On the third day of July, northern Sichuan.

The Ming army chose to camp in the open area behind the mountain, and the mountain in front of it was a natural barrier, so that if the rebels came to attack, there was enough space and time to react and counterattack.

On this day, the armored Lu Qin and the others gathered around a detailed map of Sichuan in the big tent and began to analyze the current state of the rebels and what measures should be taken to deal with them.

Lu Qin, the word Chengyu, Jinan Changqing people. Born in a family of military generals, he took over his father's position as a young man, and became a military warrior in the government.

During the Wanli period, he was appointed as the deputy chief soldier of Shanxi, and at the beginning of the first year of the Apocalypse, he was promoted to the deputy general of the Shenji battalion.

Since receiving the decree of the imperial court, Lu Qin did not dare to slack off for a moment, and mobilized 70,000 or 80,000 Ming troops from four provinces at the fastest speed, known as 200,000 troops, to rescue Sichuan.

The three major expeditions of Wanli seem to be quite far away, but when you really count it, the Battle of Banzhou was more than ten years ago.

The imperial court was exhausted, and this Lu Qin also knew that to pacify the southwest, it was necessary to try to fight as quickly as possible.

In view of the current situation in the southwest, Lu Qin first conducted a thorough analysis and divided the entire Sichuan war situation into four rounds.

The first game was from the seventh day of April to the middle of May, when the emperor's will had not yet reached the southwest, and Luxe Chongming was already brewing a rebellion.

In Lu Qin's view, the imperial court did not strangle the rebellion in the cradle in time, and lost the first game and became a critical situation.

The second round is from mid-May to June 18.

At this stage, if Sichuan is well prepared, it can effectively contain the rebel army at the initial stage, and wait for reinforcements to enter Sichuan and pacify it in one fell swoop.

However, after years of conscription, the total number of Ming troops in Sichuan was less than half of the rebels. After the completion of Luqin's requisition and the division moved south, except for a corner of eastern Sichuan, the situation in Sichuan was completely inclined to the rebels.

In the period of more than a month, the rebels broke through more than 20 prefectures and counties, and the dead officials were not as good as the actual ones.

The rebels are like a bamboo, and the court loses another game, which is a bad situation.

The third game is from June 18 to early August.

During this period, the Shuixian family had not yet rebelled, and although Chengdu and Chongqing were besieged, they did not fall.

On the imperial court, the 20,000 reinforcements mobilized by Lu Qin from Yunnan had already taken the lead in entering Sichuan, joining up with the Sichuan general Du Wenhuan's subordinates, and defeating the Western Front rebels of Hao Chongming's brother Hao An in the first battle.

This third game is the key to the game between Lu Qin and Lu Chongming.

Critical game, bad game, if there is another loss in the third game, Sichuan will become an endgame, and in the fourth game, the situation will be turned upside down.

......

A few days ago, more than 20,000 Ming troops under the command of Zhang Xun, the commander of Yunnan and Du Wenhuan, the general soldier of Sichuan, had just met when they encountered the rebels on the western front of Hao'an.

The Ming army intended to pacify the southwest, and the rebels fought a series of victories and morale, and a major battle ensued between the two sides.

In this battle, the arrows flew sideways, the shouts shook the sky, and finally Lu'an was outflanked and surrounded by Du Wenhuan and Zhang Xun, and fled to Sanshebao in embarrassment.

When he received the news, he was fighting with Qin Liangyu in eastern Sichuan, Qin Liangyu's tactics were excellent, and the white pole soldiers were all brave.

Although Yu Chongming has the advantage in numbers, he is mired in the quagmire and cannot advance or retreat. Hao'an had no choice but to deal with the pursuit of the official army by himself.

Zhang Xun and Du Wenhuan camped in the northwest three miles away from Sanshebao, close to the foot of a small soil ridge, there was a dilapidated mountain temple.

At this time, the two were discussing in the temple.

"What about the news, where did the rebels flee?" Zhang Xun looked at the returning sentinel, and his voice was low.

"I couldn't see a single Han people on the road, but there were a lot of local people, but when they saw that it was our officials and soldiers who were attacking and suppressing them, they didn't say a word."

The sentry rider didn't have much to do, and sighed: "I didn't ask for the news, but because of the sneak attack of the natives, I broke a brother." ”

"These natives!"

Zhang Xun was immediately furious, picked up the knife and wanted to go out, "I'll go and lead the troops to slaughter the village in front, so that they dare to go against the imperial court!" ”

"You're back!" Du Wenhuan frowned, "Tu Zhai, are you stupid?" ”

"Do you think the army will not be able to move an inch in the future?"

"The rebels are spreading rumors among the local people that our officers and troops have plundered the local villages, and in doing so, won't they push the local people to them?"

"Use your brains, don't be rash!"

After all, Du Wenhuan is the first level of the general soldier, Zhang Xun saw that he didn't pull a hand, he felt that his face was dull, and after standing for a long time, he still sat back with a cold snort.

"What do you say?" Zhang Xun sneered.

Du Wenhuan didn't seem to hear the ridicule in his words, just lowered his head and looked at the folded map on the table, and said:

"Now it seems that Hao Yin should have entered Sanshe Fort."

Zhang Xun disagreed, "Sanshebao is surrounded by plains, and when you enter there, is this extravagant Yin a stupid pig?" ”

While they were deliberating, a sentry rode back ahead.

"Two generals, the rebels entered Sanshebao, but... There seems to be a disagreement, and one of them went south! ”

"Haha, this is God's help!" Zhang Xun immediately got up and said, "Let's divide the troops, I'll chase the south road, and you go to surround Sanshe Fort!" ”

Du Wenhuan glanced at him and did not speak.

Subconsciously, he also knew that it was not easy to stay with this guy, so he didn't think much about it, and let him go.

The 20,000 Ming troops detected that the rebels had a disagreement, and they also split into two and pursued each other.

The sun is shining, the sky is warm, and nearly 10,000 Ming troops are under the leadership of the general soldier Du Wenhuan, with cavalry in front and infantry in the rear, marching towards Sanshebao.

At noon, Du Wenhuan ordered the troops to take a short break and continue to advance.

Along the way, he passed through several Han villages, all of which were empty and ruined, which made Du Wenhuan's heart beat and he secretly clenched his fists.

Before dusk, the cavalry of the Ming army first arrived at the south of Sanshebao, and sure enough, they saw the fire in the city from a distance, and it seemed that the rebels were cooking on fire.

"Siege! Defeat the rebels in a war! ”

Du Wenhuan rode on a horse, waved the whip in his hand, and with an order, countless Ming troops moved forward, and on the hillside, the artillery that had already been erected was also fired neatly.

The footsteps and hooves of the army in the wilderness are not only solemn in military discipline, but also majestic and majestic.

Every once in a while, Du Wenhuan would have a personal soldier around him galloping down the battle to make a four-way dispatch.

However, just when Du Wenhuan was triumphant and commanded a large-scale attack on Sanshebao, Zhang Xun on the other road was deeply attacked by the enemy and surrounded by the rebels.

Five miles outside the west gate of Sanshebao, the war drums were like thunder, and the infantry cavalry of the Tusi army was neat, shouting and rushing towards the chaotic Ming army from several places, where there was a trace of rout.

"Hit the mark!"

It was dark, shouts were everywhere, and there was no telling how many rebels there were. Zhang Xun did not hesitate, threw down the front cavalry that was still fighting hard, and turned his horse back.

In his heart, other people's lives are not as important as his own.

As soon as he took a few steps, countless black shadows rushed out from all sides, and there was a brave Tusi soldier who directly threw him off his horse.

After all, Zhang Xun was also a military general who had been killed all the way, so he immediately turned around and fought with the native soldier, and after a while, he found a flaw and stabbed him to death.

Wiping away the blood on his face, Zhang Xun didn't have a sense of happiness, he looked at the chaos in the dark night, and he didn't know what to do.

"How many people are here?"

Zhang Xun walked all the way, just to find horses. When he killed a rebel cavalryman with his bare hands and grabbed his horse, the idea popped into his mind.

"Do you want to inform Du Wenhuan..."

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Xun sneered, turned around and ran away.

Flee back, who knows if there is an ambush on the road? It's better to take care of yourself first, stay in the green mountains, and don't worry about running out of firewood!