Ji's face became more gloomy, and a strange light shone in his eyes. He stepped forward and pulled Luo Rucai away, then took a few steps back, clearly not wanting to let the soldiers and generals standing nearby hear any sound.
"According to your wishes, we can help King Chuang fight this battle, but we must not destroy all the officers and soldiers. When victory or defeat depends on our breath, we suddenly switch sides, surrender to the court, and attack King Chuang together. The officers and soldiers are here
We are in front and we are behind. We will attack from both sides and we will win a complete victory. Since King Chuang is defeated, the court will definitely place great emphasis on the general. It is not difficult to get the title of marquis or uncle."
Luo Rucai was shocked when he heard this and objected: "You want me to do such a cruel thing. How can I gain a foothold in the rebel army in the future? Thieves will not kill thieves, and thieves will not kill thieves!"
Ji said categorically: "Commander! Today we are no longer thieves, but an army of princes fighting for hegemony in the world. How can we have the kindness of women? If we don't make this move today, I'm afraid it will be too late to regret it!"
Luo Rucai was hesitant. He stood up, put his hands behind his back, walked back and forth several times, and murmured: "You have to have some loyalty, not to mention that Zicheng treats me badly, how could we do this? If we don't fight,
Let’s talk about it after this battle is over?”
"Otherwise, otherwise, this opportunity must not be missed. If the time never comes again, this store will no longer exist in this village." Ji earnestly persuaded him, "When fighting for the world, the one who strikes first is the strongest. Since ancient times, when heroes get along with each other, it has always been
You act when the opportunity arises, and do not respect the benevolence of women. You must stop it and regret it."
Luo Rucai disagreed in his heart. Although he was also wary of Li Zicheng, he was unwilling to join hands with the government and army to eliminate Li Zicheng and make everyone in the world reviled him. Moreover, he had no regard for the court or the government and the army.
I don't like it at all, and I don't believe it either.
After pondering for a moment, Luo Rucai still said: "As long as we still have tens of thousands of elite soldiers in hand, whether it is the imperial court or Li Zicheng, they will always look at us. Why should we place our bets early now, or wait until after this battle is over?
Come on! The imperial court still has the strength. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until we have a hundred thousand soldiers in our hands before we decide who to target? You don’t need to say any more, this matter will be decided like this until the fight is over.
Let’s talk about this battle later.”
Luo Rucai hesitated, while Ji lamented endlessly. The strength of the Chuang army developed so fast that Li Zicheng had 40,000 soldiers among the 60,000 soldiers, and the 20,000 people controlled by Luo Rucai were also infiltrated by the Chuang army. Zhao Yingyuan was already half a soldier.
Even the important generals Luo Dain, Luo Yanqing, and Yang Chengzu, who were relatives of Luo Rucai, openly defected to Chuangying, they were all unclear about Li Zicheng.
That’s why Ji Cai felt that time waits for no one!
If we continue to wait like this, there will be no need for Li Zicheng to use any coup or mutiny to annex Cao Ying. Cao Ying will become a part of Cao Ying unknowingly.
Ji thought well, but he never thought that even if Luo Rucai wanted to stab Li Zicheng in the back, would Cao Ying's soldiers really agree?
As soon as the secret discussion between the two of them ended, Luo Rucai's personal soldiers took advantage of the fog to pass these words to Luo Rucai's uncle Luo Daien. After hearing this, Luo Daien was not surprised. He had already
Knowing that Ji had great objections to the invading army infiltrating Cao's camp, after pondering for a while, he asked people to reveal the contents of the secret discussion to Luo Yanqing and Yang Chengzu.
Luo Dain knew that Luo Yanqing and Yang Chengzu had many people planted by Li Zicheng. When they learned about the contents of the secret discussion, it was equivalent to Li Zicheng knowing about the contents of the secret discussion.
Between Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng, Luo Daien was of course on Luo Rucai's side. But he also knew very well that Cao Ying did not have the capital to backstab him. With Li Zicheng's penetration into Cao Ying, once he stabbed him in the back,
Cao's camp itself will disintegrate first, and then won't it mean that the officers and soldiers will get an advantage in vain?
If Luo Ru could have greater independence and stronger military strength, then Cao Ying might still have the possibility of independence. But based on the current situation, Li Zicheng could subtly annex Cao Ying without any coup.
.
From Rodan's point of view, the best situation is that the two armies of Chuang and Cao will truly merge into one in a subtle way. Luo Ru will become a real deputy commander of the rebel army, and they, the generals of Cao's camp, can also become direct generals of the Chuang army...
There were not many people like Ji in Cao's camp, but there were some. Luo Daien, an old uncle who had always been kind, had a murderous intention in his eyes and whispered to the soldiers: "Zhu
The battle of Xianzhen must be a big one, and it is no surprise that anyone will die. We can no longer tolerate some villains destroying the relationship between Chuangcao and Cao camps."
Luo Dain did not pass all the information about Luo Rucai and Ji to Li Zicheng through the eyes and ears planted by Luo Yanqing's army. Instead, he only passed on some specious news. However, he believed that after Li Zicheng got this news, he would
The grasp of the situation in Cao Camp will definitely become more accurate.
On the last day of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the allied forces of Chuang Cao were busy building forts and consolidating the defensive positions of Zhuxian Town. The little haze between the two camps of Chuang Cao was hidden in the roar of people and was not revealed. Most of the soldiers had already
They were so exhausted that many people simply fell asleep on the roadside.
The people who broke into the camp and the people who came from Cao's camp were all mixed together without distinction. Such a long period of joint fighting had made them familiar with each other and regarded each other as one of their own. In this way, they became one and the same.
The situation is indeed what Luo Dain thought. Even if Luo Rucai had the intention to switch sides, Cao Ying's soldiers might not listen to him and do such a thing. The result was just that he pushed people's hearts towards Li Zicheng.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the Qin army and the Chu army that had joined forces near Zhuxian Town finally launched a powerful offensive, and a bloody battle broke out with the Chuang Cao coalition forces.
He Renlong still took the lead, and He Zhen's elite cavalry rushed left and right, breaking through the trenches and fortress defense lines set up by the rebels several times, and rushed into the center of Zhuxian Town.
But Zuo Liangyu's Chu soldiers stood still and watched the Qin army fight tooth and nail. After He Renlong led his troops into Zhuxian Town, Zuo Liangyu did not send troops to reinforce. As a result, Li Shuangxi and Gu Kecheng led Li Zicheng's personal soldiers.
The guards fought back desperately and drove He Zhen out of the town again, restoring the defense line.
He Renlong was so angry that he almost drew his sword and rushed into the Zuozhen camp to seek justice with Zuo Liangyu. Only after Wang Qionian persuaded him again and again and promised to allocate the newly raised batch of grain and military pay to He Zhen first did he
He calmed down He Renlong's anger.
However, the Qin soldiers complained deeply about Zuozhen who was standing still. After both sides retreated after dusk, He Renlong's soldiers took the opportunity to fetch water and gathered a group of people to beat Zuozhen officers and soldiers. Things became more and more troublesome.
In the end, it was Wang Qionian who stepped in to clean up the mess, giving each of them 50 pieces of advice to resolve the matter.
However, the mutual trust between the Qin soldiers and the Chu soldiers has collapsed. The two sides hate each other and have no appearance of friendly forces. How can they cooperate in fighting?
Wang Qiaonian led a large number of staff and scribes under him to patrol back and forth between the two camps of Qin Army and Zuozhen. The more he inspected each military camp, the more he was struck by the low morale of the officers and soldiers and their distrust of friendly forces.
They were shocked by the food situation. This situation also caused Wang Qiaonian, who had low hopes of defeating the Chuang army, to completely lose confidence in a decisive battle.
He had already thought about retreating in his heart, but he was suffering from the lack of an excuse to deal with Emperor Chongzhen. For military leaders like Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong, he lacked the power to restrain them. Even if he wanted to retreat now, he was not sure that other generals would listen to him.
military orders.
Wang Qiaonian was so helpless that he had no choice but to follow the advice of one of his staff and called Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, Niu Chenghu and other general military officers to prepare to hold a military meeting to discuss the current situation.
However, the meeting did not go well from the beginning. Zuo Liangyu said that he was busy with military affairs and had no time to spare, so he was only willing to send one of his lieutenants, Jin Shenghuan, to come to the meeting. He Renlong complained even louder. He said that he was attacking Zhuxian during the day.
I was shot and injured by a bandit when I was in town. I am currently recovering from my injuries and did not come to the meeting in person.
There was no other way. Wang Qiaonian was the governor of the three sides, but he had no way of restraining these self-respecting warriors. He had no choice but to make smiles everywhere, use the already small amount of food and military pay as a bargaining chip, and mediate everywhere, until the next day.
Finally, he persuaded Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong, two generals with whom they had a very bad relationship, to attend the military meeting together.
However, at the meeting, these general officers all looked the same. Everyone was silent and never spoke a word easily. Wang Qionian had no choice but to first explain the extremely tight situation of food, army and pay.
I request everyone to try to come up with a combat strategy to save the crisis and lift the siege of Kaifeng.
Wang Qiaonian's staff explained the strategies they envisioned one by one: "At present, the bandits have a large force and have seized Zhuxian Town, which has given them an advantageous location. However, our army is short of food and fodder, making transportation difficult, and the bandits have been preparing for the siege of Bian for a long time.
There is also a lot of food and fodder stored up. The longer the delay is, the more favorable the situation will be for the bandits, and the more critical the situation for our army will be."
"There are three strategies before our army, and we must choose one: First, fight a decisive battle with the enemy, burn all boats, and never look back. While our army's morale has not yet declined, attack the enemy with all our strength. At the same time, we have agreed that the Kaifeng defenders will respond from the north and fight from both sides.
With a flanking attack, we can almost reverse the situation. If we can retake Zhuxian Town and be on the same page with the Kaifeng defenders, we will win the first battle. If we continue to work hard, it will not be difficult to win completely. Do you think so, Commander-in-Chief?"
In fact, Wang Qiaonian was timid in his heart and really didn't want anyone to agree with his call for a decisive battle. He thought the best way was to withdraw his troops and wait until he got more money from Chongzhen before making the next step.
But Zuo Liangyu just glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, with a hint of a faint smile from the corner of her mouth, and asked: "Do you think Governor Wang can fight the enemy to a decisive battle as soon as possible?"