Zuo Zongtang didn't know that Wei Ze had arrived in Nanjing, let alone that a great good thing was about to fall on his head. At this time, Zuo Zongtang was marching under the scorching sun of July in Henan.

The long winding dragon made its way along a dirt road flanked by endless fields. The roads were potholed, and the dust was stirred up by human feet and wheels. The closer you get behind the troops, the higher the fine dust flies, penetrating into the eyes, ears, and nostrils of soldiers and animals. The rear team of the Chu army either walked on both sides of the road from the middle of the road to avoid the dust. Or cover your mouth and nose with your clothes, squint your eyes and rush forward.

As the self-proclaimed "Today's Brightness", Zuo Zongtang did not sit on a BMX like Zhuge Liang described in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but rode a horse to the front of the army. Naturally, it was impossible to carry a big umbrella when marching, and Zuo Zongtang was sweating profusely in the sun. And the sentinel was kneeling down on one leg at this time, reporting what was ahead. "Dashuai, the regimental training Liu Hei's seventh department was killed."

Liu Heiqi is a group training near Heze, and in Zuo Zongtang's plan to encircle and annihilate the Twist Army, Liu Heiqi's group training team was originally an important link in the encirclement. At this time, the sun was scorching, sweating profusely, and Zuo Zongtang, who heard the news, had already determined that the plan to close the siege would be in vain. Cultivating kung fu was not Zuo Zongtang's strong point, at this time he was furious, and shouted at Tanma: "Take me to see!" ”

In a small hollow not far ahead, there were corpses lying all over the place. There was some shade around this hollow, and when Zuo Zongtang got off his horse and went to take a closer look, he felt a chill. Unlike the humid heat of the Yangtze River basin, the summer sun in Henan and Shandong is fierce, but as long as there is shade, you can feel the coolness when you climb. And the shade of the trees is also very windy, even if it is wrapped in a little blood, it can make people feel cool.

Looking at the distribution of the corpses and seeing the environment here, Zuo Zongtang had already roughly guessed what was going on. Liu Heiqi's regimental training troops couldn't stand the heat, so they took a cool spot here. Just when they were relaxing comfortably in the shade, the Twist Army, who was familiar with the terrain here, suddenly struck into the hollow and easily killed all of Liu Heiqi's troops.

After determining what happened, Zuo Zongtang ordered: "The twist bandits must not have gone far, we will definitely be able to catch up if we chase after us now." ”

After listening to Zuo Zongtang's order, his subordinates hesitated for a moment, "My lord, it's so hot every day, it's difficult for our army to march." ”

Zuo Zongtang ordered: "Our army is marching hard, can it be that the bandits will not be able to march comfortably?" They move back and forth, running more ways than we do, and if they chase them, they will definitely be able to catch up. ”

As if to confirm Zuo Zongtang's words, the Tanma galloped from a distance, and when he got closer, he saluted a thousand times, "Marshal, I found the brigade of the Twist Army five miles ahead." They are resting. ”

"Chase!" Zuo Zongtang immediately ordered.

The subordinates ran to lead their respective troops to catch up, Zuo Zongtang stood in the shade of a tree and watched his subordinates run back and forth under the scorching sun, and the pro-soldiers next to him had already supported Maza. Zuo Zongtang subconsciously wanted to sit down. But thinking that the subordinates were like this, he might be a little shaken by sitting down and resting like this, so Zuo Zongtang walked outside the shade of the tree, shouting as he walked: "Prepare the horses!" ”

There were more than 3,000 troops in front of the Twist Army in front of five or six miles, and when they learned the news that the enemy was chasing after them, Lai Wenguang, the head of Tianyi, smiled at Lu Tianhou Renzhu and said: "The left demon head is afraid that he is already mad at this time, so it depends on whether I can run fast enough." ”

Ren Zhu also smiled: "It's not the first time that the left demon head has been played by us, and he will definitely not be able to catch up this time." Brother Lai, this time you have to let my brother and I lead the team last, always let the eldest brother lead the team, my brother feels uneasy in his heart. ”

Lai Wenguang shook his head after hearing this, "I'm just going around in circles with the head of the left demon, and I really gathered a team to fight with the Qing demon, and I have to let you brothers contribute, what's there to fight about." ”

"Then next time Brother Lai wants me to lead the team, let's talk about it!" Ren Zhu said.

"Then next time it will be led by Brother Ren." Lai Wenguang also agreed.

After the two sides finished speaking, regardless of the Chu army behind them gradually approaching, the two led the team and began to retreat. At this time, the Chu army was rapidly approaching under the leadership of Zuo Zongtang.

A team of more than 3,000 people walked forward for four or five miles, and a team of about 500 people left the team first, heading for a fork in the road. Zuo Zongtang did not hesitate after receiving the report, he ordered: "Chase the biggest bandit!" ”

After another four or five miles, another group of five hundred men broke away and disappeared without a trace through a wood. Zuo Zongtang still didn't divide his troops, and still clung to the team of about 2,000 people.

After walking another four or five miles, another team of more than 500 people broke away from the main force of the rearguard of the Twist Army. Zuo Zongtang's face became very ugly, this was not the first time he had encountered such a situation, the Twist Army was as slippery as a loach in Henan and other places. Every time, they are so scattered and break through after defeating the officers and soldiers or training a unit in the regiment. After the small units left their own units and chased them out for dozens of miles, the main troops of the twisted army became smaller than the small units that broke away.

The first few times he encountered this situation, Zuo Zongtang had to give up the pursuit, but this time he made up his mind to annihilate a twist army. It can be seen from the fact that these defenders can run so well that they must be elite. This kind of elite is naturally difficult to accumulate, and it is a situation where one is eaten and one is missing.

Having denied the plea of his subordinates who were out of breath to rest, Zuo Zongtang ordered to continue the chase. After chasing out for seven or eight miles, there was a crossroads in front of them, and the remaining 1,500 or so twisted troops actually divided into three groups and went in three directions.

Zuo Zongtang ordered loudly: "The cavalry is chasing me straight ahead!" ”

The reason why the left and right sides were not chosen was because the left and right sides were closer to the fleeing troops of the Twist Army. There is a possibility that they will be ambushed. More than 400 cavalrymen did not chase after them, and they also gave the horses some fodder and water during the break. At this point, they were given the order and immediately pursued along the road.

But after running out for a few miles, he saw that the fleeing army had turned into a hollow, and the cavalry was afraid of an ambush, so he ordered the squad to go in to check, but the cautious squad entered the hollow to check carefully, and the footprints of the Twist army went from the hollow to a small mound, and then disappeared from a rugged path full of weeds. If the trail is fine for the infantry to walk, it is difficult for the cavalry to figure out guò. Chu Jun didn't know that there was a trail here, and half an hour passed after such a delay. When the brigade of the Chu army rushed over, the Twist army ran away without a trace.

Zuo Zongtang listened to the report, and his lion-nosed and wide-mouthed face was full of hideousness. This kind of thing happened once or twice from time to time, and the Twist Army would not resist hard at all in the face of the Chu Army's brigade, but chose to flee, and as a result, it chased and lost the enemy every time.

Just when Zuo Zongtang was angry, there was a horse running from behind, "Dashuai, the last brother was attacked by bandits!" More than 300 people were killed or wounded. ”

The sun was shining, and he ran desperately for so long, but in the end not only failed to catch up with the enemy, but was also bitten by the enemy, all kinds of depression and anger accumulated, Zuo Zongtang was furious at this time, he jumped off the horse and whipped it on the shoulder of the horse. The tanma was also a clever boy, he quickly knelt down, buried his head deep in the ground, and shouted loudly: "Please calm your anger!" Please calm your anger! ”

If the tanma looked puzzled, or dared to dodge, then Zuo Zongtang would definitely give this tanma a whip on his head and face. Seeing that Tanma had softened, Zuo Zongtang's rationality soon returned. He snorted and ordered, "Give him five taels of silver." ”

After finishing speaking, Zuo Zongtang turned his head and ordered: "Collect the troops!" Put the elite in the back and break it, and if there is a twist army to pursue, give me a hard beating! ”

At this time, the team of the Twist Army had already assembled in a village seven or eight miles away from the Chu Army, led by Ren Zhu. The leader of each team asked, "Tianhou, are we really going to fight the brigade of the left demon head?" ”

Ren Zhu said with a smile: "The left demon head would never have imagined that after we beat his rear team, we would dare to fight again." Even if he thought about it, he would think that we would continue to pursue his rear team. This time, the brothers will give him a head, and he will definitely be able to beat the head of the left demon to the blood. All the brothers who went this time rode horses, and all the brothers went to the village to meet regardless of whether they won or lost. ”

After running for a day, Zuo Zongtang's team was exhausted when they set foot on the road back to the city. Therefore, when five or six hundred twisted troops suddenly rushed out on both sides of the road, the front team was defenseless at all. The five or six hundred twisted troops first released a rifle, and then entered the Chu army column in hand-to-hand combat, and the front team of the Chu army, which was dizzy, collapsed.

When Zuo Zongtang sorted out the Chinese army and rushed over, except for the four or five hundred Chu troops who were killed and wounded on the ground, there were no more people who could not see the twisted army. Zuo Zongtang resisted the urge to kill, and when he asked the wounded soldiers, the wounded soldiers said that after the Twist Army let go of the killing, they simply searched the property of the dead and wounded, and many Twist troops on horseback appeared behind. Those twist troops are basically one person and two horses, and the twist army who went out to fight jumped on the idle horses, and at this time they had already run far.

Seeing a piece of horse manure, Zuo Zongtang believes that this is also the truth. But the elite troops, including the cavalry, are in the rearguard, and if they go to chase after them at this time, they can't catch up, and they are afraid that the twist army will have an ambush. As "Jinliang", being beaten into such a field by a group of bandits, Zuo Zongtang even has a feeling of being discouraged.

That night, the Twist Army had already begun to assemble near Zhuangzhai. After Lai Wenguang and Zhuang Zhu met again, Lai Wenguang said with a smile: "It's still our brothers who are familiar with the local area." ”

Zhuang Zhu also smiled: "Brother Lai, you made the staff draw a map well." ”

"Needless to say," Lai Wenguang said with a smile, "Liu Heiqi has already been killed by us, and there is not much left of the group training in the village at this time." Tomorrow we will attack Zhuangzhai, I see that the donkey meat here is very famous, after taking here, our brothers will eat well. ”R1058