After Wang Jiayin walked up to the city wall, Li Yan glanced at Li Zicheng who was walking with him. The two of them came to the other side of the city wall in tacit understanding. They seemed to be worried about defending the city, but in fact the two of them came to the other side of the city wall in a tacit understanding. People are discussing their own retreat. Li Zicheng raised his eyebrows and said, "I really didn't expect that the officers and soldiers would arrive so quickly, and we would already be trapped in a small town like Shangqiu before we even started our operations. Mr. Li, do you have any thoughts?" "
Li Yan looked at the Henan Army that was constantly attacking under the city, and his expression was very solemn: "Have you noticed that these officers and soldiers attacking the city are not their elite at all, so I dare say that as long as the officers and soldiers really want to break the city , we can¡¯t even defend it for a day or two.¡±
"I have also noticed this. When we fought with us, the army's combat power was obviously stronger. What should we do? Are we really going to break through again as we said before?" Li Zicheng said with difficulty.
Li Yan shook his head: "Even if we want to break out now, the army may not give us a chance. Don't forget, we had more than 100,000 troops in Shaanxi that day, and in the end, only more than 30,000 people broke out. Now we There are only a few men left, and the power of the government and army has become even greater. Is it possible for us to break out?"
Li Zicheng nodded in recognition: "What you're saying is, what should we do? We can't make a sudden attack, and we can't defend it even more. Can't we just wait for death?"
"Of course not. In fact, we still have a way to go." Li Yan looked around him and found that no one could hear the conversation between the two of him, so he said: "How come you forgot what happened years ago? At the beginning, their situation would only be better than ours, but didn¡¯t Gao Yingxiang make that decision?¡±
"You mean surrendering to the government?" Li Zicheng was surprised, and then shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it won't work. Don't forget, we just surrendered not long ago, but the result was that we quickly turned the other way. Will they believe us again? And even if they really believe in us, we may not get good results if we keep repeating this. Moreover, I think Wang Jiayin will never agree to this method. He will only find a way to break out. With the power you and I have now, it¡¯s simply impossible to make everyone obey orders.¡±
"Although your worries are reasonable, it is not a problem if you think about it carefully. Let's talk about the government's attitude towards us first. Although there are some repetitions in the previous time, judging from the government's failure to do their best to attack Shangqiu this time, they do not want to treat us. Kill them all. After all, we are all the people of the Ming Dynasty. Isn¡¯t Tang Feng afraid of being infamy for the ages?¡± Li Yan¡¯s words made Li Zicheng nod repeatedly, which made Li Yan¡¯s next words more convincing: ¡°As for your worries about Wang Jiayin? It is even more unnecessary if he can obstruct him. He is not yet in a position where he can control all Gao Yingxiang's troops, and we all know the situation of the strong army. Whether a breakthrough can be achieved is a matter of debate. How many people are there? Are you willing to die with him?"
Li Zicheng nodded again: "You are right. It seems that the safest way is to surrender to the army."
"Yes, but this also requires gaining their trust, so I think we must do one thing before that."
"What's the matter?" Li Zicheng said and glanced at Wang Jiayin from a distance, who was paying attention to the situation on the battlefield. He had vaguely guessed what Li Yan was talking about.
"Before, we surrendered to the imperial court when we were desperate, but we soon turned against us. It is unrealistic to say that the government was not wary of us. Now we have to show our sincerity. Gao Yingxiang turned out to be the best candidate. But he is already dead. So we can only use him as a surrender certificate." As he said that, Li Yan also looked at Wang Jiayin.
"I'm afraid it's not that easy. Since Gao Yingxiang's death, Wang Jiayin has taken great measures to defend himself. I don't have any confidence in dealing with him. If I fail, I will be finished." Li Zicheng said worriedly.
"Now there is no time for us to figure everything out before taking action. In order to survive, we can only take a risk. But with his trust in me, I am still 70% to 80% sure of subduing him. At that time, as long as we hand him over to the officers and soldiers outside the city and put all the responsibilities on him and Gao Yingxiang, we should be able to gain their trust."
After being silent for a while, Li Zicheng asked again: "What about after the surrender? Should we just forget about it?" After this period of rebellion, he was full of interest in this promising career, but did not want to Become the bound officers and soldiers.
"Of course not. In fact, as long as they are willing to let us go temporarily, we can revolt again when the opportunity arises. And by then, we can recruit more people."
"How do you say this?" Li Zicheng asked in confusion. He knew very well that the most important thing for a rebellion was to have a solid mass foundation. Back then, Gao Yingxiang and the others were able to create it in one fell swoop.There is such a huge momentum because the local people in Shaanxi can no longer survive. But now that the court has changed its policy, and the natural disaster has passed, how can it be possible to get more people to respond?
"I will explain this to you in detail when I have time. Now we still have to persuade Wang Jiayin not to break out, otherwise our idea will not be realized at all." Li Yan said, giving Li Zicheng a wink, and the two of them started talking. Walking towards Wang Jiayin, it turned out that he had withdrawn his gaze from the city and was looking at the two of them.
"Why are you two still in the mood to talk and laugh at this time?" Wang Jiayin said in a serious tone.
"General Wang misunderstood. The two of us were also talking about the siege. We were just afraid of disturbing the general, so we didn't come over." Li Yan said. Wang Jiayin still trusted this person who had helped him with many strategies, and he didn't feel that Li Yan would collude with Li Zicheng, whose strength was much different from his own, to deal with him, so he didn't have any doubts and just asked casually. : "Oh, what do you think?"
"The general should have noticed that the officers and soldiers have been conserving their strength, just like when they besieged Xi'an but did not attack."
In fact, Wang Jiayin didn't pay much attention to this point, but after Li Yan said this, he suddenly thought of it. He felt scared because he had thought about breaking out of the encirclement before. It was obvious that the officers and soldiers had retained their strength. Why did they do this? When he thought about it, of course he was prepared to prevent himself from breaking through. If he really broke through recklessly, he would really be doomed. Glancing at Li Yan gratefully, Wang Jiayin nodded and said: "I have thought of this too, so we must not break out, otherwise we will only play into the hands of the government troops. But this Shangqiu is just a small city, and now the weapons used to defend the city are even more advanced. How long can we hold on if we come less and less?¡±
"This is what Mr. Li and I were talking about." Li Zicheng said in a timely manner to reduce the other party's suspicion.
"Then have you discussed any countermeasures?"
"Not yet, we just have to hold on for a while." Li Zicheng smiled bitterly, nodded to Wang Jiayin and went elsewhere to check.
After seeing him leave, Wang Jiayin asked Li Yan again: "Does Mr. Li have any other opinions?"
"In my opinion, this incident is not entirely without benefits for the general." Li Yan said with a smile.
"how do I say this?"
"General, although Gao Yingxiang is dead, it is not easy for us to take advantage of his confidants. But this predicament has given us an opportunity. As long as the general can lead everyone to avoid this disaster, we will I think many people will sincerely support the general. Isn't this a good thing?" Li Yan said with a smile.
This sentence hits the mark on Wang Jiayin. In the past few days, he has been struggling with how to bring everyone's hearts together. After he said this, Wang Jiayin really felt that misfortune and fortune depended on each other. But soon, this look of joy was replaced by worry: "But now we are in danger. Even if we can really get everyone to obey, I'm afraid it won't be of much use."
"General, don't be discouraged. It all depends on human effort. Although our situation seems to be very bad now, we are not desperate yet. There are always ways to solve this problem."
"Then I have to rely more on you, Mr. Li. Only a resourceful person like you can solve the current dilemma."
"General, I will not let you down."
In the next two days, the offensive of the government troops became more and more fierce, while the defense of the rebels in the city became even weaker. Because the Henan soldiers outside the city have gradually mastered the siege tactics under the command of Wu Sangui, while the rebels in the city have been unable to rest due to the hard fighting for days and are about to run out of arrows and stones. This makes Wang Jiayin and The hearts of the other rebel leaders sank to the bottom. Everyone else also knew the plan of the army, so no one proposed to fight out of the city, but it was getting worse day by day.
Wang Jiayin asked Li Yan several times, but he never had a good solution, which made Wang Jiayin a little desperate. But completely different from him, Li Zicheng has gained a lot in these few days. After talking to Li Yan, he began to win over other leaders. First, Gao Yingxiang's old men who had a close relationship with him. These people have lost their backbone since Gao Yingxiang's death. Although they suspected Wang Jiayin, they had no evidence or strength to avenge King Chuang. Now that something like this happened again, Li Zicheng said this. After that, everyone was easily convinced. Saving lives is the most important thing now, and they are the least burdened people.
Then, Li Zicheng tried to persuade those who had good relations with Wang Jiayin. Because of Li Yan's guidance and understanding of these people's preferences and characteristics, it was not too difficult for Li Zicheng to convince them. Within a few days, 80% of the people in Shangqiu City had agreed to surrender.
As for the remaining 20%, heBut he had no intention of telling them his intentions, because these people were too close to Wang Jiayin. If they refused to comply, they would only alert the enemy, so Li Yan meant to give up on these people. On this day of July 30th, everything was ready, except for the final blow.
In the morning of this day, after Wang Jiayin inspected the defenses at the top of the city, his heart sank again. There were less than 10,000 arrows left here, and there were not many stones left to prevent the enemy from ascending the city. He Looking at the army camp with rising smoke, I felt that the end was coming. At this moment, a soldier ran over and said, "General Wang, Mr. Li said that he has something important to report."
"Huh?" Wang Jiayin was stunned at first, but soon thought of what this would be, and his face suddenly showed joy. It must be that Li Yan finally had a way to solve the dilemma. Without saying a word, he rushed towards the city. On the way, he just had a question, why didn't Li Yan come to see him in person, but instead had someone come to deliver the message? However, compared with being able to solve the problem, this doubt is not worth mentioning at all. Perhaps Li Yan just wanted to show that he was extraordinary.
When he strode towards the courtyard the soldier mentioned, a group of people inside were making their final plot. After scanning everyone's faces, Li Zicheng said: "Now we have reached the last moment. Only by capturing him, Wang Jiayin, can we put all the blame on him and make the officers and soldiers completely believe us. Do any of you not want to do this? Of?"
Hearing this, everyone shook their heads with a wry smile. When things have reached this point, they have to do it if they don't want to. As long as anyone dares to raise objections, he will become everyone's enemy, and this person will naturally find it difficult to survive.
Li Yan nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, since everyone has the same opinion, I won't say anything more. He will come in soon, and everyone will act according to my eyes. Be sure to keep him and his The guards will subdue them together!"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone shouted loudly: "General Wang, you are finally here!" This was a message sent by people outside, just to make them prepare for everything.
Wang Jiayin did not come alone, he was accompanied by about twenty cronies. Ever since Gao Yingxiang's incident, he had been fully prepared for fear that others would use the same method to deal with him. He even brought in enough manpower to meet close associates like Li Yan. After entering the living room, Wang Jiayin was stunned. He found that most of the generals in the city were present. But after a second thought, he felt relieved. It was obvious that Li Yan's method was to unite everyone, so he called everyone here.
So after being stunned for a moment, he chuckled and said: "Master Li, we still have to rely on you to find a way out for us in such a situation. Please tell me what the solution is."
Everyone in the hall looked at Li Yan, just waiting for his answer. Li Yan also smiled and said: "Actually, this method is not very clever. It just requires one person's help."
"Oh? As long as it can save everyone's life, everyone will do their best. Tell me what the method is, and don't be too pretentious." Wang Jiayin smiled and walked to the empty chair above. To sit down.
"It's very simple, that is Kaicheng's surrender. As long as we surrender the officers and soldiers, they will naturally not be able to kill us anymore, and our lives will naturally be saved!" Li Yan's understatement made Wang Jiayin, who had just sat down, His whole body froze.
"What are you talking about? You want me to surrender to the army. This is impossible. They may spare others, but they will not forgive leaders like us easily" Wang Jiayin shouted sharply.
"No, you are wrong." Li Yan suddenly interrupted him and said coldly: "It's not us, it's you! You are the leader of us, so naturally you won't let the government take it easy, but as long as we can Having tied you to them, they must be able to believe our sincerity."
"You" After hearing what he said, Wang Jiayin's heart suddenly sank. Just as he was about to stand up, he was restrained by several people who got the signal from Li Yan and rushed towards him. At the same time, several other people also took action, using weapons that had been prepared long ago to attack Wang Jiayin's personal guards who were caught off guard.
"Pfft" In the sound, twenty personal guards were chopped down to the ground. When he saw the blood on the ground and he was tied up tightly, Wang Jiayin knew that everything was over. They were here. real. "Li Yan, I trusted you so much in vain, but you betrayed me, and you will die badly" The only thing he could do was to curse. But soon, this only freedom was taken away. At Li Yan's signal, several people came forward and stuffed his mouth with rags. Now he could only make a whining sound. .
After giving Wang Jiayin a mocking look, Li Yan said to everyone: "It's getting late now.The Japanese army will attack us again. For the sake of our safety, I think we should surrender in Kaicheng now. "
Naturally, no one objected to this proposal. Everyone has come to this step, isn't it just to surrender to the army and save their own lives? Everyone nodded in agreement, and then someone picked up Wang Jiayin who was lying on the ground, and everyone walked out of the courtyard and went straight to the city gate.
Along the way, the uninformed rebel soldiers were all surprised to see their leader escorting Wang Jiayin towards the city gate. Although Wang Jiayin had many cronies, because their leader was in their hands, and after a long battle, There was not much energy left, and no one stepped forward to stop him. Seeing this in Wang Jiayin's eyes, he felt even colder in his heart. He didn't expect that he would end up in this situation. He was still laughing at Gao Yingxiang before, but he didn't expect that he would be even worse than him.
Outside the city gate, the officers and soldiers have formed their formation and are about to continue the attack. This time, the people standing at the front are not the surrendered troops and guardsmen from Shanxi, Shaanxi or Henan, but the Liaodong Army. They were about to launch a final attack on Shangqiu. But just when they were about to attack, the city gate that had been closed suddenly opened.
The soldiers thought they were rebels and wanted to fight to the death, but those who came out had empty hands. One person in front of him even raised a white flag and shouted loudly: "We are willing to submit to the imperial court. I also ask all military lords to report to the superiors. We have captured the culprit and are willing to sacrifice him before the heavenly soldiers."
At this time, the officers and soldiers outside the city were a little dumbfounded, staring blankly in front of them, and they didn't come back to their senses for a long time