After Zeng Ying tore up the edict of Hongguang and drove away the envoys, he immediately sent people to contact the monk Chang'an, the second town of the Tang Army in eastern Sichuan, and expressed to him his willingness to lead the troops and horses of his headquarters and the subordinates to join Li Xiao.

Monk An was overjoyed, and immediately agreed to Zeng Ying's request, he treated the people who came, and then sent a large amount of grain and grass to Zeng Ying's troops and horses in distress to show support.

Zeng Ying was also very pleased to see that the Tang Army treated him so kindly, and the impetuous officers and men of the whole army, who were originally short of money and food, were suddenly stable after receiving this large amount of money and food, and there was no change.

Then, Monk An sent a letter to Li Xiao urgently, and quickly reported to him that Zeng Ying led his troops to join him, and Li Xiao was very happy to get the report. Immediately, in the name of the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, Zeng Ying was crowned as Ping Kobo, and he was promoted to the governor of the capital and the chief soldier.

At the same time, Li Xiao ordered that his troops and horses be changed to the tenth town of the Tang Army, Zeng Ying was the mayor of the tenth town, and concurrently served as the commander of the first battalion, and Wang Xiang, the former deputy general of Qijiang who surrendered with Zeng Ying, was the deputy mayor of the tenth town and the commander of the second battalion, and Li Zhanchun, the general and adopted son of Zeng Ying, was the commander of the C battalion.

After the whole army was reorganized into the 10th town of the Tang Army, it was immediately reorganized in accordance with the Tang military regulations, and was placed in civilian supervision units such as the Supervision and Pacification Department, as well as special agencies such as the Security Department, which had the same personnel and management structure as the Tang Army in other towns.

In order to win the hearts of the people as much as possible, Li Xiao did not reassign officials from other places, but vigorously promoted many of Zeng Ying's generals and let them hold important positions in the tenth town. Li Xiao's generosity and trust made Zeng Ying more and more grateful, and he was more determined to serve the Tang Army and dedicate himself to Li Xiao.

After Zeng Ying was attached to Li Xiao, Zhang Xianzhong, who had just formed an alliance with the Hongguang regime of the Ming Dynasty and was preparing to send troops to accept Zeng Ying's territory, suddenly got the news and learned that Zeng Ying, the general of the Ming Dynasty, had openly betrayed the Hongguang regime, and led all the troops and horses to join Li Xiao, the king of Tang.

After hearing the news, Zhang Xianzhong was almost angry, he felt like a monkey being played, and the annoyance in his heart was difficult to describe in words.

Damn! The duck, which was ripe and ate in its mouth, flew away like this, this, how willing!

This murderous demon king, after killing nearly twenty prisoners in one breath, threw his sword to the ground, and his anger subsided for a while.

He really couldn't suppress the evil anger in his heart, and after thinking about it all night, he immediately ordered that the righteous descendants could hope to lead 60,000 elite soldiers and horses of the Great Western Kingdom, and immediately went south to attack Zeng Yingbu, who was being reorganized by the Tang Army, and wanted to take advantage of the fact that it had not been completely integrated by the Tang Army to completely wipe out Zeng Yingbu's soldiers and horses, and annex the entire southern Sichuan.

The 60,000 elite soldiers of the Great Western Kingdom set out from Chengdu and went straight to the southeast, forcing them to Xuzhou, where the main force of Zeng Ying's department was located.

Zhang Xianzhong sent troops this time, and was quickly reported to the Tang army by the Tang army spies in Chengdu City, and the monk Chang'an, the second town of the Tang army, also immediately sent a letter to inform Li Xiao.

After Li Xiao got the report, he quickly ordered that the whole army of Zeng Ying's troops and horses, which was being reorganized, stick to all important places in Xuzhou, and at the same time ordered Monk An to lead the main force of the second town of the Tang Army from Chongqing, from the 60,000 elite soldiers of the Great Western Kingdom, to attack his troops and horses together with Zeng Ying's troops and horses, and strive to gather and annihilate all the soldiers and horses of Zhang Kewang's troops under the city of Xuzhou.

The Tang army had a plan and immediately began to act according to the plan, and at this time, Zhang Kewang led 60,000 elite soldiers all the way to kill, but it was very smooth.

Since entering the territory of Xuzhou, counties such as Longchang and Fushun have almost all surrendered to the wind, and the Great Western Army has not encountered any strong resistance, and has quickly reached the north of the Hengjiang River outside Xuzhou.

As the only fortress in the north of the Hengjiang River, the southern guard, which was still a strong Qianhu Fort, was also abandoned by the Tang army, and the soldiers defending the fort had already withdrawn in a hurry, leaving only a huge empty fort, allowing the Great Western Army to occupy it smoothly without difficulty.

Under this fort, the 60,000-strong Great Western Army finally reached the only northern barrier in Naxu Prefecture, the Hengjiang River.

At this time, it is the early spring season, the grass grows and the warbler flies in the southern part of Sichuan, the climate is pleasant, Zhang Kewang looks at the sparkling Hengjiang River in the distance, and then looks at the Xuzhou City with a blurred outline in the distance, and his heart is quite proud.

He knew that the city of Xuzhou on the other side of the Hengjiang River was the most important territory of Zeng Ying's soldiers and horses, and as long as he took this city, Zeng Ying's soldiers and horses would not be able to gain a foothold in Xuzhou Mansion, and finally they could only continue to retreat south in disgrace, and escaped into the border of Tusi such as Xiangzhenxiong Mansion and Banzhou Xuanwei Division.

In this way, Zeng Yingbu, who was already short of money and food, will be in an increasingly difficult situation, and will even fall into a situation of running out of ammunition and food, and even collapse himself.

It can be seen that the focus of this battle is to take the city of Xuzhou on the south bank of the Hengjiang River. This city is a big success.

Soon, a report came from the front, saying that the wooden bridge leading to Xuzhou City in front had been demolished by the defenders, and the whole army could not cross the bridge for the time being.

Zhang Kewang smiled coldly and said to the deputy general Ainengqi beside him: "As I expected, the enemy army was afraid of the strength of our army, and actually demolished the wooden bridge to block the advance of our army. Its intention of seeking self-preservation is clear at a glance. ”

Ai Nengqi nodded, and replied loudly: "Big brother is right, Zeng Ying must want to use this Hengjiang River to block our army from crossing the river after demolishing the wooden bridge, in order to survive, it is really ridiculous." But I don't know that our army has a lot of soldiers and horses, and it is extremely easy for the whole army to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, and how can it be blocked by this river, so Zeng Ying's move is too child's play. ”

"What the third brother said is right, then our army will immediately build a pontoon bridge now, let the whole army cross the river as soon as possible, surround the city of Naxuzhou, and let none of the soldiers and horses of Zeng Ying escape!" Zhang Kewang's eyes were burning, and his face was full of anticipation.

"Order!"

Sure enough, there were many people and great strength, and in just one day, the Great Western Army built a pontoon bridge, and 60,000 elite soldiers neighed and crossed the river smoothly.

When the Great Western Army was crossing the river in unison, at the head of Xuzhou City, Zeng Ying, the mayor of the tenth town, and Wang Xiang, the deputy mayor of the town, both looked worried.

"Mayor Zeng, now that the Great Western Army is crossing the river, if you give an order, lead the elite in the city, kill out of the city, and invite the enemy to fight when the enemy army crosses halfway, maybe you can defeat the enemy army and enter the country." Wang Xiang gritted his teeth and asked for battle with a look of urgency.

Zeng Ying put down the clairvoyant mirror, his face was very condensed, but he shook his head slowly.

"General Wang, don't move lightly." Zeng Ying said coldly: "King Tang has clearly ordered in the letter, saying that now that our army has not completed its training, we must not attack rashly. He only asked our army to strictly defend the city and wait for reinforcements. Then we will obey the order of the Tang King, as long as we stick to this city and do the precautionary work. ”

Wang Xiang sighed lightly, but asked hesitantly: "King Tang said that he would send Monk An's soldiers and horses from the second town to outflank the rogues, which is a very good plan." I just don't know where they are now, and whether they can successfully catch up with this battle? ”

"Well, King Tang has always been wise and decisive, using soldiers like a god, since he has arranged it like this, he is sure that everything has been planned, and we will defend the city with peace of mind, so why worry too much." Although Zeng Ying didn't have a bottom in his heart, he was still calm and comforted Wang Xiang.

Although Zeng Ying said this, the real situation is also the same as he estimated.

Because at this moment, Monk An is rushing to Xuzhou City with the two battalions of soldiers and horses of the second town of the Tang Army, as well as all the cavalry troops.

Originally, after receiving the news that the Great Western Army was going to send troops to attack southern Sichuan, Monk An followed Li Xiao's instructions and left the second town C battalion to garrison eastern Sichuan, but he personally led the soldiers and horses of the second town's A and B battalions, and together with the deputy mayor Mo Changrong, they waved their divisions and marched quickly towards Xuzhou City.

He was ready to march in a roundabout way just as Li Xiao had planned, completely outflanking the rear of the Great Western Army, and working with Zeng Ying's troops and horses defending the city to join forces with the invading Great Western Army, so as to achieve a dumpling-like two-sided attack.

After a short time, Zhang Kewang commanded the whole army to cross the pontoon bridge smoothly, so he immediately dispatched troops to surround the entire Xuzhou city like an iron bucket.

Subsequently, Zhang Kewang ordered all the soldiers of the army to set up camp outside the four city walls, and at the same time sent a large number of soldiers to cut down trees in the nearby woods and step up the manufacture of siege equipment.

Seeing that the Great Western Army was besieging the city and the strength was so strong, Zeng Ying and others did not dare to slack off, so he ordered the whole army to be vigilant, strictly inspect the city wall, and strictly prevent the enemy from attacking by surprise.

In a tense atmosphere, three days passed in a hurry.

In the early morning of the fourth day, the loud swan horn sounded through the clouds, and the Great Western Army, which had been prepared to feed the whole army, finally began to shout loudly, pushing all kinds of siege equipment, and began to attack Xuzhou City.

There is a way that when there are more than 10,000 people, there is no boundless, and when they see these 60,000 enemy troops, they are coming to the city with overwhelming momentum, and the defenders in the city who have not yet changed into the official equipment of the Tang Army are all very nervous, and they are more and more nervous under the command of the guards everywhere to guard the four walls of Xuzhou City.

Seeing his own army, he was already pushing the siege equipment closer and closer, and began to besiege Xuzhou City on all sides, and Zhang Kewang, the commander of the Great Western Army, was proud.

In his opinion, the current Xuzhou City is like a prey that has fallen into a hunting net, and with the tightening of the bag, there is no way to escape from the heavy siege of the Great Western Army except to be captured obediently.

Soon, the Great Western Army pushed the dense cowhide carts out of the moat, and then began to throw arrows at the head of the city.

The dense arrows made the defenders, who lacked artillery and bows, only hide behind the big shields and battlements and be beaten passively, without the slightest power to fight back. For a time, the defenders of the city were quickly suppressed, and the dense arrows made them almost unable to raise their heads.

When the defenders at the head of the city were suppressed, the Onishi army prepared the siege and crashed the car, made a creaking sound, and slowly pushed towards the city gate. At the same time, a large number of siege ladders quickly approached the city walls.

As soon as the rows of siege stairs leaned against the city wall, there was a soft click, and the hook quickly hooked the battlements, and soon a large number of soldiers of the Great Western Army, like ants and trees, followed the siege ladder and quickly climbed to the city wall.

At the same time, the crash and the battering ram have been pushed to the city gate, dozens of soldiers of the Great Western Army worked together, the thick and heavy rambling hammer, in the sound of the soldiers' ho horns, slowly and forcefully smashed the drawbridge outside the city gate, the dull thumping sound, so that every sentence of the defenders' hearts are inexplicably tightened.

For a time, Xuzhou City fell into a situation of siege on all sides, and the situation was very critical.

"Everyone, stick to your post, you must hold Xuzhou!"

Seeing that the enemy army was already attacking like ants, Zeng Ying's face was like iron, and he shouted loudly to boost morale.

When the enemy soldiers began to gradually dense under the city, the enemy's arrows were thrown, and the strength of the arms was exhausted, and the defenders at the head of the city finally began to counterattack.

A large number of gold juice dung burned to a boiling state poured down the city and the siege ladder like rain, drenching the soldiers of the Great Western Army who had no time to hide and defend, screaming and killing and wounding one after another.

At the same time, there are countless ash bottles filled with quicklime, which are smashed down like raindrops, and the coarse porcelain bottles hit the ground or shields, and burst open, and the quicklime is diffuse, filling the city like a mist, and the quicklime meets the dung water, which produces a violent chemical reaction, and burns a large number of soldiers of the Great Western Army, and a large number of soldiers of the Great Western Army are directly blinded by the diffuse lime powder, and completely lose their combat effectiveness.

It's just that the golden sweat ash bottles prepared by the defenders are limited after all, and there are more and more enemy troops rushing over, and the ten soldiers of the Great Western Army finally regained the battlefield advantage after paying six or seven hundred dead and wounded.

Soon, the soldiers of the Great Western Army who climbed to the top of the city climbed the siege ladder to the city wall, jumped down from the ladder with a roar, and fought together with the defenders of Zeng Ying's army with swords and guns.

The two armies fought fiercely, slashing each other, screaming again and again, and the city quickly fell into a stalemate.

"Brothers, you must kill the enemy army and defend Xuzhou City! Keep up your efforts, I'll have reinforcements to save us!" Zeng Ying personally went into battle, killing the enemy soldiers who rushed up, and shouting at the soldiers defending the city.

Zeng Ying's words, although they were just encouraging, but at this time, on the horizon north of the Hengjiang River, a black edge suddenly jumped out, like a wriggling worm, getting thicker and thicker, and gradually, countless soldiers and horses came out.

Monk An's troops finally arrived at the battlefield at this very critical time.

"Report! King Pingdong, there is a Tang army behind to cover up! ”

A sentry horseman, galloping across the pontoon bridge, said urgently to Zhang Kewang in a frightened tone.

Zhang Kewang's originally smug face suddenly changed dramatically.

He turned his head and set up a clairvoyant mirror to look behind him, and he was stunned by everything he saw.

He clearly saw that at the distant horizon, there seemed to be a black line, which began to be extremely thin and faint, and gradually became thicker and thicker, and finally this black line seemed to be magical, conjuring countless soldiers and horses and flags, swords and guns were dazzling, and the war horses neighed, whistling and shouting, surging in his direction.

It was almost noon, and the weather was starting to get hot, and in the boiling heatwave, these rushing soldiers and horses, showing twisted and strange shapes, looked very unreal, as if they were dream-like existences.

The clairvoyant mirror in Zhang Kewang's hand clanged to the ground, and his face instantly turned pale.

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