The frontal battlefield is not alarming, the guns and arrows of the Datong army are too powerful, and they are like shooting hard as if they don't need money, especially the giant array wall not only can't penetrate the guns, but also can move back and forth, and it is connected together to be an active copper wall and iron wall, hiding behind to shoot arrows and guns, and the thieves can't get close at all. This battle was too bloody, the corpses of the rebels were piled up, the people were scared, no matter how much they coaxed and intimidated, they did not want to die in vain, and the soldiers were forcibly driven into battle, but these guys were too smart, and they were grinding and grinding halfway, and they said good things to the opposite side, threw flattering eyes, and even blackmailed the old rebels who supervised the war. The rebels were red-eyed, and the leaders of each family pieced together three or four thousand old people to charge, but they were killed by a counterattack of more than 500, and the leaders were reluctant to go out anymore.

This kind of battle will cost a lot of money if it goes on - Li Zicheng was a little remorseful, and secretly glanced at Luo Rucai beside him, this guy has always opposed this battle, how can he be dumb when he should say it, there are some things that you should say in the second master, he cleared his throat and asked: "Brother Luo, you are Cao Cao in my righteous army, you are the best at fighting, what do you say you should do now?" The younger brother listened attentively. ”

"My brother is getting older, and he is a good woman, good wine or something, his brain is getting worse and worse, and he can't see the good or bad in front of him. Of course, Luo Rucai understood what Li Zicheng meant, but he would never say it for him - this kind of person who is very deep in the city has to be on guard, maybe he will slaughter the bad debts on your head one day.

Li Zicheng was silent for a while, and then spoke: "My righteous army is strong and strong, but it can't take these tens of thousands of northern captives for a long time, and the leaders of each family are not united, how can a plate of loose sand fight a tough battle?" I think we must unify the military system and military orders, Brother Luo, what do you say. ”

You Lao Li doesn't know the height of the sky, today to fight Luoyang, tomorrow to open the seal, a few victories on the tail, really think that he is strong and strong, he deserves to defeat the battle, and he doesn't want to annex other people's teams - Luo Rucai was secretly angry in his heart, and replied with a smile: "King Chuang wants to do great things, of course, he must unify the military system and military orders, but it is not easy for the old brothers to create a family business, everything has to be discussed and done, our righteous army is the most important to talk about the word "righteousness", and if the rules are broken, they will be punished!" ”

Li Zicheng snorted, turned his face and didn't say anything, Luo Rucai thought about it, and felt that it was better to remind: "King Chuang, since the beginning of my righteous army, the elite soldiers and strong generals of each family have either died at the hands of the officials and soldiers, or accepted the imperial court's recruitment, or defected to Fengzhou outside the Guan, although there are many people and horses, but they are all ordinary people and soldiers, and the combat power is not as good as before, and they can win a few battles in Henan, all because the combat power of the official army is declining faster, we just take advantage of the situation to pick up the cheap, but it is impossible to fight a tough battle, I think it is better to take advantage of the inability of the imperial court to suppress and find a place to recuperate, Let the brothers also have a good life for a few days. ”

After Li Zicheng's rebellion, he was almost always chased and beaten by the official army, and at the worst time, there were only a dozen people left around him, and he finally turned over and fought a few beautiful battles, but Luo Rucai said that he was picking up cheap, and his face turned pale with anger, and he kicked the stool over. Luo Rucai didn't care, turned around and left-everything that should be said has been said, it's up to you whether you listen or not, you will lose this battle, Cao Ying's men and horses are ready, when the time comes, just leave, don't blame me for not being righteous.

After noon, news came from the southern front that the rebels suffered heavy casualties and could not advance, and Li Guo was also wounded and fell into a coma - Li Zicheng was silent for a long time, and found Tian Jianxiu and Wu Ruyi to whisper a few words, and Tian and Wu hurriedly left with grim faces.

The thieves' offensive suddenly intensified, the bandits brandished knives and spears and slashed indiscriminately, hoarsely drove the people, surrendered troops into battle, and dragged a few kilograms of artillery forward - several walls of the Great Synchronization Association were knocked down, and the thieves rushed to the gap like a tide, Sun Siwang rushed up with his personal guard post to block desperately, and two thousand auxiliary archers also approached and shot, but the thieves had no way to retreat, and the fallen one was driven up again, and the corpses were piled up several layers thickly, and they were still surging forward.

"Old handsome, I'm afraid Sun Siwang won't be able to stand it, let's go up, the battle has been fought so far, and the infantry Zuo Xie has not opened the meat, which has suffocated the brothers." Sun Shoufa and Qin Hu ran up the embankment to ask Du Wenhuan for battle.

"Lao Sun is also a general, and a group of rabble can't defeat him," Du Wenhuan observed the battle situation in front of him, and felt a little strange in his heart, the thieves were faint, even if they didn't care about human life, they shouldn't waste their troops so much, and thought about it and said to Mao Yuanyi behind him, "Order Wu Lao Ba to adjust the artillery to fight the bandits behind, kill as much as possible, and give Sun Siwang another order, it is really unbearable, and allow him to retreat to the battle formation of the auxiliaries." ”

"What about us?" Sun Shoufa and Qin Hu hurriedly asked.

"Wait and see."

Sun Siwang insisted for more than an hour and finally couldn't stand it, the Great Synchronous Association retreated to the battle formation of the auxiliary troops, and the defensive strength increased suddenly after the two divisions met, and the thieves wedged into the defense line of the Datong Army, but they were unable to attack again, but they were attacked on three sides - the frontal Great Synchronous Association continued to counterattack under the cover of the auxiliary troops, and the artillery association on the Yellow River embankment in the north condescended to fire a salvo, and the infantry rear association in the south also repeatedly attacked and harassed. More than 10,000 thieves sat and waited to be killed, but the thieves didn't care, not only no one rescued the team, but even the bandits who supervised the battle behind them also withdrew, and there were signs of restlessness in the army camp at the same time - no, don't the thieves want to fight, Du Wenhuan felt puzzled, looked up at the sky, and resolutely ordered to light the wolf smoke that called the police.

"Sun Shoufa and Qin Hu obey the order, the infantry Zuo Xie will go to battle immediately, you must bite the thieves for me, Xue Zongzhou, Jiang Tianyi, you lead people to shout to the thieves and order them to disarm and surrender, otherwise they will all be shot and killed, and no one will be left!" Du Wenhuan no longer hesitated.

The infantry Left Association is the main offensive force of the Datong Army, and it is a fierce tiger when it is released, and the deputy assistant commander Qin Hu led Yuan Lie's left battalion in the center, Du Hongguo's middle camp, and He Jinlong's left battalion as the two wings, and the three sharp knives were inserted into the thieves at the same time, almost at the same time, Li Yu commanded the Flying Tiger Battalion of the southern front, the cavalry Left Association, the Infantry Front Association, and the Shanxi Left Association to launch an attack on the thief Liu Zongmin's department, and the Infantry Rear Association, the Great Synchronization Association, and the Gun Association also began to encircle and annihilate the thieves who refused to surrender.

Li Zicheng thought about it again and again or decided to preserve his strength, the military advisor Gu Junen and Gao Yigong, Yuan Zongdi and other departments and the old battalion of the righteous army are stationed in Nanyang Mansion, which is a mountainous area in western Henan, the terrain is complex and easy to flow, and the locals are more obedient, so it is more appropriate to withdraw there, although the Datong army is strong, but the strength is insufficient, and the cavalry is not suitable for mountain combat, and it is easy to fight when chasing into the mountains - after figuring it out, Li Zicheng intended to feint and attack, and by the way, he stuffed a piece of meat into the mouth of the Datong army, but secretly he was preparing to retreat, but he didn't expect the other party to turn defense into attack, Bite him and don't let go, this is too much, although your Datong army is strong, but if you eat me, you have to support yourself, what good will it do you to die together.

Li Zicheng was angry and was about to arrange for the rebel army to counterattack, but Song Xiance hurriedly ran over and whispered to him - Luo Rucai led the army to retreat west, and at the same time took away Xiao Yuan's camp. This news was like a thunderbolt from the sky, Li Zicheng was stunned, although Cao Cao was cunning, he was righteous and responsible, and he would never be a coward for no reason, something must have happened.

"Cao Shuai has withdrawn, we have also withdrawn, we must be fast!" Li Zicheng no longer hesitated, Cao Cao was the most responsive in battle, and it was right to follow him.

Cao Ying ran, and then broke into the camp and ran, the leaders of all walks of life followed in a swarm of chasing, the righteous army was instantly defeated like a mountain, the bandits on horses and donkeys took the lead in fleeing, the abandoned people were stupidly at a loss, the troops were the most clever, threw their weapons, and greeted the liberation with tears in their eyes. The Datong army was dumbfounded, 300,000 people, if you say defeated, you will be defeated?

The sound of horses' hooves was heard in the east, and soon countless three-color black eagle flags appeared in the sky—our iron horses arrived, and the Datong army cheered.

The Second Route Army led by Zhao Ji and Ge Kuli has been hiding in the mountains, and immediately rushed to Yanjindu after receiving the order to attack, crossed the Yellow River on the pontoon bridge seized by the Shanxi auxiliaries, and pounced on Zhengzhou non-stop, but it was still a step late, so that the big and small thieves fled with the bandits - Luo Rucai, the old thief, was too shrewd, and sent a large number of scouts to patrol along the Yellow River, and immediately fled after receiving the report that Datong Tie rode across the Yellow River, and by the way, he also saved Li Zicheng and his gang.

"Hermes-Epitek, where are the thieves? This place is full of soldiers and ordinary people, how can my Sixie Iron Cavalry be used to fight these miscellaneous soldiers. Zhao Ji was a little dissatisfied.

"The thief ran west with the bandits," Li Yu was also remorseful, the thief was ruthless enough, he left the people and ran, he hesitated a little, and let the guys escape, gritted his teeth and said, "Can't let these thieves go, the old man is here to contain the prisoners, you and I will take the iron horse to the west to chase and kill." ”

The Iron Cavalry pursued westward like a whirlwind, and thousands of thieves were fleeing along the way, some of them resisted desperately, and many more surrendered on the ground. Li Yu became angry and ordered the whole army to kill all those who possessed weapons, carried livestock, and spoke with foreign accents among the captives, and the others were all dispersed. This order was issued, the iron cavalry immediately opened a killing ring, killing nearly 10,000 people all the way, and hit Jiaxian within four days, at this time suddenly it rained rain, the road was muddy, and the Datong army did not dare to go any further, and returned to Zhengzhou along the original road.

Li Yu returned to the Zhengzhou camp, but found that someone was sitting in his big tent of the Chinese army giving orders, Mao Yuanyi and Yang Tinglin were still respectfully talking, Li Yu, Zhao Ji, and Ge Curry were about to enter the account, and Du Wenhuan waved them aside.

"The military squire of the military department, the governor of Henan, and the military affairs of the towns of Huguang are here, the great celebrity, you can't see the shadow when you are fighting, and you will jump out as soon as the battle is over," Du Wenhuan looked happy, saw that Li Yu was a little unhappy, put away his smile and said seriously, "He came just in time, this battle captured 1780,000 prisoners, and there were a lot of thief bones mixed in it, if you don't kill it, you can't do it, this guy will kill people as soon as he comes, and he will kill 5,000 people, and finish the dirty work for us." ”

"Did our people do it?" Zhao Ji asked.

"I only sent Xue Zongzhou and Jiang Tian to listen to his dispatch, and the others did not show up, so he had to transfer the soldiers of Chen Yongfu, the chief soldier of Henan, to do it, and most of the officers and soldiers were also from Henan.

Save trouble, and there are people who carry the black pot for themselves, Li Yu also smiled: "Since this is the case, then hand over all the captives to this Lord Hou, isn't he also from Henan, there is always a way to settle the people." ”

"I can't hand it over, the surname Hou just kills people, doesn't care about raising people, and persuades the people to go home to celebrate the festival for the country, it's all a bunch of, the people are not stupid, they go home and have a dead end, leaving three meals of porridge to drink every day, but we can't afford it for too long."

Li Yu was stunned for a while, sighed and walked towards the big tent, Hou Sui was sitting on the handsome chair and laughing, looked up and found a thin and tall man entering the big tent, and immediately guessed who this person was.

"You are Li Shuai, Hou Sui, the right attendant of the Governor's Military Department, what are you doing when you don't go after the Liukou and come back, there is this Governor in charge, you just have to do your best to suppress the thieves." Hou Sui said with a straight face.

"This is Ben Shuai's big tent, can you sit on this chair, come on, change the place for this Lord Hou to sit." Li Yu shouted with his hands behind his back.

Before Hou Sui could speak, Mo Rige and Gao Heizi unceremoniously put him on a stool next to him, Li Yu swaggered and sat on the handsome chair, Hou Sui was angry, a martial artist actually dared to be rude to him, a famous man today, this is worth it, pointing at Li Yu and shouting angrily: "You, you are rude and rude, Hou was ordered to be the governor of Henan and Huguang military affairs, not only did you disobey military orders, but also dared to despise Shangguan, where is the law of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

"Fart, Lao Tzu is the naturalized uncle of Qinfeng, the prime minister of Henan, Huguang to suppress thieves and military affairs, I am your superior, let me ask you, since Ben Shuai entered Henan, why didn't you come to visit?" Li Yu was furious, this Hou Sui was said to have participated in the conspiracy of Guoyang and the sneak attack on the Fengzhou army, and there was no need to worry about it after many years, but this guy was too crazy and angered Li Yu all of a sudden.

"Nonsense, I am the Shangguan, do you understand the court, how can there be a reason in the world for military generals to dominate Wenchen?"

"Bastard, I can't even control you, then the prime minister is a fart to suppress bandit military affairs, beat you dozens of military sticks, and you will know who is the official."

Li Yu and Hou Sui scolded each other, the people in the big tent looked at each other, wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, Liu Wenzhong heard the noise and ran to see the excitement, and he was upset for Li Yu: "Li Shuai is knighted and naturalized, of course he is Shangguan, Hou Lao'er, do you have a title?" Besides, you don't know how to fight, let me tell you, our family has killed three thieves in battle, can you! ”

Hou Sui was almost dizzy, how could he be a scholar who could quarrel with Li Yu and Liu Wenzhong, and stomped his feet and said: "Who is Shangguan first, this governor asks you, your subordinates instigated Huaiqing Diao people to make trouble, do you want to rebel?" ”

Something happened to Huaiqing Mansion? Li Yu was taken aback, Zhang Zhiyao hurriedly whispered in his ear: Huaiqing's problem has been a long time, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the people there actively supported Timur to resist the Ming army, so they were brutally slaughtered by the Ming army, Huaiqing had little population left, and had to emigrate from Shanxi, but Zhu Chongba was vindictive, and the taxes sent to Huaiqing Mansion were far heavier than those in other places, resulting in the situation that "the eight provinces of Henan, only Huaiqing was the smallest, and the tax burden was the heaviest". The people of Shanxi who migrated to this place took on this burden for no reason, and the dissatisfaction in their hearts continues to this day, Shanxi Zezhou is adjacent to Huaiqing, and Li Mao and Chen Shishi, who are from Yangcheng, naturally understand this situation, and the two went to Huaiqing to sell weapons, threatening that the Ming Dynasty is exhausted, and it is the way out to stand on their own as soon as possible, as long as they are willing to buy their weapons and run their own group exercises, they are responsible for proposing to the Federal Assembly to protect Huaiqing. The gentry and the common people had long been willing to follow Shanxi's example, and as soon as their minds were hot, they proposed local autonomy and self-protection, refused to pay taxes, increased taxes, and even asked to join the Datong Federation. The matter became bigger and bigger, the common people began to expel the government, and even the official office of the government in Hanoi was smashed, and most of the officers and soldiers stationed in the garrison were locals, not only did not use bullets to suppress them, but took the opportunity to ask for arrears, and Hou Sui had no choice but to run to Zhengzhou.

Li Mao and Chen Shishi are really shameless, and they actually instigated civil revolt in order to do business - Li Yu was very dissatisfied, but he couldn't be convinced, and waved his hand to Hou Sui and said: "I don't know about this, Huaiqing is your territory, and if something happens, you should solve it, don't think about relying on me." ”

"You don't want to cover up, without you in Shanxi to make trouble, how can there be today's Huaiqing people's change, this governor has long expected you to be behind the scenes, you seem to be honest, but you are really a big traitor, enter Shanxi and Shanxi will change, into Henan will also be in chaos, the first traitor in the past and present is none other than you." Hou Sui jumped to his feet and scolded.

"Come on, drive this bastard out of the camp, and if you dare to come, you will discount his dog's legs, Henan has already been in chaos, don't give it to Lao Tzu, I'll leave immediately, you can take care of your hometown." Li Yu was so angry that he pointed at Hou Sui and shouted angrily.

"Vulgar and rude, no, you can't go, what if the thieves come again? The emperor ...... "Hou Sui was taken out by Mo Rige and Gao Heizi before he finished speaking, and there was laughter in the big tent.

"Don't laugh, we have become a sandwich to the thieves, Henan is too poor to support the soldiers, stay one more day and consume an extra amount of food, we can't delay any longer, we must go south to Huguang immediately." Du Wenhuan waved his hand and said.

"What about the common people? 1780,000 people, we can't drive them away, let's take them with us, anyway, Tuntian Huguang also needs people," Yang Tinglin hurriedly asked, seeing that everyone didn't speak, and added, "The people are miserable, staying here is a dead end, and going home is also waiting for death, no one can blame them from the thieves, Han Min, you can save them." ”

"This is another large sum of money," Li Yu lowered his head and paced back and forth, stopped and sighed after a while, waved his hand and said to everyone, "Forget it, I am this fate, take them with me, and send a letter to the Prime Minister's Office, asking them to quickly raise another 10,000 stone of grain, and if there is really difficulty, it is okay to give more yam eggs." ”

"In the troubled times, the population is the most precious, add this sentence as well," Du Wenhuan stood up and instructed Zhang Zhiyao, turned his face to Li Yu and said, "The people can ask for it, but the troops cannot be easily collected, these battalion bastards are used to making rudders and stealing tricks when they see the wind, not only unreliable, but also bad to the people. ”

"Just do what the old man says." Li Yu nodded in agreement.