Nanyang is an important military town in southwest Henan. Its city wall is extremely high and thick. Not far to the south is the Baihe River, which forms a natural barrier. There are moats on all sides of Nanyang City, which are filled with water all year round. Got water.
In addition, outside the four gates of Nanyang City, there are many connected Tucheng, which were originally gathering places for merchants from far and near, but are now filled with people who have fled from surrounding states and counties.
There is an atmosphere full of war surrounding Nanyang City now. All the city gates are still closed even during the day. Only the west gate insists on being open for a few hours every day, and only half of the door is opened to prevent people who go out to chop wood. Able to return to the city.
There is a group of soldiers guarding the urn at the west gate. They can retract the suspension bridge outside the urn at any time, close the urn gate, and then quickly close the west gate.
And piles of sandbags were piled inside the urn gate. Once there were police outside the city, after the city gate was closed inside, they not only had to use waist bars, but also used sandbags to completely block the city gate.
In this way, let alone using manpower to break open the urn city gate, even using siege equipment such as battering rams and rams, it would be difficult to break through the city gate.
What's more, the main city gate behind the Wengcheng Gate is even stronger and is also blocked inside with sandbags. Even if the rebels break through the Wengcheng Gate, it will be in vain. Rolling logs, stones, firearms, and lime jars are prepared on the city walls on all sides. Waiting for the defense objects, they will naturally try their best to greet them.
No matter it was day or night, there were infantrymen standing guard at every corner of the street, and teams of cavalry were constantly patrolling on horseback.
Every evening, in addition to teams of officers and soldiers going to the city to change defenses, every household also has men and women go to the city to help guard, and the sound of banging is kept going all night long.
On the streets, at crossroads, on the screen walls of various government offices, in front of temples, and in restaurants and restaurants, martial law notices written by the general officers guarding Nanyang were posted everywhere.
As fierce as a tiger, he was originally a Mongolian outside the Great Wall. In the early years of Chongzhen, he and Hu Dawei came from outside the Great Wall to join the Ming Dynasty. The then governor of Yansui renamed them "Two Tiger Generals".
In the third year of Chongzhen's reign, Mengruhu was promoted to garrison for his meritorious service in the great victory of Zunyong. After that, he was promoted to guerrilla, deputy commander-in-chief and chief military officer for his meritorious service in suppressing the rogue bandits.
It was not until the thirteenth year of Chongzhen that Meng Ruhu was deprived of his official position due to an incident and was sent to the border to perform meritorious service and atone for his sins.
But he happened to catch up with Yang Sichang who went to Xiangyang to supervise the army to suppress the bandits. Feeling that there were no generals available in the army, he immediately applied to the court to transfer Meng Ruhu to serve in his army, and promoted Meng Ruhu to the president and Zhang Yingyuan to the vice president, leading the army together. Go to Mianzhou to suppress the bandits.
He was grateful for Yang Sichang's kindness and vowed to repay it with his own life. On the 13th of the first lunar month of this year, he led a small number of troops to intercept the Zhang and Luo coalition forces in Huangling City, Kaixian County, Sichuan. His son Meng Xianjie and his general Liu Shijie and Guo Kai were all killed in the battle, and the entire army was almost wiped out. He himself was rescued only by the desperate efforts of his own generals.
Later, after Yang Sichang committed suicide in Xiangyang City by taking poison, Meng Ruhu led his troops to garrison in De'an and Huangzhou. However, the ulcers on his back recurred and he was temporarily unable to fight, so he retreated to Chengtian Mansion, and soon moved to Chengtian Mansion. After stationing in Nanyang, they caught up with the Chuang Cao coalition to attack.
In the past few days, dozens of spies have been found to have sneaked into the city, and they were all beheaded in front of everyone. Their heads are now hanging on the upper floor of the government office.
According to the previous rules, the heads of these thieves should be hung on the city gate tower, but now the four gates are closed and the people cannot leave the city and cannot enter the city, so the heads are hung on the government office tower. Go up and show it to the people in the city.
This was used to warn the people in the city so that every household in the city would not dare to harbor bad guys. Although the official position of Nanyang magistrate was vacant at this time, the front of the government office was still one of the more prosperous and lively centers in the city.
At this moment, the situation around Nanyang is becoming more and more urgent. In the past few days, an army of bandits has been gathering near Nanyang.
In the east, from Bowang to Xinshanpu, and all the way to the east bank of Baihe River, there are camps set up by bandits everywhere, while in the north, all the way to the foot of Dushan Mountain, there are bands of bandits stationed everywhere.
Their rangers often appear only four or five miles away from Nanyang City, and sometimes they even rush to only two or three miles away from the city for close reconnaissance.
The roads from Nanyang to Dengzhou, Zhenping, Xinye, Tangxian and other places were now cut off by the bandits' cavalry. Fortunately, the ferocious tigers reacted quickly enough, and more than ten cavalrymen escaped at the beginning and dispersed to various places. Ask for reinforcements.
However, the messenger begging for help here successfully broke out from the siege of the bandits, but it was difficult to predict whether reinforcements could be obtained. Even the commander-in-chief, who was as fierce as a tiger, and the deputy general Liu Guangzuo had no confidence at all.
Shortly after yesterday afternoon, suddenly there was a rumor that Zuo Liangyu had a troop that had arrived near Xinye, and Superintendent Ding Qirui also led an army to Dengzhou yesterday.
Now these two groups of officers and soldiers are preparing to come to Nanyang, hoping to have a big battle with the Chuang and Cao bandits here, hoping to defeat the main force of the bandits in one fell swoop and prevent them from wreaking havoc on the land of Zhongzhou again.
However, although this rumor was quite popular among the common people, the officials and gentry in the city were half-convinced about it, especially Fengruhu and Liu Guangzuo.
But now that the soldiers and civilians in the city are besieged by bandits, they are panicking and desperately hope that an army will come to rescue them. Therefore, even though this news may not be true, it can give people unexpected relief and increase their confidence in holding on. .
The garrison commander was as fierce as a tiger and constantly sent out his elite sentries to investigate. According to reports, from Wollongong in the southwest of the city to the bank of the Lian River thirty miles away from the city, no trace of the bandits was found.
Although the local people are spreading rumors that the government troops have indeed arrived in the Dengzhou and Xinye areas and are coming to rescue Nanyang, it is precisely because there are so many government troops that King Li Chuang's troops all retreated to the east of Baihe River, even ten kilometers away from the city. The Dushan area in Bali has also become an empty camp.
However, Meng Ruhu and Liu Guangzuo only increased their doubts and fears. They were both veterans who had fought against bandits for many years, so they naturally knew that their rebellion was not comparable to that of ordinary thieves.
Not only is he strong-willed, he is also very cunning and cunning. He is indeed the most difficult group of thieves to deal with. Especially after he counterattacked and defeated Luoyang, he was well-equipped with troops and food. He even dared to besiege Kaifeng, let alone a Nanyang city. .
Moreover, previous military reports showed that Supervisor Ding Qirui and Commander-in-Chief Zuo Liangyu had been fighting against the Xian bandits in the Guangshan and Huoshan areas. Why did they suddenly come to Dengzhou and Xinye?
What's more, the two thieves who broke into Cao are now camped together, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. Even if Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu really lead tens of thousands of officers and soldiers to help, they may not be able to scare them away.
"When something goes wrong, there must be a monster!" This is what Meng Ruhu said to his deputy general Liu Guangzuo.
And Liu Guangzuo also directly asserted: "There must be fraud in this move!"
But no matter what Feng Ruhu and Liu Guangzuo guessed, there were indeed no bandits in the southwest area of Nanyang City, so during the day, the west gate was opened for a limited time to allow people to go out of the city to collect firewood, and to allow more vegetables and grains outside the city. Transport some into the city.
It is precisely because the west gate of Nanyang can still be opened for a limited time every day that the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city is no longer so low. They almost all believe that the army of Ding Du Division and Zuo Zhen has indeed arrived near Dengzhou and Xinye.
However, the garrison in the city was still very vigilant. They continued to check Dingkou from house to house. They also conducted strict patrols on the streets. They continued to catch thieves and strictly prohibited rumors. They went to the city day and night to garrison unremittingly.
In the view of Meng Ruhu and Liu Guangzuo, although there were no intruders in the west and south of the city, they were increasing unabated on the east bank of the Baihe River. The siege of Nanyang City was destined to be inevitable.
What's more, maybe the two rebels from Chuang Cao are also coming here from Ye County. It's possible that the rebel army is waiting for them to come to command before they start to attack Nanyang from all sides.
…………
Three days after Ye County surrendered to the rebels, Chuang Wang Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai also arrived outside Nanyang City. As soon as he arrived at the military camp, he wrote a letter to Fengruhu, urging him to give up resistance and surrender the city.
But this man, who is as fierce as a tiger, is not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death. Even the "History of the Ming Dynasty" commented that he is "as brave and good at fighting as a tiger, and is as powerful as a tiger." How could he surrender to the bandits?
Li Zicheng also wanted to strengthen the defense of Nanyang City and did not want to harm his soldiers too much. Although he knew that he would not surrender if he was as fierce as a tiger, he still adopted the method of courtesy first and then attacking, and shot a letter into the city to persuade him to surrender.
Therefore, he commanded the bandits to besiege Nanyang City. It was not until three days later that he began to attack the city vigorously.
Just the night before the siege, Liu Tichun and military advisor Song Xiance, who were responsible for entering Ye County to accept the surrender, also came outside Nanyang City. Li Zicheng immediately summoned them after hearing about it.
"General Marshal, only eleven wealthy households with notorious reputations were selected in Ye County. Together with the magistrate Zhang Woyi, they beheaded them on the spot in front of the county government office. The people in the city cheered loudly, saying that King Chuang's army was worthy of benevolence and righteousness. Our division truly has strict military discipline and never makes any mistakes."
Liu Tichun could not hide the excitement on his face, and he continued: "Although we only robbed these eleven wealthy households, if you add in the wealth of the county magistrate Zhang Woyi and the money and food in the county treasury, it is still a huge sum of money." The detailed accounts of the income have been recorded by the military advisor."
Li Zicheng, the King of Chuang, didn't seem to be very interested in these things. He asked straight to the point: "Have you ever found Liu Guoneng's eldest son?"
Liu Tichun's expression changed. Seeing that King Chuang's tone seemed to be unkind, he hurriedly knelt down on the ground, kowtowed and reported back: "Come back to the Generalissimo, the general's incompetence in doing things actually allowed Liu Guoneng's family to take advantage of the chaos and escape from Ye County.
Please punish the generalissimo? "
"Escaped?"
Chuang Wang Li Zicheng's expression changed when he heard this, but he soon returned to his original state. He said warmly: "I once promised Junchen to take care of his sister-in-law and son, and send them mother and son back to their hometown in Yan'an. Now, although I have not kept my promise, I can't. It’s not that I broke my promise, it’s that I had no choice but to do so.”
He then asked: "How could their mother and son escape if they were so weak and helpless?"
For some reason, Liu Tichun became more and more elusive after Li Zicheng captured Luoyang, especially after he claimed to be the "Civil and Military Marshal of Fengtian and Advocating Righteousness". He was not as amiable as before, and always gave people an irresistible feeling of depression.
At this time, he saw that King Chuang's question was filled with some doubts and suspicions. He felt frightened and hurriedly kowtowed and replied: "Come back to the Generalissimo, after the general enters the city, the first thing he does is to find Liu Guoneng's family members." , but there were many officers and soldiers blocking it along the way.
Finally, he arrived at Liu Guoneng's deputy town government office, but there was no one inside. The general quickly went to Liu Guoneng's old department to inquire, but no one knew where he was.
At this moment, someone came to report that hundreds of riders broke through the north gate and fled out of the city. Due to the sudden incident, the soldiers entering the city were unable to stop them and had no choice but to let them leave.
After thinking about it later, I am afraid that Liu Guoneng's personal soldiers and generals were protecting his family members and fled through the door, but they were unable to catch up. This incident was caused by the general's poor arrangement. I specially asked the general to punish the general. "
Li Zicheng originally wanted Liu Tichun to capture his eldest son because both Liu Guoneng and his youngest son died in his army, and he was afraid that if his eldest son was left outside, he might become his mortal enemy in the future. future trouble.
However, perhaps it was God's will that caused the mother and son to escape from Ye County by mistake. Although King Chuang wanted to avoid this future trouble, since he had escaped, it was useless to punish Liu Tichun at this moment.
At that moment, he spoke to him warmly again: "Both his mother and son do not want me to send someone to escort them, or they have misunderstood my meaning, so we can only hope that he can turn the danger into good, and there is no other way.
This is their own choice, what does it have to do with you, and why should they punish you? "
He then smiled and said: "Dejie, get up quickly. Tell me, how are Junchen's old subordinates arranged?"
Only then did Liu Tichun feel relieved. In fact, King Chuang never said that he must capture Liu Guoneng's family members.
But for some reason, it sounded to Liu Tichun that he was asking him to capture her, or even that it would be best to kill the mother and son directly through his hands.
Now that I think about this feeling, I feel chills and trembling with fear. After Liu Tichun stood up, he reported to King Chuang how to arrange Liu Tichun's more than a thousand old troops.
Liu Guoneng originally had more than 2,000 troops, including less than 300 personal soldiers, led by his personal general Liu Sandao.
It was this general Liu Sandao who, under the persuasion of Liu Jinhai, Tielin and others, protected Liu Guoneng's wife and eldest son Liu Shiwen from Ye County together with them.
There were more than a thousand of Liu Guoneng's troops left, most of them were infantry. They did not escape. Except for less than a hundred people who took the Anjia silver and left, almost all the rest joined the invading army, which undoubtedly strengthened the invading army. strength.
Among them, there are more than 200 members of Liu Guoneng's tribe who were recruited by Tong Shoushan, the sentry leader of "Shanziying". As for whether there is anything fishy here, that's not known!
Finally, King Chuang comforted Liu Tichun again, and then ordered him to go back and rest first, slowly coming in a hurry.
After Liu Tichun left, Li Zicheng turned around and looked at military advisor Song Xiance and asked, "Did you really tell him to escape?"
"King Chuang, General Erhu has followed for many years and has always been loyal. Even when the Eighteen Cavalry were trapped in Shangluo Mountain, they never left. Do you still doubt that General Erhu is not successful?" Song Xiance replied.
"Oh. It's not that I doubt him, but how could he escape by such a coincidence?"
