Baoding Prefecture is known as "controlling three passes in the north, nine provinces in the south, an important area in Jifu, and Nanpinghan in the capital". The name Baoding means "defend the capital and stabilize the world", and it has always been the "important place in the capital" and the "southern gate of the capital".
Nowadays, the South Gate is under heavy siege. In half a month, Li Zicheng's bandits swept through all the counties of Baoding Prefecture. They were surrounded by Shunping, Mancheng, Wangdu, and Gaoyang all fell into the enemy's hands. They are now camping on the other side of the Qingshui River in the south of the city.
This camp is really endless, stretching for more than ten miles. It blocks the sky and the sun and is so majestic that it makes people weak in the knees. It even makes the soldiers who defend the city exhausted from fighting, and the people in the city are even more negative. This can make Shi Kefa very angry. It hurts, and he goes up to the city every day to encourage morale, and goes down to the city to appease the people.
At the same time, reinforcements were urgently sent out. However, as the surrounding prefectures and counties fell into the hands of the thieves, and the entire area within a hundred miles was occupied by the thieves, the spies sent out either returned without success or were killed by snipers, which made him even more angry. Risk, but there is nothing you can do for the moment.
An army of thieves besieged the city, but the morale in the city was low and the people's instability made Shi Kefa extremely anxious. He was only relieved that there were like-minded people in the city who vowed to defend Baoding Mansion until their death.
For example, He Fu, the magistrate of Shao Zongxuan, who was also acquainted with Shao Zongxuan, fought against all opinions and resisted resolutely. He accompanied Shi Kefa every day to encourage the army and the people and consolidate the city's defense. Local squire Zhang Luojun of Baoding also contributed money and efforts, calling on the gentry to donate money and grain to defend their homeland to the death, because they They knew very clearly that if the bandit army broke through the city, they would be the first to bear the brunt of the destruction of their families and lives.
Qingshui River is in the south of Baoding City. It was formerly called Yangcheng River and was the boundary river between Yan and Zhao in ancient times. This section south of the city is also the moat of Baoding City. At this time, there was a confrontation between officials and bandits across the river.
The flag company was hundreds of miles away, and Li Zicheng's military strength was unprecedented. After the defeat in Taiyuan, he gained a lot in the Central Plains this month. His energy recovered, and his ambitions immediately increased. Originally he just went out to rob, but now he is so powerful. It would be better to go directly to the walls of Beijing and have a talk with the emperor, and either divide the world equally, or fight to see who wins and who gets the seat.
At worst, he can clear away his burdens and return to Xi'an with gold, silver and jewelry to continue to dominate.
In the first battle of Taiyuan, he lost all his troops and supplies. In just over a month, he sieged cities in Henan and looted gold and silver. He filled his pockets, replenished his troops, restored morale, and even recovered several injured generals.
The troops are strong, the horses are strong, the food and grass are sufficient, the morale is high, and the people are what they want!
Why don’t I take the opportunity to seize this world! On the south bank of the Qingshui River, Li Zicheng looked at Baoding City in the distance with an unstable expression. Li Guo next to him had an expressionless face.
"Still thinking about that eunuch?" Li Zicheng turned around and glanced at Li Guo: "The Ming court is festering from head to toe. It cannot be done by one person. One eunuch is not worth mentioning." He said with a sneer: "Although the Ming court won a victory It was a small battle, but the overall situation was lost!”
"The child is not thinking about the eunuch. As his father said, he is nothing to mention. The child is thinking about the traitor Li Yan." Li Guo gritted his teeth!
Li Yan's defection in battle made everyone in the rebel army hate him to the bone. Every time Li Zicheng thought about it, the veins on his forehead swelled. He wanted to peel off his skin and cramp, and regretted not listening to Niu Dwarf!
Niu Chaozi was the number one military advisor of the bandit army. He was jealous of Li Yan's talent and romanticism, so he always slandered Li Yan in front of Li Zicheng, saying that he was not a creature of the pond or a person of the same kind, so he had to be killed as soon as possible.
However, Li Zicheng's love for talents was difficult to judge for a while and eventually turned into hatred.
But there is one person who makes Li Zicheng more resentful than Li Yan, and that is Chang Yu! At the beginning of the Battle of Taiyuan, it was thought that Cai Maode and Zhou Yuji were at the helm. In the later stage, it turned out to be a fledgling little eunuch. But it was this little eunuch who beat him from beginning to end, assassinated Li Laiheng, captured generals Li You and Bai Minghe, and captured general Liu Tiren alive. , wounded generals Ren Jirong and Ma Chongxi, defeated his army of hundreds of thousands, and caused countless casualties.
Having not suffered such a disastrous defeat in more than ten years, Li Zicheng felt ashamed and wished he could eat his flesh and drink his blood. But where was this treacherous and insidious dead eunuch at this time?
Whether he was based in Taiyuan or in Dingzhou, Li Zicheng looked westward. A few days ago, his subordinates reported that a Ming army of about 30,000 horses came out of Guguan from the west and went all the way to the northwest. The bandits were unstoppable along the way. , were finally chased outside Dingzhou City by Ren Jirong and Ma Chongxi, who had just defeated Zhending Mansion. The two sides fought a battle. When the rebel army was losing, Luo Hu led the Zhenshan Camp after hearing the news. The two sides were outside Dingzhou City. A fierce battle ensued on the banks of the Tang River, with the north and south facing each other across the river.
The Ming army coming to the west was Zhou Yuji's tribe. Since he was here, the little eunuch should not be far away. Li Zicheng didn't know that at that time, the little eunuch was still far outside the pass and was killing Dorgon.
Seeing Li Guo staring blankly at the western night sky, Li Zicheng sighed: "Want to go?"
"Since Zhou Yuji is here, Li Yan should be here too. Even that extremely cunning castrated dog is most likely hiding behind. I'm afraid that Luo Hu will suffer a loss."
Li Zicheng nodded slightly: "Then you can go tomorrow. As for here," he said, heading straight north of Baoding City: "If he doesn't take action in three days, I will destroy the city!"
"You still have to wait three days?" At this time, Liu Zongmin staggered over with a wine bottle, looking drunk: "I am still anxious to go to the capital to play with Emperor Ming's empress. I heard that the princess is also very tender... ...Why are you still drinking in the north wind here? If you want me to wait three stupid days, let’s do it tonight..."
The wind in the wilderness was strong, and the tent was blown loudly. Chang Yu could not sleep, and he tossed and turned repeatedly when he got out of the tent. It was a little cold outside, but it was much better than outside the customs.
The thousand-man camp was not big, with more than a dozen bonfires around. Several patrols were on duty. His tent was in the middle of the camp. Chen Wangting and other personal guards were stationed around him. When they heard his movements, they all came out and whispered. Called the Governor.
Chang Yu hummed, indicating to everyone not to worry about him, and walked towards the other side of the camp, until he reached the rear area of the servants. Luo Tang was so shocked that he hurried to see him.
"Is there any wine?" Chang Yu asked.
Luo Tang shook his head and said that alcohol was prohibited in the army and there was no personal gain.
Chang Yu said nothing and just stared at him. Luo Tang's eyes averted, and finally he knelt down with a thud: "Forgive me, Mr. Factory."
Forgive me, Chang Yu just came to order some wine. The wine in Luotangzang is the authentic Erguotou from Beijing. This wine is made from the second pot in the middle with the head and tail removed. It is called Erguotou. It is a famous wine in Beijing with a history of 800 years. It is popular. It is spicy and heart-burning, and is favored by soldiers and elites.
I don’t know if this pot is Erguotou from Niulan Mountain. Chang Yu drank it all in one gulp, and then fell asleep, almost unconscious. All the generals under his command were shocked. Jiang Fa lamented to Wuzhong: "Big enemies are waiting all around. How many people in the world can turn wine into singing?"
Wu Zhong rolled his eyes: "Have you heard too many stories about the knight-errant? You talk about it every day. You can blow your mind to the sky just by drinking. I can never pour this kind of wine!" He said and licked it. Lips.
"Don't feel uncomfortable waiting for sin." Fan Jiaqian passed by him and seemed to be talking to himself. Wuzhong took his eyes away from the logistics tent in Luotang in the distance and waved to the general: "Go to bed, go to bed, so good One sip of the wine is so boring, it’s such a waste..."
"Wuzhong, Wuzhong" Jia Waixiong suddenly walked over and whispered: "Let's go to the servant to ask for some wine."
"Begging?" Wu Zhong raised his eyebrows.
"Yes!" Jia Wai Xiong straightened his waist and winked at Wuzhong to signal for action.
Wuzhong also winked at him, and then Jia Waixiong turned his head and saw Hu Ling sneering next to him, and said: "I'm going to bed. Wuzhong, I'm warning you not to come to me for such things that violate military regulations in the future." "Said and ran away like a rabbit.
Wuzhong, what the fuck... Just when I was about to explain, I saw Li Tiezhu walking towards me with a half-smiling smile. He couldn't afford to offend these three people. They were all the confidants of the little eunuch when it came to personal matters, and they were in charge of military discipline when it came to public matters. It was the fault of these three people. In his hands, no one would be given face. Even if his martial arts were invincible, he would not dare to make a mistake. Moreover, two fists could not defeat four hands. If he dared to use force, would Chen Wangting and Jiang Fa be just decorations?
It's better to talk less and sleep more. Hey, the aroma of the wine is so tempting. Wu Zhong returned to the tent in dismay.
