On April 7, 17th year of Chongzhen, at dawn, after several consecutive days of escape, Li Zicheng finally escaped from the Ming army's pursuit. In fact, this is not surprising. The main force of the Ming army was heading for Shanxi, especially in important towns such as Datong and Taiyuan.

No one expected that Li Zicheng would actually run to the south. Yang Yi, who was in charge of the capital, now saved the Ming Dynasty, naturally no longer considered anything else. The city was also loose on the outside and tight on the inside. The princes and ministers were spilled out to chase Li Zicheng, and Yang Yi could also prepare to let Chongzhen give way.

At this time, Li Zicheng had arrived in Zezhou. The champion Hou Wangdou had just received news from Li Zicheng. He gave up the route of continuing to attack westward and ordered the British Duke Zhang Shize in Taiyuan to prepare various troops and come to Zezhou first. Now the offense and defense are changing, and the Ming army has come to besiege Zezhou.

Zezhou has a long history and is known in history as "Hedong Pinghan", "The Gateway of the Three Jins", "Taihang First Clash", "Dongluo Fanyuan", "Heshuo's throat, Lianghuai's belly eyes"; in the "Zezhou Prefecture Chronicle", "Zejie is more vividly recorded as "Zejie is suppressing Taihang in southern Shanxi, and is famous all over the world."

Zezhou, due to its dangerous geographical location, has been highly valued in military affairs for a long time, and is located at the key border between the Central Plains and is the gateway to the Central Plains. Therefore, it has always maintained a local political, economic and cultural activity center. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, wars broke out one after another, and gunpowder smoke did not dissipate, making it a place that military strategists must fight for. During the Warring States Period, the military strategist Wu Qi called Zezhou "the country of the King of Xia, the danger of Tianmen on the left, the sun of Tianxi on the right, Luze was in the north, and Yiluo was in the south, which was such a danger."

Zezhou was the capital of smelting in the world at this time, known as the "Nine-headed and Eighteen Craftsmen". It was the origin of the famous soldier "Yang'a Ancient Sword". It was the ironware in Zezhou and the orchid charcoal in the country.

This city is crucial. After withdrawing the troops, Li Yanhong took the lead in retreating here, blocking the Ming army's messenger and some Ming army's temptations, and clearing the city up and down, preparing for city defense, and guarding the city for Li Zicheng.

After changing into a long iron armor made with a delicate collar and a blue cloth arrow coat, Li Zicheng stood in the Erxian Temple outside Zezhou City at this time.

Although Li Zicheng was backed by a strong city, he had no confidence at all. Although the city behind him seemed powerful, it was far worse than the Ming Dynasty's capital, whether it was material reserves or people's hearts.

What's more, at this time, it was not just Wang Dou's troops, but Liu Zeqing's troops in the east, Zuo Liangyu in the south, etc., and there were reports that these people were coming towards him again.

At this time, Dashun's safety was actually entrusted to Li Zicheng alone. Without Li Zicheng and Li Laiheng's children, it is absolutely impossible to do anything now. I am afraid that even the treatment of Anle Gong of Shu Han back then could not be enjoyed.

At this time, Li Zicheng in Zezhou City did not stop after coming. He was deploying various forts. The cannons were made of generals. The cannons were cast with pig iron. They were more than three feet long and weighed about 2,000 kilograms. There were shots in front and shot doors in the back. They were loaded with more than one kilogram of medicine, and the lead weighed three to five kilograms, and the range could reach one mile away.

The gun body has multiple reinforced hoops, divided into three types: large, medium and small. It fires 7 catties, 3 catties and 1 catties of lead bullets, which are carried in one vehicle. The wheels are high in front and low in the rear, and can be directly fired on the vehicle. It has great power and is manufactured in October of the ninth year of Jiajing.

The original prototype was mainly a small general cannon created by Qi Jiguang. The cannon was named after its shape resembled a tiger squat. The cannon body was 66 cm long and weighed 18 kilograms. There were five or six large wide iron hoops from front to back. There were large iron claws and iron trips at the mouth. The cannon body was fixed to the ground with large iron nails to reduce the recoil generated after firing and overcome the risk of the original cannon being self-injured by rushing behind the cannon after firing.

This cannon is convenient for maneuvering in the mountains, forests and water networks, and can control dangerous and narrow the dangers. One shot can shoot hundreds of small projectiles or 50 larger projectiles. It has a large spread surface and can effectively kill enemies that attack in a dense formation, and play an important role in the anti-Japanese war.

When Qi Jiguang went to Jizhen to train troops during the Longqing period, he equipped this gun with cavalry to use it, making it a better cavalry gun. Later, after the Ministry of Works reorganized, it was a general gun. The gun had a diameter of more than 100 mm and a total length of about 4 meters. There were nine wide hoops from the muzzle to the tail of the gun. The medicine room was in the shape of abacus beads, and there was a fire door open on the wall of the room.

According to the "Ascend to the Altar", after the launch of the general's artillery, it was lightning-thunderous. If a thousand cannons are placed on the battlefield and everyone can release them, they can be invincible.

At first, the general's cannon was too heavy and difficult to move. Later, it was restructured and carried by vehicles to climb high and travel far away. It is suitable for mountains and plains. Everyone who sees it is scared. The general's cannon actually becomes a heavy cannon that combines vehicles and cannons.

Vehicle-mounted cannons have many advantages. First, they are easy to maneuver. The gunner can push and pull the cannon cart and fire against the enemy. Secondly, it increases the speed of artillery participation and wins fighter jets. Third, it also serves as both blocking the enemy and attacking the enemy.

The cannon chariot not only has the effect of ordinary combat vehicles blocking the rapid impact of the northern fierce cavalry, but also can establish military camps, use firearms and stacked formations to kill enemy cavalry. However, although the power of lethality has been greatly improved, it has a major disadvantage, that is, there is no aiming equipment, and it is not satisfactory in terms of firing speed, mobility, etc. However, the Ming court still strictly controlled the manufacturing and use of firearms, and local and individual development was strictly prohibited.

Zezhou is the place where an official was founded, which is why Li Zicheng did not escape again. Although the cannons here are basically defective, because the high-quality products were transported away early, and even craftsmen were moved to the capital. There were still people in the Ming Dynasty who were doing business and knew what the country's important weapon was.

Li Zicheng couldn't tell what was a bad product. He collected some apprentices left by craftsmen in the city. After sorting out a little, he built one by one. He experimented two or three times and had a good power.

Of course, the artillery here in Zezhou is not a large and medium-sized artillery that fires seven or three kilograms of shells, but a small cannon that fires one kilogram. The cannon body is cast iron and reinforced with multiple iron hoops. If it is not considered a cannon cart, the weight of the cannon is only three or four hundred kilograms. Most of the artillery supervised by the Ministry of Works in various places are like this. It is worth considering Li Zicheng who has never seen the world.

Originally, the general's cannons were placed on a special cannon cart for field battles, but the cannon cart was not used for city defense because it was three-wheeled. When firing, the wheels installed behind the cannon were not taken down. Instead, a dirt slope was piled behind the cannon to return to the back seat. There was no way to pile soil on the city wall, so Li Zicheng had to order people to take down the cannon and carry it onto a stone-built artillery.

With this design, this general artillery is not only inconvenient for use in city defense, but also inconvenient for field operations, making it difficult to transfer positions in time.

However, for Li Zicheng, the inconvenience caused by the strange gun mount was not a problem at all, because the initiative on the battlefield was pinched in his hands, at least for now, because his cavalry now has the upper hand!

Thanks to Li Yanhong's wife, most of the people gathered were cavalry, so he was able to arrive in Zezhou one step ahead of Li Zicheng. Most of the cities in the south still belong to Li Zicheng. Now Zezhou has gathered more than 5,000 cavalry.

Although it is an era of roaring firearms, the status of cavalry on the battlefield is still very critical - powerful firearms mean strong lethality, while powerful cavalry means initiative in the battlefield.

At least before April 7, the seventh year of Chongzhen, the two favorable factors that can determine the outcome of the battle, namely lethality and initiative, are in the hands of Li Zicheng!

Of course, his enemies were not without a chance of victory. The Ming army of various units is now approaching step by step under the leadership of British Duke Zhang Shize, and occupying favorable terrain. Relying on the rivers and mountains to set up formations, they are gradually advancing steadily.

In addition, reinforcements from the Ming army were coming, especially the champion Hou Wangdou. Li Zicheng knew very well that once Wang Dou came, the current situation would be reversed immediately.

According to the information mastered by Li Zicheng, Wang Dou's troops were the most elite division of the Ming army now. Needless to say, the cavalry was invincible. The infantry was equipped with powerful muskets and cannons, and they were well-trained and disciplined. The soldiers in their troops were treated very well, far beyond ordinary Ming army officers and soldiers, so they were very powerful in combat.

Fortunately, the number of Wang Dou's troops is limited. According to the information provided by the secret, Wang Dou's troops have only about 20,000, including 5,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, and 5,000 artillery troops. It is impossible for them to be sent to Zezhou. There are always some people guarding the capital, so half of them should be left!

Li Zicheng felt that Chongzhen should not have too courage to send all the elite troops out. There were only a few soldiers in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. The Liaodong army in Shanhaiguan could not move. Now there must be many people guarding the capital.

If there were only 10,000, Li Zicheng was sure to win. He was so bold, so he would naturally have confidence. Li Yan and Hong Niangzi had been sent to the southern cities by him. Now, no matter Zuo Liangyu in the south, Xiangyang would not want it. All the troops were collected in Zezhou, captured Wang Dou's troops, and then went to the Ming Dynasty's capital!

Li Zicheng doesn't believe it. By then, he will gather more than 100,000 troops again and cannot defeat Wang Dou's 10,000 people. There is no reason!

Of course, now he was hiding his strength, so he was very cowardly. The army did not set up a field battle. As long as the Ming army attacked, he retreated and retreated step by step. However, the commander of the Ming army, the British Duke of British, did not step up the attack because of this, and instead built solid fortifications first and then marched.

Li Zicheng finally retreated to Laozhu Mountain in the north of the city, where he also built some very simple fortifications. Li Yan's messenger said that the army would come back in three days, so this mountain is actually one of the traps.

Although Zezhou has a dangerous terrain, it is not as natural as a big river, so it can only be dangerous as a mountain.

While the large forces of both sides were preparing for a decisive battle, small-scale contact actually began early in the morning.

First, the scouts of the cavalry between the two sides. After the Dashun Army won by cavalry, Zhang Shize, the Ming army, ordered the firearm battalion to hold on to fortifications and fire guns, and now the shooting is still comparable.

The continued but not fierce firefight between the two sides has lasted for several days, and there is still no intention to end at present.

When did the Wang Dou arrive? Or it has arrived. In the Two Immortals Temple, Li Zicheng is not sure now. There are many soldiers and horses stored in the city now. The collapsed soldiers who have gathered and Li Yan have now brought Li Zicheng to the north.

At this time, after carefully observing, Gu Junen whispered to Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty, our cannons have been placed, and we can prepare to fire the cannons at any time."

Hao Yaoqi next to him also said at this time: "This time we have too many cannons, so we used big cannons to bombard **!"

Gu Junen ran back, worthy of being a military advisor, and failed to fall into the hands of the Ming army. However, Song Xiance was missing, and there was no news now, and there was no news from the Ming army.

Li Zicheng hesitated for a moment and said to Gu Junen: "Then let the brothers on the mountain take down. No, send the order down and ask the brothers to beat him for two hours first.

Then retreat, wait for all the main forces of Zhu Zhe to attack, and then concentrate their strength to defeat Zhu Zhe's journey first!"

Wang Dou had actually arrived. At this time, he was accompanying Zhu Chunchen, who was pale-faced, and British Duke Zhang Shize, who climbed a nearby mountain together and were observing the enemy formation from afar.

Now looking southeast from the hill where they are, the scene is extremely spectacular!

Li Zicheng's army lined up about 20,000 people and was fighting on the battlefield.

In addition, Li Zicheng also had a cavalry of about two or three thousand, which were maneuvering around Zezhou City. At this moment, waves of white smoke suddenly rose from Laozhu Mountain and thunderous roar. It was the general's cannon on the Ming army that started roaring first.

This time, most of the Ming army brought small cannons, which were just one pound of cannons, and their power was not great, but the thousands of infantrymen of Li Chuangjun placed on the top of Laozhu Mountain were still affected.

Although they had been busy for several days, they had not built any solid fortifications. In fact, they didn't know much about these things. The only thing they knew was that Li Yan was sent away, without any shovels and shovels, and had not received any fortification training. They still used cars and horses to put them together according to the ideas of the cold weapon era, which means they built fortifications to prevent horses, but they did not expect to prevent artillery!

These miscellaneous things that can defend against horses or infantry cannot defend against cannons at all. They will even fly around after being hit by a pound of shells. Anyone who is knocked against these fragments will inevitably have to break his head and break his bones!

At this moment, a group of Ming army infantry carried bird guns to unfold in front of the artillery positions, then advanced step by step, and then fired them. It was not a very regular volley, nor was it very accurate, just hitting the lead bullets all the way out...

But this is not bad. It has already had a bit of the momentum of the rifle array in the firearm era. The one who was beaten was Li Zicheng's troops. In fact, they were just a mob. They were made up of the local village heroes. They didn't have long been in the army and their training level was poor. Moreover, they had never fought any tough battles with Li Zicheng.

It is precisely because of their unreliable combat power that Li Zicheng asked them to be cannon fodder. How can I say that Li Zicheng's habit is very useful for the Ming army in the past. Anyway, he doesn't feel sorry for these people if they kill them.
Chapter completed!