Xu Hui followed Zhang Quanchang around Shaanxi earlier, and he also had some understanding of the distribution of the forces of the big and small Liukou. Not to mention the far, the closest is the new King of the Mixed World and the Scorpion Block who came to Zhangjiachuan, Qingshui County, Gongchang to defeat the official army. These two people joined forces together, and quickly expanded their military horses with the momentum of new victories, and already had more than 100,000 people in Lintao and Gongchang.

These two people are not familiar with Zhao Dangshi, and they dare not easily contact them, among which the scorpion block was originally a general of the four teams under Zhang Cunmeng's subordinates, Zhang Cunmeng was attached to Gao Yingxiang after his death, but he was extremely independent. Compared with this person, he is more concerned about the whereabouts of King Chuang and the Eight Kings of Xiying.

Xu Hui is also a guest army, and he doesn't know much about the location of Shaanxi, but he vaguely knows that there are also strong forces entrenched in Pingliang and Qingyang north of Qingshui, so that the king of the mixed world will not take a step beyond Lei Chi. Reasoning logically, nine times out of ten, this strong force is the king of them.

This information is sufficient. Zhao Dangshi, led by Xu Hui, attacked several tunbao at the northern end of Qingshui, looted some money and food supplies, and the morale of the team was restored.

From the north of Qingshui, we arrived at Pingliang. Zhao Dangshi thought that it was very likely to find King Chuang here, but he traveled all the way from Huating from Jingzhou, and almost did not encounter a large stream of rogues, and occasionally encountered, only a few people to more than ten people of small-scale rogues.

Although Xu Hui said that he had voted for Liukou, he hardly made a sound, except for Zhao Dangshi, who basically did not talk to others, and his face was often gloomy and gloomy. From an official to a thief, the contrast is too huge, and the imbalance in his heart Zhao Dangshi understands, and only hopes that time can gradually eliminate the mustard in his heart.

After crossing the Jing River, the number of displaced people with their families on the road suddenly increased. When they saw Zhao Dangshi's fifty horsemen coming, their legs and feet were still dexterous and scattered in fear, and the old and young patients who couldn't run were lying in the dust and shivering.

Hou Dagui dragged two old men back, and after careful interrogation, he learned that the official army and the Liukou were fighting in the Xiangle area of Ningzhou, and the official army was defeated, and the Liukou took the opportunity to plunder everywhere. When asked about the battalion heads of the officials and the Liukou, the old men didn't know.

Zhao Dangshi went to the old man, summoned everyone to discuss, and without saying a word, he heard the people in front of him neighing, and the homeless people screamed and fled. When I looked up, I saw the dust not far away, and it was estimated that at least a thousand people were coming this way.

The subordinates immediately panicked. In the past, with experience, you could hide in the nearby forest, but now it is surrounded by wasteland and gravel land, and there are no half-human-high trees, but how can you dodge? Now, Zhao Dangshi shouted and pressed, and he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

More than 100 people came first. From a distance, they all looked unkempt and embarrassed. Xu Hui's eyes were sharp, and he tilted his head and whispered: "Baihu, it's an official army." He has been a thief for a few days, and this is the first time he has confronted his former robe as a rogue, and he still feels stiff in his conversation.

looked at it again, frowned, and added: "It seems to be a rout." ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded: "The old man said that the official army was defeated, and this must be one of them." Even if it is a rout, there is nothing to fear. After thinking about it, he continued, "But don't act rashly yet. They fled so wildly, look at this flying dust battle, there must be pursuers behind them. ”

Xu Hui was silent.

The fleeing officer saw Zhao Dangshi's cavalry standing there, thinking that it was a chasing soldier who had outflanked him, and he was in chaos. Those who ran in front hurriedly braked, and those who followed behind panicked, and they couldn't hold their feet because they didn't know the situation, and they collided with it, and they fell forward and backward. For a while, wailing and scolding were everywhere.

As soon as he paused, suddenly more than a dozen horsemen came from behind, stabbed with knives and spears, and the routs with holes in their backs fell to the ground one after another. When several riders saw that some of them were far away, they put their guns across their horses, took their bows and shot hard, and even had a hit rate of more than 80%.

Seeing that nearly a hundred lives had been harvested in less than twenty horses in less than half a stick of incense, a sense of threat that had never been felt before suddenly surged into Zhao Dangshi's heart. He has been a thief for many years, and he has never seen any scenes, and he has also experienced the duel of tens of thousands of people, but he does not have the shock at the moment. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that there were such elites among the rogues.

Wang Lai looked at Zhao Dangshi uneasily, and when he saw that he was resolute and staring at the front intently, he couldn't help but become even more worried. An army that even the brothers are afraid of, if it were not a friendly army, it would be difficult to guarantee that there would not be a desperate fight today.

When the incense was not enough, the rout army was dispersed again, and more than ten horsemen went out to continue to intercept and kill, and the other group rushed towards Zhao Dangshi under the leadership of a dark horse general.

Zhao Dangshi held Hou Dagui's hand that was about to raise his weapon, and shouted two words from his horse.

Seeing that Zhao Dangshi and the others were not hostile, the dark horse general also left his subordinates behind and drove the horse over alone to talk to Zhao Dangshi. The two chatted for a while, and the black horse will beat the horse and return to himself, Zhao Dangshi turned around and waved at the delayed horsemen to beckon them to follow.

After Hou Dagui and the others followed, he learned from Zhao Dangshi that the small horse team in front of him was the army of the King Chuang who had been looking for a long time. The dark horse in the lead will be called Dang Shousu and will be subordinate to the general.

When it comes to this general, Zhao Dangshi is really familiar with it, it is Li Zicheng, who was originally famous in history. However, this is not the future "King Chuang", but the current "King Chuang" Gao Yingxiang's subordinates. In the early years, Li Zicheng was similar to the scorpion block Tuoyangkun, and he was the general of the eighth team under Zhang Cunmeng, and after Zhang Cunmeng's fall, he was attached to Gao Yingxiang and said that he was a general, but in fact, Li Zicheng's independence was not inferior to the scorpion block, etc., and his relationship with Gao Yingxiang was more like a union than a superior.

Li Zicheng was able to fight, and after leading the army into Shaanxi, he continued to expand and threaten, and by this time there were nearly 20,000 horses, but the most elite of them were only more than 1,000. These more than 1,000 people have a name, called the "Old Eighth Team", to distinguish them from other new soldiers. Among them, they are not only brave and good at fighting, but also follow Li Zicheng for a long time and win his trust.

Li Zicheng's army defeated Liu Chenggong and Ai Wannian's officers and troops in Xiangle, and even killed his enemy Ai Wannian. As an officer in the old Eighth Team, Dang Shousu was previously ordered to pursue the fleeing officers and soldiers and search for the seriously injured and escaped deputy commander-in-chief Liu Chenggong, guerrilla Wang Ximing and others.

"It turned out to be Li Zicheng's ace elite." Zhao Dangshi nodded secretly. Although there are not many of them, they are enough to be the backbone of an army. It doesn't matter if they are defeated a few times by the official army, as long as these backbones still exist, the army can be re-encircled and cheered up, which is also one of the cruxes of the original history of the inexhaustible killing of rogues.

Gao Yingxiang and Ma Shouying have a good relationship, and they have joined forces many times before, and in the same way, Li Zicheng also regards Ma Shouying as a strong partner.

Li Zicheng's army base camp was stationed on the front line of the Jiulong River in Xiangle, in addition to his own army, there were also two rogues of the Troubled King and the Heavenly Star who temporarily organized a regiment, with a total strength of more than 30,000.

When Zhao Dangshi and others first arrived at the camp, Li Zicheng happened to be absent, and the party guard had his own errands, so he arranged for the soldiers to take everyone to a large camp tent to wait temporarily.

Hou Dagui also stayed in Li Zicheng's army, but this time he came again, but he did not have the emotion of the old man. When Zhao Dangshi asked him if he felt different, he shook his head and said straight: "It's different, it's different." As for the difference, he couldn't say it after thinking about it for a long time.

On the contrary, Xu Hui said in a low voice: "I have just walked all the way from the front camp to the back camp, and the landscape has really changed sharply, especially in the area of the middle military camp, there seems to be an official and military atmosphere. When he said the word "official army," his face suddenly tightened, and he lowered his head and said no more.

What he meant, Zhao Dangshi understood. Li Zicheng divided the whole army into five battalions, that is, front, middle, rear, left and right. Among them, the left and right battalions were divided into miscellaneous departments such as the King of the Troubled Times and the Heavenly Star, and the people did not pass by, and they were not judged. But the military situation of the front, middle and rear battalions is clear at a glance - the front battalion is the worst, the rear battalion is second, and the middle battalion is the most elite. In fact, in terms of the number of troops, the front battalion occupies the absolute majority. With many years of experience in the army, according to the number of camp accounts, Zhao Dangshi estimated that there were more than 10,000 people in the front camp, the least in the middle camp, and at most 1,000 people.

There are many people in the front battalion, but most of them are poor people and soldiers who are temporarily recruited and coerced, and their combat effectiveness is very poor, and the main role in the battle is nothing more than adding fuel and being cannon fodder, Zhao Dangshi is sure that even if these people die in a battle, he Li Zicheng will never blink an eye. Correspondingly, the treatment of these people is also extremely poor, basically two bowls of gruel and brown rice hanging from their lives every day, and their appearance is no different from the homeless people they saw in Yu Luzhao's life.

On the other hand, in the middle camp, the scene is completely different. Although most of the middle battalion soldiers are also thin, they are better at a full meal, and from time to time they add some condiments because of the victory, and their spirit is not at all comparable to those crumbling former battalion soldiers. The Chinese military camp includes Li Zicheng's trump card "Old Eighth Team", they are the pillar and soul of the whole army. These people are gone, and he Li Zicheng will wipe his neck and don't mess up.

Xu Hui couldn't help but praise Zhongying, which Zhao Dangshi still agreed, but what he said "has the atmosphere of an official army" is pure nonsense. Fighting the hungry people like the former camp, which way of the official army can't win? To say that they are as elite as the old eighth team, it is really to put gold on the faces of the officers and soldiers.

I heard that there is also a group of "child soldiers" composed of teenagers in the Chinese military camp. This is not Li Zicheng's patent, the current situation is chaotic, if you want to effectively control an army with a large number of troops, it is naturally not enough to rely on the leader and a few relatives, so you have to cultivate some cronies from an early age, whether you will be a righteous son or a daughter or a sister, you can help stabilize the control of the army.

When Zhao Dangshi and the others arrived at the camp, it was already feeding time, and they waited for a while, and no one came to inform Li Zicheng of the news at dusk, and several people who were so impatient that they couldn't sit still. Hou Dagui even used the excuse of "breathability" to go out of the tent several times to look.

Zhao Dangshi was also a little unhappy. At the moment, he is still fighting with the official army, and it is understandable that Li Zicheng will not be able to come back for a while outside, but you can't just leave your "dignified" old envoy back to Ma Shouying here and ignore it, and you won't even drink saliva.

Seeing that the sun was waning, everyone's stomachs began to growl, and their emotions were low to the lowest point, Hou Dagui really couldn't stand it, so he jumped up and said that he wanted to go out to find someone to theorize.

Before stepping out of the tent door, several people came to meet him, the first one was tall and straight, with a face of Hongyi, very heroic, Zhao Dangshi thought it was Li Zicheng, and hurriedly got up to salute. Without saying a word, the man first arched his hand and said, "Let you guys wait a long time, I really forgive me." The officials and soldiers in the Xiangle area have not been appeased, and the military affairs are complicated, and he really can't get out of the plate, so he can only let him come to receive him. ”

Zhao Dangshi saw that he was a talent, and he had a local accent in northern Shaanxi, neither Li Zishi nor the eldest brother in the army, so he did not hesitate at all, bowed his head and said: "The villain has returned to Zhao Dangshi under his command and has seen the general." He didn't say that he was sent by Zhang Xiongfei, nor did he say that he was returning to the camp, so he wanted to secretly improve his figure.

The man helped Zhao Dangshi and said, "Brother Zhao doesn't have to be like this. You and I are fighting against the government, just like brothers, and there is no need for those red tapes. ”

As soon as he said this, Zhao Dangshi and others had a good impression of him, and they became close to him. Once someone gains power, even if it is a small trend, they will learn to bully others like those officials who oppressed them at the beginning, like Zhang Xiongfei is a typical example. Everyone with ugly faces has seen a lot, and they can't help but come to such a kind person, which is impressive.

The man then reported to the door of the house and said: "In Xia Gaojie, Mizhi people, thanks to the brothers, they can afford it, and they also have the nickname of 'mountain harrier' on weekdays. Hehe, it's a shame to say it now. ”

"It turned out to be the eldest brother Gao, and the younger brother has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, and he has been looking up for a long time!" Zhao Dangshi hugged his fists in salute, but he was vigilant in his heart. He didn't know much about this person's history in the original history, but he generally knew that he was by no means a good person, and his actions were definitely very different from the smiling face at this time.

How did Gao Jie know that he was thinking in his heart, and he was still smiling: "Brother Zhao is from the camp, but I don't know which camp head he belongs to?" "Returning to the camp is similar to breaking into the camp, it is formed by the union of many forces, and the subordinates who directly belong to the old Huihui are treated and treated much better than other miscellaneous cards.

Zhao Dangshi was not shocked, and also smiled and said: "The younger brother is not talented, so he will do things for Lao Huihui himself, and he will indiscriminately serve as several sentinels in the middle camp." ”

The establishment of the Liukou is chaotic and has many names, but it is basically similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. The post of sentry officer was not permanent in the Ming Dynasty army, usually with three or four hundred people, and it was not uncommon to command thousands of people among the rogues. He set up a sentry officer for himself, and Gao Jie couldn't find out the truth.

Hou Dagui and the others are not brainless people, knowing that they are at a critical juncture, they all show twelve points of acting skills, or they are silent, or their faces are expressionless.

Gao Jie's face remained unchanged, he looked around, and pretended to be surprised: "Brother Zhao, as a sentry officer, how come there are only these few brothers under his command?" ”

Hearing this, Zhao Dangshi's expression suddenly became sad, and he sighed several times and said: "This time, in order to get in touch with King Chuang and others, he specially sent his younger brother to bring out five hundred athletes from the headquarters. Although the five hundred athletes are all strong, how can they be densely packed with officials and troops from southern Shaanxi to northern Shaanxi, and they have come down all the way, but they are almost broken, leaving only the younger brother and these hard-working brothers, desperately trying to bring the code. After a pause, he wiped the corners of his eyes with his hand, "After seeing the king and the general, and the task is over, the younger brother will work hard with the remaining brothers and the army to comfort hundreds of souls in the sky!" ”

When Gao Jie heard this, he was silent for a while and said: "Brothers have worked hard all the way, and they are not in vain. When the breakthrough is coming, I will give you justice. ”

At the end, he said another sentence and bluffed Zhao Dangshi on the spot.