Baokang.

After more than ten days in the deep mountains and old forests, the governor of the five provinces of the Ming Dynasty and the two chief military officers finally returned to the county seat.

At this moment, almost everyone is in tatters, embarrassed like a savage, it may be the five taels of silver promised by Zuo Dashuai when he ran away, in addition to the family, there are more than 2,000 people and horses, which is really a miracle.

And Qin Ming was miserable, with only a few dozen family members and a general Qian left, and almost all the other horses ran away or were killed by the hunters.

"My lord, take a sip of water! It's the county seat in front, hey, I finally walked out. ”

Wang Can scooped some water with a bamboo tube, handed it to Xiong Wencan, and sighed with emotion, feeling like a world away.

Xiong Wencan took the water and drank it with a confused look in his eyes, but he was still confused, and he couldn't figure out why he was defeated, and he had to be so miserable?

They had an army of more than 20,000 people, and a decent battle was not fought, and all the soldiers and horses were gone, and they almost confessed in the deep mountains and old forests.

What the hell is this fighting for?

Why is it so different from what is depicted in the war book?

Compared to Xiong Wencan and Qin Ming, it is as if they have lost their souls.

Zuo Dashuai saw it very openly, washed his face, and beckoned everyone to hurry into the city, eat a good meal first, and then find a few girls to suppress the shock, and talk about other things later.

………

"Kunshan, this Baokang City will be handed over to you, you must defend it, otherwise the whole Xiangyang will be in danger, don't worry, I will immediately raise a batch of food and salary for you to transport after I go back."

After resting for the night and changing his clothes, Xiong Wencan returned to his true colors as the governor, and said to Zuo Liangyu in a gentle tone.

"Rest assured, as long as there is money and food, within three months, the last general will be able to train a large army again and fight to the death with the thief army!"

Zuo Liangyu's chest thumped.

There is no way, Baokang is barren, if there is no support from Xiong Wencan's money and food, if you want to recover your strength, I am afraid it will take a year or two.

"That's good, Kunshan's ability, the old man still trusts." Xiong Wencan nodded, and he also had some appreciation for Zuo Liangyu's defeated and undiscouraged mentality.

The two chatted for a while, Xiong Wencan and Wang Can got into the carriage and returned to Xiangyang under the escort of a team of family members, while Qin Ming followed behind with dozens of people with dead faces.

From beginning to end, both of them regarded Qin Ming as a dead man, because after such a big defeat this time, they must arrest someone to take the main responsibility.

It was impossible for Xiong Wencan to give Chongzhen a lesson, saying that he had miscommanded and led to the defeat of the army.

Zuo Liangyu still has more than 2,000 elite soldiers in his hands, and he has to rely on him to guard Baokang, so if Qin Ming, who has few soldiers and horses left, doesn't come to be a scapegoat, who will?

As for Liu Guoneng, he is not qualified enough.

Anyway, the chief military officer of the Ming Dynasty could not directly play to Chongzhen, and the official document was sent to the military department at most.

But those uncles in the military department will not pay attention to your official documents of a vulgar martial artist, most of them don't bother to read it, and they just take it and burn it, at most two perfunctory sentences.

If the military attache wants to have a direct contact with Chongzhen, it is a dream.

Cutting off the connection between the emperor and the military generals is almost the consensus of all civil officials, and whoever dares not to believe in evil will be killed.

The generals do not believe in evil and kill the generals, and the emperor does not believe in evil and kill the emperor, which has been tried by several emperors who do not believe in evil.

So how to say it, it is completely up to Xiong Wencan to decide, only his official military department and cabinet will not be seized, and finally it can be sent to Chongzhen's desk.

This consequence has led to the generals to preserve their strength and dare not fight to the death, because only when there are soldiers in their hands can they have a sense of security, otherwise you will be a fart in the eyes of civilian officials.

………

Hanzhong House.

On the official road to Yunyang Mansion in the south, a group of Ming troops was marching rapidly, the team stretched for dozens of miles, not to mention more than 20,000 people, but there were very few people talking in the middle.

Moreover, the faces of these soldiers are not as muddy as those of other officers and soldiers, and their faces are quite energetic.

Although they are not fully armoured, almost everyone has a sword, and their clothes are fairly clean and tidy.

Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, there are really only a handful of officers and soldiers who can have such a military appearance.

Especially in the middle of the team, the more than 3,000 cavalry, almost all of them rode tall horses, and the knights on the horses had a fierce look on their faces, and most of them still had bows on their backs.

In the team, in a rather luxurious carriage, a middle-aged man dressed in civilian official clothes squinted his eyes, and his body swayed from side to side with the carriage, as if he was asleep, and suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Zhiyuan, where are you?" ”

"My lord, I'm almost in Jinzhou, and after Jinzhou, more than 70 miles south is Zhuxi County." The middle-aged scribe on the side hurriedly replied.

"Order, let the army rest in place and bury the pot to cook."

When the scribe heard this, he was a little surprised, but he hurriedly lifted the curtain and gave an order to the herald beside the car, and a shout rang out outside the car.

"Zhiyuan, in your opinion, how should you encircle and suppress that Xiaohua King this time?"

"Presumably, adults already have a plan in their hearts, so students won't show off." The scribe named Zhiyuan said with a smile.

"Hey! It is a great pity to let the thief get away this time, and Ben Du is ashamed of the saint! Therefore, this time it is necessary to complete the battle, and there must be no more troubles. ”

"Why should the adults blame themselves, the thieves only have more than ten horses left, and they fled to the deep mountains and old forests, according to the students' opinions, there is no need to worry, but from the Tang newspaper for a while, the new rise of this anti-thief is not simple, if it is not eliminated in time, I am afraid that it is the second king, and this good situation is afraid that it will not be corrupted again."

"Well, that Xiaohua King is indeed cunning and abnormal, this governor looks at it, I am afraid that he might as well let it go more than that Cao Cao, but in the final analysis, it is Xiong Wencan who underestimates the enemy, otherwise it will not let the situation deteriorate to this point."

The middle-aged civil official nodded, and when he talked about Xiong Wencan, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes.

By this time, the carriage had stopped, and there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves outside the carriage.

In a short time, a tall and mighty general dressed in bright light armor rode to the front.

"Supervisor, the last general will ask for battle, and I am willing to lead the iron cavalry to attack Zhushan overnight!"

"Didn't Ben Governor tell you? Yunyang is located in the mountains and mountains, the junction of several provinces, which is not conducive to cavalry combat, so you don't have to be anxious. ”

The curtain of the car was lifted, and seeing that his henchman was so reckless, the middle-aged civil official not only did not feel displeased, but spoke gently.

The military general on the horse is named Cao Bianjiao, who is extremely brave and unusual, and has repeatedly performed miraculous feats since he was thrown into the command of Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides.

Last month, he killed King Chuang and abandoned his wife and children, and fled to the mountains with more than ten horses, thinking that King Chuang would be destroyed, and the eight kings would be fussing, and if they wanted to make meritorious contributions to kill the enemy in the future, they only went to Guanwai, who would have thought that Yunyang had another giant thief.

I was overjoyed in my heart, so naturally since I went south, I have been itching and unbearable, and I can't wait to go day and night, kill the thief's lair, and capture the thief's head, it can be seen that the supervisor is like this again, opened his mouth, and had to hang his head.

And the Chinese official Che was the butcher Hong Chengqi who had changed the color of the rebels from all walks of life, and he also knew the nature of this confidant and loved general, and he was afraid that he would be bad, so he restrained his expression and said:

"If you cavalry attack, the thief army is afraid that it will have to flee to the mountains again, running around, so this governor does not plan to chase and intercept this time, but to invite you into the urn, so let's do it, this is not far from Jinzhou, you immediately lead the cavalry north to Xunyang, to the White River, and then cross the river to Nanyang..."

Speaking of this, he took out a bag from his bosom and handed it to him, instructing: "Remember, after crossing the Han River, open the bag and act according to the plan, don't be reckless, understand?" ”

"The last will understand."

Cao Bianjiao took the bag and put it into his arms, he was not surprised by this set of tricks, he had also seen the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the superintendent likes to regard himself as Zhuge Liang, who is already known in the army, and he is also happy to be that fierce Zhang Fei.

Although Cao Bianjiao was in a fog in his heart, the thief army was in Zhushanfang County, why did the governor send him to Nanyang, but he didn't ask much, and left with 3,000 cavalry.

After Cao Bianjiao left, Hong Chengchou still did not rush into Jinzhou and go down to Zhushan, but continued to divide his troops and send them everywhere.