Unlike Zhang Xianzhong's repeated defeats here, Gao Yingxiang's situation was much smoother. Because most of the main force of the Ming army in Henan was attracted by Zhang Xianzhong's troops, Gao Yingxiang gathered Lao Huihui Ma Shouying and other peasant army troops here, forming a more than three-dimensional army.
A large group of 100,000 people.
Once such a large group was formed, Zuo Liangyu's and Li Xianfeng's tribes did not dare to step forward to fight. Even the commander-in-chief Wang Shaoyu cowered in Luoyang City, not daring to take a step.
But without the official army as a big enemy, Gao Yingxiang and other troops still have a big enemy, and that is food. Originally, the peasant army entered Henan again because Shaanxi was short of food and wanted to come to Henan to eat. However, Henan has been in chaos in recent years.
Farming was not possible at all, but there were a lot of refugees. So after Gao Yingxiang and other peasant armies entered Henan, those refugees came to join the army one after another, causing the peasant army to be even more food insecure.
What’s more, the towns, villages and villages scattered in the countryside in Henan have been almost evacuated, and all the food has been concentrated in the cities. Therefore, if the peasant army wants to solve the food problem, it must capture several cities.
But those cities are not that easy to fight. Due to frequent banditry, the cities on the Henan border have been reinforced and raised, the strong men in the city have been mobilized, the combat system has been established, and the equipment for defending the city has been equipped; the strong men who defend the city have been
The experience and so on have also been improved, so the cost of attacking those cities will be very high.
But it was impossible without fighting, so under the command of Gao Yingxiang, the peasant army marched to a county in Henan Prefecture.
Routine division of troops was carried out to prevent the Ming army from coming for reinforcements; trenches were dug and earth walls built to prevent people in the city from attacking and escaping; and people were routinely sent to shout messages to persuade them to surrender. However, Gao Yingxiang's troops were calmly preparing to attack the city.
Although the peasant army has not yet attacked the city, there is already a commotion on top of the city because the peasant army outside the city is so densely packed and their numbers are too terrifying.
"Don't panic! Don't panic!" shouted the magistrate who commanded the defense of the city. "This county has sent horses everywhere to ask for help. In ten days at most, officers and soldiers from all walks of life will come to help our city. Please do your part.
Can!"
After hearing the magistrate's order, a general in charge of guarding the city, a yamen leader and the head of the largest household in the city restrained their subordinates and asked them to calm down.
The magistrate still had some confidence in holding on for ten days. In the spring and summer, regardless of the farming season, the magistrate recruited corvees to strengthen the city wall, and raised the city wall to three and a half feet. Imagine that the height is equivalent to a modern three or four-story building.
The building is so high, so it is difficult for the peasant army to climb up the city wall. In addition, the city has been prepared with gunpowder, rolling wood, boiling oil and other defensive equipment, so it is difficult for the peasant army to break into the county seat.
"King Chuang! It seems that this county is difficult to attack?" Yi Dougu Huanglong said. Indeed, if the ants attack the city, the refugees will be of little use, and the old camp troops will need to climb up the city wall to fight hand-to-hand, so they captured it
The casualties in this county will definitely be huge.
But Gao Yingxiang smiled and confidently said to Yi Dougu Huanglong: "It's not that difficult. Let's go to the city at night!"
This time Gao Yingxiang returned to Shaanxi, and during his exchange with the general Li Zicheng, he learned a new method of siege from Li Zicheng, so Gao Yingxiang planned to use this method in this county.
Yidou Valley Huanglong was a little unbelievable. After Gao Yingxiang's preparations were completed, he only had half a day to attack the city. So Huanglong was a little curious at this time. He wanted to see how Gao Yingxiang did this.
.
Seeing that the attempt to persuade them to surrender was fruitless, Gao Yingxiang first commanded a group of refugees to fill up the moat. The 20,000 refugees were divided into ten teams, and they continued to load the sacks of mud and rocks from the refugees at the back, carried them to the moat and threw them down. There were many people and great strength, so there was no one left.
At that time, the moat in front of the front city wall was filled in.
Yidougu Huanglong looked in front of the formation and found no ladders or other siege equipment, so he asked Gao Yingxiang with some confusion: "King Chuang! How are we going to climb the city wall?"
Gao Yingxiang burst into laughter and replied: "We won't climb the city wall today. We will go through the city wall."
Yi Dougu Huanglong was even more confused, but he also knew that Gao Yingxiang was trying to show off, so he stopped asking and stared at Gao Yingxiang's performance with wide eyes.
The refugees who had filled up the moat all withdrew, and dozens of teams of nearly 30,000 refugees came up behind them. Some small leaders of Gao Yingxiang's department shouted and mobilized in front of each team of refugees. Once the mobilization was completed, those few
Ten groups of refugees immediately divided into several groups and rushed towards the city wall. Soldiers and horses from Gao Yingxiang's old battalion also dispatched to supervise the battle behind these refugees.
The strong men who defended the city were also very experienced. The firing of fire cannons and bows and arrows on the city top was also sparse. Even the artillery set up was not fired. They were unwilling to waste ammunition and arrows on the cannon fodder rushing in front, so they prepared
When the peasant army ants attacked the city, they inflicted a large number of casualties on the elite peasant army attacking the city. They forced the peasant army to give up the siege because they could not bear the losses.
But unexpectedly, the refugees who were used as cannon fodder did not climb the city wall at all. Of course, there were no siege equipment such as ladders, and they could not climb the city wall. The refugees held hammers and shovels and knocked the bricks on the edge of the city wall.
Come.
After a while, a city brick was broken into pieces. The surrounding refugees swarmed up, picked up the broken city bricks on the ground and ran back. However, the refugees behind still stepped forward, picking up the chipped city bricks and trying to break them.
Make the gap bigger.
Before the refugees charged, the small bosses promised them that as long as they brought back a bag of broken bricks or mud from the city wall, the refugees could return to camp and stop charging, and they would also have a good meal at night. But those who returned empty-handed
All the soldiers from the old battalion supervising the battle were about to be killed. It was up to the refugees to choose where to go.
Therefore, under the pressure, those refugees thought of fighting for a way out. Anyway, a bag of broken bricks or mud was not much, and with luck, they could come back with their lives.
When the first batch of refugees returned successfully, the soldiers supervising the battle allowed them to return to camp to rest as promised, and several large holes were dug in the city wall, exposing the middle earth wall.
Only then did the strong men at the top of the city understand the intentions of the peasant army. They immediately ignored the ammunition and the arrows were worn out, and fired with all their strength towards the bottom of the city wall. The rolling logs and boiling oil also continued to pour down the city wall.
Although there were archers from the peasant army behind to cover them, the casualties of the refugees suddenly increased. Several timid refugees also quietly hid behind the crowd, but were immediately killed by the supervising team. Under pressure, the jealous
The refugees rushed towards the gaps in the city wall again.