A tight gong sounded, and the Ming army retreated like a tide.

"Plug the gap right away." Zhang Xianzhong patted the hot cannon beside him, "What a sharp artillery, Li Zicheng is worthy of me this time." ”

"Father-in-law." Nineteen-year-old Li Dingguo hurriedly ran over, leaned on Zhang Xianzhong's ear and whispered a few words.

"What did you say?" Zhang Xianzhong grabbed Li Dingguo, "You said Li Zicheng ran away?" ”

"Yes, father-in-law. The boy had just gone to report the battle with them, and it turned out that they had all withdrawn from Xi'an. ”

Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand to stop Li Dingguo: "Li Zicheng wants Lao Tzu to come and break off the queen." Dingguo, when did they run? ”

"Back to my father-in-law, they ran from Andingmen at noon. They took only 30,000 men from the old battalion and all the guns, and the rest remained in the city. ”

"Okay, you're Li Zicheng." Zhang Xianzhong scolded, looked up at the sergeant who was repairing the city wall, and ordered in a low voice, "Dingguo, gather our people, bring these cannons, and we will evacuate overnight." ”

"Father-in-law, then Cao Cao and they are there." Li Dingguo asked.

"Confused." Zhang Xianzhong scolded, "Let them stand up to it first, and let's go out." ”

In the big tent of the Ming army, Qin Liangyu had a straight face, and Ma Xianglin was roaring at Han Wantao: "General Han, you keep saying that Xi'an City will be broken, and now my white pole soldiers have suffered heavy casualties, how can you explain to us." ”

"General Ma is not in a hurry first." Xia Yang stood up from behind Han Wantao, "We didn't expect that Liukou would be prepared, and no one wants to see casualties among the general's subordinates, and we also made a mistake in judgment, so we apologize to General Qin and General Ma first." ”

"Is an apology all the way through?" Ma Xianglin still refuses to give up.

"Don't worry, generals, listen to what this official says first." Shi Kefa came out and wanted to play a round.

"Report." A lieutenant of the Yulin Army was covered in injuries and was helped into the big tent by several sergeants, "Enlighten your lords, there is an urgent military situation report from your humble position." ”

Zhou Lei recognized this lieutenant, and he arranged for him to go to Andingmen to monitor the movements of the Liukou. Zhou Lei stepped forward and supported the lieutenant: "Aren't you in Andingmen, how did you do this?" ”

"Back to sir." The lieutenant replied, "My subordinates and people have been keeping an eye on Andingmen, and at noon today, the thieves led a large number of men and horses to evacuate Xi'an from Andingmen. The subordinates originally wanted to come back to report the news, but unfortunately it alarmed the Liukou, and the subordinates were all killed on the battlefield, and the subordinates were seriously injured and fell into a coma, and now they have only woken up and come back to report the news. ”

When the Chinese army's tent was neutral, it was chaotic, and the generals asked, "The thief is gone?" In which direction did you go, and how many people did you bring? ”

"Generals, be quiet, be quiet." Hong Chengchou stopped the commotion and asked the lieutenant, "What else did you see, tell me the truth." ”

The lieutenant replied, "My lord, the robbers brought about 30,000 horses, including 10,000 cavalry, and carried a large number of guns. The rest of the lowly positions were not seen. ”

"I see." Zhou Lei suddenly shouted, and the big tent suddenly fell silent, and everyone turned their heads to Zhou Lei.

Zhou Lei didn't care, and waved his hand first: "Send him down for treatment first, please send him to the field hospital of our Yulin Army." ”

After Zhou Lei finished speaking, he turned to Hong Chengchou and said: "Lord Hong, the thief must have known our plan, so he asked Zhang Xianzhong to defend Yongding Gate, and he himself took advantage of the situation to evacuate Xi'an." No wonder our attack at Yongle Gate was met with no counterattack. My lord, Xi'an is currently empty, and it is recommended to attack Xi'an immediately, and the city of Xi'an can be taken tonight. ”

"General Zhou wants to suggest again." Ma Xianglin sneered, "But I don't know who led the attack tonight." ”

Zhou Lei didn't care about Ma Xianglin's cynicism, and hugged him with a fist: "This general is not talented, I am willing to take the lead in the Yulin Army." Breaking through Xi'an, the credit was willing to be given to General Ma. ”

"Hmph." Ma Xianglin snorted and didn't speak again, and Hong Chengchou asked, "General Han, General Zhou, are you sure that the thieves have escaped, but there are still Zhang thieves and Luo thieves in Xi'an City." ”

Han Wantao also felt that he should not act rashly: "Lord Huihong." I think let's rest for the night, and it's not too late to fight again tomorrow. We were originally scheduled to take Xi'an on the 5th, but now we only have 3 days. Even if the thieves and Zhang thieves really evacuate Xi'an, they will not set off any more storms, and we can return to the aid of Beijing after recovering Xi'an. ”

Hong Chengchou pondered for a while: "All the ministries will attack Xi'an tomorrow according to the original plan. Lord Sun, you will gather the cavalry of all your subordinates tomorrow and lead it by you. Once Xi'an is recovered, don't stop for a moment, and immediately return to Beijing to help. ”

As soon as Han Wantao returned to his camp, he ordered: "Zhou Lei, immediately send scouts to Xi'an to see if Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong really ran away, and they must come back to report before the fourth watch." ”

Zhou Lei went out to make arrangements, and Han Wantao gathered all the senior officers again: "Everyone, look at the current situation, the Liukou have evacuated Xi'an, but they must have taken the main force away." There is no problem in recovering Xi'an tomorrow, the question is what to do after the reconquest? ”

"Sir." Andreas was the first to stand up, "If Xi'an is recovered tomorrow, my subordinates will immediately return to Beijing with a cavalry division, and Chief Jiang needs assistance there." ”

"This is a must, Andreas, be ready for anything, maybe you will have to leave tomorrow." Xu Lang was also very anxious about the situation in Beijing, and after speaking, he asked, "Wan Tao, how many cavalry can the Ming army gather, and how long will it take to return to Beijing." ”

"With our cavalry division, almost 30,000 cavalry." Han Wantao said, "Xi'an and Beijing are more than 2,000 miles away, and our cavalry division can go first and return to Beijing in ten days at most." However, the cavalry of the Ming army may be slower. ”

"Sir." Ye Zhan also stood up and said, "My subordinates can lead our infantry division back to Beijing, we can walk 100 to 120 miles a day on a rapid march, and we can return to Beijing in 20 days." ”

"Ye Zhan, you take the infantry division with you?" Xia Yang hesitated a little, "What about Xi'an, what if Li Zicheng calls back again?" ”

"It doesn't matter." Zhao Qi replied for Ye Zhan, "As long as the artillery division stays in Xi'an." 144 cannons can completely hold Xi'an. Talk to Hong Chengchou and ask him to leave a part of the Ming army in Xi'an to assist us. ”

Xia Yang glanced at Zhao Qi, he always felt that it seemed a little inappropriate to guard Ye Zhan and Andreas by calling the names of Ming Dynasty officials. But Zhao Qi glanced back at Xia Yang, because Zhao Qi knew that among these non-traverser senior officers in the military, no one took the Ming Dynasty officials seriously. Ye Zhan said to Bihe at home, "What kind of general is not a general, I am just the colonel and deputy division commander of the Yulin Army." "I don't know why it was spread, and now the military knows everything.

While talking, Zhou Lei came back: "The scout has gone out, how are you discussing?" ”

Han Wantao said the discussion again, and Zhou Lei said: "I agree with this arrangement. If Xi'an is recovered tomorrow, Andreas can set off immediately, and Ye Zhan and I will also set off with the infantry division, and Xi'an will be handed over to you first. ”

Xu Lang didn't speak much, and then asked: "We have been fighting here for a few days, and the soldiers are very hard, can you stand it if you march back to Beijing in such a hurry?" ”

"Report sir." Ye Zhan and Andreas stood up at the same time and said, "The military situation is like fire, and the soldiers will definitely understand." ”

"Sit down first, I know how you feel." Han Wantao motioned for the two of them to sit down, hesitated for a moment and said, "Ye Zhan, Andreas, you should also know that the Yulin Bay Crossing Conference made a resolution, the division commander should be awarded the rank of major general, and the deputy division commander should be a brigadier general. Both of you are now deputy division commanders, and we will definitely expand the army after this battle, and there will be vacancies in the position of division commander. ”

Ye Zhan and Andreas stood up again: "Subordinates, thank you for the cultivation." ”

"You two do a good job." Xu Lang pointed to his epaulettes and said with a smile, "When I return to Yulin Bay, I should call you sir." ”

"Mr. Xu, the student doesn't dare." Ye Zhan replied first, "A student is always a student of Mr. ”

"Don't talk about that yet." Xia Yang asked, "Beiming, even if we can successfully take Xi'an, what about those captured rogues." Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong did not take many people, and there were at least 100,000 rogues in Xi'an City. ”

Han Wantao didn't answer, all the traversers looked at Xia Yang and laughed, Xia Yang was laughed: "What are you laughing at, why are you looking at me, do I have any good way?" ”

"Tianyang, do you know why Jiang Beiming got you to Luoyang?" Xu Lang smiled maliciously, "Do you really think that you can coordinate the ability of the Ming army from all walks of life or have the ability to coordinate combat command?" ”

"I, how come I don't have the ability." Xia Yang was a little confused by what Xu Lang said.

"Tianyang, don't get excited." Xu Lang said with a smile, "I discussed with Beiming in Beijing to bring you over, if you can really deal with Yang Sichang and Hong Chengchou, why do you have to come." Beiming's real meaning is to let you deal with the Liukou, didn't you originally make a plan to accept the Liukou, just follow your plan.

"You guys?" Xia Yang was really speechless, "It's been a long time, you guys have joined forces to play with me." ”

"Lao Xia, you can't say that." Han Wantao explained embarrassedly, "But you really have to come to co-opt the Liukou, we people are useless." But don't worry, Xu Lang will help you. ”

The basic direction was set, and at the same time, the scouts sent by Zhou Lei also came back four days ago. There was no movement on the city wall of Xi'an, and it seemed that the city of Xi'an was empty.

The next day, Hong Chengchou gave the order for a general attack, and the Yulin army did not play any false role, and once again blasted open the city wall at the gap in Yongding Gate yesterday. This time, Qin Liangyu's white pole soldiers were not used to charge, Zhou Lei and Ye Zhan took a division of infantry to touch Xi'an City along the gap.

The entire city of Xi'an is almost empty, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, including Luo Rucai have all run away early, and there are about 120,000 old, weak, sick and disabled people left in Xi'an City. Without encountering any strong resistance, the Ming army occupied the whole of Xi'an relatively smoothly.

Hong Chengchou did not have any delay, and immediately sent an urgent report to Yang Sichang in Luoyang, the Ming army recovered Xi'an, and the rogues fled. At the same time, Hong Chengchou accepted Han Wantao's suggestion, and the cavalry division and infantry division of the Yulin Army returned to Beijing Qinwang that night. The remaining Ming cavalry, led by Sun Chuanting, returned to Beijing on the second day, and all the infantry and artillery divisions of the Yulin Army were temporarily stationed in Xi'an to be dispatched. Lu Xiangsheng and Shi Kefa led people to collect and detain all the captured rogues, and identified the leaders one by one and sent them back to Beijing.

Han Wantao, Xu Lang and Xia Yang had a long talk with Hong Chengchou, and Hong Chengchou was a little reluctant to accept these rogues in Yulin Bay. Hong Chengchou didn't know the status of Yulin Bay in Chongzhen's heart, it was love and hate. If all these 100,000 liukou are handed over to Yulin Bay, then it is very likely that Yulin Bay will absorb a large number of them, so what thoughts will Chongzhen have caused by this move, Hong Chengchou does not dare to easily judge. But these 100,000 people were not handed over to Yulin Bay, and they had no food to support them, so let them stay in Xi'an like this, Hong Chengchou's heart was even more bottomless.

Hong Chengchou thought about it, and discussed it with Yang Wenyue, Shi Kefa and others, and finally put forward an opinion to Han Wantao. More than 100,000 Liukou were first screened by the Ming army, but all those who were screened were absorbed by the Ming army, and the rest were incorporated by the Yulin army. Hong Chengchou also attached a condition at the same time, Yulin Bay must accept all the remaining rogues after the Ming army was absorbed, otherwise no one will give them.

Han Wantao was so angry when he returned to the Yulin Army garrison that he was about to drop his cup: "Is there such a harsh condition as TM?" Those who can fight are all picked up by you, and all the rest of the idle food is given to us, and we TM want to eat. ”

Xu Lang and Xia Yang were also very annoyed, but they still persuaded Han Wantao: "Wan Tao, agree first." More than 100,000 people, no matter how many Hong Chengchou can pick, most of them still belong to us. ”

"But the problem is that it's useless to pick the rest."

"Wan Tao, you can't say it's useless." Xu Lang persuaded, "The fact that they can be on Li Zicheng's side shows that they can still fight some battles." Even if we were left with 80,000 or 90,000 men, we would still have nearly 10,000 troops. ”

"But there are quite a few of them, old people, women and children." Han Wantao shouted, "You can't get the child into the army." ”

"No, Wan Tao, if that's the case, you'll have to stay." Xia Yang said, "Our ratio of men and women in Yulin Bay is not very balanced so far. Getting more women can't be said to be useless. ”

Han Wantao stopped shouting, looked at the two of them and asked, "So you all agreed?" If you agree with me, it's fine. ”

"Agreed, let's get it back first." Xu Lang smiled, "As long as you are human, there will be something useful." ”