Dong Zhiyuan's 18th battalion was encircled and suppressed by the Qing army, seriously threatening the living environment, in order to break the deployment of the Qing army, they took measures to grab food and open up the trapped situation, and the 18th battalion returned to the army to return to various parts of Shaanxi by different routes: all the way to the northeast road of Shaanxi, Shanzhou, Luochuan, Yan'an, Ganquan, Baishui, Chengcheng area; All the way south to the southwest of Shaanxi Province to Huangyang, Longzhou, Changwu and Gansu Lingtai area

However, because Zuo Zongtang supervised the division and his subordinates were accustomed to suppressing the peasant uprising, the regular army was well-armed, so he adopted tactics for the Hui army, Zuo Zongtang took various attacks, strictly sealed and blocked, and pressed Dong Zhiyuan's front line, especially the Hui army that wanted to enter the Guanzhong, and did not let the back road be disturbed, so that "the armies of the North Road, East Road, and Southwest Road were both defended and suppressed, and they could not defeat the fierce front."

The Hui army was defeated and returned to Dong Zhiyuan, and under the heavy pressure of the siege of Dong Zhiyuan's army, Dong Zhiyuan's Hui army was very afraid, and Dong Zhiyuan established more than 300 fortresses in the area

Although Dong Zhiyuan's Hui army was defeated repeatedly, the fierce flames gradually faded and extended, and the southern Yida and Longhui cavalry went out one after another, risking death to prey, and the officers and soldiers were not able to be wrapped in food for several days, and they were unable to chase each other and ride on foot

In winter, the Hui army grabbed food everywhere, attacked everywhere, the offensive was very fierce, there was no defense, and the offensive was also extremely hungry, and it was crazy

Dong Zhiyuan's 18th Battalion was set up as a marshal to command the operation, and its leaders, namely the "Marshal of the 18th Battalion," included Ma Zhenghe, Bai Yanhu, Yu Yanlu, Cui Wei, Chen Lin, Yu Deyan, Feng Junfu, Ma Changshun, Yang Wenzhi, Ma Zhenggang, Ma Shengyan, Bi Dacai, Yan Xingchun, Lan Mingtai, Ha Lianjin, Zou Baohe, Zhang Daiyu, Ma Weixiang, etc., and He Mingtang, Sun Yibao, and others were the leaders of the Hui People's Army in Guyuan and other places

Dong Zhiyuan's 18th Battalion controlled the area from Anhua Yima Pass in the north to Qiujiazhai in Ningzhou in the south, to Xiaojin Town in Zhenyuan in the west, and Xihuachi in Heshui County in the east

Most of the places where the tun gathers are located in the main traffic routes, relatively large villages and towns or key passes, such as Taichang, Jiaocun, Qiujiazhai, Sanxing, Lijiabao, Xiaojin, Dongzhi, Xifeng, Shishe, etc

The troops of the various departments returned to the army, Dong Zhiyuan's garrison, and Feng Imam was stationed in Xiaojin Town; Imam Zou is stationed in Shishe Town; Ma Zhenghe stationed in Zhaizi Street, Xifeng Town; Yang Wenzhi is stationed in Dong Zhizhen; Bai Yanhu is stationed in the north of Xifeng Town

There were forts in these places, and some places were built back to the fort as a military stronghold, and Xiaojin Town was the old camp of Dong Zhiyuan's Hui Army Center

Because the Hui army had many families and families, the original Hui army of Dong Zhiyuan had 200,000 people, but they were actually able to fight, and there were only 40,000 or 50,000 strong people

Due to the heavy pressure on the border and the heavy casualties, through the winter reorganization, Dong Zhiyuan returned to the army, and the original 18 battalions were merged into four battalions

Although the Hui army was suppressed by Zuo Zongtang's army in the Dong Zhiyuan area, the official army did not launch a large-scale offensive during the long winter, but the Hui army took the initiative to constantly harass the supply lines of the official army

Today, the Hui army stationed in Shishe Town is excited about the news just received, according to the report of Tanmalai, a Beijing division to transport the "Li Zi Battalion", less than 400 miles away from here, the Li Zi Battalion has guns and cannons, but the escort team is composed of young students of the military academy and people, a total of about 2 people, and they are soldiers who have never been on the battlefield

The spy Ah Sitou returned safely, and he was explaining the situation of Li Zi's camp to the two main generals, and more than a dozen generals in the hall listened carefully, and the three Han secret agents had just discovered the movements of the official army

More than a dozen generals in the council hall of Shishe Town sat cross-legged on the carpet, their faces were weathered, they all had thick beards, and now the eighteenth battalion of the Hui Army is divided into four roads, there are only thousands of elite soldiers under the hand, and Cui Wei, the commander of the fourth battalion, holds 5 horses, and he sits on the main seat in the chamber, and everyone else sits on both sides of him

Cui Wei was born in the eleventh year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, forty years old, less than the southern suburbs of Fengxiang Mansion in Shaanxi, Cui Jiawa people, four brothers, ranked third, Cui San, the body is burly, likes martial arts, and is proficient in equestrianism

This is miserable, that is, the six marshal, Yu Deyan, led more than 1 Hui army to grab grain at the end of last year, was ambushed by Xu Zhanbiao, the Sichuan army, suffered heavy casualties, and fled back to Dong Zhiyuan, when there were only more than 4 people left around him, his short body was a little sluggish, others asked questions, and he didn't say a word

The three spies knelt on the ground and told each other about the situation, and the spy pointed to the sky and swore an oath: "Four marshals, I have found out clearly, the sentence is true, more than 2 soldiers and students of the Li Ziying are not more than 17 years old, they are all scholars in the school, and they have never fought, and the other 6 more than 6 soldiers have been recruited to train for more than 2 months, and they have never even touched a gun in the past, and they have never touched a gun, and they have seen no more than 300 people in a battle, and there is a caravan with a little combat effectiveness, and the rest of the people are all people, used to push cannons and drive cars, but their equipment is imported, so Li Ziying dares to show off his might and come to the front line to fight."

The fourteenth marshal Lan Mingtai asked with doubts: "How many miles does the Li Zi battalion march every day?"

"No more than fifty miles, I asked other people, they also practiced target shooting on the way to the march, they fought wild wolves, and they also skinned wolves, deliberately let the wolves come to take revenge, they were proud to have a wolf skin, they were very idle, and they went to the kiln several times, and a group of gentlemen led the troops," another spy replied, and the other two spies added fuel and vinegar to slander Li Ziying

"That escort makes Master Li also bring a little wife, oily hair and powdery face, like a eunuch, only holding a leather whip to scare people, the housekeeper is a big fat man, the oil in his stomach can light an oil lamp," Ah Sitou wanted to burn, kill and loot in order to avenge the dead brother, and the hatred accumulated more and more, and the people here have enemies with the officers and soldiers, and the two sides kill each other, and the blood is deep, and the hatred will be remembered forever

"But they have a lot of cannons, there are more than 1 large and small artillery, all of them are foreign things, they don't let us get close, they are all transported by the people in the capital, the master only lets us come, people move sundries, and even the accommodation separates us, many things are blown out by the people of Beijing, boasting that one cannon can be worth a hundred guns, saying that it is to bombard Dong Zhiyuan's transport brigade, the shells are piled up, and the fire is not allowed to get close to us, and the cart must be searched, and the flint and foreign matches must be confiscated." Ah Sitou can speak well, most of the time it is he who replies, and the other two spies recognize him like chickens pecking rice, and the information is accurate, so he waits for the four marshals to make a decision

"Artillery, foreign guns, this battle is not easy to fight" the sixth marshal Yu Deyan had long been scared by the officers and soldiers, did not want to rob the officers and soldiers transport team, a hidden secret was not known, he did not report his confidence in the future of the return army, secretly expressed to the Qing army Xu Zhanbiao's department that he wanted to anyway, and also informed Xu Zhanbiao of the military deployment of Dong Zhiyuan's return army, which made Zuo Zongtang know that Dong Zhiyuan's return to the army, all the tactical deployments of the Qing army were very targeted

Now that Yu Deyan has returned to Dong Zhiyuan, he is here to do the inner work, and he has a good heart, looking at the twelve handsome Bi Dacai, and the two have formed an alliance, ready to fight back at any time

Yu Deyan was born in the first year of Daoguang, has been in his fifties, full of white hair, looks tired, Shaanxi Yu family big Zhuang people, big rich man, big tyrant, in addition to owning a large amount of land, he also Dali, Weinan, Sanyuan, Xi'an, Kaifeng and other places to open a business, pawnshop, and Sichuan opened a salt well, so the locals called it "Sichuan Ke Yu family", now the upper echelons of the Hui army are imams, and this kind of landlord class figures, his family has a big business, and there are more than 1 people in his camp

Bi Dacai understood and shouted: "This is a trap, we can't be fooled, or attack with a small unit, if there is a advantage, take advantage of the idea, and scare a few times, we are not short of these grains and grass, we can't go to the Beijing Division, the soldiers and horses are desperate, those Eight Banners soldiers will not climb the city, see us go back to the army, forget about death, kill the pigtails and dogs, immediately go back to the Beijing Division, or let those Han people sell their lives."

Bi Dacai is Yu Deyan's cronies, less than thirty years old, is a brave general, the body is dignified, the appearance is dignified, a pair of eyes shoot cold stars, two curved eyebrows are like paint, the beard is thick, the chest is broad, there is a majesty that is invincible, there are more than 6 people in the camp to obey his command

In addition to being in charge of the army, the Hui army also brought their families and families to transfer from Shaanxi to Dong Zhiyuan's eighteenth battalion, and the Hui army passed the test of the sea of blood and the knife mountain, and made a bloody alliance together, but the oath could not be eaten, some people were determined to stick to the alliance, and they were willing to be wiped out, and some people considered stepping on two boats for the family and the people under the battalion, and betrayed the original oath

Now the sixth marshal Yu Deyan and the twelfth marshal Bi Dacai colluded to wait for the uprising together, but this time they will be a counterattack, at this time, let their two battalions leave Dong Zhiyuan's base and go out to loot, that is to work without effort and will not make a difference

In addition, although these Hui troops believe in Islam, they are not the same factions, different races, different doctrines, and they are mutually supportive, and maintaining independence in cooperation is the status quo of each Hui army

This is also the reason why the Hui army was broken by the Qing army, there is no unified deployment, and the Hui army in other places will not respond, Dong Zhiyuan's Hui army will keep their existing territory, and it is the status quo of the Hui army, and now as the commander of the four major battalions, Cui Wei nominally commands these battalions, a total of 1 soldier and horse, but it is necessary to respect the main thing, and the thinking of the commanders of each battalion is not unified

The sixth marshal Yu Deyan and the twelfth marshal Bi Dacai were reluctant to attack the officer and soldier transport team, and had already expressed their views implicitly, and the fourth marshal Cui Wei heard that the two of them would not be forced to breathe out of one nostril, so they did not ask Yu Deyan and Bi Dacai about the attack on the officer and soldier transport team, everyone had different backgrounds, some were rich, some were hungry, and several battalions had already been extremely poor and vicious, and attacked the officer and soldier transport team in winter to grab food everywhere, with their battalions as the main force

Cui Wei turned his head to the other side and looked at the brothers who lived and died, and the 14th marshal Lan Mingtai, the fifteenth marshal Halianjin, the sixteenth marshal Zou Baohe, and his confidant Erhe Zhou, their opinions were equally important

The fourteenth marshal Lan Mingtai listened carefully from the beginning, and muttered to his subordinate general An Jie in a low voice to make a decision

Lan Mingtai and An Jie are about 30 years old, they are different from several other Hui soldiers, they are from "swordsmen", both bandits, Hui people, the whole province rebelled, and also joined the rebellion

"Four marshals, we can pull out 2 soldiers and horses immediately, don't wait for me," Lan Mingtai shouted with his fists, they had more than 1 person in a battalion, and the accumulated grain and grass were insufficient, and they were afraid that the Qing army would not be able to support it under the long-term siege in winter, although they robbed several officers and soldiers, the transport team, but they still wanted to make more achievements

An Jie stood up and said, "I'm going to transfer the troops, and the marshals will discuss it and inform me."

The fourth marshal Cui Wei has not yet given an order, An Jie has already walked out of the council hall, he only listens to the words of the eldest brother Lan Mingtai, where to put the other marshals in his eyes, all the people and horses are like this, they each attack and loot, and they come back to hand over thirty percent of the booty, and the development and growth of each battalion are all determined by themselves, who will send you rations and people

You must know that in the spring, the Qing army will be close to Dong Zhiyuan, and the Qing army will return to the army more often, and the strategic room for maneuver will be small, and he will be afraid of being pressed by the official army to Dong Zhiyuan to sit and wait for death, full of fear for the future, and if he is unsuccessful, he will become a benevolent person, even if Li Ziying is a difficult bone to gnaw, he must try it

"What about you," the fourth handsome Cui Wei looked at the side without saying a word, and the other two handsome, the fifteenth handsome Halianjin and the sixteenth handsome Zou Baohe, hoping that these two could also pick up the burden