When night falls, the majestic Tongguan looks like a huge armored warrior, standing in the mountains, guarding the land in Guanzhong.
But now, around this huge warrior, there were densely packed bonfires and tents, spreading from the east and west sides of Tongguan into the depths of the night, as if they were boundless.
Sun Chuanting stood on the tower of Wengcheng in the east, with Cao Bianjiao beside him. Their faces were extremely solemn and full of sadness.
"Xuanfu Town, it's over!"
Cao Bianjiao couldn't help but his eyes were red, and he said angrily: "The imperial court mobilized the border troops from six towns to go south, but only Yang Shuai and the last general came all the way. It's a pity that Wang Pu and Li Fuming returned halfway, and Tang Tong and Ma Ke couldn't delay their arrival. His heart can be killed!"
"Poor Yang Shuai did not die on the battlefield in Liaodong, but died at the hands of bandits. It is so sad!"
When Yang Guozhu's banner collapsed and hundreds of thousands of thieves cheered, Cao Bianjiao and Sun Chuanting saw it and heard it, and they were filled with grief and anger.
At this moment, Sun Chuanting said angrily: "How many people in the world are really serving the country, and how many are really serving the people? We can't turn the tide just by fighting to the death thousands of times!"
"Master Governor, what should we do now?"
In Cao Bianjiao's view, only the reinforcements from the six towns reached Tongguan all the way from Dongxie Town, and the troops were severely damaged and morale was low. Such reinforcements could not change the situation in Tongguan at all. Even if they entered Guancheng, it would be a waste of money and food.
Sun Chuanting thought for a long time and said: "There are still more than 7,000 people in the Dubiao Camp in the city, more than 2,000 people in the garrison, and more than 30,000 soldiers in Dongxie Town. The total strength of our army is about 40,000. Now in Tongguan The money and food can still support one
For a period of time, my opinion is that our army will continue to defend Tongguan and use Tongguan's complete city defense and city artillery to kill a large number of Li Zicheng's troops and wait for the war situation to reverse. "
Cao Bianjiao nodded. This is the only solution for now. However, Cao Bianjiao is very pessimistic about the current war situation. He has been in the army for many years and has experienced many dangerous and bloody battles, but something like today is extremely frustrating. Defeat was the first time I encountered it.
At this time, Cao Bianjiao missed the days of fighting side by side with Liu Yan. Even if he faced hundreds of thousands of elite Qing troops, as long as Liu Yan's new army was there, Cao Bianjiao would not be afraid and would be full of confidence.
So Cao Bianjiao sighed from the bottom of his heart: "If Dinglupo was here and the Shandong New Army was here, why would the battle have reached this point? Maybe the siege of Tongguan has been lifted!"
Sun Chuanting couldn't help but feel moved. He didn't have much contact with Liu Yan, but he was well-known to Liu Yan for a long time. He had long wanted to associate with him, but he never had the chance, let alone the chance to lead his army to fight alongside Liu Yan.
Thinking about it now, Sun Chuanting felt a little regretful: "Yes, I really want to see the style of the Shandong New Army and the power of Dinglupe!"
At dawn the next day, there was a commotion inside and outside the Governor's Mansion. Sun Chuanting was busy with military affairs last night and fell asleep late at night. At this time, he was awakened by the commotion and hurriedly got up and walked outside the house.
I saw Cao Bianjiao striding over with a look of grief and indignation, and shouted: "Master Governor, a team of soldiers and horses sent by Li Zicheng are riding to the east outside the city holding Yang Shuai's head!"
Sun Chuanting's face suddenly became filled with anger, and he strode out of the house without saying a word, wearing a tight-fitting suit.
He got on his horse and rushed toward the east wall.
Cao Bianjiao and a group of generals also hurriedly rode their horses to follow. They quickly arrived at the east Wengcheng tower. They saw a group of bandit knights outside the city cheering and shouting as they galloped. The leader, a bandit captain, held up a There was a wooden pole with Yang Guozhu's bloody head stuck on it.
Sun Chuanting's cold gaze swept across the garrison soldiers on the city top, and saw that everyone had frosty faces, and everyone's eyes contained anger. There was silence on the city top, and everyone looked outside the city, wishing they could The rogue knights outside the city devoured him alive.
"fire!"
Cao Bianjiao shouted loudly: "You can't do it, Governor! Yang Shuai's head is there, he will be accidentally injured!"
"My commander orders, fire!"
"Supervisor!"
Sun Chuanting glared at Cao Bianjiao and roared angrily: "Shuai Yang has sacrificed his life for the country, and he deserves to die! What we living people have to do is kill the enemy and avenge Marshal Yang, do you understand!"
"fire!"
Cao Bianjiao roared, and then strode forward to a loaded Folang machine cannon. The two gunners were very excited and adjusted the angle with all their hands. Cao Bianjiao roared and grabbed the torch, lighting the fuse with his own hands.
The gunners next to the dozen or so cannons around them lit their fuses one after another. In an instant, more than a dozen cannons opened fire one after another, hitting the area near the group of rogue knights. They directly smashed the bones of a dozen people on the spot and broke their muscles, causing them to die on the spot.
The surviving bandit knights fled in panic, and the bandit captain just now also panicked and ran wildly, leaving Yang Guozhu's head directly behind.
Cao Bianjiao saw it clearly and immediately sent hundreds of cavalry out to snatch it. Fortunately, I was watching from a distance
The large group of thieves and knights were very cautious and did not enter the artillery range of the city to fight for it. The soldiers of the Ming army successfully snatched back Yang Guozhu's head.
On that day, Sun Chuanting set up a mourning hall in the pass, carved a corpse out of fine wood, and buried it together with Yang Guozhu's head. All the defenders in the city wore mourning, and then Yang Guozhu was buried in Tongguan Pass.
After today's provocation by the bandits, the morale of the Ming army in Tongguan was not suppressed, but was extremely high. As the saying goes, a sad army will win. Almost all Ming soldiers were filled with grief and indignation. For the hundreds of thousands of bandits outside the city, Under the siege, the fear in the hearts of the soldiers was gone, replaced by deep hatred.
When Li Zicheng heard that Yang Guozhu's head was missing, he immediately ordered that the captain who went to select him be beheaded, and the rest of the Xiaoqi who escaped were also beheaded.
In the large tent of the Chinese army, the generals of the middle camp, including Yuan Zongdi, Li Dingguo, Ai Nengqi, Li Yan, Niu Jinxing, Gu Junen, Song Xiance, and Liu Zongmin, gathered together.
At this time, Li Zicheng said angrily: "With the loss of Yang Guozhu's head, not only has the morale of Sun Chuanting's tribe not been affected, but it has also been inflated by resentment. Everyone, tell me, how will we fight this battle?"
Yuan Zongdi glanced at Li Dingguo, and then said angrily: "Let General Li talk about this matter. He has many ideas and should have a solution."
Li Dingguo's face did not change, his eyes did not squint, and he did not speak.
Li Dingguo said: "In the face of a powerful enemy, you should still focus on the war. Don't say anything that hurts harmony, and don't do anything that hurts harmony!"
Yuan Zongdi smiled and stopped talking.
Li Yan on the side sighed and said: "In this battle, the camp
Sixty thousand horses and horses were lost, including four thousand armored soldiers alone. The right battalion also lost at least 3,000 knights and 10,000 infantry. Not to mention the firearms battalion, it is basically in ruins. Three thousand of the eight thousand gunmen were lost, and only more than three thousand of the ten thousand spearmen were left. Most of the infantry was lost, and only more than ten thousand were recovered. people. As for the two hundred artillery pieces, after being damaged by the army, only more than 130 can be repaired and used again. "
"In addition, Liu Tichun was seriously injured. Although doctors were treating him at this time, his vitality was also damaged and he will need to rest for at least a month or two."
After Li Yan reported the damage, he sighed: "This time our army seems to have strong troops in each battalion, but the preparations for attacking the city and the territory are actually not sufficient. Like King Chuang, we all thought that Liu Yan's troops were far away in Shandong. However, Yang Guozhu, Cao Bianjiao, and Sun Chuanting were not good people. Although the officers and soldiers under their command were not as good as the Shandong New Army, they were not as good as the Shandong New Army. It is also a first-class strong army. If our rebel battalions confront it, even if we win, we will have to pay a huge price!"
"So the students believe that in order to capture Tongguan and defeat Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao's tribe, our rebel army must not continue to attack by force. Otherwise, even if Tongguan is captured, the rebel battalions will suffer heavy casualties, which will be very detrimental to the subsequent expansion of the rebel territory. "
Liu Zongmin laughed and said: "Haha, for his grandma, this won't work and that won't work. Sir, let me tell you how to fight this battle?"
Li Zicheng said: "Sir, if you have any plans, please tell me."
Li Yan said: "For today's
The best way is to lure Sun Chuanting out of seclusion. "
Song Xiance laughed and said, "Sun Chuanting is an outstanding person. The current war situation is not good for him. Will he get out of seclusion?"
Niu Jinxing also kept laughing, while Gu Junen was the only one who remained silent.
Li Yan said: "Previously, the Ming Dynasty mobilized large armies one after another to fight the Battle of Jinzhou and the Battle of Kaifeng, and then rewarded the armies of various towns that returned triumphantly from Liaodong. I heard that Liu Yan, together with the chief military officers of each town, gave him a huge reward. Go back. So I conclude that the Ming court now has no money and no food and grass. In the current battle of Tongguan, the Ming court can no longer hold on for long!"
Li Zicheng's eyes suddenly brightened up and he said: "Okay! What you said makes sense. In this case, each battalion will continue to be stationed in various places. The right battalion also returned to Shanxi to manage the strategy and invaded Datong Town and Shanxi Town. Only the middle camp was left. The camp and the firearms camp were at Tongguan to besiege the city."
"I want to see how long Ming Ting can hold on!"
Niu Jinxing said: "The Ming court is having a hard time, and so is our rebel army. A million-strong army consumes a huge amount of money and food. If we delay, our rebel army will also have a hard time."
Li Yan said with a smile: "Fortunately, the lords, gentry, and powerful men in various places have a lot of money and food in their hands. King Chuang can order to collect money and food from these people, and then distribute the land to the people everywhere for farming, and then select strong men from the households. Ding is organized into each battalion, stabilizing the place while expanding the army to prepare for war. In this way, the world can be settled!"
Li Dingguo nodded frequently when he heard this and said to himself: "This is the strategy for conquering the world. Mr. Li Yan is indeed a great talent!"
Li Zicheng said: "Well, what Mr. said is true, and it should be so."
More than ten days later, Sun Chuanting and Cao Bian
The Jiao tribe was besieged in Tongguan, Wang Pu and Li Fuming withdrew to the military town without permission, Ma Ke and Tang Tong were still lingering in Beizhili and refused to go south, Chen Yongfu surrendered, Gao Mingheng was executed by Li Zicheng, Yang Guozhu and the soldiers of Xuanfu Town were all killed in battle, etc. Waiting, various news gradually reached the capital and reached Jinan Fucheng.
After hearing the news, Hong Chengchou showed a rare look of panic. He hurriedly found Chen Xinjia and ordered him, in the name of the Ministry of War, to strictly order Wang Pu, Li Fuming, Ma Ke, and Tang Tong to arrive at Tongguan within one month, otherwise they would be punished for disobedience. !
Chen Xinjia smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Ge, I have sent people to send them two copies of such an order, but no one paid attention to it. Since the last time Liu Yan led a riot outside Deshengmen, these general soldiers The officers no longer take the orders of the Ministry of War seriously, they only think about how to preserve their strength, and only the soldiers and horses in their hands are in their eyes!"
Hong Chengchou sighed and said, "How could the state affairs be so corrupted?"
"Mr. Ge, the most important thing right now is to advise Your Majesty to immediately mobilize Liu Yan's troops to help Tongguan. If Tongguan is lost and Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao's tribe are defeated, then the entire Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi are destined to fall!"
Hong Chengchou smiled bitterly and said, "How could your Majesty agree?"
"Now you and I have no choice but to do our best and obey fate. Let's go to the palace to face the saint!"
In Jinan Fucheng, Liu Yan was sitting alone in the main hall, constantly recalling all the events on the battlefield in Liaodong in his mind. Back then, Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, Li Fuming and others gathered around Liu Yan. They all fought side by side and formed a strong bond. comradeship.
But today, things have changed, and even Yang Guo
Zhu also died in the battle, and Liu Yan couldn't help feeling sad.
At this time, Miao Shao came in and said, "Master Governor, the mourning hall is ready. Governor can go over and pay homage."
Liu Yan nodded and went with Miao Shao to the backyard of the Governor's Mansion. A mourning hall had been set up in a courtyard here. Yang Guozhu's tablet and the general tablet of the Xuanfu Town soldiers were enshrined here.
Liu Yan respectfully offered incense and burned paper to Yang Guozhu and the Xuanfu Town soldiers, and then said in a deep voice: "Send a team to Xuanfu Town and deliver 100,000 silver coins to Yang Shuai's family. In addition, tell Yang Shuai's family that if If your life is not satisfactory, you can come to Shandong and I, Liu Yan, will support you for life!"
"The draft uploaded on the 24th, I heard that little Japan is sending nuclear wastewater into the sea. These scumbags are eating people's food and not doing anything for others. They should drop a few high-yield hydrogen bombs there and purify the little book!"
