After Yang Sichang arrived in Xiangyang, he really insisted on using his four-sided encirclement tactics. It is troublesome for the thieves to run, and the officers and soldiers follow behind, and they can't catch up and fight. It would be much easier to deal with them if they were fenced up. The officers and soldiers are well armed, and such a head-on confrontation obviously has a better chance of winning.

He wrote to Emperor Chongzhen and reported his plan: Xunyang Road, which was responsible for the chief soldier Chen Hongfan and the deputy chief soldier Zhou Jixian; Zuo Liangyu and Zhang Yilong are in Junzhou (Danjiangkou) for the first road; Governor Kong Fangzhi was stationed in Jingmen, and deputy generals Luo Anbang and Yang Shien were stationed in Yicheng; favored Chen Ruimo in Jingzhou; Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan, strictly blocked eastern Sichuan; Li Fengxian, governor of Henan, was stationed in Dengzhou; Shaanxi Governor Ding Qirui stationed in Shangluo; Yongwei Battalion Sun Yingyuan was stationed in Xiangyang, Huang Degong was stationed in Guanghua (Laohekou), and Zhou Yuji was stationed in Xinye. Basically, Fang County and Zhuxi were surrounded in the middle.

These troops were not just stubbornly defended, but were attacked by the main force of the thieves in one place, and the officers and troops of this road were stubbornly guarding the key roads of the pass, and the other roads were informed, and then the battalions of soldiers and horses jointly encircled and suppressed. In this way, it will be possible to form a situation of encirclement on all sides and eliminate the thieves in one area.

Since Emperor Chongzhen pointed out that Zhang Xianzhong could not be spared, Yang Sichang put the target of encirclement and suppression on Zhang Xianzhong, and even Cao Cao, who was not far away, although the camp was divided, also suffered.

As for the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo in the area of Xinyang and Luzhou in Henan, they only let the staff general Zhang Qi and the deputy general Diao Mingzhong pursue and suppress them.

At the same time, he requested that Zuo Liangyu be awarded the seal of 'General Ping Thief', and the governor's troops and horses surrounded and suppressed Zhang Xianzhong. Wasn't Zuo Liangyu's Guan Fang Seal Letter snatched by Zhang Xianzhong? Now he is considered the general soldier of Wuji. This is a big step up from being promoted to 'General Ping Thief'. It turned out that he was only one of many chief officers, but now he is higher than all the chief officers.

Although Zuo Liangyu failed last time, his troop losses were not large, and he still had more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in Henan. What's more, many of his subordinates were recruited by thieves, and they didn't listen to the words of the imperial court, that is, Zuo Liangyu could command the move, so Zuo Liangyu now has the strongest army and the strongest combat power. Yang Sichang just wanted to use Zuo Liangyu to deter the other deputy generals of the general army, so that they would not dare to listen to the propaganda or disobey the tune. At the same time, it is also a favor to Zuo Liangyu, so that Zuo Liangyu, who has won many battles with thieves, can repay his kindness and bravely kill the enemy, so as to complete the task assigned by Emperor Chongzhen as soon as possible.

The capital is the center of power, and if it is away for a long time, its influence on the entire empire will also decline. He, Yang Sichang, is a person who wants to be Zaifu, and he can't stay outside for long. And those imperial histories in the court will also be bad and will not let him return to the capital, so he must complete the task when Emperor Chongzhen is still thinking about his old feelings, otherwise there is little hope of returning to Beijing.

Emperor Chongzhen still trusted Yang Sichang as always, and Yang Sichang's requirements were all met, and he gave Zuo Liangyu the big seal of the 'Ping Thief General', and also agreed to Yang Sichang's encirclement and suppression plan.

However, it takes time for official documents to exchange and mobilize troops, so during this period of time, Zhang Xianzhong was relatively calm here. However, the Fifth Battalion of the Left Wing was the first to start fighting here. The officers and troops raided the old camp of the 5th Battalion of Gezuo in Balijia, Guangshan, killed more than 1,000 elite thieves, and made a good start to the campaign to suppress thieves.

In Shangluo Mountain, a small village is a station of Li Zi's camp.

At this time, it was the end of November of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, and Li Zicheng had fled into this deep mountain for a year. A plague between spring and summer made Li Zicheng's team, which originally only had more than 1,000 people, now only in his early 600s. It turned out that he still wanted to raise troops with Zhang Xianzhong in May, but this plague also disrupted his plans, so he could only continue to nest in the mountains and slowly recover.

"Zicheng," Gao Yigong said: "According to our people's report, Yang Sichang has arrived in Xiangyang, arranged a big net, and surrounded Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao around Fangxian and Zhuxi. This time, God helped us, although we suffered a plague, but it did not enter Yang Sichang's net. ”

At this time, Liu Zongmin's thin cheeks were sunken, his body was damaged by the plague, and without a year and a half of recuperation, he could not recover his original strong appearance. He frowned and said, "What God is helping us?!" If you fight with the official army, you can't die so many people! ”

Yuan Zongdi persuaded: "Zong Min, you can't say that. Yang Sichang is still very powerful, this time it is surrounded from all directions, the general generals of the towns have transferred a large number, and the governor and governor have also called a lot. I think this time it is similar to the ten-sided net in the past, and Zhang Xianzhong and Cao Cao are estimated to have to suffer. ”

"Zicheng, what do you think? Tell me about it. Liu Zongmin asked.

Li Zicheng frowned, waited for a while, and then said: "Originally, we were supposed to start an incident with Zhang Xianzhong as agreed, but we suffered from the plague, so there was really no way." Now we want to echo him, and we don't have the power to do it. However, we should send someone to send a letter to Jing Xuan and make our situation here clear to him, so as not to see each other in the future. ”

"But we don't know where Zhang Xianzhong is now," Gao Guiying said: "There is such a big mountain around Fangxian and Zhuxi, and there is no one to find at all." Even if we send people, it is not certain whether we can survive the blockade of the official army. Besides, if we are caught by the officials and soldiers and our position is exposed, with our current situation, it will be a self-defeating death! ”

Gao Yigong also said: "My sister is right, we still have to think in the long run." Now the most important thing for us is to recuperate, the mountain people in the mountains are good to us, we can choose some people from them to join us and supplement our manpower. As for Zhang Xianzhong, where does he need our response now. His name, it is estimated that no one in the entire Ming Dynasty does not know it. ”

Li Zicheng looked at Liu Zongmin and asked, "Zongmin, what do you say?" ”

Liu Zongmin waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I let you say everything that makes sense, and I have nothing to say." Since everyone is not in favor of raising troops now, let's not go to war. Let's recuperate for a while and see how it goes. ”

Li Zicheng saw that Liu Zongmin no longer insisted on raising troops, so he smiled and said, "Okay, let's do it." However, we also have to send people out to check frequently, seeing that the Chinese New Year is coming, and our food is almost out of supply. The mountain people can't even feed themselves, so they don't need to give it to us. It's time to probe and get ready to go out and fetch food. ”

"Okay, I'll send someone out today." Gao Yigong agreed.

Liu Zongmin suddenly became excited, laughed, and said, "I should have done this a long time ago!" This time, I want to personally lead the team and go out to the event to move my muscles! After a year in the mountains and half a year in the house, my bones felt moldy. It's best to find a corrupt official this time, so that you can kill some people, see blood, and go to bad luck! ”