Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 152 The first wave of siege
Most of the people standing on the city wall are actually strong men living in Kaifeng City. In order to defend their hometown, they voluntarily stood on the top of the city to assist Tian Hu and the others.

"Aren't there only over a thousand of them? How could there be so many?" Shen Liangru, who was standing on a high platform outside the city, used a binoculars to see that the Kaifeng city wall was densely packed with people, so he asked Shi Kefa.

"Of course they are young and strong in the city." Shi Kefa explained casually.

"Why are there so many people?" Shen Liangru was very surprised.

"Shen Liangru, you are the procurator of Henan Province. The government office was in Kaifeng before. Don't you know why there are so many people?" Shi Kefa asked Shen Liangru back.

He reminded Shen Liangru, and then Shen Liangru remembered why so many young and strong people went to the city to help the intruders defend the city.

In the last years of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng had been active in Henan. He attacked prefectures and counties everywhere. As Kaifeng was the provincial government, he would not let it go.

However, the provincial government is not so easy to fight. The imperial court has gathered heavy troops here. The King of Zhou wanted to defend the city, protect his family, and the glory and wealth of his generation.

It can be said that he went all out. During Li Zicheng's three sieges of Kaifeng, he actually took out millions of silver to recruit warriors in the city.

Everyone in the rotten Ming court might want to step on it, but no one is willing to fight against Yinzi.

Coupled with the efforts of the various yamen in the city, every time Li Zicheng came to attack the city, Kaifeng City could have tens of thousands more young and strong people to help the officers and soldiers defend the city out of thin air.

Although the three sieges caused heavy casualties to the Henan government army and the young and strong in Kaifeng City, tens of thousands of casualties, but this is nothing.

After all, the government provided money and burial expenses, and the people's good impression of the court has not disappeared.

But when Li Zicheng was besieged for the last time, Kaifeng City couldn't hold it anymore. After all, the previous two sieges had already caused their strength to be greatly damaged. Although King Zhou was a vassal king, he enjoyed all the glory and wealth, and he had mountains of gold and silver in his hands. Almost endless.

But after all, King Zhou's Mansion didn't have any gold or stones, and no matter how much gold and silver there was, it would be a day before it was used up. What's more, the previous two large-scale siege battles had almost squeezed him out.

So I didn't know it was that guy's bad idea, he even said to flood the Yellow River to invade the army, Shen Liangru was also there at that time.

This was the only choice for the Kaifeng City defenders. If they did not choose to breach the Yellow River, they would have to watch Li Zicheng invade Kaifeng City.

Although Shen Liangru and others knew the serious consequences of flooding Kaifeng, for the sake of their official positions and the court in their hearts, they still approved the plan to breach the Yellow River, either explicitly or tacitly.

So one night, the Kaifeng defenders sneaked out at night, quietly climbed down from the city wall, and came to Zhujiazhai on the Yellow River, where they dug up the Yellow River.

The flood flooded across the sky and swept towards the south bank of the Yellow River on the spot. You must know that the Yellow River is an aboveground river, and the water surface is more than ten meters higher than the surrounding ground. Even if the water overflows, it can cause amazing damage to both banks.

Not to mention man-made digging of the Yellow River. More famous than this time was Chang Kaishen's breach of the Huayuankou embankment in the 20th year of the Republic of China. This time, tens of millions of people were displaced and tens of millions of farmland were destroyed.

The last time Li Zicheng's siege was swept away by the Yellow River, tens of thousands of troops were swept away at one time, and his vitality was severely injured, so he no longer besieged Kaifeng.

However, Kaifeng City was even worse than Li Zicheng. There was no human habitation within a hundred miles, and there was no farmland. There was nothing but a lonely Kaifeng City.

Thinking of this, Shen Liangru thought that it is no wonder that the people in Kaifeng City would be so united in their hatred and help the Chuang army to deal with them.

Whoever's hometown is washed away, relatives and friends are swallowed by floods, and the bustling city becomes a ghost on earth will no longer greet him with a smile.

"Then what should we do? There should be about [-] people in Kaifeng City. If they all stand up to help the Chuang army, it will be difficult for us." Shen Liangru lamented.

In fact, Kaifeng City, as the largest city in the Central Plains, should have a population of at least 40 to [-]. Now there are only [-] people left, all thanks to three siege battles and the excessive expropriation by the late Ming court.

"It's difficult, no matter how difficult it is, we have to fight it down. There are 10 people in Kaifeng City, and we also have 10 people. I don't believe that our [-] officers and soldiers can't finish killing these [-] unscrupulous people!" Zhang Yong heard Shen Liangru's lament , said calmly.

Zhang Yong has a large part of Zhu Cihong's personality, that is, he can use any means to achieve the king's career.

"The first wave of siege is about to begin, you two, please watch carefully." Zhang Yong immediately gave an order, ordering the first round of siege with five thousand infantry to carry wooden wheels, which could move. The ladder slowly approached the city wall.

In fact, Zhang Yong and the others did not make any progress in the past ten days. Their greatest achievement was to fill up a moat with a width of more than ten meters and a depth outside Kaifeng City. city ​​equipment.

I saw that under the light of the fire, huge ladders approached the tall rammed earth walls of Kaifeng City under the push of the soldiers.

This kind of huge ladder with wheels is very suitable for siege. They can provide sufficient cover for the soldiers. Except for the bed crossbow, any bow and crossbow can't hurt the soldiers behind the ladder.

Of course, if there are artillery, these ladders can still be easily dismantled into parts, such as red cannons. Even if the ladder is not broken after one shot, the soldiers pushing the cart inside will be almost dead.

Fortunately, the mud-legged Chuangjun didn't have many artillery at all. After being besieged for a long time, they didn't even have much gunpowder and projectiles.

In fact, even if the city is not attacked, the people in the city will starve to death in about two or three months.

Chinese cities are different from those in the West. The economic and political roles are far greater than the military role, so it is very difficult to defend the city.

The famous offensive and defensive battles in Chinese history have never occurred in big cities, either in small counties, such as Zhang Xun who guarded Suiyang during the Anshi Rebellion, or in places like Hulao Pass and Tongguan.

Because there are few people in the city, logistical problems can be easily solved, and the pressure on the defense of a small city is also small. Unlike a big city with an area of ​​tens of square kilometers, even if you stand around the city wall, the manpower required will be overwhelming.

Under the city wall, a chief banner officer was mobilizing his soldiers before the battle, and he shouted hoarsely.

"Brothers, don't be afraid. The intruders inside have been besieged for a long time. They don't have many weapons. As long as they are not afraid of death, we can rush up. Then you don't have to worry about it. The brother troops behind will solve the city wall for us. The burglar on the road."

(End of this chapter)