stubborn thief

Liu Chengzong was not at the siege position.

The Marshal's army's central camp was stationed in a temple dedicated to Ju Liusun on a low hill west of the city, with only a few hundred Yu Lin Lang on guard around it.

At the beginning of the war, the officers and soldiers of the Huben Camp dispersed into small teams to survey the terrain and investigate the geographical advantages in the suburbs of Liaoyang, while many of the Yulin Cavalry followed Zhang Xianzhong.

However, the Yulin Cavalry did not follow the arson, but were also responsible for mapping the terrain, recording the fields and houses of the manors, the looting, and the collection of prisoners and their escort to the siege camp.

Liu Chengzong and the officers left behind in the central army collected and sorted out various intelligence sent from all directions during the battle, and perceived the overall environment of the Liaodong battlefield.

As soon as Liu Chengzong received the news that Sun Long had left the city to surrender, he felt that something was fishy.

Because according to Zuo Guangxian, the troops Sun Long brought out of the city were much smaller than he imagined.

When Zuo Guangxian's cavalry received the news, they rode forward to meet the enemy. They saw more than 300 people, of whom more than 200 were family members and servants, and there were only more than 80 regular soldiers. Including Sun Long himself, there were only 16 officers.

The families of Sun Long and others were resettled in the Xindi of the Zongrenying. Zuo Guangxian only brought Sun Long and several officers to the temple to pay homage.

Sun Long looked trembling with fear, and when he saw Liu Chengzong he immediately kowtowed and apologized, talking nonsense, saying that he did not open the north gate, nor did he open the west gate to the Marshal's Mansion, and he just ran away with his small subordinates.

The messy apology shocked Liu Shizi.

He thought that this man was sick, and very sick.

The order given to you is just to run away with your subordinates. What is there to apologize for?

Liu Chengzong thought, how could Huang Taiji treat the brave rebels under Li Jiuchen who had fought in various towns like this?

The sound of artillery fire in the distance suppressed his thoughts. Liaoyang City was easier to capture than he had imagined. The counterattack of the defenders was weak, especially after Sun Long led his men out of the city, the deployment of the defenders on the city wall became chaotic.

Listening to Sun Long's incoherent apology, Liu Shizi suddenly realized what the problem was. He asked Sun Long, "Did you not even read my reply?"

Sun Long looked up and was stunned.

What reply?

"My Lord, I wrote a letter of surrender on the city wall, and was transferred to the west wall by the prince not long after."

really.

Liu Chengzong understood, but then a bigger doubt popped up: "Then why did you leave the city and surrender?"

"I had no choice but to shave my head and surrender to the Jin. I heard that the commander-in-chief led the royal army to attack Liaodong. This is a godsend opportunity for me to turn the tables!"

"Ah!"

Liu Shizi, who was sitting on the chair, laughed, then stopped smiling, looked at Sun Long steadily, pointed at him and said, "You are not telling the truth."

Liu Chengzong believed that Sun Long might have surrendered because he was unwilling to serve Emperor Chongde, but this was definitely not the decisive factor.

But he hadn't seen his reply letter, so it didn't make sense to say that he did it for promotion or wealth.

Could it be that he really came here because of his reputation?

Liu Chengzong himself didn't believe this. What kind of reputation could he have in Liaodong?

And... he looked at the sixteen officers kneeling not far away. They must be Sun Long's confidants.

These people held positions ranging from Sun Long's guerrilla general to team commanders, and their biggest commonality was that they were young.

All of them looked under 30.

At this age, people would believe him if he said he was a captain leading a group of sergeants.

Obviously, this is also a distinct feature of the troops of King Sanshun. They were Dongjiang soldiers and refugees from southern Liaoning recruited by Sun Yuanhua. After the rebellion, they were promoted in the short-term, high-intensity rebellion campaign. A small number of them turned to Jin and were promoted again.

The official position is at least one level higher.

"I dare not deceive you, sir. I have the will to do what I want, and every word I say is true."

After Sun Long finished speaking, he looked up at Liu Chengzong's expression, and then added cautiously: "The plan of false surrender was proposed by Liaoyang Deputy General Quan Jie."

Liu Chengzong nodded and waited for Sun Long to continue.

But before Sun Long could say anything, Liu Chengzong suddenly realized what he meant. He frowned and asked, "If our army enters the city, will you set up an ambush in the city?"

Sun Long didn't dare to say anything more, but just pounded his head.

"Okay, get up."

It was not until this moment that Liu Chengzong understood Sun Long's motive for surrendering. He frowned and looked towards the top of Liaoyang City.

Kong Youde and his gang are really cruel.

There are only so few people in the city, and you're still thinking of taking advantage of the situation and luring his army into the city walls to kill them?

After knowing this, Liu Shizi no longer had any doubts about Sun Long's surrender.

There is no doubt that Sun Long surrendered simply because he was afraid of retaliation.

Sun Long was responsible for implementing the false surrender plan proposed by others. If hundreds of marshal's troops really entered the city wall of Wudi Gate, with Kong Youde's troops firing guns and cannons, I'm afraid few would survive.

After the city was broken, if others surrendered, they might have a chance to survive, but Sun Long was hated by Liu Chengzong and there was no doubt that he would not survive.

Liu Chengzong retracted his gaze, his eyes softened as he paced, and he thought to himself that it seemed that the generals of the Sanshun King's faction should not be taken lightly.

This group of people first rebelled and then surrendered. It is hard to say how good they are at fighting, but their ability to adapt to changing circumstances and survive is indeed very strong.

For example, Sun Long didn't even read his own reply. When he saw an opportunity, he simply took his family out of the city and surrendered without any hesitation.

After a moment's silence, Liu Chengzong looked at Sun Long and the surrendered generals again and said, "I said in my reply that General Sun is the first to surrender in Liaoyang. I will welcome you with open arms. Just take your family and subordinates and leave the city carefully. I will set up a special camp in Liaoyang and let you serve as the lieutenant general. When the city is captured, all Liao soldiers will be assigned to your camp."

"Although the defenders used a trick on me, the general still came out of the city to join me before I entered the city. This is the fate between the general and the Marshal's Mansion."

"The rewards remain unchanged. The soldiers and generals who followed you out of the city will all be promoted one level."

"If the number is less than 3,000 after the war, you are allowed to recruit strong men from the public to serve as soldiers in the camp."

Sun Long had just stood up, but after hearing Liu Chengzong's treatment of the first surrendered, he knelt down and kowtowed: "Thank you, Marshal, for your grace!"

He said this with all his heart, but it was not because Liu Chengzong had given him the position of Lieutenant General.

Because for officers like Kong Geng, their demand for official positions was very low.

To a certain extent, official positions were the fundamental reason why many of them behaved cautiously and timidly in the Later Jin Dynasty.

Kong Geng's Tianzhu troops had a total strength of just over 6,000 soldiers, but because of their high-profile rebellion in Denglai earlier, most of the generals who surrendered to the Later Jin Dynasty held high official positions.

There were eight deputy generals alone, and a guerrilla general like Sun Long could lead an army of no more than 800 people.

An official position does not equal power or wealth, and there was no such thing as military pay in the Later Jin Dynasty. The military and civilians relied on looting, distribution, and slave farm economy to survive. An official position was just a reward given by Huang Taiji during festivals.

In these days of natural disasters and man-made calamities, the regimes that have survived are those that have made choices and maintained themselves by fooling around and making do.

The slave farm economy was very friendly to the Eight Banners nobles, but the Han army was not the Eight Banners nobles.

The three Shun kings were relatively independent, but they had nothing to do with looting. Huang Taiji would often drag them to the battlefield, but they rarely went into battle. They usually pushed cannons to bombard castles. After bombarding the castle, others would climb the city walls and naturally loot.

Because within the framework of the Later Jin Dynasty, the Three Shun Kings had only 6,000 men, eight deputy generals, and a dozen lieutenant generals, so they could not accomplish any great merit and no rewards could be given to them.

What really made Sun Long grateful from the bottom of his heart was Liu Chengzong's words that after the war, he would be allowed to replenish his troops to a full 3,000.

In one word, sincerity comes out.

This really makes him the battalion lieutenant general!

In fact, let alone replenishing the 3,000 troops, even if he only commanded 2,000 troops, Sun Long would be grateful.

"If you work hard for me, it will be more useful than saying anything. Sit down first. I have something to ask you."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he looked at the officers who were kneeling behind him and said to them, "You all should stand up as well. The territory of the Marshal's Mansion is vast and the population is large. There are plenty of places for you to use your skills."

"You need to draw a map of the city's garrison, generals at all levels, and defense deployment. Other than that... where is Huang Taiji?"

The officers of the Kong faction were still a little hesitant about this matter, but Sun Long spoke first without hesitation and told them all about the deployment of troops when he left the city and the key points in the city.

He even added to his trusted subordinates: "The easier it is for you to capture Liaoyang, the fewer casualties our brothers will suffer, and the more troops we will have in Liaoyang."

Then they began to complain bitterly, recounting a lot of the grievances they had suffered since Kong Youde led them to defect to the Later Jin.

Liu Chengzong was not interested in their grievances, but he did hear something interesting.

Sun Long thought it would be easy to persuade Kong Geng's troops to surrender, and his words were full of disparagement towards Shang Kexi's troops, meaning that Kong Geng's surrender to the Jin Dynasty was a helpless choice after the separatist regime, and Shang Kexi was an opportunist blinded by greed.

Dongjiang Town has a strong cohesive ability.

To put it bluntly, it is a serious tendency towards separation.

But the tendency of separatism does not mean the tendency of surrendering to the Jin Dynasty. On the contrary, they are very hostile to the Later Jin Dynasty.

They were all determined to rebel in Shandong. Li Jiuchen was able to incite Kong Youde and his 800 men to rebel with just one word. Once the 800 men sent a message to summon Mao Wenlong's old troops, the strength became more than 10,000. In the end, there were even more than 90,000 troops at the most.

But most people had no choice but to shave their heads and reduce their wages.

They are not like Shang Kexi, who offended Dongjiang Town. The Ming Dynasty's Shandong simply did not allow him to lead troops to serve as an official, but he still had a lot of room for choice.

It would be no problem for him to take some servants to Shandong and become a rich man, or even take a few hundred troops to Jinzhou to join Zu Dashou. He had no grudge against the Guanning Army.

But Zu Dashou might not be willing to accept him. Who would be willing to accept a 29-year-old deputy general?

Shang Kexi once went against the collective will of Dongjiang Town and helped Huang Long, who was sent by the court, to take power. Huang Long reciprocated by entrusting him with important tasks and promoting him successively. It only took him three years to go from garrison commander to deputy general.

It's not a question of whether he can fight.

Wu Sangui was also a good fighter. He had practiced martial arts since childhood and was good at riding and shooting. At the age of twenty, he was a selected vanguard and fought with swords against the vanguard battalion of the Later Jin Dynasty.

He had a father who was a general and an uncle who was a general. It took him five years to go from garrison commander to deputy general.

Among various options, Shang Kexi chose to shave his head and surrender to the enemy who killed his father.

It was not until then that Liu Chengzong realized that Huang Taiji had conferred the titles of the Three Shun Kings on himself, and that these titles were all to praise himself.

Kong Youde was respectful to Huang Taiji, and Geng Zhongming's "King Huaishun" refers to Huang Taiji's forgiveness of his past as a deserter general.

King Zhishun, played by Shang Kexi, was smart enough to choose to invest money even though he had a clear choice.

In addition, the unexpected surprise was that Sun Long really knew Huang Taiji's location.

When Liu Chengzong broke through the border and invaded Liaodong, Kong Youde sent a letter to Shengjing to warn him.

Before Sun Long left the city to surrender, a reply letter from Shengjing had just been sent into the city through the East City Water Gate. The person who replied was not Huang Taiji, but Wei Qi, who was left behind in Shengjing. He said that Shen Shikui's thieves had attacked a wall fort in the southeast of Shenyang, and the attack would be put down soon, so Kong Youde didn't have to worry about Shengjing.

Based on this route, Liu Chengzong estimated that Huang Taiji's main force of the Eight Banners would return to Shenyang soon.

The Mobei cavalry of Subadi's army that was looting near Shenyang would not fight to the death with the Eight Banners. They would run over when they saw the main force. All in all, he didn't have much time left to attack Liaoyang.

time is tight.

"General Sun has just surrendered, so he should have taken a short rest. However, the military situation is urgent. I will hand over the civilians from all over Liaoyang to you. Command them to fill the moat and cooperate with the friendly forces to attack the city."

Sun Long and others naturally accepted the order and immediately rushed to the north of the city to receive the civilians sent by Zhang Xianzhong.

In fact, they knew very well that they were not sent as a gift at all, but were simply the people of Liaoyang who were brought here after being looted.

Because of this, Sun Long and others not only did not resist the order, but were very happy about it.

It would be better to transfer the people of Liaoyang to their command than to let them be under the command of the Marshal's Army, a bunch of Shaanxi people.

Just as they were there, Gao Yingdeng, who was in charge of the siege, sent the battalion commander Wai Liangzi to report, "General, something is wrong in Liaoyang City. The city is a bit chaotic. No one is firing cannons on the walls. General Gao plans to fill up the river and send troops to climb the city to try."

Are we going up to the city now?

The attack to the north of the city was planned as an exploratory attack.

What they really wanted to attack was the western wall of the South City.

But now it is obvious that the situation has changed with Sun Long's surrender.

Liu Chengzong looked towards the north of the city through a telescope and saw that the number of defenders on the north wall not only did not decrease, but even increased, but it did look messy.

Not like a battle-hardened veteran.

What was even more bizarre was that he was standing high and seeing far away, and he could even see that there were cannons placed on the road, and none of them were placed on the city walls, and the defenders nearby did not take the cannons seriously either.

"Okay, let Gao Yingdeng try to attack the city with all his strength."

In fact, the preparations for the siege had not been completed yet. Outside the north city wall, the several earth hills built to suppress the guns and artillery of the defenders on the city were not as high as the city wall. The siege ladders and wooden curtain carts were not ready yet, only some trenches had been dug.

However, the defenders in the city are obviously in trouble, so why not give it a try first?

Following Liu Chengzong's approval of the order, the First Brigade's regular battalion, which had been well-rested, immediately joined in filling the trench. The sound of artillery fire outside the city became more frequent, and the Lion Cannon was pushed to the other side of the moat to launch suppressive fire.

The chariots carrying baggage were emptied one after another and dumped into the river with their full loads of earth and rocks. A road running through the moat was soon paved on the river.

Until dusk.

A column of black smoke rose from the southern city of Liaoyang, over the city wall and into the sky.

There is chaos in the city!

The horn sounded outside the city, and Gao Yingdeng gave an order. On the moat that had not yet been filled, the soldiers of the First Brigade placed long ladders in the gaps and laid door panels to quickly pass through.

With only a hundred people, the first long ladder was built to the top of the city wall of Liaoyang North City.

Just as the marshal's troops who had climbed up the northern city wall were engaged in a desperate battle with the defenders, the Suqing Gate on the western wall of the southern city opened for the second time.

"General, Liaoyang Deputy General Xian Guoan opened the Suqing Gate and surrendered the city, saying that Deputy General Quan Jie had taken the initiative to flee along the Taizi River from the east water gate of the city. Gongshun King Kong Youde failed to seize the boat and led his troops to Dongjing City. The city is already in chaos!" (End of this chapter)