On the eighth day of the sixth lunar month in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Kaifeng City.
The poisonous sun in midsummer made people sweat profusely, but the soldiers on duty on the city wall still did not dare to relax. For these soldiers, sweating was considered light, and many of them had already sweated several times.
But these soldiers were still suffering and did not dare to take off their armor. Although the peasant army outside the city was only besieging them, they still fired a burst of firearms and bows and arrows from time to time.
Moreover, those firearms, bows and arrows were very sophisticated, and their numbers were astonishing. Several times they fired at Kaifeng City, and the peasant army steadily gained an overwhelming advantage.
In the end, the governor in charge of city defense, Gao Mingheng, and the commander-in-chief, Chen Yongfu, were completely discouraged. They ordered the artillery, muskets and bows on the city top not to be fired at will, unless it was civilian thieves attacking the city. On the one hand, the ammunition division was saved, but on the other hand, it was indeed
Can't shoot at the peasant army.
But privately, these soldiers were all murmuring: Why are those civilian thieves so well-equipped? Who are the official soldiers? They also saw the densely packed camps of the peasant army behind the ditch dug by the peasant army to surround Kaifeng City.
One of the soldiers guarding the city felt that something bad was going on. It was very difficult to defend Kaifeng City!
"The handsome man is here!" A shout suddenly came from the distance.
The soldiers on the top of the city immediately raised their chests and belly, holding on to their spirits to welcome the arrival of the commander-in-chief Chen Yongfu.
Chen Yongfu looked at the soldiers in front of him, whose skin was discolored by the sun, and quickly greeted: "Don't be polite! Relax! Relax!"
There is no shade at all on the top of the city, so the number of soldiers suffering from heatstroke is increasing day by day. Now, it is difficult to arrange the manpower for daytime duty. Therefore, every soldier here is Chen Yongfu's treasure.
"Hurry up and bring up the rice soup, let the brothers drink a few more sips to cool off." Chen Yongfu greeted behind him.
Only Chen Yongfu's son, Little General Shenjian, Chen De, commanding a dozen soldiers, came forward carrying two large buckets of rice soup.
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief!" The soldiers immediately cheered and gathered around the bucket, drinking from it one after another.
Looking at the satisfied expressions of the soldiers, Chen Yongfu felt his nose feel a little sore. The food and medicinal materials for cooling and relieving the heat in the city had long been used up, and there was no such thing as mung beans at all. There was not much food left, and there was no rice for making rice soup today.
It was given to Chen Yongfu by His Royal Highness the King of Zhou a few days ago.
"Hey——! I don't know how long this city can survive?" Chen Yongfu is now very pessimistic.
…
Suddenly there was a noise at the city gate under the city wall. Chen Yongfu, Chen De and the others immediately walked to the other side of the city wall. They looked down intently and saw only an official from Kaifeng Prefecture, leading a group of government officials, escorting a
The tied prisoners arrived at the city gate. There were people all around watching the fun.
"... Such a traitor will not be relieved even if he is cut to pieces with a thousand cuts..." The official's shout came through faintly.
Chen Yongfu asked his side: "What happened?"
Mr. Qian, who was guarding this city wall, happened to know that. He quickly reported: "That is Huang Tuiguan. The prisoner is a blacksmith in the city. A few days ago, the blacksmith made hundreds of arrowheads privately, hoping to take advantage of the situation in the city.
The hungry people had the opportunity to sneak out of the city to pick green leaves. They were found by our brothers. It is Huang Tuiguan who is in prison today."
Chen Yongfu nodded. He had heard a little bit about this matter. He was especially impressed by Huang Penghuang, the official who promoted Huang Peng. This was because he was the most radical militant among the officials and a representative figure who was incompatible with the peasants and the army.
After the charges were read out, a group of wolf-like government officials picked up the blacksmith and nailed his limbs to the city gate with long nails. Seeing such a "wonderful" execution, the crowd watching the excitement
A burst of cheers suddenly broke out.
"Yes! Such thieves should be punished by the Nine Tribes!" Chen De, who was watching the execution, was equally excited.
However, Chen Yongfu remained silent. The people in Kaifeng City had already begun to collude with the peasant army outside the city. With the people's hearts unstable, could the city still be strong? This really made Chen Yongfu frown. He could only
I secretly smiled bitterly in my heart.
After a while, the blacksmith nailed to the city gate stopped struggling. The official Huang Peng then erected a big white flag at the city gate, which read: "Heroes of Bianliang, please come with us.
Under this banner."
Immediately, someone shouted: "I am from the Zhou Palace. Our prince is willing to return five hundred of the palace guards to the governor Gao."
"Okay! Hero!" The people watching around suddenly burst into cheers.
With a leader, there are followers: "I am from the Zhang Mansion in the east of the city. My master is willing to enlist fifty-eight of his servants in the army to guard Kaifeng together."
"Okay! Hero!"
…
"I am Nancheng Ranger Li Jiu. I am willing to lead thirteen of my brothers to join the army and guard Bianliang together."
"Okay! Hero!"
…
The atmosphere became more and more lively. In a short period of time, thousands of people gathered under the promotion officer Huang Peng. The president Qian next to Chen Yongfu also glowed with excitement. He said to Chen Yongfu: "Commander! The morale is high! There are
With so many people willing to help us defend the city, the thieves will definitely not be able to attack. Coupled with the reinforcements from the court, we are saved! We are saved!"
Chen Yongfu smiled back at Mr. Qian, and wanted to give confidence to the soldiers guarding the city at this time. But Chen Yongfu knew the real situation in the city. Kaifeng City was originally a big city with hundreds of thousands of people. Because of the siege by the peasant army, it was originally
People living outside the city and from nearby prefectures and counties crowded into Kaifeng City, so nearly a million people were crowded into this small area.
The most important prerequisite for defending the city is sufficient food, but the food stored in Kaifeng City can only supply the millions of soldiers and civilians for less than two months. The news has not spread widely yet, but as soon as it spreads,
It will immediately cause panic in the city, and by then the city will be even more difficult to defend.
Chen Yongfu then looked at the endlessly flowing Yellow River outside the city. High dams on both sides bound the Yellow River. The water level of the Yellow River had far exceeded the ground of Kaifeng City, and it had completely formed a hanging river.
But now the mother river of Kaifeng City is completely useless.
Today's Kaifeng City has become a commercial city. Most of the food in the city is transported through the Yellow River Wharf. If the enemy troops besieging the city only have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, then the enemy troops do not have such a large number of troops.
Completely control the road from Kaifeng City to the Yellow River Pier.
But now the peasant army has millions of troops, and they have already used their troops to cut off this short lifeline. The city of Kaifeng can only send dead soldiers who are familiar with water at night to swim in the Yellow River to communicate with the outside world, but the grain transport ships cannot
It was impossible to reach the shore. Therefore, looking at the rolling Yellow River, Chen Yongfu could only feel that it was so far away.