Dingzhou City.
Liu Yan was walking on the city wall of Dingzhou wearing armor. Behind him, Xu Ming, Miao Shao, Chen Xun, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Shen Tuo, Qian Qian, Tian Zhenbei, and Wang Yue were also fully armored. They followed Liu Yan on the city wall. Patrolling the city walls for defense.
Now Liu Yan has decided on the strategy of "holding Dingzhou and fighting the enemy decisively". The battalions of the New Army and the garrison took Dingzhou City as the core and completed the overall defense in two days.
According to the strategy formulated by Liu Yan, Dingzhou City was backed by the Qishui River, and the east city wall was less than two miles away from the west bank of the Qishui River. The bandit army could not spread out to the east at all.
Therefore, Liu Yan deployed the Guard Battalion in Dingzhou City, focusing on the south, west, and north for defense, and only deployed the heavy troops of the Guard Battalion on the east side for defense and warning.
The troops of the three divisions of the Guards Battalion defended the city defenses on the south, west and north sides respectively.
Outside the city, Liu Yan deployed the front camp in the north of the city, the rear camp in the south of the city, and the middle camp in the west of the city. The New Army cavalry battalion and the New Army left and right battalions served as counterattack forces and were temporarily on standby in the city.
The sixth battalion of the garrison was also placed in the city as a reserve force and was responsible for supporting various aspects of Dingzhou city defense.
As for the New Army artillery battalion led by Qian Qian, it was deployed to the west of Dingzhou City. Xingtang County was to the west of Dingzhou. Liu Yan concluded that the west would be the main attack direction of the bandit army.
However, in order to strengthen the firepower in the north and south of Dingzhou, Liu Yan ordered Qian Qian to separate part of the captured artillery from the bandit firearms camp, and deployed fifty artillery pieces on the north and south walls of Dingzhou, and from the New Army artillery camp Some gunners were deployed on both sides.
During these two days, Liu Yan also ordered the magistrate of Dingzhou to recruit a large number of civilians.
In fact, more than 10,000 strong men and women were recruited from Dingzhou City and all of them were dragged outside the city to build field fortifications.
The field fortifications outside Dingzhou City are also the same as the original defense line at Hongluoshan. From outside to inside, they are horse-proofing, trenches with sharp wooden stakes, and low walls. Due to time constraints, Liu Yan estimated that Li Zicheng only had three days left for him. It had only been five days, so only two lines of defense outside the city were built, surrounding the south, west and north of Dingzhou City.
Coupled with the firepower on the Dingzhou city wall, this constitutes a complete three-dimensional cross firepower. Liu Yan is confident that with the 100,000 soldiers of the new army and garrison, Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops will shed all their blood under the city!
Although there were only two days, Liu Yan gave all the men who participated in the construction of the fortifications five kilograms of rations per day, and the strong women three kilograms per day. These did not include meals for two days.
In today's world, even Dingzhou City, located in North Zhili, has been out of food for several months. The people in the city have already begun to eat wild vegetables and dig voles, although Liu Yan only gave each person a few days a day. Jin of grain, but for these people, it is also very tempting. They work hard without stopping, for fear that they will not get the promised grain.
Two days later, the defense line outside Dingzhou City was completed, and Liu Yan fulfilled his promise and distributed a large amount of food.
Because Liu Yan's army gave up a large amount of property in Huolu County, but all the food was carried in the army, so the army's food and grass can still last for several months at this time, and there is no need to worry about food for the time being.
"Look, Mr. Ge, although the defense line outside the city is not as sharp as the Hongluo Mountain defense line in Liaodong, it is still enough to withstand hundreds of thousands of bandits.
The army is attacking! "
Chen Xun looked at the two winding trenches and low wall defenses outside the city. He couldn't help but think of the scene when he defended Hongluo Mountain, and he immediately sighed with emotion.
Liu Yan said: "That's true, but this line of defense in Dingzhou is enough. Our army successively defeated several battalions of the bandits and hundreds of thousands of troops, especially the firearms camp of the bandits. With all the hundreds of artillery captured, Li Zicheng has no chance of winning, so this line of defense is completely sufficient!"
Shen Tuo suddenly said: "Mr. Ge, what if Li Zicheng knows that he is outmatched and leads his troops to withdraw directly?"
Liu Yan said: "Don't worry, even though Li Zicheng has hundreds of thousands of troops and looks majestic, in fact Li Zicheng has entered a desperate situation."
Everyone was surprised when they heard this. Even Li Zicheng suffered consecutive defeats, but he was still far from a desperate situation, right?
Liu Yan explained: "Li Zicheng wants to withdraw his troops, where can he withdraw to? Now Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi are all covered with red land and mourning. Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of thousands of family members have withdrawn. There is no need to lead an army to cover up the killing, the famine and natural disasters there alone are enough to completely defeat Li Zicheng."
"Rob?"
Liu Yan sneered and said: "Li Zicheng, don't expect to survive by grabbing things like before. Now in the northwest provinces, everyone has nothing to live on. Li Zicheng has no way to survive except cannibalism! So now In fact, there is only one path left in front of Li Zicheng: to lead his army to Dingzhou obediently. As long as he defeats our army, Li Zicheng can revitalize the overall situation!"
Then Liu Yan looked
Looking at his subordinates, he asked loudly: "But the question is, can Li Zicheng defeat our army!"
"cannot!"
Everyone roared loudly and wanted to defeat the new army? joke! No one in this world has such fighting power!
On this day, the right-hand officers of the New Army cavalry battalion who were sent to escort the prisoners of Li Dingguo and Ainengqi also contacted Ye Bushou on the periphery. General Lu Yuan led his troops to Dingzhou City. At this point, Liu Yan All the troops who led the march south gathered in Dingzhou City to set up defenses.
One day later, Liu Yan received urgent reports from various camps one after another: an army of bandits appeared in the west of Dingzhou City!
At this time, all the battalion commanders were in place, and the soldiers of each battalion also entered their respective defense areas to set up defenses. Only Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Tian Zhenbei, Wang Bo, and Zhang Yi were deployed in the city, and a few of them did not leave the city. garrison.
Liu Yan then led a few people to climb the west wall of Dingzhou City. They saw smoke and dust billowing in the wilderness to the west. Countless flags appeared between the sky and the earth to the west, covering the sky and the sun. The military formations to the west also It's vast and seemingly endless.
Miao Shao sneered and said: "Li Zicheng has never won a battle with us, but he has never lost in battle. It's really not easy!"
Everyone laughed one after another, not paying attention to the hundreds of thousands of thieves who were killed.
Liu Yan also smiled. Although he had assembled all his troops and was ready, it did not mean that he was afraid of Li Zicheng's troops. He just did what the great men of later generations said: despise the enemy strategically and pay attention to the enemy tactically. ,that is it!
"Instruct all ministries to prepare for battle!"
Liu Yan pointed to the Xicheng Tower and said, "I will take command here."
Fight, let the soldiers of each battalion cheer up, let's let Li Zicheng fall into the sand under the Dingzhou City! "
"yes!"
Immediately afterwards, dozens of war drums on the walls of Dingzhou rumbled, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers inside and outside the city roared in unison, and the shouts of "Ten Thousand Victories" resounded throughout the world.
At this time, several miles away to the west of Dingzhou City, Li Zicheng looked at the city in the distance with a complicated expression. The roars of the new army and garrison soldiers over there, as well as the roar of war drums in the city, could be vaguely heard, which made Li Zicheng feel a little touched. Shocked, I couldn't help but feel a little hesitation in my heart.
After Li Zicheng died, the old camp Quan general Tian Jianxiu, the middle camp Quan general Liu Zongmin, the system general He Jin, the former Guoyi general Ren Jirong, the consequences general Wu Ruyi, the left camp system general Liu Fangliang, the left Guoyi general Ma Shiyao, the right Weiwei general Liu Rukui, Li Jin, the mighty general of the left, all looked solemn.
On the side, Wu Sangui, the general of the left camp of the new army of pirates, Xia Guoxiang and Wang Pu, the generals of Zuo Guoyi, Wang Pingfan, Li Fuming, and Ma Bao, the generals of right Guoyi, Chen Yongfu, the general of the right camp of the new army of pirates, and Chen De, the general of Zuo Guoyi, They also said nothing. Not only did everyone look solemn, but their hearts were also very tangled and complicated.
Among the people, except Ma Bao, everyone else had fought alongside Liu Yan. Wu Sangui and others from Zuoying fought together with Liu Yan on the battlefield in Liaodong, while Chen Yongfu and his son were in Kaifeng City, but they fought against the bandit army together.
But now, everyone has to meet Liu Yan with swords and fight to the death. This is something that no one expected in their dreams, and they are unwilling to face it no matter what. It is not because of their friendship with Liu Yan, but because Liu Yan is too capable. beated!
in li
Next to Zicheng, Hong Chengchou, Li Yan, Gu Junen, Niu Jinxing, and Song Xiance remained silent. They finally faced Liu Yan's army, but at this time, neither Hong Chengchou nor Li Yan had much confidence in their hearts. , what everyone was thinking about was how to severely damage Liu Yan's tribe, and how to force Liu Yan to take the initiative to lead his troops to withdraw, so that everyone could have room for maneuver.
As for the defeat of Liu Yan's tribe in the first battle, or even the complete annihilation of Liu Yan's 100,000 troops in Dingzhou, no one from Li Zicheng to ordinary bandit soldiers would have thought about such a thing. At most, it would be done during military discussions. Just for fun.
"The morale of Liu Yan's troops is strong. Our Dashun army arrived at Dingzhou City today. We should not attack the city immediately. We should build camps at a distance first, and wait until the soldiers of each battalion recover their physical strength, and then divide our troops to attack!"
After everyone was silent for a while, Hong Chengchou spoke first and immediately won unanimous approval from everyone, including Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance.
Li Zicheng nodded and said: "The army is camped ten miles west of Dingzhou City."
This means that the bandit battalions have to retreat a few miles, which shows Li Zicheng's cautious attitude at this time.
Then Li Zicheng added: "The soldiers of each battalion must form a stronghold, and the distance between the battalions should not be too far, so as not to be attacked by Liu Yan's troops. Scouts from each battalion were immediately sent out to monitor Liu Yan's troops in Dingzhou City, and if there was any movement , report to Gu immediately!"
"yes!"
As a blast of horns sounded, hundreds of thousands of troops from each battalion of bandits began to retreat slowly.
On top of Dingzhou City, Liu Yan and others were watching with telescopes, and saw that Li Zicheng's army did not attack the city immediately, but retreated.
, are all a little disappointed.
Liu Yan said with a smile: "It seems that we have hurt Li Zicheng. Now Li Zicheng also knows to fight slowly and steadily, instead of rushing forward with the crowd."
Chen Xun said: "It seems that this battle is going to be a protracted one!"
"So much the better!"
Liu Yan said: "The money and food from Shandong and the capital can be transported directly to Dingzhou City through the Qishui River. The bandit army cannot threaten the east bank of the Qishui River. Our army's food roads are smooth and we can afford it. But Li Zicheng cannot It’s the same, if you delay it any longer, I’ll see where he can conjure food for millions of people!”
