They heard the news that Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting's entire army had been wiped out, and that the Qin army was attacking Kaifeng.
There were a large number of gentry in the city who packed up their belongings and ran away with their families.
They basically choose to go north to Shuntianfu or south to Zhili.
Many civil servants in Kaifeng City also left with their seals.
The military generals and military households in Kaifeng City took off their armor, threw away their weapons, changed their clothes, and became common people.
These people chose not to serve as officials in the Ming Dynasty, so they fled for their lives with the gentry.
Zhao Depei, the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan, frowned when he looked at the empty Kaifeng Prefecture.
Kaifeng Mansion received news of a large-scale attack by thieves in yellow.
The chief envoy, the inspector general, and the command envoy were all missing. These three officials were all missing.
These three officials also called on guards from all over Henan to defend Kaifeng when the yellow-clad thieves attacked Kaifeng City.
The thieves in yellow arrived in Yangwu County, not far from Kaifeng.
The leaflets of the thieves in yellow have been spread to Kaifeng City.
After verification, the thief in yellow was right.
At this time, everyone can understand that the small city of Kaifeng cannot stop the thieves in yellow.
These officials saw that the thieves in yellow were about to attack Kaifeng City.
They did not choose to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and live or die with Kaifeng City.
They immediately chose to escape with their families.
Zhao Depei knows what these people think.
The Ming Dynasty is about to die, who can hold them accountable?
When Zhao Depei saw the civil servants in Kaifeng City, most of them ran away.
He did not escape, he just wanted to stay in Kaifeng City and be loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
Some of the guardsmen fled, but many soldiers did not.
Their hometown is in Henan, and they cannot abandon their hometown.
Some military generals knew the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and they knew that they could lead their troops to other places.
The blame for the loss of Henan will be pushed onto them, and they will die wherever they go.
As the highest-ranking civil servant in Kaifeng City, Zhao Depei came to the Ming army camp in the city to boost the morale of the Ming army staying in Kaifeng.
"Hello, Mr. Zhao."
"Master Zhao is here."
"Master Zhao, what should we do?"
"Master Zhao, are we going to surrender to the Qin army?"
Zhao Depei looked at Wei Hui Qianhu and prepared to surrender to the Qin army.
He narrowed his eyes and ordered: "Behead this man."
Zhao Depei is only a magistrate of the fifth rank. Normally, a county magistrate of the seventh rank can have a commander-in-chief salute.
As an official of the fifth rank, he was already an extremely high-ranking official to the Ming army.
But this is wartime, and if he doesn't think of a way to scare these people, he will definitely not be able to defend Kaifeng City.
Wei Hui Qianhu was directly executed, which served as a warning to the monkeys. All the Wei commanders and Qianhu did not dare to question Zhao Depei's order.
Zhao Depei shocked these Ming troops. He gave these Ming troops reassurance and stabilized their morale.
"Everyone only needs to hold on for half a month. We are too close to Beizhili, and the imperial court will soon send troops to rescue us.
We surrendered to the thieves in yellow, and everyone has heard about the general's fate.
The thieves in yellow will send you directly to mine or build roads.
The mortality rate in these two jobs is very high. Even if you don't die, you will still be tortured every day.
As long as we can hold Kaifeng until reinforcements from the imperial court arrive.
Each of you can be reused by the court.
On the one hand, you can enjoy glory and wealth, and on the other hand, you can be a slave. I believe you can make the right choice."
The eyes of these Ming troops were bright. No one was there to guide them, and they did not dare to rashly surrender to the Qin army.
Now according to Zhao Depei, the right time will not affect their surrender.
"Master Zhao, we listen to you."
"Master Zhao, we all have the same goal, which is to defend Kaifeng City."
"Master Zhao, I and my soldiers must obey your command."
Zhao Depei used both soft and hard tactics to finally deal with the Ming army in Kaifeng City and make them temporarily obey his orders.
He knew that these Ming troops would definitely be half-hearted, and even when the Qin troops arrived, they would surrender the city and sell themselves for a good price.
In order to completely bind them to Kaifeng City and cut off their retreat from surrendering to the thieves in yellow.
He has a vicious plan, and these people will definitely obey his words and strictly guard Kaifeng City.
Zhao Depei ordered: "In order to prevent Kaifeng City from being besieged by yellow-clad thieves, we fell into a starving situation like Mengjin County.
You all send troops to collect outside the city and try to find as much food as possible.
In order to harvest more food, run farther. As long as you don't run out of Kaifeng Mansion, the thieves in yellow won't be able to come so fast.
The food found in each guard station belongs to the guard station itself. If you can't eat the food when the time comes, don't blame others."
Zhao Depei gave the order, and before the thieves in yellow came, the Ming troops in Kaifeng City began to rush towards the villages in Kaifeng Prefecture.
Zhao Depei knew the military discipline of the Ming army very well. How could these people keep their peace if they were asked to go to the private sector to find food?
Zhao Depei checked the newspaper of the thieves in yellow. The Ming army that the pseudo-Qin King Su He hated the most was the Ming army that massacred the people.
Even if these people surrender to the thieves in yellow, each one of them will not end well, and will also bring harm to their family.
Zhao Depei waited until these guardsmen came back to expose this matter.
These guardsmen refused to surrender, and the thieves in yellow had no choice but to defend Kaifeng City to the death.
This is a plan that kills two birds with one stone.
In addition to making the Ming army in the city more loyal, they would not think of surrendering to the thieves in yellow.
The thieves in yellow will arrive at Kaifeng Mansion soon. There will still be many people who have not starved to death by then.
The thief in yellow can't save those who are about to die.
The people who are about to starve to death are immediately the people under their rule.
If we don’t save him, his heart will be scattered.
How could Su He, the fake King of Qin, pretend to be benevolent, righteous and moral?
To save people, the thief in yellow fell into the trap.
During this period of time, Henan suffered from severe drought and continuous military disasters. The grain output was extremely low, so it was necessary to go to Nanzhili to buy grain.
The food for the thieves in yellow must be transported from afar.
To save people, the army will lack food, which will inevitably slow down the speed of the thieves in yellow's attack on Kaifeng.
As for the fact that this process would cause the death of many mud-legged people, Zhao Depei didn't care at all.
These mud-legged people will die if they die.
They died for the Ming Dynasty, and they deserved their death.
Things turned out exactly as Zhao Depei expected.
The Ming army showed no military discipline and brought many bloody grain bags.
There were some soldiers guarding the Ming Dynasty, and there were also disheveled women in the ranks.
Zhao Depei immediately introduced to these people that the thieves in yellow would not accept their surrender to the Ming army with poor military discipline.
If they are caught by thieves in yellow, they will not even get the fate of mining, they will definitely die.
Not only will you die, but your family and future generations will also be affected.
To avoid this situation now, we can only choose to defend Kaifeng City and completely defeat the thieves in yellow.
Zhao Depei looked at these Ming army guards generals, his eyes were filled with hatred, but he also looked helpless.
He just wanted to let these Ming soldiers know that if they surrendered to the thieves in yellow, they would definitely not end well.
Let them try their best and find a way to defend Kaifeng City.
Zhao Depei immediately arranged for these military households to start digging cellars in the city.
The thief in yellow uses a hot air balloon to blow it back to the granary directly from the sky.
He hid all the grain in the cellar and let the thieves in yellow try their best to destroy the grain in Kaifeng City.
As long as he has food and soldiers, he is confident to defend Kaifeng City until the imperial court sends reinforcements to rescue Kaifeng City.
…………………………
Su He captured Mengjin County and immediately led the main force of the Qin Army to attack Kaifeng City, the capital of Henan, along the Yellow River.
The Qin army was unstoppable along the way, and the capable Ming army in Henan followed Lu Xiangsheng to attack Li Zicheng.
Most of them have been captured by the Qin army.
The troops left behind are basically the old, weak, sick and disabled.
They didn't even have a few bows and arrows. They carried rusty knives and stood on the city wall to defend the city.
The Qin army did not need to attack the city, but only fired a few cannons at the city. The Ming army immediately opened the city gates and surrendered.
Su Hu looked at Zhou Dahu, commander of the First Division of the Third Army. As a vanguard, he continued to attack cities and seize territory.
But he had no sense of achievement at all. It was too easy for the third army to capture these cities.
It was basically just a matter of spreading the message. When the Qin army came, all the magistrates and gentry in the city had already fled.
There are only a few guard households left, guarding the city cautiously. When they see the Qin army attacking the city, they will surrender immediately.
When Su He saw Su Hu's face, he didn't feel any sense of accomplishment at all.
He said: "Su Hu, this situation is extremely normal.
The elite Ming army was transferred away by Lu Xiangsheng, and some of the remaining elite soldiers were used by civil servants in Kaifeng City to protect themselves.
All of them will also be transferred to Kaifeng City to guard Kaifeng City.
In the understanding of these civil servants, once Kaifeng is lost, it is equivalent to the loss of Henan, and they bear too much responsibility.
These civilian officials are also in Kaifeng City, and even if they want to save their lives, they have to move their troops to Kaifeng.
The remaining troops are old, weak, sick and disabled, and have basically no fighting spirit.
Don't underestimate the fighting will of the Ming army because of these Ming troops.
Their fighting will is not strong, but they are not that weak either."
Wang Shiyuan listened to Qin Wang Su He's story.
He was not surprised at all by this phenomenon of the Ming army.
If the King of Qin hadn't treated the gentry too harshly, some Ming army civil and military officials would have had a bad end when they defected to the Qin army.
They had chosen to surrender a long time ago and would not go to Kaifeng Fucheng.
The Qin army attacked very quickly and reached all the way around Kaifeng City.
Lu Shu, the head of the secret guard in Henan, came to the capital to supervise the camp.
After saluting Su He, he said: "Report to the king, Kaifeng has now become an empty city.
According to the intelligence of our secret guards, Kaifeng City's chief envoy, inspector's envoy, and general commander are the three local officials of Henan Province in the Ming Dynasty.
They heard that the Qin army had captured Mengjin County and that more than 100,000 troops had been wiped out by the Qin army.
They immediately chose to escape from Fengcheng. The escape of these three people directly drove a large number of Ming army and civilian officials to flee.
Our secret guards sent a large number of manpower to ensure that all these civil servants escaped. This was not an act.
The Ming army in the city has lost its backbone.
The situation in Henan has been established, and we have sent all our intelligence forces to Shuntian Mansion to prepare to find out the situation in Shuntian Mansion."
Su He walked out of the camp, came to the Yellow River embankment, and carefully observed the guards of Kaifeng City with a telescope.
What he observed through the telescope.
The defense of Kaifeng City is in good order. It is not like an army without anyone to command it.
The current Kaifeng City may not be an empty city.
Su He was not careless. He directly dispatched the Third Army and the Imperial Guard. The two armies besieged Kaifeng City.
Seeing that Su Hu and others were about to go to the battlefield, he ordered: "First send troops to surround Kaifeng and test the strength of the Ming army in Kaifeng City.
We should not believe that all information is correct.
The current average speed of our army is too fast, and the logistics troops cannot keep up.
If the resistance in Kaifeng City is fierce, we will encircle it without attacking and wait for the logistics department to transport the heavy artillery.
Attack the city directly with heavy artillery."
Su Hu and Qi Gangyi took orders to surround Kaifeng City.
…………………………
Su He stood on the embankment of the Yellow River and used binoculars to observe the siege of the Third Army and the Imperial Guard.
Due to the lack of heavy weapons, they could only use 75mm artillery and a small number of 120mm artillery to attack the city.
Some elite artillerymen can try their luck to hit the city top with cannonballs.
Su He saw the soldiers of the Third Army at the North Gate and charged amidst the sound of artillery.
In an ordinary small county town, this wave of charges will cause the defenders to become extremely frightened. Some people choose to open the city to surrender, while others can't hold on to the city wall.
The Ming army in Kaifeng City responded to the Qin army's siege with Hongyi cannon.
The shotgun shells fired by the Hongyi cannon were killing the Qin army in front.
Su He stood on the embankment of the Yellow River and could see very clearly.
The Qin army had already rushed to the city wall despite the artillery fire of Kaifeng City.
However, they were driven down by the Ming army in Kaifeng City desperately.
The Third Army organized three consecutive charges, but failed to securely occupy the city wall.
"This is not an empty city. This is a city heavily guarded by the Ming army. It lacks heavy weapons and cannot be captured."
Su He looked at Wang Shiyuan who was standing beside him and said: "Chief of Staff Wang Shiyuan, please pass on my order to notify the Third Army and the Guards to withdraw.
The Ming army in Kaifeng City has a strong will to fight, so we will besiege the city for the time being, wait for the heavy artillery, and then use artillery to blast through the city wall."
The soldiers of the Qin army heard the sound of gold ringing, which was rarely heard during the war.
The soldiers of the Qin Army no longer chose to attack the city, but immediately withdrew and surrounded Kaifeng City.
Su He watched the Qin soldiers retreat. He was not prepared to trade a large number of Qin soldiers' lives in exchange for a Kaifeng city.
Wait until the Qin army's logistics troops transport the heavy artillery.
The bluestone city wall of Kaifeng City cannot stop the bombardment of heavy artillery.
When Su He returned to the camp, he immediately called Jiang Zhiyu, the head of the logistics department.
Jiang Zhiyu didn't even have time to wipe the sweat off his forehead and went straight to the tent.
"Xiaoyu, how long will it take for Mengjin County's heavy artillery with a caliber above 150 mm to be transported to Kaifeng?"
Jiang Zhiyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and replied: "Your Majesty, it will take at least ten days.
Before February, the transportation team of our logistics department will definitely be able to transport the heavy artillery."
Su He nodded and said: "There are still ten days, you can wait.
We have plenty of time and just give Li Dazhuang some time.
Let them quickly capture other places in Henan, join them in Kaifeng City, and go north together to attack the northern Zhili area of the Ming Dynasty."
Su He looked at Jiang Zhiyu and asked, "You're sweating so much. Did you run here from somewhere else? What's the emergency?"
Jiang Zhiyu said: "Your Majesty, I'm going to investigate the amount of military rations. We may not have enough military rations. We should eat less now."
When Su He heard Jiang Zhiyu say that the army rations were not enough, he felt something was wrong.
“We have a lot of military rations left, and it’s no problem to eat for another two months.
Mengjin County was settled in two months without any delay.
According to the logistical plan for transporting military rations, military rations will arrive one after another before February.
There is no need for us to save on military rations.
When soldiers fight, they must have sufficient physical strength."
Jiang Zhiyu explained what he learned to King Su He of Qin.
The Ming army around Kaifeng Mansion, before they arrived, violently plundered the people around Kaifeng Mansion.
Especially the food stored by the people was not spared at all.
Some Ming troops still had some conscience and only captured some food.
But if anyone dares to stop them from grabbing food, they will be killed immediately.
Some Ming troops took advantage of the situation to grab food and committed all kinds of evil.
The people's food was taken away, and they went to catch fish in the frozen Yellow River to make a living.
The number of fish is too small for the people to survive, so they can only make a living by chewing bark and scraping sawdust.
Purchasing personnel from the logistics force were preparing to go to the countryside to buy some vegetables, and discovered the tragic situation in the surrounding villages.
After Jiang Zhiyu's investigation, it was found that more than 200,000 people were affected by the disaster.
Su He directly ordered: "Explain the situation to the army and ask the army to voluntarily give up a share of food to help the people affected by the disaster.
We are also short of food now, so we just want to ensure that they don't starve to death."
