At the foot of Maoshan Mountain, on the shore of Changtang Lake.

In the mess left by the hastily retreating officers and soldiers, the southern road of the righteous army, which was full of vicissitudes and obviously increased many wrinkles, could not help but breathe a sigh of relief

, and hoarse as a rough sandpaper-polished voice.

"These dog things have finally retreated."

At the beginning, the Southern Road Righteous Army, which was known as 50,000 horses and horses, went through the division of troops and battles along the way, reaching 80,000 at its peak and claiming to be an army of more than 100,000. However, with

Later, under the hands of the officials, troops, and local regiments who rushed to the state, they quickly shrank by more than half after several defeats and losses.

In the end, under the layers of interception by the officers and soldiers, they fought all the way and retreated here; However, because of internal controversies and disagreements about the way out and where to go, two breakthroughs were missed

, surrounded by groups and can no longer advance or retreat.

As a result of the defeat along the way, he lost most of his baggage and gains, mules, horses, chariots, and other uses. Therefore, the rebels can only starve and endure hunger and thirst here

Surrounded and squeezed from all directions, like hyenas and vultures, they slowly devoured their officers and troops and soil regiments, trying to maneuver and fight.

Although it is by the lake, it is not easy for so many people to drink water to quench their thirst; For the first few days, everyone can take turns to go to the shore to get water

, but then the riverboats full of archers began to appear on the lake.

As a result, the rebels' desire to ensure basic drinking water became a matter of risking their lives; The water of the lake that was loaded back in various objects

From time to time, it is dyed red by blood. And the lakeside was quickly filled with the corpses of soldiers who ventured to fetch water overnight.

Then all the cattle and mounts that could be found were slaughtered to feed them; Everything that could be burned was used to keep warm at night. Someone began to dig into the grass roots and

The bark of the tree, the skin of the equipment and armor is cut into strips with a knife, chewed and swallowed, and cheats the stomach.

Perhaps at the beginning they had a chance to break out and send some of them out as messengers for help; But with the internal coordination of these different belonging officers and soldiers

Any attempt to make a picture becomes a limited luxury.

Although the officers and troops relaxed their offensive under the desperate resistance of the rebels, they became a daily constant harassment, siege, and encroachment; But they lack food and clothing

Well, it hasn't improved much. On the contrary, because of the tension and relaxation, various internal problems began to appear.

For example, in private, some people began to fight each other in order to compete for limited water, and even developed into a fire union where swords and soldiers met each other. Although he was soon forced down by Gai Hong

, but the rifts and grievances of the rebels took shape on the inside.

In the days that followed, some people finally couldn't bear it anymore, and one after another appeared in droves to flee, or simply surrendered to the officers and soldiers in front of them in batches; Hence the rebels

The makeshift camp and defensive formation were also shrinking, and now only the seven or eight thousand men left by his side remained.

And two days ago, there was also a rebel army leader who secretly communicated with the official army and wanted to cooperate with the outside and the outside; Although he was quickly suppressed by his first soldiers, he suffered a lot of damage

More than two thousand people.

A plastered wound on his brow was the mark left by a mutinous leader who tried to sneak up on him and surrender his head to the official army. To know

This leader who was killed by him personally under the knife, but he was born as an old brother in Henan who carried it with one hand and entrusted him with a heavy responsibility.

And the hasty assassination that broke out during this patrol turned into a mutiny and storming the camp after the failure, and he lost more than a dozen of his sons and nephews

Underling. Their bodies didn't even have time to be buried, they were so bloody and improvised in the open air; Because the officers and soldiers have already taken advantage of the chaos to attack and kill.

Then, under the repeated attacks of those officers and soldiers, it was a hard-fought battle with little respite; and lost many old brothers; After the fight, even the ability to go

The wounded of the rebels who had to move and stood up were all driven to step forward and fight hard. As a result, many people fell headlong and couldn't get up again.

And the rest are also weak and tired. And the only reason to count on and support is to stay in Jiangning City, and the Taiping Army Headquarters that still has the strength to do so can get the news

came to the rescue; They look forward to it early and late, and almost every night there are people in their hungry and cold sleep, and they can no longer wake up.

Just as Gaihon had secretly made up his mind, he had gathered hundreds of the youngest soldiers in the army; Under the cover of the remnants of the rebel army, they rushed towards the Maoshan Mountain with all their might

Then the officials and soldiers who had been harassing frequently slowly stopped. By the next day, someone with a small group of cavalry had surprisingly easy to penetrate the outer blockade and siege

, appeared in front of this desperate remnant and weak brigade; And brought them bad news, good news.

The bad news is that the expected backup Taiping Army will not come; for they were attacking the city of Dantu with all their might; The good news is that because of the siege of Dantu City,

These officers and soldiers who were originally besieging them had quietly withdrawn their troops back to their divisions overnight a few days earlier.

Therefore, in the outer enemy camps today, there are only flags all over the ground and some towns, local regiments, and village soldiers. There is no way to stop the morale of the rebels who are revitalizing and fighting back with all their might

One attacked face to face, and those who threw away their armor broke and fled.

After inspecting the huge battlefield, Gai Hong turned around and said to Zhang Gui, the banner officer of the Taiping Army, who had ventured to rush in to convey and report the news.

"Brother Xu, it's really good, he has already besieged Dantu City. No wonder these official dogs have retreated one after another. It's a pity that I was too late to believe it, and I didn't get it well

Tail clean up.,Discipline these dog thieves and don't get out of peace.。。 ”

"I don't know how much strength the old capital still has left, and whether I can participate in the follow-up war."

Zhang Guiba asked in a serious way.

"The capture of these dirt regiments is enough for us to rest for a while."

Gai Hong disagreed.

"Although the camp is very weak at the moment, it is possible to muster another 1,800 men to listen to the call for the time being,。。 Absolute sea. ”

With Gai Hong's call, a soldier who described him as thin as a tough bamboo and his eyes like a falcon suddenly came over, but the most impressive thing was that he couldn't melt away

The smell of blood. He is Meng Juehai, who was known as the "Flying Mountain Tiger" among the righteous armies from all walks of life.

"But according to the orders of the old capital."

I saw him purse his thin lips without smiling, and said in a deep voice to Gai Hong.

"I want you to take the brothers in the camp who can still move, and follow this military card to the army headquarters to assist the army from the void;"

Gai Hong, who opened the conversation box all of a sudden, couldn't help but explain with some chatter.

"Give me a lot of begging to kill some official dogs, so that I can comfort the brothers who died this time. There are also those miscellaneous who have turned their backs on the righteous army, and they will not spare one when they see one. slightly

After that, I will lead the troops south to the Jinling area to regather the people, and you will have to rely on yourself before the re-convergence. ”

。。。。。。。

General Jinwu and Zhang Quan, the commander of the coastal army in eastern Zhejiang, was also on the way to the north with his troops to help.

Among the large and small local forces in Jiangdong and Zhejiang, he undoubtedly belongs to the land of several towns and seaside ports in Mingzhou, and has more than 10,000 people sitting on the sea and enjoying the benefits of the sea

One of the few leaders in the middle.

However, compared with the forces that have risen up from local tyrants such as Gaoba and Dongchang and other local tyrants and township parties who are fighting in the same industry; He has been born as a thief for a long time, although he has the name of General Jingo, but

Undoubtedly, it is the object of rejection and isolation, vigilance and vigilance by everyone.

Even if he amassed a lot in his livelihood at sea, he was quite generous enough to do things and activities everywhere, but except for some feeless and false titles; He was hot

There is no inch in the career of the heart. On the contrary, he gave too much, and gave people the nickname of "Silly Kuoda" in private.

Even if he wanted to marry someone else, he would be secretly laughed at and turned away; Although soon this unscrupulous official eunuch family was plagued by Qiang Liang and abandoned the corpses in the wilderness, and there was also a pretty mute girl in his army tent who couldn't speak, and her tongue was broken.

Therefore, this time, although he was originally personally recruited and appointed by Pei Xuan, the former Jiedu envoy, the territory was under the command of the successor Zhedong Observer Envoy; But as soon as the current Zhenhai Festival envoy Zhou Bao sent someone to summon him, he personally rushed over.

As a former thief who was discriminated against and looked down upon; Under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible for him to jump over the barriers and unspoken rules of the system and seek a higher background. Under a certain tradition and inertia, it would be good not to join forces to exclude and stumble on him.

Therefore, if he wants to make a name for himself like Zhuge Shuang, the lowly senior in Beijing, he has to find a way to seize this opportunity. Wash away the traces of the old thieves and enter the feudal town system.

And compared to the methods he had sought before, could there be anything more to show his loyalty and value than the thieves who had committed crimes for the imperial court? It's like the letterhead sent to him by Zhou Bao, the envoy of Zhenhai Festival, has only one sentence on it:

"The king or the thief, but also the official", so he did not hesitate to pick up the men and horses to prepare enough military resources, and took the warrant issued by the Zhenhai Festival Ya, so he went through the state and Yue County to kill.

Of course, from another point of view, with a force with a special background like him, if he stays in the local area, he is only afraid of other local forces nearby

You have to worry about your own territory, and you won't feel at ease to send troops to Runzhou to help in the war.

Therefore, if there is a mistake in the Dantu of the Zhenhai Festival Ya this time, it also means that his long-term efforts and battles will be in vain.

Therefore, compared with those other officers and soldiers who were eager to recover the lost territory in the rear, he was more concerned about being able to rush to the Dantu in time to support and respond.

Even if you can't defeat the besieging thief army so easily, if you can force them to retreat or divide their troops to respond, it is a powerful show of loyalty and a gesture.

It's just a pity that it's easy to surround the Gai thieves who are forced to die; This guy is also the top-ranked thief leader under Huang Yi, and he gave up at the end of the door, which is really a pity.

For this reason, he also trained Dong Chang with the Hangzhou Eight Towns regiment, and he fell out on the spot and almost turned against him. If it weren't for another heavyweight of the official army, Hailing suppressed Gao Ba and hurriedly stood up to ease the cheeks of both sides. It's not just about parting ways, it's about the ending of a fight on the spot.

Because in this process of driving thieves, trapping thieves, and weak thieves, and finally dividing them, Dong Chang's subordinates worked hardest and paid the greatest price. In the end, because Zhang Quan, the strongest of the three-legged official army, retreated, and had to fall short at this easy time.

Although he has a stake in it, his arguments are also very reasonable. As long as the head of the thief is killed, the grass thieves who are raging all over the south of the Yangtze River will also be leaderless and convenient to break through, and it will only be a matter of time and night to finally level the place.

But Zhang Quan didn't regret it, even if it was the credit of killing a big thief leader for himself, how could it be more important than the safety and performance of Zhenhai Jieya.

Even if he killed a big thief, Huang Wei still had other thieves under his command to continue to plague the world; But once the Zhenhai Festival is not guaranteed, then who will ask for merit and go to the court for himself, and seek more fame and advancement.

As for the Hailing Town, which sits on the salt road and wants to make huge profits, it is free and swaying between the two; On the one hand, he also has similar demands for fame, but he also has the problem of ruling the grass thieves and homeless people who are close to the left; So you can only make everyone go their separate ways with the mud.

And at this moment, he is afraid that he is leading troops to recover Jintan City. After all, there were many materials that had been looted and seized by this subordinate there.

At this time, a captain of the boat corps, who was sailing ahead and probing the enemy's situation, suddenly rushed over and reported:

"I'm afraid there will be an ambush next to the bridge ahead"

"As usual, take the boat to the side and scatter it, but don't chase it too far."

Zhang Quan said without time to think.