In the battle of Zhuxian Town, Li Zicheng won a complete victory.
Luo Rucai was also killed by him, and three to four hundred thousand elite troops were annexed by him.
From then on, there was no Ming army in the Central Plains that could compete.
For the first time in his life, Li Zicheng felt that the world was so close to him.
Kaifeng!
As long as Kaifeng is captured, it will open the passage to the north, and we can go straight to the capital, kill the Zhu family emperor, and avenge the death of his parents and relatives.
In May, just as Hong Chengchou was performing his unyielding performance, Li Zicheng came to Kaifeng again.
At the top of Kaifeng City, Henan Governor Gao Mingheng, Henan Commander-in-Chief Chen Yongfu and others looked at the overwhelming army outside the city. They were all discouraged and despairing.
Kaifeng is already an isolated city.
The reinforcements have long been wiped out, the food and grass in the city have been cut off, and the city's destruction seems to be close at hand.
The civil and military officials in Henan could only send out a sad and helpless plea for help from the imperial court, hoping that the imperial court could save them.
But what else could Chongzhen do?
Looking at the world, although the Ming Dynasty was huge, it did not have many soldiers and horses capable of fighting.
Forced by helplessness, Chongzhen had no choice but to give an order to Sun Chuanting who was far away in Shaanxi, forcing Sun Chuanting to leave Tongguan immediately east to pacify the Central Plains.
Sun Chuanting looked at the more than 30,000 newly-organized soldiers, useless weapons, and empty warehouses in his hands, and his scalp went numb. He painfully explained the pros and cons to Chongzhen, hoping that Chongzhen could give him a little more time.
Is Chongzhen a patient person?
If so, there would be no stories about Yuan Chonghuan, Sun Chengzong, Lu Xiangsheng, and Yang Sichang.
He once again ordered Sun Chuanting to leave the customs. Not only that, he also sent supervisory troops to Sun Chuanting.
Sun Chuanting could no longer hold on, so he could only mobilize his troops in despair and embark on a losing journey.
But it took several months for him to push back and forth with Chongzhen.
Here in Kaifeng, there have been no reinforcements for several months, and the situation in the city is even worse.
Although King Zhou was not like King Fu who wanted money rather than his life, he was very generous and spent almost all his family wealth in order to survive.
However, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city, and the daily consumption is extremely staggering.
By June, the city's food supply was completely cut off.
Under extreme hunger, man transforms into a beast, no longer caring about any worldly etiquette.
Officials treat the people as blood food, the strong treat the weak as food, and men treat women as food.
In such a huge city, people cannibalize each other until, in the end, not even one out of ten is left alive.
But although the power in the city was extremely weak, Li Zicheng still did not attack the city.
It's not that he doesn't want to attack, it's just that he can't attack.
Since June, it has been raining heavily. And it goes on and on all of a sudden, and there is no sunny day.
The mud inside and outside Kaifeng is as muddy as a pool, and the water is waist deep. It's very difficult to even get a foothold, let alone charge into battle.
Looking at Kaifeng in front of him, Li Zicheng was also anxious.
Similarly, Gao Mingheng, Chen Yongfu and others in the city have also reached their limits.
"Zhongcheng, once the weather clears up, the intruders will surely break through the city, and then you and I will die without a place to bury ourselves."
Yan Yunjing, the patrol censor, stood beside Gao Mingheng, looking at the endless barracks outside the city, with a strange light shining in his eyes.
"Now that things have come to this, what can we do? We can only do our best and obey fate."
Gao Mingheng was not very capable. He couldn't think of a way to solve the situation and simply waited for death.
"It is enough for us to die to serve our country, to live up to our integrity and to live up to our lifelong ambitions."
The promotion official Huang Shu had the same idea.
As a literati, I don’t have any abilities, but I can be a martyr.
As for what use it is to the country and the people?
They don't care.
As for scholar-bureaucrats, their reputation during and after death is the most important thing.
Moreover, they learned martial arts and were sold to the emperor's family.
Common people?
Do you know what Daitianzi herdsmen are?
The people are like cattle and sheep.
Although Yan Yunjing is not afraid of death, he does not want to die.
"My lords, I have come up with a good plan today that may defeat the enemy."
As soon as these words came out, Gao Mingheng and Huang Shu immediately became energetic.
"Master Yan's plan will be revealed?"
Yan Yunjing seemed a little crazy.
"It rains continuously for months and the Yellow River surges. This is the power of heaven and earth. If you make good use of it, it will be better than thousands of armies."
Breaking the dikes and releasing water...
Gao Mingheng and Huang Shu couldn't help but tremble.
They seemed to see the tragic scene of floods filling the sky and millions of people wailing.
Such a poisonous plan...
"Although there is Qian Tianhe, we only want to defeat the enemy and protect the Ming Dynasty. God and the gods will definitely not blame us."
Gao Mingheng didn't hesitate at all and immediately agreed with this poisonous plan.
Huang Shu was no less generous.
"I see that the intruders have been sending people up the embankment for days, and I'm afraid they are trying to do this. Those who strike first will control others, and those who strike last will control others. The difference between victory and defeat should be here."
The civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty in Kaifeng quickly unified their opinions and informed the King of Zhou.
Of course King Zhou didn't want to fall into Li Zicheng's hands. As for the life and death of the people, he didn't care.
So Gao Mingheng and others secretly prepared ships, and then secretly dispatched soldiers and explosives to board the Yellow River embankment.
The Chuang army did board the embankment many times, even Li Zicheng did the same.
But is Li Zicheng going to breach the embankment and flood the city?
"Since ancient times, this river has flooded from time to time, causing harm to the people. Do you have any good ideas to tame this river and stop causing harm?"
Li Zicheng has begun to change his perspective and look at everything in the world.
But no one in the army could answer his question.
Tame the Yellow River?
Is it really possible to do it manually?
Seeing that no one could answer, Li Zicheng sighed and was about to say something to boost morale. But as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt the ground shaking.
At first, he thought it was the earth dragon turning over, but then a deafening explosion came from very far away.
They were all old men who were used to fighting. When they heard it, they knew that gunpowder had been detonated.
"King Chuang, Dog Officer... Dog Officer blew up the embankment!"
Everyone understood something in Gu Junen's angry shout.
The already crumbling Yellow River embankment was blown up by the Ming army, creating a large hole of more than ten meters. The turbid and turbulent river water is like an evil dragon breaking out of its cage, rushing towards the people of the earth crazily.
The nearby city of Kaifeng was the first to suffer.
Flood poured down from overhead and filled the whole city in a matter of seconds.
The city wall surrounding the city became the best dam, causing the water level to rise crazily. The remaining people in the city were completely unable to react. Countless people were swept away by the flood and eventually became floating corpses.
How could the small city of Kaifeng trap such an evil dragon?
Floods began to sweep across all directions.
The invading troops outside the city were also too late to respond, and one camp after another was flooded. Countless supplies were lost and countless soldiers drowned.
Everyone was frightened and ran away blindly.
High places, only high places are the only chance to survive.
Heaven and earth are unkind and regard all things as stupid dogs.
The tragedy of countless lives did not make the flood feel ashamed at all. Instead, it roared all the way and rushed towards the flat and low-lying land of Huaixi.
The great evil in heaven and earth begins in the human heart!
(End of chapter)
