Thousands of horsemen came from the mountain road west of the town, and they moved very fast. Chen Hongfan saw scattered rangers on the hillside from a distance, and knew that the traces of his army had been detected, so he ordered left and right: "There is no need to withdraw, just stay put." "Shihua Street to the east, it is a plain and a wide land, and if the other party really wants to pursue, he can't escape.

The small Shihua Street was crowded with soldiers and horses in a short time. As expected, the people who came were all troops of Zuo Liangyu, the commander of the army.

Chen Hongfan, who was surrounded by the crowd of horsemen in the center, pretended to be calm, and loudly reported to his home, and after a while, two horsemen galloped from the rear, and the officer with bright armor dismounted to meet Chen Hongfan, but it was Zuo Liangyu's Zuo Xiao Cavalry Battalion General Zhou Fengwu and Right Xiao Cavalry Battalion General Gao Jinku. According to the consistent establishment of the Zuojia Army, his two battalions together should have 3,000 horse troops.

Zhou Fengwu was promoted because he replaced Luo Dai, the former general who died in battle, and his qualifications were not as good as Gao Jinku, and Gao Jinku, who had a goatee, could be called Zuo Liangyu's right-hand man, and he was also familiar with Chen Hongfan. Chen Hongfan saw that he was an old man, and he was a little relieved, and asked politely: "Zuo Shuai is going out of the mountain?" ”

Gao Jinku replied: "Yu Province is erosive, and Zuo Shuai must protect the thief." "Xuzhou, Henan is the base camp of the Zuo army, although Zuo Liangyu left some troops to garrison when he left, but at present, the attack of various bandits led by the Chuang army is becoming more and more intense, and the two places are not at ease after all. And the dismounted army opened the road first, and then Zuo Liangyu will also lead the follow-up troops to move in.

Chen Hongfan was scheming, Zuo Liangyu brought out five battalions from Henan in order to chase down the thieves, namely the main barracks, the left Xiao cavalry battalion, the right Xiao cavalry battalion, the left association battalion and the inner middle battalion, with a combat strength of about 10,000 people, plus all kinds of apprentices, the total should be around 15,000. Originally, it was also the official army of the imperial court, and there was nothing to be afraid of, but the current situation was a little delicate.

Gucheng County is close to Yunyang Mansion and belongs to the Kongdao for the transfer of military grain between Yunxiang and Yunyang, and Chen Hongfan has long been aware of the lack of grain in Yunyang Prefecture. The number of Zuojia troops is huge, and they have been stationed in Fang County for so long, and they have to eat every day with almost 20,000 mouths. Gao Jinku's words of "suppressing thieves are more important to protect the roots" are high-sounding, how can the abacus in the secret be hidden from Chen Hongfan? In his opinion, the reason why Zuo Liangyu mobilized troops was to deliberately protect the safety of the old man was one thing, but being punished by the imperial court and the imminent shortage of food in the army were probably the main reasons.

Chen Hongfan has heard and seen the military discipline of Zuo's army, and he has also privately sent scouts to Fang County to investigate, and the situation reported is without exception that the county town is ruined, and the people are ravaged day and night, Zuo Liangyu even sent troops to Zhushan County, Yun County and other places to extort money and grain, but if the local officials do not obey, they will immediately burn and loot, and they will be ruthless against thieves. There are countless atrocities of all kinds, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the whole house of Yunyang was taken three feet to the ground by him.

The mountainous area of Yunyang Mansion is already poor and withered, and it has been practiced for the Zuo family army for a long time, and there is no oil and water. Now that the Zuojia army wants to move, it is only possible to enter Xiangyang Mansion to the east, how is such an army different from the locusts in transit? Thinking of Zuo Liangyu's "slowness" in marching, if he is allowed to come to Xiangyang Mansion, will there be any other fate if the ground of Xiangyang Mansion, which has finally become fertile, is not sucked up and squeezed out for him?

Chen Hongfan considers himself a utilitarian person, but he has been with Xiangyang Mansion for several years, and he inevitably has feelings similar to his homeland for this land. Especially when he was stationed in Gucheng County, he saw the city wall erected, the people gathered, the merchants were prosperous, and the rice fields were harvested, which made him feel the blend of fish and water between the government and the people. But how can a normal and ambitious person sit back and watch outsiders destroy all this beauty? What's more, he is now not only the chief soldier of Changping in the imperial court, he has long been closely linked to the Zhao camp because of the three battalions of Changhong. Xiangyang Mansion is the foundation of Zhao Ying, since he has made up his mind to follow Zhao Dangshi to break through, and from then on to deal with outsiders, he will naturally add another "Zhao Ying" to the word "himself".

"It is a great thing that Zuo Shuai wants to go out of the mountain to save the people of Li from fire and water." Chen Hongfan pretended to smile and said, "Chen Mou will go back and order the fathers and villagers of Gucheng to eat pot pulp and feast on the cow." ”

Gao Jinku and Zhou Fengwu were both coarse and couldn't understand Chen Hongfan's words, but when they heard the words "go back", they both laughed and said: "Don't worry, Zuo Shuai asked the two of us to come to Xiangyang Mansion first, I still have a headache and don't know what to do." Now that Chen Shuai is in charge, how can we not cheer up? Let our army escort Chen Shuai back to the city as a thank you. ”

Chen Hongfan complained again and again in his heart, and secretly thought: "Let them enter Gucheng, and it seems that the work of Gucheng's recovery for several years will be in vain." He didn't dare to show half a point on his face, let alone insist, his mouth expanded outward, and he smiled: "That's okay." There are two to assist in arranging, and Zuo Shuai will be more thoughtful and comfortable when he arrives. ”

The three of them agreed that the two battalions of the Zuojia Army continued to march eastward with dozens of cavalry of Chen Hongfan. Shihua Street is more than 30 miles away from Gucheng County, Gao and Zhou quickly whipped their horses and arrived at the city gate before nightfall. There are only some regimental training and archers stationed in some counties in the city, and even the barracks of the former camp of Changhong are built on the periphery, but Gao Jinku insisted on asking to bring troops into the city to rest, and said confidently: "Our army has left its hometown, lived in other places, and fought bloodily for the country for nearly two years. Stationed on the outskirts of the city, the cold wind is still blowing, can Chen Shuai bear to watch our army athletes suffer from the cold of spring, and freeze to death? ”

Chen Hongfan said embarrassedly: "It's not that Chen is deliberately embarrassed, but because the county town was hit by the previous disaster, the houses were burned down slightly, and only some have been built in the past two years, and the number is poor, I'm afraid there is no place for your army." ”

Gao Jinku waved his hand and said with a big grin: "It's okay! The skin and flesh of the soldiers are thick, just choose the place and squeeze it, don't worry about Chen Shuai! Saying that, he didn't care about Chen Hongfan, and he and Zhou Fengwu began to beckon soldiers and horses into the city.

Chen Hongfan was indignant, but thinking of the Changhong front camp under his hands, he was not sure that the elite of the two Zuojia armies could drive away. So while Gao and Zhou were distracted and urging, he secretly instructed his cronies: "You find some people, hurry up, and go to Guanghua, Junzhou and Fucheng respectively to ask for help, just say that Gucheng is occupied by Zuo Liangyu, and the situation is critical!" ”

Six hundred miles away, Xingshan County, Jingzhou Prefecture.

A middle-aged military attache in his forties looked up at the dilapidated county town for a long time, and shook his head with a blushing face. On the ruined head of the city, two hemp ropes hung from each other, each with a human head tied to its bottom. After nearly a month of wind and rain, the two human heads have been greatly rotted and pecked by the birds, and they are miserable, gently swaying in the current breeze, hideous and weird.

"It's been so long, why haven't you taken it off?" Although the middle-aged military attache is not very old, perhaps due to overwork in the military, his sideburns and the mustache next to his lips are gray as frost, his eyes are swollen, his face is broad, and his burly physique and loud voice are very majestic. It was just a question, but the soldiers accompanying him on the left and right were shocked with fright.

"The thieves come and go uncertainly, and they have broken the city and fled, and they can't keep it when they will quietly return. The soldiers and civilians fled, and which one dared to stay, and which one dared to untie the hemp rope again. A civilian official in a supplementary uniform walked up to the middle-aged military attaché and looked up with him, sighing.

The middle-aged military attache sighed and said, "Lord Wan, even if these two people are guilty of trapping the city, they will not throw their bodies so far. ”

The civil official nodded lightly and said, "What you said is very true." This can send soldiers to untie the hemp rope and bury the head. Then he said, "I remember that the name of Xingshan Zhixian is Liu Dingguo, and the garrison is called Wu Guomao, and the face of the head is difficult to distinguish, so the two of them were buried together and a tombstone was erected." ”

The middle-aged military attache sighed again and again: "I was as fierce as a tiger when I was attached to the Celestial Empire, and my original intention was to serve the country against foreign captives. Where do you want to get it, most of my life has been chasing with thieves. ”

The civil official smiled and said, "Isn't it unexpected for me? If it weren't for the superintendent Qianli calling me, I would still be presiding over government affairs in the southeast right now. Military? Never thought of getting involved. ”

"Supervisor ......"

As soon as this word was mentioned, the expressions of the civil and military officials were dark. The two of them, the warrior is the president of the governor, the writer is the superintendent of the army, and the one is the right and left hand of the superintendent Yang Sichang.

The Fu Domain was destroyed and the Xiang Domain almost collapsed, and the news reached the ears of Yang Sichang, who was still in eastern Sichuan, like a thunderbolt on a sunny day. Since he personally led the troops to suppress the Kou, he has become ill from exhaustion and hard work, and he only relies on the expectations of Emperor Chongzhen to persevere. Sichuan into a pot of porridge to no avail, and finally let the West, Cao Erying slip away, he was already anxious, the recent backyard fire, Chuang, back to the camp to resurge, the momentum is huge, once again heavy blow to his spirit. The defeat of Fu and Xiang was undoubtedly the last straw that overwhelmed him. He consciously lived up to the high hopes of Emperor Chongzhen, who was the best to use him, and in a letter to Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang, he lamented that "a strange disaster fell from the sky", "the servant vomited blood and was sad, and he was bound to die, and there was nothing to say", and then he fell ill in Kuizhou on the way out of Sichuan. When Wan Yuan Ji went to visit him, he was speechless, and only pointed with trembling fingers, signaling that Wan Yuan Ji would temporarily take over the command of the governor. Wan Yuan Ji had no choice but to lead the troops with the fierce tiger first, and now all the troops under the Dumen mark are under the control of the two, and today they only went ashore from the return of Jingzhou Mansion and came to Xingshan County to station.

"Two, there is military intelligence." Another civil servant walked in a broken step. He is the current Jingnan Bingbei Wang Yongzuo, who was originally a staff member in the army accompanying Yang Sichang, and his predecessor Tao Chongdao resigned and returned to his hometown because he was dissatisfied with Yang Sichang's move to increase the salary of the people, so he temporarily accepted the appointment. Who expected to take office, but Yang Sichang fell ill and couldn't see things, so he followed Wan and Meng to Chu.

"News of the thief?" Wan Yuan Ji and Fierce Tiger turned around at the same time.

"Exactly." Wang Yongzuo said, "The thief was defeated by Zhao Zhen in Xiangyang, and went to Chengtian and De'an Mansions to Huangzhou Mansion. ”

"Huangzhou Mansion?" Wan Yuan Ji groaned, "Huangzhou Mansion is in the southeast of Huguang, which is completely different from the northbound route of our others. ”

Fierce as a tiger proposed: "It is better to change the course tomorrow and turn east from here." ”

"It's too much work." Wan Yuan Ji shook his head and thought for a while, "Our army continues to go north. The situation of the thieves in Henan is also urgent, far better than the defeated remnants of the thieves, and they urgently need the support of our army. Further, "The Governor of the Three Sides, Lord Ding, has sent Li Guoqi, the deputy general of the Zuoyong Battalion, and He Renlong, the general of the Yansui Battalion, to succeed him, and it is reported that he will also arrive at Xingshan within three or five days at the latest. I will take a letter of resignation, ask them to temporarily defend Jingzhou, and then send someone to find Lord Huguang and Song, and ask him to transfer the Huguang General Soldier Qian Zhongzhong to choose Shuyingshan and Suizhou. Huang and Ma still have the brave guard camp of Liu Gonggong, and there should be no problem in dealing with the thieves and the thieves of Hui and Ge. ”

"He Renlong......" Wang Yongzuo's face was not very good-looking, "Is this kind of person reliable?" ”

Wan Yuan Ji Fu said with a smile: "If you say so, who is really reliable such as Zuo Liangyu, Zhao Dangshi, Qian Zhongxuan, Chen Yongfu, etc.?" He smiled, "We are the ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and we can only do our best to serve the ministers and personnel." No matter how much the rest is, with the power of the superintendent, he still cares about one and the other, let alone us? The number of great bright qi has its own destiny, and it is really not up to us to influence it. ”

"Do your best, do your best to ...... people" muttered to himself like a tiger, and suddenly felt a kind of sadness. He was born in the Saiwai Yi race, forced to kill each other between the tribes and defected to the Ming Dynasty with the clan, and fought for the Ming Dynasty for 30 years, and once forgot his identity as Yidi. What he has always thought about is to destroy the prisoners for the Ming Dynasty, and even his son Meng Xianjie died in battle to sacrifice his life for the country. Sometimes he feels that he is more like a Han man than those who are greedy for life and afraid of death, incorruptible and shameful.

"Now, the thieves are out of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and Chu Yu will become my Ming confidant again." Wan Yuan Ji shook his cuffs and revealed an intriguing smile, "Chu Yu has become a stage, I'm afraid there will be a good show stage." ”