At the beginning of the month, Zhang Cheng was also completely sleepless, so he went outside the tent wearing a cloak and accompanied by Zhang Chengfang and Zhang Jintai. They stood on a high platform and looked to the south.
I could only feel the darkness in front of me, but I couldn't see anything. Zhang Cheng asked in a deep voice: "Is there any news from Zhang Guangda and Lin Fangping?"
Zhang Chengfang replied: "Returning to my father, there is no news yet."
Zhang Cheng nodded and said: "Jin Tai is enough here. You can take people to the car camp to see what is going on with Zhang Guangda and Lin Fangping. Go back as soon as possible!"
Zhang Chengfang accepted the promise and left. Zhang Jintai advised him from the side: "Father, it's cold outside. Let's go back to the military tent and wait for news."
…………
Tong Shoushan led more than a hundred cavalry and bandit troops to follow the general sentry Liu Zongmin back to support the king's camp.
King Chuang's camp was right in front of him. The camp was filled with fire dragons, people were shouting and horses were screaming, and it was already a mess. Some bandits who had just escaped were encountered, but they were all ordered to be killed on the spot by the commander-in-chief Liu Zongmin.
But the words they said before the break lingered in the ears of Tong Shoushan and the others for a long time. Bao Jiqiang, who was holding the line from behind, also rode up to catch up, communicating with Tong Shoushan with his eyes. They were all the same. Worry mixed with surprise.
Bao Jiqiang rode up to Tong Shoushan and said softly: "Master Shan, do you think King Chuang will really be shot?"
"Pooh!"
Tong Shoushan spat out the grass blade he was biting and said in a rough voice: "What the hell is King Chuang? With so many soldiers protecting him, how could he be shot and killed so easily? It's probably just a rumor from the defeated soldiers."
He then added: "However, it is not impossible if he is shot!"
…………
After Liu Zongmin learned about the attack on King Chuang's camp, he just ordered the soldiers to get up and stand by. After all, it was still dark, and he did not dare to act rashly when he did not know the specific situation in King Chuang's camp.
What's more, in the ten years he and King Chuang had been together, King Chuang had been through many disasters and chaos. Even if there was an official army raiding the camp at night, he still believed that King Chuang's nearly 10,000 troops, as well as Liu Fangliang and Gu Ying, Yi Dougu and other troops are camped nearby and can provide support at any time, so it's no big deal.
In addition to ordering the soldiers to get up and stand by, he also sent two cavalry squads of dozens of people to explore the direction of King Chuang's camp and the official and military vehicle camp to the north.
In fact, what he is more worried about now is the government troops in the vehicle formation in the north. Yesterday they showed extremely strong combat effectiveness. If tonight's night attack was intentional, the government troops would do it.
Then they had only two goals, one was to break into the king's camp, and the other was the cavalry under his command. Therefore, he did not dare to act rashly for fear of offending Zhang Cheng.
But after all, Liu Zongmin was a veteran bandit who had been fighting for many years. He still divided his 3,000-man cavalry team into three parts, each with a 1,000-horse team, just in case.
The first reason is that Liu Zongmin led a thousand cavalry team by himself, and Tong Shoushan's hundred cavalry troops were in this wave; secondly, Ren Rongguang and Xie Junyou were appointed to lead a thousand cavalry team each on standby.
But looking from a distance, he could see that there were more and more flames in the King's Camp, threatening to spread throughout the camp. Liu Zongmin was extremely anxious in his heart.
Soon, the sentry sent a report that some bandits broke out from King Chuang's camp. They said that King Chuang had been shot by an officer and his life was in danger. Liu Zongmin could no longer hold on.
He hurriedly ordered Ren Rongguang to lead a cavalry team of thousands to the west gate of King Chuang's camp, and he led a team of one thousand cavalry to the north gate of King Chuang's camp, not only to rescue King Chuang, but also to confirm King Chuang's safety.
After all, the core of their bandit army is King Chuang Li Zicheng. It can be said that as long as King Chuang is there, they are the army. If King Chuang is really shot and killed by the army, then not only the nearly 30,000 troops outside Kaifeng City will immediately Collapse.
Even the hundreds of thousands of troops marching into Funiu Mountain and Xiong'er Mountain will disperse in a hurry. Only King Chuang Li Zicheng is here and using the name of King Chuang can bring them together.
Liu Zongmin could still remain calm at first, but now that the news came that King Chuang was injured or even died in battle, how could he calm down? Although he estimated that it was unlikely that King Chuang would be shot to death, even if he was shot. The injury was enough to destroy the morale of the army, so he had to go and see how it was going!
…………
The closer he got to King Chuang's camp, the more confident Liu Zongmin became. There were shouts of killing in King Chuang's camp, there were fires everywhere, and he didn't know how many officers and soldiers had broken into the camp.
He successively intercepted two rebel soldiers who broke up the camp and escaped, and all they answered were "King Chuang is dead" and "King Chuang was shot to death by the army."
Although he had killed all these traitors, he was even more anxious. In addition to leaving fifty cavalry to guard the north gate to prevent the traitors from escaping, he led the rest of the cavalry and rode into the camp to search for them. Officers and soldiers.
He galloped hundreds of steps without finding any trace of the official army, but the panicked bandits mistakenly thought they were the official cavalry attacking the camp, and a burst of arrows were fired at them.
Although the soldiers of these cavalry teams were not shot, the horses were shot dead and more than ten horses were injured in vain. When he suddenly saw Bai Wang galloping on his horse, Liu Zongmin immediately grabbed him and asked urgently: "Bai Wang, how about King Chuang?"
Bai Wang's body was covered in blood and dust. He also saw Liu Zongmin at the same time and replied hurriedly: "Master, the arrow in King Chuang's left eye has been returned to the tent. His life is safe!"
Liu Zongmin felt a little relieved after hearing this, and asked again: "Where are the officers and soldiers going?"
"They were coming north just now, and now they are heading towards the west gate. They are all cavalry, so it is not easy to intercept them."
Liu Zongmin shouted: "Divide into three groups, go to the west gate, chase and intercept the army, kill one horse, and reward you with ten taels of silver!"
…………
Lin Fangping also got up at the fourth watch and led his three hundred tiger guards to wait near the city wall to the south of Wei Zhice's chariot formation.
He was ordered to meet Chen Yongfu's cavalry here, because Zhang Cheng had calculated that the west gate of Kaifeng would be difficult to open for a while. If Chen Yongfu got the information, he could rush north along the west wall of Kaifeng and enter the city safely through the north gate.
If Chen Yongfu fails to receive a message from Chen Zhong, then Lin Fangping, Su Laohu, Mo Rigen and others can wait for an opportunity to respond. What Zhang Cheng fears most is that Chen Yongfu's troops will be trapped in Xiguan by thieves.
At that time, he had been fighting in the bandit camp for half a night. He must have been exhausted and unable to fight anymore. Moreover, the west gate was heavily blocked by bags of earth and stones and could not be opened immediately.
In this way, Chen Yongfu's troops may be surrounded and annihilated in Xiguan by the bandits. Even if they stick to the wall from the south or north, they will be attacked by the bandits and suffer heavy losses.
At about midnight, Lin Fangping saw the flash of fire near Xiguan of Kaifeng City, but because it was not yet dawn, he did not dare to rush forward rashly, lest the two sides misunderstand and start a massacre among his own people.
After a while, a piece of white fish belly appeared in the east, and Lin Fangping shouted loudly: "All the troops mount their horses, hold up their torches, and head north. Let's rescue Mr. Chen and others and go home!"
