Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Four: Go to the Eastern Captives!
Outside Laizhou City, tens of thousands of rebels are in a dilemma. If they advance, Laizhou cannot be broken; if they retreat, Dengzhou will be lost. The saying that there is no way out in front and no way out behind is the best portrayal of the tens of thousands of rebels here.
There is no way out or what is worse is that there is no food.
The rebels' food and grass were all transported from Dengzhou. In addition, they plundered the countryside (the income from this part was limited). Tens of thousands of people gathered together and ate horses and chewed them. The daily consumption of food and grass was staggering.
The last supply of food and grass was when Kong Youde came from Dengzhou for reinforcements. He thought he could use it to deceive Laizhou City by pretending to surrender, so the food and grass that Kong Youde brought was not much, only enough for half a month, and he couldn't bring more even if he wanted to.
There isn't that much food in the city. Even if there is, we can't bring it all. Firstly, transportation is inconvenient, and secondly, there are still women and family members in the city who have been robbed with great difficulty.
The matter of pretending to surrender has been talked about since years ago, and I have expressed my sincerity. I thought that this time I would be able to deceive Liu Yulie and Gao Qiqian, and successfully deceive Laizhou City. Unexpectedly, Xie Lian and Zhu Wannian committed suicide by biting their tongues.
, one of them committed suicide in front of the city, the surprise attack on the city failed again, and now even their hometown of Dengzhou has been lost. Where will tens of thousands of people go? Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng are really worried to death.[
The morale of the army was in chaos. The main force of the rebels was the Dongjiang Liao soldiers. Most of the Liao soldiers had relatives in Dengzhou. Knowing that they were in desperate situation, except for those desperadoes who were determined to fight to the death, most of them began to consider whether to find another way.
Choose the Ming road. Some officers even began to privately send people back to Dengzhou to agree to surrender to the Ming army, while the soldiers simply left the camp at night and ran away.
The rebels are powerful, and when they are sweeping all the way, everyone is naturally united, and it is true to say that they work together. But once they suffer repeated defeats and are taken away from their nest, everyone has to calm down and think about whether this dark road is worth it.
Go to the end.
Now the rebels still have tens of thousands of troops and more than 10,000 capable soldiers. They are not really going to collapse at the first touch. Therefore, now is the best time to contact the official army and surrender. Otherwise, wait for the official army to encircle them.
It's not worth much to surrender.
As the backbone of the Dongjiang Liao soldiers are not stable, it is conceivable that the rabble attached to them is even worse. From the news of the fall of Dengzhou to today, thousands of people have fled one after another. Seeing this chaos again
’ Go down, there is no need for the Ming army to fight, they will hang themselves and wipe their necks. Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, and Geng Zhongming were anxious, and quickly took out the direct lineage who were still loyal to them from the army and stationed them outside the camp, trapping those unstable soldiers and horses.
In the middle, hundreds of deserters were killed to shock people's hearts. Under such strong pressure and intimidation, the position was barely able to stand. However, the situation in the camp was like a fire, and no one knew when this would happen.
The pot begins to boil.
The quartermaster in charge of grain and fodder was Kong Youde's brother-in-law. He came to Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng more than once to complain, saying that the camp's grain and fodder would last only a few more days, and by then, tens of thousands of people would not have a single grain of grain. It was time to enter.
If we want to retreat, we have to ask my brother-in-law and the commander-in-chief to make an early decision, otherwise, we will be in serious trouble.
How could Li Jiucheng not know what the food shortage meant to the rebels? According to his original intention, the moment he learned that Dengzhou had been lost, the army should immediately return to Dengzhou instead of waiting outside Laizhou City. It didn't matter if he couldn't capture Laizhou.
Without Dengzhou, it would really be like going to heaven and going to earth.
"Mao" Chenglu also advocated returning to Dengzhou immediately, but Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming advocated holding back the troops. To be precise, it was not holding back the troops but actually being supported.
Kong Youde also has another card in his hand, which is the two eunuchs Zhong Fu and Deng Bo.
"The war can no longer be fought. The only thing that can save everyone's lives right now is to surrender."
Kong Youde urged an immediate surrender, but Geng Zhongming had no objection to this. Without the support of Dengzhou, Geng Zhongming knew that the rebellion was over. Now is not the time when Kong Youde started the uprising in Wuqiao, with 800 people who could dominate Beizhili.
The soldiers and horses from Beizhili, Denglai and Shandong provinces were beaten until they fled.
At that time, I caught a surprise and bullied all weak soldiers. I also made quick decisions and was not sloppy at all. I didn't have so many bottles and bottles to worry about. I left as soon as I said it and hit me when I wanted to. There was no wrinkles.
A little bit of brow. Now, how can I feel so happy?
According to the family members who escaped from Dengzhou, the Ming army that invaded Dengzhou fought under the banner of Jinzhou, and was led by Jinzhou General Shi Dayong.
Who is Shi Dayong? All the rebel generals are qnghu. However, let’s not talk about his bravery in the bloody battles in Daling River, Jinzhou and Donglu. Let’s talk about the powerful combat effectiveness shown by the Jinzhou army in the two battles of Shahe and Xiaoguanzhuang.
It’s something that makes people cringe just thinking about it.
Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, and Geng Zhongming were all Liao soldiers. Naturally they knew the power of the Liao army outside the pass. Now that they had suffered greatly from Shi Dayong's Jinzhou army, they were naturally unwilling to return to Dengzhou City, which was guarded by the Jinzhou army.
Surrender, surrender on the spot, Liu Yulie, Gao Qiqian, Lin Qitai, no matter who it is, as long as they are willing to surrender, surrender immediately!
Kong Youde decided to really surrender, and Li Jiucheng agreed. Geng Zhongming had no objection. Although Mao Chenglu had other ideas, he did not dare to confront Kong Youde, so he could only take it one step at a time.
However, something happened that made Kong Youde want to cry and laugh at the same time. This time, no one believed that he really surrendered.
Zhong Fu and Deng Bo were frightened. Zhu Wannian's corpse with his head cut off and the blood spurting from Xie Lian's mouth had already frightened the two father-in-laws so much that they no longer dared to mention the word "stroking", so no matter how Kong Youde expressed his position or persuaded him,
Both of them were shaking their heads like rattles, and they had no idea of becoming lobbyists for them. They kept begging for mercy, asking Kong Youde and others to stop treating them like monkeys.
Li Jiucheng became angry and drew his sword and pretended to kill them, but the two father-in-laws were so stubborn that they dared to die no matter what. They were loyal servants to the emperor after all. The emperor's favor was great and they were loyal to the country. The emperor
I will definitely treat their family well. But if I am deceived by them again and commit a big disaster, it will not be the fault of one person in my family. There is no way that my brothers, nephews, and nephews from my hometown will also lose their heads. A eunuch in my family will never have any heirs to continue.
It has implicated several brothers and cut off the family's incense.[
Unable to scare the two eunuchs into lobbying for them, Kong Youde became impatient and could only send people to Xiaoguanzhuang Mingjun Camp to ask for an audience with the Superintendent Liu Yulie. The news was that Liu Yulie had been dismissed from his post and sent to the capital.
, the new governor Zhu Dadian is still on his way to Xiaoguanzhuang.
This road was blocked, so he had to go to Gao Qiqian again. This time, the envoy could not even enter the camp gate. The eunuch sent by Gao Qiqian only said to him, "As long as you offer the heads of the two thieves Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde, the court will
Then I truly believe that you will surrender!"
Surrender and surrender just to save your life. If you lose your life, why don't you surrender!
Li Jiucheng was furious and wanted to summon the generals and elite soldiers to attack the Ming army in Xiaoguanzhuang. He would pull out Gao Qiqian and castrate him with a knife!
Father and son were connected, Li Jiucheng was dancing, and Li Yingyuan went to prepare. At the critical moment, it was Kong Youde who stepped forward to comfort the two father and son.
The matter must be resolved. We can no longer delay outside Laizhou City. What should we do? We must get a charter.
Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, Geng Zhongming, Li Yingyuan, Mao Chenglu, Geng Zhongyi, Li Zhongfu and others all arrived at Li Jiucheng's tent. They wanted to find a way out for themselves.
A group of people had been arguing for a long time. Some said they would continue to attack Laizhou, some said they would fight to the death with the Ming army in Xiaoguanzhuang, and some said they would immediately return to Dengzhou. They all had different opinions.
, everyone has their own reasons, and no one can convince anyone.
Halfway through the quarrel, Mao Chenglu suddenly stood up and pointed eastward with an angry expression: "According to me, since the Ming Dynasty does not want us, we will surrender to the Eastern captives!"