The winter in the south is different from the north, the snow on the ground is only over the instep, the river surface is not frozen for a long time, the cold wind is bitingly cold, on the east bank of the Han River, early in the morning, there are two armored cavalry lined up in a horizontal formation opposite each other, the queue extends to a big tent, about a mile from the shore is the camp of the left army, along the wooden fence is full of flags, behind the faint sword and spear flashing cold light.

Zuo Liangyu arrived at the riverside ahead of schedule, and while looking south, he was worried - Zuo Ying's current situation is too difficult, 300,000 people are blocked in Zhongxiang, and there is a huge consumption every day but no supplies. While he was thinking, the sound of horses' hooves was heard in the distance, and he glanced at his camp and strode up to meet it.

Li Yu jumped off the horse, looked at the few people walking on the opposite side, recognized Zuo Liangyu among them, and shouted loudly and walked over: "Brother Zuo, your appearance has not changed, and your spirit is more sufficient." ”

"I'm old, my head is full of white hair, and I may not be able to ride a horse in a few years, but you are still young and promising," Zuo Liangyu held Li Yu's hand and beckoned to a middle-aged officer beside him: "Huzi, don't hurry up and give a salute, this is Li Hanmin, who is often mentioned by his father, and the big hero who fights Dongyu." ”

Zuo Mengeng, the son of Zuo Liangyu, called Uncle Shi to bow down and give a big salute, Li Yu hurriedly stopped him, Zuo Liangyu held down Li Yu's hand: "Let the dog bow down, Han Min, the Zuo family is unfortunate, the whole family died in the Xuzhou mutiny, only Huzi was spared by my side, the Zuo family has this lone seedling left, if there is an accident in the elder brother, Huzi will entrust it to you." ”

Zuo Liangyu's eyes turned red as he spoke, Li Yu comforted him a few words, and introduced his entourage - Zanhua Military Affairs Cao Bianjiao, Staff Officer Zhang Zhiyao, and Auxiliary Commander Hui Dengxiang, Zuo Liangyu also introduced the "Four Great Generals of the Left Battalion" around him - Lu Guangzu, Li Guoying, Jin Shengheng, and Xu Yong. The soldiers were refreshing, some were still acquaintances, and everyone went into the big tent and sat down together, talking and laughing.

Li Yu asked Lu Guangzu, Li Guoying, and Xu Yong in Liaodong dialect: "Listen to the accent, the three of you are from Liaodong, right?" ”

"The last generals and others are all from Liaodong, and they were transferred from Beijing to Zuo Shuai on the orders of the Ministry of War." Li Guoying's eyes lit up and he replied.

"I was with Huang Degong a few days ago, do you know him?"

"We were originally in Shanhaiguan, and Chongzhen was transferred to Beijing in the second year, not only did we know Huang Shuai, but also knew Zhou Yuji, Ren Shouzhong, and Ding Chenglu from your department, are they okay?" Lu Guangzu asked excitedly.

"Zhou Yuji and Ren Shouzhong have come to Huguang this time, maybe you can meet each other, Ding Chenglu died in Dushikou a few years ago against Dongyu, and died very heroically!" Li Yu replied with emotion, and the three Liaodong people bowed their heads gloomily.

"It is the duty of a soldier to die on the battlefield, what do you do when you are downcast?" Zuo Liangyu drank softly, and said solemnly to Li Yu: "Han Min, the situation in Zuoying can't hide from you, 300,000 people, if you fall into the hands of thieves, you will definitely do evil from thieves, you can only take them away, Huguang is also relatively rich in Wuchang, where can I go if I don't go to Wuchang?" You can rest assured, Zuo Ying's arrival in Wuchang will not hinder your business, Zuo will also remember your personal feelings, and he will definitely repay you in the future. ”

"Naturalized Bo, Zuo Shuai and we discussed, your department occupies Hanyang, guarding the north of the Yangtze River, our department occupies Wuchang, guarding the south of the Yangtze River, the two armies echo the north and south, and join hands with the outside world, then the vast lake can be determined, and my left battalion will keep its promise and never go to the river, even if the naturalized Bo returns to the north, the north of the Yangtze River is also yours." Li Guoying added.

Datong shook their heads together, and Cao Bianjiao said with a little mockery: "It is a heinous crime to privately divide the territory of the imperial court, you dare to do it but we dare not accompany you, I said in Xiangyang, you only have two ways, either stick to Xiangyang, or accept the reorganization, since Xiangyang is lost, it is better to consider how to reorganize." ”

"You guys have already grabbed the territory, and you're embarrassed to talk about us," Zuo Mengeng was furious, he had a few quarrels with Cao Bianjiao in Xiangyang, and he spoke without scruples, "My Zuo Ying is a dignified and upright officer and army, what are you, you want to reorganize us, dream!" Cao Shuzi, you are just a defeated general who survives secretly, don't be too arrogant! ”

"Zuo Huzi, you dare to look down on me, Lao Tzu bled to suppress the thief Pingkou, what did you do? Let me tell you, my marshal has ordered the prime minister of Henan and Huguang to suppress thieves and military affairs, and if you dare to disobey, you will be guilty of chaos. Cao Bianjiao jumped up and shouted.

"I, what kind of prime minister suppresses thieves and military affairs, it's just a false name given by the imperial court, the ghost is serious, in the end, you are still a northern captive." Zuo Mengeng was arrogant, and he said nonsense without covering his mouth, Zuo Liangyu frequently made his eyes look at him, and he couldn't wait to rush up and beat him.

Datong people were enraged, pointed at Zuo Mengeng and scolded, but his hand involuntarily touched the handle of the knife, and several generals of the left battalion were a little nervous, and they turned their eyes to Zuo Liangyu together. Zuo Liangyu's face was ugly, his eyes stared at Li Yu and said: "Hanmin, I'm getting old, my health is getting worse and worse, I won't live for a few years, Huguang is still yours after all, why are you in a hurry, you think you can monopolize Huguang without me!" Anyway, the old man would like to hear how you reorganize the left battalion. ”

"Wuchang can't feed your 300,000 people, you have to get rid of this burden as soon as possible, all the people are released, those who want to stay are in the nearest Tuntian, and if you want to go back to Xiangyang to surrender to the thieves, he will also be relieved, the army, it is enough to keep 10,000 elites, and the others will be dismissed," Li Yu coldly observed the changes in the tent, turned his face to Zuo Liangyu and said, "Huguang can't afford to raise too many soldiers, the Zuo battalion must accept the reorganization, the elder brother will take Huzi to Shanxi to rest for a while, and then come out to lead the troops when he is well." ”

"What if I don't agree?"

"Forced reorganization!"

There was silence in the big tent for a long time, Li Yu stood up and said, "You guys discuss it again, you must give a clear answer before dawn tomorrow, and we will leave first." ”

"Hanmes, my brother must go to Wuchang, I'm sorry, please come with me," Zuo Liangyu stood up and grabbed Li Yu suddenly, then threw out the teacup and shouted, "Come on, leave the guests behind!" ”

The two pro-soldiers behind Zuo Liangyu and Mo Rige and Gao Heizi behind Li Yu moved almost at the same time, Zuo Liangyu's pro-soldiers pulled out their knives, but the other party felt out a double-barreled short gun, two bangs, and the two masters fell to the ground in front of the door, and almost at the same time, the two pro-soldiers of Zuo Liangyu at the door were also shot down by Wutai and Guitu with short guns. At this time, there was a smoke of gunpowder outside the tent, and the personal guard posts of the Flying Tiger Battalion each carried four double-barreled horses, facing the cavalry of the left army with knives, almost one hit one by one, after a crackling sound, the cavalry of the left army fled except for a few, and the others were shot and fell off their horses.

Zuo Mengeng saw that the situation was not good, and with a strange scream, he raised his knife and rushed towards Li Yu, but was kicked over by Cao Bianjiao's oblique stab, and the Flying Tiger rode in and tied up this guy. The situation changed too quickly, Lu Guangzu, Li Guoying, Xu Yong, Jin Shengheng drew their knives in their hands but were at a loss, Hui Dengxiang snatched Jin Shengheng's knife, scolded angrily, "A bucket of Su, you want to die", and pulled him to his side casually, Lu Guangzu and the three suddenly woke up, immediately threw the knife, and pretended to come to Li Yu's side to persuade him to fight - the legendary fire happened, and the bosses on both sides fought for territory, but they were officers appointed by the imperial court, and they were not the members of the Zuo family, so they couldn't give their lives in vain.

Fooled, people get up early to kill, but I just want to take hostages, and I will suffer a loss if I do it first, strangely, how can their bird guns be beaten without lighting fire? Hu Qi should be pretending to be holding a bird gun - Zuo Liangyu was held up to his head by a few horse guns, he was angry and remorseful, and he glared at Li Yu and said hatefully: "Li Yuzi, you are so ruthless, let my father and son go immediately, otherwise the court will not be able to spare you." ”

"Brother Zuo, don't worry, I won't kill your father and son, I will hand you over to the governor, and I will accompany you to the court to fight the lawsuit." Li Yu replied lightly.

The Han River was lively, the left army rushed out of the camp on foot, and the black pressure rushed to the shore, and the Shen family's fleet, which had been hidden on the west bank in advance, also hurried over, shooting at the left army with a lifting gun, and at the same time putting down the sampan to meet their own people.

The guards are all brave men of the Mongolian, Manchu and Han tribes, and the arrows bite the flesh, the left army is constantly shot and killed, and he is afraid to move forward, Zuo Mengeng is anxious and shouted: "Sons, the northern captives kidnapped the old handsome and rushed up to kill them!" ”

Zhang Zhiyao blocked Zuo Mengeng's mouth and shouted to Zuo Jun: "The emperor has an order, Zuo Liangyu resists the decree and does not respect Xiangyang, and orders the governor of Huguang to arrest and discuss the crime, and the others will not be asked, if there is resistance, it will be regarded as complicity." ”

The hat of rebellion did not dare to wear casually, the left army hesitated, at this moment, there was an earth-shattering shout of killing behind him, the main force of the Datong army rushed into the camp, the people were so frightened that they ran around, and the soldiers who took care of them were scattered, and the left army camp was in chaos - the left army was divided into five battalions and five battalions, and the first five battalions were Zuo Liangyu's elite pro-army, with enough food and equipment, but there were only four or five thousand people, all protecting the commander by the river, and the last five battalions were the soldiers and bandits collected by Zuo Liangyu. Without Zuo Liangyu, they were like a rabble, and more than 20,000 people were driven to the riverside by the Datong army almost without resistance.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the left army, Li Yu and the personal guard post quickly evacuated the east bank and boarded the Shen family's big ship. Looking at the chaotic left army by the river, Li Yu shook his head again and again, no wonder Zuo Liangyu didn't dare to fight Li Zicheng, the appearance of the left army was really not as good as a thief.

"Send someone to tell Lao Shuai to end the battle before dark, and quickly inform Zhou Yuji and Hu Dawei that there is no need to come to Zhongxiang, and take Suizhou and Zaoyang down for me." Li Yu turned to Zhang Zhiyao and gave an order, and then said to Lu Guangzu and other "four generals of the left battalion", "Zuo Liangyu is guilty, but it has nothing to do with others, you go and call the old troops to return to obedience, so as not to hurt the innocent when our army moves." ”

There were about 20,000 people in the left army on the riverside, and they got together to quarrel with each other, most of them had done mutiny, desertion, but they were weak in their hearts, and the people of the first five battalions advocated making a big deal and coercing the other party to return to the old Shangguan, while the people of the fifth battalion did not want to make trouble for themselves, and advocated that whoever was the official should listen to him -- when the Datong army was murderous and pressed to the riverside, the left army felt that something was wrong, and heard the hoarse shouts of the "four generals of the left battalion", most of them threw down their weapons and ran away, but the people of the first five battalions were still taking the lead in wielding knives and guns to continue the demonstration.

"Almost, the remaining five or six thousand people should be the sworn friends of the left thieves, surround them and shoot them all." Du Wenhuan held his clairvoyance and observed for a while, then gave a military order with a sneer.

The Datong army used the usual squeezing tactics, and gradually compressed the left army into a ball, with the rapid sound of the military horn, the overwhelming rain of arrows scattered on the left army, and then the fire guns also began to fire in turns, and the left officers and soldiers were almost powerless to fight back, and fell one by one - this rotten army deserved it, and the Ming court lost a watchdog again.

Zuo Liangyu's father and son were escorted to Xianling, and Song Yihe and Li Zhensheng, who were waiting to see the excitement, were stunned - Zuo Liangyu turned out to be a prisoner, and this invincible guy was over? The army is on fire, and the court will not ignore it, one of them is the governor and the other is the patrol, and they will definitely not be able to escape the suspicion of the mastermind behind the scenes, and they will not be able to wash it away by jumping into the Yellow River.

"The two adults have always hated Zuo Liangyu for disturbing the people, and the commander arrested their father and son, and now they are handed over to the two adults for disposal, and about 20,000 officers and soldiers in the left department have returned to obedience, and the Huguang officers and soldiers are short of people, and they have also been handed over to the two adults for containment." Li Yu said very generously.

"Li Hanmin, you are responsible for the trouble, Hugh has to involve the two of us too." Song Yihe pointed at Li Yu and shouted,

"No, I'm going to Xiangyang tomorrow, and I can't take care of things here." Li Yu shook his head and left.

"What about Zhong Xiang? Naturalized uncle, you can't leave us alone! Li Zhensheng remembered something more important.

"Du Laoshuai stays in Zhongxiang." Li Yutou didn't answer.

Song Yihe and Li Zhensheng discussed with a sad face - the fire happened right under their noses, and they said that if they didn't know, no one would believe it, this pit could only jump, Zuo Liangyu was ruthless, and he had an outlaw in his hand, if he turned over, he would definitely retaliate, and he must let this person die immediately, and he must complete the iron case.

Li Zhensheng ran to the camp of the Datong Army overnight and brought the four people of the "Four Great Generals of the Left Battalion" Lu Guangzu for questioning, and these four people also told the truth - Zuo Liangyu did say that he would occupy Wuchang and support the troops to stand on his own, and he did arrange a large number of ambushes in advance to prepare to kidnap Guihuabo, and when the accident happened, Zuo Liangyu was the first to move, and they didn't know anything else, only Zuo Liangyu himself said it clearly.

That's enough, Li Zhensheng recorded his confession and immediately played to the court: Zuo Liangyu plotted against him to occupy Wuchang, and designed to kidnap the naturalized uncle, but he was defeated by the courage of the naturalized uncle, the father and son were captured, and his dead friend was cut off. A few days later, Song Yihe played to the court again: On the way to send Zuo Liangyu and his son, he was suddenly attacked by robbers of unknown origin, and Zuo's father and son took advantage of the chaos to escape, and were killed on the spot by the escort soldiers - Zuo Liangyu and his son are dead, this fire cannot be solved, and the court will not be stupid enough to offend another army leader for a dead ghost.

Yicheng, located on the west bank of the Han River, the city is not big but it is a traffic point, along the Han River can be north of Xiangyang, south of Jingzhou, by land can reach Zaoyang, Suizhou, west to Gucheng, Yunyang. The Datong army cleaned up Zuo Liangyu, and the old marshal led the 10,000 auxiliary soldiers of Shanxi Zuo Xie and Wang Zhong to stay in Zhongxiang, and at the same time contained and reorganized the rest of Zuo Liangyu and the people who were coerced, while Li Yu led the main force to feint Xiangyang City, trying to attract thieves to return from Jingzhou for reinforcements, and then intercepted and killed them halfway. Yicheng is the only way for the Datong army to rush to Xiangyang, the thieves defending the city found the banner of the Datong army, immediately hid in the city to defend it, and refused to surrender, the Datong army had to prepare to fight the most ungood siege war.

The thieves drove the people to the city, and kept pouring water and freezing on the city walls, the casualties in the city were too great, and it would take about ten days to bombard the city with artillery, and the time could not be delayed, this battle was not easy to fight-Li Yu stood on the bow of the ship and observed carefully for a while before muttering to himself.

"President, I can take some brothers to dive into Shuicheng, and then set a few fires to attack Yicheng." A stout, short guy leaned over and said in a strange voice.

"The weather is too cold, people can't last long in the water, forget it, Shen Taro, it's not easy for you brothers to earn some money, you can't lose your life in vain." Li Yu felt unsure, shook his head and reached out to pat Shen Taro's shoulder, but he didn't pay attention to pat this guy's head.

"It's Japan, not the Japanese country, we have six or seven hundred poor brothers from Japan in Shandong, everyone likes the Federation, President, you should call us Japanese brothers." Shen Taro covered his head and shouted-this guy is said to be born in a Japanese nobleman, but he is so poor that he is willing to be a pirate in order to have enough to eat, and after being captured by the Shen family's fleet, he became a housekeeper.

"Shen Taro, did you earn money to go back to Japan?" Li Yu quipped.

"My hometown is too poor, it is better to stay in Shandong to earn military merits, and in a few years I can become a citizen of the Federation, President, do you think Japan can join the Federation? Our Japanese brothers are looking forward to it. Shen Taro said seriously.

"Don't talk nonsense, you turn the bow of the ship right away, it's time for us to go back to the camp." Li Yu frowned and hurriedly sent this guy away.

A group of gentry and landlords are waiting in the camp - the local gentry are eager to destroy the thieves, and they are also thinking of a way to attack Yicheng, and the Lai Juren led by Lai Juren suggested to Li Yu that they can buy the locals to open the city gate, and a hundred stone meters can almost be done.

"I'm short of food, can I give this an idea?" Li Yu thought for a while, and waved his hand to ask Gao Heizi to bring a cloth bag.

Lai Juren took out a handful of silver coins from his pocket, patted his chest with a smile and said, "Uncle Guihua, don't worry, Yicheng will arrive tomorrow." ”

In the early morning of the next day, someone in the city quietly opened the city gate, and the Datong army took Yicheng lightly, and then came the news that Zhou Yuji and Hu Dawei took Suizhou and Zaoyang, and the morale of the whole army was greatly boosted, and Jin Shengheng volunteered to contact Wang Guangen, the "King of Little Qin", in order to form a trend of attacking Xiangyang from the east, west and south - Wang Guangen was also a thief, and was recruited by the imperial court to garrison Yunyang, and the thieves were repelled by him twice in the siege, and he was also a tough guy.

The attack on Xiangyang was imminent, and the local gentry also brought in a team to help in the battle, and the thieves could not be separated from the support of the locals, so Li Yu of course greeted him with a smile.

"Hermes-Epitek, do you still recognize me?" An officer wearing an eye patch approached.

Li Yu looked at the man for a while, and hugged him suddenly: "Brother Ma, I really didn't expect to see you again!" ”