weaving

Chapter 1439 How many soldiers did you kill?
The second day of the eighth lunar month, at the end of the Yin hour.

Squads of bandits set off silently from the camp.

Li Yan rode his horse and looked back at the now empty camp, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

There was a time when I was full of vigor and ambition, and I often gave advice to Li Zicheng, the rebel leader. Back then, I never imagined that things would turn out this way!
Life is unpredictable, truly unpredictable.

Although Li Yan was extremely unwilling, he could only lament the "unpredictability of life." Faced with the current situation, he could only slink away.

He knew very well that even if he and his few thousand men stayed here, facing the government troops who were larger and much more capable, he was destined to achieve little.

Perhaps, leaving silently like this is the best ending for me right now.

"General, the troops have all gone ahead, let's catch up."

Urged on by his personal guards, Li Yan forced a smile, cracked his whip, and said, "Let's go!"

…………

In fact, not long after Li Yan's bandits left the camp and headed north, Chen De and Jiang Mingwu received intelligence reports.

However, they did not choose to pursue, but instead each sent out a light cavalry force of about a hundred men to follow behind, just to find out where Li Yan's bandit army was going.

At the same time, Chen De and Jiang Mingwu also began to gather their forces and prepare for deployment.

According to the previous plan of the Earl of Yongning, once Li Yan's bandit army retreated, they were not to pursue and intercept them, but to advance into Weishi County, establish a defensive line there, and prepare to intercept the scattered bandit soldiers and others.

Meanwhile, in Tongxu County, Jiang Mingwu left 500 infantrymen in his camp to create momentum.

…………

Two main battlefields have now emerged within the territory of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Firstly, the area from Longwang Temple to Shancheli Village, which appears to be the main battlefield where the two sides' main forces clashed, has actually become a secondary battlefield and is no longer decisive for the overall course of the war.

Secondly, there was the place where the rebel army stored their supplies in Zhuxian Town. This place was originally supposed to be the rear of the rebel army, but as the war progressed, it was completely exposed to the attack range of the Yongyi Army.

In fact, the gain or loss of Zhuxian Town has become the key to the final outcome of this great battle, and has become something that can determine the result of this great battle.

More than 20,000 bandits were stationed in Zhuxian Town, but almost all of them were infantry, with only less than a thousand cavalrymen.

In terms of troop strength, the number of bandits stationed in Zhuxian Town does not seem to be very large, but that is only compared with other bandit groups. After all, Li Zicheng, the rebel king, is on the front line, while Liu Zongmin's side is dealing with more than 10,000 government troops in Xiangong Temple.

Zhuxian Town was originally located behind the rebel army and was not exposed to the attack range of the government army, so there was no need to station a large number of troops there.

Moreover, Zhuxian Town was a renowned and prosperous place in the world. With the convenience of navigation on the Jialu River, it became a gathering place for merchants from the north and south. Precisely because of its wealth, the town's defensive fortifications were also very strong.

After Gao Yigong stationed his troops here, he forced the starving people to add a new earthen wall and two moats outside the village. The defensive fortifications were quite strong. Therefore, the presence of 20,000 rebel troops here was enough to show how much importance the King of Chuang attached to this place.

...The second day of the month, at Chen hour (7-9 AM).

Zhang Guodong has already contacted Wei Zhice and learned from him that a large portion of the rebel army from Sunjialou has been sent north, presumably to support the rebel leader Li Zicheng.

At the same time, Wei Zhice also told Zhang Guodong to hold on a little longer and try to stop the bandit army that was coming to support Zhuxian Town halfway, so that Wei Zhice could lead his infantry and cavalry to catch up and attack from both sides.

While digging trenches and building walls to prepare to intercept the rebel army, Zhang Guodong sent messengers on horseback to deliver the news of Wei Zhice's arrival to Chen Zheng of Jin Kui Li, instructing him to prepare for the attack on Zhuxian Town first, and to wait until the main army arrived before launching an offensive.

At this moment, neither Zhang Guodong nor Wei Zhice had received news that Xu Jinyong was leading nearly 10,000 troops from Shanxi and Datong to arrive. All deployments were based on the existing troop strength.

Even so, it was far beyond what Liu Zongmin, Gao Yigong and others had expected, and Gao Yigong, who was stationed in Zhuxian Town, was about to experience a nightmare.

…………

Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, had no desire to sleep. He woke up at the fourth watch of the night and slept for less than an hour, but he felt no drowsiness at all.

He stepped out of the tent wearing only a thin robe, with his personal guard Wang Daniu carrying a cloak under his arm, following behind the rebel king, not daring to make a sound and interrupt the king's thoughts.

Yesterday's battle went poorly, which is an indisputable fact and is known to everyone in the rebel army. However, everyone discusses it in private and dares not mention it in front of the generals.

Although Yuan Zongdi, Song Xianze, and others had spoken to Chuang Wang, Wang Daniu knew his own place. He only needed to be a diligent personal guard for Chuang Wang, protecting his safety and taking care of his daily life. How could someone like him discuss matters of state and military affairs?
Moreover, seeing that the rebel king had only slept for less than an hour and was now in such a pensive state, he was convinced that the rebel king was thinking about how to defeat the government army, so he dared not say anything to disturb the rebel king's thinking.

Following behind the rebel king, they slowly walked up to a mound on the southeast side of the commander's tent. The cool morning and evening breeze made the rebel king shiver.

Seeing this, Wang Daniu hurriedly stepped forward, unfolded the cloak he was carrying under his arm, and draped it over Chuang Wang's shoulders.

The rebel leader didn't say much. He glanced back at Wang Daniu, then reached out and pulled his cloak up to prevent it from falling off.

"Wang Daniu, how many soldiers did you kill yesterday?"

"Great...Great Marshal, the soldiers are all armored. My sword is almost dull from all the cutting, but I haven't killed a single soldier. This battle is..." Wang Daniu initially seemed very angry, but then he fell silent.

The rebel leader turned around and glanced at him, a slight smile appearing on his lips. He said, "Go ahead and speak, be bold and say it."

He then added in a slightly questioning tone, "When did you become so careful when speaking to me?"

"Grand Marshal...I..."

Li Zicheng glanced at Wang Daniu and said in a tone that was both stern and considerate, "There's no one here, so just call me King Chuang; it'll be more friendly."

Wang Daniu grinned, then wiped the sweat from his forehead before saying, "Chuang...Chuang King, I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid of..."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "What I fear is that even if I die, I won't be able to kill those dog soldiers. That would be truly hateful."

Li Zicheng smiled slightly and said, "Since the government troops are armored, why use knives? Today, you can use a hammer or an axe to smash them."

"Ah, this is a great idea!" Wang Daniu's face immediately lit up with joy: "How come I didn't think of that?"