Chapter 191: Crush the King and Raise the Army, Luoyang Falls
Li Zicheng received a report that Li Guo had returned from purchasing muskets and that the goods had been transported to the river.
He immediately took his confidant General Liu Zongmin and two thousand veteran soldiers to the river to pick up the goods.
Li Zicheng and the others soon arrived at the river and saw several large ships docked on the shore.
Li Guo and a group of people were unloading cargo from the ship to the shore.
When he saw Li Zicheng arriving, he said with a smile: "King Chuang, I am buying 50,000 muskets and 20 cannons from Suhe, Hanzhong."
When Li Zicheng heard about fifty thousand muskets, he did not expect that Hanzhong Suhe would really sell them muskets.
These muskets are sold very cheaply. He has 50,000 muskets, so he no longer has to fear the Ming army.
The Tianxiong Army's musketeers only had 30,000 people, but they were beaten to the point where more than 100,000 of them fled with their heads covered.
Even if he had 50,000 musketeers, he could defeat the Ming army.
When Liu Zongmin heard that there were still cannons, he was shocked and asked: "Hanzhong Suhe still sells our cannons."
Li Guo nodded and said, "The money I brought was enough to buy 60,000 muskets.
I saw that there were many idle cannons in the Qin army's warehouse, and some of the cannons were rusty.
I asked if we could sell some of these cannons.
After asking for permission, they agreed that these heavy artillery pieces, which had only been used for a few years, could be sold to us.
Because I didn't have enough money and wanted to buy more muskets, I only bought twenty heavy cannons.
The Qin army's heavy artillery was more powerful than the Ming army's Hongyi artillery.
They relied on these heavy artillery to defeat the Ming army and lay a large foundation."
Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin immediately boarded the ship and observed the cannons and muskets on board.
When Li Zicheng saw the large-caliber heavy artillery on the ship, he said happily: "With these heavy artillery, I will definitely be able to capture Luoyang.
King Fu Zhu Changxun is an old thief. To see if he can still defend Luoyang, I will cook him and eat him to pay homage to my dead brothers."
Li Zicheng immediately arranged for manpower to transport these muskets and cannons.
He asked Li Guo in detail about his trip to Hanzhong.
"The gap is really huge."
After listening to Li Guo's narration, Li Zicheng sighed and his eyes became firm again.
What Su He can do, he can also do.
"Li Guo, since you have learned how to use muskets and cannons, I leave the rifles and cannons to you.
The other people who went to Hanzhong with you, as instructors, will teach the veteran soldiers how to use muskets as soon as possible."
Li Zicheng was filled with a sense of urgency. After the last disastrous defeat, he only had more than 6,000 old battalion soldiers left by his side.
There are still about 20,000 new recruits.
These new recruits cannot make them Musketeers.
They must go through several wars before these people can be trusted.
Veteran soldiers are also a status symbol, and new soldiers must complement them.
Li Zicheng kept wandering in the mountainous areas of Henan and Chu to avoid encirclement and suppression by officers and soldiers.
At the same time, we took this opportunity to train the musketeers of the old camp and Li Guo's artillery.
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Li Zicheng summoned the generals to discuss matters.
"God really helped us. The Tatars attacked the Ming Dynasty again. Lu Xiangsheng and Tianxiong's army were transferred to King Qin by Emperor Chongzhen.
This is really a God-given opportunity, we should immediately go out to fight and capture the entire Henan."
Li Guo also said excitedly: "King Chuang, there was a large-scale locust plague in Henan this year. The wheat seedlings planted in the spring.
Now they have all been eaten by locusts.
This year's food shortage in Henan is a foregone conclusion.
Those gentry saw that natural disasters would lead to food shortages, and food prices would soar in the future.
In this situation of food shortage, they directly hold back the food and hesitate to sell it.
Now the price of rice has risen to three taels of silver and one stone.
Many people can no longer afford rice.
As long as we capture the city and open warehouses to store grain.
There will definitely be a large number of people joining our team."
Liu Zongmin said confidently: "King Chuang, our army's musketeers have been trained.
I can capture Nanyang City with only musketeers.
With the assistance of General Li Guo's artillery, I can capture Luoyang City.
Our army's artillery has a farther range than the Ming army's artillery, and we are already in an invincible position."
Li Zicheng looked at his generals with confidence.
"Raise the troops and take advantage of Lu Gouguan's absence to capture Henan.
That old thief Chen Hongfan, if Lu Gouguan hadn't supported him, I would have killed him long ago."
Li Zicheng's order was issued, and the Chuang army immediately began to take action.
Their marching speed was very slow, mainly because the heavy artillery slowed down their marching speed.
It is very difficult to move heavy artillery in mountainous areas. Sometimes it takes several days to cross a hill.
Li Zicheng was not in a hurry, he had enough time.
It was necessary to attack the city with heavy artillery before we could confidently capture the city that was heavily defended by the Ming army.
After they crossed the mountainous area, the road became much easier to walk.
During this period of drought, there was no rain, and the roads were more convenient for the transportation of heavy artillery.
The soldiers pushing the cart and the mules pulling the cart were exhausted. Hundreds of soldiers and dozens of mules were exhausted. The heavy artillery cart was finally pulled to the gate of Nanyang City.
Li Zicheng saw that the army had surrounded Nanyang City.
"This small city was not captured by Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, who had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.
By capturing Nanyang City, we will get a lot of food and grass, and only when we have food can we recruit troops.
Only by recruiting enough soldiers can you capture Luoyang, obtain more food and grass, and recruit more soldiers.
This way it can snowball, and my team will get bigger and bigger."
After Li Zicheng finished speaking, he looked at Li Guo and said: "Li Guo, next is your artillery's chance to show off.
We worked hard to transport the heavy artillery out of the mountains just for this moment."
Li Guo said confidently: "King Chuang, please rest assured that our artillery will definitely capture this city."
Li Zicheng asked Liu Zongmin to arrange the siege. The precious musketeers would definitely not be able to siege the city.
The soldiers who carried out siege operations were mainly new recruits.
Give them a knife and carry a ladder to attack the city.
Only soldiers who have made meritorious deeds in attacking the city will become veteran soldiers, and muskets will be issued to them.
Musketeers have become a status symbol in the army.
Li Guo began to set up artillery positions outside the south gate of Nanyang City.
In the evening, the artillery positions were set up.
Li Guo reported to Li Zicheng: "King Chuang, the artillery positions have been deployed.
It's getting dark now, and it's not easy to see the city at night.
Many of my soldiers cannot see at night."
Li Zicheng pointed at Nanyang City and said calmly: "Start attacking the city now. While the artillery attacks the city, the siege troops will rush up to me.
Let’s go to Prince Tang’s Mansion for dinner in the evening.”
Liu Zongmin also worried and said: "King Chuang, it's getting dark. We've all been waiting for such a long time. Waiting until tomorrow is nothing."
Li Zicheng said confidently: "I have already inquired about it. The last time Nanyang City was defended, it was all thanks to the Tang King.
Now the King of Tang was taken to the Fengyang Imperial Tomb to retire, and the young men he recruited were also taken away in the name of corvee service.
With this lesson in mind, the people in Nanyang City will never help the government defend the city.
The new king of Tang Dynasty is still a loser, and he has no ability to organize the people of Nanyang City.
Our army can easily attack Nanyang City."
Li Zicheng gave a brief explanation, and then issued the order.
"attack."
Li Guo and Liu Zongmin obeyed Li Zicheng's orders.
Heavy artillery was the first to attack. Heavy artillery with a muzzle diameter of 150 mm even used black powder and solid bullets made by the Chuang army.
The power of heavy artillery cannot be resisted by the small Nanyang City wall.
The cannonball hit the city wall of Nanyang City, causing the earth-and-stone structure of the city wall to immediately tremble greatly and create a large dent.
The shells of twenty cannons all hit the city wall, and only five volleys were fired.
Li Guo could see that huge cracks had appeared in the walls of Nanyang City.
When Li Zicheng saw this scene, he opened his mouth in surprise.
"The cannons are too powerful. If we want to capture this kind of city wall, the siege troops will lose at least several thousand people.
Now with the bang bang of several cannons, the city wall is about to be shattered."
boom!
The city wall, which was made of earth and stone, could not withstand the blows of heavy artillery, and it collapsed directly.
After the huge smoke and dust dissipated, a section of Nanyang City's south gate wall had collapsed.
A large gap appeared in the city wall, leaving only a wall over two meters high. The upper wall collapsed, leaving a gap of 11 to 12 meters.
When Li Zicheng saw this scene, he was surprised and ordered: "Come into Nanyang City immediately."
Liu Zongmin immediately led the team and launched a charge towards the city wall.
Only the city wall that is more than two meters high is left. For a city wall of this height, there is no need for ladders at all.
People only need to be dragged up by the soldiers behind, and people can climb up directly.
The Nanyang City defenders had never seen such a battle before.
When they saw the intruders rushing into the city, they immediately collapsed.
Li Zicheng arrived at the Tang Palace in a big way.
"The Tang Palace is richer than the Zhou Palace. Now these things are mine."
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The Chuang army had no military discipline at all, and the generals robbed the wealthy gentry. Every general of the Chuang army made a lot of money.
Ordinary intruders broke into people's homes directly and plundered people's property.
If any family dared to resist, Chuangjun would directly raise the butcher knife in his hand.
Li Zicheng decided to open a warehouse in Nanyang City to store grain.
When the surrounding people heard the news, many people who had run out of food immediately rushed to Nanyang City.
Li Zicheng also recruited a large number of people to join the Chuang Army.
The force of the Chuang army soon expanded to more than 100,000 people.
He organized the previous 20,000 people into the old camp and issued muskets.
The Chuang army immediately set off, heading towards Luoyang and attacking cities along the way.
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Chen Hongfan, the commander-in-chief of Henan Province, received the news that Chuang King Li Zicheng was about to attack Luoyang. He immediately rushed to Luoyang City with 20,000 musketeers.
Other cities in Henan can be lost, but Luoyang must not be lost.
Li Zicheng captured Luoyang and killed King Fu Zhu Changxun, but he could not survive.
King Fu Zhu Changxun felt that Luoyang was very dangerous.
He transferred most of his property and children to the capital.
The city was captured by the thieves in yellow and the rebels. The fate of these vassal kings was very miserable. Zhu Changxun had already been prepared.
When Zhu Changxun heard that Nanyang City was blasted away by artillery, he felt that Luoyang City might not be able to defend it.
He saw the arrival of Chen Hongfan, the commander-in-chief of Henan Province, and asked his own soldiers to carry the silver and labor force.
King Fu Zhu Changxun told these soldiers that as long as Luoyang City could be defended, he would reward them with more money.
The Ming army was very excited. The reward was too much. They had to work hard to defend the city and earn another reward.
Li Zicheng looked at Luoyang City in front of him.
He failed in Luoyang City last time, and this time he wants to avenge his disgrace.
After the Jin cavalry wreaked havoc in Northern Zhili and Shandong, the Ming court urgently summoned soldiers and horses from all over the country to help the king.
In the north of Henan, there is no Ming army that can support Luoyang.
He had already spread the news that Zhang Xianzhong had rebelled again and that the Ming army in the south of Henan would not be able to get through.
The current Luoyang City is an isolated city.
He also has heavy artillery, a weapon for siege.
Li Guo came over with a face of joy and said: "King Chuang, the Qin army's heavy artillery is too powerful.
Its barrel is thicker and can hold more gunpowder.
Our artillery can hit the top of Luoyang City.
The artillery shells from Luoyang City could not hit us.
Even the Hongyi cannon above Luoyang City is at a higher position."
"This is great. I'm waiting for the good news that you can break through the Luoyang city wall."
The cannons of the invading army were concentrated at the east gate of Luoyang City.
Li Zicheng also sent heavy troops to surround the other three city walls, and constantly sent new recruits to attack the city walls.
These people are treated better than the common people who were coerced before.
They attacked Luoyang City and had a steel knife in their hands, which was found in the treasury of Nanyang City.
After Li Zicheng attacked Luoyang City last time, he had learned a lesson. People without weapons in their hands would not play any role in the siege.
The Chuang army launched a fierce attack on Luoyang City. For a while at the beginning, Luoyang City was still able to resist with the help of the Hongyi cannon on the top of the city.
After half a month of fighting, all the Hongyi cannons on the east wall of Luoyang City were destroyed by the cannons of the invading army.
The Hongyi cannons that were urgently transferred from other city gates did not escape the fate of being destroyed.
The poor technology of the invading army also caused the chambers of five heavy cannons to explode and three heavy cannons to be seriously damaged.
Li Zicheng saw that the time was ripe and attacked Luoyang City in the past half month. More than 20,000 new soldiers were killed or wounded.
The casualties were a bit heavy, but it was totally worth it. Luoyang City was already in danger.
Li Zicheng ordered Liu Zongmin to lead the soldiers of the old camp to launch a fierce attack on Luoyang City from the east gate.
The Hongyi cannon at the top of the east gate of Luoyang City was completely destroyed. If the defenders dared to show up at the top of the city, they would be hit by the heavy artillery of the intruders.
There was no Hongyi artillery defense at the east gate of Luoyang City. The heavy artillery of the Chuang Army was directly under the city wall not far away, firing cannonballs to attack the city head of Luoyang.
No army can defend the city against the dense rain of bullets.
Liu Zongmin led his soldiers and launched only one charge, and they captured the east city of Luoyang City.
"The city is broken."
The Ming troops guarding the city immediately fled in all directions, shouting the news that the city had been breached.
Li Zicheng saw that the east gate of Luoyang City had been opened, and he led his army into Luoyang City.
He immediately asked the generals of the invading army to control the main places in the city.
Li Zicheng personally led his troops and surrounded Prince Fu's mansion.
He kicked open the door of Prince Fu's Mansion.
I saw a big fat man trying to escape from the palace with the support of several guards.
The soldiers around Li Zicheng swarmed forward and captured the big fat man.
After interrogation, it was discovered that this big fat man was Zhu Changxun, the King of Fortune.
Li Zicheng simply took a look around Fuwang. The affluence of Fuwang Mansion was well-deserved.
He had always heard that the wealth owned by Prince Fu's Mansion could buy half of Henan. Now it seems that the rumors outside have underestimated Prince Fu's wealth.
Li Zicheng saw several deer in the back garden of Prince Fu's Mansion.
He asked people to cook the venison and King Fu together in a big cauldron, and the cooked meat was called Fu Lu Yan.
Li Zicheng shared the blessing feast with the soldiers.