More than ten years ago, Zhao Dangshi joined the army, and at first he only got an errand to defend the fort. This fort guard belongs to the city defense army system, and the main duty is to guard the border fort and the villages within a certain range around the fort, and without special permission, they are not allowed to leave the fort without special permission. All daily life can only be placed in the fort, and even if there is a family, you must bring your wife and children to live with you. In addition to the wind warning, it is to grow some vegetables and fruits for self-sufficiency, and freedom is greatly restricted.

In a sense, the garrison is called an officer and soldier, and it is no different from a prisoner. Most of the fort guards were local idlers who came in by virtue of their connections, hoping to beg for food, eat and wait for death. Although the fort guards seem to be much more stable than the battalion soldiers who are often turbulent, in fact there is no certainty. Take the red wall pier of Zhuanglangwei in Gansu Province where Zhao Dangshi once stayed, which is located in the mountain pass south of the border wall, and is the only way for the large and small tribes in the northern Hetao area to enter the Han land in Gansu from the big and small pine mountains to the south. Therefore, relatively speaking, the daily military pressure on the Red Wall Zidun is not less than that of the Nine Border Towns.

These forts usually serve in the military households from the guards where they are located, but in just one year, the guards of the fort at the red wall pier died several stubbles like cutting wheat, and the locals regarded it as a dangerous road, and no one was willing to fill the vacancy, even if they were named to fill the position, they also found various connections to shirk. Therefore, later, the commander of the guard also lowered his requirements, promising that as long as he was a Han Chinese, he would have the opportunity to become a fort guard. Zhao Dangshi is not a native of Zhuang Langwei, let alone a military household, and it was at that time that he seized the opportunity to successfully apply, changed from a black household, and re-became the banner soldier of the Ming Dynasty.

In the red wall pier, Zhao Dangshi got acquainted with Wang Laixing, who was in the middle of the road and was forced to come to the castle to eat for a living. Wang Laixing is young, Zhao Dangshi takes care of him very much, Wang Laixing also knows how to repay the kindness, and treats Zhao Dangshi as a brother. The two fell in love, had an excellent relationship, and cooperated sincerely, blocked several attacks by Mongolian guerrillas, and gradually gained some fame. It was not until Sheng Luo, the deputy general of Gansu, recruited battalion soldiers in various parts of Gansu Town, and the fort guards were also classified as one of the channels. Zhao Dangshi saw that there was no future for being a fort guard for a lifetime, so he made a decision to apply for recruitment with Wang Laixing, and they were all selected, and since then he has started his career as a displaced battalion soldier. As for defecting back to the camp and becoming a rogue, that was later.

In the middle of August of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, the first part of the army retreated after the defeat of Zhao Huazhi of the Ming army at Longmen Pass, and the person who selected Zhao Dangshi into the battalion was Zhao Huazhi. The past came to mind, and Zhao Dangshi, who received the military information, couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion. At that time, Zhao Huazhi, a junior officer, had already been promoted to deputy chief soldier because of his military exploits and became the deputy of Zheng Jiadong, the general soldier of Guyuan, and he Zhao Dangshi had already changed from a down-and-out rogue to a prince who was enough to shake the situation in the world.

In the White Tiger Festival Hall of the Military Government in Nanyang Mansion City, Guo Ruke, who was reporting on the recent battle situation, obviously felt that Zhao Dangshi was stunned, and said with a smile: "The lord has heard the old man's heart? "He and Zhao Dangshi have known each other for a long time, and they know more about Zhao Dangshi's past than others.

"Haha, speaking of which, Zhao Huazhi and I were in the same township, I joined the army at that time, and I worshipped him as a brother as a backer." Zhao Dangshi laughed heartily, "The world is impermanent, I haven't heard his voice for many years, and it is really a little melancholy to mention it suddenly at this time." ”

Guo Ruke continued: "Sun Chuanting is out of the customs, Zhao Huazhi and Niu Chenghu are the front, from the end of July to the middle of this month, the army blocked the Shaanxi official army every dozen battles, all of which were unfavorable, and the official army and soldiers had already advanced to Luoyang Longmen Pass. ”

As Guo Ruke said, Sun Chuanting swore in Xi'an on the first day of this month and officially raised troops to recruit the Henan army.

This time node is earlier than Zhao Dangshi's prediction, in the estimation of Zhao Dangshi and Gu Junen, Xu Yixian and other strategists, Sun Chuanting's most suitable exit period should be placed in the spring of next year. Of course, the situation is stronger than people, Zhao Dangshi thinks that the most suitable time may not be in line with reality, through the secret service department to collect information can be known, since the defeat in the battle of Jiaxian, Sun Chuanting has been under increasing pressure from the imperial court, in recent months, the imperial court has successively given him official wishes is the best proof of urging him to act quickly.

"Rapid expansion of the army, forced requisition of grain, and indiscriminate selection of officials, these are the three disadvantages of Sun Chuanting's governance of Shaanxi, and they can also be described as three emergencies. However, he was involuntarily self-conscious, and he had to do it as a last resort. Gu Junen sighed and said.

The urging of the imperial court was on the one hand, and on the other hand, Sun Chuanting's early dispatch of troops was actually due to the deliberate provocation of the army.

At the end of July, Sun Chuanting was still uncertain, in order to cope with the imperial court, he first sent Niu Chenghu, the general soldier of Lintao, to lead more than 3,200 cavalry to Henan. Shaanxi governor Feng Shikong and Gansu general Ma Kuang marched into Shangzhou and Luonan mountains to control the passes, and strictly prevented the intrusive army from invading Shaanxi. He also sent Chen Yongfu and Bu Congshan to Luoyang to meet in Xiachi Village. Zhao Dangshi also received Sun Chuanting's request for response, even if Sun Chuanting assigned him the task of being a suspicious soldier, he immediately arrived at Xiangyang Mansion with the six battalions of Feijie Left Battalion, Feijie Right Battalion, Changning Battalion, Changhong Front Battalion, Guoan Battalion, and Yichong Battalion, together with Xu Huijun of Yunyang Mansion and Guo Ruke Army of Nanyang Prefecture, a total of more than 22,000 soldiers and horses, and Chen soldiers on the Chuyu border.

Although the armies were mobilized one after another, Sun Chuanting himself still sat firmly in Xi'an, which shows that his own fighting spirit is not high. In order to open up the situation with the Ming army in Shaanxi as soon as possible, under the instruction of Li Zicheng, Li Jiyu, Liu Hongqi, Shen Wandeng and other local departments in Henan that had complied with the invasion began to attack the rest of the separatist bandits in Henan.

At the same time, Liu Fangliang led his troops northward, wearing three large empty gourds and cutting wood to build rafts in Xingyang, Bishui and other places, making a gesture of crossing the Yellow River to the north and threatening Beijing. This move really hit Sun Chuanting's pain point, since he took office, the court has not stopped, he can be said to sit day and night in this superintendent like a needle, every word and deed is like walking on thin ice, for fear of impeachment. For example, at the end of last year, when the Qing troops disturbed Gyeonggi and Shandong, he took the initiative to write to the imperial court and ask to join the defense of the monarch when the defeat in Jiaxian County had not yet been adjusted and the army was still raging.

Once the army really invades the north, no matter how big or small it is, Sun Chuanting will definitely not be able to escape the charge of passive slacking in the war of "holding the disadvantage and arsoning with thieves". Therefore, Sun Chuanting couldn't sit still any longer, he sighed suddenly, "I know that the battle may not be successful, but if I am lucky, how can the husband return to the prison officials", and he was determined to make a desperate bet. Since the beginning of August, he immediately ordered the originally slow march of Niu Chenghu to hurry up, and then ordered Zhao Huazhi to follow the aid, and Sun Chuanting's supervisor Xingyuan led Bai Guangen, Wang Ding, Guan Fumin, Zheng Jiadong and other troops from Xi'an, and 100,000 people rushed to Henan.

The main force of the army was originally Tunluoyang, the forward was in Shaanzhou, the army was stationed along the Yellow River, and the rear camp was in the area of Xiangcheng and Jiaxian. But Niu Jinxing believes that if the two armies fight near Tongguan, it will be unfavorable to the breaking army, because if the Ming army is slightly unfavorable, it is very likely to retreat to Tongguan and refuse to defend, Tongguan is dangerous and difficult to attack, and everyone knows that if it really reaches that step, the expected quick battle will evolve into a protracted war of attrition or a difficult and abnormal siege war, which is a situation that the invasion army needs to avoid.

Li Zicheng adopted Niu Jinxing's suggestion and ordered the whole army to retreat, so as to lengthen the battle line of the Ming army, and the main force of the breaking army was mainly assembled near Xiangcheng and Jiaxian, and intended to use this as the decisive battle site. The army then stepped up the construction of fortifications here, built more than 20 small earthen cities, and set up cannons next to each city gate, and the infantry defending the city each held spears, bows and arrows and some small cannons. In front of the city, deep trenches were also dug, obstacles such as horse rejecting antlers were set up, and the horse army drilled in the back of the city every day, responding to the battle at any time, forming layers of defensive fronts. In addition, as the horn of the Xiangjia zone, the Chuang army divided the army to Baofeng County to strengthen the defense, so that Xiangcheng, Jiaxian, and Baofeng formed a triangle and became more stable.

Ten days ago, Sun Chuanting traveled to Ruxiang County, and Niu Chenghu, Zhao Huazhi and other fronts then marched to Luoyang, which was abandoned by the breaking army. Three days ago, the 500 reconnaissance light cavalry of the Chuang army encountered a flank attack by the Niu and Zhao armies at Longmen Pass, and scattered and left. Today, the news just came, the Ming army has arrived in Zijian, and a royal village soldier and horse recruited by the army are ambushed here, and Yang Zhaofeng, who is traveling with the army, has his ears close to the ground, and can faintly hear the muffled sound of horses' hooves from afar.

On the side of the mountain and forest road, Xue wiped his sweat, and the crooks like long snakes were all pushed away, and he walked over and said with relief: "Pushing these straw bags and walking for more than ten miles, just to lead the Ming army, it's really embarrassing." ”

Yang Zhaofeng stood quietly and looked at the countless croissants that were being pushed away by the people and miscellaneous soldiers, and nodded. The heads of the crowsmans were covered with a special layer of large felt cloth, which was waterproof and fireproof. Hidden under the felt cloth, it seems that there are armor equipment, clothes, shoes and socks, etc., but in fact, these miscellaneous things are all tattered, all of them are bait to seduce the pursuit of the Ming army.

Xue Chang breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the turban, and his wet hair immediately spread out: "Good girl, busy these days, the dark is more tiring than fighting." ”

"This is also a necessary move to win the battle, if you don't lead the Ming army deep, how can you catch it all." Yang Zhaofeng smiled and comforted.

"Hehe, if you want to seduce the Ming army, why doesn't he take it personally?" Xue copied and snorted, "On weekdays, I look like my eyes are above the top, I don't look at people at all, and I can always think of us when I have dirty work." ”

In addition to being entrusted by Li Zicheng with the responsibility of subduing the Kou and maintaining the stability of the rear of the army, Yuzhai also temporarily dispatched many soldiers and horses to carry out the task of luring the Ming army into the depths. These days, the two sides have fought a lot of battles on the surface, and the invading army has been defeated and retreated again and again, but in fact, the defeated and retreated are all the soldiers and horses of the imperial village, and the main force of the invading army has already moved to the rear. Xue Zhao is the commander of this army of thousands of soldiers and horses, and he has failed one after another, although it is a fraud, but he has also suffered a lot, run a lot of roads, and die a lot of brothers, he is really not happy in his heart.

"Get through this period, and there will be a turnaround." Yang Zhaofeng was kind and comforting, and he didn't have anything else to say. It is the principle of heaven that the weak eat the strong, and the strength of the royal village is far inferior to that of the army, so it can only be at the mercy of it. This was the case when he attacked Yuzhou before, and it is the same when he is a decoy now.

"Turning ......" Xue Xuan seemed to be smiling, as soon as the words came out, a black shadow suddenly flashed in the corner of his eye, his mind turned, and he turned his head sharply, only to hear a "boom" roar, and a feather arrow flew past against his earlobe, nailed straight to the opposite tree trunk. The handle of the arrow trembled violently, and it could be seen that it was extremely violent.

"The Ming army is coming!" Yang Zhaofeng jumped out three steps, already with a knife in his hand, and looked in the direction where the arrow came from.

was looking around, Xue Xuan shouted: "Be careful!" Yang Zhaofeng, who was already in front of the arrow, shook his pace, and another feather arrow scraped over his head.

At the end of the road in the distance, hundreds of Ming army horses appeared.

"They're coming so fast, you and I get on the horse quickly!" Yang Zhaofeng shouted across the horse. In front of you is a dense jungle, with large shrubs as tall as a person, move quickly and hide in and climb the mountain, you can escape with your life.

"No!" Xue Zhao gritted his teeth, "There are still a thousand brothers here, we can't escape from them." It is okay for the brothers to die, but it is not possible to die in such a place! In a word, there was the intention of fighting for the life of the Ming army.