The day Chen Shuren went north to Ruyang and went to Cai was already September 18th. After a period of stalemate and testing, Li Zicheng attacked Shangcaicheng with all his strength twice, at the end of September and the beginning of October respectively.
Therefore, both sides later adjusted their tactics, mobilized their respective troops, used food to get food, and prepared for war. By the time Huang Degong obeyed his orders and prepared for attack, it was already mid-October.
In Henan during the Little Ice Age, it was already a bit cold in early winter. Naturally, time will become increasingly unfavorable to the attacking side, and it will not get better until spring next year.
In normal years, the Yellow River would only freeze in the twelfth lunar month. However, with weather conditions like this in the 15th year of Chongzhen, thin drift ice may form in mid-November of the lunar calendar and freeze by the end of November.
Of course, the freezing of the Yellow River is limited to the main stream in the north. As it turns into Bianshui River, Shahe River, and Yingchuan River, it gradually merges southward to take the Huaihe River and enter the sea. The section close to the Huaihe River system will definitely not freeze. But even so, this section will not freeze.
The bad impact is bad enough for the troops who want to rescue Kaifeng, which means that the waterway may not be able to reach Kaifeng City directly.
The Chenshu people want to transport food to keep Kaifeng City going, and they must complete all this before the end of mid-November.
Chen Shuren Huang Degong knew this very well, and Li Zicheng on the opposite side also knew it. Otherwise, even if Li Zicheng besieged and did not attack, only one city in Kaifeng would be starved to death by the beginning of next spring.
Unfortunately, just because you know it in your heart doesn’t mean you will always be on guard.
In the world, you can only commit a thief for a thousand days, but there is no one who can guard against a thief for a thousand days.
Li Zicheng has been playing the role of the attacker for a long time recently, and Chen Shuren has been suppressed from fighting. He has been a thief for a long time, and his mentality of guarding against thieves will naturally relax, thinking that there are no thieves in the world.
…
The more relaxed Li Zicheng is, the more likely it will be for Shen Shuren to take action.
On October 11th, he took two waves of troops secretly assembled with Huang Degong, totaling more than 40,000 people, as well as more than 10,000 sailors and sailors who secretly requested reinforcements from South Zhili. The total force was
50,000 to 60,000, and finally moved into a formal offensive.
Of course, if all these troops are to be assembled in one place and reorganized and instructed, it may take two or three days. The assembly of large troops is not that fast, after all, the attack bases are not in the same place.
Huang Degong originally thought that Shen Shuren would wait for the three parties to completely rendezvous, but Shen Shuren's decision once again exceeded his expectations. He decided to make a time lag and let the 20,000 people from Shangcai County immediately march and attack.
Chen County——
It's not that Shen Shuren's decision was so brilliant that Huang Degong would not have thought of it. In fact, a surprise attack on Chen County was not a big deal. If Huang Degong had led the army himself, with his recklessness, he would definitely dare to make such a decision.
The key is that Shen Shuren has always given people the impression of being a very cowardly and stable person, which is even more exaggerated than "Zhuge is only cautious in his life", so this temporary decision really shocked Huang Degong and made him scream.
Accident:
"Sir, why don't you wait for two more days and join forces with Ruyang soldiers before attacking again? We've already waited."
Chen Shuren said wisely: "What we want is this kind of effect that is about to arrive but has not yet arrived. If Ruyang soldiers were not notified at all from the beginning to go north, we would have been fighting alone for a long time when we arrived in Chen County.
If we wait until the Ruyang soldiers and even the Yingchuan waterway army are fully in place, they will definitely not be able to hide it from the scouts of the Chuang army on the opposite side. Li Zicheng will definitely be more vigilant when he sees that we have assembled a heavy army.
Now, if we take advantage of the eve before the vigilance of the intruders increases, and launch an attack suddenly, the probability of success will be greatly increased. And once we succeed, our army does not need to stand alone for a long time. All friendly forces will soon arrive, and we will not give them any chance.
Isn't it wonderful that the time difference between the invading troops and their respective defeats is beautiful?"
After hearing this, Huang Degong felt that it really made sense. Although the risks definitely existed, adults had already made a decision, so let's take a gamble and see the effect.
"In this case, why don't you stay at Shangcai, and the general will lead the vanguard to attack Chen County first!" Huang Degong said in a compromise.
"What are you thinking about? Are you still worried about missing a sneak attack? I don't do anything that I'm not sure of. The scouts have figured it out in the past few days."
Shen Shuren was about to use this to establish his authority and trust, but how could he give up personally commanding the entire army?
…
Twenty thousand troops set out immediately, left the city in the evening, and headed northeast overnight. Two days before the attack, the troops had adjusted their biological clocks in Shangcai City. They slept during the day and worked at night for two consecutive days, so they were very energetic at the moment.
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Chen County was Zhoukou, Henan in later generations, Ruyang was Zhumadian, and Shangcai was Shangcai. The name did not change between the Ming Dynasty and later generations.
The straight-line distance from Shangcai to Chenxian is just over a hundred miles, and it is a plain terrain. If the troops do not carry baggage and recharge their batteries for a short forced march, they can indeed reach it in one day, or even after arriving.
I still have the energy to hit him with a cane.
The 20,000 men of the Shen Family Army walked for about midnight, taking a short rest in the middle. They walked more than 60 miles in three hours, and were still 50 miles away from their destination.
Huang Degong was also a little nervous. He confirmed the situation with Shen Shuren. The cavalry scouts who had been sent out also reported back, saying that no large group of intruder scouts were found nearby. The few who were discovered were all caught up and killed by the Shen family's cavalry.
No one left alive.
The cavalry scout combat power of the Shen Family Army is absolutely unparalleled in the world today. After all, it has two types of equipment, the revolver spray gun and the rear-mounted double-barreled spray gun, which are simply artifacts for cavalry pursuit battles.
Ordinary soldiers ride on bumpy horses and shoot arrows straight ahead with split manes. The hit rate is very low. Only a strong general with strong martial arts can ensure that most of the hits will be successful. But with such skillful bow and horse skills, it is not possible.
It is very possible that he is still a junior officer or even just a scout soldier.
With the use of the rotating short-barrel spray, the Shen family's ordinary cavalry can trade numbers for hits. As long as they catch up to the enemy within thirty steps, the escaper will basically be sentenced to death.
So there was this classic scene. The Shen army marched for more than 60 miles in a hurry, and not a single intruder scout was let go alive.
Chen Shuren's original plan was to attack the city urgently when they got there. At most, they would temporarily build some flying ladders to hit the wood, and then attack by surprise. The city in Chen County was not much thicker than Shangcai Gao. With a city wall less than two feet long, if the enemy's defense was not tight, there would be no time to mobilize preparations.
If the team climbs the wall, they may be attacked by surprise.
It just means paying more casualties and killing people as quickly as possible.
Since ancient times, there have been only two mainstream methods of siege warfare: either take time off, build a large number of heavy equipment, and attack slowly, or make a sudden attack in the first wave and go into battle lightly. If neither method is possible, the only option is a protracted siege.
died.
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The most undesirable thing is a mediocre play style that is neither fast nor slow. It loses the suddenness of a sneak attack and the bonus of heavy firepower and solid equipment of a steady attack. In the end, the advantages of both ends are not enjoyed.
However, he found that his side's confidentiality was better than expected, which gave Chen Shuren a bolder idea. Just after the gifted period, Chen Shuren called Huang Degong and Zhu Wenzhen and lectured them alone.
"The confidentiality of our army is better than expected. Maybe we can be a little bolder. I will march normally with Jin Shenghuan and the others and 10,000 infantry. It is estimated that we will arrive at the foot of Chen County at about nine o'clock.
You two lead 10,000 cavalry ahead. You may not go straight into Chen County, but use the speed of the cavalry to bypass the city for about 20 miles, find a place to wade across Yingchuan River, and then head north from the east bank of Yingchuan River.
If we go, go to the northeast of the city and then turn back, we can almost arrive before dawn.
When the time comes, you can try to disguise yourself as the troops returning from Guide Prefecture to get food, and deliver food to the Chen County defenders. The Chuang army has been stalemate with us for a long time, and they will definitely be hungry. If the troops sent out to rob food are neglected,
, maybe it will be given priority to supply elsewhere.
Just try to use this mentality to see if you can open the city gate by false pretenses, or simply wait until dawn to open the gate. The time should be about the same. If you can't succeed, there is no loss, and you can also attract the defender's attention to the northeast.
By then the main force of the infantry will have almost arrived at the city, and we can launch a strong attack."
Huang Degong had been depressed by this sneaky situation for a long time. When he heard that he could take risks, he immediately accepted his orders. Zhu Wenzhen naturally didn't care, so the two of them led their own cavalry.
During the previous fierce battle between Shen Shuren and Zhang Xianzhong, Zhu Wenzhen's cavalry force reached 6,000 people. After annihilating Zhang Xianzhong's main force, and with the addition of newly recruited officers and soldiers from all over Huguang, the cavalry force further expanded. However, in this battle, he
Only about 5,000 people were brought directly, not the entire army.
There were always five thousand cavalry on Huang Degong's side, and together they numbered ten thousand, which was already a very terrifying force.
Over the years, thieves have done a lot to deceive the city, but the officers and soldiers rarely steal. It would be a pity not to take advantage of this paralysis.
…
Two hours later, when the sky was about to light up, inside the Chen County government office.
A thief general with a mustache was still sleeping soundly in the inner courtyard when he was suddenly called out by his subordinates.
This person's name is Li Jiyu, a native of Dengfeng, Henan, who has been farming since he was a child. Because there are many monks practicing martial arts in Dengfeng, he also practiced a few wild moves in his spare time when he was a child.
Li Jiyu was originally a dutiful man, but in the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, the people in the village were forced to pay taxes by Yan Tingjie, the magistrate of Dengfeng County. They felt that he was highly skilled in martial arts and recommended him to go to the county government to express their feelings.
As a result, he was severely beaten by Yan Tingjie and tied with an iron chain to the stone lion's leg at the entrance of the county government office. Fortunately, Li Jiyu was strong enough to break the stone lion's leg with the iron chain tied to his body in the middle of the night. He was able to escape with a group of
The folks who resisted the tax went to Songshan Mountain and worked as bandits for two years.
More than two years later, when Li Zicheng conquered Luoyang and the peasant army consolidated the bandits around Luoyang, Li Jiyu took the opportunity to surrender. However, the most active people near Songshan and Funiu Mountain at that time were Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying.
It was not long before Luo Rucai was killed and returned to Li Zicheng.
As a result, he was not only a new vassal who had "only participated in the rebellion for two years", but also became a domestic slave with multiple surnames. He was even more unpopular than joining Li Zicheng's army directly. Of course, his troops were not taken seriously either. This year
When he attacked Kaifeng City in the summer, Li Zicheng took Li Jiyu, Yu Dazhong, Shen Jingbang, Zhou Ruli and other local Henanese Luoshan bandits as cannon fodder, and was wasted miserably.
Later, the food supply in Kaifeng city was out of supply, and food was needed everywhere. When the Shenshu people came north, the surrounding counties needed to be guarded. Li Zicheng kicked Li Jiyu to this poor place to temporarily garrison. The strength of his troops was basically
Mainly those who were born bandits in Dengfeng County.
Of course, Li Jiyu was very angry about being woken up by his subordinates while sleeping. He almost pulled out a knife. Fortunately, his subordinates reacted quickly and kowtowed to admit their mistakes:
"General, don't be angry! It's the cavalry sent by General Yuan Zong outside the city to get food. They want to go into the city to rest, and they said they would give us the army food. Ji Zhang Brigade, who is guarding the gate, thinks it is not bright yet and wants them to wait.
Wait and open the door again,
But General Yuan's people were angry, saying that they, the Shaanxi old camp, were giving us... Henan bandits a lot of face by giving them military rations. In short, they were very ugly, and they said that if we didn't want it, we would just rob it ourselves. The Ji Zhang brigade was afraid of offending people, so
That’s why I asked the young one to come over quickly and ask for instructions.”
After hearing this, Li Jiyu woke up a little, relieved his breathlessness and unstable blood pressure, and realized that he had encountered Yuan Zongdi's troops, so he did not dare to neglect.
"Put on your clothes and go to the city immediately. I'll go and see for myself! Those Shaanxi brats don't have a good temper. That's all. Don't wear your clothes and just prepare your horses!"
Li Jiyu couldn't help it. His troops actually ran out of food a while ago. They had to raise their own food for the past ten days.
Although it was not to the point where they had to eat nothing, what the soldiers ate in their stomachs was no longer grains, but various miscellaneous things such as wild vegetables and roots, sometimes with a little bran mixed in at most.
But we can't offend the troops sent by the king to rob Guide Mansion to plunder food.
In less than two cups of tea, Li Jiyu rode straight to the east gate of Chen County without washing or changing his face. He only took a few cursory glances and found that the soldiers, horses, armor, and flags who came were indeed
Many of the invaders had cavalry, so there was no doubt.
As far as he knew, Shen Gouguan's army was the Huguang Army, which was mainly composed of southerners and had very few cavalry. Moreover, if he wanted to attack the city, how could he use cavalry?
Moreover, he also figured out along the way that to the east of Chen County is Zhecheng County of Guide Prefecture, and further north is Shangqiu County governed by Guide Prefecture. This cavalry team came from the northeast and was not raised from Guide Prefecture.
Did you get the food back?
Out of the last caution, Li Jiyu still shouted on the city tower and asked a few questions: "I wonder what this general is called and which troop of General Yuan he is? These thousands of cavalry are probably not brought by General Yuan in person, right? You guys
Where is the intercepted grain belt?"
"What nonsense! I have General Yuan's subordinate, the 'Pagoda Heavenly King' Wang Guangxing! Of course, the food and grass are brought with the army, and there is only so much for you. If you want it or not, there will be no more! If General Yuan hadn't said
You are starving to death, and you are worried that Official Shen Gou will come to return to Germany, so I will not bother to take care of you!"
The visitor spoke with a back-tongued Shaanxi accent. He was not angry yet. He talked about some cavalrymen and took off a few food bags from the horse.
It seems that these few thousand cavalrymen only carried a sack of grain with them, and it is estimated that the total does not exceed two thousand dan. These people must have passed by here, and there was not much grain to share with the Chen County defenders.
But mosquitoes are still meat. The more arrogant the other party is, the more Li Jiyu believes that the other party is an old Shaanxi camp, especially the kind that has already surrendered to the King of Chuang. When he met the new Henan auxiliary army in private, he still had to show off his bandit name and mention "so-and-so" back then.
The style of "Wang" is definitely the style of the Shaanxi People's Army.
In a hurry, Li Jiyu couldn't distinguish any more, so he ordered the door to be opened.
There is no Wengcheng in the small town of Chen County. Once you enter the gate, you can go straight to the county government office. From then on, the journey is smooth. The visitor rides his horse directly into the city. Li Jiyu goes down to the city to greet him, and is about to further confirm his identity.
Unexpectedly, a row of cavalrymen in the front row of the opponent suddenly took out a short-barreled weapon that he had never seen before, and then without igniting it, they directly pulled the trigger, and the pre-opened flintlock hammer went down.
Hit, dozens of groups of shotguns sprayed out.
Li Jiyu didn't understand anything, and was instantly beaten into a hornet's nest.
"One hundred thousand heavenly troops from the imperial court have arrived! Those who surrender will not be killed!" Zhu Wenzhen succeeded in the sneak attack and immediately shouted.
Later, Huang Degong was also as powerful as a mad tiger. He cherished the short runner that Chen Shuren had just given him and sprayed it. With the steel pole in his other hand, he sprinted on his horse. The long street was covered with blood for a while, and Li Jiyu's men were killed.
It makes people turn their backs on their backs.
——
Note: Historically, in the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, the Qing army had just arrived in Henan Prefecture and had not yet entered Dengfeng County. After just sending letters, Li Jiyu took the Dengfeng County he occupied and added Ruzhou Prefecture. More than 200,000 remaining people surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.
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So if you want to kill this kind of traitor, just kill him. Don’t think there is anything regretful about the death of a sidekick. Let me clarify, lest someone criticizes me for killing peasant army NPCs indiscriminately. My principle is to give priority to killing the NPCs in history without firing a single shot.
Traitor generals of the peasant army and those who have participated in the anti-Qing war can be killed sparingly and with caution, as appropriate.
I don’t have a collecting habit. When I wrote about the Three Kingdoms, I wasn’t afraid of offending fans of certain characters. I just killed when I needed to. Writing about war is very realistic. What’s more, it’s only the late Ming Dynasty. I won’t do it for the so-called “creating supporting villains is not easy.”
"We should use it for a while and for a longer time to deepen the reader's impression and merge similar items with villains."
Especially since this book has poor results, I don’t want to attract fans of any camp characters to pay for it. Whether to kill or not will be based on realism as the core consideration, and I will no longer sacrifice historical authenticity for the rhythm of the plot. I would rather not look good, but also want to be real (something else will happen in the future)
Once the book scores are good, I will compromise on the balance between authenticity and commerciality as appropriate. Don’t worry, I have the strength. I just don’t bother to compromise for a monthly price difference of up to several hundred yuan.)