Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 215 Breaking open the embankment of the Yellow River (seeking monthly tickets)

When Yuan Chonghuan and Cao Wenzhao saw Chongzhen leaving and returning, they knew that Li Xianzhong had probably occupied Guide.

If Fengyang was lost, Chongzhen and the others would not have come back so quickly.

Seeing the lost Yang Sichang and others, he couldn't help feeling a little proud.

How can it be so easy to abandon me and go to Jiangnan to enjoy happiness? Even God can't stand it, right?

At this time, Chongzhen also felt a little regretful. If he had known earlier, he should not have entered Kaifeng City and went all the way south to Fengyang.

Now it's good, there is Li Xianzhong in the east and Li Zicheng in the west.

He is now caught between two forces, and the situation is actually more critical than when he was in Taiyuan.

The only good thing is that there are still these civil servants and generals who have never left me.

Kaifeng still had a lot of troops. In addition to the original 15000 soldiers led by Chen Yongfu and others, there were also Cao Wenzhao's 2 troops and the 3 troops who followed him south.

There are a total of 65000 people, which is much stronger than in Taiyuan, and the food in Kaifeng City is enough to feed the army for more than half a year.

He is still very confident about holding on to Kaifeng City.

Originally, the combination of Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, Chen Yongfu, the commander-in-chief of Kaifeng, and the king of Zhou were perfect in guarding Kaifeng.

Gao Mingheng coordinated the overall situation, Chen Yongfu defended the city and fought against the bandits, and the King of Zhou provided money and food to boost morale!

Later, the arrival of Cao Wenzhao gave the Ming army in Kaifeng the ability to fight back against the bandits, further improving the morale of Kaifeng's soldiers and civilians.

But after Chongzhen personally took charge of Kaifeng, everyone was too timid to let go.

Especially Zhou Wang Zhu Gongzhen, he no longer dared to provide money and food to boost morale like before, so he had to stay in his Zhou Wang Mansion.

Gao Mingheng became a grain urging officer in charge of logistics.

In front of the First Assistant Wen Tiren, the Minister of War Yang Sichang, and the governor of seven provinces Yuan Chonghuan, how could he, the governor of Henan, speak?

Although the number of Ming troops in Kaifeng has increased, they no longer have the same energy as before when everyone shared the same hatred and defended Kaifeng!

The Dashun army outside the city has surrounded Kaifeng City.

Li Zicheng also made a desperate move this time.

Successive defeats demoralized the Dashun Army.

Moreover, Li Xianzhong has already begun to advance westward. If Li Xianzhong takes Kaifeng, the door to Henan will be opened.

The Henan area was originally a plain with no danger to defend.

Once Kaifeng is no longer in his hands, he will have no choice but to retreat to Luoyang and give up large areas of land in Henan. In this way, Dashun's living space will be greatly compressed.

According to the analysis of Song Xiance and Li Yan, Li Xianzhong probably wanted to use his own hands to get rid of Chongzhen, so he still had a chance to capture Kaifeng.

Li Xianzhong's next goal is definitely to attack Southern Zhili and capture wealthy areas such as Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Suzhou. It is unlikely that he will fall out with Dashun immediately.

Li Zicheng's plan was to take advantage of Li Xianzhong's capture of Jiangnan and send troops to capture Huguang, and then join forces with Zhang Xianzhong of Sichuan to deal with Li Xianzhong.

However, Li Zicheng was not in a hurry to attack the city. He was still waiting for the Hongyi cannon.

According to the news from Fan Yongdou, he can help get hundreds of 18-pound Hongyi cannons.

Without saying anything, Li Zicheng asked Li Guo to go to Shanxi with 50 taels of silver to trade with Fan Yongdou.

After killing several feudal queens in a row, he still had a lot of silver in his hand.

Since Li Xianzhong asked Fan Yongdou to deliver Hongyi cannons to him, it further proved that he would not fall out with Dashun in the short term.

However, these cannons are very heavy and heavy, and it will probably take a long time to transport them to Kaifeng.

It was impossible for Li Zicheng to just besiege and not attack during this period.

So Song Xiance began to offer advice again.

He said: "At that time, the Qin army that dominated the world was unable to attack Daliang City (i.e. Kaifeng) for a long time. In the end, Qin general Wang Ben dug out Xingkou and diverted the water from the Yellow River into the chasm. The water flooded Daliang and forced the king of Wei to leave. drop!"

"Why doesn't your majesty follow the example of the Qin army?"

Another water attack?

This "Song dwarf" is very vicious and uses all kinds of vicious tricks.

As a native of Henan, Li Yan naturally did not want to see the tragedy of flooding in Kaifeng.

He said: "You have the truth that water and fire are ruthless. The Yellow River is no more controllable than the Fen River. It might flood our army. We need to be cautious about this matter!"

Last time Song Xiance proposed a plan to flood Taiyuan, which resulted in a huge defeat, which made many people feel resentful about it.

Liu Fangliang said: "This plan is not appropriate. The Ming army took advantage of it last time in Taiyuan. The general also agrees with Mr. Li's opinion. The water of the Yellow River is uncontrollable. We cannot take this risk!"

Objectively speaking, there is nothing wrong with Song Xiance's plan to "flood Taiyuan" last time.

But no one expected that Yuan Chonghuan's more than 2 troops would suddenly appear.

The reason for the failure was that the Dashun army neglected to take precautions and did not have heavy troops to protect the embankment, which led to the flooding of the military camp and the Ming army's loophole.

However, all the generals at this time were still afraid of this water attack strategy, and Li Zicheng naturally did not dare to use it again.

He said: "'Flooding Kaifeng' is too dangerous. Sir, do you have any other safer strategies?"

Song Xiance also understood Li Zicheng's difficulties. After all, everyone opposed him and he couldn't go his own way.

So he offered another strategy of attacking from the ground!

Otherwise, others would think that he only knows the trick of flooding.

Although Dashun has now been established as a nation, not all of the 150,000 troops stationed outside the city have tents.

Only the main force of Li Zicheng's direct lineage can live in a tent and have a quilt.

The rest of the Dashun Army could only dig a hole, spread some straw mats and cover themselves with ragged clothes to sleep.

It is precisely because of this that Dashunjun's digging skills are not bad.

At Song Xiance's suggestion, the Dashun Army began to occupy the trenches around Kaifeng City.

For a time, the dust outside Kaifeng City was flying, and it turned into a huge construction site.

The abnormal behavior of the Dashun Army soon attracted the attention of Yuan Chonghuan and Yang Sichang.

Although the enemy's digging of trenches restricted the troops in the city from leaving the city, it also affected their ability to attack the city themselves.

Could it be that these bandits want to besiege Kaifeng for a long time?

Cao Wenzhao suggested leading an army to attack the bandits digging holes.

But Yang Sichang objected, saying that this was probably a tactic used by the intruders to lure the enemy.

In the end, it could only be decided by Emperor Chongzhen.

This is obviously a layman commanding an expert.

Chongzhen naturally did not dare to take risks. In the end, he accepted Yang Sichang's suggestion and the army stayed in Kaifeng.

In fact, these are just Song Xiance's tricks.

His real purpose was to dig tunnels and use gunpowder to blow up the city walls of Kaifeng.

Although there were no tactics in ancient China to prevent gunpowder from blowing down city walls, there were many ways to prevent enemies from digging tunnels to break into the city.

For example, a water tank is buried underground, wrapped in cowhide, and someone is assigned to monitor it.

Once you hear the enemy digging a tunnel, you can set fire to the cave to smoke the enemy, fill it with water, or directly send out an ambush to surround it.

To be honest, there are very few people who break through tunnels in real siege battles. Even if there are, those times are already very long ago. Especially for a heavily defended city like Kaifeng, it is impossible to capture the city even if you kill thousands of people through tunnels.

So Yang Sichang and the others didn't pay attention at all. In addition, the intruders outside the city dug trenches day and night, which also interfered with the soldiers monitoring the tunnels.

Liu Zongmin had already filled in Kaifeng's moat when he besieged Kaifeng, so their tunnel excavation was going smoothly at this time.

But it would take a lot of gunpowder to blow down the city wall.

Dashun's army could not find a large container with good sealing for a while, so Song Xiance simply sent someone to find several coffins and put a large amount of gunpowder in them.

In order to rush into Kaifeng City as soon as possible, tens of thousands of Dashun troops were ambushing in the trenches outside the city, and even more people were ambushing outside Kaifeng City under the cover of night.

They were waiting for the city wall to be blown open so they could attack the city as soon as possible.

The night was already deep, and following Song Xiance's order, the Dashun Army in the tunnel lit a long fuse.

At this time, everyone held their breath, waiting for the loud noise to come.

Soon after, the ground was indeed shaking, and there was a sound of collapse and the screams of soldiers!

Just when Li Zicheng was about to command the army to invade Kaifeng, the scene in front of him stunned him.

The city wall of Kaifeng actually stood firm, but the trench they had dug outside Kaifeng collapsed.

Many Dashun troops who were ambushing in the tunnel fell directly into the tunnel.

A bunch of disgraced Dashun soldiers struggled to crawl out of the soil, looking like a group of underworld soldiers.

Fortunately it was night and the Ming army in the city couldn't see clearly what was going on outside the city, otherwise they would have laughed to death!

Although the explosion just now did not collapse the city wall, it shook Chongzhen awake from his sleep.

At first I thought it was an earthquake, but in the end I found out that it was bandits trying to blow down the city wall during the night.

Although it was unsuccessful, it still frightened Chongzhen and others.

Are there any thieves who want to harm me?

Long before withdrawing to Kaifeng, Chongzhen had already sent orders to Cui Wensheng, the Nanjing garrison eunuch, and Feng Quan, the Nanjing Minister of War, asking them to immediately organize King Qin's army to go north to Kaifeng to rescue him.

That's why he can stay in Kaifeng with peace of mind.

Although Nanzhili is not too far from Kaifeng, these intruders are using all possible means. If this situation continues, Kaifeng is likely to be lost.

Chongzhen decided not to sit still and wait for death.

He ordered Cao Wenzhao to go out of the city to attack the intruders.

However, things didn't go as planned. Ever since the intruders failed to blow down the city wall, it started to rain heavily in Kaifeng.

It rained continuously for seven or eight days, causing mud outside the city.

This was a hardship for the invading troops outside the city. It was already October and it was still very cold.

Dashunjun definitely couldn't stand this kind of horrible weather, so they took shelter in the woods outside the city.

Seeing that all the bandits outside the city had turned into drowned rats, all the Ming soldiers in the city laughed loudly.

These thieves also have their day. If it rains for a few more days, the invading army outside the city will probably collapse without them taking action!

Even Chongzhen's face changed from the usual sad look, the corners of his eyes were slightly raised, and he said proudly: "The thieves will collapse without a fight. God helps me!"

Soon everyone in the city echoed: "Your Majesty, your majesty will bring great blessings to the heavens, and the Ming Dynasty will last for generations to come!"

However, the sharp-eyed Chongzhen noticed that Yang Sichang had a sad face.

He asked in confusion: "Yang Qing, why are you silent, but what are you worried about?"

At this time, everyone discovered that Yang Sichang, who was usually good at flattering others, did not agree with everyone at this time.

Yang Sichang said: "Nowadays, there are continuous heavy rains, and the water level of the Yellow River has also risen sharply. I am worried that after the intruders know that Kaifeng cannot be breached, they will jump over the wall and take advantage of the situation to open the dam of the Yellow River and flood Kaifeng!"

When Yang Sichang said the words "flooded Kaifeng", everyone's smiles instantly froze.

The intruders loved to engage in water attacks. As early as in Taiyuan, they built embankments twice and used the water of the Fen River to attack the Ming army.

They will definitely not let go of such a good opportunity now.

If the thieves breach the Yellow River embankment, then they will be nothing more than fish and turtles in the water.

Chongzhen asked anxiously: "Does Yang Qing have a way to solve it?"

Yang Sichang looked at his colleagues around him and said in a low voice: "Yes, yes, but this matter is very important. I want to report to Your Majesty alone!"

Chongzhen made a move, and Wang Chengen led everyone to retreat.

Yang Sichang looked around and said: "Judging from the current situation, the intruders have no hope of breaking through Kaifeng, so they will definitely take risks."

"Wei Chen's suggestion is that instead of waiting for the intruders to open the Yellow River levee and flood the city, we should take advantage of the rain to get out of the city and open a small opening in the levee first."

"In this way, the intruders outside the city will be surrounded by floods, and we can take advantage of the chaos to break out?"

Yang Sichang's words startled Chongzhen, and he said: "This matter is not trivial, Yang Qing is sure of it."

Yang Sichang said: "I read some records of the Yellow River's embankment bursting and found that as long as it is a small-scale embankment bursting, it will not annihilate the city of Kaifeng, but the camp of the invaders in the northeast of Kaifeng will definitely be swallowed up by the flood."

"Your Majesty, now that Li Xianzhong has occupied Guide Mansion, we may not be able to count on reinforcements from South Zhili, and we have to rely on ourselves!"

"If everything goes well, we will recreate the scene outside Taiyuan City, and then we will be able to get rid of this prison?"

Chongzhen was still hesitant at this time. He said: "Opening the Yellow River embankment and flooding Kaifeng. Although it is to eliminate bandits, it will inevitably flood many people's homes. Will this bring infamy?"

Yang Sichang said: "The intruders are best at water attacks. It is known to the world. No one would have thought that it was us who opened the dam of the Yellow River ourselves. When the time comes, we will only insist that it was the intruders who did it. Li Zicheng will definitely not be able to argue!"

Seeing that Chongzhen was still hesitating, Yang Sichang said: "If the bandits take action first and open up the Yellow River embankment on a large scale, then Kaifeng City will not be able to be saved!"

"Your Majesty must not show any kindness towards thieves and bandits like a woman!"

In the end, Chongzhen was convinced by Yang Sichang.

Cao Wenzhao was ordered to lead five thousand elite soldiers out of the city to stop the bandits from digging embankments.

At this time, it was raining heavily, but Li Zicheng left some troops in the south of the city to prevent the Ming army in the city from taking the opportunity to escape.

Ten miles north of the city is the Yellow River, and on the other side of the river is Hong Chengchou's Yulin camp. Naturally, he does not have to worry about the Ming army fleeing to Hebei, so there are not many people guarding the north gate of Kaifeng at this time.

Cao Wenzhao and his party were able to kill them out easily, and soon they arrived at the Zhujiazhaikou embankment on the edge of the Yellow River.

Cao Wenzhao opened a small gap here in accordance with the secret order, and soon the raging water of the Yellow River headed towards the north of Kaifeng City.

However, due to the high terrain of Kaifeng, the flood did not rush towards Kaifeng City. Instead, it turned a corner in front of him and surged towards the Chuangjun garrison in the northeast of Kaifeng City!

The Ming army in Kaifeng City took advantage of the situation to publicize: "Oh no, the intruders took advantage of the heavy rain and opened the Yellow River embankment overnight, and Kaifeng will be flooded!"

Yang Sichang's trick of calling out to catch thieves was very effective. The news that "the thieves broke open the embankment of the Yellow River and flooded Kaifeng" soon spread throughout the city. In the future, these people will be witnesses!

Li Zicheng is now like yellow mud falling into his crotch. It's not just shit, it's still shit!

At this time, Li Zicheng also received news that the Ming army took the opportunity to open the Yellow River embankment.

He never expected that the Ming army would take the initiative to flood Kaifeng.

I should have listened to Song Xiance in the first place and shouldn't have been so merciful!

At this time, Song Xiance said: "Your Majesty, don't disturb me. I think the water is not too strong now. It must be that the Ming army was afraid that the water would flood Kaifeng City, so they only opened a small hole!"

"We simply don't stop doing anything, completely open the Yellow River embankment, let the flood flood Kaifeng, and let the Ming army suffer the consequences!"

Li Zicheng was originally a rogue who killed without blinking an eye, and of course he would no longer hesitate at this moment.

However, it would take some time for his army to move at this time, so he said: "Song Military Advisor, you personally lead the people to open up the Yellow River embankment for me. I will drown these bastards in Kaifeng City!"

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(End of this chapter)