Liu Fangliang joined the army in his early years and later followed Li Zicheng in the rebellion. In addition, they were both from Shaanxi, so he was deeply trusted by Li Zicheng.
In terms of title, Liu Fangliang was Marquis of Ci and Yuan Zongde was Marquis of Mian.
On the surface, they are equal in status.
But in terms of seniority, Liu Fangliang is older than Yuan Zongde.
Therefore, Yuan Zongde decided to "trick" Liu Fangliang once.
Actually it’s not a pit.
Now that the Shun army has been defeated, someone needs to step up and take over.
Buy time for the Shun army.
Whether it is organizing troops to counterattack or taking the opportunity to escape, it takes time and space.
As long as Liu Fangliang could hold on a little longer, Shunjun's situation would be better.
After receiving the news, Liu Fangliang did not hesitate and immediately divided his troops into two groups.
He stayed where he was and held back Qiu Yue and Tian Xiong.
Another group of elite troops pushed forward against the defeated army.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Fangliang and his thousands of elite troops were surrounded by Huang Degong's tens of thousands of troops.
at the same time.
Li Xingzhong, who was fighting in the field north of the city, was also surrounded by Li Zicheng's army.
"No killing if you surrender! No killing if you surrender!" The Shun army advanced forward step by step with spears and shields.
In order to encircle Li Xingzhong, Li Zicheng mobilized 20,000 troops.
You know.
The total strength of the Shun army in the Daming Prefecture area was only 75,000 (including new recruits).
Excluding the more than 20,000 troops under Yuan Zongde and the 6,000 troops under Liu Fangliang, Li Zicheng had less than 50,000 soldiers available.
However, these 50,000 people were not all combat soldiers.
There are also baggage troops and artillery.
In addition, there were trenches all around the city.
The trenches and intersections need to be heavily guarded, otherwise the trenches will become the graves of the Shun army.
In addition, troops were needed outside the city to attack the city, and part of the Shun army was fighting in the streets with the Ming army inside the city.
These 20,000 troops were the only ones Li Zicheng could mobilize.
Looking at the layers of Shun troops outside, Li Xingzhong was not afraid at all.
He raised his arms and shouted: "The Ming army is mighty!"
Thousands of Ming soldiers, weapons in hand and resolute in their resolve, responded in unison: "The Ming army is mighty!"
If it were an ordinary army, they would have surrendered long ago after being surrounded.
Li Xingzhong's troops were different and had very high loyalty.
If the loyalty score is 10, his troops can reach 8 or even 9.
This was the result of his military training when he was stationed in Liangxiang.
These soldiers are basically from frontier armies, and they have a basic understanding of techniques and tactics, so they don't need deliberate training.
When he trained his troops in Liangxiang, he mainly trained their loyalty.
How to train loyalty?
The simplest and most effective way is to let the soldiers marry and have children.
No money?
Let the emperor pay the bride price!
Before going to Liangxiang, Chongzhen told him that he should give him money and food, and try to train an elite army in the shortest time possible.
When he arrived in Liangxiang, the first thing Li Xingzhong did was to find a matchmaker and introduce all the girls of marriageable age in the surrounding area to his soldiers.
In that chaotic era, ordinary people were eager to marry their daughters off as soon as possible.
Therefore, Li Xingzhong's plan was implemented very quickly. Although it cost a lot of money, the effect was very obvious!
After having a home, these people have concerns, but also weaknesses!
Before going to war, he left the soldiers' families in Liangxiang.
You can surrender, but the consequences will be serious.
The wife they married with great difficulty and the child in her belly will be implicated.
In that era, what was the purpose of life?
Isn't it just for the purpose of continuing the family line?
Compared with the consequences of surrender, dying in battle is the best option.
Not only are there generous pensions, but the court will even be responsible for raising the children!
"Kill!" Thousands of Ming troops, led by Li Xingzhong, launched a counterattack against the surrounded Shun army.
The battle between the elites is staged again!
The more Li Zicheng looked, the more frightened he became, and the more anxious he became.
What is surprising is that this group of Ming troops are very powerful and loyal.
If all the soldiers in the Ming court were like this, he would have surrendered early.
What’s worrying is that 20,000 people can’t defeat just a few thousand people!
"I give you two quarters of an hour to encircle and annihilate this group of Ming troops, otherwise you will be punished by military law!" Li Zicheng said to Liu Zongmin and Gu Kecheng in anger.
"But Your Majesty..."
Before Gu Kecheng could explain, Li Zicheng interrupted him and said, "Whether we win or lose this battle, I will treat you to a meal. If you win, I will treat you to imperial cuisine; if you lose, I will treat you to prison cuisine."
When they heard about the imperial dish, Liu Zongmin and Gu Kecheng shuddered.
They are just ordinary people and are not blessed enough to enjoy such noble things.
After a brief eye contact, the two men led their troops away.
Inside and outside Daming Prefecture, the sound of killing shook the sky.
Liu Fangliang gradually became exhausted under the siege of Huang Degong. Seeing more and more of their comrades being injured and killed, his soldiers began to surrender one after another.
Li Xingzhong was not much better off. Under the siege of 20,000 people, his casualties were increasing, and it was only a matter of time before he was defeated.
The situation of the Ming army in the city was also precarious.
Although they had set up various obstacles and traps in the city in advance.
However, the Shun army relied on its superior force to first capture the southern wall and then the western wall. At the same time, half of the streets in the city were also occupied by them, and Damingfu was getting closer and closer to the fall of the city.
The three battlefields seem unrelated, but in fact they are closely connected.
No matter which side is defeated in any battlefield, it will have an impact on friendly forces in other battlefields.
After killing a Shun army soldier, Huang Degong found a high ground and looked into the distance with his clairvoyance.
To the north of Daming Prefecture, tens of thousands of Shun troops surrounded thousands of Ming troops.
Every attack by the Shun army would cause considerable casualties to the Ming army.
"Send a message to Wang Yongji and Gao Jie that Li Xingzhong is surrounded. Let them lead the cavalry to provide immediate support!" Huang Degong issued the first military order.
Immediately following.
He reached out and took out a piece of cloth from his bosom, wrapped it around his right hand several times, and firmly fixed the iron whip to his arm. After doing this, he pushed through the crowd and came to the front line of the battle.
"kill!"
There were no unnecessary movements, just a simple word: kill.
Huang Degong rushed towards Liu Fangliang waving an iron whip.
When the Ming army saw their commander personally charging ahead, they were greatly encouraged and rushed forward, waving their weapons.
The remaining Shun soldiers were frightened, and except for a few who continued to fight, most of them chose to surrender.
Seeing the soldiers around him fall one by one, Liu Fangliang knew he could not go back.
He faced Daming Prefecture and silently said to Li Zicheng who was directing the battle several miles away: Your Majesty, I have done my best.
Since I followed the emperor in the uprising in the second year of Chongzhen, I have followed the emperor in attacking Shaanxi, fighting in Henan, fighting in Huguang, and entering Beijing. Although I have made contributions, I have also made mistakes.
No matter how many merits and demerits I have, I am no longer able to assist Your Majesty. Please take care of yourself in the days ahead!
After Liu Fangliang finished reciting these words in his mind, he turned his right hand and pointed the blade of his waist knife at his neck, "It's not your turn to take my life!"
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