officers and soldiers began to carry ladders, put them on the relatively narrow part of the extradition trench, and headed towards the city gate. The officers and soldiers holding shovels prepared to dig a hole in the west city wall to use the magic machine they carried to camp the city gate. The flint charge blew open the city wall because there was no horse face on the west wall.
At this moment, above the city gate, He Guosheng and Li Yanqing saw the officers and soldiers attacking in an orderly manner. The two sides looked at each other and saw solemnity in each other's eyes.
Then just by taking a glance, you can notice the difference between the officers and soldiers and their subordinates.
"Beat the drums, the troops are on alert, and defend the city!" He Guosheng ordered, then took out his sword and began to order his brothers to resist the attack of the official army. No matter how timid he was, he had no choice at this moment. Let's fight first. Say it again.
Li Yanqing also took bows and arrows and began to rely on the turrets to shoot at the officers and soldiers from a long distance.
Gao Yue in the city led more than a thousand of his men, including Wei Bochuan, Lai Haiyuan, and Li Zimin, as a reserve team, and sent warnings on the city wall. Of course, so many soldiers and horses scattered in the city were obviously not enough to defend, and they acted as firefighters.
There were eight to nine thousand thieves in Kaifeng City and 15,000 young men were held hostage. On the west wall, there were 3,000 bandits and 5,000 young men, a total of 8,000 people. On the south side, there were 2,500 bandits and two more. Thousands of men and strong men, there are 2,500 bandits and 3,000 men and women to the east, and there are still one thousand bandits and 5,000 men and women to the north.
At this moment, the three walls were attacked in unison. The officers and soldiers advanced towards the city wall, set up ladders and climbed towards the city wall. Below, they set up about a dozen archery towers to shoot at each other with bows and arrows.
As time passed, "Boom boom!!!"
A hole was blasted under the southwestern city wall, but it was not penetrated for a while. When arrows rained down on it and rocks fell rapidly, the soldiers hurriedly hid in the hole for temporary shelter.
The cloud ladder was set up on the city gate tower, and they began to climb up the ladder and attack the city wall. Rolling logs and stones were thrown down, and the officers and soldiers fell down the ladder.
There were also those who rushed to the city wall to fight against the bandits, but after all, there were too few people and they were driven back before they could achieve greater results.
And the hole in the wall was dug and blasted, and with the continuous "bang" sound, a hole two people wide was seen, leading directly into Kaifeng City.
The officers and soldiers were overjoyed to see this and were about to rush into the cave entrance.
When the bandits learned that the imperial army had breached the city wall, they were immediately in a panic. Gao Yue's personal guard Ma Liang led 300 people to rush to help, resisting the attack of the imperial army. Dingfu behind him blocked the entrance of the hole with cart boards and bags of earth and rocks. , and was in a hurry for a while.
The officers and soldiers took cupping jars and gunpowder and threw them at the people at the entrance of the cave. For a moment, a raging fire ignited and the explosions continued. Ma Liang's thieves and Ding Fu were injured by the flying wood and rocks. There were countless casualties. Even Ma Liang was collapsed. He was blind in one eye and was rushed to the city for treatment by his men. The raging fire prevented the officers and soldiers from advancing, which naturally gave the bandits time to react.
Gao Yue and Li Yanqing led 500 people to arrive, covering Ding Zhuang and building a blockade with earth bags. They also sent additional troops to defend from a distance with bows and arrows, and sniped at the officers and soldiers who entered through the hole.
In this way, the officers and soldiers and the bandits came and went. Unknowingly, the sun was setting in the west and the twilight was getting darker. Except for the southwest corner of the city, where the officers and soldiers once occupied a piece of land at the head of the city, there was no big way for the officers and soldiers to attack the city. Big progress.
Although the bandits' will to resist was average, they had obvious geographical advantages. Coupled with the rapid reinforcements from Gao Yue's troops, they blocked the siege of Guan Guan's army for nearly an hour.
Jia Heng looked at this scene expressionlessly, and ordered Liu Jixian on the side: "Ming Jin withdraws the troops."
"Dangdang..."
With the sound of gongs, the officers and soldiers slowly retreated like a tide, but the cheers of the bandits came from the city gate tower, as if they had won a victory.
However, He Guosheng's face was as gloomy as iron. He hurriedly ordered his men to light torches to prevent the officers and soldiers from attacking at night, and then went to the governor's Yamen to see Gao Yue.
The combat power of the officers and soldiers far exceeded that of the capital's soldiers and horses. They were still defending the city, but they were in danger several times. If the officers and soldiers attacked with all their strength, they would definitely not be able to stop them.
Not long after, Qianhu in Jinyi called Cai Quan, Qu Guang and other generals to come over, clasped his fists and said, "Jie Shuai."
Jia Heng frowned and asked, "How about attacking the city from the other two directions?"
Qu Guang shook his head and said: "The bandits relied on the fortified city to gain the advantage of the city. Although our army was brave and killed many people in front and behind, the bandits ran to support and failed to open the city gate."
"They are from Gao Yue." Jia Heng said with a gloomy face, "We were able to break through the city wall several times today, all with the help of this person, but they can't stay like this for long."
Fighting the fire like this is very tiring. Gao Yue's troops now only have more than a thousand soldiers and horses, and they have lost a lot of troops just now. They cannot survive like this.
"Commander Jie, the bandits in my area have loose defense and have rushed to the city wall several times, but they are a little far away from the city gate. If more troops are sent, they may be successful." Cai Quan said in a low voice.
Jia Heng thought for a moment and said: "The bandits have initially resisted our army's attack on the city. We will definitely celebrate tonight. Our army will bury the pots to make rice first and gather the wounded soldiers, and we will make plans later."
It was originally a test before, but now the reality has been basically tested, and the defense in the south is empty. Of course, this is also because the heavy troops are concentrated here.
The reason for blocking the main force of the army from the west. If we don't care about the number of casualties, as long as Kaifeng Mansion can be attacked overnight, the losses will inevitably increase. These are the cavalry that the imperial court has finally accumulated. He is the commander of the Beijing camp and cannot be used as a foot soldier. damaged.
"Sir." Princess Xianning said with a worried look on her face: "The thieves are powerful. Do we have to wait for the infantry to come?"
Jia Heng muttered: "Your Highness, please be patient. We will mobilize troops and horses in the middle of the night before making further calculations." He is still waiting for news from Qu Lang. If the inner force is available, the city will be destroyed tonight!
-WAP..COM-Go to view
