On the soft land after the rain, more than ten riders galloped back and forth.

Some of them held large banners embroidered with the words "Chuang" and "Shun", while others raised sabers and spears and shouted. There was also a spear more than a foot long, with a head at the tip. The first level had a dark face, and looked dead for several days.

"That head is Qiu Zhitao." On the wind-swept Tongguan city wall, He Zhen frowned and squinted, looked at the wall from afar and sighed.

Hao Mingluan stood beside him, his expression solemn, pursed his lips and said nothing.

"After nearly two months of hard work, the result was in vain." He Zhen seemed to laugh at herself, "The first time our army went out of the customs, it lost to Ruzhou. I thought I could be ashamed of it, but my destiny was unpredictable, and I planted my head in the old place, hey, it's also fate? ”

When Hao Mingluan heard this, his thoughts couldn't help but fly to Ruzhou, Henan Province more than ten days ago.

When Li Zicheng, who had a keen sense of military smell, learned from Li Jiyu that the Shaanxi soldiers had set up a grain station in Baisha between Luoyang and Ruzhou, he immediately made a decision and decided to implement the strategy of "repairing the plank road in the open and Chen Cang in the dark". Quickly found Li Guo and asked him to lead the troops out of the camp, cruising in front of the camp garrisoned by Sun Chuanting's main army, and posing as a decisive battle to find the Shaanxi soldiers again.

The decisive battle was something that the Shaanxi soldiers could not ask for, and Sun Chuanting immediately ordered the whole army to shrink and wait for the battle. Seeing that Sun Chuanting had made a mistake in judgment, Li Zicheng then handed over 10,000 horses to Liu Zongmin's middle battalion, and sent him to copy the Baisha Grain Station in a roundabout way through the starry night, and Li Jiyu's imperial village then supported. The water was steaming in the torrential rain, and the Baisha Shaanxi soldiers did not expect the sudden arrival of the surprise soldiers of the intruding army, and they scattered and left. Liu Zongmin then poured oil on Baishatun and burned half of the grain, and the other half was temporarily transported back to Yuzhai.

The Shaanxi soldiers on the front line were hungry and cold for many days, and they were eager to see through the Baisha grain line, but they were shocked to hear that the rear was lost, and the three armies were shocked. Li Zicheng knew that the Shaanxi soldiers were in chaos, and deliberately urged Li Guo to further approach the Shaanxi soldiers in the front, and provoked decisive battles again and again. As he expected, disagreements quickly arose within the Shaanxi army, and the army generals led by Bai Guangen, the commander of the train battalion, had already persuaded Sun Chuanting to surrender to Luoyang. But Sun Chuanting was unwilling and wanted to fight again. The two sides were unable to hold each other, and Sun Chuanting insisted on going his own way, intending to fight quickly, so he forced the generals to go out of the camp to fight.

Li Zicheng gathered troops and horses, attacked on all fronts, and led the elite horse army pioneers with the powerful generals of the middle battalion, Xin Sizhong, Li You, and Dang Shousu. These horsemen who broke into the army all wore cotton armor, which was as thick as 100 layers, and the arrows could not enter. There are three or four horses in each hand, and they change their mounts up and down quickly. If you don't fight in the army, you practice riding and shooting every day, which is called "standing in line". The long-term training made them disciplined, standing in line until noon every day, and at night when the drums were all over the place, they would eat and listen to orders, and they would not relax at all. Unless the Yellow River is encountered on the march, the Huai, Jing, Si, Wei and other rivers are crossed by shallows, and they are not allowed to dismount without a military order. It is also forbidden to destroy crops, and "those who enter the fields and seedlings are cut off." Such an order and prohibition made their cohesion and training far greater than that of ordinary intruders.

Xin Sizhong, Li You and Dang Shousu are three parts of three layers of progression, front and back conflicts, that is, the "three walls" tactics commonly used by the army and horse army. At first, the Shaanxi soldiers were still able to resist, but Xin Sizhong and others then feinted defeat and lured the Shaanxi soldiers to pursue.

The infantry of the invading army was also mainly commanded by the generals of the middle battalion, and they set up a front and arrow formation to meet the attack, with the former Guoyi general Ren Jirong, the consequence Yi general Wu Ruyi, and the Zhengwei general Li Shuangxi sitting in the middle and rear of the array and the two wings. Tens of thousands of infantry stabbed with spears, like a stone wall, blocking the advancing Shaanxi soldiers. At the time of the stalemate, the Ma army returned to invite the attack. This is the infantry and cavalry coordination tactics developed by the invading army after long-term actual combat, which is called "knocking down and overturning".

The Shaanxi soldiers were already sluggish in their fighting spirit, and they were in good times, but once they encountered setbacks, their morale immediately plummeted. Many of Bai Guangen's train battalions were newly recruited recruits, and they were attacked by the Ma army who had gone and returned, and they directly exclaimed, "The division has failed," and they abandoned the train and ran away. Seeing that he couldn't support it, Bai Guangen reverted to his old state, so he actually left Sun Chuanting and led the remnants of the headquarters to pat his ass and leave first. His train battalion is the backbone of the entire Shaanxi army, and the whole army of this Shaanxi army is like a temple that has lost its beams, and it collapsed in an instant, and tens of thousands of clumsy trains blocked the road, and the eyes were full of Shaanxi soldiers rushing.

Sun Chuanting was unable to return to the sky, collected his troops and hurriedly left, and the army chased and killed endlessly, and the corpses of Shaanxi soldiers were all over the field. In order to preserve the main force, Sun Chuanting asked the Yu general Chen Yongfu to stay in the Jiaxian camp to block the invading army. Chen Yongfu saw that Sun Chuanting only cared about the Shaanxi soldiers and regarded the Yu soldiers as grass mustard, and was resentful, and in the face of the attacking army, he refused Sun Chuanting's order and ran behind the Shaanxi soldiers. After the break, the army and the horse army rushed up, wantonly slashed and killed, and the Shaanxi army was in chaos, completely collapsing the whole line. The introducer army also arrived, holding a big stick and a giant mallet to slam it, and the first one and the skull were shattered. The Shaanxi soldiers continued to flee, the army pursued relentlessly, chasing four hundred miles day and night, reaching Mengjin, Sun Chuanting, who retreated to Mengjin in a hurry, saw that the military resources were exhausted, so he had to leave behind other soldiers and horses, pack up thousands of horse troops and cross the Yellow River north by boat, and the army was only collected until now. After the battle, the Ming army was killed and wounded and scattered nearly 40,000 people, and the loss of weapons and baggage was hundreds of thousands.

Sun Chuanting later went around to Tongguan through Yuanqu County, Shanxi, and gathered the remnants of the defeated generals who came to the meeting from all over the country, and there were still 40,000 soldiers and horses.

Qiao Yuanzhu, the supervising army, persuaded him: "The three armies are in Xi'an, and they want to return after defeat." And the strong guard, the dangerous road also. It is better to abandon the pass and defend Xi'an and fight with the city. ”

I didn't want Sun Chuanting to be furious, and scolded: "If the thief enters the customs, the Qin people still care for me?" "Determined to defend Tongguan. He ordered Bai Guangen's troops to camp in Tongluochuan outside the city, Chen Yong's troops to camp on the west hill outside the south gate, and He Zhen and other standard battalion soldiers to guard the wall.

"It is not impossible to surrender Xi'an to retreat as advance."

In the distance, the head of the Ma army who came to the army for a long time did not cause any fluctuations in the Shaanxi soldiers, and the intention was not good. Hao Mingluan watched them turn around and leave, and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Xi'an City is high and full of food, which is the foundation of our army, and it is not difficult to defend it." He Zhen sighed, "It's a pity that both Sun Junmen and the imperial court have made up their minds to defend Tongguan." ”

"The Imperial Court?"

"Yes, the Ruzhou army was defeated, and the imperial court has sent an order to the Ministry of War, saying that the military gate is light and incompatible, and the superintendent has been repeatedly defeated. If the thief enters Shaanxi, the previous sin will be counted as the previous sin. He Zhen sighed again and again, "Then he replied to the military department to order Jin, Henan, Bao, and Dongsi Fu to organize their troops and horses, garrison Hegan, and cooperate to prevent blockage, and not allow a thief to peep into the Beijing division." ”

"If you are slow, you will fall into the abyss, and if you are urgent, you will increase your knees, so the technique will be repeated. Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and it is okay to give offense to the army, but they make a big move to temporarily dismantle and change the organization, and they just hurt themselves in vain. "Hao Mingluan's heart Dao court's style is really the same as before, Sun Chuanting was defeated, and immediately stripped the governor of the four roads from his system, and did his own thing, don't you know that the sudden loss of Sun Chuanting as the axis of the four fu will have a greater negative impact on the military and politics, "There are still 40,000 soldiers and horses in Tongguan, and it is not impossible to fight again." What does it mean for the imperial court to do this, and to ask Sun Junmen to serve, and to fall into the trap for him? ”

He Zhen could see his thoughts from the change in his expression, and said haha: "The two edicts were delivered to the military gate this morning. The military gate was probably depressed, and locked himself in his room, and he has not seen anyone so far. ”

"The morale of the army was weak, and the court did not want to encourage and agitate, but criticized more harshly. Alas, Tongguan is difficult to protect. Hao Mingluan thought to himself, "The intention is unpredictable, the situation is erosive, why should Sun Junmen force this troubled water." ”

Before Sun Chuanting, in March of this year, because Wu Fu, an auxiliary minister of the cabinet, had patrolled Henan and Shaanxi and Shanxi in his early years, and was well versed in military affairs, the court originally decided to send him as a supervisor, but as usual, there was no money and food for soldiers and horses, and it was hoped that he, like Yang Sichang, would go to the local area to raise troops alone. Wu Fu had his own insistence, claiming that he must allocate 30,000 elite soldiers and select generals who dare to fight to unify them before he could make the trip. After some bullfighting, the imperial court finally bargained to 10,000 people, and requisitioned 7,000 people from the Tang Tong Division, the general soldier of the Miyun County Stone Box Battalion, 2,000 people from the Guanmen General Soldier and the 1,000 people from the Bujing Battalion, who ran back from Liaodong, to give Wu Fu enough. But at that time, the Qing soldiers invaded the border and ravaged Jifu, Tang Tong found a reason to resist the northern captives, grinding foreign workers, and moved to stay, and Wu Fu took the opportunity to refuse to leave Beijing. In the end, Emperor Chongzhen lost patience, so he simply broke up, and didn't want Wu Fu anymore, forcibly let him return home, and chose Sun Chuanting.

At that time, the court thought that Wu Fu was afraid to move forward, but Sun Chuanting had the courage to take responsibility. But in Hao Mingluan's view, Wu Fu's choice, which has nothing to do, is a wise move. At first, he didn't understand why Sun Chuanting, who was tough on everyone and even ruthless, was obedient to Emperor Chongzhen and had no disobedience. Later, he slowly realized that Sun Chuanting may not only be in awe of Emperor Chongzhen, but also the golden dragon chair in Beijing, which is his way of being a minister and the foundation of his life.

"I only hope that Sun Junmen can live up to Jun's grace and defend Tongguan." After a long time, Hao Mingluan, who had been silent, smiled jerkily in the face of the strong wind.

Three days later, the main force of the invasion army, which failed to persuade to surrender, officially launched an attack on Tongguan.

The soldiers were divided into two routes, one way Li Zicheng led the way, and Liu Zongmin and others set off from Luoyang to attack Tongguan with all their might; Led by Yuan Zongdi all the way, he set off from the Lu clan with the white dove crane and took the Shangluo Mountain area. The two soldiers and horses agreed to meet in Xi'an.

"I didn't think that one day I could set foot on the land of Shaanxi again, thanks to the blessing of the army." Yang Zhaofeng brushed aside a wet bush of artemisia grass, leaned over, and said with a smile.

"Haven't you set foot yet?" Xue Copypi, who was following behind, smiled but didn't smile, "There is also Tongguan in the middle, I think it is not a blessing but a curse that the army gave us." "This attack on Tongguan, the soldiers of the Yuzhai also have a share, but unlike the previous field battles outside Jiaxian, the soldiers of the Yuzhai were assigned to the forefront, "The chicken thieves of the army are very good, and they know that the field battle puts our army in front, and once it is not supported, it is easy to affect the whole army." There is no such concern about the siege, and the first few rounds of drudgery to fill in the life will be guaranteed to fall on the head of my imperial village. ”

Li Jiyu and others stayed in Henan to continue to maintain stability after the Battle of Ruzhou, and this 2,000-strong imperial village soldier is currently under the full responsibility of Xue Zhao.

"Ten miles further to Taojiazhuang, and then you will reach Guanpo." Yang Zhaofeng looked around and said, "Didn't General Wu say that he wanted to gather in Taojiazhuang first?" Let's go faster, it's better to wait here for the big army. "Li Zicheng's pioneer vanguard was Wu Ruyi, the general of the Zhongying Rebellion, and Xue Zhao was controlled by him.

Xue Xuan agreed, and then ordered the army to temporarily hide in the woods and meadows and garrison in place. After settling down, he turned back and squatted beside Yang Zhaofeng, and asked, "Brother Yang, aren't you from Shaanxi?" How to be familiar with this, too. ”

Yang Zhaofeng replied: "Yes, I am from Jingyang County, not far from Xi'an. The family relies on short-term work for people, and often goes to the nearby Xi'an Fucheng, and also walks to Tongguanwei, Ruxiang County and other places far away. One year, when I was about eleven or twelve years old, I followed my father to this neighborhood to plant spring wheat for people, and I stayed for three months. ”

"Jingyang? I know, the tea is good. Hey, Brother Yang may not believe it, more than ten years ago, when it was still peaceful, I was a tea merchant at home, and I didn't run to Jingyang, where I was familiar. Xue Zhao stroked his palm and smiled.

Jingyang County is the distribution center of the border trade tea industry, and the tea trade is very prosperous. That is, "Qinjiang Governance Strategy" said that "Jingyang County official tea enters the customs, is transported to the refreshment, and is inspected separately, transferred to the west, and there are more than 10,000 people who inspect it", which can be seen in its appearance.

Xue Xuan continued: "But who would have thought that I would be young at that time, fall out with my dead ghost father, give up my family business and wander to the north, and become a soldier in Ningxia Zhongwei, I would rather eat and drink the wind and drink than go back." But now it seems that it was prescient. But I think if I inherited the family business at that time, no matter how big the tea merchant is, Shaanxi will be in chaos, and it will not be a wedding dress for others. It's better to exercise in the side in the early years, and boil out a survival ability, which has helped me survive to this day. ”

"Ahem, it's a pity that my father has worked hard all his life, and as soon as he saved up money to buy two acres of thin land for his family, Shaanxi was in chaos. My father and mother died, so I followed my second brother to the grass. In the future, everything will be the same, not to mention Brother Xue. Yang Zhaofeng said, seemingly a little bitter.

"Do you still have a second brother? How's it going? Xue Zhao was interested.

"Dead...... It should be dead...... At that time, thousands of soldiers were staggered, and my second brother fell into battle, and it was estimated that there would be more luck than luck. The memories that have been hidden deep in his heart for many years came to his mind, and Yang Zhaofeng's eyes turned red unconsciously, "If he is alive now, he will definitely be a well-known hero in my Zhao Ying." ”

After talking for a long time, suddenly the sound of horses' hooves behind him was like thunder, and when he turned his head to look, several horses were speeding over. The immediate general was holding a broad-bladed long knife, wearing a Fengling iron helmet, and his whole body was iron-armored, and he was majestic, and it was Wu Ruyi, the main general of the forward.

"I've seen Master Wu!" Xue patted his armor and stood solemnly. Yang Zhaofeng lowered the edge of his helmet.

Wu Ruyi nodded at Xue Xuan and said, "The scouts in front have reported that the Ming army stationed in Guanpo is lax and slack, and there is an opportunity to take advantage of it." Brothers, work hard, move your legs, and immediately rush at him! ”

"Yes!" Xue Zhao received the order loudly, and when Wu Ruyi left, he was very excited.