After separating from Li Zicheng's eighth team in Shaanxi, Zhao Dangshi basically lost contact with Dakou in Shaanxi and Henan, although it only took a few months, the situation was very different from before.

In September last year, that is, not long after Zhao Ying entered Sichuan, Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, organized a big operation in order to break the situation of being trapped in the pass, not only successfully went east out of Zhuyang Pass, and met with Zhang Xianzhong, the eight kings of Xiying, but also captured Zhang Quanchang, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, which greatly frustrated the morale of the official army.

The crowd gathered in Ruxiang, Lingbao, Henan, hundreds of thousands, and the officials and soldiers were afraid of their momentum and did not dare to move. After that, Gao Yingxiang planned to divide the troops, Li Zicheng led the eight teams and others to enter Shaanxi again, and Gao Yingxiang went east with Zhang Xianzhong and others.

In order to coordinate the military affairs of various places, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Yunyang, was promoted to prime minister of Jiangbei, Henan, Shandong, Huguang, and Sichuan, and concurrently served as the governor of Huguang. The trilateral governor Hong Chengchou ran the northwest, and Lu Xiangsheng ran the southeast. Soon, at the request of Lu Xiangsheng, he was relieved of his position as governor, entered the military department, supervised the military affairs of Shanxi and Shaanxi, gave Shang Fang a sword, acted cheaply, and surrounded and suppressed the rogue. In addition, with the rampant situation of thieves, Zu Kuan, the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong, was transferred as the general soldier to help suppress the army, and led 3,000 Guanning troops to Kaifeng in October to assist in the suppression.

Zu Kuan's 3,000 Guan Ning troops were quite powerful, first cooperating with Zuo Liangyu to defeat the limelight Zhang Xianzhong in Jiaocun, and then forcing back the combined forces of Gao and Zhang in Lingbao. Its troops are all heavily armored and helmeted, with firearms and horses, and are not comparable to the gourd soldiers in Henan, Shaanxi and other places. It can be seen that it is not as powerful as the former Cao Wen Zhao Department.

Because of the fear of Lu Xiangsheng, Zu Kuan, Zuo Liangyu, etc., Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong, Ma Shouying, Luo Rucai and other giants fought one after another, and flowed eastward, reaching as far as Xuzhou, but the vanguard swept the ground and failed in the battle, and the official army in Jiangbei and Jiangnan was very urgent, and was forced to go west again.

The Kou were defeated repeatedly, and several branches were divided in Henan, each fleeing. Among them, Gao Yingxiang and Cao Cao, Luo Rucai, Liu Xiaoshan, the king of one word, and Zhang Yichuan, the king of sweeping, set up an ambush and defeated the Guanning Junzu Dale Department in Guide Mansion, and were intercepted and killed by Chen Yongfu, with heavy casualties and scattered stars. Gao Yingxiang cavalry background, good at cavalry warfare, its battalion in Ruzhou fashion has nearly 40,000 elite cavalry, but after the battle of Germany, only less than 20,000 remained, Zu Dale also because of the merit into the aid of the deputy commander-in-chief.

Lu Xiangsheng coordinated the war in many provinces, and the strategy was very effective, Gao Yingxiang ran around, almost nothing to follow, and then defeated several times in Ruzhou, Dengfeng, Nanyang and other places, and fell into the siege of Lu Xiangsheng, Zu Kuan, Chen Yongfu, etc. in Yuzhou, 20,000 elite cavalry were killed and wounded, and only less than 7,000 remained.

There is another reason for this, that is, most of the officials and soldiers who were encircled and suppressed earlier were people from Shaanxi and Henan, and they could communicate with the rogues and go away, which was called "fighting a living battle". And Zu Kuan and other departments are all border soldiers, among which there are many border tribes of Fanyi and Ding, and the language and customs are not connected with the Central Plains, so they will be killed when they fight, and there is no possibility of accommodation.

Gao Yingxiang and others were greatly reduced in strength under Lu Xiangsheng's pursuit, and there was no place to stand in Henan, so they rushed into Yunyang in March this year, hoping for an opportunity to re-enter the lair of Shaanxi. The new governor of Yunyang, Song Zushun, had 5,000 soldiers in his hands, but he was weak and unbearable, and it was difficult to resist, and Zhuxi and other counties all fell, and there was nothing to be done. Ironically, this person liked to read military books since he was a child, and later wrote books such as "The Essentials of Defending the City", but after all, it was only on paper.

Breaking into the camp is the Liukou Qukui, Zhao Dangshi was also controlled by it when he was in Shaanxi, and he was personally praised by Gao Yingxiang in front of the generals, and the three battalions of his subordinates have nearly 6,000 elites, so it should be more appropriate to rely on him with this capital.

The scattered scouts also returned to the camp to report, and by summarizing the news they collected, Zhao Dangshi had already understood Gao Yingxiang's current situation. It's okay to vote when the camp is in trouble, it has the effect of sending charcoal in the snow, and it is easy to get the attention of the other party. Since the development of Zhao Ying, Zhao Dangshi's strength is no longer comparable to that of the past, and now he has positioned himself as a person who can speak on the side of King Chuang.

There are also many camp leaders stationed in Yunyang with the camp, some of whom followed when they left Shaanxi, and some of them came to attach themselves after entering Henan, Nanzhili and other places. In general, in addition to the camp headquarters, there are these few that can be regarded as the second echelon of the palm plates: Zhang Yichuan, the sweeping king, the scorpion block Tuoyangkun, and Liu Guoneng. Next, it is the king of neatness, Zhang Miaoshou and so on. As for the nine dragons who met in Changping Fort and the fat man Zhang, they can only be regarded as the younger brother of King Qi. The battalions of the Eight Kings of Xiying, Cao Cao, and Lao Huihui, some of which were in Xiangyang and some in Henan, were all fighting separately to divide the strength of the officers and troops.

The officers and troops in the triangle of Yunyang, Xiangyang, and Nanyang cruised, and there were many of them. No matter how sharp Zhao Ying was, he couldn't directly face so many enemies, so after judging the situation, Zhao Dangshi decided to get in touch with Gao Yingxiang as soon as possible.

At this stage, the camp and other troops were stationed in the Wuyang River in Yunxian County, the Shatuo Camp in Junzhou and the line of Guanghua Yangpitan, after Zhao Dangshi returned to the camp from Changping Fort, he immediately pulled the army from Bomoping to the north, and repelled a group of officers and troops who came to harass and test in Fangxian and Zhushan, and marched to Banqiao Mountain, but encountered a large group of people.

This group of men and horses numbered three or four thousand, not officers and soldiers, but the armor was distinct, and the military appearance was severe, which was different from ordinary rogues. Zhao Dangshi first ordered the front army to be on guard, and then sent someone to deliver the message. When the man came back, he reported that the person who came was Liu Zhe and Huanglong.

Zhao was relieved when he was on the throne, and only took him to see Liu and Huang all night. Speaking of this Liu Zhe, he is really an old acquaintance. Seven or eight months ago, Zhao Dangshi besieged Chengcheng County with a large army, and the general who commanded the miscellaneous armies was this Liu Zhe. Liu Zhe treated people well, and Zhao Dangshi not only took the initiative to invite Ying to be the pioneer of foreign cooperation with Li Ying, but also sent Mei Ji in exchange for the thorny head Hao Shaoqi, which solved two problems for him, because he was very optimistic about this young general who was responsible and knew how to advance and retreat. If it weren't for Zhao Dangshi's entry into Sichuan too quickly, this Liu Zhe would have been ready to push Gao Yingxiang inside.

Not to mention Huang Long, he was forced by Yuan Tao to go out of Sichuan, and he was bound to hate the white-eyed wolf in his heart. At this point, Zhao Dangshi can be said to be a united front with him. defeated Yuan Tao a few months ago, which can be regarded as a bad breath for him, with Bai Jiaolong and Liu Weiming as witnesses, I think he will not deliberately embarrass Zhao Dangshi.

Liu Zhe is Gao Yingxiang's confidant, and in the past few months, the brother who was equal to him died seventy-seven-eighty-eight, and he became the only remaining general of the old base camp. Today, he was assigned by Gao Yingxiang to lead 3,000 elite horse troops with Huang Long to the south to sweep away the strongholds of some nearby guerrilla officers and soldiers.

The name "Zhao Dangshi" spread throughout the Liukou camp two or three months after Cao Wenzhao's death, and it was like thunder. With the passage of time, although this craze gradually cooled down, Liu Zhe still remembered it for a moment when the old things were brought up.

Zhao Dangshi drove the horse forward, rolled the saddle and dismounted in front of Liu Zhe, and saluted: "Little brother Zhao Dangshi, I have seen Brother Liu!" He deliberately referred to him as "little brother" and "big brother", and he deliberately narrowed the relationship with Liu Zhe.

Liu Zhe smiled heartily, turned over and landed, helped him over and said, "It turned out to be Brother Zhao." Chengcheng farewell, I don't want to spend more than half a year, I really want to hurt my brother these days! The scout reported that Zhao Ying's soldiers and horses were very strong, so he kept an eye on it, knowing that Zhao Dangshi's strength had been turned upside down, and he must not deal with it with the attitude of the day.

Zhao Dangshi bowed his head and pretended to be jerky and said: "Alas, that day, I went to Sichuan to contact the brothers of various families at the behest of Wang Jun, although I was fortunate not to be dishonored, but I didn't achieve much. I was in a hurry to return, and I was quite ashamed. I wonder if there is still a place in the camp for the little brother to extend a day or two? ”

When he entered Sichuan that day, he had nothing to do with Gao Yingxiang, but in this way, it seemed that he was assigned by Gao Yingxiang to come back to deliver the task. Liu Zhe is who, how can he not hear the temptation in his words, and patted Zhao Dangshi on the shoulder vigorously and said: "Brother is famous, it really earns enough face for King Chuang, King Chuang talks to me on weekdays, and also mentions brother more, but he only hates the mountains and the road, and he can't be recruited immediately." Now that the brothers are helping with male soldiers, is there any reason why they are not welcome to break into the camp? ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled angrily: "In this case, the little brother is relieved." ”

The two were warm, and a few horses galloped from behind, and one of them jumped off the horse, asking as he walked: "Lao Liu, who is this?" ”

Liu Zhe smiled: "This is the Zhao brother I often mention to you. As he spoke, he gave him a look.

Zhao Dangshi had the eyesight to see, and preemptively saluted: "Little brother Zhao Dangshi, I don't know what to call the eldest brother?" ”

The man was short and strong, looked at Zhao Dangshi, and saluted back: "Under the Yellow Dragon." ”

It turned out that he was Huanglong. Zhao Dangshi was secretly happy, and saluted again: "Brother Huang, the younger brother has admired the name in Sichuan for a long time. ”

Huang Long is mostly in Sichuan, and he is not very familiar with Zhao Dangshi, and because he missed out on Zhao Dangshi, he doesn't know what the other party is doing in Sichuan, but seeing that Liu Zhe is very polite to this young general, he will not slack off. At this time, when he heard the word "Sichuanzhong", he doubted: "Brother has been in Sichuan?" "Sichuan stick thief, more than he and Yao Tiandong, but he really has no impression of this person.

With this reason, Zhao Dangshi briefly talked about his experience in Sichuan, of course, some places were appropriately exaggerated. As soon as he talked about Sichuan affairs, Huang Long's interest was immediately aroused, and when he heard that Zhao Ying could still reverse the decline and win the victory under the attack of Yuan Tao and Luo Shangwen, he couldn't help but cheer up in a stirring mood.

"Happy, happy!" Yuan Tao's defeat sounded extremely pleasant to Huang Long, but he was still a little melancholy under the joy, "It's a pity that the thief surnamed Yuan ran away!" ”

Zhao Dangshi soothed: "Brother Huang doesn't need to sigh. Thinking that Yuan Tao was treacherous and perverse, he was already angry with people and gods, but he could breathe for a while, and he would inevitably destroy himself after a long time. No more, in the future, the younger brother will re-enter the Sichuan for his brother and cut off this traitor! As he spoke, his face was filled with righteous indignation, and he shared the same hatred as Huanglong.

Liu Zhe smiled "hehe": "Brother Zhao is a model of my righteous army, and in the future, our brothers should work together to assist King Chuang." Between the words, he seemed to have regarded Zhao Dangshi as his brother.

As long as he is an enemy of Yuan Tao, he will be in Huanglong's spleen and stomach, and he can't help but have a little more affection for Zhao Dangshi, and nodded and said: "Exactly, Brother Zhao came from afar, he must be tired, there is still a day's journey from the old base camp here, and your camp is going to arrive, I am afraid that it will be night." It is bound to be too late to meet the king and arrange camping, so it is better to camp here for the time being, and I will send someone to guide me early tomorrow morning. ”

Liu Zhe also said: "Brother Huang is right, just now I kicked an official army camp, and I haven't had time to burn it, Brother Zhao might as well lead the army into the tun and stay overnight for the time being." ”

The two of them didn't mean anything else, they were all horse troops, coming and going like the wind, and they could return to the camp that day, but most of the Zhao camp was infantry, and if they wanted to arrive at the camp before night, they had to hurry hard, and they were too tired. Since he decided to introduce Zhao Dangshi to Gao Yingxiang, it is better to do things beautifully.

There is a ready-made camp to use, seeing that Gao Yingxiang is not in a hurry, Zhao Dangshi agreed, and Liu Zhe found a clever cronie to guide Zhao Dangshi. Zhao Dangshi invited the two to drink together, but the two politely refused under the pretext that they wanted to return to King Chuang.

Liu Zhe and Huang Long did not stay long and left soon. It can be seen that the situation in Yunyang is sinister, and they are ordered to come out, and they dare not derelict their duties at all.

This area of the official army camp is not large, the Zhao camp is slightly expanded, and the whole army is fully organized before nightfall. After Zhao Dangshi and the generals finished eating, they discussed for a while, felt a little tired, and then dispersed and went back to the tent to rest. I want to see Gao Yingxiang tomorrow, even though there is a guarantee from Liu Zhe and Huang Long, but after all, the other party is the number one big guy in the world, and Zhao Dangshi is still somewhat uneasy. He sat quietly on the couch, thought about it for a long time, repeatedly pondered the various situations that he might encounter the next day, and after feeling that everything was safe, he lay on his side and fell asleep.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he heard Zhou Wenhe outside the tent and said: "All envoys, someone asks to see you." ”

Normally, when the military comes to visit, Zhou Wenhe will go straight to his name, but now he says "someone", then the person who asks to see him should be an outsider.

Because he had been thinking about the things in the camp, at this time, Zhao Dangshi easily thought that it would be Liu Zhe or Huang Long or even Gao Yingxiang's people to meet, and he jumped up, quickly put on his coat and said, "See." ”

Zhou Wenhe said "hmm", as if he had something to say, but after a moment's hesitation, he choked the words. Zhao Dangshi was a little suspicious, stood up in his clothes, and saw the tent opened, and a curling figure walked in.

By the light of the lamp, Zhao Dangshi found that it was the young woman who was saved by the day. At this moment, she changed into a dress, washed her head and face, and combed a simple cloud bun.

"Why are you here?" Zhao Dangshi became more and more strange, approached her, and under a closer look, he saw that her neckline was slightly open, revealing a looming soft muscle, and she was even more beautiful.

"Nunu Lou Niang, I have seen General Wanfu." She said as she raised her eyes to look at Zhao Dangshi. Under the dim light, her eyelashes moved slightly, a small cherry mouth was delicate, her familiar face and graceful body revealed charming charm, "The slave is here to repay the general's life-saving grace." ”

Zhao Dangshi was stunned for a moment, and then said: "This is what it should be, there is no need to be polite." ”

"How can this be? Tonight, the slave is to repay the general. Lou Niang pouted, revealing a flattering attitude, and her words were like coquettishness. As he spoke, he took two steps to the bed, and began to strip and undress. She was only wearing a skirt, and she was naked in the blink of an eye. The mature carcass looks particularly attractive in the flickering candlelight.