It was still cold in Wuchang in February, but there were already swallows building nests in the small courtyard where Wu Shigong stayed. Although war disasters came and went, the houses outside Wuchang were not damaged. This also shows that there were no buildings in Wuchang before.
What a fierce battle happened.
But now, most of the houses cannot be saved. In order to attack the city, the Runing army demolished all the houses near the city wall. They also imitated the Qing army in Jinzhou and the peasant army in Kaifeng and built a city outside the city.
Several trenches and earth walls were built, completely surrounding Wuchang City.
However, the amount of the entire project is not large. It took 50 or 60 thousand people to work for a few days to build it. After all, Wuchang is faced with water on both sides, and the water surface can be blocked by gunboats. The Runing Army only needs to be trapped.
Just stay on either side of the land route.
But as a result, coupled with the construction of the camp, there were only a few private houses left outside the city, so it was quite good for Wu Shigong to have a small courtyard to live in.
But now the battle in Wuchang City has fallen into a long-term siege that the Runing Army least wants to see.
Although besieged in Wuchang City, Li Dingguo's Daxi Army only numbered 20,000 people. But when they heard that the government troops were coming to suppress them, the more than 200,000 people left in the city immediately shared the same hatred. They mobilized young and strong men and women to build weapons day and night.
Wuchang City’s towering and solid city walls and ample food and grass in the city, we vow to live and die with Wuchang City!
However, this can also be seen how low the reputation of the government was at this time, and how great the harm caused by the government and army. The people in Wuchang City already believed that the Runing Army and Zuo Liangyu's tribe were the same, and they were absolutely unwilling to put their own
Life and death are in the hands of the officers and soldiers. Even if they bear the reputation of being a rebel, they will not hesitate.
At this result, Wu Shigong and the others could only shake their heads and smile bitterly. No matter how they tried to persuade them to surrender, it was useless. The people in the city believed that once the city was breached, they would face a massacre. The credibility of the officers and soldiers depended on the unremitting efforts of Zuo Liangyu and his like.
Finally, in the minds of the people, it successfully dropped to "absolute zero".
And Li Dingguo's "revolutionary will" is also quite firm. As a senior leader of the Great Western Army, Li Dingguo certainly knows more. He also understands that as long as he surrenders and offers the city, Butcher Wu will not sacrifice himself and his 20,000 soldiers.
As for Ma, at most he would end up under house arrest in Runing. But the people in the city would be in far worse danger. Everything can deceive people. Even nicknames can't deceive people. Who let Mr. Wu outside the city have such a fate?
What about the well-known nickname - Wu Butcher? Not to mention, Wu Shigong was quite unfair here.
In addition, Li Dingguo also knew that Li Zicheng's Shun army in the north was now on the rise, and the Qing army in Liaodong had entered the pass again. He just wanted to wait until the Runing army could not withstand the pressure from the north and withdraw its troops on its own initiative to find help for the soldiers and civilians in Wuchang City.
Get a chance of survival.
But let’s be honest. After following Zhang Xianzhong for a long time, Li Dingguo became more realistic in his work. He was not opposed to surrender, but wanted to strive for better conditions. In addition to protecting the safety of the people in the city, Li Dingguo also believed that:
If you surrender as soon as the troops reach the city, the conditions for surrender will definitely not be very good. After Butcher Wu encounters a few more hard nails outside the city, you can negotiate better terms. After all, Butcher Wu has a pretty good reputation for keeping his word in the world.
.
As an important town in Huguang, Wuchang City is more than three feet thick and five feet high. It cannot be broken open by artillery overnight. In addition, the soldiers and civilians of the Great Western Army in the city are determined to form a city. If they attack hard, there will definitely be huge casualties. For
Therefore, the Runing Army could only resort to the most time-consuming battle in the city.
"What? There's still no reply from the city?" Wu Shigong asked Chi Mingdao. This question has now become Wu Shigong's daily routine.
Seeing Chi Ming, he shook his head. Wu Shigong could only sigh, and then ordered: "If there is no more news, just tell the city..."
Having said this, Wu Shigong hesitated for a moment, and then changed his words: "Forget it, our conditions must not be lowered. Pay attention to contacting Director Xue in Xuzhou. As long as they have trouble, we here are willing to abandon Wuchang and move the entire army north.
I can't agree to the conditions in the city. I didn't expect that Li Dingguo is really a character!"
Wu Shigong's hesitation is not without reason. As long as Wuchang City is solved, the Runing Army can dispatch at least 50,000 troops to Xuzhou and Heze areas, which can completely block the Qing army from entering Henan, so Wu Shigong wanted to go earlier
Escape from Wuchang City.
As for the surrender of the Runing Army, Li Dingguo in Wuchang City did not respond. However, he proposed to maintain the integrity and independence of the Daxi Army in accordance with the Gucheng regulations. He only surrendered to the imperial court in name only and did not accept Runing.
conditions for the comprehensive reorganization of the army.
But Wu Shigong will never accept such an independent army. Otherwise, sending troops to guard it every day is not enough, and you can't let go of the encirclement and suppression. After all, nominally speaking, the peasant army still surrenders to you. If you want to encircle and suppress it, you still need to find it.
An excuse. How troublesome is that?
It would be better not to do anything about it and simply let go of the peasant army in Wuchang City. When they meet in the future, they can still attack without any psychological burden.
In the midst of boredom, Wu Shigong began to tease Chi Ming again: "Mingzi! When you go home this time, you will get a wife."
"It's not urgent. We don't have time to go on a blind date. After the world is peaceful, we will let the adults make the decision to create a family for the little ones." Facing the topics that Wu Shigong often talks about, Chi Ming is now able to deal with them easily.
"Don't plot against me, I'm not a matchmaker." Wu Shigong refused with a smile, "When you get back, talk to Yang Goudan's family and ask her to find a suitable one for you. But then Yang will probably be rich.
Outsider Tian, it seems like that little girl Rusong can’t escape.”
Wu Shigong's words immediately caused people in the courtyard to burst into laughter.
"There's no need to be so hasty!" When it came to the actual situation, Chi Ming still became coy.
"Don't be in a hurry, your sister should be! If you delay any longer, she will become an old girl. Otherwise, Xiao Ding will jump on both feet." Wu Shigong joked next.
When he saw that the flames of war had touched him, Huang Ding quickly said: "No! Sir! I have no affair with the Chi family girl."
"We don't know if there is an affair or not! Anyway, let Chi Yatou decide for herself. If she nods, you can't run away."
There was laughter again in the yard.
…
After chatting for a while, Wu Shigong began to think about the future arrangements of the Runing Army. The number of Zuo Liangyu's army and peasant troops captured this time was quite large, and Li Dingguo's army in Wuchang City might surrender to the Runing Army. Therefore, Runing Army
Ning Jun will select the best among them and transform them into a auxiliary second-category force.