These small county towns in northern Shaanxi, which had made a lot of trouble with thieves before, are now dilapidated.

It has only been about a year since the last time thieves came to burn and loot, and the new county officials of the imperial court have not yet arrived, and the reconstruction has not been put on the agenda, let alone any perfect city defense facilities.

The common people inside and outside the county were either coerced by the thieves who came to loot last time, or they were killed by the officials and soldiers who surrounded and suppressed the thieves as thieves.

Most of those who escaped these bandit disasters and military disasters were also half forced and half lured by Yuan Chonghuan's trilateral governor's palace to go to Ningxia to open up wasteland and reclaim land.

Therefore, there are not many merchants and ordinary people living in these counties.

Fugu County, which has the largest number of people, is only a few thousand people who have families and businesses and have not been forcibly evicted.

As for Mizhi, Qingjian and other places that have been repeatedly fought over several times by thieves and official soldiers, the already small county town has long been like a ghost town, and the roosters and dogs cannot be heard inside and outside the city, and there are very few ordinary people.

Therefore, in addition to some inadequately equipped county officials who were suddenly killed by thieves, after Gao Yingxiang returned to northern Shaanxi with the heads of thieves, although several county towns were broken in a row, the people did not encounter much, and they did not grab much money and grain.

Those slightly larger state cities, such as Jiazhou, Suide, and Yan'an, have a larger population and relatively sufficient money and food.

Because since the thieves in northern Shaanxi, many landlords and gentry in counties and villages have taken their families to transfer their wealth to the state and government cities.

However, for Gao Yingxiang and others, who had suffered hardships in attacking fortified positions, attacking a fortified city with a large number of officers and troops garrisoned was something they didn't dare to think about today.

After they crossed the river and returned to Shaanxi, they did not dare to take the main road along the way, and they did not dare to stop for a short time for fear that the officials and troops would catch up.

Since going south from Fugu, they have also been wandering around places with few officers and soldiers, not only bypassing Yulin and Jiazhou from afar, but also bypassing Suide and Yan'an.

Therefore, along the way, there were constantly thieves and newly coerced rebels who ran back to Shaanxi, who could not bear the hunger and cold and fell ill and died.

Seeing that he had returned to northern Shaanxi, the situation in the team had not changed much, and King Gao Yingxiang was also secretly anxious.

On the sixth day of the first month of December, a team of thieves led by Gao Yingxiang came to Ganquanyu, dozens of miles southeast of Yan'an Prefecture.

Many of the leaders of the thieves had heard of the name of Ganquanyu and knew that this was the largest place for the officials and troops of Yansui Town to reclaim grain and transfer materials in northern Shaanxi.

Now that they are in the vicinity of Ganquanyu, and their own team is about to survive, even if they know that there may be a large number of officers and soldiers stationed in Ganquanyu at this time, they can only bite the bullet and try it.

Because in the great winter of northern Shaanxi, there is not enough food to eat, and they are destined to go far.

And now in the entire northern Shaanxi region, the place with the most grain is in the Ganquanyu reclamation area where the Yansui Town Supervisor Yu Shi Ma Mao opened up the wasteland.

After returning to northern Shaanxi, Gao Yingxiang, Ma Shouying, He Yilong and others who were once again cornered by hunger and fell into a desperate situation finally mustered up the courage to go to Ganquanyu to grab food.

However, how can today's Ganquanyu be captured by these thieves and rebels who are like beggars, poorly equipped, and whose morale is gradually turning to a low level? !

On the seventh day of the first month of December, Gao Yingxiang's seven battalions totaled more than 4,000 thieves, driving thousands of people all the way from Fugu, Mizhi, Qingjian and other places, and stormed the entrance of Ganquanyu.

In the end, apart from the corpses of more than 1,000 thieves and rebels who had been burned to death by fierce fire and oil bombs, not even a single ladder could successfully reach the top of the city.

Ganquanyu is shaped with the same dustpan, surrounded by mountains on three sides, there is only one entrance and exit, it is still in the valley between two mountains, and the narrowest place is only dozens of steps wide.

Moreover, this is the only entrance and exit that can be passed by the crowd of chariots and horses, and there is also a tall Guancheng, in which there is also a standard battalion of Yansui Town Supervisor recruited and trained by Ma Maocai.

Gao Yingxiang and the others who didn't know what was going on just heard from people along the way that there were mountains of grain and grass in Ganquanyu, but they didn't know that the fierce fire and oil bombs inside were also piled up like mountains.

And most of the thieves and rebels under Gao Yingxiang's command only have rudimentary weapons such as knives, guns, clubs, etc.

Even the old thieves who followed Gao Yingxiang and other battalion leaders, that is, the old brothers and old team of thieves, not everyone had long-range weapons such as strong bows and crossbows.

As for things like armor, only the bosses have them.

In this equipment situation, trying to defeat the Ganquanyu Pass City, which is equipped with muskets, artillery, thunderbolts, and fierce fire oil bombs, is tantamount to a fool's dream.

Therefore, after only fighting once, Gao Yingxiang and others immediately decided to give up.

Because even if all the people under their command died, they would not be able to take Ganquanyu.

What's more, it is impossible for the border army in Yansui Town to give them too much time to make siege equipment, and then besiege Ganquanyu here for a long time.

However, just when Ma Mao was about to send someone out to find out where this large group of thieves came from, and then decide whether he should attack, the news of the Taomin mutiny and the Ganning chaos also spread to Yan'an along with the refugees fleeing in these areas.

When the old man returned to Ma Shouying, he was overjoyed when he heard the news, and immediately found Gao Yingxiang, and persuaded Gao Yingxiang to lead the team to Guyuan, Pingliang, and Taomin to claim the king.

Lao Hui Ma Shouying happily said to Gao Yingxiang: "King Gao Chuang! Brothers, I heard that the dog officials of the imperial court have started a fight by themselves! Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of the three sides, killed Zhao Dayin, the deputy chief soldier of Taomin! Zhao Dayin's generals quit, and they also created the emperor Lao Tzu's rebellion! We're saved! Saved! ”

After Ma Shouying said this, he laughed, and his black and red face was glowing with greasy brilliance against the white hat on his head.

"Eight Kings" Zhang Xianzhong, "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai, as well as Gao Yingxiang's right-hand man He Yilong, He Jin and others, at this time have also heard that the imperial court will move the troops of Guyuan Town and Lintao Town to defend Huamachi and Hanzhong respectively, at this time, everyone is excited.

Including Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, who were unwilling to get too close to Gao Yingxiang, they also tried their best to persuade Gao Yingxiang to avoid reality and lead the army to Guyuan and Lintao, where the official army was the weakest.

Zhang Xianzhong said: "King Chuang! Although the land of Sweet Cool is in the west, it is not as rich as Guanzhong and Hanzhong, but at this time, the brothers have no way to go but to the west! ”

Luo Rucai also said: "In the eyes of brothers, the mind and bearing of King Chuang are extraordinary!" In the land of northern Shaanxi, how can the true dragon of King Chuang be tolerated?! Since ancient times, Ganliang Longxi has been a place where emperors thrived! In the eyes of brothers, if the king enters the sweet and cool, like a dragon returning to the sea, he will be able to take all the brothers and achieve a great cause! ”

Luo Rucai's words made everyone dumbfounded, and Gao Yingxiang also said that he swept away his worries, and his heart was full of joy, as if his eyes suddenly opened up.

This is the first time in the team of thieves that someone has said that he Gao Yingxiang is a real dragon, whether it is truth or sycophancy, it makes him very happy.

Gao Yingxiang's subordinates are mostly simple men, who were originally brothers before, that is, when he first entered Shanxi and had tens of thousands of people, no one under his command patted him on the back.

Therefore, after Luo Rucai's words were finished this time, Gao Yingxiang nodded frequently, and He Yilong and other old brothers who originally belonged to Gao Yingxiang's camp also echoed him.

In this way, Gao Yingxiang made up his mind to go west in the leeward col near Ganquanyu.

Of course, Gao Yingxiang did not make this decision because of the horses that Luo Rucai photographed.

The result of following Wang Jiayin to cross the Yellow River to Shanxi is already very clear, not only Wang Jiayin, Wang Er and a group of senior thieves in northern Shaanxi died in a foreign land, and their bones are gone, but also the men and horses under his command are also seriously damaged, and there is not one out of ten.

The imperial court's attention to the front line of Shanxi and Henan far exceeded their previous expectations.

At the same time, the imperial court moved the main forces of the officials and troops of Guyuan Town and Lintao Town to other places, making the troops in Ganliang, Lintao and other places empty, isn't this a God-given opportunity?

What's more, at this time in his hometown of northern Shaanxi, the fields were barren, the people were scattered, and the urban and rural areas were ruined.

And the main force of the border army in Yansui Town is also chasing after him, and he really can't stay on this land any longer.

On the morning of the 8th day of the first month of December, Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang, who had made up his mind, sent Li Zicheng to take people to fetch his family members who were hiding in the Ansai area, and at the same time led these large and small battalions under his command to set off west for Qingyang from the Ganquanyu area.