Besides, as soon as Yang Sichang arrived in Xiangyang, he threw out the strategy of "four positives", "six corners", and "ten-sided nets" planned by him. The main task was to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng with all the generals of Henan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Yunyang. At first, Zhang Xianzhong didn't understand the situation, lost one after another, and was very passive.

Later, after finding out the details of the official army through intelligence, Zhang Xianzhong persuaded Luo Rucai that the two armies united and strengthened the strength of the peasant army. The peasant army "used the tactics of "subduing the enemy by walking", "avoiding the real and attacking the weak", and infesting the impermanence to deal with the officers and troops. At the same time, Zhang Xianzhong stepped up intelligence work, sending many clever sergeants to disguise themselves as businessmen and hawkers to inquire about news.

The common people also often told the peasant army about the movements of the officers and troops, and often served as guides for Zhang Xianzhong's troops. Therefore, they were able to grasp the enemy's situation in a timely manner, take military action quickly, and take the officers and soldiers by surprise. Then it was quickly transferred, so that the officers and troops could not figure out the whereabouts of the peasant army, and it was difficult to pursue them.

The main force of the officers and troops either struck the air or was ambushed and lost their troops. However, it was very disadvantageous for the peasant army to be trapped in the encirclement of the official army, and there was a danger of being encircled and annihilated at any time.

A few months later, Zhang Xianzhong was defeated by Zuo Liangyu at Qiping Pass and led his troops into Sichuan. On the way into Sichuan, he was attacked by Zheng Chongjian and Zuo Liangyu in Agate Mountain in Taiping County, and suffered heavy casualties. Then it was pursued and intercepted by the Huguang Army, the Sichuan Army, and the Shaanxi Army, and the peasant army company suffered heavy losses.

Retreating to the mountains of Xing'an and Guizhou, he was surrounded by Zuo Liangyu and other troops, and the peasant army was in a predicament. For this reason, Zhang Xianzhong took advantage of the contradiction between Yang Sichang and Zuo Liangyu, and sent someone to bribe Zuo Liangyu with a heavy treasure, saying: "It is precisely because of my existence that the court reuses you, your subordinates kill innocents indiscriminately, and some people in the court have long seen it, if I am not there, then it will not be far from your death." ”

Zuo Liangyu's fighting spirit was slack, Zhang Xianzhong took the opportunity to gather and disperse, and with the help of the mountain people, he walked out of Xing'an and joined Luo Rucai and other troops. Zhang Xianzhong also took advantage of the contradiction between Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan, and Yang Sichang, concentrated his forces and stormed Xinning, which Shao Jiechun defended. Shao Jiechun didn't expect the peasant army to be so fast, and the official army would collapse at the first touch.

After the peasant army broke through the Xinning defense line, it smoothly entered Sichuan. The peasant army's entry into Sichuan broke Yang Sichang's plan of encirclement and suppression, and militarily shifted from defense to offense. Yang Sichang was stubborn and self-serving, thinking that the official army had surrounded Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and other troops in the border area of Hubei, Sichuan, and Shaanxi provinces, and the victory was in hand.

But in fact, in the face of military orders, from the governor to the general. And then to the soldiers. Almost no one is going to do it. Zhang Xianzhong avoided fighting positional warfare with the officers and troops as much as possible, and adopted the strategy of "subduing the enemy by walking." He could travel more than 300 miles in a day and night, moving rapidly, and often causing the officers and troops to lose sight of one or the other, suffering from the enemy on their backs, and being exhausted from running for their lives.

Seeing that the peasant army could not be eliminated, Yang Sichang adopted the method of "appeasement" in a vain attempt to divide and disintegrate. Yang Sichang announced the pardon of Luo Rucai's crimes, and those who surrendered were given official positions, but Zhang Xianzhong was not pardoned, and those who were able to capture Zhang Xianzhong were rewarded with 10,000 gold and made a marquis. But the next day, on the wall of Yang Sichang's station, there was a notice that "if there is a person who can behead the superintendent to come to offer, he will be rewarded with three silver coins". The peasant army's-for-tat counterattack made Yang Sichang very frustrated, and suspected that the left and right were fornicating with the peasant army.

Zhang Xianzhong has been fighting in Sichuan for nearly half a year. At this time, the peasant army was chased by the official army Zuo Liangyu in Huangling City, Kaixian County, and Liu Shijie, the general of the left department, and Guo Kaili, the guerrilla general, immediately went to battle. Zuo Liangyu fled, Liu Shijie and Guo Kaili were killed, more than half of the officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, and the peasant army won a complete victory.

Then, Zhang Xianzhong waved his army out of Sichuan, marched rapidly day and night, and the troops pointed directly at central Hubei. When the peasant army arrived in Dangyang, the officers and soldiers stationed there were still asleep. Zhang Xianzhong also made a ballad to ridicule the officers and soldiers: "There was Governor Shao (Shao Jiechun) before, who often came to the troupe to dance; Later, Liao joined the army (Liao Tycoon) and followed me without a fight. What a Yang Pavilion Department, three days away from me! ”

Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to conquer Xiangyang. Xiangyang was an important military town of the Ming Dynasty, and military salaries and silver were gathered in the city. Zhang Xianzhong used the silver he received to give 100,000 taels to the hungry, and put Zhu Yiming, the king of Xiang, and Zhu Changfa, the king of Guiyang, to death. The peasant army was embraced by the common people, and there was thunderous cheering.

At this point, Zhang Xianzhong completely smashed Yang Sichang's "Four Positive and Six Corners" plan and completely destroyed his "ten-sided net". Yang Sichang heard that Zhang Xianzhong waved his army out of Sichuan, and hurriedly fled back to Yichang. In Shashi, he learned that Li Zicheng had broken through Luoyang and killed King Fu, and he knew that the death penalty was inevitable, so he died of fear. Zuo Liangyu was cut from his post and led the troops with guilt. That's all for later.

Zhang Xianzhong is in Hubei, Guangxi, Li Zicheng is in Shaanxi, and Henan is in full swing, but Shen Xing in Nanjing has a good life. The grand wedding of marrying a wife and welcoming five concubines at the same time made the people of the entire Jiangnan laugh and talk after dinner.

In a col in the mountain behind the Shen family, Shen Xing was lying on the ground with his hands covering his ears, his eyes staring at Wangcai whose hands were trembling, and when he saw that a box of matches had been wiped halfway and had not been lit, he hurriedly grabbed a stone and smashed it.

"Young master, don't smash it! It's on right away! Wangcai finally calmed down, lit one, and ran away watching the lead squeak, but before he ran more than ten meters, the explosion shook the ground, and the small stone pile hundreds of meters away was instantly bombarded and flew all over the sky.

"Young owner, how is it, is it very different from the mortar power you said! Bi and his brothers and sisters took hundreds of people to finally build such a small artillery piece after half a year's efforts, and it cost hundreds of thousands of silver taels just to study what you said, and the craftsmen involved are countless! ”