Win the Ding 1617

When the Ming army and the Liaodong rebels headed by Huang Taiji were fighting hard in the Songshan area, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai had already begun to sweep out the outlying strongholds in Henan. For the second attack on Kaifeng, they swept away all the troops transferred from Chongzhen to Henan.

At the beginning of August, Fu Zonglong, the newly-appointed governor of Shaanxi and the three sides, led 4 to [-] troops to Shangzhou, Neixiang, and Dengzhou. To the north, Xincai and Runing joined forces with Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue.

Fu Zonglong and Yang Wenyue have exchanged secret letters, and agreed to meet in Xincai first before making any calculations.Although the two governors were ordered to focus on "suppressing thieves", the emperor's edict and the Ministry of War's urge to fight were as urgent as sparks and feathers.But none of them dared to fight Li Zicheng rashly.Based on detailed intelligence reports, they knew that Li Zicheng was going to attack Kaifeng again, but they postponed marching to Kaifeng only because they learned that they were going to join forces north of Guangzhou. Now they are stationed between Xiping and Suiping, ready to fight them.They agreed to avoid Li Zicheng's army after joining forces, go to Xiangcheng first, and then rush to Chenzhou (now Huaiyang) as soon as possible, so as to contain Chuang and Cao's army heading north to Kaifeng from the side.

Before Xin Cai joined forces, the two had communicated through messengers and determined the basic strategy, with prudence as the best policy.Reluctantly, Chongzhen was in a hurry to urge the war for the past few days, and the two also received orders to exterminate Li Zicheng within a time limit.Because Emperor Chongzhen was anxious, he only knew how to urge the battle, regardless of the consequences, which made the two ministers leading the troops at a loss.They all understood that the emperor was very unclear about the overall situation in the Central Plains, and he was even more ignorant of the combat situation. He just thought about it casually in the palace, and then ordered the Ministry of War to urge the war.If they follow the order to march, they are really not sure of defeating the bandits; if they don't follow the order, they will be punished again.After the people and horses are settled.Fu Zonglong invited Yang Wenyue to come to his military tent to discuss countermeasures in secret.As a result of the discussion, there is still no good strategy, and they still follow their original plan, not to fight lightly for the time being, and not to go to Runing.To avoid the enemy front.They were afraid that once they arrived in Runing, they would be surrounded by Li Zicheng's army.Although Zuo Liangyu and Ding Qirui were in the area of ​​Xinyang and Guangshan, it was hard to expect them to come to the rescue.So they agreed to march to Xiangcheng and Chenzhou.

"We want to take it, but give it to us; take one step back, and then take two steps forward. Wars must always be false and real, and we cannot start a decisive battle with the enemy. We temporarily avoid the enemy's front, in order to preserve this for the court. With tens of thousands of troops, there is room for the enemy to take advantage of. Finding the way to victory is the best strategy." Yang Wenyue so eloquently found a reason for his tactical arrangement of avoiding the enemy.

It would be easy to say if the two subordinates were generals like Hu Dawei, but it happened that Fu Zonglong's subordinates were the main forces of He Renlong and Li Guoqi, two generals from Shaanxi.Can this be better?

In order to appease the two old army leaders, Fu Zonglong, the governor of the three sides, had no choice but to humbly make a wish to the madman He: "It has been more than ten years since the bandits were suppressed. Those who are generals can't do their best. As a result, the bandits are getting more and more prosperous." One day, the overall situation of the country is becoming more and more critical. Today, Ben Du and Yang Du join forces, and we can no longer avoid wars like in the past. We must go all out to eliminate the central plains for the court. The two generals sent troops with Ben Du. Success or failure depends on this With one move, I hope that tomorrow I will fight hard to atone for my past mistakes and make great achievements, and I must not disappoint the court and the old man's ardent expectations."

For this set of tricks and means.Crazy He He Renlong has also seen a lot.At the beginning, Yang Sichang had promised to hand over Zuo Liangyu's seal of "Suppressing Thieves General" to him, so what happened?In his heart, he contemptuously contemptuous of the governor who has been in the prison for many years and has been confused, but He Renlong pretended to be touched and said: "Yes, yes. I must be loyal. Serve the court. Tomorrow The thieves wave their troops to fight, there is no retreat, please rest assured, my lord."

Fu Zonglong felt satisfied in his heart, but he was very afraid that the words and deeds of the two generals would not be consistent, and they were just perfunctory to him, so he said: "As long as you two make a little contribution tomorrow, even if you owed the emperor in the past, it will be considered as a cover-up, and the past will not be blamed." .The governor will definitely play the imperial court, and show special kindness to the two generals and reward them for their great achievements."

He Renlong and Li Guoqi said again and again: "We must obey orders, and fight to the death to kill the enemy!"

Sure enough, he had just engaged in battle with Li Guo's [-] cavalry. As the main force of the two armies, Madman He not only stood still, but also ordered his cavalry and infantry to line up around him, one to protect himself, and the other to prevent his elite soldiers from being killed The rebels dispersed.Seeing this situation, the experienced Hu Dawei acted as usual.

After Fu Zonglong's repeated urging, Li Guoqi had no choice but to lead his own troops into battle.But as soon as he came into contact with Li Guo's cavalry, his men and horses immediately lost their formation, turned around and fled, unstoppable.When He Renlong saw that Li Guoqi was defeated, he didn't respond, and he didn't care about the life and death of the governor, so he led his own troops and fled to the northeast.Seeing that He Renlong had left, Hu Dawei quickly led his troops to escape.After Li Guoqi was defeated, he originally wanted to gather some troops and retreat to Mengjiazhuang. Now he saw that He Renlong and Hu Dawei were fleeing to the northeast, and guessing that they were going to Xiangcheng, he led his remnants to Xiangcheng City fled.As the saying goes: "The defeat of an army is like a mountain." The three generals took the lead and ran first, and the entire battlefield completely collapsed.

The Huoshaodian battle ended with such a dramatic ending.The three generals fled, and a deputy general of the Chinese army who supervised the bid kept Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, and fled. Fu Zonglong, the governor of the three sides, was left alone to Li Guo, who was known as a tiger, and made him a prisoner.

According to Li Zicheng's and Luo Rucai's original calculations, after killing Fu Zonglong, the next target is the so-called Zuo Liangyu's troops who are known as strong men and strong horses.For this reason, the two supervised and led their subordinates to set up a net to wait.However, on the pretext that Ge and Zuo Siying intended to harass Huguang, Zuo Liangyu stood still in the Guangshan and Gaocheng areas, and sent a team to Yingshan and Qichun to let the court know that he was fighting against Ge and Zuo Siying.Seeing that Zuo Liangyu was fighting timidly, Li Zicheng even withdrew part of the Zuo army stationed in Xinyang, so he decided to attack Kaifeng.

On the day of the 14rd Lunar New Year in the 23th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng arrived outside the city of Kaifeng.According to the plan agreed in advance, he stationed the old battalion in Yingcheng Junwang Garden outside the embankment in the east of Caomen, less than five miles away from Caomen.Cao Cao then arrived and set up the old camp at Fanta Temple three miles away from the southeast corner of the city. From the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, according to the predetermined strategy, from Songmen to Caomen and Beimen.Full onslaught.The two men and horses redistributed their forces and put the main force between Caomen and Beimen.

However, with the cooperation of the officials headed by Gao Mingheng and the clan in the city headed by the Prince of Zhou, Kaifeng's army and civilians were extremely tenacious.There are so many gunpowder cannons in the watchtower of the rolling wood, stone and grass factory on the city, and the common people take turns to go to the city in the morning and evening.The reason is very simple. "When Li Zicheng harassed Bianliang last year, we Kaifeng people shot him blind in one eye. He came here for revenge! When he invaded Kaifeng, not only the living would be killed, but even the dead would be cut three times."

Because of such rumors and fears, and the high rewards promulgated by the officials, gentry and clan in the city, Kaifeng's soldiers and civilians fought vigorously in several small-scale contacts with the peasant army.

In the battle with Yuan Zongdi for the North Gate Urn City, hundreds of Yuan Zongdi's troops had already rushed into the Urn City.Some people kept shooting arrows at the city; some people lifted the ladder and leaned on the urn.Dozens of people climbed onto the wall of the Weng City and ran straight to the big city, and they were about to win the big city.Wang Xie, the county magistrate of Xiangfu County who was in charge of guarding the north gate, immediately offered a huge reward: Anyone who can drive the bandits to the city will be rewarded with an ingot of ingot.At that time, there was a big man with a long stick, and he beat down several volunteers with a few sticks.Other officers and soldiers rushed forward, and the peasant army was immediately beaten back.Some were thrown into the city and were seriously injured; some fell to their death; and some were killed on the city.The battle to capture the city was short.But it was very fierce, and many soldiers and civilians at the head of the city were killed and injured.

After the rebel army was repulsed, Wang Xie immediately ordered the scribes to write down the names of the meritorious personnel, and each issued an ingot, which greatly boosted morale.He also offered a big reward: Anyone who can block the gate of the Wengcheng will be rewarded with a lot of money.then.The soldiers and civilians defending the city carried sandbags and threw them down from the gate of the Wengcheng.Sandbags blocked the city gate one by one.In this case, the rebels had no choice but to withdraw from the Wengcheng as soon as possible.Wang Xie ordered people to light gunpowder and firewood, and cast the urn from the big city.In an instant, within the urn city.There was fire again, black smoke again, and crossbow arrows were fired, bricks and stones flew across, and the rebels who hadn't retreated in time died in the urn city in batches.Afterwards, as many as 200 of Yuan Zongdi's elite subordinates in Wengcheng died.

Facing the fortified city of Kaifeng and the morale of the soldiers and civilians defending the city, Li Zicheng decided to change his style of play.

"Old Cao, take out all the cannons of your Cao camp. There are hundreds of cannons in our two families. Aim at the top of the city and blast!"

In order to select and arrange artillery positions for the siege, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai took their generals to carefully survey Kaifeng City. Except for Zhang Nai and Heihu Xingma Chongxi who were in charge of commanding the two artillery teams, There are also two miner leaders Ding Guobao and Niu Wancai collected by Li Zicheng in Funiu Mountain.

He intends to use artillery fire and city digging tactics together.Use gunpowder to blow open the city wall of Kaifeng!Such siege tactics required the use of city digging tactics, and most of the rebels who were good at digging cities were miners from Funiu Mountain, and there were also farmers from Shaanxi who were good at digging kilns.Ding Guobao and Niu Wancai were the leaders of this city-digging team.

After attacking Kaifeng and capturing Luoyang, Xiangcheng and other places last time, Li Zicheng also accumulated rich experience in tough battles.He no longer expects to rely on surprise attacks to successfully capture a strong city like Kaifeng, nor does he expect his soldiers to climb to the top of the city with ladders.

From many detailed reports, he knew that since he attacked the city for the first time, the officials, gentry, soldiers and civilians in Kaifeng had gained experience in defending the city, and had continuously strengthened their strength in defending the city.He has experienced hundreds of battles since the uprising, and he has seen all kinds of tragic battles, but the siege battle to be carried out this time, especially for a provincial capital like Kaifeng, which is also an important place for feudal feudal feudal feudal lords. The city, but he is not sure.

From the beginning of the fourth watch on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, the two sides began a bloody battle in Kaifeng City.

The cold wind blowing from the Yellow River stabbed the faces of the soldiers like knives.Everyone's ears and noses were numb from the cold.There were thick clouds in the sky, as if it was going to snow.But the occasional cracks appeared in the moving clouds, and a few cold stars suddenly appeared, which disappeared soon after.The night was dark.There are many torches and lanterns on the top of the city. Because the city wall is invisible, the endless lanterns and torches seem to be hanging in the air.

At this time, under the cover of night, more than 1000 peasant troops were divided into two groups and quietly moved towards the city wall.One team was led by Niu Wancai, waiting outside the moats of the east city, and the other was led by Ding Guobao, waiting outside the moats of the north city.They took poles, hammers, and iron drills and stood still.Although the wind was as cold as a knife, they forgot about the severe cold and were excited and nervous.Waiting for the agreed hands-on signal.After a while, I saw a rocket shot from a distance, and the two men and horses galloped at the same time, passed the moat, and then lifted the door panel on their backs to cover the top of their heads.Quickly ran to Chenggen.When they arrived at the root of the city, they first used iron hammers to drive iron drills into the cracks of the bricks, and beat each brick up, down, left, and right, and then used iron drills to pry it out.As Liang Sicheng said, the bricks of these city walls have been pressed against each other for hundreds of years, and the joints were plastered with lime when they were built. Under the dual effects of heavy pressure and time, they formed a structure stronger than concrete. structure.Very difficult to dig.

They had just started digging the city, the loud noise and rhythmic vibrations alarmed the soldiers and civilians defending the city.From the beginning of the city, bricks and stones were thrown down desperately.Some bricks and stones fell on the door panels, and some fell directly on people's bodies and heads, which immediately injured many people.At the same time, gunpowder packs and "enemies of ten thousand people" were also dropped on the city.The most frightening thing is the enemy of ten thousand. After throwing it away, once it explodes, everyone will be killed or injured.So dig the peasant army of the city.While digging the city, someone prepared it.Quickly pick up the gunpowder packs and "enemies of ten thousand people" that have just been dropped and throw them far away. Although this is very dangerous, it can reduce casualties.

The sudden and intensive sound of shouts and explosions awakened the entire ancient city of Bianliang in an instant.In the city's palaces, government offices, mansions, and private houses, an unknown number of people were awakened in an instant, and a little light was lit.Nervously waiting for the news from the city.

Gao Mingheng, the censor in charge of guarding the city, Wang Yinchang, the deputy envoy of military preparations, Wang Xie, the magistrate of Xiangfu County, Huang Shu, the Tuiguan, and others immediately supervised and led their subordinates to defend the city according to their respective responsibilities.

And Chen Yongfu, deputy general of Henan Province, has been sleeping in the tower above the city since the day before yesterday, and he could hear the shouts of killing on the city wall.Jumped up from the bed: "Mother, it really is here!"

Under the protection of dozens of soldiers and family members, Chen Yongfu and his son Chen De rushed to the city wall in a hurry.The city above and below the city has become a raging fire.

The peasant army under the city, in order to cover Ding Guobao and Niu Wancai's two troops in charge of digging the city, besides setting up hundreds of artillery pieces outside Kaifeng City, they were divided into two artillery groups, commanded by Zhang Nai and Heihuxing, to attack the city in turn. In addition to pouring shells and gunpowder from the top of the city, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai mobilized tens of thousands of archers and gunfire soldiers from the peasant army to stand on the edge of the city moat, shooting arrows and firing gunpowder fiercely at the top of the city.

The arrows, projectiles, and cannons flying from below the city caused the defenders and civilians on the city to be constantly hit by these deadly little things, resulting in death or injury.In the darkness, a stray arrow, a projectile, or even a cannon flying from nowhere can kill a strong man in an instant. The fear brought by such darkness makes people try to hide their bodies in the Behind the battlements, they dared not poke their heads out to observe the city carefully.

Therefore, most of the bricks, stones, and gunpowder they threw were not very accurate.They also shot arrows outside the city, but because it was difficult to get their heads out between the battlements, they could only shoot out from the arrow holes, and they couldn't see the target clearly in the dark, so they shot high and low without any confidence.The peasant army below the city was looking up at the city. Although it was rather hazy, the lanterns and torches at the top of the city gave them great convenience.Casting firearms and arrows from the dark to the bright will naturally have a much better effect.While shooting at each other, both sides shouted loudly, going up and down the city, shouting to kill and shaking the sky.

According to the experience of digging earthen kilns in northern Shaanxi and mining in Funiu Mountain, the peasant army who dug the city divided the troops into several teams. Each team had about 20 people and was only responsible for digging one hole.In addition, there are many reserve teams ambushing in the dry city moat, ready to replace the dead and wounded brothers at any time, and drag the dead and wounded brothers back to the outside of the moat as much as possible.However, no matter how violently arrows, bricks, rocks, gunpowder packs, and tens of thousands of enemies rain down on the city, no matter how many casualties there are, the work of digging the city will not stop.The hammer and iron drill were still struggling to drill deep into the city wall.

From Songmen through Caomen to Beimen, it is the main battlefield for siege warfare.Chen Yongfu, the deputy commander-in-chief of Songmen City, is a very experienced commander-in-chief. Wang Xie, the magistrate of Xiangfu County, who guards the North Gate, and Huang Shu, the Tuiguan who guards Caomen, are both very shrewd and capable.In the first Kaifeng defense battle, Li Zicheng mainly used the method of digging the city, which gave them a lot of experience.Knowing how to deal with digging the city and protecting the city wall, he also made various targeted preparations.

During the day, when the peasant army was preparing outside the city, the officials, gentry and common people in the city were also stepping up their preparations.The gentry and people in the city had long expected that King Li Chuang would come to take revenge, especially when the news of the destruction of Nanyang City came not long ago, the killing was greatly exaggerated.They were very worried: If King Chuang's troops invaded the city, they would kill terribly, women would be humiliated, and no one would be spared.Because they guarded the city wall with this kind of mood, even though the defenders were constantly shot to death and injured by the pellets, artillery and arrows of the peasant army below the city, they kept throwing all kinds of things that could kill the enemy.

The sound of cannons shook the sky, and the ground was covered with gunpowder smoke. Amidst the sound of cannons and shouts of killing, soldiers from both sides fell down in batches under the city walls and beside the moats, and rushed over the corpses and blood of their brothers in batches. go.

On Kaifeng City, Chen Yongfu stood on the arrow tower and looked down. From Songmen and Caomen to the north, there were rebels digging the city below the city. , It seemed so clear in the early morning when the shouts and killings continued.

He rushed down from the archery tower and rushed between the crenels of the two battlements. He was about to poke his head out from the middle of the battlements to observe the excavation of the city below. Shoot the flaming helmet plumes down the city.

A relative tugged his sleeve and said: "My lord, be careful!" He also ignored it, grabbed a brick, and slammed it down towards the densely populated place below the city.Before he had time to see the effect of the brick, a lead bullet flew past his helmet, hitting a strong guard behind him, who fell to the ground with a muffled grunt.

Huang Shu, the officer in charge of guarding Caomen, ran away panting: "Master Junmen, the east city and the north city are currently being dug everywhere. In the section of Caomen guarded by the lower officials, there are fifteen or six places that are being excavated. How to throw bricks, stones, and gunpowder, the bandits will not retreat. Please show me how to retreat the bandits?"

Chen Yongfu just told him: "Don't panic, stay calm, this town has its own way."

Before the words were finished, an artillery shell flew from afar, and beat the head of the folk squad next to Huang Shu to his brains, and the red and white things splashed on the official robes and cloaks of Chen Yongfu and Huang Shu. (Is this Chen Zongbing also an auspicious figure? Why should anyone who gets closer to him die?)

But right now they couldn't care less about face, some of Chen Yongfu's personal soldiers shouted orders on the city, telling the army and civilians at the top of the city that the commander-in-chief was personally supervising the battle on the city, and asked the soldiers and common people to kill the enemy calmly and not to panic.

This oral order was quickly spread from the east city to the north city. After listening to it, the officials, gentry, soldiers and civilians all over the city suddenly became more courageous, and there was a sound of killing.A general ran over and asked Chen Yongfu excitedly: let him take 300 people down to the city, and kill the rogues who were digging the city.Chen Yongfu shook his head and said, "No need." Then he said to Huang Shu and one of his relatives, "Order people to get firewood quickly, the more the better, the quilts and wadding, and a few loads of oil."

As soon as he gave this order, many people immediately ran down to the city.Under the city, there are many bunks for the guards and civilians to sleep in.For heating and cooking, a lot of dry firewood was piled up beside the bunk.At this time, people ignored Sanqi 21 in an emergency, and transported dry firewood to the city one after another, and even demolished some burrows and quilts.The cotton wool also hugged the city head.Someone brought a lot of sesame oil from the nearby Shangshang Temple.Chen Yongfu ordered the dry firewood to be lit and thrown into the city to burn the diggers to death.Then, the dry firewood was lit one after another and thrown down at the diggers.Some dry firewood was thrown down without lighting, and then the burning cotton wool soaked in oil was thrown down, and the dry firewood was quickly ignited and burned.After a while, from Caomen to Beimen, the root of the city on Shiwuli Road was on fire everywhere, like a fire dragon.

Chen Yongfu said to one of his relatives: "Let's pass on the town's oral order: the town is now on the city, and we share the safety with the soldiers and people defending the city. We hope that the soldiers and people will work together to kill the thieves. Anyone who dares to go down to the city without permission will be killed!"

Li Zicheng looked at the dark holes in the city wall, "Tell Xiao Naizi, when the brothers in the city are digging the city in the future, they must concentrate their artillery fire on the top of the city, so that the people on the top of the city dare not show their faces!"

The war in Kaifeng was spent day by day amid the exhaustion and perseverance of both sides.

The excavation and anti-excavation activities above and below the city never stopped for a moment. (To be continued..)