On the Baigan Army side, knowing that the Battle of Kaifeng ended with flooding by bandits, they followed Sun Chuanting to Beijing.
Because the order Qin Liangyu received was still to go to Beijing. The reason he came south before was because Ma Xianglin had brought an imperial order to help prevent Kaifeng.
Now that the Battle of Kaifeng is over, of course we have to go back to the original things.
Moreover, Qin Liangyu was granted the title of Marquis of Zhongzhen, and he also wanted to go to the capital to express his gratitude.
As for Sun Chuanting, he knew that Jianlu would invade in the second half of the year. Of course, he would welcome the Baigan Army to strengthen the defense of the capital.
In addition, he was actually very surprised that the emperor actually made Qin Liangyu the loyal prince.
Not only was he granted the title of Marquis, but also because of the word loyalty, this was the greatest affirmation for Qin Liangyu!
It can be seen from this that Qin Liangyu has a status that no one else can compare with in the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen.
Of course, Sun Chuanting also admired Qin Liangyu very much. A woman could do things that most men could not do, and he had no problem with the emperor conferring a title on her.
In this way, the Baigan Army and Sun Chuanting marched towards the capital together in harmony.
……………………
After the coalition forces of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai entered Guide Mansion, they did not attack Guide Mansion City. Instead, they turned south and captured Zhe City in the south of Guide Mansion. They then stopped here to rest and sent out troops to the surrounding areas.
Lots of scouting horses.
Many people among the bandits were puzzled by Li Zicheng's decision. Logically speaking, they should attack Guidefu City on the other side of Shangqiu, which is the richest place and can get a lot of supplies. However, Li Zicheng did not
Go fight.
Li Zicheng did not explain this, but just waited for news from Liu Zongmin.
To be honest, he actually only had five levels of confidence in the strategy of the surprise attack. Because he knew that even if the surprise attack was successful, he might not be able to take advantage of the opportunity to capture Kaifeng.
Because he was ruthless, Sun Chuanting was also a ruthless person, and he would do anything to protect Kaifeng.
This is why Sun Chuanting is so difficult to deal with.
When he became ruthless, he was able to directly kill people and seize wealth for military use even if he was treated as a distinguished guest by other officers and soldiers and did not dare to offend the powerful gentry.
Even if Hong Shatou killed the rebels like a fool, and even pretended to recruit them and then killed them all, he would not dare to attack the powerful squire.
Although Li Zicheng thought so, he still hoped that Liu Zongmin could capture Kaifeng and realize the most important step in his career as king.
For this reason, he often looked north, obviously his heart was still in Kaifeng.
The people under him naturally understood his mood and comforted him one after another.
"The general's strategy is unexpected, and it will be successful immediately!"
"We have been surrounding Kaifeng for more than three months. The people inside must have died of suffocation. As soon as we evacuate, why don't we get out of the city quickly!"
"If my family members are all north of the Yellow River, I will definitely go and bring them back as soon as the war is over."
"Yes, the White Army will also cross the river. This will make the people in Kaifeng City more confident and feel that everything will be safe!"
"Haha, they don't know that the White Guard Army is just an infantry force, how can it withstand the attack of a cavalry army that is larger than them. Besides, now that the water in the Yellow River has surged, the court has insufficient ships, and the White Guard Army has to be transported again.
We have to transport the old and weak people in Kaifeng, and I'm afraid it will take a month. It's best if half of the White Army comes over first, and the number of troops will be even less!"
"Haha, if Lao Liu suddenly appears, he will definitely kill them and make them cry for father and mother!"
"..."
Listening to the discussion of his men, Li Zicheng's face looked much better. In his mind, the more he thought about it, the more likely he was to capture Kaifeng.
However, just when they were proud, someone suddenly reported back: "General, it's not good, the Yellow River has burst its banks, the Yellow River has burst its banks, and everything north of Guide Mansion has been flooded..."
Upon hearing this, everyone was surprised, including Li Zicheng.
But the difference is that other people don't know the truth about the Yellow River bursting its banks and think it is really breaking its banks.
But Li Zicheng was different. He understood immediately that Liu Zongmin must have failed in his raid, so he turned to digging dams on the Yellow River and flooded Kaifeng!
Regarding this, he was filled with anger.
That Sun Chuanting was indeed ruthless. He must have used ruthless means to prevent Liu Zongmin from succeeding in his surprise attack. In this case, I will feed you to the bastard!
Flooding Kaifeng was Li Zicheng's last resort. It was not that he had no other means, but he actually didn't want to use them.
After all, this kind of digging of Yellow River dams will destroy his descendants. He intends to strive for world hegemony, and now he has begun to pay attention to his reputation.
Also, if the water flooded Kaifeng, then Kaifeng would have no meaning to him and it would be considered ruined.
However, if he could not defeat Kaifeng and eventually left in despair, this would definitely not be tolerated by him.
Because in that case, Kaifeng would become a nightmare for his army, a knot that could not be circumvented.
After opening the seal three times, it was useless to gather as many troops as possible, not to mention that one of his eyes was still lost in Kaifeng.
At this time, after hearing Tan Ma's report, his subordinates were all surprised that the Yellow River burst its embankments, but they also understood that because of the continuous rain, the water in the Yellow River surged, and the embankments were in disrepair for a long time, so it was not impossible that they would be washed away.
Listening to their discussion, Li Zicheng suddenly shouted in a cold voice: "Why didn't the Yellow River dam burst earlier and later? Just when our cavalry raided Kaifeng?"
Hearing that there was something in his words, everyone stopped their discussion and looked at him.
Then Li Zicheng continued to shout coldly: "This must be caused by Sun Chuanting, the dog officer, seeing that Kaifeng was about to fall, so he dug up a dike and tried to flood our cavalry."
After hearing what he said with such certainty, many people began to curse Sun Chuanting for being able to guess such a thing.
Later, the news spread, and everyone in the bandit army knew about it. Many people cursed the court dog official for not doing good things and doing anything harmful to the world!
Of course, there are some people who don't quite believe this statement. They feel that there are many flaws in this statement.
However, it was said that the Yellow River burst its banks, which was actually done by Sun Chuanting. It was the most beneficial thing for them, so they did not say anything.
Only those with a sick mind would defend the imperial officers and soldiers in the rebel army!
After waiting for a few days, Liu Zongmin returned with his cavalry.
On the bandits' side, seeing that the cavalry was basically fine, they all breathed a sigh of relief, and scolded Sun Chuanting, the kind of person who would annihilate his descendants.
However, Liu Zongmin's cavalry actually knew that Kaifeng Mansion was prepared for a surprise attack and did not leave the city at all. Not to mention that the cavalry was flooded, it was Liu Zongmin who sent people to dig up the river embankment.
However, Liu Zongmin issued a gag order, who dares to speak out?
Even if it is just talked about in private, how big of an impact can it have?
By this time, many of Li Zicheng's men, such as Li Yan and others, could naturally see that the digging of the river embankment was most likely done by Liu Zongmin on Li Zicheng's order.
However, even if they realize this, so what, most people in the army ultimately believe that it was the officers and soldiers who did it. Again, they can't tell the truth!
As for Li Zichen himself, he naturally knew very well who among his subordinates might know the truth of the matter. But, did he need to care?
Framing the officers and soldiers in front of them? They are hostile in the first place, and it is just right to use all possible means. Lies are not red-faced and the heart does not beat. This is necessary for hegemony in the world, so what should we care about?
In short, if Li Zicheng himself doesn’t feel embarrassed about this matter, then there is nothing to be embarrassed about!
We have to talk about reputation, but when we encounter certain things and lose some reputation, so what? As long as there are greater benefits!
At this time, Li Zicheng had undergone great changes in his thinking.
The simplest fact is that at the same time in history, he changed his past practice and began to annex other bandit teams, killing Yuan Shizhong and even Luo Rucai, who had been kind to him, annexing their teams and strengthening his own team.
The heart of the king is undoubtedly revealed!
But the only thing that made Li Zicheng a little concerned and angry was that Sun Gouguan was even prepared to flood Kaifeng. What a ghost!
This incident also made him lose the confidence to deal with Sun Chuanting!
Subsequently, the scouts who were sent out gradually paid off.
It is said that the troops of the Eight Great Kings and the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo occupy most of Huguang. It is said that the forwards have begun to enter Jiangxi.
Fengyang area is under the command of Governor Ma Shiying, and the only soldiers under his command who can fight are Liu Liangzuo. There are no strong troops in other places.
Huang Degong and Sun Yingyuan from the Yongwei camp had already gone north to the capital.
Hearing this news, Li Zicheng couldn't help but feel a little frightened. Looking at this posture, could it be that the emperor had given up on Jiangnan and was allocating troops to relieve Kaifeng?
However, according to the nature of the imperial court, the movement was slow and delayed. Maybe it was because they had no money to set off and they were still raising military funds, right?
With this in mind, he convened a military meeting to discuss the next actions with Luo Rucai and others.
Li Yan felt that Jiangnan was an important tax-paying area for the imperial court, and it was impossible for the imperial court not to save it. Instead of staying on the Jiangnan side, it would be better to let the Eighth Kings and the Fifth Battalion of Ge Zuo stay here to attract the imperial court's attention. As for Li Zicheng, he sent his troops westward to seize the opportunity.
Guanzhong. Firstly, we can get more troops. Secondly, Hanzhong will be considered wealthy and we can enter Shu.
But Luo Ru didn't want to do it.
He felt that it was unreasonable to let Zhang Xianzhong and the fifth battalion of Ge Zuo enjoy the hot and spicy food in the south. Now, taking advantage of the weak military strength of the imperial court, he wanted to take the opportunity to go south and make a good profit in Jiangnan to make up for the situation in Kaifeng.
A depleted family fortune.
Besides, seizing the land south of the Yangtze River would mean cutting off the court's source of tax revenue and also damaging the court's strength. This would kill two birds with one stone.
In military discussions, there are roughly two views, each with its own supporters.
However, generally speaking, most people agree with Luo Rucai's proposal. Because in Qin, there are still several imperial officers and soldiers who are relatively strong.
He Renlong, Gao Jie, and Hu Dawei have all fought against each other many times.
But here in Jiangnan, there is only Liu Liangzuo's branch.
Therefore, in the end, Li Zicheng decided to go to Jiangnan and snatch it away!