Zhang Nengqi, who was blocking Li Yan's southward movement on the Yueyang front, received a pigeon letter from Changsha, and he was stunned. He couldn't believe that his father-in-law, the emperor of the Onishi Imperial Court, who had asked him to rectify the defense line before, died so suddenly. Regarding the inquiries of Zhang Wenxiu and Zhang Kewang who retreated west into Sichuan, he didn't know how to answer for a while. Although the letter said that time was pressing, his mind was blank and he really couldn't think about anything.

Before he could calm down, he received a report from his subordinates that Li Yan's 20,000 cavalry had defeated the defenders of Xinqiang Town and had crossed the Xinqiang River.

"What's going on?! How did they get here?! Zhang Nengqi asked in surprise.

"I don't know, the troops in Xinqiang Town have been dispersed, and Commander Liu and others don't know where to go, the news was sent by the defenders of ** village." The subordinates hurriedly reported another bad news: "Moreover, the defenders of ** village have also fled back." ”

"What?!" Zhang Nengqi couldn't believe that his new wall river defense line was actually broken in an instant.

At this time, his subordinates continued to report: "General, don't worry, Li Yan's cavalry did not come to attack here, and they turned to the south again. ”

"Idiot!" Zhang Nengqi roared angrily: "Even the cavalry can't stop it, let alone the infantry behind!" What's there to be thankful for?! Hurriedly notify the sailors to dock and pick up the troops to go to the west of the lake. Go to Changde Mansion to meet Xiaohui Hui first, and then make plans! ”

Seeing that the general was angry, his subordinates did not dare to hesitate at all, and hurriedly took the order.

Zhang Nengqi was also discouraged at this time, and he didn't want to consume the troops here. Protecting the troops seemed to be his instinctive reaction. There was also Zhang Xianzhong's order before, and now that Zhang Xianzhong is dead, the four brothers have become the successors of Onishi. Although he is Zhang Xianzhong's youngest son, the weight of his words in the future depends on the strength in his hands.

His troops were still scattered across the banks of the New Wall, so they could not be easily abandoned. He immediately ordered his troops to abandon all parts of the country and assemble at Changde as quickly as possible.

This retreat was busy, to prepare grain and grass ships, to organize subordinates and families, and to pack up the belongings and goods, Zhang Nengqi forgot the pigeon letter that Zhang Wenxiu gave him. It wasn't until he took a boat and took his family to the west shore of Dongting Lake that he finally remembered this matter. So he hurriedly sent a pigeon letter to Changsha, briefly informed them that the Xinqiang River had been broken, and told them that entering Sichuan was decided by the emperor and that they could follow it. Everyone acted separately and converged in Baoqing (Shaoyang).

Since there are only a few roads into Sichuan, and the three sides along the river and Shaanxi are controlled by Li Yan, if they want to enter Sichuan, they can only take the direction of Guizhou. Don't look at Zhang Dingguo It has been nearly a year since he led his troops to conquer Sichuan, but because he needed to take a detour to the north, the progress was not smooth, and until this time, Luzhou had not been captured.

This is not to say that the combat effectiveness of the Ming army in Sichuan has increased, but that the road is long, and Zhang Dingguo must leave some reliable troops stationed in various places, and then supplement some local recruits to facilitate the follow-up troops entering Sichuan. Therefore, in Sichuan, the combat effectiveness of the troops has been greatly reduced. Moreover, Li Yan's soldiers have already occupied the Sword Pavilion and can go south at any time, and the officials and generals in Sichuan will all share their efforts. If Li Yan's troops went south, they would have surrendered directly, but if they surrendered Zhang Xianzhong first, and then surrendered to Daliang, their official career would not be so wonderful.

Although the gentry in Sichuan were also willing to Li Yan to take over Sichuan and stabilize the situation in Sichuan, they did not want to continue to be exploited and slaughtered by bandits and official soldiers. However, Li Yan's military strength was insufficient, and he used the troops preparing to enter Sichuan several times in other directions. Moreover, the situation in Sichuan is more complicated, some of the officials and troops of the remnants of the Ming Dynasty are still loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and the bandits in various places do not have a good impression of Li Yan, plus Zhang Xianzhong also came to stir up the situation, so that Li Yan did not dare to rashly enter Sichuan with insufficient troops. Therefore, Sichuan is so stalemate, chaotic, leaving a trace of uncertainty for the future.

Ai Nengqi delayed like this, but Liu Wenxiu was pitted. Sun Kewang has been preparing to retreat westward, withdrawing a lot of troops besieging Zhou He, ready to leave at any time. Although he was persuaded by Liu Wenxiu to wait for an extra day, as soon as he received the pigeon letter from Ainengqi, he immediately withdrew west with his troops, treating Liu Wenxiu's troops as a rearguard.

Since Zhang Xianzhong is dead, those of them who are righteous sons naturally don't need to be surnamed Zhang anymore, so they all changed back to their original surnames. As for Zhang Xianzhong's wives and concubines, they were also taken away, but they didn't have many other privileges except for eating and drinking.

Liu Wenxiu originally wanted to avenge Zhang Xianzhong and then retreat westward, but he didn't expect that the Ainengqi defense line was useless, not only did Li Yan's troops break through, but also did not send troops to block the south. What's worse is that the enemy that Ainengchi let go of is still cavalry, and there is not much time left for them.

So Liu Wenxiu could only act quickly and withdraw the troops at night. Just set fire to the pontoon bridge on the Laodao River, and even the ferries along the coast didn't have time to collect and destroy it.

Zhou He naturally couldn't let Zhang Xianzhong's main force leave so easily, his purpose this time was to drag Zhang Xianzhong's main force, wait for the arrival of the main force, and wipe out Zhang Xianzhong's main force around Changsha in one fell swoop. Although he was not responsible for the failure of this mission, the failure of the mission just after getting the title of an earl really made him feel disgraced.

So after dawn, Zhou He immediately sent troops to find ships to build pontoon bridges, and at the same time sent cavalry north to contact the main force. Since Zhang Xianzhong's main force retreated in a panic, his own people must not be far from here. But before they could collect enough ferries, the city of Changsha was ablaze, and another prosperous city was reduced to ashes because of the war.

The people in the city ran out crying and screaming, and many people didn't even have time to pack some soft clothes, but they fled from the city in panic and their families, crying and watching their homes be destroyed. And the cavalry of Zhang Xianzhong's army, who had set fire, rode their horses and quickly retreated south.

Zhou He could only watch from the north bank of the Laodao River, but there was nothing he could do. It wasn't until the next night that they finally built the pontoon bridge, and then immediately crossed the river, not to pursue Zhang Xianzhong's main force, but to help extinguish the fire in Changsha City first. Zhou He had already received the news that their cavalry unit would arrive tomorrow, and it would be more appropriate to leave the task of pursuit to the cavalry.

As for the fire in Changsha City, after two days of burning, and the fire extinguished by the people spontaneously, it was actually about to be extinguished. What Zhou He has to do is to resettle the people and deal with the aftermath. This place has entered the territory of Daliang, and the most important thing is to clean up people's hearts, let the people's hearts go to Daliang, live with peace of mind, and don't let these affected people become bandits.

Therefore, what he immediately did was to ask the troops to take out dry food and distribute it to the people of Changsha. As for the follow-up food supply, as well as the appointment of local officials, there is naturally Kaifeng to co-ordinate, so he doesn't have to worry about it.