Li Wanqing's troops were constantly being watched by Li Shiwei, and they never found a suitable opportunity to cross the river to attack. It was not until Liu Guoneng was overwhelmed by Li Laiheng on the river bank that Li Wanqing completely gave up his plan to cross the river.
But he reacted very quickly, at least much faster than Li Shiwei. After Li Wanqing discovered Liu Guoneng's tendency to fight and retreat, he immediately retreated eastward. He took hundreds of his uncombatant officers and soldiers to the upper reaches of the river and crossed the river.
, a solid temporary position was established behind Liu Guoneng.
The pursuing troops of the Chuang Army almost completely defeated Liu Guoneng's troops, but at a very critical moment, Liu Guoneng withdrew to the fortifications built by Li Wanqing across the river to join forces with his old friends.
After the two officers and soldiers merged, the morale of the army was slightly boosted. Liu Guoneng once again held on to the ground. The commander and his troops dismounted and fought on foot, and formed a small group with Li Wanqing's hundreds of officers and soldiers. In a hilly area on the river bank, a strong fort was established.
This made the pursuing troops of the Chuang Army knock their teeth hard.
Li Laiheng's face was gloomy and full of thunderclouds. He had just ordered Li Shiwei, who had missed the opportunity, to be whipped with military discipline in front of the formation, and then began to dispatch the subordinate who had made the mistake.
"Pull up all the cannons and blast him!"
Li Shiwei, who had just been tortured, did not even have time to cry out, so he immediately ran back to his troops and directed the gunners to bombard the official positions.
For a while, the rumbling of cannons continued, and shouts came one after another. Li Laiheng looked at the temporary camp built by the officers and soldiers with a sullen face. There were fires and cannons everywhere in front of him, and the neighing and roaring sounds of many war horses could be heard intermittently.
The artillery fire of the attacking troops became more and more intensive. Li Shiwei used all his strength to correct the gun positions. Countless iron balls, large and small, flew into the official positions. Like thunder on the ground, they exploded into pieces of smoke, dust and flesh.
Black clouds shrouded all sides, dust filled the air, and thunder suddenly gathered. The officers and soldiers could no longer hold on, and some of them fled.
But Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing still held on to a raised highland in the center of the hilly land. Hao Yaoqi personally led the swordsmen to charge twice, but were driven down by the army. Both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Dissatisfied with the mutilated limbs and broken weapon remains.
Liu Guoneng's iron helmet has been shot down, and his white turban is stained with blood, which is obviously dark red.
"Old Liu, there are no reinforcements outside, no strong will, no support, no way to be invincible. Should we... give up here?"
Even Li Wanqing, who had always been strong and upright and could not bear to hear the word thief or surrender, became shaken and began to persuade Liu Guoneng to stop the army.
But Liu Guoneng sneered: "How many people have we killed for the sake of the imperial court and for our posthumous reputation in Qing Dynasty? Those who died in our hands include good brothers who drank wine and meat together, as well as innocent civilians.
People, if you say stop fighting and surrender now, are you worthy of those brothers who died in our hands?"
Li Wanqing sighed, not knowing what to say. When he killed his former brothers, didn't he already feel sorry for them?
But it is indeed the same as what Liu Guoneng said. The two brothers have done everything possible for the sake of their reputation as loyal ministers and filial sons for future generations. Now they are only one step away from martyrdom for their country to achieve perfection. How could they back down at the last moment?
Li Wanqing threw the halberd to the ground and sighed: "How many old brothers have been sacrificed to leave a name for the future generations of my two brothers! Is it worth it?"
"It's worth it." Liu Guoneng didn't hesitate. He only said the word "worth it" coldly.
Li Wanqing wanted to say something more, but he couldn't say a word. He looked at his hands stained with the blood of his brothers and people, and could only smile bitterly without saying anything.
At this time, the intruders launched another artillery bombardment. A shell rumbled from the air, passed through the temporary fortifications built by the officers and soldiers, and landed right in the center of the camp. It penetrated the ground more than half a foot deep, almost killing both Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing.
Beaten to death on the spot.
The surrounding servants and soldiers were all stunned by this, and everyone urged Liu Guoneng to make a decision as soon as possible, whether to surrender or break out, or what? It was really impossible to hold on.
At this time, a messenger sent a letter to the officers and soldiers who broke into the camp without receiving any reward at night, asking Liu Guoneng and others to talk for a few words on the high hill in front. Li Wanqing was worried about fraud and tried his best to dissuade him, but Liu Guoneng felt that this could at least delay some time.
Then he agreed.
They led a dozen soldiers to one side of the high hill. There was a deep ditch with a stream in the middle of the high hill. On the other side of the deep ditch, on the high hill, were Li Laiheng and others who had been waiting for a long time.
Among the generals who broke into the camp, Gao Yigong and Hao Yaoqi both knew Liu Guoneng. Especially Gao Yigong had fought side by side with Liu Guoneng when they crossed the Yellow River in Shanxi. He was the first to stand up, cupped his hands, and shouted
Shouted: "Chuang Taotian! You have a close friendship with the marshal, and you have a deep friendship with many of us in the camp. But you betrayed the rebels and the killings were too intense. For now, the only way is to disarm as soon as possible."
There’s a long way to go!”
Liu Guoneng chuckled and shouted back with a cold face: "I have been favored by the country and received the emperor's salary. I am a military general with a legitimate background. What friendship can I have with you? What's more, Hao Yaoqi was driven down the hillside by me just now.
The signs of victory and defeat haven’t been revealed yet, right?”
"Ha, this guy refuses to admit his guilt." Li Laiheng, who was unhappy, sneered and asked Hao Yaoqi to throw out the head sent by Liu Fangliang's troops.
Hao Yaoqi shouted at the top of his voice: "Liu Guoneng! Do you think our Liu Zhangshao is here? You are really out of your mind. He has already led his troops to attack Beiwudu. Look, is this your Beiwudu?"
The head of Guardsman Wudu?"
Then several more soldiers threw a batch of Beiwudu garrison armor sent by Liu Fangliang into the deep ditch of the stream between the two high hills, causing a large splash of water.
Only then did Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing learn about the fall of Beiwudu. Their faces changed drastically. They knew that the army had no way back and even a breakout was impossible.
Li Laiheng shouted sternly: "I have restrained myself very much, Liu Guoneng. I think you are also a veteran general. Surrender as soon as possible. I will only kill you. This can also save your brothers."
Gao Yigong and Hao Yaoqi actually persuaded Li Laiheng before, hoping that if Liu Guo could surrender, they would let him live. But Li Laiheng is different from Li Zicheng. If it were Li Zicheng, he might really be able to ignore the faults of villains and use a broad mind.
Letting Liu Guoneng go, after all, Li Zicheng even let go of Chen Yongfu who dug up his ancestral grave and shot his own eyes out.
But Li Laiheng knew that Liu Guoneng was Chongzhen's best friend, and letting him go would mean letting the tiger go back to the mountain. What's more, Liu Guoneng was a rebel general in the rebel army. If he didn't kill the rebel general, how could he warn others? Could it be that the rebel army came and left when they wanted, killing people and setting fire to find a way out?
?
Liu Guoneng laughed, looked at Li Laiheng and said loudly: "You are the rumored Mr. Li Li Laiheng in Henan, right? Brother Li is so lucky. To have such a successor, it is true that a hero comes from a young age. But..."
"But a thief is a thief after all, and you will be a king or a bandit. Even if you gain power for a while, you will still be scolded by historians for thousands of years after your defeat. The hatred of the world will be attributed to you and other thieves, and so will hundreds of millions of people."
They will regard you as enemies, and all your actions, whether good or bad, will be criticized for hundreds of years. No matter what history book of any dynasty or era, they will only say that you are thieves and villains, and are the culprits who caused the world to overthrow and the people to live in dire straits.
!”
"You are traitors, the chief culprits of the people's desperation, and the source of great evil in the world!"
Li Laiheng let out a contemptuous sneer through his nose and said: "Succeed as king or lose as bandit? This time, we will not fail. Even if we fail, even if scholars slander the Chuang army as a great evil in the world, the source of chaos, and the cause of the overthrow of the world.
I don’t care about the culprit either. I only care about the living people, how can a name after death be more important to me?”
"After stealing Zizhuang and becoming famous, King Chen rose up and waved the yellow ax. We failed because Chen defeated Wu Guang. The poor people in the world will remember our story. What about you Liu Guoneng? Even if you, even if your court wins, Li Zicheng and Li Zicheng
Li Laiheng's name will always be more glorious in the eyes of the poor than your Liu Guoneng's name!"
"Okay..." Liu Guoneng suppressed Li Wanqing who wanted to speak. He nodded and said with a smile, "I will not tell lies to real people. A man dares to do something. Since I have surrendered to the court, I can no longer be a traitor. I am determined to fight to the death.
After all, if Mr. Li has the ability, please come and take my head."
"Alas!" Gao Yigong urged from the side, "Why are you so confused? You are also a suffering person, so what if you surrender to the court? Didn't the Eight Great Kings and Cao Cao also surrender? You are not a filial son and grandson of Chongzhen, so there is nothing wrong with you.
If he is willing to die, as long as he is willing to surrender, I will guarantee you with my own life."
Liu Guoneng smiled crookedly and said: "I thank you for your kindness. I still have a ten-year-old child in Ye County. If you attack Ye County, please don't kill him. If you have the opportunity in the future, you can kill him."
It’s enough to take him back to his hometown in Yan’an and become a peaceful farmer.”
Li Laiheng remained silent, raised his riding whip, swung it down, and said softly: "Without speculation, let's launch a general attack."
More than a dozen cannons that had been aimed at the official position were fired at the same time. After a violent bombardment, the infantry of the invading army rushed over, while the cavalry divided into two teams and attacked the flank of the official army from the left and right flanks.
The strength advantage of the Chuang army was getting bigger and bigger. After Liu Fangliang broke through Beiwudu, he also sent Liu Rukui with some cavalry to reinforce, making the overall offensive stronger.
This time, the officers and soldiers finally could no longer hold on. The soldiers fled one after another under the heavy artillery fire. Only Liu Guoneng and a few servants remained at the forefront, and Li Wanqing could not pull him down.
"Old Liu, what can be done to save this situation? Let's go!"
Liu Guoneng looked desperately at the increasing number of enemies in front of him, and finally put his sword across his neck, and smiled at Li Wanqing: "I am not afraid of death, nor am I afraid of death. The only thing I worry about is whether we can retain any loyalty.
Their names are in the history books? Perhaps it is as Li Laiheng said, even if they are thieves, in the end their reputation for loyalty, bravery and faith will surpass that of our generation."
"Who knows what happened now? Let future generations judge..." Li Wanqing smiled bitterly, pulled out his sword and cut his own throat first.
Liu Guoneng immediately committed suicide, and the soldiers around him fled and surrendered. The battle was over, the smoke cleared, and only the two lonely corpses of Chongzhen's filial son were left on the ground.