Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4221 The overall situation has been decided
In the sky full of rain, countless soldiers in full armor approached Xingyang City silently, jogging along the way to maintain their strength, and when they arrived at a place more than a hundred feet below Xingyang City, they reorganized and arranged, and then the sound of horns penetrated the rain. Swing, and start attacking.

Zheng Rentai, who returned to the top of the city again, looked at the heavy armored infantry approaching like a tide, his face sank like water, and his heart was burning, he turned and walked down the top of the city.

Since the defeat in the Battle of Banzhu, the combat power of the navy has caused him the greatest fear, and he has begun to pay attention to the use of firearms, which he had never paid attention to before, and he has inquired a lot.

Among them, what frightened him the most was the navy's siege tactics.

From ancient times to the present, siege has always been an extremely difficult task. The so-called "encircle if ten, attack if five, divide if twice", no matter how elite the army is, no matter how superior the force is, when facing the enemy When defending an isolated city, it is inevitable to lose soldiers and generals, and the vitality is severely injured. There are many examples in the history books about holding on to an isolated city and repelling powerful enemies.

The reason for this is probably that the walls are high and thick, easy to defend and difficult to attack, coupled with the unity of will and one mind, the weak can defeat the strong, and the few can defeat the many.

However, the advantages of a high city and thick walls disappeared in front of the navy...

Although the Navy is not part of the Datang Army, every time it uses troops overseas, it will report the battle situation and results to the Ministry of War, and then the Ministry of War will briefly summarize them and include them in the Dibao. The world, so Zheng Rentai has discovered many tactics and characteristics of naval warfare from the mansion newspaper in Xingyang City in the past few days.

In the face of a solid city, the navy never piled up troops like traditional siege warfare and attacked without regard to casualties. Instead, they used gunpowder to blow up the city wall, destroying the defense of the defenders, and then concentrated their forces to break into the city from the opening of the city. From point to surface, completely destroy the defense system of the defenders...

The power of gunpowder is enough to break mountains and rocks, destroy heaven and earth, how dare Zheng Rentai stay in the city to command the battle when the opponent is attacking the city?

If the enemy chooses to bury the gunpowder on the city wall under their feet, when the gunpowder detonates, they will go to heaven...

Therefore, before the enemy army arrived at the city, he withdrew the top of the city first, and tried to send people to contact the enemy's assault force again, willing to surrender the city.

There is a world of difference between voluntarily surrendering and having to surrender after the enemy breaks through the city...

However, before he sent people out of the city, he heard a sudden burst of fighting, which even overwhelmed the heavy rain, and it came to his ears.

The enemy's siege has begun.

……

Zheng Xuanguo led dozens of soldiers from the east city out of the city gate, and galloped northward along the official road. The whip was whipped on the horse's buttocks, and the horse under the crotch galloped with all its strength, and galloped towards the Yellow River. When the call came, Zheng Xuanguo could only lean his upper body tightly on the horse's back, squinting slightly to look at the road ahead, but he didn't dare to reduce his speed by half a point.

He naturally understands what his father is worried about. Although it has been many years since the "slaughter of the city" has happened, and now the naval attack on Xingyang City is just a battle for imperial power. In the end, whoever wins and who loses is a family, which is unlikely. To do such insane things... But what if?
The inheritance of the blood descendants of the Zheng family cannot be placed on "possibility", but must be foolproof.

Personal life and death, honor and disgrace is a small matter, but endangering the family inheritance is a big matter!
The horse galloped, and the oncoming rain made his eyes hurt, but Zheng Xuanguo didn't dare to close his eyes completely, lest the horse lose his control and step into a pothole on the road, so he could only hold back and gallop forward.

Anxious.

Xingyang City is not far from the Yellow River, but due to the heavy rain, the official road was extremely muddy, and the speed of the horses was hindered, and it took an hour to reach the shore.The Yellow River was surging and the turbid waves rolled back. Zheng Xuanguo led his soldiers and hurried westward along the embankment. After traveling for more than ten miles, they found the navy fleet parked in the center of the river in the distance, shrouded in heavy rain.

The mighty ships are next to each other, the hulls of the ships fluctuate slightly with the current, and the sails are completely lowered, looking murderous and arrayed.

Before Zheng Xuanguo arrived, there were groups of naval scouts blocking the way...

"I am Zheng Xuanguo, the son of the Zheng family in Xingyang. I have come to visit General Liu Rengui by the order of my father. I have important matters to discuss. You should go there as soon as possible without delay!"

Zheng Xuanguo stopped the horse and said loudly.

Unexpectedly, one of the other party's scouts came out in front of Zheng Xuanguo not far away, and replied: "The general has an order, and now he is attacking Xingyang City, there is nothing to discuss! Unless the Zheng family of Xingyang is willing to surrender, your Excellency please back."

Zheng Xuanguo opened his mouth, and the rain poured into his mouth, choking him to cough, and anger rose in his heart.

But now, how dare he delay?
He had no choice but to get off his horse, endure the humiliation, gritted his teeth and said, "Then go and report to Liu Rengui, the Zheng family of Xingyang...is willing to surrender!"

At the time of departure, my father's intentions were very clear, and he was willing to stop the navy from attacking Xingyang City at all costs, so as to avoid unpredictable and serious consequences that would endanger the inheritance of the Zheng family, which naturally included surrender.

He originally wanted to bargain, but Liu Rengui was so determined that he didn't care about the huge casualties that might be caused by storming the city.

Still the same sentence, Liu Rengui can ignore it, but Xingyang Zheng's can't...

Now that the opportunity is lost, there is no need to seek any extravagant initiative, just lie flat and fiddle with it at will.

The scout then nodded in satisfaction: "Follow me!"

Let Zheng Xuanguo leave the accompanying soldiers here, take Zheng Xuanguo to the shore alone, board a small boat and row towards the center of the river, come to the flagship, climb up the deck along the rope, and enter the cabin.

The light in the cabin was a bit dim, Liu Rengui was sitting on a chair by the window in a military uniform, and was browsing a document. When he saw Zheng Xuanguo entering, he put down the Chinese document in his hand and looked up.

Zheng Xuanguo didn't dare to take it seriously, since he had already decided to surrender, why did he pretend to be strong and brave?
He simply knelt on one knee and performed the military salute: "Zheng Xuanguo, the son of the Zheng family in Xingyang, came to dedicate the city by the order of my father."

Liu Rengui was noncommittal and asked, "I don't know what your father will tell you before you leave?"

Zheng Xuanguo said: "My father said that the Prince of the East Palace is the Zhengshuo of the country, and the righteousness lies in it. It's just that the Zheng family was deceived and coerced by other Shandong families before, so he committed an act of infidelity. Now he has repented and is willing to present the whole family with money and silk Food and fodder, to help the navy advance westward and suppress the rebellion."

"Ah!"

Liu Rengui sneered: "Your Shandong aristocratic family has already sent all the young and strong members of the clan to Tongguan to shake the country and overthrow the government. How much money can you donate now?"

Zheng Xuanguo urgently needed to defend himself, but Liu Rengui shook his head, and said in a deep voice, "But since Mrs. Zheng sincerely repented, why would His Majesty care how much money you offer? As long as you have such loyalty. Come!"

There were soldiers entering from outside the gate, and Liu Rengui gave an order: "Order all the armies to stop attacking the city, and the ministries that have entered the city will rectify on the spot and strictly defend. After the defenders in the city disarm, they will take over the defense of the city gates. "

"Here!"

The soldiers withdrew and went to deliver orders.

Zheng Xuanguo was covered in cold sweat, feeling terrified in his heart.Listening to Liu Rengui's order, it is obvious that the navy has already broken through the city wall and entered the city. If he came a step later, he might not have to surrender... The Zheng family has managed Xingyang for hundreds of years and regards it as the foundation of the family inheritance, so naturally The city defense is extremely concerned, almost every year to monitor the four gates and strengthen the city wall, but now it is easily breached by the navy.

Now that the fortified city wall has been breached, the defenders in the city obviously cannot stop the approach of the navy. If the battle continues, the only way to destroy the entire army...

Liu Rengui's tone was milder, and he said with a smile: "Young Master Zheng, get up, come and have a cup of tea with me, wait until the front is settled, and then enter the city with me."

Zheng Xuanguo said: "Here."

He got up, sat down on the chair next to Liu Rengui, and took the tea from the soldiers with a dejected expression.

Since his father sent him to meet with Liu Rengui and plead to withdraw his troops, he naturally wanted to take him here as a hostage, otherwise why did Liu Rengui believe that the Zheng family in Xingyang was willing to surrender?And this is actually risky, if Liu Rengui is determined to capture Xingyang and destroy the Zheng family, then he, Zheng Xuanguo, will be the first to be slaughtered to sacrifice the flag.

Fortunately, it seems that Liu Rengui only wants to get Xingyang, and he has no intention of killing the Zheng family in Xingyang...

But he also knew that the Zheng family in Xingyang had completely cut themselves off from the Shandong family from now on, and the close allies who were originally close allies suddenly became the eternal and endless enemies.And because Xingyang guards the east of Luoyang, it will become the front line of the game between the imperial court and the Shandong family.

I don't know how many Zheng's children will fall in this bloody battlefield.

Liu Rengui took a sip of tea, looked at Zheng Xuanguo's face, and said with a smile, "Young Master Zheng, you don't have to be so depressed. Although the Zheng family has cut itself off from the Shandong family, as long as the Shandong family is wiped out in this battle, it will not endanger Zheng." On the contrary, it will be a good opportunity for the Zheng family to develop and grow, and how can we know that it is not a blessing if we lose our horses?"

Zheng Xuanguo is a smart person, Wen Yan was taken aback for a moment, and then he understood the meaning of Liu Rengui's words. After thinking about it carefully, it was indeed so.

If the imperial court can completely wipe out the family of King Jin entrenched in Tongguan, then the Zheng family of Xingyang will become the advance of the imperial court to clean up the mess, eating away the interests of the original Shandong family in various places, and growing rapidly... This time because of supporting King Jin The huge losses suffered will be made up in the shortest possible time.

It's just that I don't know if His Majesty's policy on dealing with aristocratic families will be as strict as the rumors...

With his head lowered, he said in a muffled voice: "If you do something wrong, you will be punished. Mrs. Zheng has no complaints... But since she has realized her mistakes in the past, she will naturally try her best to correct and make up for them. From now on, Xingyang Zheng Everyone in the family will serve His Majesty, and they will die with no regrets."

Since the surrender is irrevocable, it is natural to show the most sincere attitude and try our best to recover the previous losses.

(End of this chapter)