Zhang Xianzhong was ruthlessly placed by Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, under Fengxiang City, and almost didn't get dumplings by Hong Chengchou. I didn't know that I had just withdrawn from Fengxiang, and Gao Yingxiang sent a messenger to contact him and invite him to the Huimeng, and the letter was sincere and humble.

It turned out that at this time, all the rebels who entered Shaanxi had gathered under the city of Xi'an, but Xi'an was the capital of Shaanxi Province after all, and the city defense was strong and heavy troops were gathered. And in the Zhulu Righteous Army, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong are the two strongest teams, if Zhang Xianzhong does not come, relying on Gao Yingxiang alone, it is simply a fool's dream to defeat Xi'an.

At this time, Hong Chengchou's army was on the way back to help, and everyone was all grasshoppers tied to a rope.

The war was about to break out, and Zhang Xianzhong couldn't care about the previous grievances, so he immediately ordered the whole army to turn east and march towards Xi'an.

With the addition of Zhang Xianzhong, the total strength of the rebel army gathered outside Xi'an reached a full 200,000, and the company camp was 50 miles, with a huge momentum, and the beacon fire shone on Xijing.

If Xi'an is lost, the world will shook. Although most of these rogues except for Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were just a rabble, Hong Chengchou still did not dare to take this risk, he hurriedly handed over the main force of the official army and the logistics baggage team to the commander of He Renlong, and told him to return to Xi'an day and night.

He Renlong was full of promises, and Hong Chengchou immediately took Cao Wenzhao and a thousand elite light horsemen from his headquarters, took the first step, and rushed back to Xi'an in the starry night to arrange the city defense.

As soon as Hong Chengchou entered the city with his front foot, the rebels surrounded Xi'an with their back foot. Regardless of the rejoicing, Hong Chengchou immediately summoned civil and military officials at all levels in the city to discuss strategies to resist the enemy.

The officials argued for a long time, and before they could come up with a reason, the rebels outside the city launched a fierce offensive against Xi'an. According to the previously agreed battle strategy, the main direction of attack of the Xiying Righteous Army was Anyuan Gate in the north.

Zhang Kewang led 5,000 troops to take the lead, and Zhang Xianzhong led the army to press the formation in the rear.

Zhang Kewang led the troops to the moat with great ambition, but the officers and troops at the head of the city did not move at all. Zhang Kewang didn't know if there was fraud, so he divided 1,000 troops into the front team, and set up the escalator on both sides of the moat as a pontoon bridge.

Seeing that he was about to climb to the top of the city, but the officers and soldiers still didn't move, Zhang Kewang thought to himself: "Could it be that the officials and soldiers abandoned the city and fled, otherwise why didn't you see a single figure for half a day?" ”

In the midst of his thoughts, he suddenly heard a cannon sound in the city, and for a time the arrows flew like locusts, and there were even officers and soldiers in a group of two, holding iron pots, slightly tilted, and pouring hot fire oil down.

Everywhere the oil went, the screams and wails continued, the climbing rebels hung in the air, caught off guard, and people kept falling from the escalators, falling to pieces, and some people saw that the oil was coming, so they simply closed their eyes and jumped down.

The rest of the rebels who crossed the river were either killed by random arrows or drowned in the water during the panicked retreat, and less than 100 people finally fled back to the opposite bank.

Seeing that the rebels were retreating, the officers and soldiers immediately pulled all the escalators erected on the city wall up to the city, chopped them up and burned them, and some people took the city and took the head of the rebels who fell to death in the city, and ordered them to be in the city tower.

In the first battle, a thousand brothers were lost, and when Zhang Xianzhong, who was in the rear of the battle, was stunned, he hurriedly ordered Zhang Kewang to collect his troops and return to the camp.

Back in the camp, Zhang Kewang did not take off his armor, his horse did not leave the saddle, and he asked for war with an unwilling face: "Why did my father suddenly withdraw his troops?" The child just carelessly grasped the way of the official army, so he reorganized the men and horses to attack the city! ”

Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand: "That fire oil is really powerful, climb the city during the day, if the fire oil is hit on the city again, it may be difficult to dodge." Let the brethren eat and drink enough until it gets dark. ”

When he arrived, Zhang Xianzhong still asked Zhang Kewang to lead 5,000 troops to attack the city. Coming to the moat again, Zhang Kewang sent another thousand people to take the lead, crossed the river as before, and then leaned the ladder against the city wall and climbed up together.

In the darkness, Zhang Kewang looked up and saw that there were no lights in the city, and many people climbed into the battlements one after another, and he couldn't help but rejoice in his heart: "This time it can be regarded as a success!" ”

At this moment, I heard a cannon sound in the city, and in an instant, the lanterns and torches at the head of the city shone like day. The Dengcheng rebels were all trapped in a large net full of barbs that had been pre-arranged by the officers and soldiers, and lost the ability to resist.

Within a moment, the righteous army in the city was slaughtered by the official army, and all the heads were left in the city.

Zhang Kewang was annoyed, but when he saw that the direction of the old camp behind him suddenly burst into flames, he secretly said that it was not good, and hurriedly collected his troops and returned to rescue the old camp.

It turned out that when Zhang Kewang was attacking the city, Cao Wenzhao took advantage of the night with a thousand elite light horsemen, only opened a crack in the city gate, led the horses out of the city quietly in turn, and after assembling outside the city, he launched a surprise attack on Zhang Xianzhong's old camp.

Zhang Xianzhong was staring at the sand table in the big tent of the Chinese army at this time, anxiously waiting for the news of Zhang Kewang's breaking the city, and suddenly heard the sound of killing outside, knowing that the situation had changed, he hurriedly took his "heaven-sent flying knife" from Wang Shangli's hand, and strode towards the outside of the tent.

As soon as I walked out of the big tent, I saw that the entire old camp had fallen into a sea of fire, and in the light of the fire, there were officers and cavalry on horseback, shuttling back and forth and slashing, and in the confusion, I didn't know how many enemies there were.

Zhang Xianzhong knocked down two close officers and soldiers in a company, and was thinking about continuing to fight forward, but was held down by Wang Shangli.

Wang Shangli grabbed Zhang Xianzhong's arm and yelled at him: "Jing Shuai, the enemy situation is unknown, don't act rashly, it's better to avoid the limelight for the time being, and then make plans!" ”

Regardless of whether Zhang Xianzhong agreed or not, he beckoned the guards to quickly set up Zhang Xianzhong to retreat.

By the time Zhang Kewang led the army back to the camp, Cao Wenzhao had already roared away with the official army.

Under the desperate protection of Wang Shangli and more than ten guards, Zhang Xianzhong ran all the way west for more than ten miles, until he met Zhang Dingguo and his 38 cavalry soldiers who came to the rescue, and finally stopped his horse.

The siege of Xiying was repeatedly frustrated, and the other rebels besieging the city were not much better, under the strict defense of Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao, the 200,000 rebels were bleeding under the city of Xi'an, and they did not get any bargain at all.

Seeing that the main force of He Renlong's official army was gradually approaching, the leaders of the righteous army met and decided to no longer be obsessed with attacking Xi'an.

In June, King Gao Yingxiang attacked Pingliang in the west, but Cao Wenzhao led the light cavalry to follow closely all the way, biting and not letting go, causing huge casualties to the rebels in the camp.

Seeing that Cao Wenzhao's head was hot and his lone army went deep, Gao Yingxiang set up an ambush in Hutou Town, Ningzhou, and annihilated thousands of elite cavalry of Cao Wenzhao and Ai Wannian in one fell swoop.

The bad news of the death of Cao Wenzhao and Ai Wannian was transmitted back to Xi'an, and Hong Chengchou's heart was like a knife.

In September, Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong joined forces again and fought with Hong Chengchou in Guanzhong.

Hong Chengchou led the army to cross Weishui in the south, and 10,000 people in the front set up camp on the south bank with their backs to Weishui, and the rest of the main force was still on the north bank.

Zhang Xianzhong sat on the horse, overlooking the Weinan camp of the official army, and said confidently to the generals behind him: "It is said that Hong Chengchou is familiar with the art of war, and he is scheming, and Lao Tzu is nothing more than this when he sees it today!" Now that the front team of the official army has its back to Weishui, there is no way to retreat, and with only one charge of our army, it will definitely be able to drive them all into the river to feed the fish! ”

"Time is running out, if all the officers and troops cross the Weishui, and then want to defeat them, it will not be so easy!" Zhang Kewang immediately asked Zhang Xianzhong for battle, "Father, the child is willing to lead the army to attack at night and destroy the Weinan camp of the official army in one fell swoop!" ”

Zhang Xianzhong nodded in agreement: "Tonight, you and Dingguo will lead 3,000 men and horses to attack the enemy camp, if you can't win, come and see you!" ”

"No!" Zhang Kewang and Dingguo clenched their fists in unison.

That night, 3,000 cavalry of the Western Battalion, with a horse and a bell, quietly touched the front of the official army in front of the Weinan camp. I saw that the lights in the camp were dim, and the patrol officers and soldiers were even more staggered and leaning against the wooden fence and falling asleep.

Seeing this situation, Dingguo couldn't help but have some doubts, and reminded Zhang Kewang: "I often hear people say that Hong Chengchou is extremely strict in governing the army, but now that the war is imminent, the official army camp is so unprepared, there must be fraud in it!" ”

Zhang Kewang laughed disappreciatively and said: "Second brother, you are too worried, from Henan to Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou has followed us all the way, and he is already exhausted, so why be afraid?" ”

"Big brother, soldiers don't get tired of cheating, it's better to be careful." Dingguo worriedly persuaded again.

"Well, I'll leave you with 500 men to answer outside, and the rest of the brothers will go in with me!" After that, Zhang Kewang ignored Dingguo's dissuasion, and took the lead and went straight to the official army Weinan camp.

There was no official army to stop him along the way, and it was easy to rush to the gate of the village, Zhang Kewang did not hesitate to beat his horse and rush into the village, kill the small group of officers and soldiers who patrolled the sentry, and crashed into the camp of the Chinese army, but saw that there was no one in it, Zhang Kewang secretly said that it was not good in his heart, and quickly turned his horse's head and called for retreat.

At this time, flames suddenly broke out everywhere, and Zhang Yingchang, Zu Kuan, and Zuo Guangxian all came out together and surrounded Zhang Kewang's thousands of people. Zhang Kewang slammed left and right, but there were too many officers and soldiers, even if he was extremely brave, it was difficult to parry.

Seeing the brothers next to him fall one by one, Zhang Kewang couldn't help but look up to the sky and sighed: "My life is over!" ”

At this critical juncture, there was a chaotic crowd in the rear of the officers and soldiers, and in the blink of an eye, I saw a sentry cavalry forcibly tearing a gap in the encirclement and killing it, and the leader shouted: "Big brother, rush out with me!" ”

Zhang Kewang fixed his eyes and saw that it was Dingguo.

The two immediately joined forces, seized the slightest flaw in the encirclement of the official army, and rushed out desperately.

A few days later, the main force of the officers and troops crossed the Weishui and entered the Weinan camp, and the officers and troops had completed preparations for a full-scale attack.

Hong Chengchou then ordered Zhang Yingchang and Qin Yiming to lead the Sichuan and Shaanxi two road officers and armies as the front, and he pressed the formation in the rear, and pressed towards the camp of the righteous army, Zhang Xianzhong and Gao Yingxiang did not show weakness, and personally led the two righteous armies of Xiying and Chuang Ying to fight, and the two sides immediately launched a fierce battle on the plain on the south bank of Weishui.

The battle was in full swing, but unexpectedly, the Liaodong Army under Zu Kuan's department suddenly killed from the back of the righteous army, and the righteous army suffered from the enemy on its back, and suddenly the formation was in chaos.

Seeing that he could not win, in order to avoid the annihilation of the whole army, Zhang Xianzhong urgently ordered Dingguo to lead 3,000 elites to block the official army behind, and he took the main force to protect the old camp, and quickly broke away from contact with the official army together with the camp and retreated to the east.

"Come with me, brethren!" Faced with the critical moment of life and death, Dingguo did not hesitate, and led all the relatives and soldiers and 3,000 elites to face the officers and soldiers, and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers instantly swallowed these 3,000 people like a tide.

Caught in the siege, Dingguo was not flustered, I saw that he ordered three people as a combat unit, leaning on each other's backs, and scattered to fight separately. Although there were many officers and soldiers, they were helpless for a while when they suddenly encountered such a tactic, and they besieged it for a long time, but they never managed to gain the upper hand.

After fighting for about half an hour, seeing that the main force had gone away, Dingguo ordered everyone to slowly move closer in his direction, and then the troops were united, looking at the gap between the two sides of the official army, and struggling to break through.

The main force of the rebel army has already gone away, even if it is useless to annihilate the small group of men and horses in front of him, Hong Chengchou sighed and gave the order of Ming Jin to withdraw his troops.

Since entering Shaanxi, under the siege and interception of Hong Chengchou, the righteous army has been repeatedly frustrated, coupled with natural disasters and man-made disasters in Shaanxi, there is a depression everywhere, and logistics supply is extremely difficult, in order not to be trapped and die here, Zhang Xianzhong and Gao Yingxiang, the neat king, the collapse of the sky, the sweeping king, the word king, the king of Shuntian and other departments unanimously decided to join forces to kill Tongguan, divided into thirteen battalions to the east.

For a time, 200,000 righteous troops marched east in unison, covering forty miles, including the old and weak, and the elite riders outside, covering hundreds of miles.

Zuo Liangyu and Zu Kuan's two armies were seventy miles apart, and when the righteous army passed by their defense area, they saw that the righteous army was strong, and both of them only looked at each other from the top of their own hills, allowing the righteous army to swagger across the border, and then invariably chose to withdraw and leave.