Li Zicheng is a step in skill, from the Shangluo Mountain, he knew that soon a large number of officers and troops would come to encircle and suppress, relatively speaking, the army was quite weak, he chose to develop in Henan.

After living in the mountains for more than a year, Li Zicheng has not been idle for a day, in addition to training people, he has calculated the major events in the world and has set his sights on the treasure land of Henan.

Out of Shangluo Mountain, according to the news he got is that Zhang Xianzhong, Ma Huihui, Luo Rucai, are all in Huguang and Shanxi, he wants to enter Henan, but he changed his route to Hubei, selected Yunzhou and Junzhou, which are the emptiest troops, and then turned north, and entered Nanyang in Henan.

Practice has proved that Li Zicheng's trick is really high, and his judgment is very accurate. Zhang Xianzhong rebelled in Gucheng, killed officials and seized the mansion, and then went north. Luo Rucai also killed officials and seized the government in Junzhou and Yunzhou, and after the robbery, he also slapped his ass and left.

The officers and troops pursued them behind, and Yunzhou and Junzhou were empty, so Li Zicheng's men and horses almost did not encounter resistance, and encountered several groups of officers and troops in the middle, which were immediately defeated at the first touch, and they were simply vulnerable.

Therefore, his thousands of men and horses entered the Nanyang realm very smoothly.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Nanyang was a large city, second only to the provincial capital. Because Nanyang was the fief of the Tang king. This Tang King is not Zhu Yujian, the Tang King at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but Zhu Ta, the 23rd son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, who was named the King of Tang, and his fief was in Nanyang.

Yongle years and in Nanyang City to build a grand scale of Tang Wangfu, Chenghua years and build 9 county palaces, Nanyang City in the royal family nobles, busy, business is active, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Hubei merchants have come to come, all kinds of business halls, mansions in various places to rise, grain, cotton, raw silk, tobacco, silk, oil, fur, wood, medicinal materials, bronze, iron and so on a large number of poured into the market, and sold all over the country. At that time, Nanyang could be said to be thriving with all kinds of industries, and there were new developments in architecture, gardens, paintings, sculptures, calligraphy and other aspects.

In other words, it's a bustling big city. It's just that in the past few years since Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, due to natural and man-made disasters, internal and external troubles, the economy here has also been affected, and there has been a depression, and the hungry people are everywhere. But relatively speaking, Nanyang City is still relatively rich, how many years of family money they have accumulated, and the emaciated camel is still bigger than the horse.

After Li Zicheng learned about this, he prepared to take down Nanyang. Occupy the city, and you can't sleep in the wilderness. Only by occupying the city can we change their current situation, improve their lives, and further strengthen their power.

But to attack Nanyang, they must first capture the three places of Xinye, Neixiang and Xichuan, which are the three counties in the south of Nanyang, and there are garrisons in all three places, although there are not many, but they are in a triangle to hold the gateway to Nanyang.

Li Zicheng touched the three small county towns with a probe horse, and the phenomenon of empty salaries was serious, military discipline was lax, and the troops were not trim, there were only about 3,500 people left in each county, and there were only more than 2,000 garrisons in Nanyang City.

After figuring out this, Li Zicheng immediately sent the general Li Guo to lead his troops to attack Xinye. At the same time, let the generals Liu Fangliang and Yuan Zongdi attack Neixiang and Xichuan, so that the defenders of the three places could not care for each other.

Li Zicheng led the rest of the men and horses, keeping an eye on the soldiers and horses of Nanyang City, and if Nanyang City sent reinforcements to support any place, he would take the opportunity to capture Nanyang.

The soldiers and horses of Nanyang City really didn't dare to act rashly. The three counties of Xinye, Xichuan and Neixiang were all three or five hundred defenders, with internal corruption, negligent defense, and no fortified cities.

Li Guo is known as a tiger, with 1,000 men and horses, a charge captured Xinye County, Liu Fangliang also easily took the inner township, Yuan Zongdi is more trouble-free, as soon as the soldiers and horses arrived, the defenders of Xichuan County surrendered directly.

It was easy to take these three counties. Li Zicheng was very happy, and issued an order to strictly enforce military discipline, open warehouses and release grain in these three places, help the people, and win the hearts of the people.

Just when he was about to reorganize his troops and horses to attack Nanyang, bad news came one after another.

First, in the battle of Baishui River, Luo Rucai claimed that the 100,000 army was annihilated, and Luo Rucai was also captured by Lin Yi.

This caused a shock in Li Zicheng's entire army. Because among the surviving bandits, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Ma Huihui, Gezuo Fifth Battalion, etc., the weakest is Li Zicheng, with only 4,000 people. Luo Rucai's strength is not inferior to Zhang Xianzhong, this is his old comrade-in-arms for many years, he has dealt with the official army for many years, they cooperate with each other, support each other, echo each other from afar, sometimes they fight side by side, and there is no problem in several provinces. The lips are dead and the teeth are cold, and the rabbit is dead and the dog is cooked.

Before Li Zicheng left Shangluo, he had secretly met with Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, and he had already had a little bit of the world before he raised the banner. They expected that a large number of officers and troops would inevitably come to encircle and suppress them, and their respective routes had basically been decided, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui, and Luo Rucai were active in the Huguang and Shaanxi areas, and Li Zicheng took a fancy to Henan and Shanxi, so that they could echo each other from afar, involve the strength of the officers and troops, and let the officers and troops take care of one and lose the other.

But I didn't expect Luo Ru to be finished so soon, which was undoubtedly a major blow to their teams.

Moreover, the Baishui River, the battlefield where Lin Yi exterminated Luo Rucai, was very close to Li Zicheng and them, only a few hundred miles away.

How could these not cause Li Zicheng and others to be shocked. For a while, the name Lin Yi spread among Li Zicheng's generals. In the past, they only knew that among the officers and soldiers, the ones who could fight were Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, He Renlong, Zuo Guangxian, Zuo Liangyu and others, and they had never heard of the name Lin Yi.

Now they have to keep the name in their hearts, and there is a lot of talk.

Because these thieves have been hiding in the mountains for many years, the news is relatively closed, and now they don't know who this Miyun general Lin Yi is, Li Zicheng hurriedly sent people to inquire around.

At this time, the second bad news came, Yang Sichang, the big nemesis of the peasant army, personally supervised the division, with Nanjing soldiers, Shandong soldiers, Baoding soldiers, and 50,000 or 60,000 officers and troops also appeared in the Baishui River area, and Miyun soldiers were united, and nearly 100,000 officers and troops gathered on the banks of the Baishui River, and there was a great tendency to go south to Henan.

Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin discussed and decided to give up attacking Nanyang for the time being, because at present, even if they successfully take Nanyang, it will be difficult to hold it.

Therefore, Li Zicheng decided to temporarily use these three county towns as a base to reorganize his troops and horses, develop his strength, and wait for the opportunity. In this way, you can defend and attack. Because these three counties have mountainous areas and flat land, for Li Zicheng, the mountains and forests are the organic soil for their survival and reproduction.

Li Zicheng had just gained a firm foothold in these three county towns, and Yang Sichang led a total of 50,000 or 60,000 horses from Yunxi into the territory of Xishan County in Henan.

After Li Zicheng received the report, he immediately ordered Yuan Zongdi, who was stationed in Xichuan, to lure the enemy deep into the inner countryside, causing the officers and soldiers to flee in embarrassment.

Zhu Dadian, the general soldier of Nanjing, Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong (who had not yet returned to Shandong to quell the rebellion), Hu Dawei, the general soldier of Baoding, pursued all the way with soldiers and horses, and after occupying Xichuan, they chased in the direction of the inner countryside.

However, as everyone knows, Li Zicheng is no longer what he used to be, and he is no longer a thief who was chased by officers and soldiers to the sky and has no way to enter the ground. After more than a year of accumulation and preparation, although the number of troops is not much, but the feathers are gradually plump, the so-called eating a trench grows a wisdom, Li Zicheng's leadership level and experience, and gradually matured, plus there are so many fierce generals and heroes under his command, so the general army of the three roads in Zhaojiagou, Neixiang County, took Li Zicheng's dang.

Fifty or sixty thousand horses were attacked by thieves from all four routes. Yuan Zongdi went around behind them with 1,000 soldiers and horses, and Liu Fangliang took 1,000 soldiers and horses to kill back.

Liu Zongmin and Hao Shaoqi, each with a troop of soldiers and horses, attacked from the left and right, Li Zicheng left Gao Guiying and Gao Yigong brothers and sisters to defend Xinye, and personally led the Chinese army to rush to the official army.

In addition, at this time, Liu Zeqing was dissatisfied with Yang Sichang and fled without a fight, so that more than 30,000 people were left with Zhu Dadian's Nanjing soldiers and Hu David's Baoding soldiers, which were intercepted into several sections by Li Zicheng's five-way soldiers and horses.

As a result, there was a melee in Zhaojiagou, and the officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and when they rushed out of Zhaojiagou, the two chief officers and men lost more than half.

Li Zicheng won a big victory, which was the biggest victory since he rebelled against Shangluoshan, and his soldiers and generals were greatly encouraged, and the displaced people from all over the world came to vote.

Yang Sichang was furious and was just about to treat Liu Zeqing's crimes, when the holy decree arrived, there was a hunger uprising in Shandong, and Liu Zeqing was transferred to Shandong to quell the rebellion. Yang Shichang had no choice but to do as he was ordered, and another Liu Zeqing had more than 10,000 horses.

When Li Zicheng got that Yang Sichang only had more than 10,000 horses, he planned to prepare a counterattack and completely eat these officers and soldiers. At this time, the person he sent to inquire about Lin Yi's news came back.

These people not only brought the experience of Lin Yi's rise, but also brought the news that Lin Yi had entered Henan along the Baishui River with more than 20,000 people.

After listening to Lin Yi's rise experience, Li Zicheng couldn't help but gasp.

In the past, he was not good-looking and unfazed, but in the past few years, Lin Yi, with divine help, has become a second-class member of the imperial court in only four years from a border soldier, and he is a great commander of the thief, this is definitely a military genius.

Look at his growth path again, punish the thieves, destroy the Tartars, fight the factory guards, and persuade the Mongolian tribes, this is a figure who is both good and evil, because even Li Ziwei himself can't tell which end of this Lin Yi is.

The core figures who have repeatedly defeated the Tartars, even the Huang Taiji father and son were defeated in front of this person, sweeping the tiger, shooting the sky, passing the stars, the lights are not on, and the mud is not sticky, all of them are planted in the hands of this person, no wonder Luo Rucai's fifty or sixty thousand horses were wiped out in just one battle. This is really a legendary figure who can't be more legendary, Li Zicheng couldn't believe it when he heard it.

His general Hao Shaoqi disagreed, shaking his head, "King Chuang, what's so great about the surname Lin, hand him over to me." As long as he dares to come, I will be able to shake the flag! ”

At this time, a scout came to report that Lin Yi's troops had reached the mouth of the old river, that is, the area of the Danjiangkou in later generations.

Hao Shaoqi slapped his furry chest: "The kid surnamed Lin came really fast, none of you should fight with me, King Chuang, give me a horse, I will definitely kill him and turn over on his back, and leave no armor!"