Diaoyutai.
In the Shun army's central tent, Liu Zongmin was reporting military intelligence to Li Zicheng.
The other generals stood on both sides of the military tent, each with a more serious expression than the other.
"Your Majesty, our army suffered more than 12,000 casualties during the siege today. Among them, 8,000 civilians and 4,000 soldiers. Some cavalry were hit by the Ming army's artillery, but the casualties were very small, only a few dozen people."
Bang!
Li Zicheng slammed the table hard.
He knew that Beijing would be difficult to capture, but he didn't expect it to be so difficult.
According to the soldiers who attacked the city, the outer bricks of Beijing's city wall were four feet thick, nearly twice as thick as the walls of other places. Today, at the cost of more than 10,000 casualties, only a dozen holes were dug in the city wall.
After withdrawing at night, the Ming army would send people to repair the hole. Although the repaired part was not as solid as before, they had to pay a corresponding price to dig the hole again when they attacked the city the next day.
"How many casualties did the Ming army suffer?" Li Zicheng asked angrily.
"About 1,500 people."
After hearing this number, Li Zicheng's anger was slightly relieved, and the Ming army's casualties began to increase. Given time, Beijing would be within reach.
But...he doesn't have that much time.
Liu Zongmin continued, "Our army only has enough food and grass for half a month. To keep the army's morale stable, I suggest forming four food-raising teams to raise food for the army."
"According to the scouts' report, Liu Wenyao led 15,000 troops out of Tianjin and headed towards Beijing."
"Wu Sangui and his 20,000 Guanning troops have arrived in the Lulong area, more than 400 miles away from Beijing. If they use fast horses and light cavalry, they can reach the city of Beijing in just three days."
Li Zicheng's eyebrows suddenly twisted into a knot.
The combined number of these two armies that came to support the king exceeded 35,000, and this was the actual number of soldiers.
He claimed to have an army of 500,000 Dashun soldiers, but only about 60,000 to 70,000 of them were actually soldiers.
but...
Of these two armies supporting the king, he was only afraid of Wu Sangui.
Most of Liu Wenyao's 15,000 men are Liu Zeqing's soldiers. The cohesion and combat effectiveness of these troops are average and they are not to be feared.
Wu Sangui's Guanning Army faced off against the Eight Banners Army in Liaodong. Although his army could not fully understand their true combat power, it was definitely not bad.
"Your Majesty," Liu Zongmin paused for a moment, "We have sent the information into the city as planned when we attack the city today. I wonder if Your Majesty wants to launch a night attack?"
"Night attack?" Zuo Fu Niu Jinxing was stunned and looked at Liu Zongmin blankly.
As a senior member of the Shun army, he didn't even know what the plan was or when it was sent in, let alone the night attack.
Liu Zongmin looked at Li Zicheng, and after getting his consent, he explained: "Mr. Li had presented this plan to the emperor long before the Northern Expedition."
It’s Li Yan again!
There was a hint of jealousy in Niu Jinxing's eyes as he looked at Li Yan.
"The detailed plan is this: first arrange for several hundred elite soldiers to disguise themselves as merchants or refugees and sneak into Beijing. When they are needed, they will shoot letters into the city with arrows."
"Aren't you afraid of being exposed?" Niu Jinxing was very confused.
"No!" Liu Zongmin smiled faintly, "This time the letter was written in Jinyiwei code, imitating Liu Wenyao's handwriting and forging his official seal. On the surface, it seems that Liu Wenyao led his troops to Beijing to defend the king, and at midnight tonight he broke into our encirclement and entered the city from Chaoyang Gate."
"The actual content of the letter is to inform our spies to find a way to open the Fucheng Gate opposite the Chaoyang Gate at midnight tonight."
"If the city wall is successfully opened, we will light a fire as a signal and rush in. Without the protection of the city wall, the Ming army in the city will be slaughtered by us."
"Regarding the contents of the letter, whether the Ming army believes it or not, they will deploy heavy troops at Chaoyang Gate! With more troops guarding Chaoyang Gate, there will be fewer troops guarding other places, and the probability of opening Fucheng Gate will increase."
"The more ingenious part of this plan is that our army can be divided into two, with one group pretending to be Liu Wenyao to lure the enemy to Chaoyang Gate. If it works, we can rush into the city in one go. If it doesn't work, we can attract the enemy and cover up the plan for Fucheng Gate."
I see...
After hearing this plan, other ministers and generals of Shun army expressed their admiration for this plan, saying it killed two birds with one stone and was a plan within a plan.
"If..." While the others were silent, Niu Jinxing observed Li Zicheng's expression and said cautiously, "If both schemes are discovered, or if our spies are bribed by the Ming army, the losses caused by a rash night attack will be huge."
"I wonder if Mr. Li considered this when he first offered his advice?"
Everyone looked at Li Yan.
Li Yan sat in the corner as usual, coughing from time to time.
Seeing Niu Jinxing asking questions, he coughed twice and said, "Ahem, Niu Zuofu is worrying too much. Tonight's night attack, our army is divided into two armies, the front army is composed of civilians, and the rear army is composed of the elite troops of the Shun army."
"Success would be the best. Even if we succeed or fail, the casualties are just civilians, which will have no impact on our army. Besides, the more civilians die, the more food we save."
After hearing this, everyone showed relieved smiles on their faces.
How can this kill two birds with one stone?
It’s clearly killing three birds with one stone!
Li Zicheng also put on a smile on his face and was very satisfied with this strategy.
Liu Fangliang, who had been silent for a long time, slowly raised his head and looked at everyone in a daze. A strange feeling arose in his heart.
When they started the uprising, they kept saying that it was for the people and all the lives of the world, but how come in the end they treated the people as a burden?
He felt that the people could be allowed to charge into battle and serve as the vanguard, but they should not be allowed to die in vain.
After a moment, Liu Fangliang spoke with difficulty: "General Zongmin, Lord Commander! Even if the lives of the people are worthless, we cannot treat their lives as a joke! Once the news gets out, our army will lose the support of the people! Without the support of the people, how can we conquer the world?" (Liu Zongmin was named the Left Commander-in-Chief, and other generals used to call him general.)
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
