Henan, northeast of Neixiang County, Xuejiazhai.

They were still in Song County a few days ago, and then they went all the way south and came to the inner township. I don't know if I don't come, originally they thought that there was a famine in Henan, and they came to have problems surviving. But after coming to Henan, they found that the situation was not so bad, although the people were short of grain, but the landlords and the county still had a lot of grain. Moreover, Henan is famous for many vassal kings, these vassal kings are rich one by one, and their fields and water conservancy facilities are much better, and they are less affected by natural disasters.

There is also a benefit to the lack of food for the people, that is, the displaced people are everywhere, and now there are countless large and small bandits and bandits in various parts of Henan. There are Li Jiyu, Yidougu and others in the west, Yuan Shizhong in the north of the Yellow River, Liu Hongqi, Zhou Jiali and others in the south, and Li Zhenhai, Fang Wenyu and others in the east. Although a dragon is dead, Yuan Laoshan is still there. The situation here is the same as that of Shaanxi and Shanxi, where they rebelled back then, and there are large and small camps everywhere, whether it is a single or joint venture, it is a good choice.

Li Zicheng and they camped in the distance, and their three hundred cavalry had just run over, and they wanted to rest and not rush to attack.

"Zicheng, I'll take someone to attack in a while." Liu Zongmin said to Li Zicheng, who was sitting by the bonfire.

Li Zicheng said: "Let's fight again tomorrow, the children are tired and have to rest for a while." ”

Liu Zongmin frowned and said, "Isn't that to prepare the people inside?" Let's fight first. ”

Li Zicheng was helpless and asked Li Guo, "How are you resting?" ”

"It's nothing, it's just a fortress, there should be no problem." Li Guoman said nonchalantly.

"Okay, then in two quarters of an hour, let's attack the village." Li Zicheng said.

Liu Zongmin was finally happy, and took a branch to pick up the fire even more vigorously. After that, he asked, "The person we sent back to deliver the letter must have arrived almost as well, right?" ”

Li Zicheng silently calculated the time in his heart, nodded and said, "If the old camp hadn't been transferred, it should have almost arrived." ”

"If they come directly to Xichuan, they will be able to come over in five or six days." Liu Zongmin nodded and said.

Li Zicheng said: "Let's rest here for a few days, and we will also go to Xichuan to wait, and they will meet when they come." After that, he instructed Li Guo: "Go and give orders to my brothers, so that they can get ready." ”

Li Guo stood up and went to convey the order to the troops, while Liu Zongmin asked for dry food from his own soldiers and ate it in large gulps.

Two quarters of an hour later, Li Zicheng's subordinates were all ready, armed with weapons and ready to attack. And Xuejiazhai has already been prepared, the villagers of the village have all gone up to the wall, and the people have also been gathered, distributed weapons, and coordinated to guard the fortress.

Liu Zongmin took the lead and led more than 100 of his subordinates to rush to the west of the stockade on foot, while the other more than 100 cavalry followed behind. They all carried riding bows, and the range was not long enough, so they had to get close to the wall sixty or seventy paces.

However, the township soldiers on the wall of the wall used foot bows, and because Li Zicheng had few of them, they could only attack on one side, so the guards of Xuejiazhai were more calm.

Feathered arrows flew from the wall, most of them falling to the ground, some nailed to the shields held by the cavalry, but a few still hit the attacking soldiers. Although most of the soldiers were wearing armor, after a long period of wandering and fleeing, their armor was also somewhat tattered, and several soldiers had already been shot down.

But Liu Zongmin still shouted, commanding his subordinates to continue to attack, and they finally rushed to the bottom of the wall. They didn't have a ladder, but fortunately, the wall was not high, only more than eight feet high, and they could go up as long as they built a human wall.

As soon as they hid under the wall, several jars were thrown out of the wall, and the canisters contained fire oil. After the oil splashed out of the broken jar, several torches were thrown down from the wall, and the fire burned under the wall. Several of the cavalrymen were glued with fire oil and had a large fire on their bodies. The cavalry hurriedly rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire, but to little avail. They were burned and screamed.

"Help them put out the fire!" Liu Zongmin ordered loudly.

The soldiers in the vicinity hurriedly tried to extinguish the fire, some with their feet, some with shields, but the effect was not great.

At this time, arrows continued to be fired at the head of the city, on the one hand, suppressing the enemy archers in the distance, and on the other hand, firing arrows at the enemy under the wall.

Liu Zongmin protected his body with a shield, and commanded helplessly: "Withdraw, retreat!" ”

The cavalrymen abandoned their companions, shielded themselves with shields, and quickly retreated.

"How many casualties?!" Li Yan asked Liu Zongmin, who had withdrawn. Although he watched the battle from the rear, the exact casualties were not yet known.

Liu Zongmin still put the long knife on the ground, and scolded and said: "He @ mom @! This village is very bad! Actually with fire oil! When the stockade is broken, it must all be slaughtered! This time six were wounded and nine died. ”

"Let's wait until tomorrow to attack." Li Zicheng took a deep breath and ordered.

This time, Liu Zongmin no longer objected, and sat by the bonfire angrily. Li Guo also came back dejected, there were only three hundred of them in total, these were all old brothers, it was a pity to lose one, let alone fifteen casualties.

Sichuan, Mianzhou (Mianyang).

Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai were marching to Mianzhou. They originally wanted to go back to Shaanxi, but He Renlong had just returned to Shaanxi and was sent to Chaotian Pass to guard them, so they had no way to go north. So they had no choice but to continue south, passing through Jiange and Zitong County all the way, fighting a few battles, and killing the deputy generals Luo Wanxiang, Han Guangrong, Liu Gui, Tan Yi, etc. He also defeated the pursuing He Renlong, Li Guoqi, and killed the sweeping king who surrendered before, which can be regarded as a brilliant journey and a victorious advance.

"Jing Xuan," Luo Rucai said to Zhang Xianzhong on the horse: "This is not good, the officers and soldiers behind have been chasing us, and it will be troublesome if we are caught up." ”

Zhang Xianzhong said indifferently: "Those guys, let them chase them." I think they can catch up?! Fierce as a tiger, but it doesn't have so much prestige, so the officers and soldiers who are short of pay and food have been chasing us. ”

Luo Rucai thought about it and felt that it was the same reason. So he nodded and said, "Then run, see who can outrun whom." ”

"Cao Cao, this Sichuan is rich in flowing oil, Chengdu has fertile land, there are salt wells in the south, and everywhere is gold and silver. You have also seen the officers and soldiers in Sichuan, the armor is broken, the morale is low, and they are completely vulnerable. Zhang Xianzhong said proudly.

Luo Rucai shook his head and said: "Then we can't relax, if we are caught up by the official army, we will be in danger." ”

"Let's take one step at a time, it's a big deal for us to go back to Huguang, anyway, the officers and troops are behind us, and there are not many troops there." Zhang Xianzhong said casually.