Outside the four walls of Kaifeng, there was a wailing scene. On all sides, hungry people were driven to fill trenches. The corpses of hungry people were already strewn in front of the trenches. Those who were not dead were rolling and crawling on the cold ground, letting out painful screams from time to time.
Thousands of hungry people were distributed on each of the other three sides. Only the Xicheng side had more than 20,000 hungry people. Liu Chengzu also completed three trench fillings under the leadership of Uncle Wu.
He had been holding the bloody cloth bag tightly in his hand. Just after returning from filling the trench for the first time, when he was preparing to load the soil, a hungry man who also lost the cloth bag was stabbed in front of him by the bandit leader. After beheading his head, he learned how to hold onto a cloth bag and lift dirt.
He held a cloth bag under his arm and held two steamed buns in his hand that he had just risked his life to fill in the trench. Although they were cold and hard, he cherished them very much and carefully put the two steamed buns in. The thin clothes were warm under the skin, and he slowly walked towards the camp of hungry people in the distance.
Uncle Wu hurriedly caught up with him and gave him another steamed bun. He said, "Looking at the deep trench, I don't know if we will have to fight again soon. Master, I don't dare not eat steamed buns. I have no strength." If the trench cannot be filled, the young lady and the two children will have nothing to rely on.
One is enough for the old man, give this to the young master, you can eat one for yourself, and share your two buns with the three of them! "
Liu Chengzu's eyes were full of tears, thinking that although his family was in decline and not as good as before, he still wouldn't risk his life for two cold and hard buns.
What's going on in this world?
He asked questions in his mind, but couldn't answer them.
Liu Chengzu also knew that what Uncle Wu said was the truth. He could not fall. If he fell, how would his wife and children survive? With tears in his eyes, he accepted a steamed bun handed over by Uncle Wu without saying a word. He just tried his best to The nodded.
…………
"Master Gao, the traitor is so crazy that he used evil words to trick the hungry people into filling the trench. The trench is about to be filled in. What should we do?" Cao Kunlue, the servant of the Prince of Zhou, said anxiously.
Gao Mingheng continued: "The intruders are just pretending to be benevolent. Look at the hungry people filling the trenches outside the city. They are clearly being driven away with swords and guns. Cao Chengfeng didn't see those hungry people who walked a little slower. They were all slaughtered by the thieves. Is it over?"
Li Yingchun, the chief minister of the left, also said: "How about I take the palace guards out of the city and charge them for a while, so that they can't fill the trenches with peace of mind. How about that!"
Gao Mingheng shook his head and said in a deep voice: "No need. I saw that the intruders came to Kaifeng this time. There were only tens of thousands of thieves. They were clearly not as large as the hundreds of thousands when they besieged Luoyang, and they did not bring any large-scale siege troops." appliance.
As for the ladders and car door panels listed in front of the rebel formation, most of them were made temporarily, which shows that they are not determined to Kaifeng. The Kaifeng city wall is high, thick, and solid, so I asked him to fill it in. Even the trenches could not break Kaifeng City.
As long as the army and the people are of one mind and share the same hatred of the enemy, we only need to hold on to the city for a few days, at most half a month, and we can make them retreat in the face of difficulties. "
As he spoke, he turned to look to the north and said: "What's more, there are Zhang Cheng's border troops from Xuan Town coming to aid from Taojiadian outside the city. It is estimated that it will only take a day or two to come to Kaifeng City's aid. Then There is a strong army outside and a strong city inside, so why fear the tens of thousands of thieves outside the city!"
"What your Excellency said is absolutely true!" Li Yingchun nodded and said.
Cao Kun also looked to the north and said: "The performance of Zhang Cheng in Xuanzhen during the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign as King Qin was very amazing. However, after he rescued Prince Fu's son from Yanshi City, his whereabouts were erratic and his voice was not heard. Why do you suddenly appear in Tao's store now?"
Gu Ta asked: "Could it be that the intruder wanted to raid Kaifeng, and it was all part of his plan?"
Gao Mingheng also had this doubt in his heart. He turned his head outside the west gate and looked at the hungry people filling the trench, and said: "If this is true, the depth of this sincerity is immeasurable!"
Zuo Changshi Li Yingchun said: "No matter what his plan is, if he can really come to Kaifeng in time, drive away the traitors and save His Highness from worry, it will be a great contribution to protecting the city and saving the people. Your Highness will take credit from the court for it."
Gao Mingheng secretly asked himself in his heart: "Will Zhang Cheng really come to save Kaifeng, or will he wait until the veterans of the bandit division are tired before he comes to pick peaches?"
…………
In Zhang Cheng's army camp in Taojiadian in the north of Kaifeng City, it's already time for dinner. Today, the soldiers still have meat. Some of them are purchased locally in Taojiadian, but most of them are purchased from Yuanwu and Yangwu counties on the north bank and transported across the river. Come.
In Zhang Cheng's Chinese army tent, two large tables were placed side by side at the top. Zhang Cheng and Chen Jiugao were sitting behind them respectively. On the tables were steamed meat, barbecued meat, a few side dishes, and a pot of warm wine.
At the bottom of the left are Zhang Cheng's subordinates Wei Zhice, Zhang Guodong, Zhang Guangda, Lin Fangping, Wang Tieren, Chen Dakuan, Jin Yong and other infantry and cavalry generals. There are also three thousand generals in the carriage camp, namely Du Chungang, the general on the left side of the carriage, and Du Chungang, the general commander on the right side of the carriage. The whole body of the chariot is always facing gold, and the middle part of the chariot is always facing gold.
Sitting at the bottom on the right were two guerrilla generals and four thousand generals from Chen Jiugao's capital camp, as well as Su Zhuang, the defender, who also placed a table next to Zhang Cheng and sat in the back.
Zhang Cheng originally wanted to ask Chen Jiugao to sit in the middle, but although Chen Jiugao is a dandy and has a good face, he also knows the rules and the depth. It is polite for Zhang Cheng to give in. It would be wrong for him to really sit in the middle. After his efforts, Zhang Cheng sat in the middle, while he and Su Zhuang sat on both sides.
But because there were no three major cases, Su Zhuang's case list was slightly smaller and seemed extremely disharmonious. Although Su Zhuang didn't say much, he secretly held a grudge in his heart.
Outside the military tent, Zhang Chengfang and Zhang Jintai led the boy scouts to guard and guard. Inside the military tent, Lin Fangping stood up and introduced the intelligence of the bandits.
"There were more than 30,000 troops in the invasion force, including about 3,000 horse thieves, and the rest were foot thieves. They traveled a long distance to attack Kaifeng, and they did not carry much military resources. Although they could not get a close look at their old camp and stronghold, they could still observe it from a distance. Find out a thing or two.
Although the thieves besieged the city on all sides, their main attack direction should be towards the west gate. Today, the thieves only drove hungry people to fill the ditch outside the city, but did not attack the city. According to the detection of the sentries, only the eastern ditch has not been filled in at all, and the other three sides have basically not been filled. All have been filled in.
It is estimated that the intruders will officially begin to attack Kaifeng Fucheng tomorrow. "
Su Zhuang interrupted at this time: "Zhang Shuai and Chen Shuai, if we don't send troops to rescue Kaifeng in time, if we disturb the feudal vassal, I'm afraid His Highness the King of Zhou will blame us!"
Zhang Cheng smiled and said: "Master Su, please be patient. Our army has already gathered here and will ensure that Kaifeng is safe and His Royal Highness the King of Zhou is safe."
He then turned to Lin Fangping and asked: "Lin Fangping, who is commanding the rebel armies on all sides outside Kaifeng City, and how many troops each has? Can anyone find out?"
