Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai joined forces and came towards Fang County with great momentum.

With the war imminent, Hao Jingchun, the county magistrate, saw that there was a shortage of soldiers in the city, and it was expected that something could not be done, so he ordered Zhu Bangwen, the chief secretary, to be responsible for transferring lanterns, oil, lime, spears, bows and arrows and other tools to defend the city from the warehouse, and asked the guerrilla Yang Daoxuan to summon the strong men and strong women in the city to go to the city, and arranged for the elderly and children to be responsible for the logistics work such as treating the wounded and collecting supplies.

Everything was arranged, Hao Jingchun wrote a bloody letter again, sent people out of the city, and went to Xiangyang to ask Xiong Wencan for help.

On the 25th, the rebels besieged the city.

According to the combat strategy set in advance, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai were divided into two ways. Among them, the western camp took the white flag as the signal, and went around from the east to the south, attacking the southern city; Cao Ying, with the red flag as the signal, circled from the north to the west and attacked the western city.

In order to reduce losses, on the eve of the siege, Zhang Xianzhong asked the military advisor Pan Duao to write a letter of persuasion to surrender and send a messenger into the city. Who knew that Hao Jingchun didn't even look at it, he directly tore up the letter of persuasion, and said righteously: "As a parent, my head can be broken, and the city cannot be let go!" ”

After finishing speaking, Hao Jingchun ordered the messenger to cut off his ears and blast out of the city, then took off his official robe and put on an armor, personally climbed the city tower, and posed for a decisive battle with the righteous army.

When the messenger with his ears cut off and his face covered in blood appeared in front of Zhang Xianzhong, the commander of the righteous army, known as the "Yellow Tiger", was completely furious.

"The generals listen to the order, wait to hold the position, and the forward battalion will follow me to attack the city!" Zhang Xianzhong roared angrily and drew his saber, and jumped out of the battle formation.

Seeing that Zhang Xianzhong was about to charge in person, Zhang Kewang was anxious on the spot: "Father!" Arrows have no eyes! Let the kids take the lead! ”

Xu Yixian, Pan Duao and others also admonished, but Zhang Xianzhong was unmoved, and insisted on saying: "There are more dissuasors!" ”

Seeing that Zhang Xianzhong personally led the troops to battle, all the generals were anxious, but they were powerless because of the military order, or Xu Yixian took the lead in reacting, and immediately ordered the battle drums to beat in the formation, and the whole army shouted and cheered for Zhang Xianzhong.

With the deafening shouting of killing, the Xiying rebels had a door panel on their heads, approaching the city like a tide, Hao Jingchun held a sword in his hand, ran back and forth on the city, and commanded the defenders to release arrows to the city.

Most of the Xiying rebels had no armor, only wore a single coat, and their defense in front of arrows was almost zero, and as the siege rebels got closer and closer to the city walls, the crossbowmen of the officers and soldiers, despite their lack of training, still had a very impressive hit rate at such a close range, and although they were protected by door panels, there were still people who fell on the way to attack.

However, after all, the Xiying rebels were outnumbered, and as the vanguard rushed to the base of the city wall, the soldiers and civilians in the city were horrified to find that these rebels did not set up ladders to climb the city, but hid under the door panel and began to excavate.

"The thieves are digging the city! Throw stones! Hao Jingchun shouted in a hoarse voice, and from time to time he personally lifted the stones scattered on the city wall and smashed them down.

However, under the personal supervision of Zhang Xianzhong, the soldiers of the forward battalion forgot to die, and soon dug a big hole under the city wall that could accommodate seven or eight people.

Immediately afterward, the gunpowder was continuously passed from the back to the hole, and then filled into the hole in turn, and in a short time, the large hole that had just been dug was filled with gunpowder.

With a loud bang, the city wall was blasted into a gap about several feet wide.

"Brothers, follow me into the city!" Zhang Xianzhong pushed open the door panel blocking his head, and took the lead in climbing towards the gap that was blown up.

"Pour hot oil!" With Hao Jingchun's order, the pot on the city wall burned hot, bubbling with hot boiling oil, and poured down towards the gap in the city wall, accompanied by a burst of heart-rending wails, the righteous soldiers in the city suffered heavy casualties, and retreated, Zhang Xianzhong's left leg was also splashed with hot oil, and it instantly burned full of blisters, which made him grin.

Seeing that the Xiying rebels retreated slightly, the defenders used fire arrows to ignite the hot oil poured into the gaps in the city wall, and the smoke slowly rose with the raging fire, and many Xiying soldiers who had no time to escape were spread to the whole body by the fire, rolling back and forth on the ground in pain, and for a while, the city wall was like a purgatory on earth.

The first time he saw such a tragic scene in the battle array, although Xu Yixian was still calm and normal on the surface, his heart was turbulent.

"What about the military advisor?" Zhang Kewang turned his head anxiously and asked.

"Mingjin retreats!" Xu Yixian touched his mustache, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.

After a while, he saw Zhang Xianzhong limping back, his face darkened, and he asked angrily, "Who is the mother of Jin?" My old Zhang has to chop him! ”

"Jing Shuai, I ordered Ming Jin to make an unauthorized claim, please punish you!" Xu Yixian hurriedly surrendered his hand to the guilty road.

Seeing that it was Xu Yixian, Zhang Xianzhong's anger suddenly vented half, only to see him wave his hand, and said with a long sigh: "Okay, this fire can't be extinguished for a while, it's getting late, let's fight again tomorrow!" ”

Hao Jingchun has a son named Ming Luan, although he is not yet twenty years old, he is as strong as an ox and is proficient in various martial arts.

Hao Mingluan saw that today's battle was fierce, so he discussed with his father Hao Jingchun and guerrilla Yang Daoxuan: "Tomorrow when the thieves come again, they will take the Qingfeng Doukou, I am willing to lead two hundred troops, go out of the city at night, detour to the mountains of Doukou Town to ambush, and when the thieves attack the city, they will kill their rear by surprise, and they will be able to win a complete victory." ”

Hao Jingchun was overjoyed and immediately acted according to the plan.

The next day, due to Zhang Xianzhong's severe burn on his left leg, the siege lord was replaced by Zhang Kewang.

Just as Zhang Kewang commanded the Xiying Righteous Army to attack the city by ladder, he did not guard against Hao Mingluan suddenly leading the army to kill from the rear and rush the rear team.

Zhang Kewang looked back, saw that the other party was not many in number, and did not care, while urging to continue the siege, on the other hand, he divided 1,000 troops, led by the general Shangtianlong, and went to eliminate this small group of attacking officers and troops.

Shangtianlong smuggled towards the officers and soldiers behind him, but as soon as he met Hao Mingluan, he only took a face, and was cut off the horse by Hao Mingluan, and the 1,000 Xiying rebels were suddenly in chaos, scattered and fled, and were beheaded more than 600 levels.

By the time Zhang Kewang heard the news and led the troops back to help, Hao Mingluan had already cut off the head of the Heavenly Dragon, detoured to the east gate, and returned to the city under the response of Yang Daoxuan.

The head of the Heavenly Dragon was soon hung high above the city tower of Fangxian County, and the morale of the besieging rebels was greatly frustrated after seeing it.

The battle on this day was obviously much more intense than the previous day, and it seemed that the Xiying Righteous Army was holding back its strength and had to take Fang County today, which made Hao Jingchun, who was supervising the battle in the city, feel great pressure.

The fierce battle lasted from the beginning of the sun to the setting of the sun, but it still showed no signs of stopping.

Part of the Xiying rebels who attacked the city head engaged in a fierce tug-of-war with the official army above the city wall, and because the official army resisted very stubbornly, the Xiying rebel army never failed to seize a foothold on the city wall.

As the sky gradually darkened, Hao Jingchun's confidence was reinvigorated, and he shouted, "Brothers! It's about to get dark, and the thieves won't be able to support it for long! ”

Under the encouragement of Hao Jingchun, the soldiers and civilians in the city broke out with amazing combat effectiveness, and the righteous soldiers who landed in the city were killed and wounded, and finally they were driven down from the city.

"Withdraw!" Zhang Kewang, who supervised the battle under the city, saw that his morale had lost today, so he reluctantly issued an order to withdraw the army.

At night, Hao Mingluan led two hundred strong men out of the city quietly again, and happened to touch Zhang Xianzhong's old camp, Zhang Xianzhong's injuries were not healed, and he was lying in the tent to rest, and suddenly saw the officers and soldiers killed in front of him, and he didn't know how many soldiers and horses there were in the dark.

Hao Mingluan saw that it was good to accept it, and quickly withdrew his troops back to the city before the arrival of reinforcements from Xiying, Zhang Xianzhong was annoyed and ashamed, and immediately ordered the whole army to press on it together and storm Fang County, but after attacking for five days, he still failed to break the city.

Although Fangxian County is still in the hands of the official army, more than half of the soldiers and civilians in the city have been killed and wounded, and the ordnance and materials have been basically exhausted in the tragic offensive and defensive battles, and the reinforcements are still far away.

As night fell again, Hao Jingchun decided to send people out of the city again to attack Zhang Xianzhong at night.

In the middle of the night, a man in black quietly went down to the city and touched the camp of the rebels.

A faint mist shrouded the camp, and the two patrolling Xiying rebels were chatting face to face, when they suddenly found a black shadow passing by, and before they could turn back, they were cut by a sword, blood splashed on the white tent, and the two fell to the ground.

The man in black struggled to drag the two bodies to the side of the grass to hide them, and then dodged into the tent, but the tent was empty.

This is already the seventh camp tent, looking at the camp tents that look similar, the man in black wants to cry without tears, and if he continues to look like this, I am afraid that he will not be able to find Zhang Xianzhong's Chinese army tent at dawn.

Before leaving, he patted his chest in front of Hao Zhixian and swore that it was not Zhang Xianzhong's Chinese army tent? Why is it hard to find? The big tent of the Chinese army must be located in the center of the camp, and the appearance is different from other ordinary camp tents, which can be recognized at a glance from afar, and it will not take half an hour to cut off the head of the thief and dedicate it to the front of the army.

But he never expected that this was a large camp with a capacity of 100,000 soldiers, and the dense camp tent was like a huge labyrinth.

Eventually, the man in black decided to take a prisoner first and ask for directions.

He then crept to the outside of a manned tent, and saw that in the dim light, the people in the tent were dressed in blue-gray caftan brown, with their right hand supporting their heads, and were sitting tiredly leaning in front of the military case and dozing, and the armor that emitted cold light was hung on the wooden pillar beside it.

"It seems that he is still a general, why don't you find Zhang Xianzhong if he leads the way?" The man in black was overjoyed, only to see his figure suddenly jump up, and the long sword in his hand swept out a silver-white sword light, which went straight to the general's neck.

"Who are you? Breaking into the camp at night, aren't you afraid of death? The general felt a piercing coldness, suddenly woke up from his dream, glanced down at the long sword around his neck, and a look of horror flashed in his eyes.

"General, let's think about yourself first, as long as I push the sword forward a little more, you will be in a different place." The man in black said with a sneer.

"What the hell are you trying to do!" The general knew that what the man in black said was true, so he didn't dare to make the slightest move, "I'm Zhang Kewang, the righteous son of the Eight Kings of Xiying, don't mess around!" ”

Unexpectedly, when he came to assassinate Zhang Xianzhong, he caught Zhang Kewang by mistake, which was an unexpected gain, and the man in black couldn't help but be overjoyed: "It turned out to be General Kewang, who has admired his name for a long time!" The villain has a reluctant request, if he agrees, he can keep the general safe, otherwise he ......"

Since the start of the incident, no one has dared to talk to him like this except Zhang Xianzhong, Zhang Kewang couldn't help but glared angrily: "You dare to threaten me? ”

"Be honest!" Seeing that Zhang Kewang refused to cooperate, the black-clothed man's hand holding the sword was slightly stronger, and a bloody mark was instantly scratched on Zhang Kewang's neck, "You take me to Zhang Xianzhong, and when I see your father-in-law, I will let you go, how about it?" ”

Zhang Kewang said bitterly: "Is this true? ”

"Naturally, take it seriously." The man in black nodded without hesitation.

Thinking that the hero would not suffer the immediate loss, Zhang Kewang pretended to agree: "Okay, I promise you." ”

Zhang Kewang agreed so simply, but it was beyond the expectations of the man in black, he secretly thought: "The world says that a wall in Xiying is not afraid of death, but when I see it today, it is an exaggeration. ”

"But you can't dress up like this, you will be discovered at once, you have to change into our Xiying clothes first." Zhang Kewang reminded.

He was thinking in his heart that when the man in black changed his clothes later, he could take the opportunity to escape, but the man in black smiled slightly when he heard it, and immediately pulled the black robe on his body hard, revealing the clothes of the rebels from the inside.

"Don't worry about General Lao Kewang, the villain has already prepared, hurry up and lead the way!" As the man in black spoke, he took out a dagger from his waist and put it behind Zhang Kewang, then put away his long sword and said in a cold voice, "If you dare to cheat, I will definitely poke a few transparent holes in your body." ”