When Chongzhen heard the word "Wolong", he wanted to slap him!

Considering that "Wolong" was still a compliment in this dynasty, I didn't take it to heart.

His purpose of this trip was not to teach Lieutenant General Li a lesson, nor to see what the bandits looked like, nor to watch them attack the city.

Instead, he wanted to see the defenders' reaction when the bandits attacked the city.

No surprise, as expected.

There was a hint of fear amid the excitement.

This fear does not come from the bandits, but from their hearts.

Chongzhen was a modern man. Just now, when he saw thousands of bandits charging on the top of the city wall, he was also very panicked.

Because at this time he is an individual and the other party is a whole.

When individuals face the whole, they will feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.

The solution is simple: integrate individuals into the whole, boost morale, shout slogans, and mobilize!

Now we have everything we need, except a resounding slogan.

After thinking this through, Chongzhen ordered: "Lord Li, a few days ago I asked Fan Jingwen to bring all the prey from Nanyuan back to the capital. Now that the bandits are about to attack the city, distribute the prey to the soldiers and civilians defending the city to boost morale."

"Also, from today on, we will set up a porridge shop in the city. I want not only these soldiers guarding the city to have hot meals, but also the people in the city to have enough food and warm clothes."

"I obey the order."

While descending the city wall, Chongzhen whispered to Li Banghua, "How are the death squads I asked you to recruit a few days ago?"

A few days ago, Chongzhen asked Li Banghua to recruit death squads in the city, including ruffians, gangsters, and murderers. No matter what they had done, they would not be held accountable. Each person was given 200 taels of silver, and they either trained or ate meat every day. Now the results should come out.

Li Banghua whispered, "I have recruited more than 400 people, and all the weapons and armor have been fully equipped."

"Have them ready to act tonight. Have the defenders at Fuchengmen fire cannons every half an hour after nightfall. After the cannon fires at the end of the 11th hour, have these soldiers fight their way out of Fuchengmen and return from Deshengmen. Deshengmen has a barbican, so even if we let the wrong people in, we can still surround and annihilate the enemy."

"As you wish."

After returning to the Qianqing Palace, Chongzhen called Li Zuo from the Yongwei Camp.

After careful arrangements, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Since you, Li Zicheng, are here, don’t even think about sleeping well on the first night!

Then Chongzhen bent over the desk and began to write.

He would write the slogan on paper and have the defenders read it to everyone before the enemy attacked the city.

The slogan must not only be loud, but also make people feel passionate and excited!

......

Four miles west of the capital is Diaoyutai.

This was originally a place where the emperors of the Jin and Yuan dynasties went fishing and playing. In the Ming Dynasty, it became a manor house for eunuchs.

After the Shun army's scouts conducted some investigation, Li Zicheng set up this place as the central military tent.

Li Zicheng, military advisor Song Xiance, left assistant Niu Jinxing, left commander-in-chief Liu Zongmin, left camp general Liu Fangliang, right camp general Liu Xiyao, front camp general Yuan Zongde, and rear camp general Li Guo took their seats respectively.

There was wine and meat on the table, and a charcoal fire next to it.

Several people discussed military intelligence while eating meat and drinking.

Liu Zongmin reported: "Your Majesty (Li Zicheng has proclaimed himself emperor), today we sent common people to test the Ming army's garrison and artillery deployment. All other city gates encountered resistance, except for the Fucheng Gate in the west, where there was no movement at all. Not to mention artillery, no one even fired bird guns."

"According to the scouts, they saw many people at Fucheng Gate through their clairvoyance. Judging from their clothes, Zhu Youjian seemed to be supervising the army on the top of the city wall at that time."

Li Zicheng stroked his beard and frowned slightly.

He is thinking...

Why didn’t Fuchengmen resist?

Did Zhu Youjian see through their plan, or were the defenders simply frightened?

Or maybe... Zhu Youjian was afraid of the sound of cannons and didn't allow the cannons to be fired?

After all, they only allowed the civilians to run within the range of the artillery and outside the range of the bird guns. The purpose was to test the artillery deployment.

After thinking for a while and still unable to figure it out, he looked up at the others.

These people are the backbone of the Shun Army and have rich combat experience.

"What do you think?"

Liu Fangliang lowered his head and said nothing. He had just lost more than 2,000 cavalrymen. Although he was not seriously injured, the consequences were still serious.

Since the Shun army launched the Northern Expedition, apart from the heavy losses at Ningwu Pass, the second most serious one was here.

Military strategist Song Xiance smiled faintly: "Your Majesty, I think Zhu Youjian is frightened. I heard from Du Xun that Zhu Youjian appears to be brave, but in fact he is as timid as a mouse. Why not send him into the city tonight and force Zhu Youjian to negotiate peace."

Peace talks?

Li Zicheng looked at Song Xiance and felt a little surprised.

The 100,000 Shun troops fought their way to Beijing after untold hardships, especially at Ningwu Pass, where they lost 70,000 troops! Now they have finally surrounded Zhu Youjian, and now they are forcing him to negotiate peace?

Even if Zhu Youjian agreed, Li Zicheng and his brothers would not agree!

Song Xiance laughed and said, "Your Majesty has misunderstood me. The army has just arrived at the gates of Beijing and is in urgent need of repair. There are two purposes for sending Du Xun to negotiate peace with Zhu Youjian. One is to give our army a chance to rest; the other is to destroy the determination of the Ming army to defend the city through peace talks."

Niu Jinxing echoed, "Your Majesty, what Military Advisor Song said is absolutely right. We sent Du Xun to negotiate peace just to confuse Zhu Youjian. He is an indecisive and hesitant person. As long as we relax the conditions, he should agree."

"Once they agree to negotiate peace, the Ming army will lose the confidence to defend the city, and attacking the city will be a piece of cake!"

Li Zicheng nodded and looked at the generals under him.

Song Xiance and Niu Jinxing were both civil officials, so whether their ideas were feasible had to be approved by the military generals.

Liu Zongmin took a bite of meat and said, "Your Majesty, I am not concerned about this problem, but about how to attack the city. Even if Chongzhen agrees to negotiate peace, he will still fight us if he finds that we do not withdraw our troops."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!