There were more officers and soldiers patrolling Yanshi City. Although they still did not disturb the people as before, there was a faint tense atmosphere. The people in the city were afraid and hated these officers and soldiers, but they were not disgusted.
After all, in this era, officers and soldiers who do not disturb the people are still extremely rare. Just because they are rare, they have become the patron saints that people everywhere eagerly pray for, and Zhang Cheng's army is exactly like this.
Not only do they have excellent armor and weapons, but they are also highly disciplined. They have not disturbed the people since they entered the city. If you don't consider the matter of releasing food, they are actually more popular than the thieves under the command of King Chuang Li Zicheng.
The area around the county government office was also heavily guarded, with cavalry galloping back and forth delivering the latest information, while the generals gathered in the lobby to hold a military meeting.
"How was Luoyang broken? Chen Zhong, you can figure it out!"
Wang Yuanjing was quite surprised by this. He had always thought that due to the strong city of Luoyang, the large number of people in the city, and the inexhaustible use of bricks and wood for the houses, even if hundreds of thousands of thieves were besieging them, they would be able to hold on for several months. Will he be trapped in the next few days?
"The city of Luoyang fell because the deputy generals Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai surrendered to the thieves and opened the north gate at night, so Luoyang fell into the hands of the thieves."
After hearing what Chen Zhong said, everyone became interested and inquired about the details of the fall of Luoyang City. Although Zhang Cheng knew in his heart that Luoyang could not hold on, he did not know much about the details of the fall of Luoyang City.
Seeing that all the generals were very concerned, he asked Chen Zhong: "Have your spies found out the exact details of the fall of Luoyang City and why Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai surrendered to the traitors?"
Chen Zhong took a sip of water before replying: "Brothers captured some bandits and asked for some information. However, we did not capture important figures among the bandits, and the information obtained was not very comprehensive and accurate.
Now some brothers have entered Luoyang City among the hungry people and bandits. The specific information will be more detailed and accurate in the next few days. "
He then sat down and detailed the information returned from the sentry investigation.
It turned out that when the bandits first besieged Luoyang, the officers and soldiers stationed at Qilihe Military House outside the city were unable to retreat and were besieged by the bandits. A message asking for help was sent to the city. The commander-in-chief, Wang Shaoyu, was afraid of the bandits' power and delayed in rescuing them.
But those who were besieged happened to be the officers and soldiers of the deputy generals Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai. They begged the commander-in-chief Wang Shaoyu every day to send troops for rescue, but he refused with various reasons. Although they were extremely anxious, there was nothing they could do, so they had to He scolded Wang Shaoyu for being ruthless and unjust.
Because among the besieged officers and soldiers, many relatives and brothers from the official schools were guarding the city in the camp of Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai. They could not bear the suffering of their relatives and brothers outside the city, so they forced Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai to go to the rescue.
Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai were also worried about triggering a mutiny, so in the end they had to privately open the east gate of Luoyang after the third watch the day before yesterday, rush out of the city and go around Luohe River to the west, and finally met up with the defenders of Qilihe Military House at dawn.
Helplessly surrounded by more than ten thousand thieves, Liu and Luo led their troops to rush left and right, but they were unable to escape. Instead, the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties. As a last resort, they surrendered to the intruders.
The intruder Li Zicheng warmly entertained Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai, and he was named a general at that time. At the third watch after dark, the two of them went to the north gate of Luoyang to shout to persuade them to surrender.
This north gate was originally led by Wang Shaoyu and was responsible for garrisoning it, but there were more than a hundred of his soldiers who were Liu Jianyi's subordinates. They were usually dissatisfied with Wang Shaoyu for often withholding pay and beating and scolding him.
At this moment, hearing Liu Jianyi yelling at the commander-in-chief Wang Shaoyu outside the city for being ruthless and unjust, and refusing to save him even more aroused the resentment in his heart. They privately agreed to leave Luoyang to join the bandits.
It happened that Wang Yinchang of Bingbei Dao led people to inspect the defense of the north gate. This group of Wang Shaoyu's soldiers thought that the matter was exposed and Wang Yinchang led people to arrest them. At that time, they kidnapped Wang Yinchang and opened the north gate of Luoyang with fire as a signal. and the urn gate, and burned the tower of the north gate.
When Wang Shaoyu saw the fire at the north gate, he thought it was thieves attacking the city at night, so he hurriedly brought people to check. It was not until he was in front of the city gate that he realized that the rebels wanted to surrender the city to the thieves, but the city gate was already open and the thieves were about to enter the city. .
He had no time to suppress him, so he hurriedly changed the clothes of the officers and soldiers with the support of his own soldiers, and took advantage of the chaos when Luoyang first fell to run to the east gate and escape out of the city.
Zhang Guodong listened to Chen Zhong's words, struck the case with his palm, and said angrily: "This Wang Shaoyu is really confused. He knew that Liu and Luo were traitors, so why didn't he adjust the defense in Luoyang City and actually sent them outside the city to deceive the soldiers' morale. "
"Not only is he confused, he is just a fucking bastard!" Zhang Guangda was also in a bad mood.
Wang Yuanjing said at this time: "It's a good thing that my army has not entered Luoyang City yet, otherwise we would have been trapped in Luoyang by the bastard Wang Shaoyu and the two thieves Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai."
"snort!"
Zhang Cheng said in a deep voice: "If my army entered Luoyang City, how could we sit back and watch the friendly forces not save us? How could we let those two thieves Liu and Luo take over Luoyang City!"
His eyes were shining brightly, he scanned the generals in the hall, and said loudly: "This commander once said that all the troops under my command must keep one principle in mind: if they lose, they will fight to the death to save each other; if they win, they will toast together!
If your friendly forces are in danger, you will not save them. When your own country is in danger in the future, who will come to rescue you? Saving others is also saving yourself! You must remember it, keep it in mind. "
"The final general must bear in mind the commander-in-chief's teachings."
Zhang Cheng looked at Chen Zhong again and said, "Do you have control over the movements of other parties? How is Kaifeng doing now?"
"Commander, Governor Li Xianfeng and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Chen Yongfu's troops set out from Kaifeng to rescue Luoyang. They have already crossed the Sishui River and are expected to reach Gong County today.
In addition, there was news from Liu Jinhai that Li Jiyu's troops had selected 3,500 young men, together with nearly 100,000 people from Dengfeng and Mi County, who had passed through Xushui Town and were heading to Sun Yat-sen. Prepare to cross the Yellow River at home ferry. "
Zhang Cheng nodded and said to Chen Zhong: "Pass my message to Liu Jinhai. These hundreds of thousands of hungry people are passing through various prefectures. He must take my posts and letters and greet the various officials in advance. Don't To cause panic in the places passing by, causing unnecessary chaos.
In addition, it is also a good idea to take good care of the hungry people, and don't let the treacherous people inside cause trouble. The movement of hundreds of thousands of people, if not careful, will lead to disaster.
We have never done this kind of thing before and have no experience. However, we must be careful everywhere and try our best to do things as carefully as possible. We must prepare food in advance where we will stay. We can neither feed these hungry people nor make them wait. Too hungry and tired, lost the strength to walk! "
"Yes, Commander, don't worry, Chen Zhong has memorized everything!"
Zhang Cheng then said to the generals: "Luoyang City has fallen into the hands of thieves, so our army is no longer in a hurry to rush to Luoyang City. We will stay in Yanshi County for the time being. We will first observe the movements of the thieves and then decide where to go."
He added: "Yuan Jing, you rebelled against Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai and surrendered to the thieves. Wang Shaoyu withheld their wages and caused a mutiny. As a result, Luoyang fell into the hands of thieves. We can't rescue you. Please write a letter and send someone to report it to Yu." Provincial Governor Li Xianfeng.
Draft a memorandum of apology for me and report it to the capital urgently. I am unable to rescue Luoyang in time, so I am asking for punishment! "
