Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 30: Just had food, now gone

"Your Majesty, please listen to me."

"Now the Dashun Army and the world are hoping that the Heavenly King can overthrow the Zhu family and restore peace to the people."

"The other day, the military advisor divined a divination: Taibai hangs high in the sky, shining on Ziwei, indicating a change of lords."

Having said this, Niu Jinxing paused.

"Capturing the capital at this time would, firstly, comply with Heaven's will, secondly, alleviate the urgent need for money, thirdly, stabilize the Dashun army's morale, and fourthly, allow us to focus on dealing with the growing Jiannu."

"Don't let go of such a great opportunity!"

Li Zicheng felt a little moved.

"But the capital's defenses are extremely strong. A rash attack would likely result in heavy casualties. Why not lay siege first and then attack when the capital's food and supplies are exhausted and the army is no longer able to fight?"

Niu Jinxing almost slapped Li Zicheng in the face.

When King Gao Yingxiang passed away, the rebel army was leaderless. How heroic it was for Li Zicheng to take over as King of the Rebels, and how heroic it was for him to lead the army to victory in every battle.

How come in just half a year, he has become so hesitant?
"Heavenly King! Even Dashun has no food!"

"Aren't there still more than 400,000 dan of grain in the camp? It's enough to supply an army of 300,000 for half a year." Li Zicheng replied indifferently.

He was really not ready to take over the imperial power.

Niu Jinxing panted heavily, "Heavenly King! We have 700,000 men! Besides, if the capital still has surplus food, our army will surround it without attacking. Once the Guanning Army and Zuo Liangyu chase us..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden noise outside the tent.

Li Zicheng subconsciously drew his sword and questioned the people outside the door.

"What's the commotion!?"

Niu Jinxing also stood beside Li Zicheng with a tense expression.

After all, the two of them had come out of mountains of swords and seas of fire, so this scene was not enough to make them panic.

Soon, two soldiers rushed into the tent.

"Your Majesty, it seems the camp wall is flooded."

Niu Jinxing frowned, "It's just the beginning of spring, the ice hasn't melted yet, how could there be a flood out of nowhere?"

Years of combat experience allowed Li Zicheng to immediately make plans in his mind.

"Gather at the three walls! Li Guosu leads 5,000 elite troops to guard the granary, Gao Yigong leads 5,000 elite troops to guard the central camp, and Tian Jianxiu leads 10,000 elite troops to patrol the surrendered army camp to prevent bombing. Liu Fangliang summons the entire battalion to be on guard against night attacks!"

A series of orders were sent out by the messengers, and in just a few moments, no less than 1,300 walls of cavalry arrived around the central army tent.

The three walls are the elite of the elite troops of the rebel army, with about 20,000 people. Everyone is wearing two layers of heavy armor, and some are holding a spear or wielding a sword.

Because their armor was extremely thick, they often used dense charge formations to meet the enemy, with the entire army divided into three waves, advancing like a wall, hence the name Three Walls.

As long as they were there, Li Zicheng had nothing to fear.

The noise outside the tent became increasingly chaotic, mostly concentrated towards the west wall.

Without waiting for the messenger to come back to report, Gao Yigong's personal soldiers had already rushed into the tent.

"My general has sent a small servant to report to the Heavenly King that the Ming dogs have raided the camp and are currently engaged in a fierce battle at the West Wall. My general will be here shortly, so please rest assured, Heavenly King!"

……

Zhang Shize's sword drew a silver arc in the moonlight.

The sound of horse hooves of four hundred light cavalry startled the crows roosting at night.

A section of the camp, nearly a hundred meters long, was engulfed in flames.

The patrolling cavalry and sentries were startled by the sudden change.

But more people, after seeing Zhang Shize and others clearly, immediately picked up their weapons and joined the battle.

This is the disadvantage of Zhang Shize not having experienced war.

Even if he had read the family military manual, he should have known that a normal night attack would take place at the hour of Yin, when people and horses would be tired and their reactions would be slow, making it the perfect time for a night attack.

It’s a pity that there are not so many opportunities for him to test himself.

"Fire the arrow! Fire the arrow!"

With the roar of the sentry on the wall, the counterattack from the rebel army finally arrived.

A rain of arrows poured down, and the dozen or so riders in the front fell to the ground.

Although Zhang Shize also rushed forward, he was protected by iron armor, and the arrows that hit his body were bounced off and he suffered no damage.

He didn't know what orders to give now, so he could only keep his head down and ask the horse to go faster.

Burning a section of the village wall will create more noise and give Ye Bushou more opportunities.

Another rain of arrows fell, and more than a dozen riders fell to the ground.

Zhang Shize also galloped a hundred steps away with his light cavalry.

Looking at the more and more elite troops gathering around.

Zhang Shize shouted, "Throw kerosene!"

Dozens of kerosene cans flew across the sky in an arc.

Amid the sound of shattering pottery jars, another section of the village wall burst into flames.

Then the light horse continued to gallop forward without stopping.

The rain of arrows never stops, and the flames never cease.

Zhang Shize didn't remember how far he ran, nor did he know how many sections of the wall he burned.

He was forced to stop only when the organized cavalry of the Chuang army finally appeared in front of him.

Gun smoke and bloody mist swirled in the moonlight. Zhang Shize's silver armor had been ripped open by dozens of arrows.

Looking back, there were soldiers and flags of the rebel army everywhere.

Behind him, the remaining sixty-eight cavalrymen tied their horses end to end.

There are elite servants and light cavalry of the border army.

Of the servants he brought with him to protect him, only one was left.

Behind them was a wall of fire formed by burning grain carts, in front of them was a forest of cold spears, and Gao Yigong's three thousand heavily armored elite cavalry had surrounded them.

Zhang Meng, the family general, suddenly smiled and took off his broken armor, holding the only remaining gunpowder can in his hand. "Master! Sing a piece of "Breaking the Formation" for the brothers! I love to hear you sing this piece the most!"

Before he could finish his words, he rode his horse into the enemy camp.

With a loud bang, five heavily armored cavalrymen and their horses turned into fireworks of flesh and blood.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhang Shize shouted three times, isn’t this the destination he has always dreamed of!
Just like his ancestors, he died on the battlefield fighting for the emperor.

Looking at the elite cavalry of the rebel army slowly approaching in front of him, he was no longer panicked, but sang his favorite poems in a hoarse voice.

"Watching the sword while drunk!"

The sword tip was slowly raised.

"Dreaming of the Horn-blowing Camp!"

The warhorse urged on again.

"Eight hundred miles of roast meat is distributed to the subordinates, and fifty strings play the music from beyond the Great Wall!"

The remaining sixty or so riders roared wildly and charged forward with their horses' hooves beating to the rhythm.

They had already thrown away all their gunpowder cans, ignition oil and other supplies. At this moment, they were waving their broken spears and swords and charging into the iron cavalry formation.

The captain of the rebel army standing at the front looked in astonishment at the silver-armored figure colliding with his spear tip.

Relying on the momentum of the warhorse, he swung his sword and was about to chop at him without caring whether he was injured or not.

The captain quickly dropped his lance and drew his sword to block.

In terms of fighting skills, ten Zhang Shizes cannot beat a hundred households.

But he didn't care about his life, and saw that all his sword swings were blocked.

Zhang Shize actually jumped up from the horse's back, hugged the captain tightly and rolled to the ground.

In a cavalry-charged battlefield, falling off a horse was almost a death sentence.

The captain of the rebel army had just received twenty taels of silver in Changyi and was just about to use it to buy his wife. How could he be willing to fight to the death with Zhang Shize?

He quickly used brute force to break free from Zhang Shize's arms and tried to get back on the horse using all four limbs.

However, in front of him there was another Ming soldier with his intestines dragging on the ground.

The Ming army fought with their last breath and rushed towards him again.

The centurions of the rebel army could only tremble and dodge, constantly shouting, "Madmen! They are all crazy!"

Further away, a cavalryman who had lost his legs rolled into his horse's belly while holding a gunpowder barrel, blowing several nearby war horses into charred bones.

When the flames from the granary dyed the sky red, only seven light cavalrymen were left surrounded by the iron cavalry.

Zhang Shize's ancestral silver armor was completely scrapped, and the four fingers on his left hand were nowhere to be found.

Although he was about to die, he did not feel any fear. He just stared blankly at the fire near the granary and recited the last sentence.

"Autumn Review of Troops on the Battlefield..."

……

At this moment, in the direction of the granary, the Yebushou households were clinging to the shadows of the three-layer fence like geckos.

He licked the blood on the dagger. Two sentries were lying at his feet.

Behind him, fifty men in black were walking quickly with their backs bent, each with a bag of kerosene bulging around his waist.

The granaries were too big, and they had limited manpower, so they only burned four granaries in two quarters of an hour.

There are still twelve waiting for them to ignite.

According to his speculation, Zhang Shize and others might not be able to hold on for even two quarters of an hour.

To prevent the situation where the fire starters are laid out but not lit in time.

He took advantage of the fact that no one noticed and ordered his men to burn as much as they could.

As long as we can keep everyone on Zhang Shize's side alive, it will count.

……

Li Zicheng also saw the fire in the granary.

As the left prime minister in charge of logistics, Niu Jinxing felt a little secretly happy for some reason.

There was food just now, but now there is none.

There is no reason for King Chuang not to attack the city!

Just as he was thinking this, the sound of horse hooves came again in the distance, and it sounded like there were about a thousand horses.

Niu Jinxing didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just cavalry organized by other generals.

After all, the fact that the Ming army could muster the cavalry that had just attacked the camp was beyond his expectations.

(End of this chapter)