Kaizhou.
Liu Yan led the battalions of the New Army all the way south from Boye County, and arrived in Kaizhou County at the southernmost tip of Beizhili a few days later.
At this time, the New Army battalions were distributed around Kaizhou City. Standing on the city wall and looking around, there were New Army camps, flags, soldiers, war horses, and artillery everywhere. All kinds of voices gathered together to make Kaizhou The magistrate and a group of officials were so frightened that they personally brought the gentry and merchants in the city to the guard camp for several days. In name, they sent cattle, sheep, wine and meat to reward the new army soldiers, but in fact they wanted to find out the news. When will Liu Yan's subordinates leave?
In today's world, even officers and soldiers are synonymous with "military chaos". As the saying goes, bandits are like combs and soldiers are like gourds. To ordinary people, whether they are officers, soldiers or bandits, they are scourges and must be avoided. . Therefore, whenever local officials saw the arrival of government troops, they would be frightened and try their best to get these military masters to leave as soon as possible.
On this day, the magistrate of Kaizhou County brought a few more fat pigs and stood outside the gate of the guard camp with a smile on his face, wanting to meet Liu Yan.
In the past few days, even though the officers and soldiers of the New Army were strictly disciplined and did not do anything to disturb the people, and even the town governor Xun Jingyun brought people into the city to purchase, and they traded fairly and gave them enough money, the magistrate of Kaizhou and others were still frightened: The knife and gun are in someone's hands. Today they are smiling, but if they don't keep it together, they will fall out tomorrow. It's better to leave early.
When Miao Shao learned the news, he went directly to the Chinese army's tent and reported it to Liu Yan.
At this time, Liu Yan was looking at the maps of Kaifeng Mansion and various places in Henan. He was also worried about the war that was about to begin. He was also heartbroken by the sacrifices of soldiers such as Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Huaiying, and Xu Tonghui. Suddenly, he heard that the annoying magistrate was coming again. Then he said impatiently: "If this person comes again in the future, just coax him back and don't bother me again!"
Miao Shao agreed and said with a smile: "But people can go back, but things have to be left behind. Those fat pigs are just for tooth sacrifice for the soldiers."
Liu Yan glared at Miao Shao angrily and asked Miao Shao to remember to give the money, and then said, "Wu Guojin hasn't come yet?"
While he was talking, Wu Guojin strode into the camp. Seeing that Miao Shao was there, he cupped his fists and said hello.
"Is there any news from the Ministry of War?"
Wu Guojin said: "Sir, Wang Yang, the person in charge of the investigation of Cao Cao, is stationed at Baoding Mansion. He has just sent someone to deliver news: Chen Xinjia has shipped a large amount of money and grain to the south. Now he has passed Gaoyang. It is estimated that it will be ready in three or four days. It’s been shipped to Kaizhou.”
Liu Yan said coldly: "This Chen Xinjia just needs to be dealt with. If I don't show my power, I won't be able to get money and food from him!"
"Sir, Chen Xinjia can only provide three months' worth of food and supplies even if he doesn't make any discounts. Adding in the supplies from our own army, it will only be enough for the army's officers and men to consume for four months. Can the war be ended in four months? "
Liu Yan shook his head, because he didn't know if there was enough time.
Li Zicheng is different from the Manchus. The Manchus are like a raging fire. They only need to concentrate their efforts to fight against it. Either they will put out the raging fire or they will be burned to death by the raging fire. It is simple and direct. Against the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, as long as you dare to fight and want to fight, it doesn't take too much time and you can just fight directly.
And Li Zicheng is the rat that causes trouble in the world. Rats dare to eat people when they are in groups, but once most of them are killed, they will flee and find an invisible place to hide. They don't know when they will come back again. , It’s so annoying!
So Liu Yan didn't know when the Central Plains would be pacified. Maybe he won today, but Li Zicheng led people to fight guerrillas, so Liu Yan didn't know the future of this battle.
What's more, the current army of thieves is different from the past. After successively defeating several elite Ming armies, the combat power and equipment of the army of thieves have been greatly improved. The most important thing is that after Li Zicheng defeated Lu Xiangsheng, Fu Zonglong and other elite Ming troops, the mentality of the entire army had undergone earth-shaking changes.
In the past, Li Zicheng and others were still psychologically fearful when facing the elites of the Ming army, and they rarely fought head-on with the elites of the Ming army. But now, the fear among the bandit army has disappeared. This is not a small increase in the combat power of the bandit army.
Coupled with the huge number of troops in the bandit army, it can be said that to a certain extent, the bandit army led by Li Zicheng at this time is already an equal opponent to the Qing army!
"No matter whether we have enough money or food, we must start this battle first. We cannot let Li Zicheng get stronger. At least we cannot let Li Zicheng's bandit army go north into Beizhili, or go south into Jiangnan."
"If even Beizhili and Jiangnan are tainted by Li Zicheng, then the bandit army will not be hundreds of thousands, but will expand to millions, or even millions, in a very short period of time, and the world will be completely over. !”
Liu Yan said in a deep voice, but his heart was heavy. Li Zicheng, the leader of the plague, must control Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places, and he must not be allowed to run around anymore.
Before arriving in Kaizhou, Liu Yan set up a mourning hall in the camp and enshrined the memorial tablets of Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Huaiying, Xu Tonghui, as well as the fallen soldiers of Dubiao Camp and Fubiao Camp.
The officers and soldiers of the New Army battalions paid homage one after another, and Liu Yan directly issued a mobilization order in front of all the officers and soldiers. This battle was to wipe out the Central Plains and pacify the bandits.
But now that he calmed down, Liu Yan asked himself in his heart: "Can this battle really completely wipe out Li Zicheng?"
Among other things, Li Zicheng's escape ability was ranked first in the late Ming Dynasty, and he was also a model of repeated defeats. In the words of later generations, Li Zicheng's ability to resist setbacks and self-regulation is beyond comparison, and his mental endurance is rare in ancient and modern times!
Facing such a person, Liu Yan also felt very troublesome. In the past few days, he had been planning how to fight this battle.
Then Miao Shao first asked the guards outside the camp to go to the camp gate and send the Kaizhou magistrate away. Then the three of them sat down respectively. Liu Yan asked again: "Is there any news from the direction of the capital?"
Wu Guojin said: "It's still the same as the previous two days. It's the news that the Ministry of Hubu and the Ministry of War are crying for poverty. Now there are rumors in the restaurants in the capital that when the Minister of the Ministry of War and the Minister of the Ministry of Hu go to court, they are all competing with each other. It depends on who is the best. The clothes he wears are shabby, just so that the emperor can use his internal funds to support the Liaodong war."
"But even the people in the capital know that the emperor is also a poor man and has no money at all!"
"There are also rumors that the emperor has called on the courtiers and relatives several times to donate money to the country, but there have been very few people in the capital who responded, and the emperor has not even been able to raise a thousand taels of silver."
Liu Yan sighed, is it because the ministers and relatives of the emperor and the emperor don't have money? no!
How much money did Li Zicheng plunder from those people when he entered Beijing? More than 70 million taels. In the end, all the money was cheap for the Manchu and Qing Tatars who entered the customs. This shows how abominable those corrupt officials and relatives of the emperor are, and they all deserve to be killed!
"That's why the emperor was so strange when the platform summoned him that day. It seems that the emperor and Chen Xinjia couldn't bear it anymore and were ready to urge Hong Chengchou to fight the slave thieves!"
Wu Guojin and Miao Shao both looked solemn, and both of them were worried about the soldiers of the front camp stationed at Hongluo Mountain.
Isn't this the case for Liu Yan?
At this time, Liu Yan sighed in his heart: "It seems that the inertia of the wheel of history is really strong. I have made so many efforts, but I still can't change the outcome of the Battle of Songjin!"
"Sir, should we do something to prevent the brothers in the front camp from being put in danger?"
Miao Shao said anxiously, but Liu Yan shook his head and said: "We are thousands of miles away from our brothers in the former camp, and now we can only rely on them. What we can do is to defeat Li Zicheng's troops as soon as possible. If the time comes The Battle of Jinzhou is not over yet, and we can return to the Liaodong battlefield."
Miao Shao said: "I can only hate Chen Xinjia for being so slow in transporting food! If he could have transported food earlier, we might have reached Kaifeng City."
Although Liu Yan was anxious in his heart, he could not lose control of his position at this time. He still had to spend the time he needed to spend. If he rushed to the challenge, he would only pay a heavier price.
"Don't worry, the front camp is guarding Hongluo Mountain. It has sufficient troops, difficult terrain, and a large amount of food and grass hoards. The army of slaves and thieves cannot easily take it. We must do the things in front of us well now and don't mess up our position."
Liu Yan then asked Miao Shao and Wu Guojin to go about their business first, while he also wanted to think about the countermeasures for the Battle of Kaifeng.
That night, there was no words.
Early the next morning, Liu Yan was about to send someone to rush the grain transport team of the Ministry of War when he saw Wu Guojin striding angrily, followed by Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Shen Tuo, Zhang Yi, Wang Bo, Wang Yue and others. His subordinates also followed him one after another, and their faces were all ugly.
Liu Yan frowned, but his heart suddenly sank, and asked: "Tell me, what's the matter?"
"Sir, several bandit scouts were captured in Lanyang County east of Kaifeng Fucheng. After being interrogated strictly, they reported the battle report to the Ministry of War. Wang Yang happened to find out the news on the way: it was said that Li Zicheng was responsible for the attack on Kaifeng Fucheng. The bodies of Lu Duchen and Fu Zonglong were whipped under the city to demoralize the defenders in the city!"
When Liu Yan heard this, his blood surged and he kicked the table in front of him away. The pure wooden table flew up and was kicked to pieces with a loud bang.
"The intruder has no humanity and should be killed!"
Xun Jingyun, the governor of the town, said loudly: "Sir, don't wait any longer for money and food from the Ministry of War. The army should set off immediately and arrive at Kaifeng City as soon as possible to fight a bloody battle with the bandit army!"
Everyone echoed the sentiment, and the crowd demanded an immediate march.
Although Lu Xiangsheng is not their direct superior, he still fights side by side with them in Julu. Moreover, after Lu Xiangsheng became the governor of Shandong, he also took great care of the New Army, so everyone in the New Army regarded Lu Xiangsheng as an "old Shangguan".
Liu Yan looked at Wu Guojin and asked, "Where is the grain transport team from the Ministry of War?"
"I just received a report from Wang Yang this morning that the Ministry of War's grain transport team has passed Boye County."
Liu Yan thought for a moment and said: "The army can't wait any longer! Send the order: in an hour, the army will set off, enter Henan via Changyuan County, and attack Kaifeng Fucheng!"
Some people died, but not completely...
