sweeping the world

Chapter 410
Li Nong has never been a decisive person, and he also knows that he is a person who is easily swayed by personal feelings. For a long time, he has been prone to hesitation, which has caused the beggar army to split. Now he is in a situation where he cannot advance or retreat.

Wang Mo only spoke after receiving Li Nong's gaze, "What kind of conditions does the King of Han offer?"

Ran Min said bluntly: "The troops disarmed on the spot, and the generals and schools including Li Gong went to Fenggao."

"Knife and fish?" Wang Mo made an absurd expression and said, "The King of Han is really..."

"That's the reality." Ran Min looked at Li Nong, and said in an insider's tone: "Li Nong has more than [-] people under his command, how many can fight? No more than [-]. You lack weapons and warm clothes. Even food and fodder are not guaranteed. If you are facing an opponent with similar conditions, you can naturally fight with a brave spirit, but what you are facing is the Han army with excellent armor and equipment, and is even more fearless in combat."

Li Nong didn't need to say any more lies. The reality of the beggar army was just as Ran Min said. It could even be said that the conditions had never been better.He couldn't help but look at the Han army that had come to a standstill. He saw that the men and horses were all wearing heavy armor and riding equipment, and then he looked at the cavalrymen who were equipped with plate armor. The guards behind him could not see clearly. All basic armor.

The Han army is really well equipped with excellent weapons and armor, but not so well equipped with silver spears and wax heads.This is a fact that has been demonstrated time and time again in recent years, and anyone who faces it will feel deep pressure.

"Yong Zeng." Li Nongman said melancholy: "We are not incapable of resisting. The King of Han's actions have underestimated us."

"Li Gong, it seems that you really don't know what kind of opponent you are facing." Ran Min had already started pulling the rein, turning the horse's head while saying, "In the end, we still have to fight."

The begging army from Taocheng had already arrived, and they did not move forward until they were signaled by Li Nong. They waited for Ran Min to lead the people away, and this begging army came forward and surrounded Li Nong and Wang Mo back In the city.

"The king of Han is really going too far. It's clearly a forced surrender instead of a surrender!" Wang Mo actually prefers to change his flag and switch to Han. After all, Ran Min has already given a good example, but Liu Yan gave it. The reaction was really exaggerated.He was full of reluctance and asked Li Nong: "What should we do?"

"It seems that there is a battle to be done so that Han will no longer underestimate us." Li Nong was in a situation of wandering around, knowing that he would not be able to defeat him, but he did not want to completely depend on others for his fate, and said, "It's just... The Han army is really difficult to deal with, especially in field battles."

Thinking about the [-] armored cavalry outfit, Li Nong is enough to be frightened. He is not a fledgling young man, and he knows very well what it will be like to face a heavy cavalry in a field battle with flat terrain, especially if he can't use it. The infantry to fight with the equipped heavy cavalry is simply courting death.

How many armored cavalry outfits you have represents how powerful the country is. Shihu gathered the strength of the whole country and armed with [-] armored cavalry outfits and [-] armored heavy infantry. The Jie family became the stable overlord of the Central Plains.Looking at Liaodong, Murong Xianbei, who was armed with [-] armored riding gear, immediately swept across Liaodong, including the surrounding area.

"Yong Zeng already has [-] armored riding equipment under his command." Li Nong actually didn't understand how Ran Min did it, he just said: "In this way, the King of Han has [-] armored riding gears under his command, and even some Tens of thousands of heavy infantry?"

According to people at this time, as long as they are wearing iron armor, they can be regarded as armored soldiers, and both men and horses can be called armored riding equipment if they wear heavy armor.Armored soldiers are better armed, that is, armored riding equipment must not only have excellent knights, but also have enough tall and excellent horses.

To put it bluntly, today's world should be the era of the best war horses in the Central Plains. Not only pony horses (Mongolian horses) on the grasslands, but also Dawan horses and Wusun horses brought from the Western Regions, and even A hot-blooded horse (Arabian horse) from Central Asia.There are more types of horses than in previous dynasties, and the number is beyond people's imagination. That is why the Jin army in the east has good equipment, but it is difficult to go north. The Jin army has repeatedly faced a large number of Hu cavalry.

The Beggar Army also has cavalry, which can be considered a relatively elite group of people in the Beggar Army, and they are all capable of fighting for the rest of their lives.Some of their leaders were summoned by Li Nong and asked if they had the confidence to fight the Han army outside the city.

"It's definitely impossible to fight head-on." Li Cunxiao already knew the conditions offered by Han, and he felt a gloomy feeling in his heart: "There is no room for guerrilla warfare..."

Now the Han army is attacking, and the begging army is defending.As a general of the begging army, no one wants to go out of the city by himself to fight with the heavy cavalry. If he defends, it seems that he can defend for a while, but what is the value of defending?
The Qihuo army is at the most contradictory moment, and the Han army is not just sitting and watching a show.

On the second day after Ran Min arrived in Taocheng, when the Han army drove out of the camp again, they could already see equipment such as crossbows, catapults, and ladders for climbing the city. In contrast, there were about [-] infantry troops.

"Mr. Li." Miao Song didn't go back. He was standing on the gate of Taocheng, making his last effort: "The dangerous city is not enough to defend, and the morale of the army is too high to fight. Besides, once the real war starts... I'm afraid... I'm afraid There will be unforeseen consequences."

Miao Song was wandering around in Taocheng yesterday, fully aware of the current situation of the begging army.

After a winter, at least the beggars in Taocheng seem to be in a very difficult situation. Frozen corpses can often be seen on the side of the road, and most people can also see that they are skinny due to lack of food and clothing.It seems that only some soldiers look relatively better, but in fact they are not much better.

"Mr. Li, why bother to shed unnecessary blood and cause unnecessary deaths and injuries?" Miao Song had already seen the crossbows outside the city being stringed and bolts installed, and the catapults were also twisting the capstans to guard against stone bullets: "My lord belongs to the King of Han, Anyone who has not been killed inexplicably has been properly arranged!"

The Han army has already begun to move. The first test shot of the bed crossbow was off the string. The crossbow arrow, which should be one foot long, flew a certain distance and penetrated into the rammed earth wall. It must have caused a certain vibration to that section of the city wall. It caused the soldiers of the begging army in that area to exclaim.

"The king of Han didn't say what kind of treatment he would give." Li Nong looked calm and said, "I'm not afraid of being imprisoned or killed. Yong Zeng is trying his best to fight for the treatment of those who follow him. How can I not make any efforts? ?”

A very loud sound of bowstrings came from the side of the Han army, one after another sounded through the air, and there were continuous sounds of collisions and screams from the city wall.

After the crossbow came the catapult, so the defensive begging army general had to order to temporarily abandon the defense and let people take shelter under the city wall.

The Han army did not attack the city tower, allowing a group of people including Li Nong to stand here and watch the Han army outside the city.

The 150 infantry of the Han army advanced to about [-] steps, a "shua" sound resounded, and a "dark cloud" rose from the ground to the sky. There were intensive bumping sounds on the ground, and the covered city wall section was filled with crossbow arrows.

Within half an hour, although there were no defenders on the city wall at all, the various long-range attack weapons of the Han army continued to demonstrate, but they did not ascend the city.

At the beginning, the generals of the Qihuo Army on the side of the city tower could still talk, but no one in the middle said anything.There is nothing wrong with most of them fighting for half their lives, but this is the first time they have seen such a powerful variety of long-range attack methods covering continuously.

Very suddenly, there was a muffled sound from the city wall, and then the city wall, which was continuously hit by stone bullets, collapsed. A series of movements brought dust rolling around.

Li Nong murmured: "The reinforced gap couldn't withstand repeated bombardment, it collapsed..."

After all, the begging army is not a regular army, and the means they repair the gap is to re-tamp the soil. In winter, it rains and snows, and after a period of rainy weather, the repaired gap has no time to dry, let alone The old city walls form a fit.

The section of the collapsed city wall doesn't look too small. After the dust dissipates, it seems to be about four feet wide?

The movement on the side of the city wall spread to the inside of the city, and bursts of exclamations came from afar, and it seemed that a commotion could still be heard.

The people in the city, they are really confused, they are upset, but no one runs around indiscriminately. After all, they all have long-term experience in fighting with the army, but exclamation and mourning are really unavoidable.

"Surrender?" Li Nong was looking at his subordinates, and what he saw was their livid and panic-stricken faces: "Surrender."

When no one said anything, Miao Song's relieved voice was especially obvious.

Li Nong looked as if he was ten years older, and said with a sense of desolation: "It's not a crime of war, but invincibility."

It was Shi Hu who threw the begging army to the south bank of the Yellow River. Li Nong didn't believe that Shi Hu didn't know what the begging army looked like, not to mention the lack of armor and equipment, and even the food and fodder.But even so, Shihu also threw the begging army to the south bank of the Yellow River. Li Nong didn't know whether Shihu trusted the begging army, or just threw it away like a piece of garbage.

The apricot-yellow flag was hoisted above Taocheng, and the tightly closed city gate was opened. Li Nong, who was walking on foot, came out first, followed by a group of generals of the begging army.

Ran Min, who received the news, didn't show off much. He came to greet Li Nong in person, and when he saw Li Nong, who was full of vicissitudes, he comforted him: "In troubled times, people have too much involuntary control, and sometimes passive acceptance is impossible. avoid."

Li Nong really didn't know that Ran Min could say such a thing. He looked at Ran Min with a dull look and asked in a hoarse voice: "Yong Zeng, what will the King of Han do to us?"

"Those who can fight should be recruited, and those who can't fight should be resettled separately." In fact, Ran Min also has a lot of emotion. The surrender of Li Nong's group is tantamount to begging for a living army to withdraw from the stage of history.He squeezed out a smile: "Mr. Li, please rest assured. Now is the time for the king to employ people. Maybe Min will soon be able to gallop side by side with you again on the battlefield."

Li Nong's response was a bitter smile.

Xie An, who was standing quietly by the side, suddenly asked, "Mr. Li, if you are willing to come to the south bank of the Yellow River, you probably made a decision from the very beginning, right?"

Ran Min was taken aback for a moment, and quickly realized, thinking: [Indeed!Li Nong is not a reckless man, how can he not know what will happen after crossing the river.It's just that the back is twisted and pinched, which is really in line with his personality. 】

Li Nong still smiled bitterly.

The Han army was already entering the city, and Li Tan was walking in the forefront of the entire army entering the city. What he saw were people standing on both sides of the road in the cold weather but not wrapped in clothes. Those people didn't seem to have much emotion. Just stood quietly and watched.

First, the Han army entered the city, followed by a steady stream of carriages driving in. Auxiliary soldiers set up pots to find firewood. Soon bursts of rice fragrance spread throughout the city. When people were waiting to be called to line up to receive rice porridge, the city immediately rang. bursts of cheers.

Li Nong heard the happy cheers from Taocheng in the camp of the Han army, but the bitterness on his face did not lessen, and he said to Ran Min, who was kneeling and sitting directly in front of him, "I haven't heard such cheers for a long time." sound."

"The material abundance of the big man is beyond imagination, and the king has never been stingy with the people under his rule." Ran Min didn't show any loyalty, looked at Li Nong intently, and asked: "Mr. I don't know what the public opinion is?"

"Yong Zeng, it's not something a minister can do." Li Nong shook his head and said, "Again, I don't want to meet the Heavenly King on the battlefield."

It turned out that Ran Min was the one who took care of everything, saying that he could take Li Nong to the Puyang battlefield first, and then write a letter to Liu Yan to explain it.

However, Ran Min looked down on Li Nong for being so sentimental. He was willing to fight for Li Nong because of his past friendship.Seeing Li Nong's resolute attitude, he stopped mentioning it and started reminiscing about the old days, but there were not many topics to talk about.

It is a good thing for Han to be able to force the surrender of the begging army entrenched in Jibei County without a fight. It saves time and can increase the population by about 30.

Liu Yan, who was in Fenggao, received the news about the surrender of Li Nong's army three days later. At this time, the news about the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty's large-scale assembly was sent one day earlier.

Not only did the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty make moves, but Sun Fudu's subordinates and the Shijie Zhao Jun in Chenliu and Liang counties also began to stir up. It seems that Shi Hu knew that the Han Dynasty would dispatch troops from Yuzhou to the north.

"Since the enemy troops in those positions moved first, the first battle after the beginning of spring will be in the south." Liu Yan was standing in front of the map of mountains and rivers. He watched many places, and his eyes frequently glanced at Jiankang: "Servant army Is the mobilization in place?"

One winter, the Han Dynasty reorganized 20 slaves as servants, and they were dispatched in batches along the Yangtze River, mostly on the Huainan line and the Yingshui line.

Wang Meng hastily checked the documents, carefully identified them before answering: "Your Majesty, 12 servants have arrived."

Liu Yan nodded first, then touched his chin, as if he was asking and talking to himself: "What gave the little imperial court such courage to really go north?"

(End of this chapter)