Zhang Mingwei didn't waste any words, he straight to the point said loudly, "Now I'll give you a chance to make meritorious deeds."
Then, he ordered the guards around him and the guards in the prison camp to tell them to pass on the message.
Because of Zhang Mingwei's arrival, the prisoners stopped talking and all focused on him. Therefore, as soon as the officers and soldiers conveyed the words of Duke Xingguo, their enthusiasm was immediately ignited.
Now that he has surrendered, he still doesn’t know what the final arrangement will be. According to experienced prisoners, they should be released back to their hometowns. However, now there is an opportunity to make a meritorious service. Who doesn’t want to make a meritorious service? If you make a meritorious service and return to your hometown, it will be a return to your hometown in glory.
Zhang Mingwei pointed his hand in the direction of Luo Rucai's camp and said loudly, "Luo Rucai was killed by Li Zicheng. The camp has been breached by the army and is now in chaos. I want you to go out and convey my order, so that those Luo Rucai's people can They all stay in the camp waiting for the imperial court to recruit them. Let them all believe in me, and I will give them the best future. Of course, that includes you."
After finishing speaking, he reined in his horse and stepped aside, making way for the way out of the camp. At the same time, he loudly said, "If you want to honor your ancestors and have a bright future, go immediately."
After hearing this, the bandits and prisoners said, "You look at me, I look at you." They didn't expect that the Duke of the country would give such a job.
Suddenly, there was a "boom", and the bandit prisoners who came to their senses ran towards the camp gate at the speed of a 100-meter race.
There is no need to fight, just shout a few times, and you can make a contribution. From now on, you will be a member of the court. It would be a fool not to rush to do such a good thing.
So, I saw a large group of beggars suddenly running out from the imperial army camp. Oh, not a large group, but a long stream of people, all of them without weapons, running towards Luo Rucai with empty hands. Run to the camp.
Anyone can tell at a glance that these people are definitely not the imperial officers and soldiers, but the bandits who surrendered to the imperial officers and soldiers before. Because there were no other beggars except them who came out of the imperial army camp.
Some of the officers and soldiers of the imperial court who stayed at Luo Rucai's camp were busy when they suddenly saw this situation and were shocked.
Did something happen at the camp? Why did they all run out? It's already chaotic here. If they are attacked again, it won't be a problem.
However, when they were worried, they heard the bandits and prisoners running and shouting at the top of their lungs, "The military order from the Duke of Guo, please stay in the camp and don't run around until the court recruits you."
"The Duke has said that he will never treat everyone badly."
"Believe in the Duke and you will have a bright future."
""
As soon as these people shouted, everyone who heard them was dumbfounded. It turns out that these people didn't just run out randomly. Apparently, they came here under the orders of the Duke to recruit them.
Luo Rucai's men had no idea at all. Although some of them had knelt down and surrendered, most of them were still running around like headless flies, not knowing where to go.
When they heard the shouts of the bandit prisoners, their hearts suddenly moved.
Yes, surrendering to the court is the best way out
If they can still serve as imperial officers and soldiers, look at their treatment, it is really enviable, not to mention the regulations on the pension and preferential treatment of soldiers of the Ming Dynasty that are written into the laws of the Ming Dynasty.
If Duke Xingguo asked so many people to come and shout, then these words must be spoken out, and the water thrown out cannot be taken back. If you don't keep your promise and make arrangements properly, who will trust the Duke in the future?
With this in mind, many people stopped running and just knelt down and surrendered.
Some people were still hesitating, but the bandit prisoners ran over and immediately began to persuade them.
"Ah, big brother, where are you going? Throw the knife away quickly. The Nationalist Congress will give you a bright future, but you don't want it."
"Hey, why are you running away? The Duke said, as long as you listen to the Duke, I will ensure that you return home in fine clothes, do you want?"
"What are you going to do? At this time, you still want to kill people. Do you know where you can run if the imperial army wins?"
"Little brother, you are still young and have never tasted the taste of a woman. If you want to marry a wife, just listen to the king's words."
""
Not many of these bandit prisoners were literate. A group of rough guys followed their own ideas. In short, they used all kinds of martial arts to persuade those under Luo Rucai.
Their enthusiasm is truly unimaginable. More than 10,000 people dispersed into Luo Rucai's camp. Suddenly, loud voices were heard everywhere urging people.
Some people even try to persuade them when they catch them.
"Damn it, I'm from Jingying, so I'm blind."
"Ah, I admitted the wrong person, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Many of Luo Rucai's men were from the frontier army and wore military uniforms. Therefore, sometimes, it is easy to get confused.
However, this situation is still very rare, because the military uniforms of the imperial officers and soldiers are much newer and much cleaner. Only a few blind bandit prisoners would cause such an oolong.
But this actually shows how enthusiastic these bandit prisoners are. Not to mention, with their help, Luo Rucai Camp, which was originally in chaos, quickly calmed down.
On the surface, it seems that these bandit prisoners have made great contributions. But in fact, the most fundamental contribution is the effect of the previous public opinion war.
If the imperial court is still the original imperial court, the officers and soldiers are still the same as Zuo Liangyu's, and the reputation of Duke Xingguo has not been spread, these Luo Rucai's men will most likely not be obedient and wait for recruitment.
Zhang Mingwei used his binoculars to see Luo Rucai's camp slowly calming down at the main camp, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't care about the cavalry's pursuit of Li Zicheng, because that was beyond his control. At this time, he had already turned his head and started paying attention to the situation at Li Zicheng's camp.
The chariot battalions and infantry troops attacking from the main camp were already engaged in a north-south pincer attack with the government troops coming out of Kaifeng City, blocking Li Zicheng's follow-up troops.
Of course, the two sides did not join forces, but the passage between the two armies was already very narrow. If Li Zicheng's men wanted to rush through, of course they could, but they would inevitably suffer long-range attacks from the officers and soldiers on both sides, and the losses would be heavy.
Another reason is that people at Li Zicheng's camp obviously saw that Li Zicheng had run eastward. It no longer makes sense for them to risk huge losses and rush forward.
Therefore, Li Zicheng's men were gathering a few miles away from the two officers and soldiers, with the cavalry in front and the infantry behind, and they were continuously coming out of the camp.
After seeing the situation clearly on the battlefield, Zhang Mingwei thought for a moment and then sent an order for the two groups of officers and soldiers to try to attack Li Zicheng's camp.
At this time, Li Zicheng's life or death was uncertain, and several of Li Zicheng's powerful generals had already gone to rescue Li Zicheng. People in Li Zicheng's camp must be panicked now. If they could take this opportunity to defeat Li Zicheng's troops in one fell swoop, then this The first battle of Kaifeng ended unexpectedly.
Zhang Mingwei thinks this is very likely. Because of the previous offensive in the public opinion war, the morale of Li Zicheng's troops was actually unstable. Li Zicheng's surrender in front of the previous formation is a good example.
With expectation, Zhang Mingwei used a telescope to observe the situation of Li Zicheng's troops. He hoped that under the pressure of the two officers and soldiers, Li Zicheng's army would collapse
Seeing the chance of a great victory, the morale of the imperial officers and soldiers was naturally very high. The officers and soldiers who came out of the camp were fine, but the strong civilians who came out of Kaifeng City were really terrible, howling and killing towards Li Zicheng's camp.
In terms of momentum alone, the Kaifeng City side is definitely much scarier.
From the side of Li Zicheng's camp, it can be clearly seen that these bandits are a little at a loss. Some still want to rush over to find Li Zicheng, but some want to defeat the car camp blocking the road, and some want to attack the minzhuang coming out of Kaifeng City. Even the infantry seems to be showing signs of collapse. All in all, it's quite a mess.
"No, the team is about to collapse," Niu Jinxing said in a panic, "We'd better take a detour to the east to find the general."
When Yuan Zongdi heard this, he immediately agreed. To them, Li Zicheng is God, and it doesn't matter if the army is gone. However, if Li Zicheng is gone, it will be a huge blow to them.
But at this moment, Song Xiance immediately stopped Yuan Zongdi and others' horses, red-necked and shouted in a stern voice, "You are not even allowed to go."
Hearing this, the bandit leaders immediately glared at him. Among them, Niu Jinxing shouted sternly, "I finally see that you are not worried about the general's life or death at all. Do you want to be a traitor?"
"Fuck your shit"
Song Xiance actually uttered such a foul language, which shocked the bandit leaders who heard it. This was so different from Song Xiance's previous military advisor character.
After Song Xiance cursed, he shouted loudly, "Liu Zongmin, Li Guo and others have already gone to rescue the general. What's the use of you going again?"
At this point, he pointed back and shouted at the top of his voice, "All the general's belongings are here. If when he comes back safely, all these belongings are gone, what do you think the general will think?"
Hearing this, the bandit leaders were stunned again.
It took a lot of effort for Li Zicheng to get where he is today. As Li Zicheng's generals, of course they knew how difficult it was. It would be really unimaginable if the general could really come back and find that his fortune was gone.
Thinking of this, Yuan Zongdi was the first to come to his senses and immediately responded loudly, "You are the military advisor. You tell us what to do, and we listen to you."
Others listened. Although a few people still hesitated about Li Zicheng's safety, most people agreed with Yuan Zongdi's statement.
For a moment, everyone looked at Song Xiance, waiting for him to sort out the crisis at hand.
In the original history, after Li Zicheng founded the People's Republic of China, he named Song Xiance the "Founding Military Advisor of the People's Republic of China". It can be seen from this that Song Xiance is definitely capable. To say the least, his strategy should be among the best among Li Zicheng's faction.
At this time, when Song Xiance saw everyone looking at him, he immediately began to distribute without any hesitation and humility.
"Yuan Zongdi, you lead the elite infantry to drive the army to attack the imperial officers and soldiers coming out of Kaifeng City."
"Tian Jianxiu, lead the cavalry to support Yuan Zongdi and deal with the cavalry coming out of Kaifeng City."
"Liu Fangliang, you lead the cavalry to threaten the flanks of the imperial carriage camp. If they dare to attack, harass them at all costs."
"Hao Yaoqi, you lead the main force of the elite infantry and stand ready. If the imperial carriage camp continues to attack, kill them."
"The others are waiting to guard the camp and prevent civil strife."
""
Song Xiance spoke very quickly, and without caring about politeness, he directly named people and assigned tasks. The generals under Li Zicheng all received the orders with serious expressions and immediately followed them.
On Gao Mingheng's side, he led more than 10,000 people and followed the cavalry out of the city. The main task was to wave the flag and shout to build momentum.
In the beginning, he remembered this.
However, as the war progressed and it became more and more smooth, he got a little carried away. Especially when the military order from the Duke was passed, he urged his men to quickly follow the cavalry and rush over.
His men were all Bianliang Rangers, and they had no training at all. They just followed the cavalry with their blood, shouting and charging, just like a street fight, but it was not much different. The only difference is that the scale of this fight is a bit larger.
But suddenly, on the other side of Li Zicheng's bandits, 40,000 to 50,000 thieves suddenly swarmed towards them. It was still their old routine, with ordinary soldiers in the front, elite soldiers mixed in, and a team of supervisors behind them.
The plain terrain here in Kaifeng is also conducive to large army operations. Therefore, there is room for these 40,000 to 50,000 thieves to rush over.
Zhang Luofu and Yuan Zhuangfei, who were rushing ahead, knew the situation was not good as soon as they saw it.
When they were on the top of the city before, of course they also saw the bandits surrendering in front of the Duke's formation in the morning.
But at that time, the imperial officers and soldiers did not charge, giving the ordinary thieves a chance to surrender before the formation. However, both sides are currently charging. If the ordinary bandits on the opposite side surrender in front of the formation, they will probably be killed by Min Zhuang here.
Even if they don't kill, those ordinary bandit soldiers will definitely be afraid when they see Minzhuang roaring and killing him.
On the battlefield, either you die or I die. There really isn’t that much time to think about other things.
Moreover, the cavalry of the bandits have also come to help, and they are watching eagerly. If one of them leaves Kaifeng City, under the superior strength of the bandits, the entire army may be wiped out.
As a result, neither of them dared to lead the cavalry forward. Immediately separated left and right, made a circle, and signaled the infantry behind to retreat quickly.
However, those people were charging hard. The people in front stopped in fear when they saw so many bandits coming to kill them. However, the people behind didn't see it and were still rushing forward. They all bumped into the people in front, and the chaos suddenly became even more chaotic.
At this time, Tian Jianxiu, who was originally named Zehou by Li Zicheng in history, was used to fighting. As soon as he saw a profit and a fighter opportunity appeared, he immediately led the cavalry to attack, crossed the infantry, and launched the first attack. charge.
If his cavalry were to rush into the chaotic Kaifeng Minzhuang team, and the rogue infantry behind them followed, it would probably be a one-sided massacre.
Gao Mingheng was a little frightened when he saw the charge of the bandit cavalry. He quickly turned his horse's head and ran away, shouting "Quick, quick, quick, retreat to the city, quick"
Zhang Luofu and Yuan Zhuangfei had no choice but to reorganize their formation and meet the bandit cavalry, giving Kaifeng Minzhuang a chance to retreat into the city.
Of course Zhang Mingwei, who was paying attention to the battlefield, saw this scene.
So, he immediately ordered his chariot camp and infantry to move diagonally southward to rescue the Kaifeng defenders.
However, at this time, Li Zicheng's two generals, Hao Yaoqi and Liu Fangliang, immediately led their troops to press forward.
At this time, any conspiracy or trick is useless. The loud shouts of killing echoed in the sky above the Kaifeng area. The soldiers on both sides, no matter what their previous thoughts or thoughts, if they want to survive now, they can only fight forward.
In this way, from the perspective of a bystander, Zhang Mingwei was immediately pleased to see that his infantry, especially the fusiliers, were displaying their might.
Row after row, backed by car camps, fired continuously. Coupled with the addition of archers, there was almost no way the bandits could stop them.
However, the thief at this time seemed to be desperate. Their generals all led the troops in front, leading their men to charge continuously to block the movement of the main infantry force of the imperial army.
"Boom boom boom"
"Bah, bah, bah"
On the battlefield, the sound of artillery, musketry, shouts of people and horses neighing all became audible.
The Battle of Kaifeng has never been so fierce.
At this time, human life is really worthless. Every moment, many people fall in a pool of blood. No matter how they cried or howled, no one paid any attention. Everyone is busy fighting
About an hour later, with the support of the car camp and the main infantry army, more than 10,000 people in Kaifeng, probably less than 8,000, fled back to Kaifeng city. Yuan Zhuangfei and Zhang Luofu were both wounded, and they led half of the cavalry, only about two thousand people back to the city.
As for the chariot camp and the main infantry army, due to the desperate resistance of the bandits, the gunpowder they carried was consumed too much. After coordinating the Kaifeng defenders, they slowly returned to the main camp. In terms of casualties, they were not large.
As both parts of the imperial army retreated, corpses were basically left on the battlefield. Most of them are the corpses of stray thieves.
Yuan Zongdi, Tian Jianxiu, Liu Fangliang and others were all injured. However, they all wore several layers of armor and had personal guards desperately blocking them, so they were not fatally injured.
At this moment, although the bandits have a strong force, even if their casualties are several times that of the official army, it will not have any impact relative to the overall military strength.
However, most of the generals in the army were injured. The most critical thing is that their coach Li Zicheng does not know whether he is alive or dead. Moreover, the instability in the army is expected to become more serious after this battle.
They have prevented the army from disintegrating and repelled the attack of the official army. All that can be done now is to maintain the current status, even if it is great.
Therefore, the bandits were no longer able to fight anymore, and the war finally ended in the evening.
Although the cavalry has not returned to camp, there is a high probability that the main force in the camp will not suffer many casualties. The most casualties should be in Kaifeng City.
After Zhang Mingwei briefly inquired about the casualties, he immediately got busy again. At least 200,000 horses and horses need to be accommodated in Luo Rucai's camp. Even if most of them are ordinary soldiers, they are still human beings and need to be resettled.
Zhang Mingwei transferred some soldiers from the army who had not participated in the war and were left behind in the military camp. He went to Luo Rucai's camp and ordered food to be brought out so that everyone could eat. Otherwise, light the torches and do a head count.
This night, Luo Rucai's camp was destined to be sleepless.
At Li Zicheng's camp, Niu Jinxing and the others looked at the bright light in the distance. He was a little unwilling and suggested, "Otherwise, we can definitely win by sending the cavalry to charge for a while."
After Song Xiance heard this, he immediately shook his head and said, "Not to mention the unknown life or death of the general, people in the army are now panicked. If the cavalry comes out of the camp and chaos breaks out in the camp, there is still a way to solve it. What if Duke Xingguo sends troops to ambush outside? , our cavalry goes out to fight, what should we do if he sneak attacks on our camp?"
"" Niu Jinxing was dumbfounded, but his proposal was rejected by Song Xiance. After all, it was a matter of losing face, so he argued, "These are all your guesses. What if there is no ambush? What if there is no chaos in the army?" , wouldn’t it be a good opportunity missed in vain?”
After hearing this, Song Xiance shook his head and said, "So what if we win, at most it will only disrupt the situation, and we will lose the main force of the imperial army."
Having said this, he paused and then said, "If the camp is lost, can we afford it or not? If it is so clear, why should we go to war?"
After hearing these words, the generals around him were convinced, and no one paid any attention to Niu Jinxing, which made him very embarrassed. But he also knew that Song Xiance's analysis made sense, so he had to find an excuse and leave.
Once he left, no one spoke.
Song Xiance looked up at the starless night sky. For a long time, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "I don't know how the general is doing. I hope the general will have his own destiny. He must be fine."
After hearing this, Yuan Zongdi and others all agreed. But their serious expressions all revealed their inner worries.
In fact, Song Xiance actually had another worry that he didn't mention.
After today's battle, the opposite Duke Xing Guo digested Luo Rucai's words, and his strength will definitely increase greatly. On our own side, Li Zicheng was back, but his strength was greatly reduced. With the military morale unstable, it is no longer realistic to have another decisive battle in Kaifeng.
Think about it, before the war started, Li Zicheng's army swept across the Central Plains, and there was already a vague tendency to win the world. But now, with this strength greatly reduced, I am afraid that I will have to live the life of running around again.
In the future, who will win the battle in the Central Plains, the general, the eight kings, or the Zhu Ming Dynasty that has not yet exhausted its energy?
Thinking of this, Song Xiance sighed in his heart, feeling a little confused.
