The battle situation in Henan, as Hao Mingluan expected, gradually developed in a direction that was not conducive to the invasion of the army.

In just one month from early August to early September, he successively recovered Shaanzhou, Luoyang and other fortified cities that had been operating for a long time, and was invincible. The situation was stable, and Sun Chuanting swept away the depressed atmosphere in front of his head, and his spirit was hundredfold. On September 8, he led his army to Changfu Town, east of the city of Ruzhou, and began to plan a decisive battle against the Chuang army, and wrote to Emperor Chongzhen, saying that the Chuang army was "shocked when they heard the name of the ministers, and the ministers swore to be clear", and they were full of confidence.

After receiving the long-lost good news, Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed, but Zhang Fengxiang, the left attendant of the military department, thought that the army "is not credible to show weakness, and the court is under the command, all good generals are strong soldiers, it is better to keep this family for His Majesty", and advocated that Sun Chuanting should accept it when he sees it, do not rush into the decisive battle, and should repair the old city of Luoyang as the basic, "advance and retreat, and pass through the Central Plains", Xu Tu won. But these words went against the ears of Emperor Chongzhen, and were not taken seriously at all, Zhou Yanru and other ministers spied on Emperor Chongzhen's intentions, and they welcomed each other, "fighting for their lives to pass on the court to suppress", and looked forward to the conclusion of the Central Plains' policy after the First World War. Emperor Chongzhen sent an edict, asking Sun Chuanting to be sure to make peace before the end of the year, and then go north to join the war in Liaodong.

Sun Chuanting was encouraged, deeply felt the solemnity of the holy will, and was even more excited. At that time, Li Yangchun had openly defected from the Chuang army, and Sun Chuanting followed his advice and decided to first uproot the various strongholds set up by the Chuang army on the periphery of the Xiangjia base camp, and then launch a general attack. With Li Yangchun leading the way, Sun Chuanting personally led the army to first enter between Jiaxian and Baofeng County, cutting off the connection between the two places, and then divided the army to break through Luyang Pass and attack Nanzhao County, and he began to attack Baofeng County.

The county town of Baofeng was high and deep, and the local troops appointed by Li Zicheng held it, and Li Zicheng later sent a post of 50 horse soldiers to help strengthen the defense. Sun Chuanting surrendered first, and Jiang Li, the same knowledge of the military state, sent a cannon to pay tribute, and the Shaanxi soldiers then attacked the city. After two days of fierce attack, Li Zicheng couldn't sit still, and divided his troops from the base camp to rescue, and fought fiercely with the Shaanxi soldiers in the east of Baofeng County, and was defeated and retreated. The next day, Li Zicheng personally led thousands of elite horse troops to rescue, but was defeated by Bai Guangen, Niu Chenghu and other troops. Sun Chuanting won a series of victories, worried that Li Zicheng fought back with all his might, and ordered the troops to attack desperately, and captured Baofeng County that night, and at the same time, the Shaanxi soldiers and horses who rushed to Nanzhao County also succeeded. These two counties are places where the intrusive army settles their families, and Sun Chuanting was merciless, and ordered "wanton killing" in the two counties to deter the intruding army, almost destroying the two counties into ghost towns. When the news reached the breaking army, the camp was full of tears and swore to kill the Ming army.

Sun Chuanting made persistent efforts, and immediately attacked Jiaxian again, and he conquered it in one day. At this time, it was rainy and rainy, and the food of the successor army was not enough, Bai Guangen suggested that he should return to Luoyang for the time being, but Sun Chuanting refused. Sun Chuanting thought that the morale was being used, and he should be in a hurry, so he ordered to plunder Jiaxian, strip the ground and grab grain for the army. The county was poor, and the Ming army found more than 200 donkeys and sheep, and they grabbed all the food in an instant.

Lost Baofeng County, Jiaxian, the wing of the army was removed, Sun Chuanting's troops began to move to the base camp of the army, in order to reverse the decline, Li Zicheng gathered the main force of more than 10,000 cavalry to take the initiative to meet the battle, and the Shaanxi soldiers encountered in the southeast of Jiaxian, this battle was also the first large-scale field battle personally commanded by the commanders of both sides.

The wind and rain flew across his cheeks, and under the gloomy sky, Yang Zhaofeng stared across the horse. His front and back were all lined up with rows of soldiers and horses, as far as the eye could see, like a thick cloud falling.

In this battle, the five battalions of the field army each sent troops, and the soldiers of the Yuzhai who retreated from the west were also called into the array to participate in the battle. Yang Zhaofeng followed Xue Zhao to lead the troops to the rear of the formation as a reserve, and as far as the eye could see, the vast number of them were all the main forces of the army. Break into the five battalions of the army, each system has a flag and a sitting, and the soldiers and horses under its jurisdiction look at it and leave. More than 100 steps in front of it is the middle camp of the Chuang Army, with a white flag, a variegated band, and black; In front of the left is the left battalion of the breaking army, with a white flag and white flag; In front on the right is the right battalion of the Chuang Army, with a red flag and a red flag; On the left flank is the front camp of the breaking army, with a black flag and black; On the right flank is the rear camp of the breaking army, with a yellow flag and a yellow flag. The middle camp even erected the highest flag, which was Li Zicheng's white-maned flag, and there was no pheasant feather on the silver floating tu, which was like a cauldron.

The sound of the horn came from the depths of the sea of soldiers, and Yang Zhaofeng instinctively pulled out his waist knife. Not far from him, Xue Zhao smiled and said: "Brother Yang, why should you be like this, the army will deploy 10,000 people here, and it will be three days and three nights, and it will not be my turn to draw the sword." ”

When Yang Zhaofeng heard this, he put away his knife and smiled: "Get used to it, let Brother Xue laugh." ”

The depth of the formation of the breaking army is extremely deep, but the front line is not wide, and it is obvious that they still want to use the familiar turn of attacks to confront the Shaanxi soldiers. According to this tactic, even if the soldiers in the back row of the Yuzhai soldiers wait until the end of the battle, they may not be able to see every soldier of the Shaanxi soldiers, not to mention that their combat effectiveness is not trusted by the invading army at all. Therefore, Xue Zhao understood very early on that he was only temporarily pulled in by the intrusive army to make a strong appearance, and there was almost no chance of fighting. It was because of the tense atmosphere of the surrounding military formations, he was still calm and relaxed, with a leisurely attitude.

The rain was sudden and rapid, and the sound of trumpets began to cease, followed by the sound of gongs, drums and horns. The war horse under the crotch was restless and stepping, and Yang Zhaofeng tightly held the reins. Looking at it from afar, the unusually abrupt white-maned Daxu tilted forward slightly, and for a while, the five battalions and countless flags danced at the same time, looking at it, it was like undulating five-colored waves, rising and falling, and it was dazzling to see.

"Newspaper—"

A pond horse arrived in a hurry and reported the battle situation: "General Xie of the left wing has led the horse team to start a flank attack!" ”

The left flank is the front battalion of the Chuang army, and the "General Xie" is the former battalion Zuo Guoyi General Xie Junyou. This person has followed Li Zicheng for a long time, belongs to the old lineage of generals, and is known as courageous when charging into battle. Li Zicheng sent him to battle, so it can be seen that he didn't intend to test it, and he was going to give the Ming army a dismount.

Yang Zhaofeng swallowed his saliva and looked at the left wing, their flags and sittings began to shake violently at this time, and all kinds of flags and flags were mixed, all of which rotated endlessly. The infantry gathered together and marched forward, and the outermost horses began to gallop, and the horses marched together, as if they were surging in torrents brought by heavy rain. Listen closely, when there is a faint noise from the edge that can be reached hundreds or thousands of paces away. Although the voice was subtle and almost inaudible, Yang Zhaofeng knew that this battle had officially begun.

Soon after, not only the left flank, but also the right flank and the columns of the invading army in front began to fluctuate to a greater or lesser extent.

Xue Xuan squinted and observed the situation, and guessed: "In less than half an hour, the whole army has been pulled, and it seems that the front is not fighting well." ”

Yang Zhaofeng heard what he said, and Tang Ma rushed through the rain curtain again, took a few deep breaths, and controlled his tone: "The previous battle is unfavorable, General Xie has been captured alive!" ”

"Come on!" Xue Zhaofei, who was originally standing on the ground, got on the horse, "Brother Yang, prepare to prepare, you have to run away!" ”

Yang Zhaofeng was taken aback and asked, "What?" ”

Xue Copya immediately stepped forward and pointed into the distance and said: "The army is frequently deployed, it seems that the situation is worrying, Xie Junyou took the lead, for the courage of the three armies, and now that he has been captured, I don't think the army will last long." ”

Yang Zhaofeng was stunned and said: "The army is also strong, how can you lose your courage so much?" In his impression, compared with the rogue, the Chuang army has improved by more than one level in terms of combat skills and morale, and it will not be so simple to collapse for a thousand miles.

"It's not that the army is weak, nor is the Shaanxi army strong, but the resistance of the Shaanxi army, which exceeds the expectations of the army, and the army has no bottom in their hearts." Except for Xue Xuan, no one is qualified to say this, he fought with the army from west to east all the way, and has the most intuitive feeling of all aspects of the Shaanxi soldiers, "In the eyes of King Xinshun, I only thought that the Shaanxi soldiers were only slightly stronger than the Yu soldiers, so all the arrangements and plans of the Chuang army from beginning to end were aimed at the Shaanxi soldiers under such a combat power situation." Although the Chuang army intended to let the Shaanxi troops enter Henan, the speed of the Shaanxi army's advance was still much beyond imagination, especially in Baofeng, Nanzhao, and Jiaxian within five days, which shocked the Chuang army. Li Dazhang secretly sent someone to inform me, and King Xinshun even shouted in front of Niu, Song and other military advisors. Hahaha, the battle in front of you is just a chaotic battle that is fought in a hurry, every inch is in chaos, how long can you hold out on to the army. ”

Yang Zhaofeng thought secretly: "No wonder Brother Hao said before that the layout of the Chuang army in Xiangcheng and Jiaxian was wrong, in the final analysis, it was the Chuang Army's lack of understanding of the Shaanxi soldiers. Sun Chuanting has been lying in Shaanxi for nearly a year, and it has really worked wonders. If it were like the strength of the imperial army like Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue before, I am afraid that it would have been trapped in the means of breaking into the army. ”

Just as he was thinking to himself, a loud shout suddenly erupted from the distance, and the banners of the army in all directions danced wildly. Xue Zhao lifted the reins and said, "Brother Yang, the defeat is clear, let's go!" Saying that, he turned the horse's head, and actually had a bit of a playful smile.

The surrounding soldiers of the Chuang army had obvious signs of defeat, Yang Zhaofeng did not hesitate any longer, clamped the horse's belly, followed Xue Zhao closely, and disappeared in the oblique drizzle.

When Hao Mingluan arrived at the place where Yang Zhaofeng had stayed and watched, it was noon the next day.

After a night of heavy rain, the battlefield did not disappear as expected, and the sky was still mixed with wisps of dark clouds.

Hao Mingluan looked at the big flag under the dim sky that fluctuated slightly with the breeze, and sighed. Between the folds, you can vaguely see the word "Chuang" embroidered with black thread. When he looked up, a few drops of water hit his forehead, causing a stirring that caused him to retract his slightly dull gaze.

The sky was more gloomy than yesterday, and the rain was fierce and slow, and in short, it seemed that it was not endless, and after a long drench, the people in armor and helmets could not help but feel the slightest chill in September.

"Have you seized any cattle and horses?"

Hao Mingluan heard an officer asking the soldiers, which was the most popular sentence in the past few days. The rain rained every day, and the road from Shaanxi to Henan was difficult to navigate, and the Shaanxi troops advanced too fast, and the grain line from the rear had been cut off for three or four days. In order to raise military rations, the Shaanxi soldiers not only carried out carpet looting of the occupied Baofeng, Jiaxian, and other places, but also issued military orders and even issued that the pack oxen and war horses that captured the intrusive army must all be used as military rations.

"Mr. Hao Qian."

After the officer finished asking the soldiers, he turned to lead the horse and walked to Hao Mingluan's vicinity. After Hao Mingluan defected to Sun Chuanting from Yunyang in the name of Kong Quanbin, he temporarily filled the Shaanxi army as a thousand generals.

"Oh, Heduji." Hao Mingluan saluted the officer. The short-haired and medium-sized officer in front of him was named He Zhen, who was promoted from the army to the garrison of Shaanxi Shangluo in his early years. After Fan Yixuan took office, he has been preparing for the road in Shangluo. After Gao Jie's death, because of his courage and good fighting, he was favored by Sun Chuanting, and he was transferred from the current Shangluo Bingbei Dao Bian Lun to the position of the battalion commander under the standard. This person is a person that Hao Mingluan has come into contact with and thinks is one of the few righteous generals in Shaanxi, so he is slightly closer to him than others.

"Ahem, although this battle was won, the thieves were cunning and hid back to the old base camp in Xiangjia, and we didn't get anything good." He Zhen shook his head and sighed, raised his head and let the rain hit his face, "If the rain doesn't stop, the soldiers won't be able to eat." ”

Hao Mingluan said: "Didn't you hear that Sun Junmen is going to build a grain station between Luoyang and Ruzhou?" As long as the address is chosen, the grain and grass can be received quickly. ”

"You're talking about White Sands?" He Zhen smiled, "Sun Junmen will tell you everything." Baisha is located on the east side of Luti Mountain on the border between Luoyang and Ruzhou, and is a grain station selected by Sun Chuanting for grain storage recently.

When Hao Mingluan heard He Zhen say this, he suddenly felt unbearable and frowned. This subtle change in expression was noticed by He Zhen, so he asked, "Mr. Hao Qian, what's wrong?" ”

"No, it's nothing...... Hao Mingluan hurriedly stretched his brows, "The armor is full of water, it's a little cold." ”

He Zhen patted him twice on his breastplate and said, "The weather is bad, pay more attention to your body." You are still young, and you are both civil and military, and Sun Junmen admires you very much. You have a lot of credit for losing the thieves before, as long as the thieves are defeated in the end, Sun Junmen will definitely not treat you badly. After you have meritorious service and are loyal martyrs, I will take you with me when I go to Beijing to face the saint. ”

Hao Mingluan sighed a few times, squeezed out a smile on his face and said: "Thanks to the love of Sun Junmen, He Dusi and others, Hao Mou dares not to die!" ”

He Zhen nodded, her eyes flickered, and said, "I came here to find you." Sun Junmen asked me to ask you, how did you think about it? ”

Hao Mingluan listened, and then thought of the scene of Sun Chuanting seeing him before the war, and was silent for a while.

"Sun Junmen is determined to forge ahead, and strengthening the standard army is the first priority. At present, there are very few horse troops in the standard army, except for our infantry army. You are a young hero, and the five hundred horsemen you bring are all elite and fierce, and you have the opportunity to work directly for Sun Junmen, wouldn't it be a great opportunity! He Zhen persuaded, "Sun Junmen is a minister of the society, for the country and the people, he exterminated the thieves, and he also has to go north to fight the Tartars, follow him, and he can serve the country and have a great future, the best of both worlds." ”

"Where are the deputy generals and the general soldiers...... Niu?"

"Sun Junmen had already greeted Deputy General Kong, and he would release him. Mr. Niu is his own person, so you don't have to worry about it. Come or not, it's up to you. He Zhen said loudly, "The opportunity is rare, don't hesitate." ”

Hao Mingluan actually wanted to accept it several times, but every time the promised words came to his mouth, a kind of compassion would hit his heart, making him suspenseful. When I thought of Sun Chuanting's eager gaze and the mission I was carrying, the word "good" seemed to weigh as much as a thousand catties, and I couldn't say anything.

"Let me think about it again." After a long time, Hao Mingluan forced a smile and sighed back.